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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..65a434e --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51086 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51086) diff --git a/old/51086-0.txt b/old/51086-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 7e7e759..0000000 --- a/old/51086-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,18925 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Raymond, or Life and Death, by Sir Oliver J. Lodge - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Raymond, or Life and Death - With examples of the evidence for survival of memory and - affection after death. - -Author: Sir Oliver J. Lodge - -Release Date: January 30, 2016 [EBook #51086] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAYMOND, OR LIFE AND DEATH *** - - - - -Produced by Brian Wilsden and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -Transcriber's Note: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold -text by =equal signs=. - -The original text contains many unclosed quotes that are obviously -the author's intention. These have been left as the original. - -Line 19979: "bone or feather or flesh. Study may superadd properties" -'superadd' could be 'separate'. - -Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as -possible. - -Minor typographical errors have been corrected. - -Variations in hyphenation of the word "Sandboat/Sand-boat" have been -left unchanged. - -In the original version the formatting of the conversations between -the real world and the spirit world is often confusing. In this -transcripton I have adopted the following layout. Conversations or -questions arising from the real world - left justified. Conversations -or questions arising from the spirit world and anotations by -the author within these cross world conversations are shown as -blockquotes. - -Part II Chap. II: "prope funeratus / arboris ictu" changed to "prope -funeratus arboris ictu" to avoid unwanted '/'. - -Line 1568: SO_{2} = SO[subscript]2 i.e. Sulphur Dioxide. - -Line 6389: "(Mrs. Leonard here repeated the alphabet......" no -closing bracket in the original. Left unchanged. - -Line 10366: Unnecessary ")" removed. Typographical error. - - - - - - - - - RAYMOND - OR - LIFE AND DEATH - -BY SIR OLIVER J. LODGE - - - Raymond, or Life and Death - Modern Problems - The Substance of Faith, Allied with Science - Man and the Universe - The Survival of Man - Reason and Belief - The War and After - -[Illustration: RAYMOND] - - - - - RAYMOND - OR - LIFE AND DEATH - - WITH EXAMPLES OF THE EVIDENCE - FOR SURVIVAL OF MEMORY AND AFFECTION - AFTER DEATH - - BY - Sir OLIVER J. LODGE - - WITH EIGHTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS - - NEW YORK - GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1916, - BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY - - PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - - - - - TO - HIS MOTHER AND FAMILY - - WITH GRATITUDE FOR PERMISSION - TO USE PRIVATE MATERIAL - FOR PUBLIC ENDS - - - - - "Divine must be - That triumph, when the very worst, the pain, - And even the prospect of our brethren slain, - Hath something in it which the heart enjoys." - - WORDSWORTH, _SONNET_ XXVI. - - - - -PREFACE - - -This book is named after my son who was killed in the War. - -It is divided into three parts. In the first part some idea of the -kind of life lived and the spirit shown by any number of youths, -fully engaged in civil occupations, who joined for service when war -broke out and went to the Front, is illustrated by extracts from his -letters. The object of this portion is to engender a friendly feeling -towards the writer of the letters, so that whatever more has to be -said in the sequel may not have the inevitable dulness of details -concerning an entire stranger. This is the sole object of this -portion. The letters are not supposed to be remarkable; though as a -picture of part of the life at the Front during the 1915 phase of the -war they are interesting, as many other such letters must have been. - -The second part gives specimens of what at present are considered -by most people unusual communications; though these again are in -many respects of an ordinary type, and will be recognised as such -by other bereaved persons who have had similar messages. In a few -particulars, indeed, those here quoted have rather special features, -by reason of the assistance given by the group of my friends "on the -other side" who had closely studied the subject. It is partly owing -to the urgency therein indicated that I have thought it my duty to -speak out, though it may well be believed that it is not without -hesitation that I have ventured thus to obtrude family affairs. I -should not have done so were it not that the amount of premature and -unnatural bereavement at the present time is so appalling that the -pain caused by exposing one's own sorrow and its alleviation, to -possible scoffers, becomes almost negligible in view of the service -which it is legitimate to hope may thus be rendered to mourners, if -they can derive comfort by learning that communication across the -gulf is possible. Incidentally I have to thank those friends, some -of them previously unknown, who have in the same spirit allowed the -names of loved ones to appear in this book, and I am grateful for the -help which one or two of those friends have accorded. Some few more -perhaps may be thus led to pay critical attention to any assurance of -continued and happy and useful existence which may reach them from -the other side. - -The third part of the book is of a more expository character, and is -designed to help people in general to realise that this subject is -not the bugbear which ignorance and prejudice have made it, that it -belongs to a coherent system of thought full of new facts of which -continued study is necessary, that it is subject to a law and order -of its own, and that though comparatively in its infancy it is a -genuine branch of psychological science. This third part is called -"Life and Death," because these are the two great undeniable facts -which concern everybody, and in which it is natural for every one -to feel a keen interest, if they once begin to realise that such -interest is not futile, and that it is possible to learn something -real about them. It may be willingly admitted that these chapters are -inadequate to the magnitude of the subject, but it is hoped that they -are of a usefully introductory character. - -The "In Memoriam" chapter of Part I is no doubt chiefly of interest -to family and friends; but everybody is very friendly, and under the -circumstances it will be excused. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - PREFACE vii - - - PART ONE: NORMAL PORTION - - CHAPTER - - I. IN MEMORIAM 3 - - II. LETTERS FROM THE FRONT 15 - - III. LETTERS FROM OFFICERS 73 - - - PART TWO: SUPERNORMAL PORTION - - INTRODUCTION 83 - - I. ELEMENTARY EXPLANATION 86 - - II. THE 'FAUNUS' MESSAGE 90 - - III. SEQUEL TO THE 'FAUNUS' MESSAGE 96 - - IV. THE GROUP PHOTOGRAPH 105 - - V. BEGINNING OF HISTORICAL RECORD 117 - - VI. FIRST SITTING OF O. J. L. WITH MRS. LEONARD 125 - - VII. FIRST PETERS SITTING (Anonymous) 129 - - VIII. A TABLE SITTING 137 - - IX. ATTEMPTS AT STRICTER EVIDENCE 151 - - X. RECORD CONTINUED 158 - - XI. FIRST SITTING OF ALEC 162 - - XII. GENERAL REMARKS ON CONVERSATIONAL REPORTS AND - ON CROSS-CORRESPONDENCES 171 - - XIII. AN O. J. L. SITTING WITH PETERS 174 - - XIV. FIRST SITTING OF LIONEL (Anonymous) 180 - - XV. M. F. A. L. SITTING OF NOVEMBER 26 188 - - XVI. O. J. L. SITTING OF DECEMBER 3 191 - - XVII. K. K. AUTOMATIC WRITING 205 - - XVIII. FIRST SITTING OF ALEC WITH MRS. LEONARD 208 - - XIX. PRIVATE SITTINGS AT MARIEMONT 217 - - XX. A FEW MORE RECORDS, WITH SOME UNVERIFIABLE MATTER 226 - - XXI. TWO EVIDENTIAL SITTINGS OF MARCH 3 237 - - XXII. MORE UNVERIFIABLE MATTER 262 - - XXIII. A FEW ISOLATED INCIDENTS 271 - - - PART THREE: LIFE AND DEATH - - INTRODUCTION 283 - - I. THE MEANING OF THE TERM LIFE 289 - - II. THE MEANING OF THE TERM DEATH 296 - - III. DEATH AND DECAY 302 - - IV. CONTINUED EXISTENCE 308 - - V. PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 312 - - VI. INTERACTION OF MIND AND MATTER 317 - - VII. 'RESURRECTION OF THE BODY' 322 - - VIII. MIND AND BRAIN 326 - - IX. LIFE AND CONSCIOUSNESS 332 - - X. ON MEANS OF COMMUNICATION 338 - - XI. ON THE FACT OF SUPERNORMAL COMMUNICATION 345 - - XII. ON THE CONTENTION THAT ALL PSYCHIC COMMUNICATIONS - ARE OF A TRIVIAL NATURE AND DEAL WITH - INSIGNIFICANT TOPICS 349 - - XIII. ON THE MANNER OF COMMUNICATION 355 - - XIV. VARIOUS PSYCHO-PHYSICAL METHODS 362 - - XV. ATTITUDE OF THE WISE AND PRUDENT 367 - - XVI. OUTLOOK ON THE UNIVERSE 374 - - XVII. THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF GOD 378 - - INDEX 397 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - RAYMOND _Frontispiece_ - - PAGE - - RAYMOND WHEN TWO YEARS OLD 8 - - RAYMOND, 1915 78 - - GROUP OF OFFICERS, AS SENT US BY MRS. CHEVES ON DECEMBER - 7, 1915, SHOWING AN ARM RESTING ON RAYMOND'S SHOULDER 110 - - ANOTHER EDITION OF THE GROUP-PHOTOGRAPH, WITH LEG TOUCHING - SHOULDER INSTEAD OF HAND 112 - - GROUP SUBSEQUENTLY OBTAINED, EVIDENTLY TAKEN AT THE - SAME TIME, BUT PRESSURE ON SHOULDER REMOVED 114 - - MARIEMONT 224 - - RAYMOND AND BRODIE WITH THE PIGEONS AT MARIEMONT 224 - - LARGE DOUBLE-COMPARTMENT TENT IN ITS FIRST FORM (1905) - (BUILT AT MARIEMONT AND TAKEN TO WOOLACOMBE) 250 - - THE TENT IN ITS SECOND FORM (1906) MADE OUT OF THE REMAINS - OF THE FIRST 250 - - FIRST EDITION OF THE SANDBOAT (1906) AT WOOLACOMBE, WITH - ALEC ON BOARD 252 - - RISING GROUND BEHIND OLDER TENTS ON WOOLACOMBE BEACH 252 - - "GRANDFATHER W." 258 - - "MR. JACKSON" WITH M. F. A. L. AT MARIEMONT 258 - - SECOND EDITION OF SANDBOAT, AT MARIEMONT, BEFORE BEING - UNSHIPPED AND TAKEN TO WOOLACOMBE, 1907 260 - - RAYMOND WORKING AT THE SANDBOAT IN THE BOYS' LABORATORY - AT MARIEMONT 260 - - "CURLY" AND "VIX." CURLY BEING THE SHAGGY ONE. VIX WAS - THE MOTHER OF RAYMOND'S DOG "LARRY" 278 - - RAYMOND IN HIS "NAGANT" MOTOR, 1913. OUTSIDE A FRIEND'S - HOUSE IN SOMERSETSHIRE 278 - - - - -PART ONE: NORMAL PORTION - - "And this to fill us with regard for man, - With apprehension of his passing worth." - - Browning, _Paracelsus_. - - - - -CHAPTER I - -IN MEMORIAM - - -The bare facts are much as reported in _The Times_:-- - - SECOND LIEUTENANT RAYMOND LODGE was the youngest son of - Sir Oliver and Lady Lodge, and was by taste and training - an engineer. He volunteered for service in September - 1914 and was at once given a commission in the 3rd - South Lancashires. After training near Liverpool and - Edinburgh, he went to the Front in the early spring of - 1915, attached to the 2nd South Lancashire Regiment of - the Regular Army, and was soon in the trenches near Ypres - or Hooge. His engineering skill was of service in details - of trench construction, and he later was attached to a - Machine-Gun Section for a time, and had various escapes - from shell fire and shrapnel. His Captain having sprained - an ankle, he was called back to Company work, and at the - time of his death was in command of a Company engaged - in some early episode of an attack or attempted advance - which was then beginning. He was struck by a fragment of - shell in the attack on Hooge Hill on the 14th September - 1915, and died in a few hours. - - Raymond Lodge had been educated at Bedales School and - Birmingham University. He had a great aptitude and love - for mechanical engineering, and was soon to have become - a partner with his elder brothers, who highly valued - his services, and desired his return to assist in the - Government work which now occupies their firm. - -In amplification of this bare record a few members of the family -wrote reminiscences of him, and the following memoir is by his eldest -brother:-- - -RAYMOND LODGE - -(1889-1915) - -By O. W. F. L. - -Most lives have marriages, births of children, productive years; -but the lives of the defenders of their Country are short and of -majestic simplicity. The obscure records of childhood, the few -years of school and university and constructive and inventive work, -and then the sudden sacrifice of all the promise of the future, of -work, of home, of love; the months of hard living and hard work well -carried through, the cheerful humorous letters home making it out all -very good fun; and in front, in a strange ruined and desolate land, -certain mutilation or death. And now that death has come. - - Unto each man his handiwork, to each his crown, - The just Fate gives; - Whoso takes the world's life on him and his own lays down, - He, dying so, lives.[1] - -My brother was born at Liverpool on January 25th, 1889, and was at -Bedales School for five or six years, and afterwards at Birmingham -University, where he studied engineering and was exceptionally -competent in the workshop. He went through the usual two years' -practical training at the Wolseley Motor Works, and then entered his -brothers' works, where he remained until he obtained a commission at -the outbreak of war. - -His was a mind of rare stamp. It had unusual power, unusual -quickness, and patience and understanding of difficulties in my -experience unparalleled, so that he was able to make anyone -understand really difficult things. I think we were most of us -proudest and most hopeful of him. Some of us, I did myself, sometimes -took problems technical or intellectual to him, sure of a wise and -sound solution. - -Though his chief strength lay on the side of mechanical and -electrical engineering it was not confined to that. He read widely, -and liked good literature of an intellectual and witty but not highly -imaginative type, at least I do not know that he read Shelley or -much of William Morris, but he was fond of Fielding, Pope, and Jane -Austen. Naturally he read Shakespeare, and I particularly associate -him with _Twelfth Night_ and _Love's Labour's Lost_. Among novelists, -his favourites, after Fielding and Miss Austen, were I believe -Dickens and Reade; and he frequently quoted from the essays and -letters of Charles Lamb.[2] - -Of the stories of his early childhood, and his overflowing vitality -made many, I was too often from home to be able to speak at large. -But one I may tell. Once when a small boy at Grove Park, Liverpool, -he jumped out of the bath and ran down the stairs with the nurse -after him, out of the front door, down one drive along the road -and up the other, and was safely back in the bath again before -the horrified nursemaid could catch up with him. [_body of Memoir -incomplete, and omitted here._] - - [_Close of Memoir_] - -That death is the end has never been a Christian doctrine, and -evidence collected by careful men in our own day has, perhaps -needlessly, upheld with weak props of experiment the mighty arch of -Faith. Death is real and grievous, and is not to be tempered by the -glossing timidities of those who would substitute journalese like -"passing-on," "passing-over," etc., for that tremendous word: but it -is the end of a stage, not the end of the journey. The road stretches -on beyond that inn, and beyond our imagination, "the moonlit endless -way." - -Let us think of him then, not as lying near Ypres with all his work -ended, but rather, after due rest and refreshment, continuing his -noble and useful career in more peaceful surroundings, and quietly -calling us his family from paralysing grief to resolute and high -endeavour. - -Indeed, it is not right that we should weep for a death like his. -Rather let us pay him our homage in praise and imitation, by growing -like him and by holding our lives lightly in our Country's service, -so that if need be we may die like him. This is true honour and his -best memorial. - -Not that I would undervalue those of brass or stone, for if beautiful -they are good and worthy things. But fame illuminates memorials, and -fame has but a narrow circle in a life of twenty-six years. - - Who shall remember him, who climb - His all-unripened fame to wake, - Who dies an age before his time? - But nobly, but for England's sake. - - Who will believe us when we cry - He was as great as he was brave? - His name that years had lifted high - Lies buried in that Belgian grave. - - O strong and patient, kind and true, - Valiant of heart, and clear of brain-- - They cannot know the man we knew, - Our words go down the wind like rain. - - O. W. F. L. - - _Tintern_ - - - - -EPITAPH ON MEMORIAL TABLET IN ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH, EDGBASTON - - - REMEMBER - RAYMOND LODGE - - SECOND LIEUTENANT SECOND SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGIMENT - BELOVED SON OF SIR OLIVER AND LADY LODGE OF THIS PARISH - WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS COUNTRY - HE WAS BORN JANUARY 25TH 1889 - AND WAS KILLED IN ACTION IN FLANDERS - ABOUT NOON SEPTEMBER 14TH - IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1915 - AGED 26 YEARS - - Whoso bears the whole heaviness of the wronged world's weight - And puts it by, - It is well with him suffering, though he face man's fate; - How should he die? - - _Swinburne_ - - -REMINISCENCES BY O. J. L. - -Of all my sons, the youngest, when he was small, was most like -myself at the same age. In bodily appearance I could recognise the -likeness to my early self, as preserved in old photographs; an old -schoolfellow of mine who knew me between the ages of eight and -eleven, visiting Mariemont in April 1904, remarked on it forcibly and -at once, directly he saw Raymond--then a schoolboy; and innumerable -small mental traits in the boy recalled to me my childhood's -feelings. Even an absurd difficulty he had as a child in saying the -hard letters--the hard G and K--was markedly reminiscent of my own -similar difficulty. - -Another peculiarity which we shared in childhood was dislike of -children's parties--indeed, in my own case, a party of any kind. I -remember being truly miserable at a Christmas party at The Mount, -Penkhull, where I have no doubt that every one was more than -friendly,--though probably over-patronising, as people often are -with children,--but where I determinedly abstained from supper, and -went home hungry. Raymond's prominent instance was at the hospitable -Liverpool house, "Greenbank," which the Rathbones annually delivered -up to family festivities each Christmas afternoon and evening, being -good enough to include us in their family group. On one such occasion -Raymond, a very small boy, was found in the hall making a bee-line -for the front door and home. I remember sympathising with him, from -ancient memories, and taking him home, subsequently returning myself. - -At a later stage of boyhood I perceived that his ability and tastes -were akin to mine, for we had the same passionate love of engineering -and machinery; though in my case, having no opportunity of exercising -it to any useful extent, it gradually turned into special aptitude -for physical science. Raymond was never anything like as good at -physics, nor had he the same enthusiasm for mathematics that I -had, but he was better at engineering, was in many ways I consider -stronger in character, and would have made, I expect, a first-rate -engineer. His pertinacious ability in the mechanical and workshop -direction was very marked. Nothing could have been further from his -natural tastes and proclivities than to enter upon a military career; -nothing but a sense of duty impelled him in that direction, which was -quite foreign to family tradition, at least on my side. - -[Illustration: RAYMOND WHEN TWO YEARS OLD] - -He also excelled me in a keen sense of humour--not only appreciation, -but achievement. The whole family could not but admire and enjoy -the readiness with which he perceived at once the humorous side of -everything; and he usually kept lively any gathering of which he was -a unit. At school, indeed, his active wit rather interfered with the -studies of himself and others, and in the supposed interests of his -classmates it had to be more or less suppressed, but to the end he -continued to be rather one of the wags of the school. - -Being so desperately busy all my life I failed to see as much as I -should like either of him or of the other boys, but there was always -an instinctive sympathy between us; and it is a relief to me to be -unable to remember any, even a single, occasion on which I have been -vexed with him. In all serious matters he was, as far as I could -judge, one of the best youths I have ever known; and we all looked -forward to a happy life for him and a brilliant career. - -His elder brothers highly valued his services in their Works. He -got on admirably with the men; his mode of dealing with overbearing -foremen at the Works, where he was for some years an apprentice, was -testified to as masterly, and was much appreciated by his "mates"; -and honestly I cannot bethink myself of any trait in his character -which I would have had different--unless it be that he might have had -a more thorough liking and aptitude for, and greater industry in, my -own subject of physics. - -When the war broke out his mother and I were in Australia, and it -was some time before we heard that he had considered it his duty -to volunteer. He did so in September 1914, getting a commission -in the Regular Army which was ante-dated to August; and he threw -himself into military duties with the same ability and thoroughness -as he had applied to more naturally congenial occupations. He went -through a course of training at Great Crosby, near Liverpool, with -the Regiment in which he was a Second Lieutenant, namely the 3rd -South Lancashires, being attached to the 2nd when he went to the -Front; his Company spent the winter in more active service on the -south coast of the Firth of Forth and Edinburgh; and he gained his -desired opportunity to go out to Flanders on 15 March 1915. Here he -applied his engineering faculty to trench and shelter construction, -in addition to ordinary military duties; and presently he became a -machine-gun officer. How desperately welcome to the family his safe -return would have been, at the end of the war, I need not say. He had -a hard and strenuous time at the Front, and we all keenly desired to -make it up to him by a course of home "spoiling." But it was too much -to hope for--though I confess I did hope for it. - -He has entered another region of service now; and this we realise. -For though in the first shock of bereavement the outlook of life felt -irretrievably darkened, a perception of his continued usefulness has -mercifully dawned upon us, and we know that his activity is not over. -His bright ingenuity will lead to developments beyond what we could -have anticipated; and we have clear hopes for the future. - - O. J. L. - - MARIEMONT, _September 30, 1915_. - - * * * * * - -A MOTHER'S LAMENT - -_Written on a scrap of paper, September 26, 1915_, - -"_To ease the pain and to try to get in touch_" - -Raymond, darling, you have gone from our world, and _oh_, to ease the -pain. I want to know if you are happy, and that you _yourself_ are -really talking to me and no sham. - -"No more letters from you, my own dear son, and I have loved them -so. They are all there; we shall have them typed together into a sort -of book. - -"Now we shall be parted until I join you there. I have not seen as -much of you as I wanted on this earth, but I do love to think of the -bits I have had of you, specially our journeys to and from Italy. I -had you to myself then, and you were so dear. - -"I want to say, dear, how we recognise the glorious way in which -you have done your duty, with a certain straight pressing on, never -letting anyone see the effort, and with your fun and laughter playing -round all the time, cheering and helping others. You know how your -brothers and sisters feel your loss, and your poor father!" - - * * * * * - -The religious side of Raymond was hardly known to the family; -but among his possessions at the Front was found a small pocket -Bible called "The Palestine Pictorial Bible" (Pearl 24mo), Oxford -University Press, in which a number of passages are marked; and -on the fly-leaf, pencilled in his writing, is an index to these -passages, which page I copy here:-- - - PAGE - Ex. xxxiii. 14 63 - St. John xiv. 689 - Eph. ii. 749 - Neh. i. 6, II 337 - St. John xvi. 33 689 - Rom. viii. 35 723 - St. Matt. xi. 28 616 - Ps. cxxiv. 8 415 - Ps. xliii. 2 468 - Deut. xxxiii. 27 151 - Deut. xxxii. 43 150 - Isa. li. 12 473 - Isa. lii. 12 474 - Jude 24 784 - Ezra ix. 9 335 - Isa. xii. 2 451 - Isa. i. 18 445 - Isa. xl. 31 467 - Rev. vii. 14 788 - Rev. xxi. 4 795 - -MIZPAH. Gen. xxxi. 49. - R. L. - 14/8/15 - - -The following poem was kindly sent me by Canon Rawnsley, in -acknowledgment of a Memorial Card:-- - - - OUR ANGEL-HOST OF HELP - - IN MEMORY OF RAYMOND LODGE, - - WHO FELL IN FLANDERS, 14 SEPT. 1915 "_His strong young body is - laid under some trees on the road from Ypres to Menin._" [From the - Memorial Card sent to friends.] - - 'Twixt Ypres and Menin night and day - The poplar trees in leaf of gold - Were whispering either side the way - Of sorrow manifold, - - --Of war that never should have been, - Of war that still perforce must be, - Till in what brotherhood can mean - The nations all agree. - - But where they laid your gallant lad - I heard no sorrow in the air, - The boy who gave the best he had - That others good might share. - - For golden leaf and gentle grass - They too had offered of their best - To banish grief from all who pass - His hero's place of rest. - - There as I gazed, the guests of God, - An angel host before mine eyes, - Silent as if on air they trod - Marched straight from Paradise. - - And one sprang forth to join the throng - From where the grass was gold and green, - His body seemed more lithe and strong - Than it had ever been. - - I cried, "But why in bright array - Of crowns and palms toward the north - And those white trenches far away, - Doth this great host go forth?" - - He answered, "Forth we go to fight - To help all need where need there be, - Sworn in for right against brute might - Till Europe shall be free." - - H. D. RAWNSLEY - - -EXTRACTS FROM PLATO'S DIALOGUE "MENEXENUS" - -BEING PART OF A SPEECH IN HONOUR OF THOSE WHO HAD DIED IN BATTLE FOR -THEIR COUNTRY - - -And I think that I ought now to repeat the message which your -fathers, when they went out to battle, urged us to deliver to you who -are their survivors, in case anything happened to them. I will tell -you what I heard them say, and what, if they could, they would fain -be saying now, judging from what they then said; but you must imagine -that you hear it all from their lips. Thus they spoke:-- - - "Sons, the event proves that your fathers were brave men. - For we, who might have continued to live, though without - glory, choose a glorious death rather than bring reproach - on you and your children, and rather than disgrace our - fathers and all of our race who have gone before us, - believing that for the man who brings shame on his own - people life is not worth living, and that such an one is - loved neither by men nor gods, either on earth or in the - underworld when he is dead. - - "Some of us have fathers and mothers still living, and - you must encourage them to bear their trouble, should - it come, as lightly as may be; and do not join them in - lamentations, for they will have no need of aught that - would give their grief a keener edge. They will have pain - enough from what has befallen them. Endeavour rather to - soothe and heal their wound, reminding them that of all - the boons they ever prayed for the greatest have been - granted to them. For they did not pray that their sons - should live for ever, but that they should be brave and - of fair fame. Courage and honour are the best of all - blessings, and while for a mortal man it can hardly be - that everything in his own life will turn out as he would - have it, their prayer for those two things has been - heard. Moreover, if they bear their troubles bravely, it - will be perceived that they are indeed fathers of brave - sons, and that they themselves are like them.... So - minded, _we_, at any rate, bid those dear to us to be; - such we would have them be; and such we say we are now - showing that we ourselves are, neither grieving overmuch - nor fearing overmuch if we are to die in this battle. - And we entreat our fathers and mothers to continue to be - thus minded for the rest of their days, for we would have - them know that it is not by bewailing and lamentation - that they will please us best. If the dead have any - knowledge of the living, they will give us no pleasure by - breaking down under their trouble, or by bearing it with - impatience.... For our lives will have had an end the - most glorious of all that fall to the lot of man; it is - therefore more fitting to do us honour than to lament us." - - _Stat sua cuique dies; breve et irreparabile tempus - Omnibus est vitae: sed famam extendere factis, Hoc - virtutis opus._ - - _Æn._ x. 467 - - [Footnote 1: Swinburne, _Super Flumina Babylonis_.] - - [Footnote 2: _Note by O. J. L._--A volume of poems by O. - W. F. L. had been sent to Raymond by the author; and this - came back with his kit, inscribed on the title page in a - way which showed that it had been appreciated:-- - - "Received at Wisques (Machine-Gun School), near St. Omer, - France--_12th July 1915_. - - Taken to camp near Poperinghe--_13th July_. - - To huts near Dickebusch--_21st July_. - - To first-line trenches near St. Eloi, in front of 'The - Mound of Death'--_24th July_."] - - - - -CHAPTER II - -LETTERS FROM THE FRONT - - -I shall now, for reasons explained in the Preface, quote extracts -from letters which Raymond wrote to members of his family during the -time he was serving in Flanders. - -A short note made by me the day after he first started for the Front -may serve as a preliminary statement of fact:-- - - _Mariemont, Edgbaston, 16 March 1915_ - - Raymond was recently transferred back from Edinburgh to - Great Crosby near Liverpool; and once more began life in - tents or temporary sheds. - - Yesterday morning, Monday the 15th March, one of the - subalterns was ordered to the Front; he went to a - doctor, who refused to pass him, owing to some temporary - indisposition. Raymond was then asked if he was fit: he - replied, Perfectly. So at 10 a.m. he was told to start - for France that night. Accordingly he packed up; and at - 3.00 we at Mariemont received a telegram from him asking - to be met at 5 p.m., and saying he could spend six hours - at home. - - His mother unfortunately was in London, and for many - hours was inaccessible. At last some of the telegrams - reached her, at 7 p.m., and she came by the first - available (slow) train from Paddington, getting here at - 11. - - Raymond took the midnight train to Euston; Alec, Lionel, - and Noël accompanying him. They would reach Euston at - 3.50 a.m. and have two hours to wait, when he was to - meet a Captain [Capt. Taylor], and start from Waterloo - for Southampton. The boys intended to see him off at - Waterloo, and then return home to their war-business as - quickly as they could. - - He seems quite well; but naturally it has been rather a - strain for the family: as the same sort of thing has been - for so many other families. - - O. J. L. - -First comes a letter written on his way to the Front after leaving -Southampton. - - _"Hotel Dervaux, 75 Grande Rue, Boulogne-s/Mer, Wednesday, 24 March - 1915, 11.30 a.m._ - - "Following on my recent despatch, I have the honour to - report that we have got stuck here on our way to the - Front. Not stuck exactly, but they have shunted us into - a siding which we reached about 8 a.m., and we are free - until 2.30 p.m. when we have to telephone for further - orders to find out where we are to join our train. I - don't know whether this is the regular way to the Front - from Rouen. I don't think it is, I fancy the more direct - way must be reserved for urgent supplies and wounded. - - "My servant has been invaluable _en route_ and he has - caused us a great deal of amusement. He hunted round at - the goods station at Rouen (whence we started) and found - a large circular tin. He pierced this all over to form - a brazier and attached a wire handle. As soon as we got - going he lit this, having filled it with coal purloined - from somewhere, and when we stopped by the wayside about - 10 or 11 p.m. he supplied my compartment (four officers) - with fine hot tea. He had previously purchased some - condensed milk. He also saw to it that a large share of - the rations, provided by the authorities before we left, - fell to our share, and looked after us and our baggage in - the most splendid way. - - "He insists on treating the train as a tram. As soon as - it slows down to four miles an hour, he is down on the - permanent way gathering firewood or visiting some railway - hut in search of plunder. He rides with a number of other - servants in the baggage waggon, and as they had no light - he nipped out at a small station and stole one of the - railway men's lamps. However, there was a good deal of - fuss, and the owner came and indignantly recovered it. - - "As soon as we stop anywhere, he lowers out of his van - the glowing brazier. He keeps it burning in the van! I - wonder the railway authorities don't object. If they do, - of course he pretends not to understand any French. - - "He often gets left behind on the line, and has to - scramble into our carriage, where he regales us with his - life history until the next stop, when he returns to his - own van. - - "Altogether he is a very rough customer and wants a lot - of watching--all the same he makes an excellent servant." - - -LETTERS FROM THE FRONT IN FLANDERS - - "_Friday, 26 March 1915_ - - "I arrived here yesterday about 5 p.m., and found the - Battalion resting from the trenches. We all return there - on Sunday evening. - - "I got a splendid reception from my friends here, and - they have managed to get me into an excellent Company, - all the officers of which are my friends. This place is - very muddy, but better than it was, I understand. We are - in tents." - - - "_Saturday, 27 March 1915, 4.30 p.m._ - - "We moved from our camp into billets last night and - are now in a farm-house. The natives still live here, - and we (five officers) have a room to ourselves, and - our five servants and our cook live and cook for us - in the kitchen. The men of our Company are quartered - in neighbouring farm buildings, and other Companies - farther down the road. We are within a mile of a village - and about three or four miles to the southward of a - fair-sized and well-known town. The weather is steadily - improving and the mud is drying up--though I haven't seen - what the trenches are like yet.... - - "I am now permanently attached to C Company and am - devoutly thankful. Captain T. is in command and the - subalterns are Laws, Fletcher, and Thomas, all old - friends of mine. F. was the man whose room I shared at - Edinburgh and over whose bed I fixed the picture.... - - "We went on a 'fatigue' job to-day--just our Company--and - were wrongly directed and so went too far and got right - in view of the enemy's big guns. However, we cleared out - very quickly when we discovered our error, and had got - back on to the main road again when a couple of shells - burst apparently fairly near where we had been. There - were a couple of hostile aeroplanes about too.... Thank - you very much for your letter wondering where I am. 'Very - pressing are the Germans,' a buried city." - -[This of course privately signified to the family that he was at Ypres.] - - - "_1 April 1915, 1.15 p.m._ - - "We dug trenches by night on Monday and Wednesday, and - although we were only about 300 to 500 yards from the - enemy we had a most peaceful time, only a very few stray - bullets whistling over from time to time." - - - "_Saturday, 3 April 1915, 7 p.m._ - - "I am having quite a nice time in the trenches. I - am writing this in my dug-out by candle-light; this - afternoon I had a welcome shave. Shaving and washing is - usually dispensed with during our spell of duty (even by - the Colonel), but if I left it six days I should burst my - razor I think. I have got my little 'Primus' with me and - it is very useful indeed as a standby, although we do all - our main cooking on a charcoal brazier.... - - "I will look out for the great sunrise to-morrow - morning and am wishing you all a jolly good Easter: I - shan't have at all a bad one. It is very like Robinson - Crusoe--we treasure up our water supply most carefully - (it is brought up in stone jars), and we have excellent - meals off limited and simple rations, by the exercise - of a little native cunning on the part of our servants, - especially mine." - - - "_Bank Holiday, 5 April 1915, 4.30 p.m._ - - "The trenches are only approached and relieved at - night-time, and even here we are not allowed to stir - from the house by day on any pretext whatever, and no - fires are allowed on account of the smoke. (Fires are - started within doors when darkness falls and we have a - hot meal then and again in the early morning--that is - the rule--however, we do get a fire in the day by using - charcoal only and lighting up from a candle to one piece - and from that one piece to the rest, by blowing; also I - have my Primus stove.) ... We are still within rifle-fire - range here, but of course it is all unaimed fire from the - intermittent conflict going on at the firing line.... - - "I have a straw bed covered with my tarpaulin sheet--(it - is useful although I have also the regular military - rubber ground sheet as well)--and my invaluable - air-pillow. I am of course travelling light and have to - carry everything in my 'pack' until I get back to my - valise and 'rest billets,' so I sleep in my clothes. - Simply take off my boots and puttees, put my feet in a - nice clean sack, take off my coat and cover myself up - with my British Warm coat (put on sideways so as to use - its great width to the full). Like this I sleep like a - top and am absolutely comfortable." - - "I have been making up an Acrostic for you all to - guess--here it is: - - LIGHTS. My first is speechless, and a bell Has often - the complaint as well. Three letters promising to pay, - Each letter for a word does stay. There's nothing gross - about this act;-- A gentle kiss involving tact. A General - less his final 'k,' A hen would have no more to say. Our - Neenie who is going west Her proper name will serve you - best. - - WHOLE. My whole, though in a foreign tongue, Is Richard's - name when he is young. The rest is just a shrub or tree - With spelling 'Made in Germany.' - - "That's the lot. The word has ten letters and is divided - into two halves for the purpose of the Acrostic. - - * * * * * - - "My room-mate has changed for to-night, and I have got - Wyatt, who has just come in covered in mud, after four - days in the trenches. He is machine-gun officer, and - works very hard. I am so glad to have him. - - "By the way the support-trenches aren't half bad. I - didn't want to leave them, but it's all right here too." - - - "_Thursday, 8 April 1915_ - - "Here I am back again in 'Rest Billets,' for six days' - rest. When I set off for the six days' duty I was - ardently looking forward to this moment, but there is not - much difference; here we 'pig' it pretty comfortably in a - house, and there we 'pig' it almost as comfortably in a - 'dug-out.' There we are exposed to rifle fire, nearly all - unaimed, and here we are exposed to shell fire--aimed, - but from about five miles away. - - "On the whole this is the better, because there is more - room to move about, more freedom for exercise, and there - is less mud. But you will understand how much conditions - in the trenches have improved if comparison is possible - at all. - - "My platoon (No. 11) has been very fortunate; we have had - no casualties at all in the last six days. The nearest - thing to one was yesterday when we were in the firing - trench, and a man got a bullet through his cap quite - close to his head. He was peeping over the top, a thing - they are all told not to do in the daytime. The trenches - at our point are about a hundred yards apart, and it is - really safe to look over if you don't do it too often, - but it is unnecessary, as we had a periscope and a few - loopholes.... - - "I am awfully grateful for all the things that have been - sent, and are being sent.... I will attach a list of - wants at the end of this letter. I am very insatiable - (that's not quite the word I wanted), but I am going on - the principle that you and the rest of the family are - only waiting to gratify my every whim! So, if I think of - a thing I ask for it.... - - "By the way we have changed our billets here. Our last - ones have been shelled while we were away--a prodigious - hole through the roof wrecking the kitchen, but not - touching our little room at the back. However, it is not - safe enough for habitation and the natives even have left! - - "Things are awfully quiet here. We thought at first that - it was 'fishy' and something was preparing, but I don't - think so now. It is possibly the principle of 'live and - let live.' In the trenches if we don't stir them up with - shots they leave us pretty well alone. Of course we are - ready for anything all the same. - - "Yes, we see the daily papers here as often as we want to - (the day's before). Personally, and I think my view is - shared by all the other officers, I would rather read a - romance, or anything not connected with this war, than a - daily paper.... - - "Was the Easter sunrise a success? It wasn't here. Cloudy - and dull was how I should describe it. Fair to fine - generally, some rain (the latter not to be taken in the - American sense). - - "I wonder if you got my Acrostic [see previous letter] - and whether anybody guessed it; it was meant to be very - easy, but perhaps acrostics are no longer the fashion and - are somewhat boring. I always think they are more fun to - make than to undo. The solution is a household word here, - because it is only a half-mile or so away, and provides - most things." - -[The family had soon guessed the Acrostic, giving the place as -Dickebusch. The "lights" are-- - - D um B - I o U - Cares S - K lu Ck - E dit H.] - - - [_To a Brother_] - - "_Billets, Tuesday, 13 April 1915_ - - "We are all right here except for the shells. When - I arrived I found every one suffering from nerves - and unwilling to talk about shells at all. And now I - understand why. The other day a shrapnel burst near our - billet and a piece of the case caught one of our servants - (Mr. Laws's) on the leg and hand. He lost the fingers of - his right hand, and I have been trying to forget the mess - it made of his right leg--ever since. He will have had it - amputated by now. - - "They make you feel awfully shaky, and when one comes - over it is surprising the pace at which every one gets - down into any ditch or hole near. - - "One large shell landed right on the field where the - men were playing football on Sunday evening. They all - fell flat, and all, I'm thankful to say, escaped injury, - though a few were within a yard or so of the hole. The - other subalterns of the Company and I were (_mirabile - dictu_) in church at the time. - - "I wonder if you can get hold of some morphia tablets - [for wounded men]. I think injection is too complicated, - but I understand there are tablets that can merely be - placed in the mouth to relieve pain. They might prove - very useful in the trenches, because if a man is hit in - the morning he will usually have to wait till dark to be - removed. - - "My revolver has arrived this morning." - - - "_Sunday, 18 April 1915_ - - "I came out of the trenches on Friday night. It was - raining, so the surface of the ground was very slippery; - and it was the darkest night I can remember. There was a - good deal of 'liveliness' too, shots were flying around - more than usual. There were about a hundred of us in our - party, two platoons (Fletcher's and mine) which had been - in the fire trenches, though I was only with them for one - day, Thursday night till Friday night. Captain Taylor was - in front, then Fletcher's platoon, then Fletcher, then my - platoon, then me bringing up the rear. We always travel - in single file, because there are so many obstacles to - negotiate--plank bridges and 'Johnson' holes being the - chief. - - "Picture us then shuffling our way across the fields - behind the trenches at about one mile an hour--with - frequent stops while those in front negotiate some - obstacle (during these stops we crouch down to try and - miss most of the bullets!). Every few minutes a 'Very' - light will go up and then the whole line 'freezes' and - remains absolutely stationary in its tracks till the - light is over. A 'Very' light is an 'asteroid.' (Noël - will explain that.) It is fired either by means of a - rocket (in the German case) or of a special pistol called - a 'Very' pistol after the inventor (in our case). The - light is not of magnesium brightness, but is just a - bright star light with a little parachute attached, so - that it falls slowly through the air. The light lasts - about five seconds. These things are being shot up at - short intervals all night long. Sometimes dozens are in - the air together, especially if an attack is on. - - "Well, to go back to Friday night:--it took us a very - long time to get back, and at one point it was hard to - believe that they hadn't seen us. Lights went up and - almost a volley whistled over us. We all got right down - and waited for a bit. Really we were much too far off for - them to see us, but we were on rather an exposed bit of - ground, and they very likely fix a few rifles on to that - part in the daytime and 'poop' them off at night. That is - a favourite plan of theirs, and works very well. - - "We did get here in the end, and had no casualties, - though we had had one just before leaving the trench. A - man called Raymond (in my platoon) got shot through the - left forearm. He was firing over the parapet and had been - sniping snipers (firing at their flashes). Rather a nasty - wound through an artery. They applied a tourniquet and - managed to stop the bleeding, but he was so weak from - loss of blood he had to be carried back on a stretcher. - - "I had noticed this man before, partly on account of his - name. Last time I was in the fire trenches (about ten - days ago) I was dozing in my dug-out one evening and the - Sergeant-Major was in his, next door. Suddenly he calls - out 'Raymond!' I started. Then he calls again 'Raymond! - Come here!' I shouted out 'Hallo! What's the matter?' But - then I heard the other Raymond answering, so I guessed - how it was.... - - "While at tea in the next room the post came and brought - me your letter and one from Alec. Isn't it perfectly - marvellous? You were surprised at the speed of my last - letter. But how about yours? The postmark is 2.30 p.m. on - the 16th at Birmingham, and here it is in my hands at 4 - p.m. on the 18th! - - "I was telling you about the difficulties of going to - and fro between here and the trenches, but you will - understand it is not always like that. If there is a - moon, or even if there is a clear sky so that we can get - the benefit of the starlight (which is considerable and - much more than I thought), matters are much improved, - because if you can still see the man in front, when he - is, say, 5 yards in front of you, and can also see the - holes instead of finding them with your person, all that - 'waiting for the "tail" to close up' is done away with.... - - "Last night Laws, Thomas, and myself each took a party of - about forty-five down separately, leaving the remainder - guarding the various billets. Then when we returned - Fletcher took the rest down. - - "It was a glorious night, starry, with a very young and - inexperienced moon, and quite dry and warm. I would not - have minded going down again except that I would rather - go to bed, which I did. - - "Do you know that joke in _Punch_ where the Aunt - says: 'Send me a postcard when you are safely in the - trenches!'? Well, there is a great deal of truth in - that--one feels quite safe when one reaches the friendly - shelter of the trench, though of course the approaches - aren't really very dangerous. One is 'thrilled' by the - whistle of the bullets near you. That describes the - feeling best, I think--it is a kind of excitement." - - - "_Thursday, 22 April 1915, 6.50 p.m._ - - "I have received a most grand periscope packed, with - spare mirrors, in a canvas haversack. It is a glorious - one and I am quite keen to use it, thank you very much - indeed for it. Thank you also for two sets of ear - defenders which I am going to test when firing off a - 'Very' light. A 'parachuted' star is fired from a brass - pistol with a bore of about 1 inch and a barrel of about - 6 inches. The report is very deafening, I believe--though - I haven't fired one yet. - - "The star, by the way, though it lights up the country - for some distance, is not too bright to look at. - - "I have just remembered something I wanted to tell you, - so I will put it in here. - - "When walking to and from the trenches in the darkness, - I find it is a great help to study the stars (not for - purposes of direction). I know very little about them, - and I saw a very useful plan in, I think, the _Daily - News_ of 3 April, called 'The Night Sky in April.' It was - just a circle with the chief planets and stars shown and - labelled. The periphery of the circle represented the - horizon. - - "If you know of such a plan that is quite easily - obtainable I should be glad to have one. The simpler the - thing the better. - - "The books you had sent me, which were passed on to - me by Professor Leith, are much appreciated. They - circulate among officers of this Company like a - library. At the time they arrived we were running - short of reading-matter, but since then our Regimental - Headquarters have come to the rescue and supplied each - Company with half a dozen books, to be passed on to other - Companies afterwards. - - "I enclose an acrostic that I made up while in the - trenches during our last spell. It seems to be a prolific - place for this sort of thing." - -ACROSTIC - -(One word of five letters) - - LIGHTS. The lowest rank with lowest pay, - Don't make this public though, I pray! - Inoculation's victim, though - Defeated still a powerful foe. - When Government 'full-stop' would say - It does so in this novel way. - The verb's success, the noun's disgrace - And lands you in a foreign place. - A king of kings without a roar, - His kingdom that no anger bore. - - The final goal--the end of all-- - What all desire, both great and small. - - R. L., _19 April 1915_ - - [The solution of this is the word _Peace_ given - twice--once inverted. The first 'light,' which is not - 'public' is 'Private'; the second is 'Enteric'; the third - is a sign employed in Government telegrams to denote a - full-stop, viz., 'aaa'; the fourth is 'Capture'; and - the fifth (with apologies) is 'Emp,' and some occult - reference to Edward VII, not remembered now; the kingdom - without anger being Empire without ire.--O. J. L.] - - - "_Friday, 30 April 1915, 4.10 p.m._ - - "I wish you could see me now. I am having a little - holiday in Belgium. At the moment I am sitting in the - shade of a large tree, leaning against its trunk, writing - to you. The sun is pouring down and I have been sitting - in it lying on a fallen tree, but it makes me feel lazy, - so I came here to write (in the shade). - - "Before me, across a moat, is the château--ruined now, - but not by old age. It is quite a handsome building, two - storeys high. It is built of brick with a slate roof; - the bricks are colour-washed yellow with a white band 18 - inches deep under the roof; there are two towers with - pointed roofs that stand to the front of the house, - projecting slightly from it, forming bay windows. These - towers, from the roof down to the ground, are red brick, - as are the fronts of the dormer windows in the main - building. - - "The larger and taller tower is octagonal and stands - in the middle of the front, the smaller one is square - and stands on the right corner. On each side of the - main building are flanking buildings consisting on this - (left) side of a brick-built palm-house and beyond that - again a glass-covered conservatory. The other flank has - a conservatory also, but I have not explored as far as - that. The front of the building is about 70 to 80 yards - long. - -[Illustration] - - "The main entrance is on the other or northern side. It - is reached by a drawbridge over the moat. The house on - that (north) side is not so much damaged. It has long - windows with shutters that give it a continental air. I - can't sketch it, so I have given you a rough elevation - from the south. I am sitting to the south-west, just - across the moat. - -[Illustration] - - "The place is in an awful mess. In some parts it is - difficult to tell how the original building went. One can - see into several of the rooms; the outer wall has fallen - away, exposing about three rooms and an attic. In one - room the floor has dropped at one corner to some 8 feet - below its proper level, and a bed is just above poised on - the edge of the room, almost falling out where the room - is sectioned. - - "There is no glass in any of the green-houses--it is all - on the floor. The palm-house is full of green tubs with - plants in them, mostly overturned. - - "In the garden the trees are blossoming, some of the - fruit trees are covered with white blossom; but many, - even of these, are lying flat and blossoming in the moat. - The drive runs down to the road on the south side in an - absolutely straight line, flanked by tall trees. But many - of these are down too. I was lying on one just now. The - garden is in good order, though getting a little out of - hand. There is a small plantation of gooseberry bushes - that looks very healthy. Shell holes are all about, - however. - - "The house, although it is not on an eminence, commands - a good view to the southward and has a fine view of the - German lines, which are slightly raised just here. The - enemy evidently suspected this château was used as an - observation post, as indeed it may have been. - - "We came out of the trenches on Wednesday night into - Reserve Billets, and I was placed with No. 9 platoon - (instead of my own) in a little house not far from this - château. We are not allowed to leave it by day, or rather - we are not allowed to show ourselves on the south side of - it, as it might draw shell-fire on to it. But I managed - to sneak away to the north under cover of a hedge without - any risk of being seen. - - "After being relieved in the trenches on Wednesday, and - marching back and having a meal with the other officers - of C Company in the Reserve Billets (a brewery), it was - one o'clock before I got to bed in our little house. And - we had to 'stand to arms' in the morning for an hour - while dawn was breaking (we always do, and at dusk too). - So after this I went to sleep till 2 p.m. I sleep in an - outhouse with no door, on straw laid on a brick floor. - My ground-sheet on the straw, my coat over me, my feet - in a sack and an air-cushion under my head, and I can - sleep as peacefully as at home. The place is swarming - with rats and mice, you can hear them directly you lie - still. They go 'plop, plop, plop,' on the straw overhead, - as if they were obliged to take long strides owing to - their feet sinking into the straw. Immediately over my - head, I should judge, there is a family of young rats by - the noise. Occasionally they have a stampede and a lot of - dust comes down on my face. - - "But one gets used to this, and muttering 'Nom d'un - chien!' one turns the other cheek. By the way, they say - these rats 'stand to' at dawn, just as we do. - - "I am terrified of a rat running over my face, but my - servant sleeps with me, so I console myself that the - chances are just even that they won't choose me. I wish - he wouldn't snore though--he's lowering the odds. - - "Last night we had to turn out for fatigue parties. I - took a party down to one of the fire trenches with 'knife - rests.' These are sections of barbed wire entanglement. - They are made by fixing cross-pieces on the ends of a - long pole. The tips of these cross-pieces are joined - together with barbed wire laid parallel to the centre - pole. Then the whole is wound with more barbed wire laid - on spirally, thus: [a sketch] - - These are slung out in front of the trenches and fixed - together. They are now fixed also to the trench, because - the Germans used to harpoon them and draw them over to - their own side! - - "Well, we set off about 11 p.m. and took twenty-two - of these down. We didn't exactly bless the full - moon--although it showed us the holes and obstructions in - the way. Still, we had no casualties and made good time. - We got back about midnight. So I only slept till 12.30 - this morning! Of course I had to get up for an hour at - dawn. I used the time to brew myself some cocoa. I am - getting an expert cook, and can make that 'Bivouac' cocoa - taste like the very finest chocolate.... - - "Just before going into the trenches I received another - of those splendid parcels of cabbage and apples. The - apples are simply splendid. The cabbage is good, but I - never cared very much for it--it is medicinal in this - case. However, it is great to have such a fine supply - of green stuff instead of none at all. The Mess does - appreciate it. - - "I have been supplying our Mess (C Company) with butter. - And the supply sent up to now has just effected this - with none to spare. But I don't know whether you want to - do this, and that is why I suggested cutting down the - supply. I don't want you to think any of it has been - wasted though--it hasn't, and is splendid stuff.... - - "In the trenches one is not always doing nothing. These - last three days in I have been up all night. I had a - working party in two shifts working all night and all - three nights, digging communication trenches. I used to - go to bed about 4.20 a.m. and sleep till lunch-time, and - perhaps lie down again for a bit in the afternoon. That - is why my letters have not been so frequent. - - "It is extraordinary that what is wanted at the moment - is not so much a soldier as a civil engineer. There are - trenches to be laid out and dug, and the drainage of them - to be thought out and carried through. Often the sides - have to be 'riveted' or staked, and a flooring of boards - put in, supported on small piles. - - "Then there is the water-supply, where one exists. I have - had great fun arranging a 'source' in my trench (the - support trench that I have been in these last three days - and that I have been in often before). A little stream, - quite clear and drinkable after boiling, runs out at - one place (at about 1 pint a minute!) and makes a muddy - mess of the trenches near. By damming it up and putting - a water-bottle with the bottom knocked in on top of the - dam, the water runs in a little stream from the mouth of - the bottle. It falls into a hole large enough to receive - a stone water-jar, and then runs away down a deep trough - cut beside the trench. Farther down it is again dammed up - to form a small basin which the men use for washing; and - it finally escapes into a kind of marshy pond in rear of - the trenches. - - "I quite enjoyed this job, and there are many like it; - plank bridges to be put up, seats and steps to be cut, - etc. One officer put half a dozen of his men on to - making a folding bed! But it was not for himself, but - for his Captain, who has meningitis and can't sleep. The - men enjoy these jobs too; it is much better than doing - nothing. - - "I will creep back to my quarters now and make myself - some tea on my 'Primus' (no fires are allowed). - - "A cuckoo has been singing on a tree near me--in full - view. (It left hurriedly when one of our guns went off - close behind the château.) The first time I have ever - seen one, I think. It is amazing how tame the animals - get. They have so much ground to themselves in the - daytime--the rats especially; they flourish freely in the - space between the trenches. - - "Things are fairly quiet and easy here just now." - -[In one of his letters to me (22 April 1915), he said he had plenty -of time now to watch the stars, and would like a set of star maps or -something in order to increase his knowledge of them. Accordingly, -I sent him a planisphere which I happened to have--an ingenious -cardboard arrangement which can be turned so as to show, in a rough -way, the stars visible in these latitudes at any time of day and any -period of the year.--O. J. L.] - - - "_May Day 1915, 3.20 p.m._ - - "Thank you very much for the planisphere and for your - letter. I have often seen the planisphere before, but - never appreciated it until now. - - "As to the 'Very' pistol, I quite agree that the 'barrel' - is too short. If it were longer the light would be thrown - farther, which would be much better. As it is, it falls - between us and the Germans. - - "The German lights, which I now learn are fired from a - kind of mortar and not by a rocket as I thought, are much - better than ours; they give a better and steadier, fatter - light, and they are thrown well behind our trenches. - However, ours are much better, and theirs are worse than - they used to be.... - - "They have not turned the gas on to us here, though on - some days I have smelled distinct traces coming down wind - from the north. I should say it was chlorine rather than - SO_{2} that I smelled. I don't know whether the ammonia - preventive would be better than the soda one. In any - case, the great thing is that one is provided. The soda - method is the one in use, I believe, in the chlorine - works at Widnes and elsewhere." - - - "_Tuesday, 3 May 1915, 12.40 p.m._ - - "For the first three days we are out here in new - billets--officers in a comfortable little house. Last - three days of our 'rest' (!) we are going into a wood - quite close to our 'Reserve Billets.' We are in 'support' - in case of a sudden attack. Roads are so much knocked - about by shells that traffic is limited and restricted. - So we might not be able to support quick enough unless we - were close. - - "Everything is still very much upset, due to the - penetration of our (French) line. They have been shelling - our village from the rear (!) and most of the companies - have had to quit. _We_ (C Company) are well back now.... - - "Two of our platoons went digging last night. Mine was - one. We left here about eight o'clock, and I got back - at 1 a.m., and then I sat up with another subaltern - (Fletcher) after I had had some supper until the other - man (Thomas) had come in and eaten. We went to bed - at 3 a.m. Breakfast at nine this morning, and we are - _resting_. However, I am going to have an absolutely - slack day to-day. A bath too, if I can manage it.... - - "Last night the moon got up very late and was quite - useless. They fire more when there is no light, they get - scared--at least uneasy; they fire off 'Very' lights - constantly, and let off volleys. We lie absolutely flat - while this goes on. It is a funny sight; the men look - like a row of starfish!" - - - "_Tuesday, 11 May 1915, 9.15 a.m._ (_really Wednesday - the_ 12_th. I had got wrong_) - - "We are within view of a well-known place [no doubt - Ypres.--O. J. L.], and the place has been on fire in - three or four places for about two days, and is still - going strong. A magnificent spectacle at night. The place - is, I believe, a city of ruins and dead, and there is - probably no one to put a fire out. Probably, too, a fire - is rather a good thing than otherwise; the place must be - terribly in need of purifying. - - "I was awfully interested in father's dream.[3] Your - letter is dated the 8th, and you say that the other night - he dreamt that I was in the thick of the fighting, but - that they were taking care of me from the other side. - - "Well, I don't know about 'the thick of the fighting,' - but I have been through what I can only describe as a - hell of a shelling with shrapnel. My diary tells me it - was on the 7th, at about 10.15 a.m. Our Company were - ordered forward from one set of dug-outs to others nearer - the firing line, and the formation adopted was platoons - in single file, with intervals between. That is, four - columns of about fifty men each, in single file, with - about 20 to 50 yards between each column. I was the third - platoon, though I was not with my own but with No. 9. - Fletcher brought up the last one, thus:-- - -[Illustration] - - (My platoon is No. 11.--No. 9's platoon commander, Laws, - is in England on sick leave, as his nerves are all wrong.) - - "Well, anyhow, we had not gone far before the gunners - saw us, and an aeroplane was flying along above and with - us. They sent over some 'Johnsons,' but these all went - too far; we were screened by a reservoir embankment. - However, we had to pass through a ruined village and they - knew it, so they put shrapnel over it. Still we were - unaffected. But when we came out into the open on the - far side, we caught it properly. Shell after shell came - over and burst above us, and when I and about three men - behind me had just turned a corner one burst above, in - exactly the spot I should have wished it to if I had been - the enemy. I looked up and saw the air full of flying - pieces, some large and some small. These spattered down - all round us. I was untouched, but my servant, who was - immediately behind me, was hit on the knee, but only - wounded slightly. He was rather scared. I led him back - round the corner again and put him in a ditch. The rest - of the platoon got in too, while I was doing this. I - thought that was the best thing they could do until the - shelling ceased, but Fletcher shouted that we must get - on, whatever happened. - - "So I called the men out again, and, leaving a man with - the wounded, we set off. I don't believe it was right, - but we just walked along. It felt rather awful. (When - one is _retiring_ it is important not to let the men - 'double,' as they get out of hand; but in this case we - were advancing, so I think we might have done so.) I felt - very much protected. It was really a miracle that we - weren't nearly all 'wiped out.' The shrapnel seemed very - poor stuff. As it was, we had one man killed and about - five or six injured, all more or less slightly. - - "We moved up into a support trench that same evening, and - after a couple of days we moved a few yards farther to - these trenches, which are also support trenches. Things - are very quiet, and I am enjoying myself very much. If it - wasn't for the unpleasant sights one is liable to see, - war would be a most interesting and pleasant affair. - - "My friends the other officers of C Company have given - me the honorary position of 'O.C. Works.' One is always - 'O.C. something or other' out here--all but the Colonel, - he is 'C.O.' Orders for the day read: "O.C. Companies - will do so-and-so.' Then there are O.C. Details, O.C. - Reinforcements, etc. 'O.C.' of course stands for 'officer - commanding.' Well, I am 'O.C. Works,' and have a fine - time. I just do any job I fancy, giving preference to - trench improvement. It is fine to have at one's disposal - a large squad of men with shovels (or without). They - fill sandbags and carry them, they carry timber and saw - it, and in short do anything that is required. One can - accomplish something under these conditions." - - - _"6 p.m._ - - "We have been told that we are being relieved to-night, - and that we are going back to our old place (No. 2). So - everything should be as before, once we are back. We may - not manage to get _all_ the way back to-night, as we - cannot travel by daylight as most of the road is under - direct observation. If daylight catches us we shall - encamp in dug-outs _en route_. - - "I am rather disappointed that we are going to-night, as - Fletcher and I were going to rebuild our dug-out here. - We both got very keen indeed and had laid out the plan - carefully. (He has been an architect.) - - "I had another disappointment when I was back in - the wood (as supports). It reminds me of one of our - Quartermaster-Sergeants in Edinburgh. He is an Irishman, - O'Brien. I found him on the platform while we were - waiting to see a draft off; he looked very despondent. - I asked him how he was, and was surprised when he - replied, 'I've had a reverse, sorr!' It turned out that - he had applied to headquarters for an improvement in his - position, and was told he _didn't deserve any_. It had - almost broken his heart! - - "Well, _I_ had a reverse. I was given the job of building - a hut and was nearly through with it when we were ordered - away. If we get back to the old wood again I shall go on - with it, in spite of whatever the present tenants may - have done in the way of completing it (our guns are now - 'going at it' hammer and tongs). - - "I did enjoy laying the sandbags and building a proper - wall with 'headers' and 'stretchers.' I got a very - good testimonial too, for the Sergeant asked me in all - seriousness whether I was a brick-setter in civil life. I - was awfully proud. - - - "_Later_ - - "(I had to leave off here because we were ordered to - 'fire-rapid' in between periods of our artillery fire, - and I had to turn out to watch.)" - - -NOTE BY O. J. L. - -The dream referred to, near the beginning of this long letter to his -mother, Mr. J. Arthur Hill remembers that I told him of, in a letter -dated 7 May 1915, which he has now returned; and I reproduce it -here:-- - - - "To J. A. H. - - "_7 May 1915_ - - "I do not reckon that I often have conscious intuitions; - and when I have had vivid dreams they have not meant - anything, though once or twice I have recorded them - because I have them seldom. I happen, however, to have - had an intuition this morning, before I was more than - half awake, which, though not specially vivid, perhaps - I had better record, namely, that an attack was going - on at the present moment, that my son was in it, but - that 'they' were taking care of him. I had this clearly - in mind before seeing the morning papers; and indeed - I do not know that there is anything in the morning - papers suggesting it, since of course their news is - comparatively old. One might have surmised, however, that - there would be a struggle for Hill 60, and I know that my - son is not far off Ypres. (By the way, I have been told - that the Flemish Belgians really do call it 'Wipers'; it - does not sound likely, and it needs confirmation. I know - of course that our troops are said to call it so, which - is natural enough.) O. J. L." - -I now (August 1916) notice for the first time that the coincidence -in time between dream and fact is rather good, especially as it was -the only dream or 'impression' that I remember having during the war. -Practically I do not dream. - -But as this incident raises the question of possible presentiment I -must deny that we had any serious presentiment about Raymond. My wife -tells me that her anxiety about Raymond, though always present, was -hardly keen, as she had an idea that he would be protected. She wrote -to a friend on 22 March 1915:-- - - "... I ought to get him back safe. I have a hole in my - heart and shall have till he comes back. I only saw him - for the inside of an hour before he left, as I was away - when he came home for six hours...." - -At the same time I must admit that on the morning of 15 September -1915 (the day after Raymond's death, which we did not know of till -the 17th) I was in an exceptional state of depression; and though -a special game, to which I had been looking forward, on the No. 1 -Course at Gullane had been arranged with Rowland Waterhouse, I could -not play a bit. Not ordinary bad play, but total incompetence; so -much so that after seven holes we gave up the game, and returned to -the hotel. To make sure of the date, I wrote to Rowland Waterhouse, -asking him when that abortive match occurred, since I knew that it -was his last day at Gullane. He replies:-- - -"Violet and I left Gullane for Musselburgh on Wednesday, 15 -September. Our final match ended that morning on the eighth tee" -[which that year was on the reservoir hill]. - - -One more dream I may as well now mention:-- - -After the family had returned home from Scotland and elsewhere, -near the end of September 1915, and begun to settle down, Alec, -who had felt Raymond's death exceedingly, told me that the night -before he heard the news--or rather the early morning of the same -day, 17 September--he had had an extraordinarily painful and vivid -dream, quite an exceptional occurrence for him, and one of which he -had spoken to a manageress in the hotel near Swansea where he was -staying, describing it as the worst he had ever had in his life. He -did not know that it had any significance, and neither do I, as the -dream, though rather ghastly, was not about Raymond or anyone in -particular; but it seemed an odd coincidence that the ill news should -be, so to speak, on the way, at the time of a quite exceptional and -painful impression. The person to whom he told the dream handed him -the telegram a few hours later. He has written the dream down, but it -need not be reproduced. - -No real provision is involved in any of this, unless it be that of -an hour or two in my own impression, in May; but for general remarks -on the question of the possibility of prevision Chapter V in Part III -may be referred to. - - - "_Friday, 14 May 1915_ - - "I had a glorious hot bath yesterday; Fletcher and I - went up to the brewery here. The bath is zinc, and full - length, and we have as much water, and as hot, as we - like.... - - "I spent some time too stemming the leaks in the roof - of our shed. With my _two_ waterproof sheets I have - rigged up a kind of chute above my bed, so that any water - that comes through the roof is led down behind my head. - I don't know what happens to it there. I thought of - leading it across on to the man next me, as the Germans - used to do in the winter campaign. They fitted a pump - in their trenches and led the delivery pipe forward, so - that the water used to run into ours--only the plan was - discovered.... - - "I wonder if you saw the appreciation of the soda cake - on the back of my letter from the woods. M.P. stands for - Mess President. Fletcher was M.P. and was a very good - one. I am now, as he has done it for a long time and is - tired.... - - "As cheerful and well and happy as ever. Don't think I am - having a rotten time--I am not." - - - "_Sunday, 5.40 p.m., 16 May 1915_ - - "We had a very fine piece of news yesterday. Over three - weeks ago we were called out one night and were urgently - required to dig a certain new trench behind our lines. - The men worked splendidly and got the job done in a very - short time (working of course in complete darkness). The - next day the Brigadier-General inspected the trench and - sent in a complimentary message about it to our Colonel. - The day after he complimented us again--for the same - piece of work! Well, we have had several such jobs to - do, and just recently we have been to Hill 60, where the - bulk of our work was deepening the trenches and improving - the parapets. We were lent for this purpose to another - Division (the Division that is at the moment occupying - that area), and were away from here exactly a week. We - got a splendid testimonial from the General of this other - Division, who told our Colonel he had got 'a top-hole - battalion.' Arising out of all this, we have now been - selected as a 'Pioneer Battalion,' We are relieved from - all ordinary trench work for some time to come. We simply - go out at night and dig trenches or build parapets and so - forth, and have the day to ourselves. This was arranged - yesterday, and last night we went out and returned here - at 1.30 a.m. The work is more or less under fire, but - only from stray shots and nothing very serious. Our - Colonel is awfully pleased that we have done so well; and - we are all pleased with the new arrangement. One great - advantage is that we can settle down in our billets and - are not continually having to pack up everything and move - off. We can now start and make tables, chairs, beds, a - proper door for the hut, a glass window, and so on.... - - "As to aeroplanes, when one passes overhead a whistle - is blown and every one either takes cover or stands - perfectly still. The men are forbidden to look up. Then - the whistle is blown several times when the danger is - past. I am afraid, though, these regulations are more - honoured in the breach than the observance. - - "We had quite a nice informal service here this afternoon - sitting in a field. The chaplain has the rank of Major - and has been out here seven months. - - "Yesterday the Captain, Fletcher, and myself went for a - ride on horses. We went about five miles out, stopped for - about twenty minutes at a little inn (the last in Belgium - on that particular road), and then came back again. The - country was perfectly lovely, though I did not appreciate - it as much as I otherwise would have done, as I had a - trooper's saddle and the Captain would trot. I got most - awfully sore going out, and thought I should never be - able to get back. However, I discovered a method at last, - and that was to go at a full gallop. So I alternately - went at a walk and 'hell for leather,' and got back in - comparative comfort. I thoroughly enjoyed it; it was - very bad for the horse, I am afraid, on the stone setts - (_pavé_), but sometimes I could get him on to the softer - bits at the side. I was terribly afraid some one would - think the horse was running away with me and 'block' him, - so I had to look as pleased as possible. And really I - _was_ pleased, it was such a blessed relief after that - awful trotting. I trotted along in rear of the other two - until I could stand it no longer, and then I encouraged - my nag and hit him until he broke into a canter, and - then I roared past the others, who cursed like anything - because theirs wanted to gallop too. My horse's cantor - changed imperceptibly into a full gallop, and I 'got down - to it' and felt like a jockey. After about half a mile I - would walk until the others came up and passed me, and - then I would go off again. All the same, I am very sore. - - "Good-bye for the present; it is lovely hot weather and - we are all well--fit--and happy." - - - "_Tuesday, 18 May 1915, 5.15 p.m._ - - "MY DEAR NORAH AND BARBARA,--I don't expect I am far - wrong in attributing my ripping present of dates and figs - to you two. I did enjoy them, and they are not finished - yet. - - "They arrived by the first post after we had returned - from our little trip. We were at Hill 60; it was so - interesting and rather exciting, although we were there - chiefly, I think, to improve the trenches, which were - very shallow and dangerous when we arrived. - - "The men worked splendidly--all night and most of the - day, and, when we left, the trenches were vastly improved - and quite habitable. We also made some entirely new ones. - We are now kept for this sort of job only, and we go out - working at nights and sleep by day. - - "I must explain to you about 'standing to.' A proportion - of the men are always awake in the trenches to guard - against surprises, for as the most likely times for an - attack are at dawn and at dusk, everybody has to be awake - and ready then. Of course it does interfere with your - sleep, and you do not get very much as a rule in the - trenches, but that is why you are not there for more than - about three days at a time. In the 'supports' you 'stand - to' so as to be ready to reinforce the front line quickly - in case of an attack. Out in 'Rest Billets,' I am glad to - say, it is no longer necessary. - - "I am so sorry, my friend Fletcher has just gone off - this morning for a rest cure. I shall miss him awfully. - He is about five miles away and I am going to ride over - to-morrow to see him. But later on he will probably go - back to England. His nerves are all wrong and he needs a - rest, - - "Good-bye for now, and very best wishes to you - both.--Your very loving brother, - - RAYMOND" - - - "I hope you get my _communiqués_ regularly from home - (swank). Some one must have the time of their lives - copying out all the stuff I write. I hope, however, there - are a few grains in the bundle of chaff (I'm fishing - again)! - - "You say, Norah, that you don't think the château was - as quiet as I described. Well, provided I mentioned our - gun, that went off at occasional intervals close behind - it with a terrific report, it was just as I described--a - peaceful summer afternoon. I know that people think that - everything in Belgium is chaos and slaughter, but it - isn't so. For instance, where Fletcher is, is a charming - country place with trees and fields and everything - in full green. Simply ripping. If I had only had a - motor-cycle to see it from instead of a trotting horse I - should have enjoyed it even more! - - R." - - - "_Wednesday, 19 May 1915, 12.50 p.m._ - - "You must know that we have now only three officers in - our Company. I am very sorry indeed to lose Fletcher. He - went off for a rest cure yesterday morning to a place - about five miles from here. He is my greatest friend - in the Battalion, so I miss him very much and hope he - won't be long away. He will probably go back to England, - however, as his nerves are all wrong. He is going the - same way as Laws did and needs a complete rest. I am - going to ride over to see him this afternoon with the - Captain. I am afraid it won't be 'good going' as the - roads are thick with mud. The slightest rain, and they - are as bad as ever. - - "I told you that I was Mess President (M.P.). I am - sure you would smile to see me ordering the meals, and - inspecting the joints. I don't know anything about them, - and when the cook calls me up specially to view a joint I - have hastily to decide whether he means me to disparage - it--or the reverse. However, I am usually safe in running - it down." - - - "_Thursday, 20 May 1915, 9.10 a.m._ - - "We rode over and saw Fletcher yesterday and had tea - with him. He is with about twenty other similar cases - in a splendid château (this one is not ruined and has - magnificent grounds). Unfortunately this is probably - the very worst possible treatment he could have. He has - nothing to do, no interest in anything, and no society - except people who, like himself, want cheering. He does - not read, he does not even walk about the grounds. He - cannot sleep much, and he said he did not know exactly - _what_ he did. Under these conditions I know it will not - be long before he is sent home. Brooding is just the very - worst thing for him. He sees all the past horrors all - over again; things which, at the time, he shut his mind - to. The best treatment (even better than home, _I_ think) - would be to send him back for a month or so to Crosby. He - would then have plenty to occupy his mind and would have - cheerful companions...." - - - "_6.20 p.m._ - - "I have attached a list of a few slang terms and curious - expressions in use in this Regiment and I believe - universal at the moment. Some of these are amazing, and - it is difficult to trace the origin. 'Drumming up' is - one, and 'wind up' another. I saw an old Belgian cart - yesterday, a three-wheeled affair. It had been overturned - on its side and the spokes of the lowest wheel had been - broken. Well, some one had 'drummed up' on them--every - one had disappeared. These men here will 'drum up' on - anything. 'Drumming up' on a thing does not mean lighting - a fire _on_ it but _with_ it. - - "When we were at that place where we were for a week, - there was a most peculiar state of affairs. The Germans - were holding a small piece of trench joining, and in line - with, ours. They were only separated from us by double - barricades--their and ours. They corresponded to the meat - in a sandwich. [A sketch is omitted.] When I say 'ours' - I mean the English. I was not actually in this trench, - but in the one just behind. The trench on one side of the - 'meat' was held by one of our Companies, and the other by - another Regiment...." - - - "_Friday, 10.20 a.m._ - - "My nickname in the Mess is 'Maurice' (with a French - pronunciation); I am called after the small boy in the - grocery shop here. The good dame always says 'Oui, - monsieur le lieutenant!' 'Non, monsieur le lieutenant!' - to everything one says; she gets in about six to the - minute. Well, we used to imitate her after our visits - to the shop, and one day she called out 'Maurice'; so - Fletcher calls me 'Maurice,' and I reply, 'Oui, monsieur - le lieutenant.'" - - SOME MILITARY TERMS - - WATER-PARTY A fatigue party carrying water. - - TO HAVE WIND UP (to rhyme with 'pinned up')--To be - uneasy, 'on edge.' - - DRUMMING UP Making a fire for the purpose of warming food. - - BLIGHTY England. - - A BLIGHTY WOUND A wound that necessitates invaliding - home. PUCCA Real, genuine. - - RALLY UP A short period of considerable firing in the - trenches. - - DUG-OUT A cramped dwelling-place, usually above ground. - - STAND-TO An hour of preparedness at dawn and at dusk when - every one is awake and wears his equipment (in trenches - and supports only). - - STAND-DOWN The finish of 'stand-to.' - - KNIFE-RESTS Barbed wire in sections. - - CUSHY A 'soft' thing. - - TO GO SICK To report oneself ill to the doctor. - - TO GET DOWN TO IT To lie down, go to bed. - - CRIBBING OR GROUSING Complaining. - - R. L. 20.5.15 - - -[_To a Brother_] - - "_26 May 1915_ - - "I expect you have read it, but I want to recommend to - you _Simon Dale_, by Anthony Hope. - - "We had the gas over here on Monday morning about 3 or 4 - a.m. Although it was coming from a point about four miles - away, as we learnt afterwards, it was very strong and - made our eyes smart very much. - - "We have got hold of some liqueurs from Railhead, a large - bottle of Chartreuse and one of Curaçao. - - "Good-bye and good luck." - - - "_Saturday, 29 May 1915, 8.30 p.m._ - - "We have again done a little move, this time with bag and - baggage. We are now on the outskirts of 'No. 1,' and due - west of it. The men have built themselves dug-outs along - a hedge and we (C Coy. officers) are installed in an - untouched château. Quite comfortable. Fine lofty rooms. - We only use part of the house. We have the kitchen, and a - large dining-room on the ground floor. We sleep upstairs - on the first floor (our valise on hay). At least, Thomas - and I do, the Captain and Case have moved down and sleep - on large fat palliasses in the dining-room! We have - the rest of the house empty to ourselves to-night, but - various headquarter staffs seem to come in turn and - occupy two of the other ground floor rooms occasionally. - - "We have been out two nights digging on the opposite side - of the town, but we have not been ordered out to-night, - so far. - - "I notice I have now been gazetted back to 15 August, the - same as most of my contemporaries. - - "There has been a suggestion made that I should take a - course of machine-gun instruction in order that I might - act as understudy to our present Machine-Gun Officer - (M.G.O.) who is Roscoe, and is the successor to Wyatt. - I agreed, but it may have 'fallen through' owing to the - move. If it comes off I shall go for a fortnight's course - to a place which I will call No. 3 [probably St. Omer.] - - "I got a letter from you to-day about 5 p.m. I was so - glad. - - "No, I am not making things out better than they really - are. I like to write mostly about the pleasant parts, of - course. We have our unpleasant moments, shelling and so - on, but no very bad times as yet. Being on tenterhooks is - quite the worst part. - - "As regards Fletcher being worse than us, of course he - came out much earlier. He left Edinburgh for the Front - on 4 January, and Laws left on 31 December. He has had - some awful times and the winter campaign, and in any - case the length of time one is exposed to the mental - strain and worry makes a difference. I do my best to - keep cheerful and happy all the time--I don't believe in - meeting trouble half-way. If there was some indication - of the termination of the war it would help matters--the - unending vista is apt to be rather disheartening at - times. I am very glad Italy is in--at last. - - "By the way, Fletcher has not been sent to England - (Blighty) after all. He is at Versailles, in the No. 4 - General Hospital there, having a nice time if he can - enjoy it. This hospital is the Trianon Palace. The - Captain had a letter from him in which he sent his love - to 'Maurice' and 'his lordship' (that's Thomas)." - - - "_2 June 1915, 4.45 p.m._ - - "Our interpreter is a Belgian, and is a very nice man. He - does our shopping for us in the town, which is ten miles - or so away, and (as now arranged) he makes the journey - twice a week. It is very funny to hear him talk, he - picks up the soldiers' idioms and uses them in the wrong - places. One he is very fond of is the expression 'Every - time'! He puts such a funny emphasis on it. - - "The last member of our Mess is a man who has just come - out and has not long had his commission. He used to be - Regimental Sergeant-Major to our 1st Battalion and has - had about twenty-six years' service, so he knows his job. - - "Unfortunately, however, his arrival is not an unmixed - blessing. The Captain is seized with enthusiasm and wants - to make our Company the finest Company in the Battalion. - The result is that we have now nothing but parades and - much less rest than before. When we were turned into a - pioneer battalion the Colonel told the men that they - would go digging at night and would do nothing else - except for rifle inspection. Now, however, we have in - addition an hour's drill of various sorts in the morning - and a lecture to N.C.O.s in the afternoon, at which all - subalterns have to attend and take notes. On the day - following a rest night we have to be up about seven - o'clock, and be on parade while the men do half an hour's - physical exercise before breakfast. Then we have an hour - and a half's drill afterwards and the lecture. And these - parades seem to be growing. I am afraid they will wear - us all out and the men as well. Thomas feels it most - and is very worried--although he is Senior Subaltern in - the Company he is left right out of things. I am afraid - of his going like Laws and Fletcher did. Some 'rankers' - are very good fellows. They bring tremendous experience - with them, but, on the other hand, we bring something - too, and when they ride the high horse they can be very - unbearable.... - - "I got a supply of paraffin to-day; D Company has bought - a huge barrel of it, and I sent over a petrol tin for - some. They gave me nearly two gallons and asked if I - could let them have a window in exchange! I hunted round - and found quite a good loose one and sent it across with - my compliments. The reason they have bought up so much - paraffin is because their Captain has presented pocket - Primuses to his men. Each section of twelve men has - one between them with one man in charge of it. It is a - killing sight to see their Company sitting in a field and - drumming up! - - "The Belgian cooking stove is rather a curious thing. - It is of the same design in every house apparently. It - consists of a metal urn to hold the fire; this has a - removable lid for which you can substitute a kettle or - pan which just fits the round opening. The urn stands - about 3 feet from the wall and has a flat-shaped iron - chimney leading into the main chimney. This iron chimney - can be used for heating pots or for warming plates. The - base of the urn is an ash collector. You will see that - there is no oven; this is built separately and is a brick - affair with a separate fire to it. [Sketch.]" - - - "_Thursday, 3 June 1915, 1.30 p.m._ - - "I am all right again to-day; you mustn't pay any - attention to my grumbles, it just depends what I feel - like; and I am going to stir things up about these - parades. We had a fine time last night--very exciting. - We went through the heart of the city and it is still - very much on fire. The enemy keeps sending an occasional - shell into it to keep it going. Just on the far side is a - graveyard, and this has been 'crumped' out of existence - nearly! It is an unpleasant place to pass now. - - "The town is almost unbelievable. I don't think anyone - would credit that they could do so much damage and not - leave a single house untouched, without entering the - place at all. [Ypres again, probably.] - - "Our digging last night was near a small road much used - by transport (which is very audible at night). As the - enemy can hear the rumble of the horse-drawn carts quite - plainly, they kept on sending shrapnel over, and we had - quite a warm time of it. We were quite glad to get away - again. (No one was hit while we were there.) - - "I was very interested in father's pamphlet on 'War and - Christianity,' and I have passed it on to the others. I - like the way he gets right outside and looks at things - from above. It is a very soothing thing to read.[4]... - - "I had such an interesting talk with the interpreter - yesterday (his rank is the equivalent of one of our - Sergeant-Majors). He was a merchant in Morocco, and - chucked up everything and came and joined the Belgian - army as a private. He fought at Namur, Antwerp, and other - places, and is most awfully keen. He was offered the - job of Interpreter to the British Army, and, thinking - he could help more by that means and also partly for - monetary considerations, he took the job. He understood - he would be fighting with us in the trenches, but they - have put him on to shopping for us! He is awfully - disappointed. He rides up when he can, and when we went - up to Hill 60 he went up with our transports and showed - them the way and helped them a lot, although shells were - falling all round. He is a most gentlemanly man; his name - is Polchet.... - - "I had a letter from Violet and another from Margaret - yesterday. I understand they have gone up to Edinburgh - now; I shall like to go up there too 'after the war.' - I believe Violet is getting _my_ room ready for me in - their house. I like everything very plain, just a valise - and a little hay, and then you see if I am hungry in the - night----.... - - "P.S.--I had a most interesting letter from Oliver. His - discussion of Italy's motives is fine. I like hearing - what people think of events; we are apt to get very - warped views out here unless we have the other point of - view occasionally." - - - "_Sunday, 6 June 1915, 12 p.m._ - - "The Mess was thrown into the greatest state of - excitement yesterday by the arrival of kippers! How - splendid! - - We had a grand breakfast this morning, quite like the - summer holidays again--breakfast after a bathe--with Alec - of course!... - - "By the way, I did not present the last lot of asparagus - to the Mess--this was not because we didn't appreciate - it, but because I felt so sorry for M. Polchet (our - interpreter), and I wondered if he had any green stuff or - luxuries. So I sent it over to him. And do you know what - he has done? He has just sent me a shallow wooden box - with a thick cotton-wool pad in it. In the pad are six - hollows, and in each hollow is a ripping nectarine. Isn't - it fine of him? - - "We have roses picked every day for the Mess-room; it - does improve it. The other evening we had a specially - nice meal. We sat round the polished table with candles - in the centre and bowls of roses round them (as a matter - of fact the bowls were old tinned-fruit tins, but what of - that). The food was very special, though I can't remember - what it was, but to crown all there was in the room just - across the passage ... a real fiddler with a real fiddle. - I really don't know how he managed to bring a fiddle out - here; he is a private in the Royal Garrison Artillery, - and plays simply beautifully. He has long hair and just - a suggestion of side whiskers, and large boots, and, but - that he would not be complimented, looks like a Viennese. - - "He started off by playing Grand Opera--I believe--and he - gave us the Intermezzo from 'Cavalleria Rusticana.' Then - he gave us 'Gipsy Love' and the 'Merry Widow,' and so on. - He finished up with American ragtime. We sent him in a - bottle of whisky half-way through the performance, and - the music got lighter thenceforward. It was most amusing - to notice the effect. When we looked in later the whisky - was standing on the table, and he was walking round it - with his fiddle, playing hard and apparently serenading - it! - - "I was inoculated again on Friday evening because it is - only _really_ effective for about six months, and there - is going to be a lot of enteric about, I expect. This - apparently is just the very place for it--flat low-lying - country, poor water supply, and the soil heavily manured. - So I have been feeling rather weak and feverish after it, - but I am better again now. I have to have it done again - ten days later--but the second time is not so bad. - - "Talking about roses, Thomas picked a beauty this morning - (before I got up) and brought it to me in bed. It is in - front of me now, and is 5 inches across, and has a very - fine smell." - - - "_Wednesday, 16 June 1915, 1.30 p.m._ - - "We made an attack early this morning, and our Company - waited here to receive the prisoners. Poor devils, I do - feel so sorry for them. One officer of sixteen with six - weeks' service. Old men with grey beards too, and many - of the student type with spectacles--not fit to have to - fight. - - "You remember 'Very Pressing are the Germans'; well, - that's where I am, right inside the walls. Quite - shell-proof, but very dank. - - "I have got the machine-gun job, and am going for a - fortnight's course, starting on the 26th of June." - - - "_Monday, 21 June 1915, 4.30 p.m._ - - "We have had an extremely trying time lately, and I am - very sorry to say we have lost Thomas. - - "He was hit on the head by shrapnel on the night - after the attack--I expect you saw the account in the - papers--and died about an hour later, having never - recovered consciousness. - - "It was a most fatal night--the whole battalion was - ordered out digging to consolidate the captured - positions. We got half-way out, and then got stuck--the - road being blocked by parties of wounded. We waited on a - path alongside a hedge for over an hour, and though we - could not be seen we had a good deal of shrapnel sent - over us. To make matters worse, they put some gas shells - near, and we had to wear our helmets though the gas was - not very strong. It was exceedingly unpleasant, and we - could hardly see at all. It was while we were waiting - like this that Thomas got knocked out. - - "We are all sorry to lose him, and I miss him very much, - but it is nothing to the trouble there will be at his - home, for he is his mother's favourite son. - - "I have written to his mother, but I have not told her - what makes us feel so mad about it--namely, that we did - no digging that night at all. When we got to the position - we were so late, and there was still such confusion there - due to the attack, that we marched back again and just - got in before daylight. We might just as well never have - gone out. Isn't it fairly sickening? - - "The next night we went out again, and we had a very - quiet night and no casualties. The scene of the battle - was pretty bad, and I put all my spare men on to burying. - - "Altogether we are very thankful to have a change from - 'pioneering,' and get back to the trenches! - - "Our chief trouble here is snipers. We are in a wood, and - parties going for water and so on to our headquarters - _will_ walk outside the trench instead of in it, just - because the trench goes like this. [A diagram is - omitted.] They take the straight course along the side - in spite of repeated warnings. There is one point that - a sniper has got marked. He gets our men coming back as - they get into the trench just too late. We had a man hit - this morning, but not badly, and a few minutes ago I had - to stop this letter and go to a man of B Company who had - got hit, and rather more seriously, at the same spot. I - have put up a large notice there now, and hope it will - prevent any more. - - "I am sorry this is not a very cheerful letter, but we - have all been rather sad lately. I am getting over it - now. Luckily one absorbs these things very gradually; - I could not realise it at first. It was an awful blow, - because, especially since Fletcher went away (he is now - at home), we had become very friendly, and one is apt - to forget that there is always the chance of losing a - friend suddenly. As a matter of fact, Thomas is the first - officer of C Company that has been killed for seven - months. - - "When we were up in this wood before, digging (about a - fortnight ago) B Company lost Captain Salter. I dare say - you saw his name in the Roll of Honour. We were just - going to collect our spades and come in, when he was shot - through the head by a stray bullet. - - "What a very melancholy strain I am writing in, I am - so sorry. I am quite well and fit. We have mislaid our - mess-box coming up here with all our specially selected - foods. The result is we are on short commons--great fun. - I am eating awful messes and enjoying them. Fried bacon - and fried cheese together! Awful; but, by Jove, when - you're hungry." - - -LETTER FROM RAYMOND TO THE MOTHER OF AN OFFICER FRIEND OF HIS WHO -HAD BEEN KILLED - - "_2nd S. Lancashire Regt., B.E.F., Front, 17 June 1915_ - - "DEAR MRS. THOMAS,--I am very sorry to say I have to tell - you the very worst of bad news. I know what Humphrey's - loss must be to you, and I want to tell you how much it - is to all of us too. I know I have not realised it yet - myself properly. I have been in a kind of trance since - last night and I dread to wake up. - - "He was a very fine friend to me, especially since - Fletcher went away, and I miss him frightfully. Last - night (16th to 17th) the whole Battalion went out - digging. There had been an attack by the English early - the same morning, and the enemy's guns were still very - busy even in the evening. Our road was blocked in front - owing to the moving of a lot of wounded, and while we - were held up on a little field path alongside a hedge - we had several shrapnel shells over us. To add to the - horrors of the situation they had put some gas shells - over too, and we were obliged to put on our gas helmets. - While Humphrey was standing with his helmet on in the - rear of our Company talking to the Captain of the Company - behind, a shell came over and a piece of it caught him - on the head. He was rendered unconscious, and it was - evident from the first he had no chance of recovery. - He was immediately taken a little way back to a place - where there was no gas, and here the doctor dressed his - wound. He was then taken back on a stretcher to the - dressing-station. He died there about an hour after he - had been admitted, having never recovered consciousness. - - "If he had to die, I am thankful he was spared pain - beforehand. It made my heart ache this afternoon packing - his valise; I have given his chocolate, cigarettes, and - tobacco to the Mess, and I have wrapped up his diary and - a few loose letters and made them into a small parcel - which is in the middle of his valise. - - "The papers and valuables which he had on him at the - time will be sent back through our headquarters, the - other things, such as letters, etc., in his other pockets - I have left just as they were. I hope the valise will - arrive safely. - - "He will be buried very simply, and probably due east - of Ypres about three-quarters of a mile out--near the - dressing-station. I will of course see he has a proper - cross. - - "Humphrey was splendid always when shells were bursting - near. He hated them as much as any of us, but he just - made himself appear unconcerned in order to put heart - into the troops. Three nights ago we were digging a - trench and the Germans thought our attack was coming off - that night. For nearly three-quarters of an hour they put - every kind of shell over us and some came very close. We - all lay down in the trench and waited. On looking up once - I was amazed to see a lone figure walking calmly about as - if nothing was going on at all. It may have been foolish - but it was grand." - - - "_Tuesday, 22 June 1915, 4.45 p.m._ - - "Well! What a long war, isn't it? Never mind, I believe - it will finish up without much help from us, and our - job is really killing time. And our time is so pleasant - it doesn't need much killing out here. The days roll - along--nice sunny days too--bringing us nearer I suppose - to Peace. (One hardly dares even to write the word now, - it has such a significance.) There have been cases where - the war has driven people off their heads (this applies - only, I think, to the winter campaign), but I often think - if Peace comes suddenly that there will be many such - cases. - - "It really is rather amazing the unanimity of everybody - on this subject, and it must be the same behind the - German front-line trenches. - - "I should think that never in this world before have - there been so many men so 'fed up' before. And then the - women at home too--it is wonderful where the driving - force comes from to keep things going on. - - "But still--I don't want to convey a false impression. If - you took my last letter by itself you might think things - were very terrible out here all the time. They are not. - On the whole it is not a bad time at all. The life is - full of interest, and the discomforts are few and far - between. Bad times do come along occasionally, but they - are by way of exceptions. It is most like a long picnic - in all sorts of places with a sort of constraint and - uneasiness in the air. This last is purely mental, and - the less one worries about it the less it is, and so one - can contrive to be light-hearted and happy through it - all--unless one starts to get depressed and moody. And it - is just that which has happened to Laws and Fletcher and - one or two others. They had been out long and had seen - unpleasant times and without an occasional rest; none but - the very thick can stand it." - - - "_Saturday, 26 June 1915, 6.40 p.m._ - - "Here I am installed in the school [Machine Gun] which - is, or was, a convent. Fine large place and grounds. - Two officers per bedroom and a large Mess-room; about - twenty officers up for the course (or more) which starts - to-morrow (Sunday). Your solution of the Thompson - acrostic [St. Omer] was perfectly right, we _are_ far - back. This convent is about two miles from that town. - - "I am so pleased to be in the 'pleasant, sunny land of - France,' amid absolute peacefulness. We had a curious - journey. Last night I slept at our transport (and had - a bath!). I got up soon after six, mounted a horse - just before eight (after breakfast). My servant and my - valise, also a groom to bring my horse back, came in a - limber. And that excellent man Polchet rode all the way - to _Divisional_ Headquarters with me, although it was - about six miles out of his way. We got to Headquarters - at a quarter to ten--a motor-bus was to start at ten - for here. It started at 10.30 with me, my luggage, and - my servant (I don't know why he comes last) in it. The - Harborne motor-buses in the Harborne High Street weren't - in it. We got shaken to a jelly--we were on top. We went - back about two miles to pick up some of our Division, - and having done so, we set off to pick up some of the - 14th Division, at a point carefully specified in our - driver's instructions. This was about five miles away, - in our proper direction. But when we got to the spot we - discovered they (the Division) had left it a week ago - and gone to a point quite close to where we had just - picked up the 3rd Division men. I telephoned in vain; - we had to go all the way back. We found the place with - difficulty (we found all our places with difficulty as - we had no maps), collected the men, and came all the way - out _again_. Then we came straight here, which was about - fifteen miles at least. We got here at 4.30 p.m.! Six - hours' motorbussing! and the bus's maximum was 25 m.p.h. - at least, I should judge. Luckily it was a glorious day, - and I sat in front with the driver and enjoyed it all.... - - "I told you leave was starting--well, it has now started. - Three of our officers have gone--and all together! They - are only getting three clear days in England--but still! - - "I am going to find out when this course finishes--I - think it lasts for sixteen days--and then I am going - to apply for my leave to follow on. I wish--oh, how - I wish--I may get it; but of course many things may - intervene. - - "If it does come off I hope there will be a - representative gathering to meet me at dinner. That is, - I hope Violet will be back from Edinburgh, Lorna and - Norah from Coniston, and perhaps Oliver and his Winifred - will pay a flying visit from Cardiff. Haven't I got an - enlarged opinion of my own importance? I suppose it is - too much to expect the offices to have a whole holiday!" - - - "_Monday, 28 June 1915, 6.15 p.m._ - - "The enemy's lines round here do not appear to be - strongly held, in fact quite the reverse--that is, - the front lines. But attacks on our part don't always - pay--even so. Their method, as I understand it, is - simply to lose less men than we do. Accordingly, they - leave very few men in their front trench, but what there - are have a good supply of machine guns and are well - supported by artillery. We precede our attacks by heavy - shelling, and the few men get into well-built dug-outs - until it is over, then they come out and get to work - with their machine guns on the attacking infantry. The - trench ultimately falls after rather heavy loss on our - side (especially if the wire isn't properly cut) and - the few defenders hold up their hands. Some are made - prisoners--some are not. If the enemy want the trench - very badly they try and retake it by means of a strong - counter-attack, trusting that our men and arrangements - are in sufficient confusion to prevent adequate support. - That is why our attacks are so expensive and why we - aren't constantly attacking. The alternative plan is, - I think, simply to shell them heavily--in all their - lines--and leave out the actual attack in most cases.... - - "I was so interested to hear that Alec had applied for - me to come back. It is not at all impossible, because - I have known two or three cases where officers have - been recalled--one was chief chemist (or so he said) - at Brunner Mond's. He was returning as I came out, and - tried to make one's flesh creep by his tales of war. But - I don't think it is likely to happen in my case. I only - wish it would. I should love to come home again, although - I don't feel as if I had done my bit yet--really. I - haven't been in any big scrap, and I haven't killed my - man even.... - - "I had a ripping time at the transport; I hope they - enjoyed the peas--they deserved to. They were hospitality - itself. They welcomed me, gave me three meals, lent me - anything I wanted, made room for me to sleep in their - large room (this necessitated the Quartermaster-Sergeant - moving his bed into another room), gave me a warm bath, - and generally made me feel quite at home. They have a - ripping dug-out. Rooms half underground, 7 feet high, - plenty of ventilation, boarded floor and walls, and - a wooden roof supported on square wooden pillars and - covered in earth well sodded on top.... - - "Talking about the Major (Major Cotton), he used to be - our Adjutant at Crosby--he was Captain then. He came out - as second in command and has now got the Battalion while - our Colonel (Colonel Dudgeon) is away sick. The latter - got his C.B. in the last honours list. He is an excellent - man. Lieut. Burlton, too, got a Military Cross. He has - now been wounded twice; he was the moving spirit of the - hockey matches at Crosby in the old days, and, when he - was recalled to the Front, his mantle fell upon me.... - - "All the officers here are from different regiments with - a very few exceptions. It is most interesting. At meals, - Way and I sit among the Cavalry, Dragoons and Lancers, - etc. They are fine chaps--the real Army officers of which - there are now all too few." - - - "_Machine-Gun School, G.H.Q., Wednesday, 7 July 1915, 5 - p.m._ - - "Here I am getting towards the end of my little holiday, - only five more days to go. No word has reached me from my - Battalion on the subject of leave, or of anything else - for that matter.... - - "If this threatened push on Calais is real, or if the - higher commands have got 'wind up' about it, they will - very likely stop all leave, and then I shall just have to - wait until it starts again.... - - "I am sure that the fact of our nation being 'down' and - preparing for a winter campaign will materially assist - in shortening the war and rendering that preparation - unnecessary. - - "We have an awfully amusing chap here who is in the - Grenadier Guards. He is always imitating Harry Tate. - A great big hefty chap, in great big sloppy clothes - (including what are known as 'Prince of Wales' breeches). - He gets his mouth right over to the side of his face and - says 'You stupid boy!' in Harry Tate's voice. He does - this in the middle of our instructional squads when some - wretched person does something wrong with the gun, and - sends every one into fits of laughter.... [A lot more - about a motor that wouldn't go.] - - "My M.G. course is going on very nicely. I have learnt - a very great deal, have been intensely interested, and - am very keen on the work. My function as a reserve - machine-gunner should really be to train the reserve - team and such parts of the main team as are not actually - required in the trenches, in a safe spot behind the - lines! It sounds 'cushy,' but those in authority over - us are not sufficiently enlightened, I am afraid, to - adopt such a plan. The object of course is to prevent - your reserve men from being 'used up' as riflemen, as - otherwise when you want them to take the place of the - others they are casualties and all their training goes - for nothing. - - The Cavalry officers here are a great joke. They find - this life very tiring. They are quite keen to get back - again and have been from the beginning. We, on the other - hand, fairly enjoy it and are not at all anxious to go - back to our regiments. That shows the difference between - the lives we lead. Of course they _have_ been in the - trenches and have had some very bad times there, but they - only go in in emergencies and at long intervals.... - - "Another difference between us is that they keep their - buttons as bright as possible and themselves as spick and - span as can be. The infantry officer gets his buttons - as dull as possible, and if they are green so much the - better, as it shows he has been through gas. He likes his - clothes and especially his puttees to be rather torn, and - his hat to be any old sloppy shape. If he gets a new hat - he is almost ashamed to wear it--he is terrified of being - mistaken for 'Kitcheners'! - - "Lord Kitchener and Mr. Asquith came here last evening. - Here, to this convent. I don't know what for; but there - was of course a good deal of stir here. - - "Way and I went into the town last night. We hired a - _fiacre_ for the return journey. It came on to rain, so - it was just as well we had a hood. We both thoroughly - enjoyed the journey. The _fiacre_ was what would be - dignified by the name of 'Victoria' in England. But in - France, where it seems to be etiquette not to take any - trouble over carriagework, _fiacre_ is the only word - you could apply, and it just fits it. It expresses not - only its shabbiness but also hints at its broken-backed - appearance. - - "We went into some stables and inquired about a _fiacre_, - and a fat boy in a blue apron with a white handkerchief - tied over one eye said we could have one. So I said, 'Où - est le cocher?' and he pointed to his breast and said, - 'C'est moi!' - - "The fare, he said, would be six francs and the - _pourboire_. Thoughtful of him not to forget that. We - agreed, and he eventually produced the usual French horse. - - "The _fiacre_ was very comfortable and we were awfully - tickled with the idea of us two in that absurd - conveyance, especially when we passed staff officers, - which was frequently. Altogether we were quite sorry when - our drive was over." - - -NOTE BY O. J. L. - -On 16 July 1915, Raymond came home on leave, and he had a great -reception. On 20 July he went back. - - - "_Sunday, 25 July 1915, 7.30 p.m._ - - "I have got quite a nice dug-out, with a chair and table - in it. The table was away from the door and got no light, - so I have spent about two hours to-day turning things - round. I went to bed about three this morning (just after - 'stand-to') and slept till nearly twelve. Then I had - breakfast (bacon and eggs). As my former platoon Sergeant - remarked: 'It is a great thing to have a few comforts, it - makes you forget there is a war,' - - "So it does until a whizz-bang comes over. - - "I have just seen an aeroplane brought down (German - luckily). I missed the first part, where one of ours went - up to it and a flame shot across between them (machine - gun, I expect). I ran out just in time to see the machine - descending on fire. It came down quite steadily inside - our lines (about a mile or more away), but the flames - were quite clearly visible," - - - "_Thursday, 29 July 1915, 7.35 p.m._ - - "Here I am in the trenches again, quite like old times, - and quite in the swing again after the unsettling effect - of coming home! You know I can't help laughing at things - out here. The curious aspect of things sometimes comes - and hits me, and I sit down and laugh (not insanely or - hysterically, _bien entendu_; but I just can't help - chuckling). It is so absurd, the reasons and causes that - have drawn me to this particular and unlikely field in - Belgium, and, having arrived here, that make me set about - at once house-hunting--for all the world as if it was the - most natural thing in life. And having selected my little - house and arranged all my belongings in it, I regard it - as home and spend a few days there. And then one morning - my servant and I, we pack up everything once more and - hoist them on to our backs and set off, staff in hand, - like a pair of gipsies to another field a mile or so - distant, and there make a new home.... - - "I was very loth to leave my front line dug-out, because - I had arranged things to my liking--had moved the table - so that it caught the light, and so on. It had a built-in - table (which took a lot of moving), a chair and a sandbag - bed. Quite small and snug. - - "But still--this new dug-out back here is quite nice. - Large and roomy, with windows with bars in them (but no - glass)--a proper square table on four legs--three chairs - and a sandbag bed. So I am quite happy. The sandbag - bed is apparently made as follows: Cover a portion of - the floor, 6 feet 6 inches by 3 feet 6 inches, with a - single layer of sandbags filled with earth. Over these - place several layers of empty sandbags, and the bed is - finished. If the hollows and lumps are carefully placed, - the former in the middle and the latter at the head, the - result is quite a success. Of course one sleeps in one's - clothes covered by a coat and with an air pillow under - one's head. - - "We have had a very gay time in the trenches. I think I - told you how I saw a hostile aeroplane brought down on - fire in our lines. That was on Sunday, and the official - report says both pilots killed. On Monday I went down to - a support trench to have meat tea and a chat with Holden - and Ventris (two of C Company officers). At a quarter to - ten there was a loud rumbling explosion and the dug-out - we were in rocked for several seconds. The Germans had - fired a mine about 60 feet in front of our trench to try - to blow in some of our workings. - - "I rushed to my guns--both were quite safe. You should - have heard the noise. Every man in the place got up to - the parapet and blazed away for all he was worth. It was - exciting! One machine gun fired two belts (500 rounds), - and the other fifty rounds. I heard afterwards that - several of the enemy were seen to leap their parapets, - but turned back when they heard the machine guns open - fire. It took a good while for things to quieten down. - Some of our miners were at work when it went off, but - their gallery was some way off and they were quite all - right. - - "Last night they actually exploded another one! Aren't - they keen? This was a much smaller affair, but closer to - our trench. It shook down a portion of our parapet, which - was easily rebuilt and entombed temporarily two of our - miners. In neither case were there any casualties.... - - "I am so sorry the date of the wedding had to be - altered, but I agree it was for the best. I only hope - you remembered to inform the bridegroom--he is often - forgotten on these occasions, and I have known a lot of - trouble caused by just this omission." - - - LETTER FROM RAYMOND TO MRS. FRED STRATTON, FORMERLY MISS - MARJORIE GUNN - - "_1 August 1915, Sunday, 11.20 p.m._ - - "I am not actually in the trenches at the moment, - though most of the Battalion is. I was in for five - days, and then I was relieved about four days ago by - another officer (Roscoe), who shares with me the duties - of machine-gun officer. So I am in a dug-out about - three-quarters of a mile behind the firing line while he - is taking his turn in that line. (A mine has just gone - off and shaken the ground, followed by a burst of heavy - rifle firing. This makes the fourth mine this week! Two - went off while I was up there, and the whole earth rocked - for several seconds. The first three mines were theirs, - this last may be ours, I don't know; we had one ready!) - - "We have been at Hill 60 and also up at Ypres. At present - we are south of that appalling place, but I learn with - regret that to-morrow we are moving again and are going - up north of Ypres. We are all depressed in consequence. - - "What an awfully good letter you have written me; but, do - you know, it makes me ache all over when you write like - that about the car. You have only to mention you have got - a Rover, and I am as keen as mustard to come and tinker - with it! Aren't I young? - - "But you must know I want to come to New Park in any - case. I am awfully keen to stay there and see it from - inside, and see its inmates again after many years (it - feels like). So after the war (may it be soon!) I am just - going to arrive. I may let you know! - - "Your remarks on weddings in general depress me very - much! I hope the bridegroom's lot is better than the poor - bride's. Because my turn is bound to come! - - "I am so glad Hester gave a good account of my - appearance. I _am_ very fit, it is the only way to exist - here. Once you begin to get 'down' and to worry, it - is all up with you. You go into a rapid decline, and - eventually arrive home a wreck! But as long as you smile - and don't care a hang about anything, well the war seems - to go on quite all right! - - "I enjoyed my few days' leave very much indeed. I had - five days in England and three full days and four nights - at home. I dropped into my old life just as if no change - had occurred. And the time was not long enough to make - the getting back difficult. - - "This life is a change for me, as you say. I haven't done - laughing at its humorous side yet. In some ways we get - treated like schoolboys. More so at Crosby than here, - however." - - - "_Saturday, 7 August 1915, 7.30 p.m._ - - "I have been having rather a bad time lately,--one of - those times that reminds one that it is war and not a - picnic,--but, thank goodness, it is all over now. - - "I think I told you that we were about to move up north - of Ypres, to St. Julien or thereabouts. Well, just before - we handed over these trenches to one of Kitchener's - Battalions, the Germans went and knocked down a lot of - our parapet, and also sent over some appalling things - that we call 'sausages,' or 'aerial torpedoes,' though - they are not the latter. They are great shell-shaped - affairs, about 3 feet along and 9 inches in diameter, I - should think. They are visible during the whole of their - flight. They are thrown up about 100 yards into the air - and fall down as they go up, broadside on--not point - first. A few seconds after they fall there is the most - appalling explosion I have ever heard. From a distance of - 100 yards the rush of air is so strong that it feels as - if the thing had gone off close at hand. Luckily there - is a slight explosion when they are sent up, and, as - I said, they are visible all the time in the air. The - result is our men have time to dodge them, provided they - are not mesmerised as one man was. He got stuck with his - mouth open, pointing at one! A Corporal gave him a push - which sent him 10 yards, and the 'sausage' landed not - far from where he had been. Although they have sent more - than twenty of these things over altogether, we have only - had one casualty, and that a scratch. Their effect is to - terrify every one and keep them on tenterhooks watching - for them. Their purpose is to destroy mine galleries, I - believe.... - - "Monday, August the 2nd, was the day we should have been - relieved, and that night I went up from headquarters - and relieved Roscoe, who had had a bad time in the fire - trenches.... - - "They were firing armour-piercing shells that go right in - and blow the parapet to blazes; dug-outs too, of course, - if they happen to be near. After punishing the right end - of the left-hand bit of trench, they traversed along, - laying waste the whole of our bit. - - "I was in my dug-out with Hogg, another officer. I was - trying to make tea, but every shell blew out the Primus, - and covered us in dust. I made it, however, eventually, - and we had just drunk it when a shell blew the parados - of the trench down, not far from our door, and the next - wrecked the dug-out next door to mine (a man who happened - to be inside having a miraculous escape). We judged it - was time to clear (the machine guns had already been - withdrawn to safety), and got away as best we could - through and over the debris that had been a trench. - - "Later in the day I made my way back, and recovered my - pack and most of my belongings. It was exciting work - getting back, because they were sending whizz-bangs - through the gaps in the parapet, and the communication - trenches in the rear were blocked in places, so that you - had to get up on top and 'scoot' across and drop in the - trench again. - - "That evening they gave us a second shelling, and one hit - my dug-out fair and square (I had quarters in a support - trench). When I returned next day for the rest of my - things--my equipment and some provisions--I had to put - two men on to dig them out. It took three-quarters of - an hour to get at them, through the wreckage of timber, - corrugated iron, and earth.... - - "On Tuesday afternoon they sent off another mine,--about - the seventh since we have been in,--but they are all well - in front of our parapet. And on Wednesday they gave us - twelve sausages--the first I had seen. - - "The trouble is, we have a number of mine shafts under - the ground between our trenches and theirs, and they are - fearfully 'windy' about them. They keep trying to stop - us mining them, and their shelling is with the object - of blowing down our sap-heads. Their mines, too, go up - short, because they are trying to blow in our galleries; - or else they are so scared they send them off before they - are ready. I think the last explanation is probably more - near the truth, because when one of their mines went up - recently a lot of Germans went up with it!... - - "We have been in here a fortnight to-night. You can - imagine how we long for clean clothes. Most of the - officers have not been out of their clothes all that - time, but I have been very lucky. I had two good cold - baths when I was down here before, and to-day I had a - lovely hot one in a full-length wooden bath. A tremendous - luxury! Also I had some clean socks to put on.... - - "On the day I was shelled out of my dug-out my servant, - Bailey, was hit on the leg by a piece of shell and has - gone down the line wounded, not very seriously, I think. - He is a great loss to me, but I have got another one now, - Gray, who shapes very well. He is young and willing, and - quite intelligent. - - "You ask whether that time when the mine went off was the - first time I had used these guns. Yes, absolutely. The - plan adopted in trench warfare is to place your guns in - position with a good wide loophole in front of them, then - block this up and keep a sharp look-out. When the enemy - attacks, you blaze away at them, and then shift hurriedly - to another gun-position and watch the old one being - shelled to blazes. - - "If you fire on other occasions you are rather apt to - have your guns knocked out, and we can't afford to lose - _any_. That is why I was rather horrified to find one gun - had fired 500 rounds the other night. However, it was - not discovered. I think the long grass in front hid the - flashes.... - - "Yes, the sandbags might be damp when used for a bed, and - I always lay my waterproof ground-sheet on top of them. I - either sleep on that or on some new clean bags laid above - that again. It is not only dampness, though, that one - fears! - - "As a matter of fact, one is not very sensitive to - damp when living so much out of doors. It is common to - get one's feet slightly wet and go for about four days - without removing one's boots--most unpleasant, but not in - the least damaging to health." - - - "_Monday, 16 August 1915, Noon_ - - "We are now out and resting after doing a long spell. - I did nineteen days, and some did a few more days than - that. Three weeks is a long time to live continuously in - clothes, boots, and puttees.... - - "I came out of the trenches on Thursday night, and was - really a day too soon, because on Friday we were having - Orderly-Room right in the country, in front of the C.O.'s - tent; the Colonel was there surrounded by most of the - officers, when we heard a shell. Well, that's nothing - unusual, but this one got crescendo, and we all looked - up in alarm. Then it got very crescendo, and finally - cleared us and landed with a loud explosion about 50 - yards beyond us, and not far from several groups of men. - It was an 8-inch 'crump.' One man only was killed, but - we knew that more were likely to come over, and so we - gradually spread out to the sides. Four came altogether - at two-minute intervals, but we only had two casualties. - Rather upsetting when we were supposed to be resting. I - don't know whether they could see our (officers') white - tents, or whether they saw the cricket match that took - place on the day before. - - "Anyway we moved our tents slightly--every one put their - tents where they pleased, and then the Pioneer Sergeant - came and amused himself daubing green paint on them - in patches. Ours (three of C Coy.) was the best; the - splodges looked just like hazel nuts (?) when there are - three together in their little green cases, and they - were interspersed with a kind of pansy-shaped flower. - Altogether a very tasteful and pleasing effect.... - - "A couple of gun stocks have come. They arrived from - Walker's, the makers, and I should very much like to know - who had them sent. They are ripping, sniping attachments - with periscopes for use with the ordinary rifle. I shall - stick to one, and unless I hear otherwise I shall present - the other one to our sniping officer (honorary rank)."[5] - - - "_Wednesday, 25 August 1915, 3 p.m._ - - "I am in the trenches once more. We marched in (about - 10 miles) last night. We had a meal at 3 p.m., and - marched off soon after six. Our rations (officers') - went astray, because they were on a hand-cart in charge - of our servants, who missed their way, so we have had - practically nothing to eat since late lunch yesterday, - and are pretty hungry. I have had a piece of chocolate, - and my water-bottle was nearly full of lemon squash.... - - "We are in support trenches at Hooge, just on the left - of our former position up here. Except for some shelling - (chiefly ours), things are fairly quiet. - - "Since we were here last the position is greatly - improved; the Germans have been driven over the ridge in - front (during the recapture of trenches here), and the - whole place is much 'healthier' in consequence.... - - "I have been out here five calendar months to-day, and in - the Army just over eleven months. They will be pensioning - me off soon as an old soldier." - - - "_29 August 1915, 11.30 a.m._ - - "I am having a very quiet and lazy time at the moment, - and feel I deserve it. We went into support trenches for - three days, and worked two nights from 7.30 p.m. till 3 - a.m. building and improving the fire trench. Then on the - third night we had a most exciting time. One company, - under Captain Taylor, was sent up right in front to dig a - new fire trench to connect with another on our left. We - had to go up a trench which ran right out into space, and - which had only just been built itself, and when there we - had to get over the parapet and creep forward to the new - line we were to dig. Of course we had to be dead quiet, - but there was a big moon, and of course they saw us. Most - of the way we were not more than 30 yards away from their - front position (and they had bombing parties out in front - of that). While we were digging we had one platoon with - bombs to cover us, and some of this party were as close - as 25 yards to their front position. It was awful work, - because they kept throwing bombs at us, and what was - almost worse was the close-range sniping. - - "'Very' lights were going up from the German lines all - the time, and you could see the bullets kicking up the - dust all around. When we first got out there I picked out - my ground pretty carefully before lying down (because the - recent scrap there was much in evidence), but when the - snipers got busy I didn't worry about what I was on, I - just hugged the ground as close as I could. They would - put the 'Very' lights right into us, and one just missed - me by a yard. If they are not spent when they come down, - they blaze fiercely on the ground, and when they finish, - they look like a little coke fire. They would burn you - badly if they fell on you. I have seen a dead man that - one had fallen on afterwards. His clothes were fearfully - burned. - - "The Germans were on the edge of a wood and our ground - was tipped towards them, so it was extremely difficult to - get cover. Shell holes were the best. Soon the men got - their trenches down, and things were a little better. The - men worked extremely well, and the Wilts were working on - our left, and we eventually joined up with them. After - about five hours' work, the trenches were fit to hold, - and we filed out and the new garrison filed in. Our - casualties were much lighter than I should have thought - possible. The Colonel came along the new trenches just - before we left, and he was most awfully pleased with C - Company, and so is the General. Captain Taylor is very - bucked about it. - - "The scene of this affair was right against the Château - of Hooge, and close to the mine crater. We found a German - machine gun half buried, but in good condition, and any - number of souvenirs. The Captain has got a helmet--a - dirty thing; he had to have it cleaned out, because part - of the owner was still inside it! It is a rummy shape, - so flat-topped and square, with a brass spike and a gold - band down the back. I expect it was an officer's. - - "Oh! I have seen my first German (not counting - prisoners). I was standing up and a 'Very' light went up, - so I kept perfectly still. I was looking towards the wood - where the Germans were (I was 40 or 50 yards away), and I - saw one quite distinctly walking into the wood. - - "Our men that were killed (sniped) were buried just - behind, within a quarter of an hour of being hit. Rather - awful. - - "The actual digging was rather trying in places, and in - one case they actually came on a horse!--which dates - it back to November, when we were pushed back to these - positions in the first battle of Ypres. - - "The men in such places work with their respirators on - and are often actually sick. I have had whiffs of the - smell since in my food. Once smelt never forgotten. I - can tell the difference between a man and a horse, but I - don't know which I like least. - - "Rather a morbid topic, I am afraid. Well, after leaving - the scene of our labours (and glad to get out), we called - for our packs and had to march about two and a half - miles. We were dead beat when we arrived here (nice safe - dug-outs--roomy and comfortable--with our valises ready - to sleep in when we arrived), but we found a good meal - awaiting us, and about half-past four we 'got down to - it' and slept till noon. Holden and I share a palatial - dug-out, and we had breakfast in bed, and I did not get - up till just before our evening meal at 7. I washed and - dressed in slacks--had a meal, and later on went to bed - again. This morning we had breakfast in bed again about - 9.30, and then I got up, washed and shaved, dressed, - and am now sitting on my bed, leaning against the wall - writing my letters. - - "The General let us off 'stand-to' because he knew we - were fagged out; and it is a great mercy. Turning out - fully dressed at about 2.30 a.m. and remaining up for - an hour does not improve one's night's rest. I suppose, - though, that we shall have to start it soon--perhaps - to-night. - - "We are here till to-morrow night, I believe, and then - we go to some fairly nice trenches near the ones we were - in last. We are short of subalterns--rather--and they - have taken me off machine guns for the time being. I _am_ - sick, but I get a bit in when I can. In the last trench - we built (I and my platoon), not the exposed one, there - was a machine-gun position, and I took great pleasure in - building it a really good emplacement.... - - "Are you doing anything about getting me back for - Munitions? I don't know what you think about it, and - whether you think I ought to carry on out here. I am sure - that after six months I shall be just about fed-up with - this business, but am not sure that after a couple of - months at home I shan't be wanting to come out again." - - - "_Wednesday, 1 September 1915, 4.45 p.m._ - - "I will just write you a short letter to let you know I - am still well and happy, and still leading the strange - life of the picnic-hermit. - - "When I last wrote to you I believe I was in the very - same spot as now, namely, support trenches in the - neighbourhood of a now famous château. Last time we were - in for three days, and on the night we left we had a very - blood-curdling experience digging a trench which was to - bring us closer to our friends the enemy. But they were - inclined to resent our advances, and they welcomed us, - not with open arms, but with lighted bombs. However, - having completed our work to the great satisfaction of - those in authority over us (namely, the Colonel and the - General [Brigadier]), we made good our escape. - - "Then for three blissful days we lived (with our valises) - in some magnificent dug-outs in one of the safest spots - in this accursed though much improved neighbourhood. - These days we spent competing who could sleep furthest - round the clock (if that is a permissible expression). I - think I won, and on my record day I got up and dressed - for dinner at about 7.30 p.m., made my bed afterwards, - and got back into it again. This halcyon period was only - interrupted once, when we all had to go out and dig a - trench one night long. However, the worst feature of - this expedition was the rain, which made 'going' very - difficult, and things in general rather uncomfortable - (especially for the men), so we hadn't much to grumble - about. - - "Then we came back here and the first night we slept in - peace, getting up at about 3 a.m. ostensibly for the - purpose of 'stand-to,' but really to brew ourselves some - cocoa. Then sleep till 9, 10, or 11, I forget which. - I crawl to the door of my dug-out and shout for Gray, - who lives just opposite. 'Breakfast!' I say, and he - invariably asks, 'What will you have, sir?' just as if he - could command the larders of the Carlton or the Linga. - - "Knowing my rations, and that an attempt at humour would - only put me off my _plat du jour_ or daily round, I - usually think for a few moments and then order eggs and - bacon, and face the common task. The only variation I - permit myself is that on one or two days in the week I - funk the bacon and have boiled eggs. Where do the eggs - come from? They are purchased out of the Mess fund by our - Mess cook who lives with the Transport when we are in the - trenches, and brings them up personally when the rations - arrive at night. Yes, he has a 'cushy' time of it, does - our Mess cook; and how can he avoid being happy, living - as he does in a perpetual transport? - - "What of the days when no eggs are available? Why, then, - _horrible dictu_, I have fried cheese and bacon! - - "It occurs to me here, although all this was not written - with intention, that this could be a good place to ask - whether sausages are yet in season. If they are, a few - cooked ones (or half cooked) sent out now and again would - make a splendid variant for our menu. - - "The meat season is hard to follow out here. Bully beef - is such a hardy perennial. (This does not mean that we - live on it--I never eat it, there is always a good supply - of fresh beef.) - - "Blackberries are coming on, I notice with pleasure, - and I can usually tell what shells are in season (the - season for sausages in this department is, let us hope, - mercifully short. I believe we are now in the middle of - the close-time for this sturdy little fellow, I trust he - is not utilising it to increase and multiply). - - "I am sorry I have had rather a sharp attack of - parentheses lately, the touch of winter in the air cramps - my style. And I really did think this was going to be - quite a short letter. I cannot divine my moods, I find, I - did not feel like writing until I got going. - - "Please thank father very much indeed for the - sniperscopes. I have given one to the Captain of D - Company, who is keen on everything. He is an engineer - (civil), and is a most useful man out here. I have not - tried mine yet, as I haven't been in a fire trench, and - it would hardly be fair to use it in a support trench, - the backs of our infantry in the trench in front being - too easy a target to give the thing a fair trial. - - "Oh! I was telling you about my work in this trench but - got switched off on to food. Last time I was here I - (and my platoon) worked for two nights from 7.30 till - 3 improving the parapets. Well, the second night of - _this_ period (last night) I had got all sorts of plans - ready and was going to have a thoroughly good night - building dug-outs, draining the trench, and building a - second machine-gun emplacement (not my job really at - the moment). However, word came along that the platoon - was wanted to dig another trench right in front again - and near the other one. They said, 'A covering party - with bombs will be provided, and send in your casualty - report in the morning!' So I asked if they were supplying - stretchers and all complete! But they were not. It is - a most cheering way of sending you off, is it not? It - is a wonder they did not make us take up our own grave - crosses, just in case. - - "(By the way, it is most impressive to meet two men - walking along at night and one carrying a large white - cross. The burying and decking of the graves is done - very well here, and conscientiously. There is a special - organisation for making the crosses, lettering them and - putting them up. The position of the grave is reported to - them, with the particulars, and they do the rest.) - - "The great difference in last night's job was that I only - had a platoon to deal with, while before the Captain had - a whole company. Also I was not quite so close to the - enemy (we were 30 yards off, and less, before), and the - moon was mostly obscured. I determined not to let them - know we were working, so I crept out and explored the - ground with the Corporal of the covering party (this was - the worst part of the job, because you did not know when - you might not come across a party of the enemy in the - many shell holes and old trenches with which the ground - was covered). I had my large revolver in my pocket, but I - did not want to use it, as it would have given our game - away. - - "All went well, and I got the men placed out in absolute - silence, with the covering party pushed out in front to - listen and watch. The men worked very quietly, and when a - light went up they got down and kept still. Lights were - very few, because the enemy had got a working party out - too--at one side, and we could occasionally hear them - driving in stakes for wire. - - "We had to use picks in some places where the ground - was stony, and these are the hardest to keep quiet. We - got through it all right, and only one shot, I think, - was fired all the time. It came fairly close, too. I am - sure they guessed we were out, because when one light - went up I hadn't time to get down, so I kept still and I - plainly saw a Hun standing upright on his own parapet. - He straightened up as the light grew bright, and I just - caught sight of the movement and saw him then distinctly. - - "The ground out there has been fought over a good deal, - and there are plenty of souvenirs about. I have got one - myself--a Hun rifle. The original owner, who was buried - with it--probably by a shell--happened to lie exactly - where we dug our trench, and we were obliged to move him - elsewhere. I brought his rifle home and put it over the - door of my dug-out. That was early this morning. But the - enemy have been putting shrapnel over us (in reply to - a good 'strafing' by our guns), and one piece has gone - clean through the stock. - - "Our artillery are going great guns nowadays. It - certainly feels as if the shell supply was all right--or - nearly so. - - "I don't know whether we shall be wanted for any job - to-night, or whether we shall rest, or whether I can get - on with my projects. I must go round and see Captain T. - in the other trench. By the way, he came to see how I - was getting on last night about midnight, and was very - pleased with the work and with the fact that we were - having no casualties. - - "That cake was fine, and much appreciated in the Mess. - The little knife you gave me when home on leave is - proving most useful. - - "Please thank Lionel for chocolate received and Alec for - gourdoulis. - - "I have sent another box of Surplus Kit home addressed - to Noël. Rather late to do it, I know, and I shall want - one or two of the things sent back later, but not for - a long time, and it is a relief to get rid of some of - my impedimenta. The socks returned want mending. That - reminds me, thank you and please thank Miss Leith very - much for the socks. They are quite all right for size. - Perhaps not so long and narrow in the foot might be - better, but it doesn't seem to affect the wear; they are - most comfortable. - - "I am still attached to the Company and not to the - machine guns--much to my annoyance." - - - "_Monday, 6 September 1915, 9.30 p.m._ - - "Thank you so much for your inspiring and encouraging - letter. I hope I am being useful out here. I sometimes - doubt if I am very much use--not as much as I should like - to be. Possibly I help to keep C Company officers more - cheerful! I am very sorry they have taken me off machine - guns for the present, I hope it may not be long. - - "Great happenings are expected here shortly and we are - going to have a share. We are resting at present and have - been out a few days now. We had only two periods of three - days each in the trenches last time in.... - - "Our last two days in the trenches were appallingly wet. - My conduct would have given me double pneumonia at home. - My rain-coat was soaked, so I had to sleep in shirt - sleeves under my tunic, and the knees of my breeches were - wet. - - "The next day the rain was incessant, and presently I - found the floor of my dug-out was swimming--the water - having welled up through the ground below and the - sandbags. - - "I didn't have to sleep on it luckily, because we were - relieved that night. But before we went I had to turn - out with fifty men and work till midnight in water up to - one foot deep. So at 8.30 p.m. I got my boots full of - cold water and sat out in them till 12, then marched some - eight miles. After nine hours' rest and some breakfast we - came here, another three or four. It was nice to get a - dry pair of boots and our valises and a tent. - - "That night I rode into Poperinghe with Captain Taylor, - and we had a really good dinner there--great fun. - - "We have a full set of parades here unfortunately, - otherwise things are all right.... - - "Alec has very kindly had a 'Molesworth' sent me. Most - useful. - - "I would like a motor paper now and then, I think! _The - Motor_ for preference--or _The Autocar_. Aren't I young? - - "Captain Taylor has sprained his ankle by falling from - his horse one night, and has gone to a rest home near. - So I am commanding C Company at the moment. Hope not for - long. Too responsible at the present time of crisis. - - - "_9 September, 3.30 p.m._ - - "Must just finish this off for post. - - "We have just had an inspection by the Army Corps - Commander, Lieut.-General Plumer [Sir Herbert]. - - "I am still in command of C Company, and had to call them - to attention and go round with the General, followed by a - whole string of minor generals, colonels, etc. He asked - me a good many questions:-- - - "First.--How long had I had the Company? Then, how long - had I been out? I said since March. He then asked if I - had been sick or wounded even, and I said no! - - "Then he said, 'Good lad for sticking it!' at least I - thought he was going to. - - "We are kept very busy nowadays. I must try and write a - proper letter soon. I do apologise. - - "A box of cigarettes has arrived from, I suppose, Alec. - Virginias, I mean, and heaps of them. - - "We have just got another tent--we have been so short and - have been sleeping five in. Now we shall be two in each. - The new one is a lovely dove-grey--like a thundercloud. - After the war I shall buy one. - - "I shall be quite insufferable, I know; I shall want - everything done for me on the word of command. Never - mind--roll on the end of the war! - - "Cheer-ho, lovely weather, great spirits! Aeroplane - [English] came down in our field yesterday slightly on - fire. All right though.--Good-bye, much love, - - "RAYMOND [MAURICE]." - - - "_Sunday, 12 September 1915, 2 p.m._ - - "You will understand that I still have the Company to - look after, and we are going into the front-line trenches - this evening at 5 p.m. for an ordinary tour of duty. We - are going up in motor buses!... - - "Capt. T. thinks he will be away a month!" - - -TELEGRAM FROM THE WAR OFFICE - - "_17 September 1915_ - - "Deeply regret to inform you that Second Lieut. R. Lodge, - Second South Lancs, was wounded 14 Sept. and has since - died. Lord Kitchener expresses his sympathy." - - -TELEGRAM FROM THE KING AND QUEEN - - _21 September 1915_ - - "The King and Queen deeply regret the loss you and the - army have sustained by the death of your son in the - service of his country. Their Majesties truly sympathise - with you in your sorrow." - - [Footnote 3: See Note by O. J. L. at the end of this - letter.] - - [Footnote 4: This must have been part of my book "The War - and After."--O. J. L.] - - [Footnote 5: Thos. Walker & Son, of Oxford Street, - Birmingham, had kindly given me two periscope rifle-stock - attachments with excellent mirrors, so as to allow - accurate sighting.--O. J. L.] - - [Footnote 6: Lieutenant Case himself, alas! was killed - on the 25th of September 1915. It was a fatal time. - Lieutenant Fletcher also has been killed now, on 3rd July - 1916.] - - - - -CHAPTER III - -LETTERS FROM OFFICERS - - -Some letters from other officers gradually arrived, giving a few -particulars. But it was an exceptionally strenuous period at the Ypres -salient, and there was little time for writing. Moreover, some of his -friends were killed either at the same time or soon afterwards. - -The fullest account that has reached us is in the following letter, -which arrived eight months later:-- - - -LETTER FROM LIEUTENANT WILLIAM ROSCOE TO SIR OLIVER LODGE - - "_7th Brigade Machine-Gun Company, B.E.F., 16 May 1916_ - - "DEAR SIR OLIVER LODGE,--When I was lately on leave, - a brother of mine, who had met one of your relatives, - encouraged me to write and tell you what I knew of your - son Raymond. I was in the South Lancashire Regiment when - he joined the Battalion out here last spring, and I think - spent the first spell he had in the trenches in his - company. - - "Afterwards I became Machine Gunner, and in the summer - he became my assistant, and working in shifts we tided - over some very trying times indeed. In particular - during August at St. Eloi. To me at any rate it was - most pleasant being associated together, and I think he - very much preferred work with the gunners to Company - work. Being of a mechanical turn of mind, he was always - devising some new 'gadget' for use with the gun--for - instance, a mounting for firing at aeroplanes, and a - device for automatic traversing; and those of my men who - knew him still quote him as their authority when laying - down the law and arguing about machine gunning. - - "I wish we had more like him, and the endless - possibilities of the Maxim would be more quickly brought - to light. - - "I am always glad to think that it was not in any way - under my responsibility that he was killed. - - "During September times grew worse and worse up in the - Ypres salient, culminating in the attack we made on the - 25th, auxiliary to the Loos battle. The trenches were - ruins, there was endless work building them up at night, - generally to be wrecked again the next day. The place was - the target for every gun for miles on either side of the - salient. - - "Every day our guns gave the enemy a severe bombardment, - in preparation for the attack, and every third or fourth - day we took it back from them with interest: the place - was at all times a shell trap. - - "It was during this time that your son was killed. - He was doing duty again with the Company, which was - short-handed, and I remember one night in particular - being struck with his cheerfulness on turning out to a - particularly unpleasant bit of trench digging in front - of our lines near the Stables at Hooge, a mass of ruins - and broken trenches where no one could tell you where you - might run across the enemy; but the men had to dig for - hours on end, with only a small covering party looking - out a few yards in front of them. - - "The morning your son was killed they were bombarding - our trenches on the top of the hill, and some of the men - were being withdrawn from a bad piece. He and Ventris - were moving down the trench in rear of the party--which I - think must have been seen--for a shell came and hit them - both, but I think none of the men in front. - - "Some time later, I don't know how long, I was going - up to the line to visit the guns, when I saw Ventris, - who was killed, laid out ready to be carried down, - and presently I saw your son in a dug-out, with a man - watching him. He was then quite unconscious though still - breathing with difficulty. I could see it was all over - with him. He was still just alive when I went away. - - "Our regiment was to lose many more on that same hill - before the month was over, and those of us that remain - are glad to be far away from it now; but I always feel - that anyone who has died on Hooge Hill has at all events - died in very fine company.--Yours sincerely, - - "(Signed) WILLIAM ROSCOE, _Lieut. 2nd S. Lancs. Regt., - attached 7th Brigade, M.G. Company_" - - -LETTER FROM LIEUTENANT FLETCHER, GREAT CROSBY, LIVERPOOL - - "_21 September 1915_ - - "Raymond was the best pal I've ever had, and we've always - been together; in the old days at Brook Road, then in - Edinburgh, and lastly in France, and nobody could ever - have a better friend than he was to me. - - "I'll never forget the first day he came to us at - Dickebusch, and how pleased we all were to see him again; - and through it all he was always the same, ever ready - to help anyone in any way he could, whilst his men were - awfully fond of him and would have done anything for him." - - "_24 September 1915_ - - "I hear that we were digging trenches in advance of our - present ones at St. Eloi last week, so it must have been - then that he was hit, as he was awfully keen on digging - new trenches, and heaps of times I've had to tell him to - keep down when he was watching the men working.... - - "I always thought he would come through all right, and I - know he thought so himself, as, the last time I saw him, - we made great plans for spending some time together when - we got back, and it seems so difficult to realise that he - has gone. - - (Signed) ERIC S. FLETCHER." - - -LETTER FROM LIEUTENANT CASE TO BRODIE - - "_Thursday, 23 September 1915_ - - "Yes, I knew Raymond Lodge very well, and he was indeed - a friend of mine, being one of the nicest fellows it - has ever been my privilege to meet. I was with him when - he died. This was how it happened to the best of my - knowledge. - - "'A' Company (the one I am in) and 'C' Company were in - the trenches at the time. The gunners had sent up word - that there was going to be a bombardment, and so they - recommended us to evacuate the front-line trenches, in - case the Hun retaliated, and it was whilst C Company - were proceeding down the communication trench, till the - bombardment was over, that the shell came which killed - your brother. He was in command of C Company at the time, - and was going down at the rear of his men, having seen - them all safely out of the trenches. His servant, Gray, - was hit first, in the head (from which he afterwards - died). Then Lodge went along to tell the Sergeant-Major, - and to see about assistance, farther down the trench. - Whilst talking to the Company Sergeant-Major he was hit in - the left side of the back, by a piece of shell, I think. - Lower down the trench poor Ventris was hit and killed. As - soon as I heard about it I went along to see if I could be - of any use. I saw Lodge lying in a dug-out, with a servant - looking after him. I saw he was badly hit, and tried to - cheer him up. He recognised me and was just able to ask a - few questions. That must have been about twenty minutes or - so after he was hit. I think he lived about half an hour, - and I don't think he suffered much pain, thank God. - - "I was very, very grieved at his death, for he was one - of the very nicest fellows I have met. That he was - universally liked, both by officers and men, it is - needless to say.... - - "I was for nearly three months in C Company with your - brother, and was thus able to see his extreme coolness and - ability in military matters. - - (Signed) G. R. A. CASE" - - -LETTER FROM LIEUTENANT CASE TO LADY LODGE - - "_Friday, 24 September 1915_ - - "Need I say how grieved we all were at his loss? He was - hit about midday, and died about half an hour or so - afterwards. I forget the date, but I have written more - fully to his brother. I don't think he suffered much - pain. He was conscious when I arrived, and recognised me, - I think, and I remained with him for some time. I then - went off to see if there was any possibility of finding - the doctor, but all the telephone wires were cut, and - even if we had been able to get the doctor up, it would - have been of no avail. The stretcher-bearers did all that - was possible.... Another subaltern, Mr. Ventris, was - killed at the same time, as was his servant Gray as well. - - "(Signed) G. R. A. CASE"[6] - - -LETTER FROM CAPTAIN S. T. BOAST - - "_27 September 1915_ "First of all I beg to offer you and - your family my sincere sympathies in the loss of your - son, 2nd Lieut. Lodge. His loss to us is very great: he - was a charming young fellow--always so very cheerful - and willing, hard working, and a bright example of what - a good soldier ought to be. He was a most efficient - officer, and only recently qualified in the handling and - command of Maxim guns--a most useful accomplishment in - the present war. Briefly, the circumstances which led to - his death were as follows:-- - - "On 14 September, C Company to which 2nd Lieut. Lodge - belonged, was in position in a forward fire trench. - During the morning the commander of the artillery - covering the position informed 2nd Lieut. Lodge, who - at the time was in command of C Company, that it was - intended to shell the enemy's positions, and as his - trenches were only a short distance from ours, it was - considered advisable to withdraw from our trench during - the shelling. 2nd Lieut. Lodge gave orders for his - Company to withdraw into a communication trench in the - rear. He and 2nd Lieut. Ventris were the last to leave - the forward trench, and in entering the communication - trench both these officers were caught by enemy's - shrapnel. Ventris was killed--Lodge mortally wounded and - died of his wounds shortly afterwards. These are the - circumstances of his death." - - -FROM CAPTAIN A. B. CHEVES, R.A.M.C. - - "_22 September 1915_ - - "The Colonel has asked me to write you, giving some idea - of the burial-ground in which your son's grave is. I - understand that he was leading his Company back from one - of the communication trenches when the Germans shelled - the front and rear of the column, killing your son and - the officer who was at the rear. At the same time one man - was killed and two wounded. I knew nothing about this - until later in the day, as communication with my aid post - was very difficult, and he was reported to me as having - been killed. I understand that he lived for about three - hours after being wounded, and all the officers and men - who were present speak very highly of his conduct during - this time. His wound was unfortunately in such a position - that there was no chance of saving his life, and this was - recognised by all, including your son himself. When his - body was brought down in the evening the expression on - his face was absolutely peaceful, and I should think that - he probably did not suffer a great deal of pain. He was - buried on the same evening in our cemetery just outside - the aid post, side by side with Lieut. Ventris, who was - unfortunately killed on the same day. The cemetery is - in the garden adjoining a ruined farm-house. It is well - enclosed by hedges, and your son's grave is under some - tall trees that stand in the garden. There are graves - there of men of many regiments who have fallen, and our - graves are enclosed by a wire fence, so keeping them - quite distinct from the others. There is a wooden cross - marking the head of the grave, and a small one at the - foot. I am afraid that our condolences will be small - consolation to you, but I can assure you that he was one - of the most popular officers with the Battalion, both - amongst the officers and men, and all feel his loss very - greatly." - - * * * * * - - Information sent by Captain Cheves to Mrs. Ventris, - mother of the Second Lieutenant who was killed at the - same time as Raymond and buried with him:-- - - "He was buried on the right of the Ypres-Menin Road, just - past where the Zonebeke Rail cuts. If you can get hold of - Sheet 28, Belgium 1/40,000, the reference is I. 16. b 2. - Any soldier will show you how to read the map." - -[Illustration: RAYMOND, 1915] - - -LETTER FROM A FOREMAN WORKMAN - -[I also append a letter received from a workman who used to be at the -same bench with Raymond when he was going through his workshop course -at the Wolseley Motor Works. Stallard is a man he thought highly of, -and befriended. He is now foreman in the Lodge Fume Deposit Company, -after making an effort to get a berth in Lodge Brothers for Raymond's -sake. He is now, and has been since the war began, the owner of -Raymond's dog Larry, about whom some local people remember that there -was an amusing County Court case.] - - - "_98 Mansel Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, 17 September - 1915_ - - "DEAR MR. LIONEL,--The shock was too great for me to - speak to you this afternoon. I should like to express to - you, and all the family, my deepest and most heartfelt - sympathy in your terrible loss. Mr. Raymond was the best - friend I ever had. - - "Truly, I thought more of him than any other man living, - not only for his kind thoughts towards me, but for his - most admirable qualities, which I knew he possessed. - - "The memory of him will remain with me as long as I - live.--Believe me to be, yours faithfully, - - "(Signed) NORMAN STALLARD" - - - [Footnote 6: Lieutenant Case himself, alas! was killed - on the 25th of September 1915. It was a fatal time. - Lieutenant Fletcher also has been killed now, on 3rd July - 1916.] - - - - -PART TWO: SUPERNORMAL PORTION - - "Peace, peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep-- - He hath awakened from the dream of life." - - SHELLEY, _Adonais_. - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -I have made no secret of my conviction, not merely that personality -persists, but that its continued existence is more entwined with the -life of every day than has been generally imagined; that there is no -real breach of continuity between the dead and the living; and that -methods of intercommunion across what has seemed to be a gulf can -be set going in response to the urgent demand of affection,--that -in fact, as Diotima told Socrates (_Symposium_, 202 and 203), LOVE -BRIDGES THE CHASM. - -Nor is it affection only that controls and empowers supernormal -intercourse: scientific interest and missionary zeal constitute -supplementary motives which are found efficacious; and it has been -mainly through efforts so actuated that I and some others have been -gradually convinced, by direct experience, of a fact which before -long must become patent to mankind. - -Hitherto I have testified to occurrences and messages of which the -motive is intellectual rather than emotional: and though much, very -much, even of this evidence remains inaccessible to the public, -yet a good deal has appeared from time to time by many writers in -the _Proceedings_ of the Society for Psychical Research, and in my -personal collection called _The Survival of Man_. No one therefore -will be surprised if I now further testify concerning communications -which come home to me in a peculiar sense; communications from which -sentiment is not excluded, though still they appear to be guided -and managed with intelligent and on the whole evidential purpose. -These are what I now decide to publish; and I shall cite them as -among those evidences for survival for the publication of which some -legitimate demand has of late been made, owing to my having declared -my belief in continued existence without being able to give the full -grounds of that belief, because much of it concerned other people. -The portion of evidence I shall now cite concerns only myself and -family. - -I must make selection, it is true, for the bulk has become great; -but I shall try to select fairly, and especially shall give in fair -fulness those early communications which, though not so free and easy -as they became with more experience, have yet an interest of their -own, since they represent nascent powers and were being received -through members of the family to whom the medium was a complete -stranger and who gave no clue to identity. - -Messages of an intelligible though rather recondite character from -"Myers" began to reach me indeed a week or two before the death of -my son; and nearly all the messages received since his death differ -greatly in character from those which in the old days were received -through any medium with whom I sat. No youth was then represented as -eager to communicate; and though friends were described as sending -messages, the messages were represented as coming from appropriate -people--members of an elder generation, leaders of the Society for -Psychical Research, and personal acquaintances. Whereas now, whenever -any member of the family visits anonymously a competent medium, the -same youth soon comes to the fore and is represented as eager to prove -his personal survival and identity. - -I consider that he has done so. And the family scepticism, which up -to this time has been sufficiently strong, is now, I may fairly say, -overborne by the facts. How far these facts can be conveyed to the -sympathetic understanding of strangers, I am doubtful. But I must -plead for a patient hearing; and if I make mistakes, either in what I -include, or in what for brevity I omit, or if my notes and comments -fail in clearness, I bespeak a friendly interpretation: for it is -truly from a sense of duty that in so personal a matter I lay myself -open to harsh and perhaps cynical criticism. - -It may be said--Why attach so much importance to one individual case? -I do not attach especial importance to it, but every individual case -is of moment, because in such a matter the aphorism _Ex uno disce -omnes_ is strictly applicable. If we can establish the survival of -any single ordinary individual we have established it for all. - -Christians may say that the case for one Individual was established -nearly 1900 years ago; but they have most of them confused the issue -by excessive though perhaps legitimate and necessary emphasis on the -exceptional and unique character of that Personality. And a school of -thought has arisen which teaches that ordinary men can only attain -immortality vicariously--that is, conditionally on acceptance of a -certain view concerning the benefits of that Sacrificial Act, and -active assimilation of them. - -So without arguing on any such subject, and without entering in the -slightest degree on any theological question, I have endeavoured to -state the evidence fully and frankly for the persistent existence of -one of the multitude of youths who have sacrificed their lives at the -call of their Country when endangered by an aggressor of calculated -ruthlessness. - -Some critics may claim that there are many stronger cases of -established survival. That may be, but this is a case which touches -me closely and has necessarily received my careful attention. In so -far as there are other strong cases--and I know of several--so much -the better. I myself considered the case of survival practically -proven before, and clinched by the efforts of Myers and others of -the S.P.R. group on the other side; but evidence is cumulative, and -the discussion of a fresh case in no way weakens those that have -gone before. Each stick of the faggot must be tested, and, unless -absolutely broken, it adds to the strength of the bundle. - -To base so momentous a conclusion as a scientific demonstration of -human survival on any single instance, if it were not sustained on -all sides by a great consensus of similar evidence, would doubtless -be unwise; for some other explanation of a merely isolated case would -have to be sought. But we are justified in examining the evidence for -any case of which all the details are known, and in trying to set -forth the truth of it as completely and fairly as we may. - - - - -CHAPTER I - -ELEMENTARY EXPLANATION - - -For people who have studied psychical matters, or who have read any -books on the subject, it is unnecessary to explain what a 'sitting' -is. Novices must be asked to refer to other writings--to small books, -for instance, by Sir W. F. Barrett or Mr. J. Arthur Hill or Miss H. -A. Dallas, which are easily accessible, or to my own previous book on -this subject called _The Survival of Man_, which begins more at the -beginning so far as my own experience is concerned. - -Of mediumship there are many grades, one of the simplest forms being -the capacity to receive an impression or automatic writing, under -peaceful conditions, in an ordinary state; but the whole subject -is too large to be treated here. Suffice it to say that the kind -of medium chiefly dealt with in this book is one who, by waiting -quietly, goes more or less into a trance, and is then subject to -what is called 'control'--speaking or writing in a manner quite -different from the medium's own normal or customary manner, under -the guidance of a separate intelligence technically known as 'a -control,' which some think must be a secondary personality--which -indeed certainly is a secondary personality of the medium, whatever -that phrase may really signify--the transition being effected in most -cases quite easily and naturally. In this secondary state, a degree -of clairvoyance or lucidity is attained quite beyond the medium's -normal consciousness, and facts are referred to which must be outside -his or her normal knowledge. The control, or second personality which -speaks during the trance, appears to be more closely in touch with -what is popularly spoken of as 'the next world' than with customary -human existence, and accordingly is able to get messages through -from people deceased; transmitting them through the speech or writing -of the medium, usually with some obscurity and misunderstanding, and -with mannerisms belonging either to the medium or to the control. -The amount of sophistication varies according to the quality of the -medium, and to the state of the same medium at different times; -it must be attributed in the best cases physiologically to the -medium, intellectually to the control. The confusion is no greater -than might be expected from a pair of operators, connected by a -telephone of rather delicate and uncertain quality, who were engaged -in transmitting messages between two stranger communicators, one of -whom was anxious to get messages transmitted, though perhaps not -very skilled in wording them, while the other was nearly silent and -anxious not to give any information or assistance at all; being, -indeed, more or less suspicious that the whole appearance of things -was deceptive, and that his friend, the ostensible communicator, was -not really there. Under such circumstances the effort of the distant -communicator would be chiefly directed to sending such natural and -appropriate messages as should gradually break down the inevitable -scepticism of his friend. - - -FURTHER PRELIMINARY EXPLANATION - -I must assume it known that messages purporting to come from various -deceased people have been received through various mediums, and -that the Society for Psychical Research has especially studied -those coming through Mrs. Piper--a resident in the neighbourhood of -Boston, U.S.A.--during the past thirty years. We were introduced to -her by Professor William James. My own experience with this lady -began during her visit to this country in 1889, and was renewed in -1906. The account has been fully published in the _Proceedings_ of -the Society for Psychical Research, vols. vi. and xxiii., and an -abbreviated version of some of the incidents there recorded can be -referred to in my book _The Survival of Man_. - -It will be convenient, however, to explain here that some of the -communicators on the other side, like Mr. Myers and Dr. Richard -Hodgson, both now deceased, have appeared to utilise many mediums; -and that to allow for possible sophistication by normal mental -idiosyncrasies, and for any natural warping due to the physiological -mechanism employed, or to the brain-deposit from which selection -has to be made, we write the name of the ostensible communicator in -each case with a suffix--like Myers_{P}, Myers_{V}, etc.; meaning -by this kind of designation to signify that part of the Myers-like -intelligence which operates through Mrs. Piper or through Mrs. -Verrall, etc., respectively. - -We know that communication must be hampered, and its form largely -determined, by the unconscious but inevitable influence of a -transmitting mechanism, whether that be of a merely mechanical or of -a physiological character. Every artist knows that he must adapt the -expression of his thought to his material, and that what is possible -with one 'medium,' even in the artist's sense of the word, is not -possible with another. - -And when the method of communication is purely mental or telepathic, -we are assured that the communicator 'on the other side' has to -select from and utilise those ideas and channels which represent the -customary mental scope of the medium; though by practised skill and -ingenuity they can be woven into fresh patterns and be made to convey -to a patient and discriminating interpreter the real intention of the -communicator's thought. In many such telepathic communications the -physical form which the emergent message takes is that of automatic -or semiconscious writing or speech; the manner of the utterance being -fairly normal, but the substance of it appearing not to emanate -from the writer's or speaker's own mind: though but very seldom is -either the subject-matter or the language of a kind quite beyond the -writer's or speaker's normal capabilities. - -In other cases, when the medium becomes entranced, the demonstration -of a communicator's separate intelligence may become stronger and -the sophistication less. A still further stage is reached when by -special effort what is called _telergy_ is employed, _i.e._ when -physiological mechanism is more directly utilised without telepathic -operation on the mind. And a still further step away from personal -sophistication, though under extra mechanical difficulties, is -attainable in _telekinesis_ or what appears to be the direct movement -of inorganic matter. To this last category--though in its very -simplest form--must belong, I suppose, the percussive sounds known as -raps. - -To understand the intelligent tiltings of a table in contact with -human muscles is a much simpler matter. It is crude and elementary, -but in principle it does not appear to differ from automatic writing; -though inasmuch as the code and the movements are so simple, it -appears to be the easiest of all to beginners. It is so simple that -it has been often employed as a sort of game, and so has fallen into -disrepute. But its possibilities are not to be ignored for all that; -and in so far as it enables a feeling of more direct influence--in -so far as the communicator feels able himself to control the energy -necessary, instead of having to entrust his message to a third -person--it is by many communicators preferred. More on this subject -will be found in Chapters VIII of Part II and XIV of Part III. - -Before beginning an historical record of the communications and -messages received from or about my son since his death, I think it -will be well to prelude it by-- - -(i) A message which arrived before the event; - -(ii) A selection of subsequent communications bearing on and -supplementing this message; - -(iii) One of the evidential episodes, selected from subsequent -communications, which turned out to be exactly verifiable. - -A few further details about these things, and another series of -messages of evidential importance, will be found in that Part of the -_Proceedings_ of the S.P.R. which is to be published about October -1916. - -If the full discussion allowed to these selected portions appears -rather complicated, an unstudious reader may skip the next three -chapters, on a first reading, and may learn about the simpler facts -in their evolutionary or historical order. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE 'FAUNUS' MESSAGE - - -_Preliminary Facts_ - -Raymond joined the Army in September 1914; trained near Liverpool -and Edinburgh with the South Lancashires, and in March 1915 was sent -to the trenches in Flanders. In the middle of July 1915 he had a few -days' leave at home, and on the 20th returned to the Front. - - -INITIAL 'PIPER' MESSAGE - -The first intimation that I had that anything might be going wrong, -was a message from Myers through Mrs. Piper in America; communicated -apparently by "Richard Hodgson" at a time when a Miss Robbins was -having a sitting at Mrs. Piper's house, Greenfield, New Hampshire, -on 8 August 1915, and sent me by Miss Alta Piper (A. L. P.) together -with the original script. Here follows the extract, which at a -certain stage in Miss Robbins's sitting, after having dealt with -matters of personal significance to her, none of which had anything -whatever to do with me, began abruptly thus:-- - -R. H.--Now Lodge, while we are not here as of old, _i.e._ - not quite, we are here enough to take and give messages. - - Myers says you take the part of the poet, and he will act - as Faunus. FAUNUS. - -MISS R.--Faunus? - -R. H.--Yes. Myers. _Protect._ He will understand. - - (Evidently referring to Lodge.--A. L. P.) - - What have you to say, Lodge? Good work. Ask Verrall, she - will also understand. Arthur says so. [This means Dr. - - Arthur W. Verrall (deceased).--O. J. L.] - -MISS R.--Do you mean Arthur Tennyson? - - [This absurd confusion, stimulated by the word 'poet,' was evidently - the result of a long strain at reading barely legible trance-writing - for more than an hour, and was recognised immediately afterwards - with dismayed amusement by the sitter. It is only of interest as - showing how completely unknown to anyone present was the reference - intended by the communicator.--O. J. L.] - -R. H.--_No. Myers_ knows. So does ----. You got mixed (to - Miss R.), but Myers is straight about Poet and Faunus. - - * * * * * - -I venture to say that to non-classical people the above message -conveys nothing. It did not convey anything to me, beyond the -assurance, based on past experience, that it certainly meant -something definite, that its meaning was probably embedded in a -classical quotation, and that a scholar like Mrs. Verrall would be -able to interpret it, even if only the bare skeleton of the message -were given without any details as to source. - - -LETTER FROM MRS. VERRALL - -In order to interpret this message, therefore, I wrote to Mrs. -Verrall as instructed, asking her: "Does _The Poet and Faunus_ mean -anything to you? Did one 'protect' the other?" She replied at once (8 -September 1915) referring me to Horace, _Carm_. II. xvii. 27-30, and -saying:-- - - "The reference is to Horace's account of his narrow - escape from death, from a falling tree, which he ascribes - to the intervention of Faunus. Cf. Hor. _Odes_, II. - xiii.; II. xvii. 27; III. iv. 27; III. viii. 8, for - references to the subject. The allusion to Faunus is in - Ode II. xvii. 27-30:-- - - 'Me truncus illapsus cerebro Sustulerat, nisi _Faunus_ - ictum Dextra levasset, Mercurialium _Custos_ virorum.' - - "'Faunus, the guardian of poets' ('poets' being the usual - interpretation of 'Mercury's men'). - - "The passage is a very well-known one to all readers - of Horace, and is perhaps specially familiar from - its containing, in the sentence quoted, an unusual - grammatical construction. It is likely to occur in a - detailed work on Latin Grammar. - - "The passage has no special associations for me other - than as I have described, though it has some interest - as forming part of a chronological sequence among the - _Odes_, not generally admitted by commentators, but - accepted by me. - - "The words quoted are, of course, strictly applicable to - the Horatian passage, which they instantly recalled to me. - - (Signed) M. DE G. VERRALL" - - * * * * * - -I perceived therefore, from this manifestly correct interpretation -of the 'Myers' message to me, that the meaning was that some blow -was going to fall, or was likely to fall, though I didn't know of -what kind, and that Myers would intervene, apparently to protect -me from it. So far as I can recollect my comparatively trivial -thoughts on the subject, I believe that I had some vague idea that -the catastrophe intended was perhaps of a financial rather than of a -personal kind. - -The above message reached me near the beginning of September in -Scotland. Raymond was killed near Ypres on 14 September 1915, and -we got the news by telegram from the War Office on 17 September. -A fallen or falling tree is a frequently used symbol for death; -perhaps through misinterpretation of _Eccl._ xi, 3. To several other -classical scholars I have since put the question I addressed to Mrs. -Verrall, and they all referred me to Horace, _Carm._ II. xvii. as the -unmistakable reference. - - -_Mr. Bayfield's Criticism_ - -Soon after the event, I informed the Rev. M. A. Bayfield, -ex-headmaster of Eastbourne College, fully of the facts, as an -interesting S.P.R. incident (saying at the same time that Myers had -not been able to 'ward off' the blow); and he was good enough to send -me a careful note in reply:-- - - "Horace does not, in any reference to his escape, say - clearly whether the tree struck him, but I have always - thought it did. He says Faunus lightened the blow; he - does not say 'turned it aside.' As bearing on your - terrible loss, the meaning seems to be that the blow - would fall but would not crush; it would be 'lightened' - by the assurance, conveyed afresh to you by a special - message from the still living Myers, that your boy still - lives. - - "I shall be interested to know what you think of this - interpretation. The 'protect' I take to mean protect - from being overwhelmed by the blow, from losing faith - and hope, as we are all in danger of doing when smitten - by some crushing personal calamity. Many a man when so - smitten has, like Merlin, lain - - 'as dead, And lost to life and use and name and fame.' - -That seems to me to give a sufficiently precise application to the -word (on which Myers apparently insists) and to the whole reference -to Horace." - - * * * * * - -In a postscript he adds the following:-- - - "In _Carm._ iii. 8, Horace describes himself as _prope - funeratus arboris ictu_, 'wellnigh killed by a blow from - a tree.' An artist in expression, such as he was, would - not have mentioned any 'blow' if there had been none; he - would have said 'well nigh killed by a falling tree'--or - the like. It is to be noted that in both passages he uses - the word _ictus_. And in ii. 13. 11 (the whole ode is - addressed to the tree) he says the man must have been a - fellow steeped in every wickedness 'who planted thee an - accursed lump of wood, a thing meant to fall (this is the - delicate meaning of _caducum_--not merely "falling") on - thine undeserving master's head.' Here again the language - implies that he was struck, and struck on the head. - - "Indeed, the escape must have been a narrow one, and it - is to me impossible to believe that Horace would have - been so deeply impressed by the accident if he had not - actually been struck. He refers to it four times:-- - - _Carm._ ii. 13.--(Ode addressed to the tree--forty lines - long.) - - ii. 17. 27. - - iii. 4. 27.--(Here he puts the risk he ran on a parallel - with that of the rout at Philippi, from which he escaped.) - - iii. 8. 8. - - "I insist on all this as strengthening my interpretation, - and also as strengthening the assignment of the script - to Myers, who would of course be fully alive to all - the points to be found in his reference to Faunus and - Horace--and, as I have no doubt, believed that Horace did - not escape the actual blow, and that it was a severe one." - - -NOTE BY O. J. L. - -Since some of the translators, especially verse translators, of -Horace convey the idea of turning aside or warding off the blow, it -may be well to emphasise the fact that most of the scholars consulted -gave "lightened" or "weakened" as the translation. And Professor -Strong says--"no doubt at all that 'levasset' means 'weakened' the -blow; the bough fell and struck the Poet, but lightly, through the -action of Faunus. 'Levo' in this sense is quite common and classical." - -Bryce's prose translation (Bohn) is quite clear--"a tree-stem falling -on my head had surely been my death, had not good Faunus eased the -blow...." And although Conington's translation has "check'd the blow -in mid descent," he really means the same thing, because it is the -slaying, not the wounding or striking of the Poet that is prevented:-- - - "Me the curst trunk, that smote my skull, - Had slain; but Faunus, strong to shield - The friends of Mercury, check'd the blow - In mid descent." - - -ADDITIONAL PIPER SCRIPT - -Mr. Bayfield also calls my attention to another portion of Piper -Script--in this case not a trance or semi-trance sitting, but -ordinary automatic writing--dated 5 August, which reached me -simultaneously with the one already quoted from, at the beginning of -September, and which he says seems intended to prepare me for some -personal trouble:-- - - "Yes. For the moment, Lodge, have faith and wisdom [? - confidence] in all that is highest and best. Have you all - not been profoundly guided and cared for? Can you answer, - 'No'? It is by your faith that all is well and has been." - -I remember being a little struck by the wording in the above script, -urging me to admit that we--presumably the family--had "been -profoundly guided and cared for," and "that all is well and has -been"; because it seemed to indicate that something was not going to -be quite so well. But it was too indefinite to lead me to make any -careful record of it, or to send it as a prediction to anybody for -filing; and it would no doubt have evaporated from my mind except -for the 'Faunus' warning, given three days later, though received at -the same time, which seemed to me clearly intended as a prediction, -whether it happened to come off or not. - - * * * * * - -The two Piper communications, of which parts have now been quoted, -reached me at Gullane, East Lothian, where my wife (M. F. A. L.) and -I were staying for a few weeks. They arrived early in September 1915, -and as soon as I had heard from Mrs. Verrall I wrote to Miss Piper to -acknowledge them, as follows:-- - - "_The Linga Private Hotel, Gullane, East Lothian, 12 - September 1915_ - - "MY DEAR ALTA,--The reference to the Poet and Faunus - in your mother's last script is quite intelligible, - and a good classical allusion. You might tell the - 'communicator' some time if there is opportunity. - - "I feel sure that it must convey nothing to you and - yours. That is quite as it should be, as you know, for - evidential reasons." - -This was written two days before Raymond's death, and five days -before we heard of it. The Pipers' ignorance of any meaning in the -Poet and Faunus allusion was subsequently confirmed. - -It so happens that this letter was returned to me, for some unknown -reason, through the Dead Letter Office, reaching me on 14 November -1915, and being then sent forward by me again.[7] - - [Footnote 7: Further Piper and other communications, - obscurely relevant to this subject, will be found in a - Paper which will appear in the S.P.R. _Proceedings_ for - the autumn of 1916.] - - - - -CHAPTER III - -SEQUEL TO THE 'FAUNUS' MESSAGE - - -It now remains to indicate how far Myers carried out his implied -promise, and what steps he took, or has been represented as having -taken, to lighten the blow--which it is permissible to say was a -terribly severe one. - -For such evidence I must quote from the record of sittings held here -in England with mediums previously unknown, and by sitters who gave -no sort of clue as to identity. (See the historical record, beginning -at Chapter V.) - -It may be objected that my own general appearance is known or might -be guessed. But that does not apply to members of my family, who -went quite anonymously to private sittings kindly arranged for by -a friend in London (Mrs. Kennedy, wife of Dr. Kennedy), who was no -relation whatever, but whose own personal experience caused her to -be sympathetic and helpful, and who is both keen and critical about -evidential considerations. - -I may state, for what it is worth, that as a matter of fact -normal clues to identity are disliked, and, in so far as they are -gratuitous, are even resented, by a good medium; for they are no -manner of use, and yet subsequently they appear to spoil evidence. It -is practically impossible for mediums to hunt up and become normally -acquainted with the family history of their numerous sitters, and -those who know them are well aware that they do nothing of the sort, -but in making arrangements for a sitting it is not easy, unless -special precautions are taken, to avoid giving a name and an address, -and thereby appearing to give facilities for fraud. - -In our case, and in that of our immediate friends, these precautions -have been taken--sometimes in a rather elaborate manner. - -The first sitting that was held after Raymond's death by any member -of the family was held not explicitly for the purpose of getting -into communication with him--still less with any remotest notion of -entering into communication with Mr. Myers--but mainly because a -French widow lady, who had been kind to our daughters during winters -in Paris, was staying with my wife at Edgbaston--her first real -visit to England--and was in great distress at the loss of both her -beloved sons in the war, within a week of each other, so that she -was left desolate. To comfort her my wife took her up to London to -call on Mrs. Kennedy, and to get a sitting arranged for with a medium -whom that lady knew and recommended. Two anonymous interviews were -duly held, and incidentally I may say that the two sons of Madame -communicated, on both occasions, though with difficulty; that one of -them gave his name completely, the other approximately; and that the -mother, who was new to the whole subject, was partially consoled.[8] -Raymond, however, was represented as coming with them and helping -them, and as sending some messages on his own account. I shall here -only quote those messages which bear upon the subject of _Myers_ and -have any possible connexion with the 'Faunus' message. - -(For an elementary explanation about 'sittings' in general, see -Chapter I.) - - -EXTRACTS RELATING TO 'MYERS' FROM EARLY ANONYMOUS SITTINGS - -We heard first of Raymond's death on 17 September 1915, and on 25 -September his mother (M. F. A. L.), who was having an anonymous -sitting for a friend with Mrs. Leonard, then a complete stranger, had -the following spelt out by tilts of a table, as purporting to come -from Raymond:-- - - TELL FATHER I HAVE MET SOME FRIENDS OF HIS. - -M. F. A. L.--Can you give any name? - - YES. MYERS. - -(That was all on that subject on that occasion.) - - * * * * * - -On the 27th of September 1915, I myself went to London and had my -first sitting, between noon and one o'clock, with Mrs. Leonard. I -went to her house or flat alone, as a complete stranger, for whom an -appointment had been made through Mrs. Kennedy. Before we began, Mrs. -Leonard informed me that her 'guide' or 'control' was a young girl -named "Feda." - -In a short time after the medium had gone into trance, a youth was -described in terms which distinctly suggested Raymond, and "Feda" -brought messages. I extract the following:-- - - -_From First Anonymous Sitting of O. J. L. with Mrs. Leonard, 27 -September 1915_ - - (Mrs. Leonard's control, Feda, supposed to be speaking - throughout.) - - He finds it difficult, he says, but he has got so many - kind friends helping him. He didn't think when he waked up - first that he was going to be happy, but now he is, and he - says he is going to be happier. He knows that as soon as - he is a little more ready he has got a great deal of work - to do. "I almost wonder," he says, "shall I be fit and - able to do it. They tell me I shall." - - "I have instructors and teachers with me." Now he is - trying to build up a letter of some one; M. he shows me. - -(A short time later, he said:--) - - "People think I say I am happy in order to make them - happier, but I don't.[9] I have met hundreds of friends. - I don't know them all. I have met many who tell me that, - a little later, they will explain why they are helping - me. I feel I have got two fathers now. I don't feel I - have lost one and got another; I have got both. - - I have got my old one, and another too--a _pro tem_. - father." - -(Here Feda ejaculated "What's that? Is that right?" O. J. -L. replied 'Yes.') - - There is a weight gone off his mind the last day or two; - he feels brighter and lighter and happier altogether, the - last few days. There was confusion at first. He could not - get his bearings, didn't seem to know where he was. "But - I was not very long," he says, "and I think I was very - fortunate; it was not very long before it was explained - to me where I was." - - * * * * * - -But the most remarkable indirect allusion, or apparent -allusion, to something like the 'Faunus' message, came at -the end of the sitting, after "Raymond" had gone, and just -before Mrs. Leonard came out of trance:-- - - "He is gone, but Feda sees something which is only - symbolic; she sees a cross falling back on to you; very - dark, falling on to you; dark and heavy looking; and as - it falls it gets twisted round and the other side seems - all light, and the light is shining all over you. It is - a sort of pale blue, but it is white and quite light - when it touches you. Yes, that is what Feda sees. The - cross looked dark, and then it suddenly twisted round - and became a beautiful light. The cross is a means of - shedding real light. It is going to help a great deal. - - "Did you know you had a coloured Guide?... He says your - son is the cross of light; he is the cross of light, and - he is going to be a light that will help you; he is going - to help too to prove to the world the Truth. That is - why they built up the dark cross that turned to bright. - You know; but others, they do so want to know. Feda is - loosing hold; good-bye." - -[_This ends the O. J. L. first Leonard sitting of 27 September 1915._] - -On the afternoon of the same day, 27 September 1915, that I had this -first sitting with Mrs. Leonard, Lady Lodge had her first sitting, as -a complete stranger, with Mr. A. Vout Peters, who had been invited -for the purpose--without any name being given--to Mrs. Kennedy's -house at 3.30 p.m. - -Here again, Raymond was described well enough, fairly early in the -sitting, and several identifying messages were given. Presently -'Moonstone' (Peters's chief control) asked, "Was he not associated -with Chemistry?" As a matter of fact, my laboratory has been rather -specially chemical of late; and the record continues, copied with -subsequent annotations in square brackets as it stands:-- - - -_From First Anonymous Sitting of M. F. A. L. with Peters, 27 September -1915_ - - Was he not associated with chemistry? If not, some one - associated with him was, because I see all the things in a - chemical laboratory. - - That chemistry thing takes me away from him to a man in - the flesh [O. J. L. presumably]; and, connected with him, - a man, a writer of poetry, on our side, closely connected - with spiritualism. He was very clever--he too passed away - out of England. - - -[This is clearly meant for Myers, who died in Rome.] - - He has communicated several times. This gentleman who - wrote poetry--I see the letter M--he is helping your son - to communicate. - -[His presence and help were also independently mentioned -by Mrs. Leonard.] - - He is built up in the chemical conditions. - - If your son didn't know this man, he knew of him. - -[Yes, he could hardly have known him, as he was only about twelve at -the time of Myers's death.] - - At the back of the gentleman beginning with M, and who - wrote poetry, is a whole group of people. [The S.P.R. - group, doubtless.] They are very interested. And don't be - surprised if you get messages from them, even if you don't - know them. - -(Then 'Moonstone' stopped, and said:--) - - This is so important that is going to be said now, that - I want to go slowly, for you to write clearly every word - (dictating carefully):-- - - "NOT ONLY IS THE PARTITION SO THIN THAT YOU CAN HEAR THE - OPERATORS ON THE OTHER SIDE, BUT A BIG HOLE HAS BEEN - MADE." - - This message is for the gentleman associated with the - chemical laboratory. - -[Considering that my wife was quite unknown to the medium, -this is a remarkably evidential and identifying message. -Cf. passage in my book, _Survival of Man_, containing this -tunnel-boring simile; page 341 of American edition (Moffat -Yard & Co.).--O. J. L.] - -'Moonstone' continued:-- - - The boy--I call them all boys because I was over a hundred - when I lived here and they are all boys to me--he says, he - is here, but he says:-- - - "Hitherto it has been a thing of the head, now I am come - over it is a thing of the heart." - - What is more (here Peters jumped up in his chair, - vigorously, snapped his fingers excitedly, and spoke - loudly)-- - - "Good God! how father will be able to speak out! much - firmer than he has ever done, because it will touch our - hearts." - -(_Here ends extract from Peters sitting of 27 September 1915. A - completer record will be found in Chapter VII._) - -At a Leonard Table Sitting on 12 October 1915--by which time our -identity was known to Mrs. Leonard--I told 'Myers' that I understood -his Piper message about Faunus and the Poet; and the only point -of interest about the reply or comment is that the two following -sentences were spelt out, purporting to come either indirectly or -directly from 'Myers':-- - - 1. He says it meant your son's tr[ansition]. - - 2. Your son shall be mine. - - * * * * * - -The next 'Myers' reference came on 29 October, when I had a sitting -with Peters, unexpectedly and unknown to my family, at his London -room (15 Devereux Court, Fleet Street)--a sitting arranged for by Mr. -J. A. Hill for an anonymous friend:-- - -Peters went into trance, and after some other communications, -gave messages from a youth who was recognised by the control and -identified as my son; and later on Peters's 'control,' whom it is -customary to call 'Moonstone,' spoke thus:-- - - -_From Sitting of O. J. L. with Peters on 29 October 1915_ - - Your common-sense method of approaching the subject in the - family has been the means of helping him to come back as - he has been able to do; and had he not known what you had - told him, then it would have been far more difficult for - him to come back. He is very deliberate in what he says. - He is a young man that knows what he is saying. Do you - know F W M? - -O. J. L.--Yes, I do. - - Because I see those three letters. Now, after them, do you - know S T; yes, I get S T, then a dot, and then P? These - are shown me; I see them in light; your boy shows these - things to me. - -O. J. L.--Yes, I understand. [Meaning that I recognised - the allusion to F. W. H. Myers's poem _St. Paul_.] - - Well, he says to me: "He has helped me so much, more than - you think. That is F W M." - -O. J. L.--Bless him! - - No, your boy laughs, he has got an ulterior motive for it; - don't think it was only for charity's sake, he has got an - ulterior motive, and thinks that you will be able by the - strength of your personality to do what you want to do - now, to ride over the quibbles of the fools, and to make - the Society, _the_ Society, he says, of some use to the - world.... Can you understand? - -O. J. L.--Yes. - - Now he says, "He helped me because, with me through you, - he can break away the dam that people have set up. Later - on, you are going to speak to them. It is already on the - programme, and you will break down the opposition because - of me." Then he says, "For God's sake, father, do it. - Because if you only knew, and could only see what I see: - hundreds of men and women heart-broken. And if you could - only see the boys on our side shut out, you would throw - the whole strength of yourself - - into this work. But you can do it." He is very earnest. - Oh, and he wants--No, I must stop him, I must prevent him, - I don't want him to control the medium.--Don't think me - unkind, but I must protect my medium; he would not be able - to do the work he has to do; the medium would be ill from - it, I must protect him, the emotion would be too great, - too great for both of you, so I must prevent him from - controlling. - - He understands, but he wants me to tell you this:-- - - The feeling on going over was one of intense - disappointment, he had no idea of death. The second too - was grief. (Pause.) - - * * * * * - - This is a time when men and women have had the crust - broken off them--a crust of convention, of ... of - indifference, has been smashed, and everybody thinks, - though some selfishly. - - Now, returning to him, how patient he is! He was not - always so patient. After the grief there was a glimmering - of hope, because he realised that he could get back to - you; and because his grandmother came to him. Then his - brother was introduced to him. Then, he says, other - people. Myerse--"Myerse," it sounds like--do you know what - he means?--came to him, and then he knew he could get - back. He knew. - - Now he wants me to tell you this: That from his death, - which is only one of thousands, that the work which he (I - have to translate his ideas into words, I don't get them - verbatum [_sic_])--the work which he volunteered to be - able to succeed in,--no, that's not it. The work which he - enlisted for, that is what he says, only he was only a - unit and seemingly lost--yet the very fact of his death - will be the means of pushing it on. Now I have got it. By - his passing away, many hundreds will be benefited. - -(_End of extract from Peters sitting of 29 October 1915._) - - (A still fuller account of the whole 'Faunus' episode, and a further - sequel to it of a classical kind, called the "Horace O. L." message, - will be found in the S.P.R. _Proceedings_ for the autumn of 1916.) - - * * * * * - -It will be understood, I hope, that the above extracts from sittings -have been reproduced here in order to show that, if we take the -incidents on their face value, Myers had redeemed his 'Faunus' -promise, and had lightened the blow by looking after and helping -my son 'on the other side.' I now propose to make some further -extracts--of a more evidential character--tending to establish -the survival of my son's own personality and memory. There have -been several of these evidential episodes, making strongly in this -direction; but I select, for description here, one relating to a -certain group photograph, of which we were told through two mediums, -but of which we normally knew nothing till afterwards. - - [Footnote 8: I realise now, though the relevance has - only just struck me, that from the point of view of an - outside critic, pardonably suspicious of bad faith, this - episode of the bereaved French lady--an obviously complete - stranger to Mrs. Kennedy as well as to the medium--has an - evidential and therefore helpful side.] - - [Footnote 9: This is reminiscent of a sentence in one of - his letters from the Front: "As cheerful and well and - happy as ever. Don't think I am having a rotten time--I am - not." Dated 11 May 1915 (really 12).] - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE GROUP PHOTOGRAPH - - -I now come to a peculiarly good piece of evidence arising out of -the sittings which from time to time we held in the autumn of 1915, -namely, the mention and description of a group photograph taken near -the Front, of the existence of which we were in complete ignorance, -but which was afterwards verified in a satisfactory and complete -manner. It is necessary to report the circumstances rather fully:-- - -Raymond was killed on 14 September 1915. - -The first reference to a photograph taken of him with other men was -made by Peters at M. F. A. L.'s first sitting with Peters, in Mrs. -Kennedy's house, on 27 September 1915, thus:-- - -_Extract from M. F. A. L.'s anonymous Sitting with Peters on 27 -September 1915_ - - "You have several portraits of this boy. Before he went - away you had got a good portrait of him--two--no, three. - Two where he is alone and one where he is in a group of - other men. He is particular that I should tell you of - this. In one you see his walking-stick"--('Moonstone' here - put an imaginary stick under his arm). - -We had single photographs of him of course, and in uniform, but we -did not know of the existence of a photograph in which he was one of -a group; and M. F. A. L. was sceptical about it, thinking that it -might well be only a shot or guess on the part of Peters at something -probable. But Mrs. Kennedy (as Note-taker) had written down most of -what was said, and this record was kept, copied, and sent to Mr. -Hill in the ordinary course at the time. - -I was myself, moreover, rather impressed with the emphasis laid -on it--"he is particular that I should tell you of this"--and -accordingly made a half-hearted inquiry or two; but nothing more was -heard on the subject for two months. On Monday, 29 November, however, -a letter came from Mrs. Cheves, a stranger to us, mother of Captain -Cheves of the R.A.M.C., who had known Raymond and had reported to us -concerning the nature of his wound, and who is still doing good work -at the Front. - -Mrs. Cheves' welcome letter ran as follows:-- - - "_28 November 1915_ - - "DEAR LADY LODGE,--My son, who is M.O. to the 2nd South - Lancs, has sent us a group of officers taken in August, - and I wondered whether you knew of this photo and had had - a copy. If not may I send you one, as we have half a dozen - and also a key? I hope you will forgive my writing to ask - this, but I have often thought of you and felt so much for - you in yr. great sorrow. - - --Sincerely yours, B. P. CHEVES" - -M. F. A. L. promptly wrote, thanking her, and asking for it; but -fortunately it did not come at once. - -Before it came, I (O. J. L.) was having a sitting with Mrs. Leonard -alone at her house on 3 December; and on this occasion, among other -questions, I asked carefully concerning the photograph, wishing to -get more detailed information about it, before it was seen. It should -be understood that the subject was not introduced by Mrs. Leonard or -her control. The previous mention of a photograph had been through -Peters. It was I that introduced the subject through Mrs. Leonard, -and asked a question; and the answers were thus reported and recorded -at the time--the typing out of the sitting being all done before the -photograph arrived:-- - -_Extract from the Record of O. J. L.'s Sitting with Mrs. Leonard, 3 -December 1915_ - - (Mrs. Leonard's child-control, Feda, supposed to be - speaking, and often speaking of herself in the third - person.) - -FEDA.--Now ask him some more. - -O. J. L.--Well, he said something about having a photograph taken -with some other men. We haven't seen that photograph yet. Does he -want to say anything more about it? He spoke about a photograph. - - Yes, but he thinks it wasn't here. He looks at Feda, and - he says, it wasn't to you, Feda. - -O. J. L.--No, he's quite right. It wasn't. Can he say where he spoke -of it? - - He says it wasn't through the table. - -O. J. L.--No, it wasn't. - - It wasn't here at all. He didn't know the person that he - said it through. The conditions were strange there--a - strange house. [Quite true, it was said through Peters in - Mrs. Kennedy's house during an anonymous sitting on 27 - September.] - -O. J. L.--Do you recollect the photograph at all? - - He thinks there were several others taken with him, not - one or two, but several. - -O. J. L.--Were they friends of yours? - - Some of them, he says. He didn't know them all, not very - well. But he knew some; he heard of some; they were not - all friends. - -O. J. L.--Does he remember how he looked in the photograph? - - No, he doesn't remember how he looked. - -O. J. L.--No, no, I mean was he standing up? - - No, he doesn't seem to think so. Some were raised up - round; he was sitting down, and some were raised up at the - back of him. Some were standing, and some were sitting, he - thinks. - -O. J. L.--Were they soldiers? - - He says yes--a mixed lot. Somebody called C was on it with - him; and somebody called R--not his own name, but another - R. K, K, K--he says something about K. - - He also mentions a man beginning with B--(indistinct - muttering something like Berry, Burney--then clearly) but - put down B. - -O. J. L.--I am asking about the photograph because we haven't seen -it yet. Somebody is going to send it to us. We have heard that it -exists, and that's all. - - [While this is being written out, the above remains true. - The photograph has not yet come.] - - He has the impression of about a dozen on it. A dozen, he - says, if not more. Feda thinks it must be a big photograph. - - No, he doesn't think so, he says they were grouped close - together. - -O. J. L.--Did he have a stick? - - He doesn't remember that. He remembers that somebody - wanted to lean on him, but he is not sure if he was taken - with some one leaning on him. But somebody wanted to lean - on him he remembers. The last what he gave you, what were - a B, will be rather prominent in that photograph. It - wasn't taken in a photographer's place. - -O. J. L.--Was it out of doors? - - Yes, practically. - - FEDA (_sotto voce_).--What you mean, 'yes practically'; - must have been out of doors or not out of doors. You mean - 'yes,' don't you? - - Feda thinks he means 'yes,' because he says 'practically.' - -O. J. L.--It may have been a shelter. - - It might have been. Try to show Feda. - - At the back he shows me lines going down. It looks like a - black background, with lines at the back of them. (Feda - here kept drawing vertical lines in the air.) - - * * * * * - -There was, for some reason, considerable delay in the arrival of -the photograph; it did not arrive till the afternoon of December 7. -Meanwhile, on December 6, Lady Lodge had been looking up Raymond's -Diary, which had been returned from the Front with his kit, and found -an entry:-- - - "_24 August._--Photo taken." - -(A statement will follow to this effect.) - -Now Raymond had only had one "leave" home since going to the Front, -and this leave was from 16 July to 20 July. The photograph had not -been taken then, and so he could not have told us anything about it. -The exposure was only made twenty-one days before his death, and some -days may have elapsed before he saw a print, if he ever saw one. He -certainly never mentioned it in his letters. We were therefore in -complete ignorance concerning it; and only recently had we normally -become aware of its existence. - -On the morning of 7 December another note came from Mrs. Cheves, in -answer to a question about the delay; and this letter said that the -photograph was being sent off. Accordingly I (O. J. L.), thinking -that the photograph might be coming at once, dictated a letter to go -to Mr. Hill, recording roughly my impression of what the photograph -would be like, on the strength of the communication received by me -from 'Raymond' through Mrs. Leonard; and this was posted by A. E. -Briscoe about lunch-time on the same day. (See statement by Mr. -Briscoe at the end.) My statement to Mr. Hill ran thus:-- - - -_Copy of what was written by O. J. L. to Mr. Hill about the -Photograph on the morning of Tuesday, 7 December 1915_ - - "Concerning that photograph which Raymond mentioned - through Peters [saying this: 'One where he is in a group - of other men. He is particular that I should tell you - of this. In one you see his walking-stick,'],[10] he - has said some more about it through Mrs. Leonard. But - he is doubtful about the stick. What he says is that - there is a considerable number of men in the photograph; - that the front row is sitting, and that there is a back - row, or some of the people grouped and set up at the - back; also that there are a dozen or more people in the - photograph, and that some of them he hardly knew; that - a B is prominent in the photograph, and that there is - also a C; that he himself is sitting down, and that there - are people behind him, one of whom either leant on his - shoulder, or tried to. - - "The photograph has not come yet, but it may come any day - now; so I send this off before I get it. - - "The actual record of what was said in the sitting is - being typed, but the above represents my impression of - it." - - * * * * * - -The photograph was delivered at Mariemont between 3 and 4 p.m. on the -afternoon of 7 December. It was a wet afternoon, and the package was -received by Rosalynde, who took the wet wrapper off it. Its size was -12 by 9 inches, and was an enlargement from a 5 by 7 inch original. -The number of people in the photograph is twenty-one, made up as -follows:-- - - Five in the front row squatting on the grass, Raymond - being one of these; the second from the right. - - Seven in the second row seated upon chairs. - - Nine in the back row standing up against the outside of - a temporary wooden structure such as might be a hospital - shed or something of that kind. - -On examining the photograph, we found that every peculiarity -mentioned by Raymond, unaided by the medium, was strikingly correct. -The walking-stick is there (but Peters had put a stick under his arm, -which is not correct), and in connexion with the background Feda had -indicated vertical lines, not only by gesture but by saying "lines -going down," as well as "a black background with lines at the back of -them." There are six conspicuous nearly vertical lines on the roof of -the shed, but the horizontal lines in the background generally are -equally conspicuous. - -By "a mixed lot," we understood members of different Companies--not -all belonging to Raymond's Company, but a collection from several. -This must be correct, as they are too numerous for one Company. It -is probable that they all belong to one Regiment, except perhaps one -whose cap seems to have a thistle badge instead of three feathers. - -As to "prominence," I have asked several people which member of -the group seemed to them the most prominent; and except as regards -central position, a well-lighted standing figure on the right has -usually been pointed to as most prominent. This one is "B," as -stated, namely, Captain S. T. Boast. - -Some of the officers must have been barely known to Raymond, while -some were his friends. Officers whose names begin with B, with C, and -with R were among them; though not any name beginning with K. The -nearest approach to a K-sound in the group is one beginning with a -hard C. - -Some of the group are sitting, while others are standing behind. -Raymond is one of those sitting on the ground in front, and his -walking-stick or regulation cane is lying across his feet. - -[Illustration: GROUP OF OFFICERS, AS SENT US BY MRS. CHEVES ON 7 -DECEMBER, 1915, SHOWING AN ARM RESTING ON RAYMOND'S SHOULDER] - -The background is dark, and is conspicuously lined. - -It is out of doors, close in front of a shed or military hut, pretty -much as suggested to me by the statements made in the 'Leonard' -sitting--what I called a "shelter." - -But by far the most striking piece of evidence is the fact that -some one sitting behind Raymond is leaning or resting a hand on his -shoulder. The photograph fortunately shows the actual occurrence, -and almost indicates that Raymond was rather annoyed with it; for -his face is a little screwed up, and his head has been slightly bent -to one side out of the way of the man's arm. It is the only case in -the photograph where one man is leaning or resting his hand on the -shoulder of another, and I judge that it is a thing not unlikely to -be remembered by the one to whom it occurred. - - -CONFIRMATORY STATEMENTS - -STATEMENT BY RAYMOND'S MOTHER - - Four days ago (6 December), I was looking through my son - Raymond's Diary which had been returned with his kit from - the Front. (The edges are soaked, and some of the leaves - stuck together, with his blood.) I was struck by finding - an entry "Photo taken" under the date 24 August, and I - entered the fact in my own Diary at once, thus:-- - - "_6 December._--Read Raymond's Diary for first time, saw - record of 'photo taken' 24 August." - - (Signed) MARY F. A. LODGE - - _10 December 1915_ - - -STATEMENT BY A. E. BRISCOE - - The dictated letter to Mr. Hill, recording roughly Sir - Oliver's impression of what the photograph would be - like, was written out by me on the morning of Tuesday, - 7 December, at Mariemont; it was signed by Sir Oliver - at about noon, and shortly afterwards I started for the - University, taking that and other letters with me for - posting in town. I went straight to the University, and - at lunch-time (about 1.30) posted the packet to Mr. Hill - at the General Post Office. - - (In the packet, I remember, there was also a letter on - another subject, and a printed document from Mr. Gow, the - Editor of _Light_.) - - (Signed) A. E. BRISCOE, - - _Secretary to Sir Oliver Lodge_ - - _8 December 1915_ - - -STATEMENT BY ROSALYNDE - - I was sitting in the library at Mariemont about 3.45 on - Tuesday afternoon, 7 December 1915, when Harrison came in - with a flat cardboard parcel addressed to Mother. Mother - was resting; and as the paper, wrapping up what I took to - be the photograph, was wet with the rain, I undid it and - left the photograph in tissue paper on a table, having - just glanced at it to see if it was the one we'd been - waiting for. - - No one saw it or was shown it till after tea, when - I showed it to Mother. That would be about 6. Mrs. - Thompson, Lorna, and Barbara now also saw it. Honor was - not at home and did not see it till later. - - (Signed) R. V. LODGE - - _8 December 1915_ - - -NOTE BY O. J. L. - -In answer to an inquiry, Messrs. Gale & Polden, of Aldershot -and London, the firm whose name was printed at the foot of the -photograph, informed me that it was "from a negative of a group of -Officers sent to us by Captain Boast of the 2nd South Lancashire -Regiment"; and having kindly looked up the date, they further tell me -that they received the negative from Captain Boast on 15 October 1915. - -It will be remembered that information about the existence of -the photograph came through Peters on 27 September--more than a -fortnight, therefore, before the negative reached England. - -The photograph is only shown here because of its evidential interest. -Considered as a likeness of Raymond, it is an exceptionally bad one; -he appears shrunk into an uncomfortable position. - - -FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPH - -_Extract from a letter by Captain Boast from the Trenches, dated 7 -May 1916, to Mrs. Case, and lent me to see_ - - "Some months ago (last summer) the Officers of our - Battalion had their photo taken.... You see, the - photographer who took us was a man who had been shelled - out of house and home, and as he had no means of doing - the photos for us, we bought the negatives, and sent them - along to be finished in England." - -[Illustration: ANOTHER EDITION OF THE GROUP-PHOTOGRAPH, WITH LEG -TOUCHING SHOULDER INSTEAD OF HAND] - -_A later Letter from Captain Boast_ - -In answer to a special inquiry addressed to Captain Boast at the -Front, he has been good enough to favour me with the following -letter:-- - - "_10 July 1916_ - - "DEAR SIR,--Your letter of 4 July has just reached me. - The proofs of the photographs referred to were received - by me from the photographer at Reninghelst two or three - days after being taken. To the best of my belief, your - son saw the proofs, but I cannot now say positively. I - obtained particulars of requirements from the officers - forming the group, but the photographer then found he was - unable to obtain paper for printing. I therefore bought - the negatives and sent them home to Gale & Polden. In - view of the fact that your son did not go back to the - trenches till 12 September 1915, it is highly probable - that he saw the proofs, but he certainly did not see the - negatives.--Yours faithfully, - - "(Signed) SYDNEY T. BOAST" - -It thus appears that Raymond had probably seen a proof of the -photograph, but that there were no copies or prints available. -Consequently neither we, nor any other people at home, could have -received them; and the negatives were only received in England by -Gale & Polden on 15 October 1915, after Peters had mentioned the -existence of the photograph, which he did on 27 September 1915. - -I obtained from Messrs. Gale & Polden prints of all the accessible -photographs which had been taken at the same time. The size of these -prints was 5 by 7 inches. - -I found that the group had been repeated, with slight variations, -three times--the Officers all in the same relative positions, but -not in identically the same attitudes. One of the three prints is -the same as the one we had seen, with some one's hand resting on -Raymond's shoulder, and Raymond's head leaning a little on one side, -as if rather annoyed. In another the hand had been removed, being -supported by the owner's stick; and in that one Raymond's head is -upright. This corresponds to his uncertainty as to whether he was -actually taken with the man leaning on him or not. In the third, -however, the sitting officer's leg rests against Raymond's shoulder -as he squats in front, and the slant of the head and slight look of -annoyance have returned. - -These two additional photographs are here reproduced. Their merit is -in showing that the leaning on him, mentioned by 'Raymond' through -Feda, was well marked, and yet that he was quite right in being -uncertain whether he was actually being leant on while the photograph -was being taken. The fact turns out to be that during two exposures -he was being leaned on, and during one exposure he was not. It was, -so to speak, lucky that the edition sent us happened to show in one -form the actual leaning. - -I have since discovered what is apparently the only other photograph -of Officers in which Raymond occurs, but it is quite a different one, -and none of the description applies to it. For it is completely in -the open air, and Raymond is standing up in the hinder of two rows. -He is second from the left, the tall one in the middle is his friend -Lieutenant Case, and standing next him is Mr. Ventris (see p. 279). -It is fortunate again that this photograph did not happen to be the -one sent us; for we should have considered the description hopelessly -wrong. - - -SUMMARY - -CONCLUDING NOTE BY O. J. L. - -As to the evidential value of the whole communication, it -will be observed that there is something of the nature of -cross-correspondence, of a simple kind, in the fact that a reference -to the photograph was made through one medium, and a description -given, in answer to a question, through another independent one. - -The episode is to be published in the _Proceedings_ of the S.P.R. for -1916, and a few further facts or comments are there added. - -The elimination of ordinary telepathy from the living, except under -the far-fetched hypothesis of the unconscious influence of complete -strangers, was exceptionally complete; inasmuch as the whole of -the information was recorded before any of us had seen the photograph. - -[Illustration: GROUP SUBSEQUENTLY OBTAINED, EVIDENTLY TAKEN AT THE -SAME TIME, BUT PRESSURE ON SHOULDER REMOVED] - -Even the establishment of a date in August for the taking of the -photograph, as mentioned first in Mrs. Cheves' letter and confirmed -by finding an entry in Raymond's Diary, is important, because the -last time we ever saw Raymond was in July. - -To my mind the whole incident is rather exceptionally good as a piece -of evidence; and that 'Raymond' expected it to be good evidence -is plain from Peters's ('Moonstone's') statement, at that first -reference to a photograph on 27 September, namely, "He is particular -that I should tell you of this." (This sentence it probably was -which made me look out for such a photograph, and take pains to get -records soundly made beforehand.) Our complete ignorance, even of -the existence of the photograph, in the first place, and secondly -the delayed manner in which knowledge of it normally came to us, so -that we were able to make provision for getting the supernormally -acquired details definitely noted beforehand, seem to me to make it -a first-class case. While, as to the amount of coincidence between -the description and the actual photograph, that surely is quite -beyond chance or guesswork. For not only are many things right, but -practically nothing is wrong. - - -CALENDAR - - _20 July 1915_ Raymond's last visit home. - - _24 August 1915_ Photograph taken at the Front, as - shown by entry in Raymond's - private Diary, but not mentioned - by him. - - _14 September 1915_ Raymond's death. - - _27 September 1915_ Peters' ('Moonstone's') mention of - the photograph as a message from - 'Raymond.' - - _15 October 1915_ Negative sent with other negatives - by Capt. Sydney T. Boast, from - the Front in Flanders, to Messrs. - Gale & Polden, Aldershot, for - printing. - - _29 November 1915_ Mrs. Cheves wrote spontaneously, - saying that she had a group-photograph - of some 2nd South - Lancashire Officers, which she - could send if desired. - - - _3 December 1915_ Feda's (Mrs. Leonard's) further description - of a photograph which - had been mentioned through another - medium, in answer to a - direct question addressed to 'Raymond.' - - _6 December 1915_ M. F. A. L. found an entry in Raymond's - Diary showing that a - photograph had been taken on - 24 August. - - _Morning of 7 Dec. 1915_ To make sure, O. J. L. wrote to - J. A. H. his impression of the - photograph before it came. - - _Afternoon of 7 Dec 1915_ Arrival of the photograph. - - _Evening of 7 Dec 1915_ The photograph was shown to the - home members of the family, and - examined by O. J. L. - - [Footnote 10: This bit not written to J. A. H., but is - copied from Peters's sitting, of which Mr. Hill had seen - the record.] - - - - -CHAPTER V - -BEGINNING OF HISTORICAL RECORD OF SITTINGS - - -Although this episode of the photograph is a good and evidential -one, I should be sorry to base an important conclusion on any one -piece of evidence, however cogent. All proofs are really cumulative; -and though it is legitimate to emphasise anything like a crucial -instance, it always needs supplementing by many others, lest -there may have been some oversight. Accordingly, I now proceed to -quote from sittings held by members of the family after Raymond's -death--laying stress upon those which were arranged for, and held -throughout, in an anonymous manner, so that there was not the -slightest normal clue to identity. - -The first message came to us through a recent friend of ours in -London, Mrs. Kennedy, who herself has the power of automatic writing, -and who, having lost her specially beloved son Paul, has had her hand -frequently controlled by him--usually only so as to give affectionate -messages, but sometimes in a moderately evidential way. She had been -sceptical about the genuineness of this power apparently possessed -by herself; and it was her painful uncertainty on this point that -had brought her into correspondence with me, for she was trying to -test her own writing in various ways, as she was so anxious not to -be deceived. The first I ever heard of her was the following letter -which came while I was in Australia, and was dealt with by Mr. Hill:-- - - -FIRST LETTER FROM MRS. KENNEDY TO O. J. L. - - "_16 August 1914_ - - "SIR OLIVER LODGE. - - "DEAR SIR,--Because of your investigations into spirit - life, I venture to ask your help. - - "My only son died 23 June, eight weeks after a terrible - accident. On 25 June (without my asking for it or having - thought of it) I felt obliged to hold a pencil, and I - received in automatic writing his name and 'yes' and 'no' - in answer to questions. - - "Since then I have had several pages of writing from him - every day and sometimes twice daily. I say 'from him'; - the whole torturing question is--is it from him or am I - self-deceived? - - "My knowledge is infinitesimal. Nineteen years ago a - sister who had died the year before suddenly used my - hand, and after that wrote short messages at intervals; - another sister a year later, and my father one message - sixteen years ago; but I felt so self-deceived that - I always pushed it aside, until it came back to me, - unasked, after my son's passing over. - - "Your knowledge is what I appeal to, and the deep, - personal respect one has for you and your investigations. - It is for my son's sake--he is only seventeen--and he - writes with such intense sadness of my lack of decided - belief that I venture to beg help of a stranger in a - matter so sacred to me. - - "Do you ever come to London, and, if so, could you - possibly allow me to see you for even half an hour? and - you might judge from the strange and holy revelations - (I know no other way to express many of the messages - that are sent) whether they can possibly be only from - my own subconscious mind.... Pardon this length of - letter.--Yours faithfully, - - "(Signed) - - KATHERINE KENNEDY" - -Ultimately I was able to take her anonymously and unexpectedly to -an American medium, Mrs. Wriedt, and there she received strong and -unmistakable proofs.[11] She also received excellent confirmation -through several other mediums whom she had discovered for -herself--notably Mr. Vout Peters and Mrs. Osborne Leonard. Of Mrs. -Leonard I had not previously heard; I had heard of a Madame St. -Leonard, or some name like that, but this is somebody else. Mrs. -Kennedy tells me that she herself had not known Mrs. Leonard long, -her own first sitting with that lady having been on 14 September -1915. I must emphasise the fact that Mrs. Kennedy is keen and careful -about evidential considerations. - -As Mrs. Kennedy's son Paul plays a part in what follows, perhaps -it is permissible to quote here a description of him which she -gave to Mr. Hill in October 1914, accompanying an expression of -surprise at the serious messages which she sometimes received from -him--interspersed with his fun and his affection:-- - -K. K.'s DESCRIPTION OF PAUL - - "Picture to yourself this boy: not quite eighteen but - always taken for twenty or twenty-two; an almost divine - character underneath, but exteriorly a typical 'motor - knut,' driving racing-cars at Brooklands, riding for - the Jarrott Cup on a motor cycle, and flying at Hendon - as an Air Mechanic; dining out perpetually, because of - his charm which made him almost besieged by friends; and - apparently without any creed except honour, generosity, - love of children, the bringing home of every stray cat to - be fed here and comforted, a total disregard of social - distinctions when choosing his friends, and a hatred of - hurting anyone's feelings." - -On seeing the announcement of Mr. R. Lodge's death in a newspaper, -Mrs. Kennedy 'spoke' to Paul about it, and asked him to help; -she also asked for a special sitting with Mrs. Leonard for the -same purpose, though without saying why. The name Raymond was on -that occasion spelt out through the medium, and he was said to be -sleeping. This was on 18 September. On the 21st, while Mrs. Kennedy -was writing in her garden on ordinary affairs, her own hand suddenly -wrote, as from her son Paul:-- - - "I am here.... I have seen that boy Sir Oliver's son; he's - better, and has had a splendid rest, tell his people." - -Lady Lodge having been told about Mrs. Leonard, and wanting to help -a widowed French lady, Madame Le Breton, who had lost both her sons, -and was on a visit to England, asked Mrs. Kennedy to arrange a -sitting, so as to avoid giving any name. A sitting was accordingly -arranged with Mrs. Leonard for 24 September 1915. - -On 22 September, Mrs. Kennedy, while having what she called a 'talk' -with Paul, suddenly wrote automatically:-- - - "I shall bring Raymond to his father when he comes to see - you.... He is so jolly, every one loves him; he has found - heaps of his own folks here, and he is settling down - wonderfully. DO TELL HIS FATHER AND MOTHER.... He spoke - clearly to-day.... He doesn't fight like the others, he - seems so settled already. It is a ripping thing to see - one boy like this. He has been sleeping a long time, but - he has spoken to-day.... - - "If you people only knew how we long to come, they would - all call us." - -[Capitals indicate large and emphatic writing.] - -On the 23rd, during Lady Lodge's call, Mrs. Kennedy's hand wrote what -purported to be a brief message from Raymond, thus:-- - - "I am here, mother.... I have been to Alec already, but - he can't hear me. I do wish he would believe that we are - here safe; it isn't a dismal hole like people think, it - is a place where there is life." - -And again: - - "Wait till I have learned better how to speak like - this.... We can express all we want later; give me time." - -I need hardly say that there is nothing in the least evidential in -all this. I quote it only for the sake of reasonable completeness, so -as to give the history from the beginning. Evidence comes later. - -Next day, 24 September 1915, the ladies went for an interview with -Mrs. Leonard, who knew no more than that friends of Mrs. Kennedy -would accompany her. The following is Lady Lodge's account of the -sitting:-- - -_First Sitting of any Member of the Family (Anonymous) with Mrs. -Leonard_ - - -GENERAL ACCOUNT BY M. F. A. L. - -24 SEPTEMBER 1915 - - Mrs. Leonard went into a sort of trance, I suppose, and - came back as a little Indian girl called 'Freda,' or - 'Feda,' rubbing her hands, and talking in the silly way - they do. - - However, she soon said there was an old gentleman and a - young one present, whom she described; and Mrs. Kennedy - told me afterwards that they were her father and her son - Paul. There seemed to be many others standing beside us, - so 'Feda' said. - - Then Feda described some one brought in lying down--about - twenty-four or twenty-five, not yet able to sit up; the - features she described might quite well have belonged to - Raymond. (I forgot to say Mrs. Leonard did not know me - or my name, or Madame le Breton's.) Feda soon said she - saw a large R beside this young man, then an A, then she - got a long letter with a tail, which she could not make - out, then she drew an M in the air, but forgot to mention - it, and she said an O came next, and she said there was - another O with a long stroke to it, and finally, she said - she heard 'Yaymond' (which is only her way of pronouncing - it). [The name was presumably got from 'Paul.'--O. J. L.] - Then she said that he just seemed to open his eyes and - smile; and then he had a choking feeling, which distressed - me very much; but he said he hadn't suffered much--not - nearly as much as I should think; whether he said this, - or Paul, I forget; but Paul asked me not to tell him - to-morrow night that I was not with him, as he had so much - the feeling that I was with him when he died, that he - (Paul) wouldn't like to undeceive him. - - I then asked that some one in that other world might - kiss him for me, and a lady, whom they described in a - way which was just like my mother, came and kissed him, - and said she was taking care of him. And there was also - an old gentleman, full white beard, etc. (evidently my - stepfather, but Feda said with a moustache, which was a - mistake), with W. up beside him, also taking care; said he - had met Raymond, and he was looking after him, and lots of - others too; but said he [W.] belonged to me and to 'O.' - [Correct.] I asked how and what it was he had done for - me, and Feda made a movement with her fingers, as though - disentangling something, and then putting it into straight - lines. He then said he had made things easier for me. So - I said that was right, and thanked him gratefully. I said - also that if Raymond was in his and Mamma's hands, I was - satisfied. - -[I do not append the notes of this sitting, since it was held mainly -for Madame and her two sons, both of whom were described, and from -whom some messages appeared to come.] - - -_Table Sitting at Mrs. Leonard's_ - -Next day (Saturday, 25 September 1915), as arranged partly by Paul, -the three ladies went to Mrs. Leonard's house again for a sitting -with a table, and Dr. Kennedy kindly accompanied them to take notes. - -The three ladies and the medium sat round a small table, with their -hands lightly on it, and it tilted in the usual way. The plan adopted -here is for the table to tilt as each letter of the alphabet is -spoken by the medium, and to stop, or 'hold,' when a right letter is -reached. For general remarks on the rationale, or what most people -will naturally consider the absurdity, of intelligent movements of -this kind, see Chapter XIV, Part III. - -It was a rather complicated sitting, as it was mainly for Madame -who was a novice in the subject. Towards the end unfortunately, -though momentarily and not at all pronouncedly, she spoke to Lady -Lodge by name. At these table sittings the medium, Mrs. Leonard, -is not unconscious; accordingly she heard it in her normal self, -and afterwards said that she had heard it. The following extracts -from the early part of the sitting may be quoted here, as answers -purporting to be spelt out by Raymond:-- - - QUESTIONS ANSWERS - - Are you lonely? No. - - Who is with you? Grandfather W. - - Have you anything to say to You know I can't help missing - me? you, but I am learning to be - happy. - - Have you any message for any Tell them I have many good - of them? friends. - - Can you tell me the name of anyone Honor. [One of his sisters.] - at home? - -(Other messages of affection and naturalness.) - - Have I enough to satisfy them No. - at home? - - Is there anything you want to Tell father I have met some - send? friends of his. - - Any name? Yes; Myers. - - Have you anything else to say? (No answer.) - - Is some one else there? Yes; Guy. (This was a son of - Madame, and the sitting became - French.) - -Reasonable and natural messages were spelt out in French. The other -son of Madame was named Didier, and an unsuccessful attempt to spell -this name was made, but the only result was DODI. - - -_Automatic Writing by Mrs. Kennedy, 26 September_ - -On 26 September Mrs. Kennedy (alone) had a lot of automatic writing, -with her own hand, mainly from Paul, who presently wrote, "Mother, I -have been let to bring Raymond." - -(After a welcome, Raymond was represented as sending this message:--) - - "I can speak easier than I could at the table, because you - are helping all the time. It is easy when we are alone - with you, but if I go there it confuses me a little.... - I long to comfort them. Will you tell them that Raymond - had been to you, and that Paul tells me I can come to you - whenever I like? It is so good of you to let the boys all - come...." - - "Paul tells me he has been here since he was seventeen; - he is a jolly chap; every one seems fond of him. I don't - wonder, for he helps every one. It seems a rule to call - Paul if you get in a fix." - -(Then Paul said he was back, and wrote:--) - - "He is quite happy really since he finds he can get to his - people. He has slept ever since last night, till I was - told to fetch him to-night." - -(Asked about the French boys, Paul said:--) - - "I saw them when I brought them, but I don't see them - otherwise; they are older than I am ... they hardly - believe it yet that they have spoken. All the time they - felt it was impossible, and they nearly gave it up, but I - kept on begging them to tell their mother they lived." - - "I do hope she felt it true, mother...." - - "It is hard to think your sons are dead; but such a lot of - people do think it. It is revolting to hear the boys tell - you how no one speaks to them ever; it hurts me through - and through." - -(Interval. Paul fetched Guy [one of Madame Le Breton's -sons], saying:--) - - "I can't stand it when they call out for help. Speak to - him please, mother." - -(Mrs. Kennedy spoke to Guy, saying that she felt he -could not believe any of it, but would he give time and -trouble to studying the subject as she was doing? The -following writing came:--) - - GUY.--I think you hear me because it is just as I am - feeling; how CAN I believe we can speak to you who live - where we once lived? It was not possible then for us to - speak to dead people; and why should it be possible for us - to speak. Will you keep on helping me, please, for I can't - follow it, and I long to? - -(Mrs. Kennedy asked him to ask Paul, that being an easier method, -probably, than getting information through her. She asked him to -'excuse' Paul's youth.) - - GUY.--I like Paul; he is good to us. I shall be glad to - talk to him constantly if he has time for all of us; he - seems a sort of messenger between us and you, isn't he? - -[Guy had been to school in England, his brother had not.] - - [Footnote 11: I think it only fair to mention the names - of professional mediums, if I find them at all genuine. I - do not guarantee their efficiency, for mediumship is not - a power that can always be depended on,--it is liable to - vary; sitters also may be incompetent, and conditions may - be bad. The circumstances under which sensitives work are - difficult at the present time and ought to be improved.] - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -FIRST SITTING OF O. J. L. WITH MRS. LEONARD - - -On 27 September, as already stated in Chapter III, I myself visited -Mrs. Leonard, going anonymously and alone, and giving no information -beyond the fact that I was a friend of Mrs. Kennedy. I lay no stress, -on my anonymity, however. - -In a short time Feda controlled, and at first described an elderly -gentleman as present. Then she said he brought some one with the -letter R; and as I took verbatim notes I propose to reproduce this -portion in full, so as to give the general flavour of a 'Feda' -sitting; only omitting what has already been extracted and quoted in -Chapter III. - - -_O. J. L. at Mrs. Leonard's, Monday, 27 September 1915, 12 noon to 1 -o'clock_ - -(Mrs. Leonard's control 'Feda' speaking all the time.) - - There is some one here with a little difficulty; not fully - built up; youngish looking; form more like an outline; - he has not completely learnt how to build up as yet. - Is a young man, rather above the medium height; rather - well-built, not thick-set or heavy, but well-built. He - holds himself up well. He has not been over long. His - hair is between colours. He is not easy to describe, - because he is not building himself up so solid as some - do. He has greyish eyes; hair brown, short at the sides; - a fine-shaped head; eyebrows also brown, not much arched; - nice-shaped nose, fairly straight, broader at the nostrils - a little; a nice-shaped mouth, a good-sized mouth it is, - but it does not look large because he holds the lips - nicely together; chin not heavy; face oval. He is not - built up quite clearly, but it feels as if Feda knew him. - He must have been here waiting for you. Now he looks at - Feda and smiles; now he laughs, he is having a joke with - Feda, and Paulie laughs too. Paul says he has been here - before, and that Paul brought him. But Feda sees many - hundreds of people, but they tell me this one has been - brought quite lately. Yes, I have seen him before. Feda - remembers a letter with him too. R, that is to do with him. - - (Then Feda murmured, as if to herself, "Try and give me - another letter.") (Pause.) - - It is a funny name, not Robert or Richard. He is not - giving the rest of it, but says R again; it is from him. - He wants to know where his mother is; he is looking for - her; he does not understand why she is not here. - -O. J. L.--Tell him he will see her this afternoon, and that she is -not here this morning, because she wants to meet him this afternoon -at three o'clock. - - [Meaning through another medium, namely Peters. But that, - of course, was not said.] - - He has been to see you before, and he says that once he - thought you knew he was there, and that two or three times - he was not quite sure. Feda gets it mostly by impression; - it is not always what he says, but what she gets; but Feda - says "he says," because she gets it from him somehow.[12] - He finds it difficult, he says, but he has got so many - kind friends helping him. He didn't think when he waked up - first that he was going to be happy, but now he is, and he - says he is going to be happier. He knows that as soon as - he is a little more ready, he has got a great deal of work - to do. "I almost wonder," he says, "shall I be fit and - able to do it. They tell me I shall." - - [_And so on as reported in Chapter III._] - - He seems to know what the work is. The first work he will - have to do, will be helping at the Front; not the wounded - so much, but helping those who are passing over in the - war. He knows that when they pass on and wake up, they - still feel a certain fear--and some other word which Feda - missed. Feda hears a something and 'fear.' Some even go - on fighting; at least they want to; they don't believe - they have passed on. So that many are wanted where he is - now, to explain to them and help them, and soothe them. - They do not know where they are, nor why they are there. - - [I considered that this was ordinary 'Feda talk,' such as - it is probably customary to get through mediums at this - time; therefore, though the statements are likely enough, - there is nothing new in them, and I thought it better to - interrupt by asking a question. So I said:--] - -O. J. L.--Does he want to send a message to anyone at home? Or will -he give the name of one of his instructors? - - [I admit that it is stupid thus to ask two questions at once.] - - He shows me a capital H, and says that is not an - instructor, it is some one he knows on the earth side. He - wants them to be sure that he is all right and happy. He - says, "People think I say I am happy in order to make them - happier, but I don't". - - [_And so on as already reported in Chapter III._] - - Now the first gentleman with the letter W is going over - to him and putting his arm round his shoulder, and he is - putting his arm round the gentleman's back. Feda feels - like a string round her head; a tight feeling in the head, - and also an empty sort of feeling in the chest, empty, as - if sort of something gone. A feeling like a sort of vacant - feeling there; also a bursting sensation in the head. But - he does not know he is giving this. He has not done it on - purpose, they have tried to make him forget all that, but - Feda gets it from him. There is a noise with it too, an - awful noise and a rushing noise. - - He has lost all that now, but he does not seem to know why - Feda feels it now. "I feel splendid," he says, "I feel - splendid! But I was worried at first. I was worried, for I - was wanting to make it clear to those left behind that I - was all right, and that they were not to worry about me." - - You may think it strange, but he felt that you would not - worry so much as some one else; two others, two ladies, - Feda thinks. You would know, he says, but two ladies would - worry and be uncertain; but now he believes they know more. - -Then, before Mrs. Leonard came out of trance, came the description -of a falling dark cross which twisted round and became bright, as -reported in Chapter III. - -After the sitting, and before I went away, I asked Mrs. Leonard if -she knew who I was. She replied, "Are you by chance connected with -those two ladies who came on Saturday night?" On my assenting, Mrs. -Leonard added, "Oh! then I know, because the French lady gave the -name away; she said 'Lady Lodge' in the middle of a French sentence." - -I also spoke to her about not having too many sittings and straining -her power. She said she "preferred not to have more than two or three -a day, though sometimes she could not avoid it; and some days she had -to take a complete rest." But she admitted that she was going to have -another one that day at two o'clock. I told her that three per day -was rather much. She pleaded that there are so many people who want -help now, that she declined all those who came for only commercial or -fortune-telling motives, but that she felt bound to help those who -are distressed by the war. I report this to show that she saw many -people totally disconnected with Raymond or his family: so that what -she might say to a new unknown member of the family could be quite -evidential. - - [Footnote 12: Note this, as an elucidatory statement.] - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -FIRST PETERS SITTING (ANONYMOUS) - - -Mrs. Kennedy desired Lady Lodge to try with a different and -independent medium, and therefore kindly arranged with Mr. A. Vout -Peters to come to her house on Monday afternoon and give a trance -sitting to 'a friend of hers' not specified. Accordingly, at or about -3 p.m. on Monday, 27 September 1915, Lady Lodge went by herself to -Mrs. Kennedy's house, so as not to have to give any name, and awaited -the arrival of Peters, who, when he came, said he would prefer to sit -in Mrs. Kennedy's own room in which he had sat before, and which he -associated with her son Paul. No kind of introduction was made, and -Peters was a total stranger to Lady Lodge; though to Mrs. Kennedy -he was fairly well known, having several times given her first-rate -evidence about her son, who had proved his identity in several -striking ways. - -When Peters goes into a trance his personality is supposed to change -to that of another man, who, we understand, is called 'Moonstone'; -much as Mrs. Piper was controlled by apparent personalities calling -themselves 'Phinuit' or 'Rector.' When Peters does not go into a -trance he has some clairvoyant faculty of his own. - -The only other person present on this occasion was Mrs. Kennedy, who -kindly took notes. - -This is an important sitting, as it was held for a complete stranger, -so I propose to report it practically in full. - - -_M. F. A. L. Sitting with A. Vout Peters, in Mrs. Kennedy's House, on -27 September 1915, at 3.30 p.m._ - - MEDIUM A. VOUT PETERS. - SITTER LADY LODGE (M. F. A. L.). - RECORDER MRS. KATHERINE KENNEDY (K. K.). - -_The record consists of Mrs. Kennedy's notes. Annotations in square -brackets have been added subsequently by O. J. L._ - -While only partially under control, Peters said: "I feel a lot of -force here, Mrs. Kennedy." - -Peters was controlled quickly by 'Moonstone,' who greeted K. K. and -reminded her of a prophecy of his. (This prophecy related to the -Russian place Dvinsk, and to the important actions likely to be going -on there--as if the decisive battle of the war was to be fought -there.) Then he turned to L. L. and said:-- - - What a useful life you have led, and will lead. - - You have always been the prop of things. - - You have always been associated with men a lot. - - You are the mother and house prop. - - You are not unacquainted with spiritualism. - - You have been associated with it more or less for some - time. - - I sense you as living away from London--in the North or - North-West. - - You are much associated with men, and you are the house - prop--the mother. You have no word in the language that - quite gives it--there are always four walls, but something - more is needed--you are the house prop. - - You have had a tremendous lot of sadness recently, from a - death that has come suddenly. - - You never thought it was to be like this. (Peters went on - talking glibly, and there was no need for the sitter to - say anything.) - - There is a gentleman here who is on the other side--he - went very suddenly. Fairly tall, rather broad, upright - (here the medium sat up very straight and squared his - shoulders)--rather long face, fairly long nose, lips full, - moustache, nice teeth, quick and active, strong sense of - humour--he could always laugh, keen sense of affection. - - He went over into the spirit world very quickly. There is - no idea of death because it was so sudden, with no illness. - - Do you know anything connected with the letter L? (No - answer was given to this.) - - What I am going to say now is from Paul--he says: "Tell - mother it is not one L, it is double L." He says: "Tell - mother she always loved a riddle"--he laughs. (L. L. and - K. K. both said they could not understand.[13] 'Moonstone' - continued:--) - - They don't want to make it too easy for you, and funnily - enough, the easier it seems to you sometimes the more - difficult it seems to them. - - This man is a soldier--an officer. He went over where it - is warm. - - You are his mother, aren't you--and he does not call you - ma, or mamma, or mater--just mother, mother. [True.] - - He is reticent and yet he told you a tremendous lot. - - You were not only his mother but his friend. - - Wasn't he clever with books? He laughs and says: "Anyhow - I ought to be, I was brought up with them." He was not - altogether a booky person. - - He knew of spiritualism before he passed over, but he was - a little bit sceptical--he had an attitude of carefulness - about it. He tells me to tell you this: - - The attitude of Mr. Stead and some of those people turned - him aside; on one side there was too much credulity--on - the other side too much piffling at trifles. - - [See also Appendix to this sitting.] - - He holds up in his hand a little heap of olives, as - a symbol for you--then he laughs. Now he says--for a - test--Associated with the olives is the word Roland.[14] - All of this is to give you proof that he is here. - - Before you came you were very down in the dumps. - - Was he ill three weeks after he was hurt? [More like three - hours, probably less.] - - (Various other guesses were made for the meaning of 3.) - - I see the figure 3 so plainly--can't you find a meaning - for it? - -(L. L. suggested 3rd Battalion, and 'Moonstone' -continued:--) - - He says "Yes"--and wasn't he officially put down on - another one? [Perfectly true, he was attached to the 2nd - Battalion at the Front, to the 3rd or reserve Battalion - while training.][15] - - He says: "Don't forget to tell father all this." - - His home is associated with books--both reading and - writing books. Wait a minute, he wants to give me a word, - he is a little impatient with me. Manuscripts, he says, - manuscripts--that's the word. - - He sends a message, and he says--this is more for - father--"It is no good his attempting to come to the - medium here, he will simply frighten the medium for all - he is worth, and he will not get anything. But he is not - afraid of you, and if there is communication wanted with - this man again, _you_ must come." - - You have several portraits of this boy. Before he went - away you had got a good portrait of him--2--no, 3. [Fully - as many as that.] - - Two where he is alone and one where he is in a group of - other men. [This last is not yet verified.][16] - - He is particular that I should tell you of this. In - one you see his walking-stick ('Moonstone' here put an - imaginary stick under his arm). [Not known yet] - - He had particularly strong hands. - - When he was younger, he was very strongly associated with - football and outdoor sports. You have in your house prizes - that he won, I can't tell you what. [Incorrect; possibly - some confusion in record here; or else wrong.] - - Why should I get two words--'Small' and 'Heath,' - - [Small Heath is a place near Birmingham with which he had - some but not close associations.] - - Also I see, but very dimly as in a mist, the letters B I - R. [Probably Birmingham.] - - You heard of either his death or of his being hurt by - telegram. - - He didn't die at once. He had three wounds. - - I don't think you have got details yet. [No, not fully.] - - If he had lived he would have made a name for himself in - his own particular line. - - Was he not associated with chemistry? If not, some one - associated with him was, because I see all the things in a - chemical laboratory. - - [The next portion has already been reported in Chapter III, but I do - not omit it from its context here.] - - That chemistry thing takes me away from him to a man in - the flesh. - - And connected with him a man, a writer of poetry, on our - side, closely connected with spiritualism. - - He was very clever--he too passed away out of England. - - He has communicated several times. - - This gentleman who wrote poetry--I see the letter M--he is - helping your son to communicate. - - He is built up in the chemical conditions. - - If your son didn't know this man, he knew of him. - - At the back of the gentleman beginning with M and who - wrote poetry is a whole group of people. - - They are very interested. And don't be surprised if you - get messages from them, even if you don't know them. - - This is so important that is going to be said now, that - I want to go slowly, for you to write clearly every word - (dictates carefully). - - "Not only is the partition so thin that you can hear the - operators on the other side, but a big hole has been made." - - This message is for the gentleman associated with the - chemical laboratory. - - The boy--I call them all boys, because I was over a - hundred when I lived here and they are all boys to me--he - says, he is here, but he says: "Hitherto it has been a - thing of the head, now I am come over it is a thing of - the heart. What is more (here Peters jumped up in his - chair vigorously, snapped his fingers excitedly, and spoke - loudly): - - "Good God! how father will be able to speak out! much - firmer than he has ever done, because it will touch our - hearts." - -M. F. A. L.--Does he want his father to speak out? - - Yes, but not yet--wait, the evidence will be given in such - a way that it cannot be contradicted, and his name is big - enough to sweep all stupid opposition on one side. - - I was not conscious of much suffering, and I am glad that - I settled my affairs before I went. - - [He did; he made a will just before leaving England, and - left things in good order. He also cleared up things when - he joined the Army.] - - Have you a sister of his with you, and one on our side? A - little child almost, so little that you never associated - her with him. - - There are two sisters, one on each side of him, one in the - dark and one in the light. - - [Raymond was the only boy sandwiched in between two - sisters; Violet older than he, and still living - (presumably in the dark), and Laura[17] younger than he, - died a few minutes after birth (in the light). Raymond was - the youngest boy, and had thus a sister on either side of - him.] - - Your girl is standing on one side, Paul on the other, and - your boy in the centre. (Here 'Moonstone' put his arm - round K. K.'s shoulder to show how the boy was standing.) - Now he stoops over you and kisses you there (indicating - the brow). - - Before he went away he came home for a little while. - Didn't he come for three days? - - (There is a little unimportant confusion in the record - about 'days.') - -Then, with evident intention of trying to give a 'test,' some -trivial but characteristic features were mentioned about the interior -of three houses--the one we are in now, the one we had last occupied -at Liverpool, and the one he called 'Mother's home.' But there is -again some confusion in the record, partly because M. F. A. L. didn't -understand what he was driving at, partly because the recorder found -it difficult to follow; and though the confusion was subsequently -disentangled through another medium next day, 28 September, it is -hardly worth while to give as much explanation as would be needed to -make the points clear. So this part is omitted. (See p. 145). - - And he wanted me to tell you of a kiss on the forehead. - -M. F. A. L.--He did not kiss me on the forehead when he said good-bye. - - Well he is taller than you, isn't he? - - (Yes.) - - Not very demonstrative before strangers. But when alone - with you, like a little boy again. - -M. F. A. L.--I don't think he was undemonstrative before strangers. - - Oh yes, all you English are like that. You lock up your - affection, and you sometimes lose the key. - - He laughs. He says you didn't understand about Rowland. He - can get it through now, it's a Roland for your Oliver [p. - 131]. - - [Excellent. By recent marriages the family has gained a - Rowland (son-in-law) and lost (so to speak) an Oliver - (son).] - - He is going. He gives his love to all. - - It has been easy for him to come for two reasons: First, - because you came to get help for Madame.[18] Secondly, - because he had the knowledge in this life. - -M. F. A. L.--I hope it has been a pleasure to him to come? - - Not a pleasure, a joy. - -M. F. A. L.--I hope he will come to me again. - - As much as he can. - - Paul now wants to speak to his mother. - - -_Appendix to First Peters Sitting_ - -NOTE ON RAYMOND'S OLD ATTITUDE TO PSYCHO-PHYSICAL PHENOMENA - -Mrs. Rowland Waterhouse has recently found among her papers an old -letter from Bedales School which she received from her brother -Raymond when she was in Paris during the winter 1905-1906. The -concluding part of it is of some small interest in the light of later -developments:-- - - "I should like to hear more about table turning. I - don't believe in it. The girls here say they have done - it at Steephurst, and they attribute it to some sense - of which we know nothing, and which I want to turn to - some account, driving a dynamo or something, if it is - possible, as they make out, to cause a table to revolve - without any exertion.--I am your affectionate brother, - - "RAYMOND." - - [Footnote 13: Though K. K.'s record, being made at the - time, reads L. L. (meaning Lady Lodge) throughout. When - she speaks, later on, I change the L. L. of the record to - her proper initials to avoid confusion.--O. J. L.] - - [Footnote 14: This is clear, though apparently it was not - so recognised at the time. See later, pp. 135 and 144.] - - [Footnote 15: Let it be understood, once for all, that - remarks in square brackets represent nothing said at the - time, but are comments afterwards by me when I read the - record.--O. J. L.] - - [Footnote 16: The photograph episode is described above, - in Chapter IV, in the light of later information.] - - [Footnote 17: Now apparently called Lily: see later.] - - [Footnote 18: This is curious, because it was with Mrs. - Leonard that Madame had sat, not with Peters at all. It is - a simple cross-correspondence.] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -A TABLE SITTING - - -On 28 September my wife and I together had a table sitting with -Mrs. Leonard, which may be reported nearly in full together with my -preliminary note written immediately afterwards. This is done not -because it is a particularly good specimen, but because these early -sittings have an importance of their own, and because it may be -instructive to others to see the general manner of a table sitting. -It was, I think, the first joint-sitting of any kind which we had had -since the old Piper days. - - -NOTE BY O. J. L. ON TABLE TILTINGS - -A table sitting is not good for conversation, but it is useful -for getting definite brief answers--such as names and incidents, -since it seems to be less interfered with by the mental activity -of an intervening medium, and to be rather more direct. But it -has difficulties of its own. The tilting of the table need not be -regarded as a 'physical phenomenon' in the technical or supernormal -sense, yet it does not _appear_ to be done by the muscles of those -present. The effort required to tilt the table is slight, and -evidentially it must, no doubt, be assumed that so far as mechanical -force is concerned, it is exerted by muscular action. But my -impression is that the tilting is an incipient physical phenomenon, -and that though the energy, of course, comes from the people present, -it does not appear to be applied in quite a normal way (XIV, Pt. III). - -As regards evidence, however, the issue must be limited to -intelligent direction of the energy. All that can safely be claimed -is that the energy is intelligently directed, and the self-stoppage -of the table at the right letter conveys by touch a sort of -withholding feeling--a kind of sensation as of inhibition--to those -whose hands lie flat on the top of the table. The light was always -quite sufficient to see all the hands, and it works quite well in -full daylight. The usual method is for the alphabet to be called -over, and for the table to tilt or thump at each letter, till it -stops at the right one. The table tilts three times to indicate -"yes," and once to indicate "no"; but as one tilt also represents the -letter A of the alphabet, an error of interpretation is occasionally -made by the sitters. So also C might perhaps be mistaken for "yes," -or _vice versa_; but that mistake is not so likely. - -Unconscious guidance can hardly be excluded, _i.e._ cannot be -excluded with any certainty when the answer is of a kind expected. -But first, our desire was rather in the direction of avoiding such -control; and second, the stoppages were sometimes at unexpected -places; and third, a long succession of letters soon becomes -meaningless, except to the recorder who is writing them down -silently, as they are called out to him _seriatim_, in another part -of the room. - -It will also be observed that at a table sitting it is natural for -the sitters to do most of the talking, and that their object is to -get definite and not verbose replies. - -On this occasion the control of the table seemed to improve as the -sitting went on, owing presumably to increased practice on the part -of the communicator, until towards the end, when there seemed to -be some signs of weariness or incipient exhaustion; and, since the -sitting lasted an hour and a half, tiredness is in no way surprising. - -No further attempt was made to keep our identity from Mrs. Leonard: -our name had been given away, as reported near the end of Chapter VI. - - -_Table Sitting with Mrs. Leonard, Tuesday, 28 September 1915, at 5.30 -p.m._ - -_Present_--O. J. L., M. F. A. L., K. K., with DR. KENNEDY AT ANOTHER -TABLE AS RECORDER - -A small partly wicker table with a square top was used, about 18 -inches square. O. J. L. and M. F. A. L. sat opposite to each other; -K. K. and Mrs. Leonard occupied the other positions, Mrs. Leonard to -the right of O. J. L. After four minutes' interval, the table began -to tilt. - -_Medium._--Will you tilt three times to show you understand? - - (It did.) - -_Medium._--Will you like to give your name? - - (It gave three tilts indicating Yes.) - -_Medium._--Very well, then, the alphabet. Spell it, please. - - (Mrs. Leonard here repeated the alphabet fairly quickly, while the - table tilted slightly at each letter as it was said, - - stopping first at the letter P - then at the letter A - then U - then L. - -O. J. L.--Yes, very well, Paul; we know who you are, and you know who -we are, and we know that you have brought Raymond, and have come to -help. - - YES. - -O. J. L.--We that are here know about this, and you have given us -evidence already, but I am here to get evidence for the family. - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Would you like to say something first, before I ask a -question? - - (Silence.) - - Then the table moved and shook a little, indicating that it wanted - the alphabet; and when the medium recited the letters, it spelt out - in the same manner as before, _i.e._ by stopping at the one desired - by whatever intelligence was controlling the table:-- - - RAYMOND WANTS TO COME HIMSELF. - - Here M. L. ejaculated: "Dear Raymond," and sighed unconsciously. - - The table spelt--it being understood that Raymond had now taken - control:-- - - DO NOT SIGH. - -M. F. A. L.--Was I sighing? - -O. J. L.--Yes, but you must not be so distressed; he doesn't like it. -He is there all right, and I am glad to have some one on the other -side. - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Raymond, your mother is much happier now. - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Now then, shall I ask you questions? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Well now, wait a minute and take your time, and I will ask -the first question:-- - - "What did the boys call you?" - - The medium now again repeated the alphabet, the table tilting to each - letter as before, - - first stopping at P - then at A - then at P again; - it then shook as if something was wrong. - -O. J. L.--Very well, try again, begin once more. - - Again it spelt Pap, but again indicated dissent, and tried again: at - the third trial it appeared to spell - - PAS. - -M. F. A. L.--Raymond dear, you have given two letters right, try and -give the third. - - It now stopped at T; making PAT. - -M. F. A. L.--Yes, that is right. - - [This was, of course, well in our knowledge and therefore not - strictly evidential, but it would not be in the knowledge of the - medium.] (Cf. p. 148.) - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Well, now, you have done that, shall I ask another? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Will you give the name of a brother? - - The alphabet was repeated as usual by the medium, in a monotonous - manner, the table tilting as before - - and stopping first at N - then at O - then going past E, it stopped at R - and the next time at M - then, by a single tilt, it indicated A or else "No." - -O. J. L., thinking that the letters R and M were wrong, because the -(to him) meaningless name NORMAN was evidently being given, took it -as "No," and said:-- - -O. J. L.--You are confused now, better begin again. - - The name accordingly was begun again, and this time it spelt - - NOEL. - -O. J. L.--That is right. [But see appended Note, p. 147.] - - A slight pause took place here; the table then indicated that it - wanted the alphabet again, and spelt out an apparently single - meaningless word which Dr. Kennedy, as he wrote the letters down, - perceived to be - - FIRE AWAY. - -O. J. L.--Oh! You want another question! Would you like to say the -name of an officer? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Very well then, spell it. - - Table spelt:-- - - MIP, - - then indicated error. - -O. J. L.--Not P? - - NO. - -O. J. L.--Well, begin again. - - MITCHELL. - -O. J. L.--Then the officer's name is Mitchell? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Was he a captain? - - (Silence.) - -O. J. L.--Was he a lieutenant? - - (Silence.) - -O. J. L.--Was he a second lieutenant perhaps? - - (Apparent assent, but nothing forcible.) - -O. J. L.--I am now going to give a name away on purpose; I am going -to ask--Do you remember Case? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Would you like to say anything about him? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Very well then, let us have the alphabet. - - Table spelt:-- - - HE IS A GOING A LLONG ALL RRIGHT. - -[Erasures signify errors which were made either by the communicator -or the interpreter, and are in accordance with the record. The method -was that each letter, as understood, was called out, usually by me, -to the recorder. When a wrong letter was indicated, or when there was -obviously a duplication, it was scratched out as above.] - - (After a short silence the spelling began again, it being easy for - the table to indicate to the medium, by shaking or fidgeting, that - she is wanted to repeat the alphabet.) - - HE IS HERE. - -O. J. L.--What, on your side? - - [Thinking it referred to Lieutenant Case.] - - A loud "NO." - - HE IS HERE SPEAK. - -K. K. (interpreting for us).--It only means Raymond is here and -waiting. - -O. J. L.--Under what circumstances did you see him last? - - (The answer was apparently a faint "YES.") - -O. J. L.--Have you any special message, or did you give Case a -special message? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--What was it? - - SO IM NOT SO IM WUO - - (Here some confusion was indicated; and M. F. A. L. said, - "Try and spell the name"--meaning for whom the message - was, if it was a message that was intended, which was very - doubtful. - - It seemed to me that he was trying to say, or remember, - what he had said to Lieutenant Case, who saw him after - he had been struck; and that what he thought he had said - was "So I'm wounded"; but I thought it unadvisable to - continue on this tack, and rather regretted that I had - begun it, since it was liable to put him back into a - period of reminiscence which his friends would prefer that - he did not dwell upon. Moreover, these last few questions - did not seem particularly to interest him, and the - responses were comparatively weak. Accordingly, I decided - to switch him on to a topic that would be more likely to - interest him.) - -O. J. L.--Would you like your mother to go and see a friend of yours? - - (Some names of friends of his were now correctly given, - but as we knew them I need not reproduce this part.) - -O. J. L.--I say, Raymond, would you like a Ford? [motor]. - - (After a moment's apparent surprise:--) - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Aren't you tired now? - - Loud "NO." - -M. F. A. L.--Raymond, I don't know Mitchell. - - NO. - -O. J. L.--Well, that will be better evidence. - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Is that why you chose it? - - YES. - - AER - -MEDIUM (_sotto voce_).--No, that can't be right. - -O. J. L. (_ditto_).--I don't know; it may be. Go on. - - OPLANE. - -O. J. L.--You mean that Mitchell is an aeroplane officer? - - "YES" (very loud). - -M. F. A. L. (misunderstanding, and thinking that he had said that he -would like an aeroplane in preference to a Ford).--Still at your jokes, -Raymond! - - YES. - - (Then again the table indicated, by slight rocking, that - the alphabet was wanted; and it spelt:--) - - RAYMOND IS BEATING U. - - (The sitters here made a little explanatory comment to - each other on what they understood this unimportant - sentence to mean; after which O. J. L. appears to have - said:--) - -O. J. L.--I don't like bothering you. - - Table moved, indicating that it was no trouble. - -M. F. A. L.--Raymond, can you see us? - - YES. - -M. F. A. L.--Can you see that I have been writing to you? [See Part I, -p. 10.] - - YES. - -M. F. A. L.--Can you read what I am writing? - - YES. - -M. F. A. L.--How do you read it? By looking over my shoulder? - - Table again called for alphabet and spelt:-- - - SENSE IT. - -M. F. A. L.--Shall you ever be able to write through my hand do you -think? - - (Silence.) - -M. F. A. L.--Well, anyhow, you would like me to try? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Raymond, have you plenty to do over there? - - Loud "YES." - -O. J. L.--Well, look here, I am going to give another name away. - - NO. - -O. J. L.--Oh! You prefer not! Very well, I will ask you in this way: -Have you met any particular friend of mine? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Very well then, spell his name. - - The table spelt:-- - - MYRES AND GRA. - - Here O. J. L. thought that he had got wrong--rather - suspected that the A meant "No," and stupidly said:-- - -O. J. L.--Well, it doesn't matter, it won't be evidential, so I may -as well guess what you mean: Is it Gurney? - - The table assented. But it still went on spelling. It - again spelt:-- - - GRA - - and then - - ND, - - at which O. J. L. queried: Grand men? - - The table dissented, and went on and spelt:-- - - FATHER. - -O. J. L.--Oh! You mean Grandfather! - - YES. - -M. F. A. L.--Is he with Myers and Gurney? - - Emphatic "NO." - -M. F. A. L.--Which grandfather is it that you mean? Give the first -letter of his Christian name. - - W. - -M. F. A. L.--Dear Grandpapa! He would be sure to come and help you! - -O. J. L.--I say, do you like this table method better than the 'Feda' -method? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--But you remember that you can send anything you want -specially through Paul always? - -YES. - -O. J. L.--That was a grand sitting yesterday that your mother had! -[_i.e._ the one with Peters.] - - YES. - -M. F. A. L.--Do you remember showing olives? - - YES. - -M. F. A. L.--What did you mean by them? - - OLIVER. - -M. F. A. L.--Then we now understand--A Roland for an Oliver. - - YES. - -O. J. L.--You intended no reference to Italy? [We had been doubtful -at first of the significance of the olives; see p. 131.] - - NO. - -O. J. L.--But you were interested in Italy? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Do you remember anyone special in Italy? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Well, spell the name. - - (A name was spelt correctly.) - -O. J. L.--You _are_ clever at this! - - Loud "YES." - -O. J. L.--You always did like mechanical things. - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Can you explain how you do this? I mean how you work the -table? - - The table then spelt with the alphabet for a long time, - and as the words were not divided up, the sitters lost - touch, one after the other, with what was being said. I, - for instance, lost touch after the word "magnetism," and, - for all I know, it was nonsense that was being said; but - the recorder put all the letters down as they came, each - letter being called out by me according to the stoppages - of the table, and the record reads thus:-- - - YOU ALL SUPPLY MAGNETISM GATHERED IN MEDIUM, AND THAT GOES - INTO TABLE; AND WE MANIPULATE. - - [The interest of this is due to the fact that the table - was spelling our coherent words, although the sitters - could hardly, under the circumstances, be exercising any - control. Naturally, this does not prevent the medium - from being supposed to be tilting out a message herself, - and hence it is quite unevidential of course; but, in - innumerable other cases, the things said were quite - outside the knowledge of the medium.] - -O. J. L.--It is not what _I_ should call "magnetism," is it? - - NO. - -O. J. L.--But you do not object to the term? - - NO. - -O. J. L--Paul's mother offers to take messages from you, and if she -gets them, she will transmit them to us. - - YES. - -O. J. L--So when you want to get anything special through, just speak -to Paul. - - YES. - -O. J. L.--And sometimes I shall be able to get a message back to you. - - Loud "YES." - - (In answer to a question about which of his sisters were - at school with a specified person, the names of the right - two sisters were now spelt out:--) - - ROSALIND. - - [We generally spell the name Rosalynde, but it was spelt - here Rosalind as shown.] - - BARBARA. - -M. F. A. L.--Isn't it clever of him? - - Loud and amusing "Yes." - -O. J. L.--I never thought you would do it so quickly. - - NO. - -O. J. L.--Can you still make acrostics? [O. J. L. immediately -regretted having asked this leading sort of question, but it was -asked.] - - YES. - -K. K.--You are not going to make one now? - - NO. - -M. F. A. L.--Can you see me, Raymond, at other times when I am not -with a medium? - - Alphabet called for, and spelt:-- - - SOMETIMES. - -M. F. A. L.--You mean when I think of you? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--That must be very often. - - Loud "YES." - - [When a 'loud' YES or NO is stated, it means that the - table tilted violently, bumping on the floor and making - a noise which impressed the recorder, so that the words - "loud bumps" were added in the record.] - - [I then asked him about the houses (of which he had - specified some identifying features at a previous sitting - through Peters on 27 September). He seemed to regret that - there had been some confusion, and now correctly spelt out - GROVEPARK as the name of one house, and NEWCASTLE as the - place where 'Mother's home' was. But I omit details, as - before.] (See p. 135.) - -O. J. L.---Tell Mr. Myers and Mr. Gurney that I am glad to hear from -them and that they are helping you. - - YES. - -M. F. A. L.--Give my affectionate regards to Mr. Gurney for a message -which he got through for me some time ago. - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Now you must rest. - - YES. - -M. F. A. L.--One of your record sleeps. - - Loud "YES." - -O. J. L.--Good-bye, I will tell the family to-morrow. - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Alec especially. - - YES. - -M. F. A. L.--Noël will love to have his name spelt out. - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Well, good-bye, old man, we shall hear from you again. - -M. F. A. L.--Good-bye, Raymond darling. - -O. J. L.--Before we stop, does Paul want to say a word? - - (Paul was then understood to take control, and spelt out:--) - - HE IS GETTING ON WELL. - - (We then thanked Paul for helping, and said good-bye.) - -(_End of sitting._) - - * * * * * - -To complete the record I shall append the few annotations which I -made a couple of days afterwards, before I supplement them with later -information. - -_Contemporary Annotations for Table Sitting on 28 September_ - -Very many things were given right at the sitting above recorded, -and in most cases the rightness will be clear from the comments of -the sitters as recorded. But two names are given on which further -annotation is necessary, because the sitters did not understand -them; in other words, they were such as, if confirmed, would furnish -excellent and indeed exceptional evidence. - -The first is 'Norman,' about which a very important report could be -made at once; but I think it better not to put anything in writing -on that subject even now, at the present stage, since it is quite -distinct, unforgettable, and of the first importance. - -The other is the name 'Mitchell,' which at present we have had -no opportunity for verifying; hence annotation on that must be -postponed. Suffice it to say that to-day (6 October 1915) it remains -unknown. Whether an Army List has been published this year seems -doubtful, and on the whole unlikely; and no Army List later than 1909 -has been so far accessible. Such few inquiries as have up to now been -made have drawn blank. [See, however, three pages further on.] - -_Later Information_ - -On 10 October Mrs. Kennedy, alone, had some automatic writing as -follows:-- - - Mother, Paul is bringing Raymond. I have him here; he will speak to - you.... - - "Please listen carefully now I want to speak to you about NORMAN. - There is a special meaning to that because we always called my brother - Alec Norman, the (muddle ...)." - -(K. K. said that she couldn't get the rest clearly.) - -On 12 October we had a sitting with Mrs. Leonard, K. K. also present, -and I said to 'Raymond':-- - -Do you want to say anything more about that name 'Norman'? You gave a -message about it to Mrs. Kennedy, but I don't know whether she got it -clearly. Perhaps you want to amplify it? If so, now is your chance. -(The reply spelt out was:--) - - I TOLD HER THAT I CALLED LIONEL. - - On which K. K. said: "I am afraid I often get names wrong. I suppose I - got the name of the wrong brother." - -NOTE BY O. J. L. ABOUT THE NAME 'NORMAN' - -It appears that 'Norman' was a kind of general nickname; and -especially that when the boys played hockey together, which they -often did in the field here, by way of getting concentrated exercise, -Raymond, who was specially active at this game, had a habit of -shouting out, "Now then, Norman," or other words of encouragement, -to any of his other brothers whom he wished to stimulate, especially -apparently Lionel, though sometimes Alec and the others. That is what -I am now told, and I can easily realise the manner of it. But I can -testify that I was not aware that a name like this was used, nor was -Lady Lodge, we two being the only members of the family present at -the Leonard table sitting where the name 'Norman' was given. (See p. -140.) - -It will be remembered that at that sitting I first asked him what -name the boys had called him, and, after a few partial failures, -obviously only due to mismanagement of the table, he replied, 'Pat,' -which was quite right. I then asked if he would like to give the name -of a brother, and he replied 'Norman,' which I thought was quite -wrong. I did not even allow him to finish the last letter. I said he -was confused, and had better begin again; after which he amended it -to '*Noël,' which I accepted as correct. But it will now be observed -that the name 'Norman' was the best he could possibly give, as a -kind of comprehensive nickname applicable to almost any brother. -And a nickname was an appropriate kind of response, because we had -already had the nickname 'Pat,' Furthermore, on subsequent occasions -he explained that it was the name by which he had called Lionel; and, -through Mrs. Kennedy--if she did not make a mistake--that it was a -name he had called Alec by. It is quite possible, however, that he -had intended to say 'Lionel' on that occasion, and that she got it -wrong. I am not sure how that may be. Again, at a later stage, in a -family sitting--no medium present--one of the boys said, "Pat, do you -remember 'Norman'?" at which with some excitement, the girls only -touching the table, he spelt out 'HOCKEY'; thus completing the whole -incident. - -The most evidential portions, however, are those obtained when nobody -present understood what was being said--namely, first, the spelling -of the name 'Norman' when those present thought that it was all a -mistake after the first two letters; and secondly, the explanation -to Mrs. Kennedy that it was a name by which he had called one of his -brothers, showing that it was originally given by no accident, but -with intention. - -As to the name 'Pat' (p. 140), I extract the following from a diary -of Noël, as evidence that it was very much Raymond's nickname; but of -course we knew it:-- - - 1914 - "Sept. 9. Pat goes to L'pool _re_ Commission. - " 10. Pat gets commission in 3rd South Lanc's. - " 14. Pat collecting kit. We inspect revolvers. - " 18. Pat comes up to Harborne for some rifle practice. - Does not find it too easy. - " 19. I become member of Harborne Rifle Club. - " 20. Pat shoots again. - - Sept. 23. Pat leaves for L'pool to start his training at Great - Crosby. - I give up commission-idea for the present. - Oct. 17. Pat comes home to welcome Parents back from Australia. - " 20. Pat returns to L'pool." - -_Note on the name 'Mitchell' (added later)_ - -It can be remembered that, when asked on 28 September for the name -of an officer, Raymond spelt out MITCHELL, and indicated decisively -that the word AEROPLANE was connected with him; he also assented to -the idea that he was one whom the family didn't know, and that so it -would be better as evidence (pp. 141, 142). - -After several failures at identification I learnt, on 10 October, -through the kind offices of the Librarian of the London Library, that -he had ascertained from the War Office that there was a 2nd Lieut. -E. H. Mitchell now attached to the Royal Flying Corps. Accordingly, -I wrote to the Record Office, Farnborough; and ultimately, on 6 -November, received a post card from Captain Mitchell, to whom I must -apologise for the, I hope, quite harmless use of his name:-- - - "Many thanks for your kind letter. I believe I have met - your son, though where I forget. My wounds are quite - healed, and I am posted to Home Establishment for a bit, - with rank of Captain. Your letter only got here (Dover) - from France this morning, so please excuse delay in - answering. - - E. H. MITCHELL." - - * * * * * - -In concluding this chapter, I may quote a little bit of -non-evidential but characteristic writing from 'Paul.' It was -received on 30 September 1915 by Mrs. Kennedy, when alone, and her -record runs thus:-- - - (After writing of other things, I _not_ having asked - anything about Raymond.) - - "I think it hardly possible for you to believe how quickly - Raymond learns; he seems to believe all that we have to - fight to teach the others. - - "Poor chaps, you see no one has told them before they come - over, and it is so hard for them when they see us and they - feel alive, and their people keep on sobbing. - - "The business for you and me gets harder and harder as the - days go on, mother; it needs thousand at this work, and - you are so small. - - "I feel that God helps us, but I want Him to find others, - darling; there is no time to waste either in your place or - mine, but I know you are trying ever so hard." - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -ATTEMPTS AT STRICTER EVIDENCE - - -In a Table Sitting it is manifest that the hypothesis of unconscious -muscular guidance must be pressed to extremes, as a normal -explanation, when the communications are within the knowledge of any -of the people sitting at the table. - -Many of the answers obtained were quite outside the knowledge of the -medium or of Mrs. Kennedy, but many were inevitably known to us; and -in so far as they were within our knowledge it might be supposed, -even by ourselves, that we partially controlled the tilting, though -of course we were careful to try not to do so. And besides, the -things that came, or the form in which they came, were often quite -unexpected, and could not consciously have been controlled by us. -Moreover, when the sentence spelt out was a long one, we lost our -way in it and could not tell whether it was sense or nonsense; for -the words ran into each other. The note-taker, who puts each letter -down as it is called out to him by the sitters at the table, has no -difficulty in reading a message, although, with the words all run -together, it hardly looks intelligible at first sight, even when -written. For instance:-- - -BELESSWORRIEDALECPLEASEOLDCHAP, - -which was one message, or:-- - -GATHEREDINMEDIUMANDTHATGOESINTOTABLEANDWEMANIPULATE, - -which was part of another. Neither could be readily followed if -called out slowly letter by letter. - -Still, the family were naturally and properly sceptical about it all. - -Accordingly, my sons devised certain questions in the nature of -tests, referring to trivial matters which they thought would be -within Raymond's recollection, but which had happened to them alone -during summer excursions or the like, and so were quite outside my -knowledge. They gave me a few written questions, devised in conclave -in their own room; and on 12 October I took them to London with me in -a sealed envelope, which I opened in the train when going up for a -sitting; and after the sitting had begun I took an early opportunity -of putting the questions it contained. We had already had (on 28 -September, reported in last chapter) one incident of a kind unknown -to us, in the name 'Norman,' but they wanted more of the same or of -a still more marked kind. I think it will be well to copy the actual -contemporary record of this part of the sitting in full:-- - -_Second Table Sitting of O. J. L. and M. F. A. L. with -Mrs. Leonard, 12 October 1915, 5.30 p. m._ - -_Present._--O. J. L., M. F. A. L., K. K., WITH DR. KENNEDY - AS RECORDER - -At the beginning of the sitting O. J. L. explained that they were -now engaged in trying to get distinct and crucial evidence; that -preparations had been made accordingly; and that no doubt those on -the other side approved, and would co-operate. - -A pause of three and a half minutes then ensued, and the table gave a -slow tilt. - - O. J. L.--Is Paul there? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Have you brought Raymond? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Are you there, Raymond? - - YES. - -O. J. L. (after M. F. A. L. had greeted him).--Well now, look here, -my boy, I have got a few questions which your brothers think you -will know something about, whereas to me they are quite meaningless. -Their object is to make quite sure that we don't unconsciously help -in getting the answers because we know them. In this case that is -impossible, because nobody here knows the answers at all. Do you -understand the object? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Very well then, shall I begin? - - NO. - -O. J. L.--Oh! You want to say something yourself first? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Very well then, the alphabet. - - TELLTHEMINOWTRYTOPROVEIHAVEMESSAGESTOTHEWORLD. - - [Taking these long messages down is rather tedious, and - it is noteworthy that the sitters lose their way sooner - or later--I had no idea what was coming or whether it was - sense--but of course when it is complete the recorder can - easily interpret, and does so.] - -O. J. L.--Is that the end of what you want to say yourself? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Well then, now I will give you one of the boys' questions, -but I had better explain that you may not in every case understand -the reference yourself. We can hardly expect you to answer all of -them, and if you don't do one, I will pass on to another. But don't -hurry, and we will take down whatever you choose to say on each of -them. The first question is:-- - -O. J. L.--"Do you remember anything about the Argonauts?" - - (Silence for a short time.) - -O. J. L.--'Argonauts' is the word. Does it mean anything to you? Take -your time. - - Yes. - -O. J. L.--Well, would you like to say what you remember? - - YES. - - Then, by repeating the alphabet, was spelt:-- - - TELEGRAM. - -O. J. L.--Is that the end of that answer? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Well, now I will go on to the second question then. "What -do you recollect about Dartmoor?" - - The time for thought was now much briefer, and the table - began to spell pretty soon:-- - - COMING DOWN. - -O. J. L.--Is that all? - - NO. - -O. J. L.--Very well then, continue. - - HILL FERRY. - -O. J. L.--Is that the end of the answer? - - YES. - -O. J. L.--Very well then, now I will go on to the third question, -which appears to be a bit complicated. "What do the following suggest -to you:-- - - Evinrude - O. B. P. - Kaiser's sister." - - (No good answers were obtained to these questions: they - seemed to awaken no reminiscence. - - Asked the name of the man to whom Raymond had given his - dog, the table spelt out STALLARD quite correctly. But - this was within our knowledge.) - - (_End of extract from record_.) - -NOTE ON THE REMINISCENCES AWAKENED BY THE WORDS 'ARGONAUTS' AND -'DARTMOOR' - -On reporting to my sons the answers given about 'Argonauts' and -'Dartmoor' they were not at all satisfied. - -I found, however, from the rest of the family that the word TELEGRAM -had a meaning in connexion with 'Argonauts'--a meaning quite unknown -to me or to my wife--but it was not the meaning that his brothers -had expected. It seems that in a previous year, while his mother and -I were away from home, the boys travelled by motor to somewhere in -Devonshire, and (as they think) at Taunton Raymond had gone into a -post office, sent a telegram home to say that they were all right, -and had signed it 'Argonauts.' The girls at home remembered the -telegram quite well; the other boys did not specially remember it. - -The kind of reference they had wanted, Raymond gave ultimately though -meagrely, but only after so much time had elapsed that the test had -lost its value, and only after I had been told to switch him on to -"Tent Lodge, Coniston," as a clue. - -Now that I know the answer I do not think the question was a -particularly good one; and the word 'telegram,' which they had not -expected and did not want, seems to me quite as good an incident as -the one which, without a clue, they had expected him to recall in -connexion with 'Argonauts.' Besides, I happened myself to know about -an Iceland trip in Mr. Alfred Holt's yacht 'Argo' and its poetic -description by Mr. Mitchell Banks and Dr. Caton in a book in the -drawing-room at Tent Lodge, Coniston (though the boys were not aware -of my knowledge), but it never struck me that this was the thing -wanted; and if it had come, the test would have been of inferior -quality. - -Concerning the answer to 'Dartmoor,' his brothers said that COMING -DOWN HILL was correct but incomplete; and that they didn't remember -any FERRY. I therefore on another occasion, namely, on 22 October, -during a sitting with Feda (that is to say, not a table sitting, but -one in which Mrs. Leonard's control Feda was speaking and reporting -messages), said--still knowing nothing about the matter beyond what -I had obtained in the table sitting--"Raymond, do you remember about -'Dartmoor' and the hill?" - -The answer is recorded as follows, together with the explanatory -note added soon afterwards--though the record is no doubt a little -abbreviated, as there was some dramatic representation by Feda of -sudden swerves and holding on:-- - -_From Sitting of O. J. L. and M. F. A. L. on_ 22 _October_ 1915. -_'Feda' speaking_ - -O. J. L.--Raymond, do you remember about Dartmoor and the hill? - - Yes, he said something about that. He says it was - exciting. What is that he says? Brake--something about a - brake--putting the brake on. Then he says, sudden curve--a - curve--he gives Feda a jerk like going round a quick curve. - - [I thought at the time that this was only padding, but - subsequently learnt from Alec that it was right. It was - on a very long night-journey on their motor, when the - silencer had broken down by bursting, at the bottom of - an exceptionally steep hill, and there was an unnerving - noise. The one who was driving went down other steep hills - at a great pace, with sudden applications of the brake and - sudden quick curves, so that those at the back felt it - dangerous, and ultimately had to stop him and insist on - going slower. Raymond was in front with the one who was - driving. The sensations of those at the back of the car - were strongly connected with the brake and with curves; - but they had mainly expected a reference from Raymond to - the noise from the broken silencer, which they ultimately - repaired during the same night with tools obtained at the - first town they stopped at.] - -O. J. L.--Did he say anything about a ferry? - - No, he doesn't remember that he did. - -O. J. L.--Well, I got it down. - - There is one: all the same there is one. But he didn't - mean to say anything about it. He says it was a stray - thought that he didn't mean to give through the table. - He has found one or two things come in like that. It was - only a stray thought. You have got what you wanted, he - says. 'Hill,' he meant to give, but not 'ferry.' They have - nothing to do with each other. - - * * * * * - -On a later occasion I took an opportunity of catechising him further -about this word FERRY, since none of the family remembered a ferry, -or could attach any significance to the word. He still insisted -that his mention of a ferry in connexion with a motor trip was not -wrong, only he admitted that "some people wouldn't call it a ferry." -I waited to see if any further light would come; and now, long -afterwards, on 18 August 1916 I receive from Alec a note referring to -a recent trip, this month, which says:-- - - "By the way, on the run to Langland Bay (which is the - motor run we all did the year before the run to Newquay) - we pass through Briton Ferry; and there is precious little - ferry about it." - -So even this semi-accidental reminiscence seems to be turning out not -altogether unmeaning; though probably it ought not to have come in -answer to 'Dartmoor.' (See more about Dartmoor on p. 211.) - - -GENERAL REMARKS ON THIS TYPE OF QUESTION - -It will be realised, I think, that a single word, apart from the -context, thus thrown at a person who may be in a totally different -mood at the time, is exceedingly difficult; and on the whole I think -he must be credited with some success, though not with as much as -had been hoped for. If his brothers had been present, or had had any -interview with him in the meantime, it would have spoilt the test, -considered strictly; nevertheless, it might have made the obtaining -of the answers they wanted much more feasible, inasmuch as in their -presence he would have been in their atmosphere and be more likely -to remember their sort of surroundings. Up to this date they had not -had any sitting with a medium at all. In presence of his mother and -myself, and under all the circumstances, and what he felt to be the -gravity of some of his recent experiences, it is not to me surprising -that the answers were only partially satisfactory; though, indeed, to -me they seem rather good. Anyhow, they had the effect of stimulating -his brothers to arrange some sittings with a table at home on their -own account. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -RECORD CONTINUED - - -I might make many more extracts from this sitting of 22 October, -of which a short extract has just been quoted, because, though -not specially evidential, they have instructive and so to speak -common-sense features, but it is impossible to include everything. I -will therefore omit most of it, but quote a little, not because it is -evidential, but because what is said may be instructive to inquirers. - - -FROM O. J. L. AND M. F. A. L. SITTING WITH MRS. LEONARD, 22 OCTOBER -1915 - - He wants to gather evidence and give something clearly. - He seems to think that his brother had been coming here - (looking about). - -O. J. L.--Your brother will come to see you to-morrow. [He was not -coming to Mrs. Leonard.] - - Where is he? He got the impression that he had either been - here or should be here now; he has got the thought of him. - He has been trying to get into touch with him himself; he - has been trying to speak to him. Seems to have something - to do with Mrs. Kathie,[19] and he has tried to write to - him. The trouble is, that he can't always see distinctly. - He feels in the air, but can't see always distinctly. (To - M. F. A. L.) When you are sitting at the table he sees - you, and can see what you have got on. When he tries to - come to you, he can only sense you; but at the table he - can see you. - -O. J. L.--Has he seen his brothers at a table? - - No, not at the table. He sensed them, and he thought they - were trying to speak to him; but didn't feel as if he was - going to get near. It has something to do with a medium. - Medium. [Meaning that they were trying to do without a - medium.] - -M. F. A. L.--When did he see me? - - When a medium is present he sees you quite distinctly. - He saw you, not here, but at another place. Oh, it was - in London, another place in London, some time ago. He - was surprised to see you, and wondered how he could. - [Presumably the occasion intended was when Mrs. Kennedy, - who herself has power, was present as well as Peters.] - He can only think the things he wants to say.[20] [Then - reverting to his brothers' attempts at Mariemont.] "Tell - them to go on. I shall never get tired. Never! Tell them - to have patience. It is more interesting to me than to - them." He does not seem sure if he got anything through. - It is so peculiar. Even here, he is not always quite - certain that he has said what he wanted to say, except - sometimes when it is clear and you jump at it. Sometimes - then he feels, "I've got that home, anyway!" He has got to - feel his way. They must go easy with him--not ask too much - all at once. If they have plenty of patience, in a while - he will be able to come and talk as if he were there. - -M. F. A. L.--Do you mean with the voice? - - No, with the table. - - More important than talking is to get things through with - his own people, and to give absolute evidence. He doesn't - want them to bother him with test questions till he feels - at home. It doesn't matter here, where there is a medium, - but the conditions there are not yet good. Tell them to - take for granted that it is he, and later on he will be - able to talk to them and say all he wishes to say. The - boys are so eager to get tests. When grandpapa comes, it - is to relieve him a little, while he is not there. He - doesn't himself want to speak. - - Twice a week, he says. - - He is bringing a girl with him now--a young girl, growing - up in the spirit world. She belongs to Raymond: long - golden hair, pretty tall, slight, brings a lily in her - hand. There is another spirit too who passed out very - young--a boy; you wouldn't know him as he is now; he - looks about the same age as Raymond, but very spiritual - in appearance; he brings a W with him; he doesn't know - much of the earth plane, nor the lily either; he passed - over too young. They are both with Raymond now. They look - spiritual and young. Spirit people look young if they - passed on young. Raymond is in the middle between them. He - says this is not very scientific. [All this is appropriate - to a deceased brother and sister; the brother older, the - sister younger.] - - Raymond really is happy now. He doesn't say this to make - you feel satisfied. He is really happy now. He says - this is most interesting, and is going to be fifty times - more interesting than on the earth plane. There is such a - big field to work in. Father and he are going to do such - a lot together. He says, "I am going to help for all I - am worth." (To M. F. A. L.) If you are happy, I will be - happier too. You used to sigh; it had an awful effect on - him, but he is getting lighter with you. Father has been - wonderful. He is often with Paulie, and has been to see - Mrs. Kathie too. - - [Meaning Mrs. Katherine Kennedy. Feda, of course, is - speaking throughout.] - -M. F. A. L.--Which way does he find the easiest to come? - - He is able to get to you by impression, and not only by - writing. He thinks he can make you hear. He is trying to - make you clair-audient. Let there be no misapprehension - about that. He does it in order to help himself. He hopes - to get something through. - -O. J. L.--You might send the same thing through different channels. - - Yes, he says. He need not say much, but is going to think - it out. He can get Mrs. K. to write it out, and then get - it through the table with them. He thinks he will be able - to do a lot with you, Mrs. Kathie. You know that Paulie's - here? - -(K. K. spoke to Paul for a short time.) - -O. J. L.--Do you think it had better be tried on the same evening, or -on different evenings? - - Try it on the same evening at first, and see what success - is got; if only one word came through the same, he would - be very pleased. He might get one word first, then two, - then two or three. Tell them to reserve a little time for - just that, and give him some time specially for it, not - mix it up with other things in the sittings. - -K. K.--Shall I ask him to write some word? - - He will think of some word--no matter if it is - meaningless. What you have to do is, not to doubt, but - take it down. One word might be much more valuable than a - long oration. One word would do, no matter how silly it - sounded; even if it is only a jumble, so long as it is the - same jumble. He is jumping now. [Meaning, he is pleased - with the idea.] He says he finds it difficult owing to the - medium. He is not able to get through all he wants to say, - but on the whole thinks he got it pretty straight to-night. - - [The quickness with which the communicator jumped at the - idea of a cross-correspondence was notable, because I do - not think he had known anything about them. It sounded - rather like the result of rapid Myersian instruction. I - rather doubt if cross-correspondences of this kind can be - got through Mrs. Kennedy, though she knows we are going to - try for them. The boys are quite willing to take down any - jumble, but she herself likes to understand what she gets, - and automatically rejects gibberish.--O. J. L.] - - * * * * * - -On 13 October, through the kind arrangement of Mrs. Kennedy, we had -an anonymous sitting with a medium new to us, a Mrs. Brittain, of -Hanley, Staffordshire, in Mrs. Kennedy's house. - -It was not very successful--the medium seemed tired and worried--but -there were a few evidential points obtained, though little or nothing -about the boy; in the waking stage, however, she said that some one -was calling the name 'Raymond.' - -At an interview next day with Mrs. Kennedy, Mrs. Brittain said that -a boy named 'Pat' had come with Paul to see her on the evening after -the sitting (see p. 148 for the significance of 'Pat'); and she -described it in writing to Mrs. Kennedy thus:-- - - 14 _October_ 1915 - - "I was just resting, thinking over the events of the day, - and worrying just a little about my ordeal of next Monday, - when I became conscious of the presence of such a dear - soldier boy. He said, 'I am Pat, and oh, I did want to - speak to my mother.' Then I saw with him your dear boy - [Paul]; he asked me to tell you about Pat, and to give - the message to his father that he would get proof without - seeking it." - - [Footnote 19: Mrs. Kennedy's name is Katherine, and Feda - usually speaks of her as Mrs. Kathie.] - - [Footnote 20: This corresponds with an early statement - made by "Myers" through Mrs. Thompson. See _Proceedings_, - S.P.R., vol. xxiii. p. 221.] - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -FIRST SITTING OF ALEC (A. M. L.) - -_Introduction by O. J. L._ - - -A word may be necessary about the attitude of Raymond's family to the -whole subject. It may be thought that my own known interest in the -subject was naturally shared by the family, but that is not so. So -far as I can judge, it had rather the opposite effect; and not until -they had received unmistakable proof, devised largely by themselves, -was this healthy scepticism ultimately broken down. - -My wife had had experience with Mrs. Piper in 1889, though she -continued very sceptical till 1906 or thereabouts, when she had -some extraordinarily good evidence. But none of this experience was -shared by the family, who read neither my nor anyone else's books -on the subject, and had no first-hand evidence. For the most part -they regarded it without interest and with practical scepticism. If -in saying this I convey the impression of anything like friction or -disappointment, the impression is totally false. Life was full of -interest of many kinds, and, until Raymond's death, there was no -need for them to think twice about survival or the possibility of -communication. - -The first sitting held by any of his brothers, apart from private -amateur attempts at home,--the first sitting, I may say, held by any -of them with any medium,--took place on 23 October, when Alec had a -sitting with Peters; his mother also was present, but no names were -given. Alec's record of this sitting, together with his preliminary -Note, I propose to quote practically in full. - -Alec and his mother went in the morning to Mrs. Kennedy's house, -where the sitting was to take place. M. F. A. L. stopped on the way -to buy a bunch of violets, which she put on Peters' table. When he -arrived and saw them, he was very pleased; ejaculated "my flower," -and said that he could not have had anything that gave him more -pleasure. - -I may here remark, incidentally, that Peters is a man who takes -his mediumship seriously, and tries to regulate his life so as to -get good conditions. Thus, he goes into the country at intervals, -and stops all work for a time to recuperate. He lives, in fact, at -Westgate-on-Sea, and only has a room in London. He seems to lead a -simple life altogether, and his "control" spoke of his having been -prepared since six o'clock that morning for this sitting. - -Alec went up prepared to take notes, and after the sitting wrote the -following preliminary account:-- - - -_A. M. L.'s Remarks on the Sitting_ - -Mother and I arrived at Mrs. Kennedy's house at five minutes to -eleven. We saw Mrs. Kennedy, who asked us if we would like her to be -present. We said yes. Then she told us that Peters had come, and that -she would ask him. Peters wanted her to be present. - -Mrs. Kennedy brought Peters up; he shook hands, without any -introduction. We had all gone up to Mrs. Kennedy's private room, -where Peters likes the sittings to take place. We four sat round a -table about four feet in diameter. A. and M. with backs to one or -other of the two windows, K. and P. more or less facing them. A. was -opposite P.; M. was opposite K. There was plenty of light, but the -room was partly shaded by pulling down blinds. They talked about -street noises at first. P. held K.'s and M.'s hands for a time. K. -and M. talked together a little. P. now moved about a little and -rubbed his face and eyes. Suddenly he jerked himself up and began -talking in broken English. - -During the trance his eyes were apparently closed all the time; and -when speaking to anyone he 'looked' at them with his eyelids screwed -up. Sometimes a change of control occurred. While that was taking -place, he sat quiet, and usually held K.'s and M.'s hands until -another sudden jerk occurred, when he let go and started talking. - -The sitting was rather disjointed, and most of it apparently not of -much importance, but for a few minutes in the middle it was very -impressive. It then felt to me exactly as if my hand was being held -in both Raymond's, and as if Raymond himself was speaking in his own -voice. My right hand was being held, but even if I had had it free I -could not possibly have taken notes under the circumstances. - -(M. F. A. L. adds that neither could she nor anyone, while that part -of the sitting was going on.) - -Peters spoke often very quickly, and sometimes indistinctly, so that -the notes are rather incomplete. - -(To this O. J. L. adds that it was Alec's first experience of a -sitting, and that, even with experience, it is difficult to take -anything like full notes.) - -_Report of Peters Sitting in Mrs. Kennedy's Room, at 11 a.m. on -Saturday, 23 October 1915_ - -(Revised by the Sitters) - -_Present_--MRS. KENNEDY (K. K.), LADY LODGE (M. F. A. L.), ALEC M. -LODGE, and the Medium--VOUT PETERS - -REPORT BY A. M. L. - -In a short time Peters went into trance, and 'Moonstone' was -understood to be taking control. He first made some general remarks:-- - - Good morning! I generally say, "Good evening," don't I? - Don't be afraid for Medie; he has been prepared since six - o'clock this morning. Magnetism has to be stored up, and - therefore it is best to use the same room and the same - furniture every time. - - Then he spoke to K. K.:-- - - Will you call on little woman close to? It will mean - salvation to two people. [Abbreviated.] - -(K. K. understood.) - - Then the medium took M.'s hand. - - Somebody not easy to describe; old lady; not tall; grey - hair, parted in centre; grey eyes; nose thin; mouth fairly - large and full. This describes her as she was before she - passed away. Had big influence on your early life. Good - character; loving, but perhaps lived in narrow outlook; - not only a mother to her own belongings, but she mothered - every man, woman, or child she came into contact with. She - is here this morning and has been before. Is it not your - Mother? - -M. F. A. L.--If it is my Mother, it is a great pleasure to me. - - She has been with you and comforted you through this trial. - - She has been, and will go on, looking after the boy. You - must not think she is not just as much with you because - she has no body. She is just as much your mother. She - _has_ a body, though it is different. - - (Pointing to A.) She is related to _him_. She puts her - hand on his shoulder. She is very proud of what he is - doing at the present time. He has been a great help - to you. Since the passing away of him who is loved by - you both, he has looked on spiritualism with much more - respect, because previously it has not touched his heart. - It is not only a thing of the head, it is now a thing of - the heart. - - She suffered terribly before passing away. She bore her - suffering patiently. - - She put her finger on her lips and says: "I am so proud of - O.!" (Medium puts one finger on middle of lips.) - - It has always been what I thought: the triumph (?) has - been a long time coming, but it will come greater than had - been anticipated. There have been difficulties. I am glad - of success. It will come greater than before. The book - that is to be will be written from the heart, and not the - head. But the book will not be written now. NOT NOW! NOT - NOW! NOT NOW! (loud). Written later on. THE BOOK which is - going to help many and convert many. The work done already - is big. But what is coming is bigger. - -(Interval.) - - (Paul, sending a message to K. K.:--) - - I have been drilling her to link up. You don't know what - it is. It is like teaching people to transmit messages by - the telegraph. Don't let the boy come, let Granny come. - (The medium here imitated Paul's manner of sitting down - and pulling up the knees of his trousers.) She laughs at - the idea of being drilled. - - He says (Paul still communicating): You know, little - Mother, you wonder why I was taken; but it is a great - deal better like this. Thousands of people can be helped - like this. You are the link, and the means of reaching - thousands of mothers. - - (Then 'Moonstone' was understood to say:--) - - Returning to Madam (_i.e._ the old lady again, and medium - turning to M. F. A. L.), she says: "I am so glad you not - only told him what you did--this is not to you but some - one away (finger on lips), somebody she will not give--and - reached out as you did." - - This is from Madam. She is going away. - -M. F. A. L.--My love to her. - - No, no, no, she does not go away; she stands back, to let - some one else come forward--like actors take turns at a - theatre. - - [Then an impersonation of my Uncle Jerry was represented, - with the statement, "Your husband will know who he is"; - but this part of the record is omitted as comparatively - unimportant. It was unintelligible to the sitter.--O. J. - L.] - - (Then a new control came in, which was by K. K. understood - to be 'Redfeather.' When he arrived, the medium smacked - his hands and spoke to K. K.:--) - - I come dis little minute to try experiment. If we succeed, - all right; if we don't, don't mind. There will be some - difficulties. - - You know me? (To K. K.) - -K. K.--Yes. It is 'Redfeather.' - - Glad to see you better. You used to feel--a hand on your - head. It was a little girl. It was your boy who brought - her. Now I go. Just talk a little. - -(K. K. then thanked the speaker for his help.) - - Who could help better than me? - - ... long ago I was killed. - - Who could help better? - - (Then there was an interval, and evident change of - control. And speech very indistinct at first.) - - I want to come. - - Call Mother to help me. - - Because you know. - - You understand. - - It wasn't so bad. - - Not so bad. - - I knew you knew the possibility of communicating, so when - I went out as I did, I was in a better condition than - others on the other side. We had often talked about this - subject, father understanding it as he did; and now, - coming into touch with his strength, makes it easy. - - (Medium here reached out across the table to A. and - grasped his right hand, so that the notes were temporarily - interrupted. The medium's arms were now both stretched - out across the table, with his head down on them, and he - held A.'s hand in both his. All this time he spoke with - great emotion: the medium was shaken with sobs; his head - and neck were suffused with blood; the whole circumstances - were strained, and strongly emotional; and the voice was - extraordinarily like Raymond's. A., too, felt that his - hands were being gripped in a grasp just like Raymond's. - This was the central part of the sitting; and for the time - no notes could be taken, even by Mrs. Kennedy. But after - a bit the hand was released, the strain rather lightened, - and notes continue which run thus:--) - -[A. M. L. says, "In time the interval was brief," but it was -surcharged with emotion, strongly felt by all present.] - - But no, wait. - - Because they tell me. - - I am not ashamed. - - I am glad. - - I tell you, I would do it again. - - I realise things differently to what one saw here. - - And oh, thank God, I can speak! - - But ... - - The boys help me. - - You don't know what he has done. - - Who could help? - - But I must keep quiet, I promised them to keep calm. - - The time is so short. - - Tell father that I am happy. - - That I am happy that he has not come. - - If he had come here, I couldn't have spoken. - - I find it difficult to express what I want. - - Every time I come back it is easier. - - The only thing that was hard was just before. - - The 15th, do you understand? - - And the 12th. - - [We do not clearly understand these dates.] - - But every time I come it is better. - - Grandmamma helped or I couldn't. - - Now I must go. - - ... broken ... - - But I have done it, thank God! - -(Then this special control ended; while the medium murmured, as to -himself, first the word 'John,' and then the word 'God.' Then the -strain was relieved by a new control, understood to be 'Biddy.') - - Surely it's meself that has come to speak. Here's another - mother. I am helping the boy. I said to him to come out. - - (To A. M. L.) Just you go and do your work. When the boy - comes as he did, it upsets the body. I come to help to - soothe the nerves of the medium. It is a privilege to - help. I am an old Irishwoman. - - (To K. K.) You don't realise that the world is governed - by chains, and that you are one of the links. I was - a washerwoman and lived next a church, and they say - cleanliness comes next to godliness! One of my chains is - to help mothers. Well, I am going. But for comfort,--the - boy is glad he is come. (To K. K.) Your husband is a fine - man. I love him. His heart's as big as his body, and it - is not only medicine, but love that he dispenses. - - (Then an interval; and another control--probably - 'Moonstone' again, or else Peters himself clairvoyantly:--) - - We succeeded a little in our experiment. - - Now the boy is with.... - - (Here the medium seized _both_ Alec's hands, and K. K. - continues the notes.) - - [But they may be abbreviated here, as they represent only - Peters's ordinary clairvoyance--probably.] - - You bring with you a tremendous force. You don't always - say what you think. A quick way of making up your mind. - Your intuitional force is very strong. Your mind is very - evenly balanced, [and so on].... The last three months, - things have altered. It has stirred you to the depths of - your innermost being. You had no idea how strong the bond - was between you and one who has been here to-day. Want to - shield and take care of your mother. You know her devotion - to both you and the one gone over.... - - The one gone over is a brother. He wants to send a message. - - (Some messages omitted.) - - You did not cry, but heart crying inside. - - Help others. You are doing it. If you ever tried to do - what he did, you would physically break down. All this is - from him. - - (To Mother) So glad about the photograph. Something you - have had done that is satisfactory. - - [This is good, but it only occurred to me to-day, 31 - October. It evidently relates to two photographs in a - pocket case, found on his body, which Raymond carried - with him, and which had been returned to the original by - us.--A. M. L.] - - Wants to convey message to father, but it is not about - himself this time. I get the initials F W M--not clear - about all the letters--but F M wishes to be remembered. He - says: I am still very active. Get into touch with Crookes - _re_ the Wireless. - -[O. J. L. was at Muirhead's works in Kent on this subject, at this -moment.--A. M. L.] - - Still active, still at work. - - [Spoken like "I see you are still active, still at - work."--A. M. L.] - - Then he gives me a curious thing, and laughs. One of the - things I am most proud of is "St. Paul." - -[This puzzled K. K., the note-taker.] - - (To Alec.) So glad you _came_, boy! What a lot you think! - - (Medium came-to, breathing and struggling. Said he - had been under _very_ deep--like coming-to after an - anæsthetic.) - - * * * * * - -NOTE BY O. J. L. - -Lady Lodge impressed me considerably with the genuine and deeply -affecting character of the above episode of personal control. It was -evidently difficult to get over for the rest of the day. I doubt -if the bare record conveys much: though it may to people of like -experience. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -GENERAL REMARKS ON CONVERSATIONAL REPORTS AND ON CROSS-CORRESPONDENCES - - -It may be asked why I report so much of what may be called ordinary -conversation, instead of abbreviating and concentrating on specific -instances and definite statements of fact. I reply:-- - -1. That a concentrated version is hard to read, while a fuller -version is really less tedious in spite of its greater length. A -record is always a poor substitute for actual experience; and too -much abbreviation might destroy whatever relic of human interest the -records possess. - -2. That abbreviation runs the risk of garbling and amending; it is -undesirable in reports of this kind to amend style at the expense of -accuracy. - -3. That the mannerisms and eccentricities of a 'control' (or -secondary personality) are interesting, and may be instructive; at -any rate they exhibit to a novice the kind of thing to be expected. - -4. A number of inquiries want to know--and I think properly want to -know--what a sitting is like, what kind of subjects are talked about, -what the 'communicators'--_i.e._ the hypothetical personalities who -send messages through the 'control'--have to say about their own -feelings and interests and state of existence generally. Hence, -however the record be interpreted, it seems better to quote some -specimens fully. - -5. I am aware that some of the records may appear absurd. Especially -absurd will appear the free-and-easy statements, quoted later, about -the nature of things 'on the other side,'--the kind of assertions -which are not only unevidential but unverifiable, and which we -usually either discourage or suppress. I have stated elsewhere my -own reasons for occasionally encouraging statements of this kind -and quoting them as they stand. (See beginning of Chapter XVI.) And -though I admit that to publish them is probably indiscreet, I still -think that the evidence, such as it is, ought to be presented as a -whole. - -6. The most evidential class of utterance, what we call -cross-correspondence, is not overlooked; and while every now and then -it occurs naturally and spontaneously, sometimes an effort is made to -obtain it. - -NOTE ABOUT THE MEANING OF CROSS-CORRESPONDENCE - - It will be convenient to explain that by the term - "Cross-correspondence" is meant the obtaining through two - or more independent mediums, at about the same time, a - message from a single communicator on any one definite - subject. - - It is usually impossible for the coincidence of time to - be exact, because both mediums may not be sitting at the - same time. But in some cases, wherein coincidence of - subject is well marked, coincidence in time is of little - moment; always provided that the subject is really an - out-of-the-way or far-fetched one, and not one common to - every English-speaking person, like Kitchener or Roberts - or Jellicoe. - - Cross-correspondences are of various grades. The simplest - kind is when two mediums both use the same exceptional - word, or both refer to the same non-public event, without - any normal reason that can be assigned. Another variety is - when, say, three mediums refer to one and the same idea - in different terms,--employing, for instance, different - languages, like 'mors,' 'death,' and 'thanatos.' (See - _Proc._, S.P.R., xxii, 295-304.) Another is when the - idea is thoroughly masked and brought in only by some - quotation--perhaps by a quotation the special significance - of which is unknown to the medium who reproduces it, - and is only detected and interpreted by a subsequent - investigator to whom all the records are submitted. - Sometimes a quotation is maltreated, evidently with - intention, by the communicator; the important word to - which attention is being directed being either omitted or - changed. - - A large number of examples of this more complex kind - of cross-correspondence are reported at length in the - _Proceedings_ of the Society for Psychical Research; see - especially vol. xxi. p. 369 and xxii. _passim_, or a - briefer statement in _Survival of Man_, chap. xxv. - - Some of these instances as expounded by Mr. Piddington may - seem extraordinarily complicated and purposely concealed. - That is admitted. They are specially designed to eliminate - the possibility of unintended and unconscious telepathy - direct from one medium to another, and to throw the - investigator back on what is - - asserted to be the truth, namely that the mind of one - single communicator, or the combined mind of a group - of communicators,--all men of letters,--is sending - carefully designed messages through different channels, - in order to prove primarily the reality of the operating - intelligence, and incidentally the genuineness of the - mediums who are capable of receiving and transmitting - fragments of messages so worded as to appear to each of - them separately mere meaningless jargon; though ultimately - when all the messages are put together by a skilled person - the meaning is luminous enough. Moreover, we are assured - that the puzzles and hidden allusions contained in these - messages are not more difficult than literary scholars are - accustomed to; that, indeed, they are precisely of similar - order. - - This explanation is unnecessary for the simple - cross-correspondences (c.c.) sometimes obtained and - reported here; but the subject itself is an important - one, and is not always understood even by investigators, - so I take this opportunity of referring to it in order to - direct the attention of those who need stricter evidence - to more profitable records. - - -GENERAL NOTE - -Returning to the kind of family records here given, in which evidence -is sporadic rather than systematic though none the less effective, -one of the minor points, which yet is of interest, is the appropriate -way in which different youths greet their relatives. Thus, while Paul -calls his father 'Daddy' and his mother by pet names, as he used to; -and while Raymond calls us simply 'Father' and 'Mother,' as he used to; -another youth named Ralph--an athlete who had fallen after splendid -service in the war--greeted his father, when at length that gentleman -was induced to attend a sitting, with the extraordinary salutation -"Ullo 'Erb!," spelt out as one word through the table; though, to -the astonishment of the medium, it was admitted to be consistent and -evidential. The ease and freedom with which this Ralph managed to -communicate are astonishing, and I am tempted to add as an appendix -some records which his family have kindly allowed me to see, but I -refrain, as they have nothing to do with Raymond. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -AN O. J. L. SITTING WITH PETERS - - -On the 29th of October I had a sitting with Peters alone, unknown to -the family, who I felt sure were still sceptical concerning the whole -subject. It was arranged for, as an anonymous sitting, by my friend -Mr. J. Arthur Hill of Bradford. The things said were remarkable, and -distinctly pointed to clairvoyance. I am doubtful about reporting -more than a few lines, however. There was a great deal that might -be taken as encouraging and stimulating, intermixed with the more -evidential portions. A small part of this sitting is already reported -in Chapter III, and might now be read by anyone interested in the -historical sequence. - -A few unimportant opening lines I think it necessary to report, -because of their connexion with another sitting:-- - -_Anonymous O. J. L. Sitting with A. Vout Peters at 15 Devereux Court, -Fleet Street, on Friday, 29 October 1915, from 10.30 to 11.45 a.m._ - -(Sitter only spoken of as a friend of Mr. Hill)[21] - - PETERS.--Before we begin, I must say something: I feel - that I have a certain fear of you, I don't know what it - is, but you affect me in a most curious way. I must tell - you the honest truth before I am controlled.... - - [Whatever this may mean it corresponds with what was said - at the previous M. F. A. L. Sitting, p. 132, though M. F. - A. L. had sat as a friend of Mrs. Kennedy in her house, - and I sat as a friend of Mr. Hill in Peters's room, and no - sort of connexion was indicated between us]. - - (Soon afterwards the medium twitched, snapped his fingers, - and began to speak as 'Moonstone':--) - - "I come to speak to you, but I must get my Medie deep; - we get superficial control first, and then go deeper and - deeper; with your strong personality you frighten him a - little; I find a little fear in the medium.... You bring - with you a tremendous amount of work and business," etc. - - Now I get a new influence: an old lady, medium height, - rounded face; light eyes; grey hair; small nose; lips - somewhat thin, or held together as suppressed; a lady with - very strong will; tremendously forcible she is. She passed - away after leading a very active life.... - - She's a very good woman. It is not the first time she has - come back. She tells me to tell you that they are all - here. ALL. Because they are trying to reach out to you - their love and sympathy at the present occasion, and they - are thanking you both for the opportunity of getting back - to you. "We are trying all we can also to bring him back - to you, to let you realise that your faith, which you - have held as a theory"--it is curious, but she wants me - to say her message word for word--"as a theory for years, - shall be justified." Then she rejoices ... (and refers - to religious matters, etc.). [This clearly suggested the - relative whose first utterance of this kind is reported - so long ago as 1889 in _Proc._, S.P.R., vol. vi. p. 468 & - 470.] - - Now she brings up a young man from the back. I must - explain what we mean by 'the back' some time. - -O. J. L.--But I understand. - - He is of medium height; somewhat light eyes; the face - browned somewhat; fairly long nose; the lips a little - full; nice teeth. He is standing pretty quiet. - - Look here, I know this man! And it is not - - the first time he has been to us. Now he smiles, 'cos I - recsonise him [so pronounced], but he comes back very, - very strongly. He tells me that he is pushing the door - open wider. Now he wants me to give you a message. He is - going to try to come down with you; because it looks to me - as though you are travelling to-day. "Down," he says. "I - come down with you. We will try" (he says 'we,' not 'I'), - "we will try to bring our united power to prove to you - that I am here; I and the other young man who helped me, - and who will help me." - - [The association of Raymond with 'another young man,' and - his intention to come 'down' with me when I travelled - back home on the same day to meet Mrs. Kennedy there, are - entirely appropriate.--O. J. L.] - - Look here, it is your boy! Because he calls you 'Father'; - not 'Pa,' nor anything, but 'Father.' [True.] - -O. J. L.--Yes, my son. - - Wait a minute; now he wants to tell me one thing: "I am - so glad that you took such a common-sense view of the - subject, and that you didn't force it on mother. But you - spoke of it as an actuality. She treated it like she - treats all your things that she couldn't understand; - giving you, as she always has done, the credit of being - more clever than herself. But when I came over as I - did, and in her despair, she came to you for help; but - she wanted to get away from anything that you should - influence." - -[Unfortunately, some one knocked at the door--a servant probably, -wanted to come in and clear the room. The medium jerked and said, -"Tell them to go away." I called out, "Can't come in now, private, -engaged." Some talking continued outside for a little time--very -likely it was some one wanting an interview with Peters. After a time -the disturbance ceased. It was not very loud; the medium ignored -it, except for the rather loud and strong knock, which certainly -perturbed him.] - - Tell me where I was. - -(I repeated: "She wanted to get away from anything that you should -influence.") - - Oh yes. He wants to say that you were quite right in - staying away and letting her work altogether by herself. - She was able to do better than if you had been there. You - would have spoilt it. - - Your common-sense method of approaching the subject in the - family has been the means of helping him to come back as - he has been able to do; and had he not known what you had - told him, then it would have been far more difficult for - him to come back. He is very deliberate in what he says. - He is a young man that knows what he is saying. - - Do you know F. W. M.? - -O. J. L.--Yes, I do. - -[The next portion, relating to Myers, has been already reported in -Chapter III; and the concluding portion, which is rather puzzling, -shall be suppressed, as it relates to other people.] - -Towards the end 'Moonstone' began talking about himself, which he -does in an interesting manner, and I shall perhaps give him an -opportunity of saying more about the assumption of 'control' from his -point of view. Meanwhile I quote this further extract:-- - -MOONSTONE'S' ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF - - Have you been suffering inside? - -O. J. L.--No, not that I know of. - - Your heart's been bleeding. You never thought you could - love so deep. There must be more or less suffering. Even - though you are crucified, you will arise the stronger, - bigger, better man. But out of this suffering and - crucifixion, oh, how you are going to help humanity! This - is a big work. It has been prophesied. It is through the - sufferings of humanity that humanity is reached. It must - be through pain. Let me tell you something about myself. I - was Yogi--do you understand? - -O. J. L.--Yes; a kind of hermit. - - I lived a selfish life: a good life, but a selfish one, - though I didn't know it then. I isolated myself and did - not mix with people, not even with family life. When I - go over, I find it was a negative goodness, so then I - wanted to help humanity, because I hadn't helped it. I - had not taken on the sufferings even of a family man. It - was useless. And so that is why I came back to my Medie, - and try to bear through him the sorrows of the world. It - is through suffering that humanity is helped. That is one - great thing in your beautiful religion; you know what I - mean--the sacrifice of Jesus. He demonstrated eternity, - but to do it He must be sacrificed and taste death. So all - who teach the high ... must tread the same path; there's - no escaping the crucifixion, it comes in one way or - another. And you must remember, back in the past, when the - good things came to you, how you began to realise (?) that - there was a spirit world and a possibility of coming back. - Though you speak cautiously, yet possibly in your prayers - to God you say, "Let me suffer, let me know my cross, so - that I can benefit humanity"; and when you make a compact - with the unseen world, it is kept. You have told no one - this, but it belongs to you and to your son. Out of it - will come much joy, much happiness to others. - -Mr. Stead was, I understand, a friend to Peters, and how much of -the above is tinged by Mr. Stead's influence, I cannot say: but -immediately afterwards his name was mentioned, in the following way:-- - - Flashing down the line comes a message from Mr. Stead. I - can't help it, I must give it. He says: "We did not see - eye to eye; you thought I was too impetuous and too rash, - but our conclusions are about the same now. We are pretty - well on the level, and I have realised, even through - mistakes, that I have reached and influenced a world that - is suffering and sorrowing. But you have a world bigger - and wider than mine, and your message will be bigger and - will reach farther." - - -SUMMARY - -As far as evidence is concerned, Peters has done well at each of -the three sittings any member of my family has had with him since -Raymond's death. On the whole, I think he has done as well as any -medium; especially as the abstention from supplying him normally with -any identifying information has been strict. - -It is true that I have not, through Peters, asked test questions -of which the answers were unknown to me, as I did at one sitting -with Mrs. Leonard (Chapter IX). But the answers there given, though -fairly good, and in my view beyond chance, were not perfect. Under -the circumstances I think they could hardly have been expected to be -perfect. It was little more than a month since the death, and new -experiences and serious surroundings must have been crowding in upon -the youth, so that old semi-frivolous reminiscences were difficult -to recall. There was, however, with Peters no single incident so -striking as the name 'Norman,' to me unknown and meaningless, which -was given in perfectly appropriate connexion through the table at -Mrs. Leonard's. - - [Footnote 21: Whether it be assumed that I was known or - not, does not much matter; but I have no reason to suppose - that I was. Rather the contrary. Peters seems barely to - look at his sitters, and to be anxious to receive no - normal information.] - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -FIRST SITTING OF LIONEL (ANONYMOUS) - - -At length, on 17 November 1915, Raymond's brother Lionel (L. L.) -went to London to see if he could get an anonymous sitting with -Mrs. Leonard, without the intervention of Mrs. Kennedy or anybody. -He was aware that by that time the medium must have sat with dozens -of strangers and people not in any way connected with our family, -and fortunately he succeeded in getting admitted as a complete -stranger. This therefore is worth reporting, and the contemporary -record follows. A few portions are omitted, partly for brevity, -partly because private, but some non-evidential and what may seem -rather absurd statements are reproduced, for what they are worth. It -must be understood that Feda is speaking throughout, and that she -is sometimes reporting in the third person, sometimes in the first, -and sometimes speaking for herself. It is unlikely that lucidity is -constant all the time, and Feda may have to do some padding. She is -quite good and fairly careful, but of course, like all controls, she -is responsible for certain mannerisms, and in her case for childishly -modified names like 'Paulie,' etc. The dramatic circumstances of -a sitting will be familiar to people of experience. The record -tries to reproduce them--probably with but poor success. And it is -always possible that the attempt, however conscientious, may furnish -opportunity for ridicule, if any hostile critic thinks ridicule -appropriate. - -_L. L.'s Sitting with Mrs. Leonard at her house, as a stranger, no -one else being present, 12 o'clock, Wednesday, 17 November 1915._ - - -INTRODUCTION BY O. J. L. - -Lionel wrote to Mrs. Leonard at her old address in Warwick Avenue, -for I had forgotten that she had moved, and I had not told him her -new address. He wrote on plain paper from Westminster without signing -it, saying that he would be coming at a certain time. But she did not -get the letter; so that, when he arrived about noon on Wednesday, 17 -November, he arrived as a complete stranger without an appointment. -He had at first gone to the wrong house and been redirected. Mrs. -Leonard answered the door. She took him in at once when he said -he wanted a sitting. She drew the blind down, and lit a red lamp -as usual. She told him that she was controlled by 'Feda.' Very -quickly--in about two minutes--the trance began, and Feda spoke. - -Here follows his record:-- - - -REPORT BY L. L. - -_Subsequent annotations, in square brackets, are by O. J. L._ - - Good morning! - - Why, you are psychic yourself! - -L. L.--I didn't know I was. - - It will come out later. - - There are two spirits standing by you; the elder is fully - built up, but the younger is not clear yet. - - The elder is on the tall side, and well built; he has a - beard round his chin, but no moustache. - - (This seemed to worry Feda, and she repeated it several times, as if - trying to make it clear.) - - A beard round chin, and hair at the sides, but upper - lip shaved. A good forehead, eyebrows heavy and rather - straight--not arched--eyes greyish; hair thin on top, and - grey at the sides and back. It looks as if it had been - brown before it went grey. A fine-looking face. He is - building up something. He suffered here before he passed - out (medium indicating chest or stomach). Letter W is held - up. (See photograph facing p. 258.) - - [This is the one that to other members of the family had - been called Grandfather W., p. 143.] - - There is another spirit. - - Somebody is laughing. - - Don't joke--it is serious. - - (This was whispered, and sounded as if said to some one - else, not to me.) - - It's a young man, about twenty-three, or might be - twenty-five, judging only by appearance. Tall; well-built; - not stout, well-built; brown hair, short at the sides - and back; clean shaven; face more oval than round; nose - not quite straight, rather rounded, and broader at the - nostrils. - - (_Whispering._) Feda can't see his face. - - (_Then clearly._) He won't let Feda see his face; he is - laughing. - - (_Whispered several times._) L, L, L. - - (_Then said out loud._) L. This is not his name; he puts - it by you. - - (_Whispering again._) Feda knows him--Raymond. - - Oh, it's Raymond! - - (The medium here jumps about, and fidgets with her hands, - just as a child would when pleased.) - - That is why he would not show his face, because Feda would - know him. - - He is patting you on the shoulder hard. You can't feel it, - but he thinks he is hitting you hard. - - [It seems to have been a trick of his to pat a brother on - the shoulder gradually harder and harder till humorous - retaliation set in.] - - He is very bright. - - This is the way it is given--it's an impression. - - He has been trying to come to you at home, but there has - been some horrible mix-ups; not really horrible, but a - muddle. He really got through to you, but other conditions - get through there, and mixes him up. - - [This evidently refers to some private 'Mariemont' - sittings, without a medium, with which neither Feda - nor Mrs. Leonard had had anything to do. It therefore - shows specific knowledge and is of the nature of a mild - cross-correspondence; cf. p. 217.] - -L. L.--How can we improve it? - - He does not understand it sufficiently himself yet. Other - spirits get in, not bad spirits, but ones that like to - feel they are helping. The peculiar manifestations are - not him, and it only confuses him terribly. Part of it - was him, but when the table was careering about, it was - not him at all. He started it, but something comes along - stronger than himself, and he loses the control. - - (_Whispered._) "Feda, can't you suggest something?" - - [This seemed to be a reported part of conversation on the - other side.] - - Be very firm when it starts to move about. - - Prayer helps when things are not relevant. - - He is anxious about F. - -L. L.--I don't know who F. is. Is it some friend? - - (Medium here fidgets.) - - Letter F. all right; it's some one he is interested in. - - He says he is sorry he worried his mother about [an - incident mentioned at some previous sitting]. - -L. L.--Was it a mistake? - - Yes, tell her, because (etc. etc.). When I thought it over - I knew it was a mistake. If it had been now, and I had a - little more experience in control, I should not have said - so; but it was at the beginning--everything seemed such a - rush--and I was not quite sure of what I did get through. - He did not look at things in the right pers--perpec---- - -L. L.--Perspective? - - Yes, that's what he said. - - Do you follow me, old chap? - -L. L.--Perfectly. - -L. L.--Do you remember a sitting at home when you told me you had a -lot to tell me? - - Yes. What he principally wanted to say was about the place - he is in. He could not _spell_ it all out--too laborious. - He felt rather upset at first. You do not feel so real - as people do where he is, and walls appear transparent - to him now. The great thing that made him reconciled to - his new surroundings was--that things appear so solid - and substantial. The first idea upon waking up was, I - suppose, of what they call 'passing over.' It was only - for a second or two, as you count time, [that it seemed a] - shadowy vague place, everything vapoury and vague. He had - that feeling about it. - - The first person to meet him was Grandfather. - - (This was said very carefully, as if trying to get it - right with difficulty.) - - And others then, some of whom he had only heard about. - They all appeared to be so solid, that he could scarcely - believe that he had passed over. - - He lives in a house--a house built of bricks--and there - are trees and flowers, and the ground is solid. And if you - kneel down in the mud, apparently you get your clothes - soiled. The thing I don't understand yet is that the night - doesn't follow the day here, as it did on the earth plane. - It seems to get dark sometimes, when he would like it to - be dark, but the time in between light and dark is not - always the same. I don't know if you think all this is a - bore. - - (I was here thinking whether my pencils would last out; I - had two, and was starting on the second one.) - - What I am worrying round about is, how it's made, of what - it is composed. I have not found out yet, but I've got a - theory. It is not an original idea of my own; I was helped - to it by words let drop here and there. - - People who think everything is created by thought are - wrong. I thought that for a little time, that one's - thoughts formed the buildings and the flowers and trees - and solid ground; but there is more than that. - - He says something of this sort:-- - -[This means that Feda is going to report in the third person again, -or else to speak for herself.--O. J. L.] - - There is something always rising from the earth - plane--something chemical in form. As it rises to ours, it - goes through various changes and solidifies on our plane. - Of course I am only speaking of where I am now. - - He feels sure that it is something given off from the - earth, that makes the solid trees and flowers, etc. - - He does not know any more. He is making a study of this, - but it takes a good long time. - -L. L.--I should like to know whether he can get into touch with -anybody on earth? - - Not always. - - Only those wishing to see him, and who it would be right - for him to see. Then he sees them before he has thought. - - I don't seem to wish for anything. - - He does not wish to see anybody unless they are going to - be brought to him. - - I am told that I can meet anyone at any time that I want - to; there is no difficulty in the way of it. That is what - makes it such a jolly fine place to live in. - -L. L.--Can he help people here? - - That is part of his work, but there are others doing that; - the greatest amount of his work is still at the war. - - I've been home--only likely I've been home--but my actual - work is at the war. - - He has something to do with father, though his work still - lies at the war, helping on poor chaps literally shot into - the spirit world. - -L. L.--Can you see ahead at all? - - He thinks sometimes that he can, but it's not easy to - predict. - - I don't think that I really know any more than when on - earth. - -L. L.--Can you tell anything about how the war is going on? - - There are better prospects for the war. On all sides now - more satisfactory than it has been before. - - This is not apparent on the earth plane, but I feel more - ... the surface, and more satisfied than before. - - I can't help feeling intensely interested. I believe we - have lost Greece, and am not sure that it was not due to - our own fault. We have only done now what should have - been done months ago. - - He does not agree about Serbia. Having left them so long - has had a bad effect upon Roumania. Roumania thinks will - she be in the same boat, if she joins in. - - All agree that Russia will do well right through the - winter. They are going to show what they can do. They are - used to their ground and winter conditions, and Germany - is not. There will be steady progress right through the - winter. - - I think there is something looming now. - - Some of the piffling things I used to be interested in, - I have forgotten all about. There is such a lot to be - interested in here. I realise the seriousness sometimes of - this war.... It is like watching a most interesting race - or game gradually developing before you. I am doing work - in it, which is not so interesting as watching. - -L. L.--Have you any message for home? - - Of course love to his mother, and to all, specially to - mother. H. is doing very well. [Meaning his sister Honor.] - -L. L.--In what way? - - H. is helping him in a psychic way; she makes it easy for - him. He doesn't think he need tell father anything, he is - so certain in himself meaning Raymond, in spite of silly - mistakes. It disappoints him. We must separate out the - good from the bad, and not try more than one form; not the - jig--jig---- - -L. L.--I know; jigger. [A kind of Ouija.] - - No. He didn't like the jigger. He thinks he can work the - table. [See Chapter XIX.] - -L. L.--Would you tell me how I could help in any way? - - Just go very easily, only let one person speak, as he has - said before. It can be H. or L. L. Settle on one person to - put the questions, the different sound of voices confuses - him, and he mixes it up with questions from another's - thoughts. In time he hopes it will be not so difficult. - He wouldn't give it up, he loves it. Don't try more than - twice a week, perhaps only once a week. Try to keep the - same times always, and to the same day if possible. - - He is going. - - Give my love to them all. Tell them I am very happy. Very - well, and plenty to do, and intensely interested. I did - suffer from shock at first, but I'm extremely happy now. - - I'm off. He won't say good-bye. - - * * * * * - - A lady comes too: A girl, about medium height; on the - slender side, not thin, but slender; face, oval shape; - blue eyes; lightish brown hair, not golden. - -L. L.--Can she give a name--I cannot guess who she is from the -description? - - She builds up an L. - - Not like the description when she was on earth. Very - little earth life. She is related to you. She has grown up - in the spirit life. - - Oh, she is your sister! - - She is fair; not so tall as you; a nice face; blue eyes. - -L. L.--I know her name now. [See at a previous sitting where this -deceased sister is described, p. 159.] - - Give her love to them at home, but also principally to - mother. And say that she and her brother, not Raymond, - have been also to the sittings at home. - - She is giving his name. She gives it in such a funny way, - as if she was writing, so---- She wrote an N, then quickly - changed it into a W. [See also pp. 134, 159, and 190.] - - She brings lilies with her; she is singing--it's like - humming; Feda can't hear the words. - - She is going too--power is going. - -L. L.--Give my love to her. - - Feda sends her love also. - - Raymond was having a joke by not showing his face to Feda. - - Good-bye. - - (_Sitting ended at 1.30 p.m._) - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -SITTING OF M. F. A. L. WITH MRS. LEONARD - -_Friday, 26 November 1915_ - - -A few things may be reported from a sitting which Lady Lodge had -with Mrs. Leonard on 26 November, however absurd they may seem. They -are of course repeated by the childish control Feda, but I do not by -that statement of bare fact intend to stigmatise them in any way. -Criticism of unverifiable utterances seems to me premature. - -The sitting began without preliminaries as usual. It is not a -particularly good one, and the notes are rather incomplete, -especially near the end of the time, when Feda seemed to wander from -the point, and when rather tedious descriptions of people began. -These are omitted. - - -_Sitting of M. F. A. L. with Mrs. Leonard at her house on Friday, 26 -November 1915, from 3 to 4.30 p.m._ - -(No one else present.) - -(The sitting began with a statement from Feda that she liked Lionel, -and that Raymond had taken her down to his home. Then she reported -that Raymond said:--) - - "Mother darling, I am so happy, and so much more so - because you are." - -M. F. A. L.--Yes, we are; and as your father says, we can face -Christmas now. - - Raymond says he will be there. - -M. F. A. L.--We will put a chair for him. - - Yes, he will come and sit in it. - - He wants to strike a bargain with you. He says, "If I - come there, there must be no sadness. I don't want to be - a ghost at the feast. There mustn't be one sigh. Please, - darling, keep them in order, rally them up. Don't let - them. If they do, I shall have the hump." (Feda, _sotto - voce_.--'hump,' what he say.) - -M. F. A. L.--We will all drink his health and happiness. - - Yes, you can think I am wishing you health too. - -M. F. A. L.--We were interested in hearing about his clothes and -things; we can't think how he gets them! [The reference is to a -second sitting of Lionel, not available for publication.] - - They are all man-u-fac-tured. [Feda stumbling over long - words.] - - Can you fancy you seeing me in white robes? Mind, I - didn't care for them at first, and I wouldn't wear them. - Just like a fellow gone to a country where there is a - hot climate--an ignorant fellow, not knowing what he is - going to; it's just like that. He may make up his mind to - wear his own clothes a little while, but he will soon be - dressing like the natives. He was allowed to have earth - clothes here until he got acclimatised; they let him; they - didn't force him. I don't think I will ever be able to - make the boys see me in white robes. - - Mother, don't go doing too much. - -M. F. A. L.--I am very strong. - - You think you are, but you tire yourself out too much. It - troubles me. - -M. F. A. L.--Yes, but I should be quite glad to come over there, if I -could come quickly, even though I am so happy here, and I don't want -to leave people. - - Don't you think I would be glad to have you here! If - you do what he says, you will come over when the time - comes--quick, sharp. - - He says he comes and sees you in bed. The reason for that - is the air is so quiet then. You often go up there in the - spirit-land while your body is asleep. - -M. F. A. L.--Would you like us to sit on the same night as Mrs. -Kennedy sits, or on different nights? [Meaning in trials for -cross-correspondences.] - - On the same night, as it wastes less time. Besides, he - forgets, if there is too long an interval. He wants to get - something of the same sort to each place. - - William and Lily come to play with Raymond. Lily had gone - on, but came back to be with Raymond. [These mean his - long-deceased infant brother and sister.] - - (More family talk omitted.) - - Get some sittings soon, so as to get into full swing by - Christmas. Tell them when they get him through, and he - says, "Raymond," tell them to go very easily, and not - to ask too many questions. Questions want thinking out - beforehand. They are not to talk among themselves, because - then they get part of one thing and part of another. And - not to say, "No, don't ask him that," or he gets mixed. - - Do you know we sometimes have to prepare answers a little - before we transmit them; it is a sort of mental effort to - give answers through the table. When they say, do you ask, - we begin to get ready to speak through the table. Write - down a few questions and keep to them. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -O. J. L. SITTING OF DECEMBER 3 - -_With Some Unverifiable Matter_ - - -At a sitting which I had with Mrs. Leonard on 3 December 1915, -information was given about the photograph--as already reported, -Chapter IV. In all these 'Feda' sittings, the remarks styled _sotto -voce_ represent conversation between Feda and the communicator, -not addressed to the sitter at all. I always try to record these -scraps when I can overhear them; for they are often interesting, and -sometimes better than what is subsequently reported as the result -of the brief conversation. For she appears to be uttering under her -breath not only her own question or comment, but also what she is -being told; and sometimes names are in that way mentioned correctly, -when afterwards she muddles them. For instance, on one occasion she -said _sotto voce_, "What you say? Rowland?" (in a clear whisper); -and then, aloud, "He says something like Ronald." Whereas in this -case 'Rowland' proved to be correct. The dramatically childlike -character of Feda seems to carry with it a certain amount of childish -irresponsibility. Raymond says that he "has to talk to her seriously -about it sometimes." - -A few other portions, not about the photograph, are included in -the record of this sitting, some of a very non-evidential and -perhaps ridiculous kind, but I do not feel inclined to suppress -them. (For reasons, see Chapter XII.) Some of them are rather -amusing. Unverifiable statements have hitherto been generally -suppressed, in reporting Piper and other sittings; but here, in -deference partly to the opinion of Professor Bergson-- who when -he was in England urged that statements about life on the other -side, properly studied, like travellers' tales, might ultimately -furnish proof more logically cogent than was possible from mere -access to earth memories--they are for the most part reproduced. -I should think, myself, that they are of very varying degrees of -value, and peculiarly liable to unintentional sophistication by the -medium. They cannot be really satisfactory, as we have no means of -bringing them to book. The difficulty is that Feda encounters many -sitters, and though the majority are just inquirers, taking what -comes and saying very little, one or two may be themselves full -of theories, and may either intentionally or unconsciously convey -them to the 'control'; who may thereafter retail them as actual -information, without perhaps being sure whence they were derived. -Some books, moreover, have been published of late, purporting to give -information about ill-understood things in a positive and assured -manner, and it is possible that the medium has read these and may be -influenced by them. It will be regrettable if these books are taken -as authoritative by people unable to judge of the scientific errors -which are conspicuous in their more normal portions; and the books -themselves seem likely to retard the development of the subject in -the minds of critical persons. - - -_Sitting with Mrs. Leonard at her House on Friday, 3 December 1915, -from 6.10 p.m. to 8.20 p.m._ - -(O. J. L. alone.) - -_This is a long record, because I took verbatim notes, but I propose -to inflict it all upon the reader, in accordance with promise to -report unverifiable and possibly absurd matter, just as it comes, and -even to encourage it._ - -Feda soon arrived, said good evening, jerked about on the chair, and -squeaked or chuckled, after her manner when indicating pleasure. -Then, without preliminaries, she spoke:-- - - He is waiting; he's looking very pleased. He's awful - anxious to tell you about the place where he lives; he - doesn't understand _yet_ how it looks so solid. (Cf. p. - 184.) - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--What you say? Yes, Feda knows.) He's - been watching lately different kinds of people what come - over, and the different kinds of effect it has on them. - - Oh, it is interesting, he says--much more than on the old - earth plane. I didn't want to leave you and mother and all - of them, but it _is_ interesting. I wish you could come - over for one day, and be with me here. There are times - you do go there, but you won't remember. They have all - been over with him at night-time, and so have you, but he - thought it very hard you couldn't remember. If you did, he - is told (he doesn't know it himself, but he is told this), - the brain would scarcely bear the burden of the double - existence, and would be unfitted for its daily duties; so - the memory is shut out. That is the explanation given to - him. - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--What, Raymond? Al--lec, he says, - Al--lec, Al--lec.) - - He keeps on saying something about Alec. He has been - trying to get to Alec, to communicate with him; and he - couldn't see if he made himself felt--whether he really - got through. - - (The medium hitherto had been holding O. J. L.'s left - hand; here she let go, Feda saying: He will let you have - your own hand back.) - - He thought he had got into a bedroom, and that he knocked; - but there wasn't much notice taken. - -O. J. L.--Alec must come here sometime.[22] - - Yes, he wanted to see him. - - And he also hopes to be able to talk to Lionel with the - direct voice; not here, he says, but somewhere else. He is - very anxious to speak to him. Through a chap, he says, a - direct voice chap. - -O. J. L.--Very well, I will take the message. - - Well, he says, he wants to try once or twice. He wants - to be able to say what he says to Feda in another way. He - thinks he could get through in his own home sometime. He - would much rather have it there. And he thinks that if he - got through once or twice with direct voice, he might be - able to do better in his own home. H. is psychic, he says, - but he is afraid of hurting her; he doesn't want to take - too much from her. But he really is going to get through. - He really has got through at home; but silly spirits - wanted to have a game. There was a strange feeling there; - he didn't seem to know how much he was doing himself, so - he stood aside part of the time. [Mariemont sittings are - reported later. Chapter XIX.] - - _Then the photograph episode came, as reported in Chapter - IV._ - - Then it went on (Feda talking, of course, all the time):-- - - He says he has been trying to go to somebody, and see - somebody he used to know. He's not related to them, and - the name begins with S. It's a gentleman, he says, and he - can't remember, or can't tell Feda the name, but it begins - with S. He was trying to get to them, but is not sure that - he succeeded. - -O. J. L.--Did he want to? - - He says it was only curiosity; but he likes to feel that - he can look up anybody. But he says, if they take no - notice, I shall give up soon, only I just like to see what - it feels like to be looking at them from where I am. - -O. J. L.--Does he want to say anything more about his house or his -clothes or his body? - - Oh yes. He is bursting to tell you. - - He says, my body's very similar to the one I had before. - I pinch myself sometimes to see if it's real, and it is, - but it doesn't seem to hurt as much as when I pinched the - flesh body. The internal organs don't seem constituted on - the same lines as before. They can't be quite the same. - But to all appearances, and outwardly, they are the same - as before. I can move somewhat more freely, he says. - - Oh, there's one thing, he says, I have never seen anybody - bleed. - -O. J. L.--Wouldn't he bleed if he pricked himself? - - He never tried it. But as yet he has seen no blood at all. - -O. J. L.--Has he got ears and eyes? - - Yes, yes, and eyelashes, and eyebrows, exactly the same, - and a tongue and teeth. He has got a new tooth now in - place of another one he had--one that wasn't quite right - then. He has got it right, and a good tooth has come in - place of the one that had gone. - - He knew a man that had lost his arm, but he has got - another one. Yes, he has got two arms now. He seemed - as if without a limb when first he entered the astral, - seemed incomplete, but after a while it got more and more - complete, until he got a new one. He is talking of people - who have lost a limb for some years. - -O. J. L.--What about a limb lost in battle? - - Oh, if they have only just lost it, it makes no - difference, it doesn't matter; they are quite all right - when they get here. But I am told--he doesn't know this - himself, but he has been told--that when anybody's blown - to pieces, it takes some time for the spirit-body to - complete itself, to gather itself all in, and to be - complete. It dissipated a certain amount of substance - which is undoubtedly theric, theric--etheric, and it - has to be concentrated again. The _spirit_ isn't blown - apart, of course,--he doesn't mean that,--but it has an - effect upon it. He hasn't seen all this, but he has been - inquiring because he is interested. - -O. J. L.--What about bodies that are burnt? - - Oh, if they get burnt by accident, if they know about it - on this side, they detach the spirit first. What we call a - spirit-doctor comes round and helps. But bodies should not - be burnt on purpose. We have terrible trouble sometimes - over people who are cremated too soon; they shouldn't be. - It's a terrible thing; it has worried me. People are so - careless. The idea seems to be--"hurry up and get them out - of the way now that they are dead." Not until seven days, - he says. They shouldn't be cremated for seven days. - -O. J. L.--But what if the body goes bad? - - When it goes bad, the spirit is already out. If that much - (indicating a trifle) of spirit is left in the body, it - doesn't start mortifying. It is the action of the spirit - on the body that keeps it from mortifying. When you speak - about a person 'dying upwards,' it means that the spirit - is getting ready and gradually getting out of the body. - He saw the other day a man going to be cremated two days - after the doctor said he was dead. When his relations on - this side heard about it, they brought a certain doctor - on our side, and when they saw that the spirit hadn't got - really out of the body, they magnetised it, and helped it - out. But there was still a cord, and it had to be severed - rather quickly, and it gave a little shock to the spirit, - like as if you had something amputated; but it had to be - done. He believes it has to be done in every case. If - the body is to be consumed by fire, it is helped out by - spirit-doctors. He doesn't mean that a spirit-body comes - out of its own body, but an essence comes out of the - body--oozes out, he says, and goes into the other body - which is being prepared. Oozes, he says, like in a string. - String, that's what he say. Then it seems to shape itself, - or something meets it and shapes round it. Like as if they - met and went together, and formed a duplicate of the body - left behind. It's all very interesting.[23] - - He told Lionel about his wanting a suit at first [at an - unreported second sitting]. He never thought that they - would be able to provide him with one. - -O. J. L.--Yes, I know, Lionel told us; that you wanted something -more like your old clothes at first, and that they didn't force you -into new ones, but let you begin with the old kind, until you got -accustomed to the place (p. 189). - - Yes, he says, they didn't force me, but most of the people - here wear white robes. - -O. J. L.--Then, can you tell any difference between men and women? - - There are men here, and there are women here. I don't - think that they stand to each other quite the same as they - did on the earth plane, but they seem to have the same - feeling to each other, with a different expression of it. - There don't seem to be any children born here. People are - sent into the physical body to have children on the earth - plane; they don't have them here. But there's a feeling of - love between men and women here which is of a different - quality to that between two men or two women; and husband - and wife seem to meet differently from mother and son, or - father and daughter. He says he doesn't want to eat now. - But he sees some who do; he says they have to be given - something which has all the appearance of an earth food. - People here try to provide everything that is wanted. A - chap came over the other day, would _would_ have a cigar. - "That's finished them," he thought. He means he thought - they would never be able to provide that. But there are - laboratories over here, and they manufacture all sorts of - things in them. Not like you do, out of solid matter, but - out of essences, and ethers, and gases. It's not the same - as on the earth plane, but they were able to manufacture - what looked like a cigar. He didn't try one himself, - because he didn't care to; you know he wouldn't want - to. But the other chap jumped at it. But when he began - to smoke it, he didn't think so much of it; he had four - altogether, and now he doesn't look at one.[24] They don't - seem to get the same satisfaction out of it, so gradually - it seems to drop from them. But when they first come they - do want things. Some want meat, and some strong drink; - they call for whisky sodas. Don't think I'm stretching it, - when I tell you that they can manufacture even that. But - when they have had one or two, they don't seem to want it - so much--not those that are near here. He has heard of - drunkards who want it for months and years over here, but - he hasn't seen any. Those I have seen, he says, don't want - it any more--like himself with his suit, he could dispense - with it under the new conditions. - - He wants people to realise that it's just as natural as on - the earth plane. - -O. J. L.--Raymond, you said your house was made of bricks. How can -that be? What are the bricks made of? - - That's what he hasn't found out yet. He is told by some, - who he doesn't think would lead him astray, that they - are made from sort of emanations from the earth. He - says there's something rising, like atoms rising, and - consolidating after they come; they are not solid when - they come, but we can collect and concentrate them--I mean - those that are with me. They appear to be bricks, and - when I touch them, they feel like bricks; and I have seen - granite too. - - There's something perpetually rising from your plane; - practically invisible--in atoms when it leaves your - plane--but when it comes to the ether, it gains - certain other qualities round each atom, and by the - time it reaches us, certain people take it in hand, - and manufacture solid things from it. Just as you can - manufacture solid things. - - All the decay that goes on on the earth plane is not lost. - It doesn't just form manure or dust. Certain vegetable - and decayed tissue does form manure for a time, but it - gives off an essence or a gas, which ascends, and which - becomes what you call a 'smell.' Everything dead has a - smell, if you notice; and I know now that the smell is of - actual use, because it is from that smell that we are able - to produce duplicates of whatever form it had before it - became a smell. Even old wood has a smell different from - new wood; you may have to have a keen nose to detect these - things on the earth plane. - - Old rags, he says (_sotto voce_.--Yes, all right, Feda - will go back), cloth decaying and going rotten. Different - kinds of cloth give off different smells--rotting linen - smells different to rotting wool. You can understand how - all this interests me. Apparently, as far as I can gather, - the rotting wool appears to be used for making things like - tweeds on our side. But I know I am jumping, I'm guessing - at it. My suit I expect was made from decayed worsted on - your side.[25] - - Some people here won't take this in even yet--about the - material cause of all these things. They go talking about - spiritual robes made of light, built by the thoughts - on the earth plane. I don't believe it. They go about - thinking that it is a thought robe that they're wearing, - resulting from the spiritual life they led; and when we - try to tell them that it is manufactured out of materials, - they don't believe it. They say, "No, no, it's a robe of - light and brightness which I manufactured by thought." - So we just leave it. But I don't say that they won't get - robes quicker when they have led spiritual lives down - there; I think they do, and that's what makes them think - that they made the robes by their lives. - - You know flowers, how they decay. We have got flowers - here; your decayed flowers flower again with us--beautiful - flowers. Lily has helped me a lot with flowers. - -O. J. L.--Do you like her? - - Yes, but he didn't expect to see her. - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--No. Raymond, you don't mean that.) - - Yes, he does. He says he's afraid he wasn't very polite to - her when he met her at first; he didn't expect a grown-up - sister there. Am I a little brother, he said, or is she - my little sister? She calls me her little brother, but - I have a decided impression that she should be my little - sister. - - He feels a bit of a mystery: he has got a brother there he - knows, but he says _two_. - - (_Sotto voce._--No, Yaymond, you can't have two. No, Feda - doesn't understand.) Is it possible, he says, that he has - got another brother--one that didn't live at all? - -O. J. L.--Yes, it is possible. - - But he says, no earth life at all! That's what's strange. - I've seen some one that I am told is a brother, but I - can't be expected to recognise him, can I? I feel somehow - closer to Lily than I do to that one. By and by I will get - to know him, I dare say. - - I'm told that I am doing very well in the short time I - have been here. Taking to it--what he say?--duck to water, - he say. - -O. J. L.--You know the earth is rolling along through space. How do -you keep up with it? - - It doesn't seem like that to him. - -O. J. L.--No, I suppose not. Do you see the stars? - - Yes, he sees the stars. The stars seem like what they did, - only he feels closer to them. Not really closer, but they - look clearer; not appreciably closer, he says. - -O. J. L.--Are they grouped the same? Do you see the Great Bear, for -instance? - - Oh, yes, he sees the Great Bear. And he sees the ch, ch, - chariot, he says. - -O. J. L.--Do you mean Cassiopeia? - - Yes. [But I don't suppose he did.] - - There's one more mystery to him yet, it doesn't seem day - and night quite by regular turns, like it did on the earth. - -O. J. L.--But I suppose you see the sun? - - Yes, he sees the sun; but it seems always about the same - degree of warmth, he doesn't feel heat or cold where he - is. The sun doesn't make him uncomfortably hot. That - is not because the sun has lost its heat, but because - he hasn't got the same body that sensed the heat. When - he comes into contact with the earth plane, and is - manifesting, then he feels a little cold or warm--at least - he does when a medium is present--not when he comes in the - ordinary way just to look round. When he sang last night, - he felt cold for a minute or two. - -O. J. L.--Did he sing? - - Yes, he and Paulie had a scuffle. Paulie was singing - first, and Yaymond thought he would like to sing too, so - he chipped in at the end. He sang about three verses. It - wasn't difficult, because there was a good deal of power - there. Also nobody except Mrs. Kathie knew who he was, and - so all eyes were not on him, and they were not expecting - it, and that made it easier for him. He says it wasn't - so difficult as keeping up a conversation; he just took - the organs there, and materialised his own voice in her - throat. He didn't find it very difficult, he hadn't got - to think of anything, or collect his ideas; there was an - easy flow of words, and he just sang. And I _did_ sing, he - says; I thought I'd nearly killed the medium. She hadn't - any voice at all after. When he heard himself that he had - really got it, he had to let go. Raised the roof, he says, - and he _did_ enjoy it! - - (Here Feda gave an amused chuckle with a jump and a - squeak.) - - He was just practising there, Yaymond says. At first he - thought it wouldn't be easy. - - [This relates to what I am told was a real occurrence at a - private gathering; but it is not evidential.] - -O. J. L.--Raymond, you know you want to give me some proofs. What -kind of proofs do you think are best? Have you talked it over with -Mr. Myers, and have you decided on the kind of proof that will be -most evidential? - - I don't know yet. I feel divided between two ways: - One is to give you objective proof, such as simple - materialisations and direct voice, which you can set down - and have attested. Or else I should have to give you - information about my different experiences here, either - something like what I am doing now, or through the table, - or some other way. But he doesn't know whether he will be - able to do the two things together. - -O. J. L.--No, not likely, not at the same time. But you can take -opportunities of saying more about your life there. - - Yes, that's why he has been collecting information. He - does so want to encourage people to look forward to a life - they will certainly have to enter upon, and realise that - it is a rational life. All this that he has been giving - you now, and that I gave to Lionel, you must sort out, and - put in order, because I can only give it scrappily. I want - to study things here a lot. Would you think it selfish if - I say I wouldn't like to be back now?--I wouldn't give - this up for anything. Don't think it selfish, or that - I want to be away from you all. I have still got you, - because I feel you so close, closer even. I wouldn't come - back, I wouldn't for anything that anyone could give me. - - He hardly liked to put it that way to his mother. - - Is Alec here? (Feda looking round.) - -O. J. L.--No, but I hope he will be coming. - - Tell him not to say who he is. I did enjoy myself that - first time that Lionel came--I could talk for hours. - -(O. J. L. had here looked at his watch quietly.) - - I could talk for hours; don't go yet. - - He says he thinks he was lucky when he passed on, - because he had so many to meet him. That came, he knows - now, through your having been in with this thing for so - long. He wants to impress this on those that you will be - writing for: that it makes it so much easier for them if - they and their friends know about it beforehand. It's - awful when they have passed over and won't believe it - for weeks,--they just think they're dreaming. And they - won't realise things at all sometimes. He doesn't mind - telling you now that, just at first, when he woke up, he - felt a little depression. But it didn't last long. He - cast his eyes round, and soon he didn't mind. But it was - like finding yourself in a strange place, like a strange - city; with people you hadn't seen, or not seen for a long - time, round you. Grandfather was with me straight away; - and presently Robert. I got mixed up between two Roberts. - And there's some one called Jane comes to him, who calls - herself an aunt, he says. Jane. He's uncertain about her. - Jane--Jennie. She calls herself an aunt; he is told to - call her 'Aunt Jennie.' Is she my Aunt Jennie? he says. - -O. J. L.--No, but your mother used to call her that. - - [And so on, simple talk about family and friends.] - - He has brought that doggie again, nice doggie. A doggie - that goes like this, and twists about (Feda indicating - a wriggle). He has got a nice tail, not a little stumpy - tail, nice tail with nice hair on it. He sits up like that - sometimes, and comes down again, and puts his tongue out - of his mouth. He's got a cat too, plenty of animals, he - says. He hasn't seen any lions and tigers, but he sees - horses, cats, dogs, and birds. He says you know this - doggie; he has nice hair, a little wavy, which sticks - up all over him, and has twists at the end. Now he's - jumping round. He hasn't got a very pointed face, but it - isn't like a little pug-dog either; it's rather a long - shape. And he has nice ears what flaps, not standing up; - nice long hairs on them too. A darkish colour he looks, - darkish, as near as Feda can see him. [See photograph, p. - 278.] - -O. J. L.--Does he call him by any name? - - He says, 'Not him.' - - (_Sotto voce._--What you mean 'not him'? It is a 'him'; - you don't call him 'it.') - - No, he won't explain. No, he didn't give it a name. It can - jump. - - [All this about a she-dog called Curly, whose death had - been specially mentioned by 'Myers' through another medium - some years ago,--an incident reported privately to the - S.P.R. at the time,--is quite good as far as it goes.] - - He has met a spirit here, he says, who knows you--G. - Nothing to do with the other G. Some one that's a very - fine sort indeed. His name begins with G--Gal, Gals, Got, - Got,--he doesn't know him very well, but it sounds like - that. It isn't who you feel, though it might have been, - nothing to do with that at all. Some one called Golt--he - didn't know him, but he is interested in you, and had met - you. - - It's surprising how many people come up to me, he says, - and shake me by the hand, and speak to me. I don't know - them from Adam. (_Sotto voce_.--Adam, he say.) But they - are doing me honour here, and some of them are such - fine men. He doesn't know them, but they all seem to - be interested in you, and they say, "Oh, are you his - son?--how-do-you-do?" - - Feda is losing control. - -O. J. L.--Well, good-bye, Raymond, then, and God bless you. - - God bless _you_. I do so want you to know that I am very - happy. And bless them all. My love to you. I can't tell - what I feel, but you can guess. It's difficult to put - into words. My love to all. God bless you and everybody. - Good-bye, father. - -O. J. L.--Good-bye, Raymond. Good-bye, Feda. - -(Feda here gave a jerk, and a 'good-bye.') - - Love to her what 'longs to you, and to Lionel. Feda knows - what your name is, 'Soliver,' yes. (Another squeak.) - - (_Sitting ended 8.20 p.m._) - -The conclusion of sittings is seldom of an evidential character, and -by most people would not be recorded; but occasionally it may be best -to quote one completely, just as a specimen of what may be called the -'manner' of a sitting. - - [Footnote 22: Alec had had a sitting with Peters, not with - Mrs. Leonard.] - - [Footnote 23: I confess that I think that Feda may have - got a great deal of this, perhaps all of it, from people - who have read or written some of the books referred to - in my introductory remarks. But inasmuch as her other - utterances are often evidential, I feel that I have no - right to pick and choose; _especially as I know nothing - about it, one way or the other_.] - - [Footnote 24: Some of this Feda talk is at least humorous.] - - [Footnote 25: have not yet traced the source of all this - supposed information.] - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -K. K. AUTOMATIC WRITING - - -On 17 December 1915, I was talking to Mrs. Kennedy when her hand -began to write, and I had a short conversation which may be worth -reporting:-- - - I have been here such a long time, please tell father I am - here--Raymond. - -O. J. L.--My boy! - - Dear father! - - Father, it was difficult to say all one felt, but now I - don't care. I love you. I love you intensely. Father, - please speak to me. - -O. J. L.--I recognise it, Raymond. Have you anything to say for the -folk at home? - - I have been there to-day; I spoke to mother. I don't know - if she heard me, but I rather think so. Please tell her - this, and kiss her from me. - -O. J. L.--She had a rather vivid dream or vision of you one morning -lately. I don't know if it was a dream. - - I feel sure she will see me, but I don't know, because I - am so often near her that I can't say yes or no to any - particular time. - -O. J. L.--Raymond, you know it is getting near Christmas now? - - I know. I shall be there; keep jolly or it hurts me - horribly. Truly, I know it is difficult, but you _must_ - know by now that I am so splendid. I shall never be one - instant out of the house on Christmas Day. (Pause.) - - He has gone to fetch some one.--Paul. - - (This is the sort of interpolation which frequently - happens. Paul signs his explanatory sentence.) - - (K. K. presently said that Raymond had returned, and - expected me to be aware of it.) - - I have brought Mr. Myers. He says he doesn't often come to - use this means, but he wants to speak for a moment. - - "Get free and go on," he says. "Don't let them trammel - you. Get at it, Lodge."--Myers. - - He has gone, tell my father. - -(O. J. L., _sotto voce_.--What does that mean?) - -(K. K.--I haven't an idea.) - -O. J. L.--Has Myers gone right away? - - "I have spoken, but I will speak again, if you keep quiet - (meaning K. K.). Do cease to think, or you are useless. - Tell Lodge I can't explain half his boy is to me. I feel - as if I had my own dearly loved son here, yet I know he is - only lent to me. - - "Pardon me if I rarely use you (to K. K.); I can't stand - the way you bother."--Myers. - -K. K.--Do you mean the way I get nervous if I am taking a message -from you? - - "Yes, I do." - - [This interpolated episode was commented on by O. J. L. as - very characteristic.] - -O. J. L.--Is Raymond still there? - - Yes. - -O. J. L.--Raymond, do you know we've got that photograph you spoke -of? Mrs. Cheves sent us it, the mother of Cheves--Captain Cheves, you -remember him? - - Yes, I know you have the photograph. - -O. J. L.--Yes, and your description of it was very good. And we have -seen the man leaning on you. Was there another one taken of you? - -K. K.--'Four,' he says 'four.' Did you say 'four,' Raymond? - - Yes, I did. - -O. J. L.--Yes, we have those taken of you by yourself, but was -another taken of you with other officers? - - I hear, father; I shall look, but I think you have had the - one I want you to have; I have seen you looking at it. I - have heard all that father has said. It is ripping to come - like this. Tell my father I have enjoyed it.--Raymond. - -O. J. L.--Before you go, Raymond, I want to ask a serious question. -Have you been let to see Christ? - - Father, I shall see him presently. It is not time yet. I - am not ready. But I know he lives, and I know he comes - here. All the sad ones see him if no one else can help - them. Paul has seen him: you see he had such a lot of - pain, poor chap. I am not expecting to see him yet, - father. I shall love to when it's the time.--Raymond. - -O. J. L.--Well, we shall be very happy this Christmas I think. - - Father, tell mother she has her son with her all day on - Christmas Day. There will be thousands and thousands of - us back in the homes on that day, but the horrid part is - that so many of the fellows don't get welcomed. Please - keep a place for me. I must go now. Bless you again, - father.--Raymond. - - (Paul then wrote a few words to his mother.) - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -FIRST SITTING OF ALEC WITH MRS. LEONARD - - -On 21 December 1915 Alec had his first sitting with Mrs. Leonard; -but he did not manage to go quite anonymously--the medium knew that -he was my son. Again there is a good deal of unverifiable matter, -which whether absurd or not I prefer not to suppress; my reasons are -indicated in Chapters xii and xvi Part II, and xi Part III. - -_Alec's (A. M. L.'s) Sitting with Mrs. Leonard at her House on -Tuesday Afternoon, 21 December 1915, 3.15 to 4.30 p.m._ - -(Medium knows I am Sir Oliver Lodge's son.) - -Front room; curtains drawn; dark; small red lamp. No one else present. - -Mrs. Leonard shook hands saying, "Mr. Lodge?" - -(Medium begins by rubbing her own hands vigorously.) - - Good morning! This is Feda. - - Raymond's here. He would have liked A _and_ B. - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--What you mean, A _and_ B?) - - Oh, he would have liked to talk to A and B. [See Note A.] - He says: "I wish you could see me, I am so pleased; but - you know I am pleased." - - He has been trying hard to get to you at home. He thinks - he is getting closer, and better able to understand the - conditions which govern this way of communicating. He - thinks that in a little while he will be able to give - actual tests at home. He knows he has got through, but - not satisfactorily. He gets so far, and then flounders. - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--That's what fishes do!) - - He says he is feeling splendid. He did not think it was - possible to feel so well. - - He was waiting here; he knew you were coming, but thought - you might not be able to come to-day. [Train half an hour - late.] - - Did you take notice of what he said about the place he is - in? - -A. M. L.--Yes. But I find it very difficult to understand. - - He says, it is such a solid place, I have not got over it - yet. It is so wonderfully real. - - He spoke about a river to his father; he has not seen the - sea yet. He has found water, but doesn't know whether he - will find a sea. He is making new discoveries every day. - So _much_ is new, although of course not to people who - have been here some time. - - He went into the library with his grandfather--Grandfather - William--and also somebody called Richard, and he says the - books there seem to be the same as you read. - - Now this is extraordinary: There are books there not yet - published on the earth plane. He is told--only told, he - does not know if it is correct--that those books will be - produced, books like those that are there now; that the - matter in them will be impressed on the brain of some man, - he supposes an author. - - He says that not everybody on his plane is allowed to read - those books; they might hurt them--that is, the books not - published yet. Father is going to write one--not the one - on now, but a fresh one. - - Has his father found out who it was, beginning with G, who - said he was going to help (meaning help Raymond) for his - father's sake? It was not the person he thought it was at - the time (p. 204). - - It is very difficult to get things through. He wants to - keep saying how pleased he is to come. - - There are hundreds of things he will think of after he is - gone. - - He has brought Lily, and William--the young one---- - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--I don't know whether it is right, - but he appears to have two brothers.) - - [Two brothers as well as a sister died in extreme infancy. - He would hardly know that, normally.--O. J. L.] - - A. M. L.--Feda, will you ask Raymond if he would like me - to ask some questions? - - Yes, with pleasure, he says. - -A. M. L.--A little time ago, Raymond said he was with mother. Mother -would like to know if he can say what she was doing when he came? Ask -Raymond to think it over, and see if he can remember? - - Yes, yes. She'd got some wool and scissors. She had a - square piece of stuff--he is showing me this--she was - working on the square piece of stuff. He shows me that she - was cutting the wool with the scissors. - - Another time, she was in bed. - - She was in a big chair--dark covered---- - - This refers to the time mentioned first. [Note B.] - -A. M. L.--Ask Raymond if he can remember which room she was in? - - (Pause.) - - He can't remember. He can't always see more than a corner - of the room--it appears vapourish and shadowy. - - He often comes when you're in bed. - - He tried to call out loudly: he shouted, 'Alec, Alec!' - but he didn't get any answer. That is what puzzles him. - He thinks he has shouted, but apparently he has not even - manufactured a whisper. - -A. M. L.--Feda, will you ask Raymond if he can remember trivial -things that happened, as these things often make the best tests? - - He says he can now and again. - -A. M. L.--The questions that father asked about 'Evinrude,' -'Dartmoor,' and 'Argonauts,' are all trivial, but make good tests, -as father knows nothing about them. - - Yes, Raymond quite understands. He is just as keen as you - are to give those tests. - -A. M. L.--Ask Raymond if the word 'Evinrude' in connexion with a -holiday trip reminds him of anything? - - Yes. (Definitely.) - -A. M. L.--And 'Argonauts'? - - Yes. (Definitely.) - -A. M. L.--And 'Dartmoor'? - - Yes. (Definitely.) - -A. M. L.--Well, don't answer the questions now, but if father asks -them again, see if you can remember anything. - - (While Alec was speaking, Feda was getting a message - simultaneously:--) - - He says something burst. - -[This is excellent for Dartmoor, but I knew it.--A. M. L.] -[Note C.] - -A. M. L.--Tell Raymond I am quite sure he gets things through -occasionally, but that I think often the meaning comes through -altered, and very often appears to be affected by the sitter. It -appears to me that they usually get what they expect. - - Raymond says, "I only wish they did!" But in a way you are - right. He is never able to give all he wishes. Sometimes - only a word, which often must appear quite disconnected. - Often the word does not come from his mind; he has no - trace of it. Raymond says, for this reason it is a good - thing to try, more, to come and give something definite at - home. When you sit at the table, he feels sure that what - he wants to say is influenced by some one at the table. - Some one is helping him, some one at the table is guessing - at the words. He often starts a word, but somebody - finishes it. - - He asked father to let you come and not say who you were; - he says it would have been a bit of fun. - -A. M. L.--Ask Raymond if he can remember any characteristic things we -used to talk about among ourselves? - - Yes. He says you used to talk about cars. - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--What you mean? Everybody talks about - cars!) - - And singing. He used to fancy he could sing. He didn't - sing hymns. On Thursday nights he has to sing hymns, but - they are not in his line. - - [On Thursday nights I am told that a circle holds sittings - for developing the direct voice at Mrs. Leonard's, and - that they sing hymns. Paul and Raymond have been said to - join in. Cf. near end of Chapter XVI, p. 201.] - -A. M. L.--What used he to sing? - - Hello--Hullalo--sounds like Hullulu--Hullulo. Something - about 'Hottentot'; but he is going back a long way, he - thinks. [See note in Appendix about this statement.] - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--An orange lady?) - - He says something about an orange lady. - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--Not what sold oranges?) - - No, of course not. He says a song extolling the virtues - and beauties of an orange lady. - -[Song: "My Orange Girl." Excellent. The last song he -bought.--A. M. L.] - - And a funny song which starts 'MA,' but Feda can't see any - more--like somebody's name. Also something about 'Irish - eyes.' [See Note D.] - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--Are they really songs?) - - Very much so. - -(A number of unimportant incidents were now mentioned.) - - He says it is somebody's birthday in January. - -A. M. L.--It _is_. - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--What's a beano? Whose birthday?) - - He won't say whose birthday. He says, _He_ knows (meaning - A.). - -[Raymond's own birthday, 25 Jan., was understood.] - - (More family talk.) - - Yes, he says he is going now. He says the power is getting - thin. - -A. M. L.--Wish him good luck from me, Feda. - - Love to all of them. - - My love to you, old chap. - - Just before I go: Don't ever any of you regret my going. I - believe I have got more to do than I could have ever done - on the earth plane. It is only a case of waiting, and just - meeting every one of you as you come across to him. He is - going now. He says Willie too--young Willie. [His deceased - brother.] - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--Yes, what? Proclivities?) - - Oh, he is only joking. - - He says: Not Willie of the weary - proplic--propensities--that's it. - - He is joking. Just as many jokes here as ever before. - Even when singing hymns. When he and Paul are singing, - they do a funny dance with their arms. (Showing a sort of - cake-walk--moving arms up and down.) - - (Feda.--It's a silly dance, anyway.) - - Good-bye, and good luck. - - [Characteristic; see, for instance, a letter of his on - page 41 above. I happen to have just seen another letter, - to Brodie, which concludes: "Well, good-bye, Brodie, and - good luck."--O. J. L.] - - Yes, he is going. Yes. He is gone now, yes. - - Do you want to say anything to Feda? - -A. M. L.--Yes, thank you very much for all your help. The messages -are sometimes difficult, but it is most important to try and give -exactly what you hear, and nothing more, whether you understand it or -not. - - Feda understands. She only say exactly what she hear, even - though it is double-Dutch. Don't forget to give my love to - them all. - -A. M. L.--Good-bye, Feda. (Shakes hands.) - -Medium comes-to in about two or three minutes. - - (Signed) A. M. L. - - 21 _December_ 1915 - -[All written out fair same evening. Part on way home, and part after -arriving, without disturbance from seeing anybody.] - - -NOTES BY O. J. L. ON THE A. M. L. RECORD - -This seems to have been a good average sitting; it contains a few -sufficiently characteristic remarks, but not much evidential. What is -said about songs in it, however, is rather specially good. In further -explanation, a few notes, embodying more particular information -obtained by me from the family when reading the sitting over to them, -may now be added:-- - - -NOTE A - -The 'A _and_ B' manifestly mean his brothers Alec and Brodie; and -there was a natural reason for bracketing them together, inasmuch -as they constitute the firm Lodge Brothers, with which Raymond was -already to a large extent, and hoped to be still more closely, -associated. But there may have been a minor point in it, since -between Alec and Brodie long ago, at their joint preparatory school, -there was a sort of joke, of which Raymond was aware, about problems -given in algebra and arithmetic books: where, for instance, A buys -so many dozen at some price, and B buys some at another price; the -question being to compare their profits. Or where A does a piece of -work in so many days, and B does something else. It is usually not at -all obvious, without working out, which gets the better of it, A or -B; and Alec seems to have recognised, in the manner of saying A and -B, some reference to old family chaff on this subject. - - -NOTE B - -The reference to a square piece of stuff, cut with scissors, suggests -to his mother, not the wool-work which she is doing like everybody -else for soldiers, but the cutting of a circular piece out of a -Raymond blanket that came back with his kit, for the purpose of -covering a round four-legged table which was subsequently used for -sittings, in order to keep it clean without its having to be dusted -or otherwise touched by servants. It is not distinct enough to be -evidential, however. - - -NOTE C - -About Dartmoor, "he says something burst." Incidents referred to in a -previous sitting, when I was there alone, were the running downhill, -clapping on brake, and swirling round corners (p. 156); but all -this was associated with, and partly caused by, the bursting of the -silencer in the night after the hilly country had been reached. And -it was the fearful noise subsequent to the bursting of the silencer -that the boys had expected him to remember. - - -NOTE D - -The best evidential thing, however, is on p. 212--a reference to -a song of his called "My Orange Girl." If the name of the song -merely had been given, though good enough, it would not have been -quite so good, because the name of a song is common property. But -the particular mode of describing it, in such a way as to puzzle -Feda, namely, "an orange lady," making her think rather of a market -woman, is characteristic of Raymond--especially the sentence about -"extolling her virtues and beauties," which is not at all appropriate -to Feda, and is exactly like Raymond. So is "Willie of the weary -proclivities." - -The song "Irish Eyes" was also, I find, quite correct. It seems to -have been a comparatively recent song, which he had sung several -times. - -Again, the song described thus by Feda:-- - -"A funny song which starts Ma. But Feda can't see any more--like -somebody's name." - -I find that the letters M A were pronounced separately--not as a -word. To me the MA had suggested one of those nigger songs about 'Ma -Honey'--the kind of song which may have been indicated by the word -'Hottentot' above. But, at a later table sitting at Mariemont, he -was asked what song he meant by the letters M A, and then he spelt -out clearly the name 'Maggie.' This song was apparently unknown to -those at the table, but was recognised by Norah, who was in the room, -though not at the table, as a still more recent song of Raymond's, -about "Maggie Magee." (See Appendix also.) - - -APPENDIX TO SITTING OF 21 DECEMBER 1915 - -(WRITTEN 3½ MONTHS LATER) - -(Dictated by O. J. L., 12 April 1916.) - -Last night the family were singing over some songs, and came across -one which is obviously the one referred to in the above sitting of -A. M. L. with Mrs. Leonard, held nearly four months ago, of which a -portion ran thus (just before the reference to Orange Girl):-- - -"A. M. L.--What used he to sing? - - Hello--Hullalo--sounds like Hullulu,--Hullulo. Something - about 'Hottentot'; but he is going back a long way, he - thinks." - -References to other songs known to the family followed, but this -reference to an unknown song was vaguely remembered by the family -as a puzzle; and it existed in A. M. L.'s mind as "a song about -'Honolulu,'"--this being apparently the residual impression produced -by the 'Hullulu' in combination with 'Hottentot'; but no Honolulu -song was known. - -A forgotten and overlooked song has now (11 April 1916) turned up, -which is marked in pencil "R. L. 3.3.4.," _i.e._ 3 March 1904, which -corresponds to his "going back a long way"--to a time, in fact, when -he was only fifteen. It is called, "My Southern Maid"; and although -no word about 'Honolulu' occurs in the printed version, one of the -verses has been altered in Raymond's writing in pencil; and that -alteration is the following absurd introduction to a noisy chorus:-- - - "Any little flower from a tulip to a rose, - If you'll be Mrs. John James Brown - Of Hon-o-lu-la-lu-la town." - -Until these words were sung last night, nobody seems to have -remembered the song "My Southern Maid," and there appears to be no -reason for associating it with the word 'Honolulu' or any similar -sound, so far as public knowledge was concerned, or apart from -Raymond's alterations. - -Alec calls attention to the fact that, in answer to his question -about songs, no songs were mentioned which were not actually -Raymond's songs; and that those which were mentioned were not those -he was expecting. Furthermore, that if he had thought of these songs -he would have thought of them by their ordinary titles, such as -"My Orange Girl" and "My Southern Maid"; though the latter he had -forgotten altogether. - -(A sort of disconnected sequel to this song episode occurred some -months later, as reported in Chapter XXIII.) - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -PRIVATE SITTINGS AT MARIEMONT - - -It had been several times indicated that Raymond wanted to come into -the family circle at home, and that Honor, whom he often refers to -as H., would be able to help him. Attempted private sittings of this -kind were referred to by Raymond through London mediums, and he gave -instruction as to procedure, as already reported (pp. 160 and 190). - -After a time some messages were received, and family communications -without any outside medium have gradually become easy. - -Records were at first carefully kept, but I do not report them, -because clearly it is difficult to regard anything thus got as -evidential. At the same time, the naturalness of the whole, and the -ready way in which family jokes were entered into and each new-comer -recognised and welcomed appropriately, were very striking. A few -incidents, moreover, were really of an evidential character, and -these must be reported in due course. - -But occasionally the table got rather rampageous and had to be -quieted down. Sometimes, indeed, both the table and things like -flower-pots got broken. After these more violent occasions, Raymond -volunteered the explanation, through mediums in London, that he -couldn't always control it, and that there was a certain amount of -skylarking, not on our side, which he tried to prevent (see pp. -182, 194 and 273); though in certain of the surprising mechanical -demonstrations, and, so to speak, tricks, which certainly seemed -beyond the normal power of anyone touching the table, he appeared to -be decidedly interested, and was represented as desirous of repeating -a few of the more remarkable ones for my edification. - -I do not, however, propose to report in this book concerning any -purely physical phenomena. They require a more thorough treatment. -Suffice it to say that the movements were not only intelligent, but -were sometimes, though very seldom, such as apparently could not be -accomplished by any normal application of muscular force, however -unconsciously such force might be exerted by anyone--it might only be -a single person--left in contact with the table. - -A family sitting with no medium present is quite different from one -held with a professional or indeed any outside medium. Information is -freely given about the doings of the family; and the general air is -that of a family conversation; because, of course, in fact, no one -but the family is present. - -At any kind of sitting the conversation is rather one-sided, but -whereas with a medium the sitter is reticent, and the communicator -is left to do nearly all the talking, in a family group the sitters -are sometimes voluble; while the ostensible control only occasionally -takes the trouble to spell out a sentence, most of his activity -consisting in affirmation and negation and rather effective dumb show. - -I am reluctant to print a specimen of these domestic chats, though it -seems necessary to give some account of them. - -On Christmas Day, 1915, the family had a long table sitting. It was a -friendly and jovial meeting, with plenty of old songs interspersed, -which he seemed thoroughly to enjoy and, as it were, 'conduct'; -but for publication I think it will be better to select something -shorter, and I find a description written by one to whom such things -were quite new except by report--a lady who had been governess in the -family for many years, when even the elder children were small, and -long before Raymond was born. This lady, Miss F. A. Wood, commonly -called 'Woodie' from old times, happened to be staying on a visit -to Mariemont in March 1916, and was present at two or three of the -family sittings. She was much interested in her first experience, -and wrote an account immediately afterwards, which, as realistically -giving the impression of a witness, I have obtained her permission to -copy here. - -At this date the room was usually considerably darkened for a -sitting; but even partial darkness was unnecessary, and was soon -afterwards dispensed with, especially as it interfered with easy -reading of music at the piano. - - -_Table Sitting in the Drawing-room at Mariemont, Thursday, 2 March -1916, about 6 p.m._ - -_Sitters_--LADY LODGE, NORAH, and WOODIE; later, HONOR - -_Report by Miss F. A. Wood_ - -As it was the first time that I had ever been at a sitting of any -kind, I shall put down the details as fully as I can remember them. - -The only light in the room was from the gas-fire, a large one, -so that we could see each other and things in the room fairly -distinctly; the table used at this time was a rather small octagonal -one, though weighty for its size, with strong centre stem, supported -on three short legs, top like a chess-board. Lady Lodge sat with -her back to window looking on to drive, Norah with back to windows -looking on to tennis-lawn, and I, Woodie, had my back to the sofa. - -As we were about to sit down, Lady Lodge said: "We always say a -little prayer first." - -I had hoped that she intended to pray aloud for us all, but she did -it silently, so I did the same, having been upstairs before and done -this also. - -For some time nothing whatever happened. I only felt that the table -was keeping my hands extremely cold. - -After about half an hour, Lady Lodge said: "I don't think that anyone -is coming to-night; we will wait just a little longer, and then go." - -LADY LODGE.--Is anyone here to-night to speak to us? Do come if you -can, because we want to show Woodie what a sitting is like. Raymond, -dear, do you think you could come to us? - - (No answer.) - - During the half-hour before Lady Lodge asked any questions I had felt -every now and then a curious tingling in my hands and fingers, and -then a much stronger drawing sort of feeling through my hands and -arms, which caused the table to have a strange intermittent trembling -sort of feeling, though it was not a movement of the _whole_ table. -Another 'feeling' was as if a 'bubble' of the table came up, and -tapped gently on the palm of my left hand. At first I only felt it -once; after a short interval three times; then a little later about -twelve times. And once (I shall not be able to explain this) I felt -rather than heard a faint tap in the centre of the table (away from -people's hands). - -Nearly every time I felt these queer movements Lady Lodge asked, "Did -you move, Woodie?" I had certainly not done so consciously, and said -so, and while I was feeling that 'drawing' feeling through hands and -arms, I said nothing myself, till Lady Lodge and Norah both said, -"What _is_ the table doing? It has never done like this before." Then -I told of my strange feelings in hands and arms, etc. Lady Lodge said -it must be due to nerves, or muscles, or something of the sort. These -strange feelings did not last long at a time, and generally, but not -always, they came after Lady Lodge had asked questions (to some one -on the other side). - -After a bit, when the 'feelings' had gone from me at least, Lady -Lodge suggested Norah's going for Honor, who came, but said on first -sitting down that the table felt dead, and she did not think that -anyone was there. - -LADY L.--Is anyone coming? We should be so pleased if anyone could; -we have been sitting here some time very patiently. - -Nothing happened for a bit, and Lady Lodge said, "I don't think it is -any good." - -But I said, "Oh, do wait a little longer, that tingling feeling is -coming back again." - -And Honor said, "Yes, I think there is something." - -And then the table began to move, and Lady Lodge asked:-- - -LADY L.--Raymond, darling, is that you? - - (The table rocked three times.) - -LADY L.--That is good of you, because Woodie did so want you to come. - - (The table rocked to and fro with a pleased motion, most - difficult to express on paper.) - -WOODIE.--Do you think that I have any power? - - NO. - - [Personally, I do not feel so sure of this. After - the sitting and during it, I felt there might be a - possibility.--Woodie.] - -LADY L.--Lorna has gone to nurse the soldiers, night duty. They are -typhoid patients, and I do not like it. Do you think it will do her -any harm? - - NO. - -LADY L.--Do you like her doing this? - - YES. - -LADY L.--You are rocking like a rocking-horse. Do you remember the -rocking-horse at Newcastle? - - YES. - -LADY L.--Can you give its name? (They went through the alphabet, and -it spelt out:--) - - PRINCE. - - [It used to be called Archer Prince.] - - (Soon after this the table began to show signs of - restlessness, and Honor said: "I expect he wants to send a - message." So Lady Lodge said:--) - -LADY L.--Do you want to send a message? - - YES. - -HONOR.--Well, we're all ready; start away. - - YOURLOVETOMYRTYPEKILL. - -HONOR.--Raymond, that is wrong, isn't it? Was "Your love to my" right? - - YES. - -HONOR.--Very well, we will start from there. - - (The message then ran:-- - - YOUR LOVE TO MY LITTLE SISTER. - -Before the whole of 'sister' was made out, he showed great delight; -and when the message was repeated to him in full to see if it was -right, he was so pleased, and showed it so vigorously, that _he_, and -we, all laughed together. - -I could never have believed how real the feeling would be of his -presence amongst us.) - -LADY L.--Do you mean Lily? - - YES. - -LADY L.--Is she here? - - YES. - -LADY L.--Are you here in the room? - - YES. - -LADY L.--Can Lily see us? - - NO. - -LADY L.--Lily, darling, your mother does love you so dearly. I have -wanted to send you my love. I shall come to see you some time, and -then we shall be so happy, my dear, dear little girl. Thank you very -much for coming to help Raymond, and coming to the table sometimes, -till he can come himself. My love to you, darling, and to Brother -Bill, too. - - (Raymond seemed very pleased when Brother Bill was - mentioned.) - - (The table now seemed to wish to get into Lady Lodge's - lap, and made most caressing movements to and fro, and - seemed as if it could not get close enough to her. - - Soon we realised that he was wanting to go, so we asked - him if this was so, and he said:--) - - YES. - - (So we said 'good night' to him, and after giving two - rather slight movements, which I gather is what he - generally does just as he is going, we said 'good night' - once more, and came away.) - - (Signed) WOODIE - -One other family sitting, a still shorter one, may be quoted as a -specimen also; though out of place. A question asked was suggested by -something reported on page 230. It appears that Miss Wood was still -here, but that on this occasion she was not one of those that touched -the table. - -At this date the table generally used happened to be a chess-table -with centre pillar and three claw feet. After this table and another -one had got broken during the more exuberant period of these domestic -sittings, before the power had got under control, a stronger and -heavier round table with four legs was obtained, and employed only -for this purpose. - - -_Table Sitting in the Drawing-Room at Mariemont, 9 p.m., Monday, 17 -April 1916_ - -REPORT BY M. F. A. L. - -Music going on in the drawing-room at Mariemont. - -The girls (four of them) and Alec singing at the piano. Woodie and -Honor and I sitting at the other end of the room. Lionel in the large -chair. - -The Shakespeare Society was meeting in the house, and at that time -having coffee in the dining-room, so O. J. L. was not with us. - -Woodie thought Raymond was in the room and would like to hear the -singing, but Honor thought it too late to begin with the table, as we -should shortly be going into the dining-room. - -However, I got the table ready near the piano, and Honor came to it, -and the _instant_ she placed her hands on it, it began to rock. I put -my hands on too. - -We asked if it was Raymond, and if he had been waiting, and he said:-- - - YES. - -He seemed to wish to listen to the music, and kept time with it -gently. And after a song was over that he liked, he very distinctly -and decidedly applauded. - -Lionel came (I think at Raymond's request) and sat at the table with -us. It was determined to edge itself close to the piano, though we -said we must pull it back, and did so. But it would go there, and -thumped Barbie, who was playing the piano, in time to the music. Alec -took one of the black satin cushions and held it against her as a -buffer. The table continued to bang, and made a little hole in the -cushion. - -It then edged itself along the floor, where for a minute or two it -could make a sound on the boards beyond the carpet. Then it seemed to -be feeling about with one foot (it has three). - -It found a corner of the skirting board, where it could lodge one -foot about 6 inches from the ground. It then raised the other three -level with it, in the air; and this it did many times, seeming -delighted with its new trick. - -It then laid itself down on the ground, and we asked if we should -help it and lift it up, but it banged a - - NO - -on the floor, and raised itself a little several times without having -the strength to get up. It lifted itself quite a foot from the -ground, and was again asked if we might not lift it, but it again -banged once for - - NO. - -But Lionel then said:-- - -LIONEL.--Well, Pat, my hand is in a most uncomfortable position; -won't you let me put the table up? - - It at once banged three times for - - YES. - - So we raised it. - - I then said:-- - -M. F. A. L.--Raymond, I want to ask you a question as a test: What is -the name of the sphere on which you are living? - -[I did this, because others beside Raymond have said, through Mrs. -Leonard, that they were living on the third sphere, and that it -was called 'Summerland,' so I thought it might be an idea of the -medium's.[26] I don't much like these 'sphere' messages, and don't -know whether they mean anything; but I assume that 'sphere' may mean -condition, or state of development.] - -We took the alphabet, and the answer came at once:-- - - SUMMERRLODGE. - -We asked, after the second R, if there was not some mistake; and -again when O came, instead of the A we had expected for 'Summerland.' - -But he said No. - -So we went on, though I thought it was hopelessly wrong, and ceased -to follow. I felt sure it was mere muddle. - -So my surprise was the greater when the note-taker read out, 'Summer -R. Lodge,' and I found he had signed his name to it, to show, I -suppose, that it was his own statement, and not Feda's. - -[Lorna reports that the impression made upon them was that Raymond -knew they had been expecting one ending, and that he was amused -at having succeeded in giving them another. They enjoyed the joke -together, and the table shook as if laughing.] - -We talked to him a little after this, and Alec and Noël put their -hands on the table, and we said good night. - -It is only necessary to add that the mechanical movements here -described are _not_ among those which, on page 218, I referred to -as physically unable to be done by muscular effort on the part of -anyone whose hands are only on the table top. I am not in this book -describing any cases of that sort. Whatever was the cause of the -above mechanical trick movements, which were repeated on a subsequent -occasion for my observation, the circumstances were not strictly -evidential. I ought to say, however, that most certainly I am sure -that no _conscious_ effort was employed by anyone present. - -[Illustration: MARIEMONT] - -[Illustration: RAYMOND AND BRODIE WITH THE PIGEONS AT MARIEMONT] - - -WARNING - -It may be well to give a word of warning to those who find that they -possess any unusual power in the psychic direction, and to counsel -regulated moderation in its use. Every power can be abused, and even -the simple faculty of automatic writing can with the best intentions -be misapplied. Self-control is more important than any other form of -control, and whoever possesses the power of receiving communications -in any form should see to it that he remains master of the situation. -To give up your own judgement and depend solely on adventitious -aid is a grave blunder, and may in the long run have disastrous -consequences. Moderation and common sense are required in those who -try to utilise powers which neither they nor any fully understand, -and a dominating occupation in mundane affairs is a wholesome -safeguard. - - [Footnote 26: The statement will be found on page 230, in - the record of a sitting preceding this in date.] - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -A FEW MORE RECORDS, WITH SOME UNVERIFIABLE MATTER - - -After Christmas I had proposed to drop the historical order and make -selections as convenient, but I find that sequence must to some -extent be maintained, because of the inter-locking of sittings with -different mediums and development generally. I shall, however, only -preserve historical order so far as it turns out useful or relevant, -and will content myself with reporting that on 3 January 1916 -Raymond's eldest sister, Violet (the one married to the 'Rowland' -that he mentioned through Feda), had a good sitting with him, and -was not only recognised easily, but knowledge was shown of much that -she had been doing, and of what she was immediately planning to do. -Reference was also made by Raymond to what he called his special room -in her house (p. 45); and, later, he said that that room was bare of -furniture, which it was. - -And at some of the sittings now, deceased friends, not relatives, -were brought by Raymond, and gave notable evidence both to us and -to other people; especially to parents in some cases, to widows in -others; some of which may perhaps be partially reported hereafter. - -I propose now to pass on to some unverifiable matter (see Chapters -XII and XVI), and especially to a strange and striking sitting which -Lady Lodge had with Mrs. Leonard on 4 February 1916. - -This may as well be reported almost in full, in spite of unimportant -and introductory portions, since it seems fairer to give the context, -especially of unverifiable matter. But I feel bound to say that -there is divergence of opinion as to whether this particular record -ought to be published or not. I can only say that I recognise the -responsibility, and hope that I am right in partially accepting it. - - -_Non-Evidential Sitting of M. F. A. L. with Mrs. Leonard at her House -on Friday, 4 February 1916, from 8.30 p.m. to 11.10 p.m._ - -(M. F. A. L. alone.) - - Feda.--Oh, it's Miss Olive! - -M. F. A. L.--So glad to meet you, Feda! - - Feda love you and Soliver best of all. SLionel and SAlec - too she love very much. - - Yaymond is here. He has been all over the place with - Paulie, to all sorts of places to the mediums, to try and - get poor boys into touch with their mothers. Some are very - jealous of those who succeed. They try to get to their - mothers, and they can't--they are shut out. They make me - feel as though I could cry to see them. We explain that - their mothers and fathers don't know about communicating. - They say, why don't they all go to mediums? - - Yaymond say, it makes me wonder too. - - He say, he was telling Feda, it was awful funny the things - some of them did--it has a funny side, going to see the - mediums. You see, Paul and he couldn't help having a joke; - they are boys themselves, laughing over funny things. - - He says he was listening to Paul, and he was describing - the drawing-room at home. (A good description was now - given of the drawing-room at Mariemont, which the medium - had never seen.) - - Feda sees flowers; they're Feda's, not Gladys's. - - [M. F. A. L. had brought flowers for Mrs. Leonard.] - -M. F. A. L.--Don't you have flowers, then? - - Yes, lots of flowers. But Feda like to have them in - Gladys's room. [Apparently this must be Mrs. Leonard's - name.] - - There's a lot in prayer. Prayer keeps out evil things, - and keeps nice clean conditions. Raymond says, keeps out - devils. - - Mother, I don't want to talk about material things, but - to satisfy anxiety. I was very uneasy on Monday night. I - tried to come near, but there was a band round me. We were - all there. - -M. F. A. L.--The Zeppelins did come on Monday night, but they did not -touch us. [We went to bed and didn't worry about them.] - - He says, they worked in a circular way, east and south of - you. Awful! He hoped it wouldn't upset you; he didn't want - them to come too close. I know you're not nervous, but I - fear for you. If he'd been on the earth plane, he'd have - been flying home. He says _New Street_ was the mark. - - Some one called 'M.' sent you a message through Mrs. F. - (?), and wanted her dearest love given. She's had to be - away rather from the earth plane for some time, but he - actually has seen M. several times. Conditions of war - have brought her back. She had progressed a good way. She - wondered if you realised it was not her will to leave you - so long, but progression. She belongs to a higher plane. - - M. knew something about this before she passed on, though - perhaps it makes it easier to be always communicating. - -[Some friends will know for whom this is intended--a great friend of -our and many other children. She had had one sitting with Mrs. Piper -at Mariemont, not a good one.--O. J. L.] - -Her life on the earth plane made it easier for her to go on quickly -after she passed out. - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--What you say?) - - M. says, it will be a test, that she was with his father - at a medium's, where she saw a control named Alice Anne, - a little girl control; she didn't speak to Soliver, but - was with him at the medium's. "The old Scotch girl" what - Paulie calls her; old Scotch lady--same thing. - -[This is correct about a sitting with Miss McCreadie, when this 'M.' -had unmistakably sent messages through Miss McC.'s usual control.-- -O. J. L.] - - - (_Added later_.) - - Some friends will be interested in this lady,--a really - beautiful character, with initials M. N. W.,--so I record - something that came through from Feda on a much later - occasion--in July 1916:-- - - Raymond's got rather a young lady with him. Not the sister - who passed away a little baby. But she's young--she looks - twenty-four or twenty-five. She's rather slender, rather - pretty. Brown hair, oval face. Not awful handsome, but - got a nice expression. She's very nice, and comes from a - high sphere. She's able to come close to-night, but can't - always come. Name begins with an M. And she says, "Don't - think that because she didn't come, she didn't want to - come. She had to keep away for so long. It was necessary - for her to stay away from the earth for a while, because - she had work in high spheres for three years, and it's - difficult for her to come through. - - Good, good--something about the lady, lady--two people, - she says. Lady and good man. Feda ought to remember it--a - lady and good man. - - Between them Soliver and her, Soliver and Miss Olive, and - her. Lady and good man and M. She must have been very good - on the earth plane, she wasn't ordinary at all. Quite - unusual and very very good. You can tell that by what she - looks like now. - - She brings a lot of flowers--pansies, not quite pansies, - flower like a pansy, and not quite a pansy. Heartsease, - that's what it is. She brings lots of those to you. She - brought a lot of them when Raymond wented over there. But - not for very long, she didn't--they wasn't wanted very - long. - - -_M. F. A. L. Record of February 4--continued_ - - He said about some one, that she'd gone right on to a very - high sphere indeed, as near celestial as could possibly - be. His sister, he says--can't get her name. [He means - Lily, presumably.] He says William had gone on too, a good - way, but not too far to come to him. [His brother.] - - Those who are fond of you never go too far to come back to - you--sometimes - too far to communicate, never too far to meet you when - you pass over. - -M. F. A. L.--That's so comforting, darling. I don't want to hold you -back. - - You gravitate here to the ones you're fond of. Those - you're not fond of, if you meet them in the - - street, you don't bother yourself to say 'how-do-you-do.' - -M. F. A. L.--There are streets, then? - - Yes. He was pleased to see streets and houses. - - At one time, I thought it might be created by one's own - thoughts. You gravitate to a place you are fitted for. - Mother, there's no judge and jury, you just gravitate, - like to like. - - I've seen some boys pass on who had nasty ideas and vices. - They go to a place I'm very glad I didn't have to go to, - but it's not hell exactly. More like a reformatory--it's - a place where you're given a chance, and when you want to - look for something better, you're given a chance to have - it. They gravitate together, but get so bored. Learn to - help yourself, and immediately you'll be helped. Very like - your world; only no unfairness, no injustice--a common law - operating for each and every one. - -M. F. A. L.--Are all of the same rank and grade? - - Rank doesn't count as a virtue. High rank comes by being - virtuous. Those who have been virtuous have to pass - through lower rank to understand things. All go on to the - astral first, just for a little. - - He doesn't remember being on the astral himself. He thinks - where he is now, he's about third. Summerland--Homeland, - some call it. It is a very happy medium. The very highest - can come to visit you. It is just sufficiently near the - earth plane to be able to get to those on earth. He thinks - you have the best of it there, so far as he can see. - - Mother, I went to a gorgeous place the other day. - -M. F. A. L.--Where was it? - -Goodness knows! - - I was permitted, so that I might see what was going on in - the Highest Sphere. Generally the High Spirits come to us. - - I wonder if I can tell you what it looked like! - - [Until the case for survival is considered established, it is thought - improper and unwise to relate an experience of a kind which may be - imagined, in a book dealing for the most part with evidential matter. - So I have omitted the description here, and the brief reported - utterance which followed. I think it fair, however, to quote the - record so far as it refers to the youth's own feelings, because - otherwise the picture would be incomplete and one-sided, and he might - appear occupied only with comparatively frivolous concerns.] - - * * * * * - - I felt exalted, purified, lifted up. I was kneeling. I - couldn't stand up, I _wanted_ to kneel. - - * * * * * - - Mother, I thrilled from head to foot. He didn't come near - me, and I didn't feel I wanted to go near him. Didn't - feel I ought. The Voice was like a bell. I can't tell you - what he was dressed or robed in. All seemed a mixture of - shining colours. - - No good; can you imagine what I felt like when he put - those beautiful rays on to me? I don't know what I've - ever done that I should have been given that wonderful - experience. I never thought of such a thing being - possible, not at any rate for years, and years, and years. - No one could tell what I felt, I can't explain it. - - Will they understand it? - - I know father and you will, but I want the others to try. - I can't put it into words. - - I didn't walk, I had to be taken back to Summerland, I - don't know what happened to me. If you could faint with - delight! Weren't those beautiful words? - - I've asked if Christ will go and be seen by everybody; but - was told, "Not quite in the same sense as you saw Him." I - was told Christ was always in spirit on earth--a sort of - projection, something like those rays, something of him in - every one. - - People think he is _a_ Spirit, walking about in a - particular place. Christ is everywhere, not as a - personality. There _is_ a Christ, and He lives on the - higher plane, and that is the one I was permitted to see. - - There was more given me in that beautiful message; I can't - remember it all. He said the whole of it, nearly and word - for word, of what I've given you. You see from that I'm - given a mission to do, helping near the earth plane.... - - Shall I tell you why I'm so glad that is my work, given me - by the Highest Authority of all! - - First of all, I'm proud to do His work, no matter what it - is; but the great thing is, I can be near you and father. - -M. F. A. L.--If we can only be worthy! - - You are both doing it, every bit you can. - -M. F. A. L.--Well, I'm getting to love people more than I used to do. - - I have learnt over here, that every one is not for you. If - not in affinity, let them go, and be with those you _do_ - like. - - Mother, will they think I'm kind of puffing myself up - or humbugging? It's so wonderful, will they be able to - understand that it's just Raymond that's been through - this? No Sunday school. - - I treasured it up to give you to-night. I put it off - because I didn't know if I could give it in the right - words that would make them feel like I feel--or something - like. Isn't it a comfort? You and father think it well - over. I didn't ask for work to be near the earth plane! I - thought that things would be made right. But think of it - being given me, the work I should have prayed for! - -M. F. A. L.--Then you're nearer? - - Much nearer! I was bound to be drawn (?). So beautiful to - think, now I can _honestly_ stay near the earth plane. - Eventually, instead of going up by degrees, I shall take, - as Feda has been promised, a jump. And when you and father - come, you will be on one side, and father on the other. - We shall be a while in Summerland, just to get used to - conditions. He says very likely we shall be wanted to - keep an eye on the others. He means brothers and sisters. - I can't tell you how pleased I feel--'pleased' is a poor - word! - -M. F. A. L.--About what, my dear? - - About being very near the earth plane. - - I've pressed on, getting used to conditions here, and yet - when I went into the Presence I was overawed. - - How can people.... - - It made me wish, in the few seconds I was able to think - of anything, that I had led one of the purest lives - imaginable. If there's any little tiny thing I've ever - done, it would stand out like a mountain. I didn't have - much time to think, but I did feel in that few seconds.... - - I felt when I found myself back in Summerland that I was - _charged_ with something--some wonderful power. As if I - could stop rivers, move mountains; and so wonderfully glad. - - He says, don't bother yourself about trying to like people - you've got an antipathy for, it's waste of you. Keep love - for those who want it, don't throw it away on those who - don't; it's like giving things to over-fed people when - hungry chaps are standing by. - - Do you know that I can feel my ideas altering, somehow. - - I feel more naturally in tune with conditions very far - removed from the earth plane; yet I like to go round with - Paul, and have fun, and enjoy myself. - - After that wonderful experience, I asked some one if it - wasn't stupid to like to have fun and go with the others. - But they said that if you've got a work to do on the - earth plane, you're not to have all the black side, you - are allowed to have the lighter side too, sunshine and - shadow. One throws the other up, and makes you better able - to judge the value of each. There are places on my sphere - where they can listen to beautiful music when they choose. - Everybody, even here, doesn't care for music, so it's not - in my sphere compulsory. - - He likes music and singing, but wouldn't like to live in - the middle of it always, he can go and hear it if he wants - to, he is getting more fond of it than he was. - - Mr. Myers was very pleased. He says, you know it isn't - always the parsons, not always the parsons, that go - highest first. It isn't what you professed, it's what - you've done. If you have not believed definitely in life - after death, but have tried to do as much as you could, - and led a decent life, and have left alone things you - don't understand, that's all that's required of you. - Considering how simple it is, you'd think everybody would - have done it, but very few do. - - On our side, we expect a few years will make a great - difference in the conditions of people on the earth plane. - - In five years, ever so many more will be wanting to know - about the life to come, and how they shall live on the - earth plane so that they shall have a pretty good life - when they pass on. They'll do it, if only as a wise - precaution. But the more they know, the higher lines - people will be going on. - -M. F. A. L.--Did you see me reading the sitting to your father? - - I'm going to stop father from feeling tired. Chap with red - feather helping. Isn't it wonderful that I can be near you - and father? - - Some people ask me, are you pleased with where your body - lies? I tell them I don't care a bit, I've no curiosity - about my body now. It's like an old coat that I've done - with, and hope some one will dispose of it. I don't want - flowers on my body. Flowers in house, in Raymond's home. - -M. F. A. L.--Can he tell the kind of flowers I put for him on his -birthday? - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--Try and tell Feda.) - - Doesn't seem able to get it. - - Don't think he knew. I can't get it through. Don't think I - don't appreciate them. Sees some yellow and some white. - - He thinks it is some power he takes from the medium which - makes for him a certain amount of physical sight. He can't - see properly. - -M. F. A. L.--Can he tell me where I got the flowers from for his -birthday? - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--Flowers doesn't grow now. Winter - here!) - - Yes, they do. Thinks they came from home. - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--Try and tell me any little thing.) - - He means they came from his own garden. - -[Yes, they did. It was yellow jasmine, cut from the garden at -Mariemont.--M. F. A. L.] - - Paul's worried 'cos medium talk like book. Paul calls - Feda 'Imp.' Raymond sometimes calls Feda 'Illustrious - One.' I think Yaymond laughing! Always pretending Feda - very little, and that they've lost Feda, afraid of - walking on her, but Feda pinches them sometimes, pretend - they've trodden on Feda. But Feda just as tall as lots of - Englishes. - -M. F. A. L.--Isn't Feda tired now? - - No. - -M. F. A. L.--I think Raymond must be. - - Well, power is going. - -M. F. A. L.--Anyhow, I must go. Some one perhaps of your brothers -will come soon. - - I want no heralds or flourish of trumpets, let them come - and see if I can get through to them. - -M. F. A. L.--(I here said something about myself, I forget; I think -it was about being proud.) - - If I see any signs, I'll take you in hand at once; it - shall be nipped in the bud! - - Good night. - -M. F. A. L.--Do you sleep? - - Well, I doze. - -M. F. A. L.--Do you have rain? - - Well, you can go to a place where rain is. - -M. F. A. L.--Do you know that your father is having all the sittings -bound together in a book? - - It will be very interesting to see how I change as I go on. - - Good night. - -NOTE BY O. J. L. - -It must be remembered that all this, though reported in the first -person, really comes through Feda; and though her style and grammar -improve in the more serious portions, due allowance must be made for -this fact. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -TWO RATHER EVIDENTIAL SITTINGS BY O. J. L. ON 3 MARCH 1916 - - -On the morning of 3 March I had a sitting in Mrs. Kennedy's house -with a Mrs. Clegg, a fairly elderly dame whose peculiarity is that -she allows direct control by the communicator more readily than most -mediums do. - -Mrs. Kennedy has had Mrs. Clegg two or three times to her house, and -Paul has learnt how to control her pretty easily, and is able to make -very affectionate demonstrations and to talk through the organs of -the medium, though in rather a jerky and broken way. She accordingly -kindly arranged an anonymous sitting for me. - -The sitting began with sudden clairvoyance, which was unexpected. -It was a genuine though not a specially successful sitting, and -it is worth partially reporting because of the reference to it -which came afterwards through another medium, on the evening of -the same day; making a simple but exceptionally clear and natural -cross-correspondence:-- - - -_Anonymous Sitting of O. J. L. with Mrs. Clegg_ - -At 11.15 a.m. on Friday, 3 March 1916, I arrived at Mrs. Kennedy's, -went up and talked to her in the drawing-room till nearly 11.30, when -Mrs. Clegg arrived. - -She came into the room while I was seeing to the fire, spoke to Mrs. -Kennedy, and said, "Oh, is this the gentleman that I am to sit with?" -She was then given a seat in front of the fire, being asked to get -quiet after her omnibus journey. But she had hardly seated herself -before she said:-- - -"Oh, this room is so full of people; oh, some one so eager to come! -I hear some one say 'Sir Oliver Lodge.' Do you know anyone of that -name?" - -I said, yes, I know him. - -Mrs. Kennedy got up to darken the room slightly, and Mrs. Clegg -ejaculated:-- - -"Who is Raymond, Raymond, Raymond? He is standing close to me." - -She was evidently going off into a trance, so we moved her chair back -farther from the fire, and without more preparation she went off. - -For some time, however, nothing further happened, except contortions, -struggling to get speech, rubbings of the back as if in some pain or -discomfort there, and a certain amount of gasping for breath. - -Mrs. Kennedy came to try and help, and to give power. She knelt by -her side and soothed her. I sat and waited. - -Presently the utterance was distinguished as, "Help me, where's the -doctor?" - -After a time, with K. K.'s help, the control seemed to get a little -clearer, and the words, "So glad; father; love to mother; so glad," -frequently repeated in an indistinct and muffled tone of voice, were -heard, followed by, "Love to all of them." - -Nothing was put down at the time, for there seemed nothing to -record--it seemed only preliminary effort; and in so far as anything -was said, it consisted merely of simple messages of affection, -and indications of joy at being able to come through, and of -disappointment at not being able to do better. The medium, however, -went through a good deal of pantomime, embracing me, stroking my -arm, patting my knees, and sometimes stroking my head, sometimes -also throwing her arms round me and giving the impression of being -overjoyed, but unable to speak plainly. - -Then other dumb show was begun. He seemed to be thinking of the -things in his kit, or things which had been in his possession, and -trying to enumerate them. He indicated that his revolver had not -come back, and that in his diary the last page was not written up. I -promised to complete it. - -After a time, utterance being so difficult, I gave the medium a pad -and pencil, and asked for writing. The writing was large and sprawly, -single words: 'Captain' among them. - -While Raymond was speaking, and at intervals, the medium kept -flopping over to one side or the other, hanging on the arm of her -chair with head down, or else drooping forward, or with head thrown -back--assuming various limp and wounded attitudes. Though every now -and then she seemed to make an effort to hold herself up, and once or -twice crossed knees and sat up firm, with arms more or less folded. -But the greater part of the time she was flopping about. - -Presently Raymond said 'Good-bye,' and a Captain was supposed to -control. She now spoke in a vigorous martial voice, as if ordering -things, but saying nothing of any moment. - -Then he too went away, and 'Hope' appeared, who, I am told, is Mrs. -Clegg's normal control. Hope was able to talk reasonably well, and -what she said I recorded for what it might be worth, but I omit -the record, because though it contained references to people and -things outside the knowledge of the medium or Mrs. Kennedy, and was -therefore evidential as regards the genuineness and honesty of the -medium, it was not otherwise worth reporting, unless much else of -what was said on the same subjects by other mediums were reported too. - - * * * * * - -On the evening of this same 3rd of March--_i.e._ later in the same -day that I had sat with Mrs. Clegg--I went alone to Mrs. Leonard's -house and had rather a remarkable sitting, at which full knowledge -of the Clegg performance was shown. It is worthy therefore of some -careful attention. - -After reading this part, the above very abbreviated record of the -Clegg sitting, held some hours before in another house and other -conditions, should again be read. I wish to call attention to the -following 3rd of March sitting as one of the best; other members of -the family have probably had equally good ones, but my notes are -fuller. I hope it is fully understood that the mannerisms are Feda's -throughout. - - -_Sitting of O. J. L. with Mrs. Leonard at her House on Friday, 3 -March 1916, from 9.15 p.m. to 11.15 p.m._ - -(O. J. L. alone.) - -No preliminaries to report. Feda came through quickly, jerked in the -chair, and seemed very pleased to find me. - -(I asked if she had seen Raymond lately.) - - Oh yes, Raymond's here. - - He came to help Feda with the lady and gentleman--on - Monday, Feda thinks it was. Not quite sure when. But - there was a lady and gentleman, and he came to help; and - Feda said, "Go away, Raymond!" He said, "No, I've come to - stay." He wouldn't go away, and he did help them through - with their boy. - - [The reference here is to a sitting which a colleague of mine, - Professor and Mrs. Sonnenschein, had had, unknown to me, with Mrs. - Leonard. I learnt afterwards that the arrangements had been made - by them in a carefully anonymous manner, the correspondence being - conducted _via_ a friend in Darlington; so that they were only known - to Mrs. Leonard as "a lady and gentleman from Darlington." They - had reported to me that their son Christopher had sent good and - evidential messages, and that Raymond had turned up to help. It was - quite appropriate for Raymond to take an interest in them and bring - their son, since Christopher Sonnenschein had been an engineering - fellow-student with Raymond at Birmingham. But there was no earthly - reason, so far as Mrs. Leonard's knowledge was concerned, for him - to put in an appearance; and indeed Feda at first told him to 'Go - away,' until he explained that he had come to help. Hence the - mention of Raymond, under the circumstances, was evidential.] - - He's only been once to help beside this, and then he said, - Don't tell the lady he was helping. [See below.] - - He's been with Paulie to-day, to Paulie's mother's. He - says he's been at Paulie's house, but not with Mrs. - Kathie, with another lady, a medie, Feda thinks. She was - older than this one; a new one to him.[27] He wanted - to speak through her, but he found it was difficult. - Paul manages it all right, he says, but _he_ finds it - difficult. He says he started to get through, and then - he didn't feel like himself. It's awful strange when one - tries to control anybody. He wanted to very bad; he almost - had them. (_Sotto voce._--What you mean, Yaymond?) He says - he thought he almost had them. He means he nearly got - through. Oh, he says, he's not given it up; he's going to - try again. What worries him is that he doesn't feel like - himself. You know, father, I might be anybody. He says, Do - you believe that in that way, practice makes perfect? - -O. J. L.--Yes, I'm sure it gets easier with practice. - - Oh, then he'll practise dozens of times, if he thinks it - will be any good. - -O. J. L.--Did he like the old woman? - - Oh, yes; she's a very good sort. - -O. J. L.--Who was there sitting? - - [This question itself indicates, what was the fact, that I had so - far given no recognition to the statement that Raymond had been - trying to control a medium on the morning of that same day. I wanted - to take what came through, without any assistance.] - - He's not sure, because he didn't seem to get all properly - into the conditions; it was like being in a kind of mist, - in a fog. He felt he was getting hold of the lady, but he - didn't quite know where he was. He'd got something ready - to say, and he started to try and say it, and it seemed - as if he didn't know where he was. - - [Feda reports sometimes in the third person, sometimes in the first.] - - What does she flop about for, father? _I_ don't want to do - that; it bothered me rather, I didn't know if I was making - her ill or something. Paulie said she thought it was the - correct thing to do! But I wish she wouldn't. If she would - only keep quiet, and let me come calmly, it would be - much easier. Mrs. Kathie [Feda's name for Mrs. Katherine - Kennedy] tries to help all she can, but it makes such - a muddled condition. I might not be able to get a test - through, even when I controlled better; I should have to - get quite at home there, before I could give tests through - her. He and Paulie used to joke about the old lady, but - they don't now. Paul manages to control; he used to see - Paulie doing it. I will try again, he says, and I will try - again. It's worth trying a few times, then I can get my - bearings, and I feel that what I wanted to say beforehand - I will be able to get through. - - Feda has an idea that what he had saved up to say was only - just the usual messages. He had got them ready in his - head; he had learnt it up--just a few words. Paulie told - him he had better do that, and then (oh, you had better - not tell Mrs. Kathie this, for it isn't polite!)--and then - Paulie told him to spit it out. And that's what he tried - to do--just to say the few words that he had learnt up. - He just wanted to say how pleased he was to see you. He - wanted also to speak about his mother, and to bring in, if - he could, about having talked to you through Feda. Just - simple things like that. He had to think of simple things, - because Paulie had told him that it was no good trying to - think of anything in-tri-cate. - - [Feda always pronounces what she no doubt considers long words in a - careful and drawnout manner.] - - He didn't see clearly, but he felt. He had a good idea - that you were there, and that Mrs. Kathie was there, but - he wasn't sure; he was all muddled up. Poor Mrs. Kathie - was doing her best. He says, Don't change the conditions, - if you try it again. He never quite knows whether he is - going to have good conditions or not. He wanted to speak - about all this. That's all about that. - - [This is a completely accurate reference to what had happened with - Mrs. Clegg in the morning of the same day. Everything is properly - and accurately represented. It is the best thing about the sitting - perhaps, though there are many good things in it.] - - [The next incident concerns other people--and I usually omit - these--but I propose to include this one.] - -About the lady he tried to help--the one that he didn't want Feda to -tell who he was (p. 241). - -He was helping through a man who had got drowned. This lady had had -no belief nor nothing in spiritual things before. The guides brought -her to Feda, that she might speak with a dear friend of hers. I -helped him, he says, and got both of his initials through to her--E. -A. - -O. J. L.--Do I know these people? - - Yes, you write a lot to the lady. - - [I remembered afterwards that I had had some correspondence with a - lady who was told at a sitting, apparently by Raymond, that I knew a - Dr. A. She was and is a stranger, but for this curious introduction.] - -O. J. L.--Is A the surname? - - Yes, the spirit's, not the lady's. The lady doesn't know - that he [Raymond] is telling you this. And she doesn't - know that he helped her. He says, It's for your own use, - father. It's given her a new outlook on life. - -O. J. L.--I have no idea who she is. Can you get her name? - - Oh yes, she's a lady called Mrs. D. [Full name given - easily, but no doubt got from the sitter in ordinary - course.] And before, you see, she was living a worldly - life. She was interested in a way, but not much. She never - tried to come into it. When she came, she thought she - would have her fortune told. Raymond was waiting for her - to come, and brought up the right conditions at once. The - man was a nice man, he liked him, and he wanted to bring - her into it. The man was fond of her. Raymond has been - helping him a lot. He says, I can only help in a small - way, but if you could go round and see the people just - on the verge of learning something! I can't help them in - a big way, but still, it's something important even what - I can do. For every one I bring in like that lady, there - will be a dozen coming from that. - -O. J. L. (still remembering nothing about these people.)--Did the man -drown himself? - - Oh no, he wented down in a boat; they nearly all wented - down together. - - The lady wasn't expecting him--she nearly flopped over - when he came. - -O. J. L.--Was he related to the lady? - - No, but he had been the biggest thing in her life. He says - it seemed as though she must have felt something, to make - her write to you. - -O. J. L.--However did Raymond know that she had written to me? - - Feda doesn't know. (_Sotto voce._--Tell Feda, Yaymond.) - - Do you believe me, father, I really can't tell you how I - know some things. It's not through inquiry, but sometimes - I get it just like a Marconi apparatus receives a message - from somewhere, and doesn't know where it comes from at - first. Sometimes I try to find out things, and I can't. - - [I perceived gradually that this episode related to some one - named E. A. (unknown to me), about whom I had been told at a Feda - sitting on Friday, 28 January 1916, Raymond seeming to want me to - speak to E. A.'s father about him. And in a note to that sitting - it is explained how I received a letter shortly afterwards from a - stranger, a Mrs. D., who consulted me about informing Dr. A. of the - appearance of his son. The whole episode is an excellent one, but it - concerns other people, and if narrated at all must be narrated more - fully and in another place. Suffice it to say that the son had been - lost in tragic circumstances, and that the father is impressed by - the singular nature of the evidence that has now been given through - the lady--a special visit to Scotland having been made by her for - that express purpose. She had not known the father before, but she - found him and his house as described; and he admits the details as - surprisingly accurate.] - -Here is the extract from my sitting of 28 January 1916 relating to -this affair:-- - - -EXTRACT FROM O. J. L.'S SITTING WITH MRS. LEONARD, FRIDAY, 28 JANUARY -1916 - - He has met somebody called E., Raymond has. He doesn't - know who it is, but wonders if you do. - -O. J. L.--Is she an old lady? - - It's a man, he says. He was drownded. I have helped him - a bit, at least I tried, he says. He passed on before - Raymond did. - -O. J. L.--Did he drown himself? - - Raymond doesn't say that. His name was E. He was from - Scotland. You will know his father. - - Raymond says, I have got a motive in this, father; I don't - want to say too much, and I don't want to say too little. - You have met E.'s father, and you will meet him again; he - comes from Scotland. Raymond is not quite certain, but he - thinks he is in Scotland now. His father's name begins - with an A, so the other man is E. A. He was fighting his - ship. Raymond thinks they was all drownded. He's older - than Raymond. Raymond says he's a pretty dark chap. You - know his father best, I don't know whether you knew the - other chap at all. You have known his father for some - years, but you don't often get a chance of meeting. I have - got an idea that you will be hearing from him soon. Then - you will be able to unload this onto him. They are trying - to bring it about, that meeting with the father of E. - -O. J. L.--I could make a guess at the surname, but perhaps I had -better not. - - No, don't. You know I'm not always sure of my facts. I - know pretty well how things are, and I think I am pretty - safe in saying that it is Scotland. He gives D. also. - That's not a person, it's a place. Some place not far from - it, called D., he says. It's near, not the place, where he - lives. 'Flanked,' he calls it, 'flanked' on the other side - by L. They never knew how E. passed on really. They know - he was drowned, but not how it happened. - -On receiving this message I felt that the case was a genuine one, -and that I did know a Dr. A. precisely as described. And I also -gradually remembered that he had lost a son at sea, though I did not -know the son. But I felt that I must wait for further particulars -before broaching what might be an unpalatable subject to Dr. A. - - (_End of extract from 28 January 1916._) - -Ultimately I did receive further particulars as narrated above, and -so a month later I did go to call on the old Doctor, after the ice -had been broken by Mrs. D.,--who in some trepidation had made a -special journey for the purpose, and then nearly came away without -opening the subject,--and I verified the trance description of his -house which Mrs. D. had received and sent me. Indeed, all the facts -stated turned out to be true. - - * * * * * - -The sitting of 3 March, now being reported, and interrupted by this -quotation from a previous sitting, went on thus:-- - - He took his mother some red roses, and he wants you to - tell her. He took them to her from the spirit world, they - won't materialise, but I gathered some and took them to - her. This isn't a test, father. - -O. J. L.--No. Very well, you just want her to know. I will tell her. - - (A little talk omitted.) - -O. J. L.--Do you want to say anything about the other two people that -you helped--last Monday, I think it was? [The Sonnenscheins; still -only known to Mrs. Leonard as a lady and gentleman from Darlington.] - - No, there's nothing much to tell you about that, or about - them. But he brought a son to them. - - He stood on one side so as not to take any of the power. - He just came at first to show Feda it was all right, and - he just came in at the end to send his love. - -O. J. L.--Why did he help those particular people? - -[I knew why, but I thought proper to ask, since from the medium's -point of view there was no reason at all.] - - He says he had to. They have been worrying about whether - their son had suffered much pain before he passed on. - There seems to have been some uncertainty about as to - whether he had or not. His body wasn't recovered as soon - as it ought to have been. But he didn't suffer much. He - was numbed, and didn't as a matter of fact feel much. He - throwed up his arms, and rolled down a bank place. - -[Christopher Sonnenschein was killed by falling down a snow mountain, -and his body was not recovered for five days.] - -O. J. L.--Did you know these people before? - - Yes. He says, yes. But he won't tell Feda who they is. - -O. J. L.--Does he want to send them any message? - - He says nothing further has come out, except that he is - getting on very well, and that he was pleased. You might - tell them that he is happier now. Yes, he is, since he - seed them. - -[The sitting referred to here, as having been held by a lady and -gentleman last Monday, refers to my colleague and his wife and their -deceased son Christopher. Their identity had been completely masked -by the arrangements they had made, without my knowledge. The letters -making arrangements were sent round by Darlington to be posted, in -order to cover up tracks and remove all chance of a discoverable -connexion with me. (See p. 240.) Hence it is interesting that Raymond -turned up to help, for in their normal life the two youths had known -each other.] - - He has been trying to help you since he saw you here last - time. He thought that you knew that he was. He did try - hard. He says, I helped you in such a funny way. I got - near you and felt such a desire to help you and prevent - you from getting tired. He was concentrating on the - back of your head, and sort of saying to himself, and - impressing the thought towards you: "It's coming easy, you - shan't get tired, the brain is going to be very receptive, - everything is going to flow through it easily in order." I - feel myself saying it all the time, and I get so close I - nearly lean on you. To my great delight, I saw you sit up - once, and you said: "Ah, that's good." It was some little - time back. - -O. J. L.--I speak to your photograph sometimes. - - Yes. I can speak to you without a photograph! I am often - with you, very often. - - He's taking Feda into a room with a desk in it; too big - for a desk, it must be a table. A sort of a desk, a pretty - big one. A chair is in front of it, not a chair like that, - a high up chair, more wooden, not woolly stuff; and the - light is falling on to the desk; and you are sitting there - with a pen or pencil in your hand; you aren't writing - much, but you are looking through writing, and making - bits of writing on it; you are not doing all the writing - yourself, but only bits on it. Raymond is standing at the - back of you; he isn't looking at what you are doing. [The - description is correct.] - - He thought you were tired out last time you came here. He - knows you are sometimes. He's been wanting to say to you, - "Leave some of it." - -O. J. L.--But there's so much to be done. - - Yes, he knows it isn't easy to leave it. But it would be - better in the end if you can leave a bit, father. You are - doing too much. - - You know that I am longing and dying for the day when you - come over to me. It will be a splendid day for me. But I - mustn't be selfish. I have got to work to keep you away - from us, and that's not easy for me. - - He says that lots over here talk, and say that you will - be doing the most wonderful work of your life through the - war. People are ready to listen now. They had too many - things before to let them think about them; but now it's - the great thing to think about the after-life. - - I want you to know that when first I came over here, I - thought it a bit unfair that such a lot of fellows were - coming over in the prime of life, coming over here. But - now he sees that for every one that came over, dozens of - people open their eyes, and want to know where he has - gone to. Directly they want to know, they begin to learn - something. Some of them never stopped to think seriously - before. "He must be somewhere," they say, "he was so full - of life; can we find out?" Then I see that through this, - people are going to find out, and find out not only for - themselves, but will pass it on to many others, and so it - will grow. - - He wants to tell you that Mr. Myers says that in ten years - from now the world will be a different place. He says that - about fifty per cent. of the civilised portion of the - globe will be either spiritualists, or coming into it. - -O. J. L.--Fifteen per cent.? - - Fifty, he said. - - Raymond says, I am no judge of that, but he isn't the only - one that thinks it. He says, I've got a kind of theory, - in a crude sort of way, that man has made the earth - plane into such a hotbed of materialism and selfishness, - that man again has to atone by sacrifices of mankind - in the prime of their physical life. So that by that - prime self-effacement, they will bring more spiritual - conditions on to the earth, which will crush the spirit of - materialism. He says that isn't how I meant to put it, but - I've forgotten how I meant to say it. - -O. J. L.--Well now, Raymond, Mr. Myers sent me a message to say that -you had got some tests ready to get through, and that I was to give -you an opportunity of giving them. - - Oh yes, he says. But I can't get anything through about - the Argonauts: that seems worst of anything. - - He's showing Feda a thing that looks like a canvas house. - Yes, it must be a canvas house. And it looks to Feda as - though it's on a place that seems to be open--a wide - place. Yes, no, there's not much green showing where Feda - can see. There's a kind of a door in it, like that. (Feda - made some sign I didn't catch.) The canvas is sort of - grey, quite a light colour, but not quite white. Oh yes, - Feda feels the sound of water not far from it--ripple, - ripple. Feda sees a boy--not Raymond--half lying, half - sitting at the door of the tent place, and he hasn't got - a proper coat on; he's got a shirt thing on here, and - he's like spreaded out. It's a browny-coloured earth, not - nice green, but sandy-coloured ground. As Feda looks at - the land, the ground rises sharp at the back. Must have - been made to rise, it sticks up in the air. He's showing - it as though it should be in some photograph or picture. - Feda got wondering about it, what it was for. It's a - funny-shaped tent, not round, sort of lop-sided. The door - isn't a proper door, it flops. You ought to be able to see - a picture of this. [See photographs opposite.] - -O. J. L.--Has it got to do with the Argonauts? - - No. - -O. J. L.--Oh, it's not Coniston then? - - No. - -O. J. L.--Is it by the sea? - - Near the water, he says; he doesn't say the sea. No, he - won't say that; he says, near water. It looks hot there. - -O. J. L.--Will the boys know? - - You will know soon about it, he says. - - Feda gets a feeling that there are two or three moving - about inside that tent. - - O. J. L.--Is it all one chamber in the tent? - - He didn't say that. He was going to say, no, and then he - stopped to think. No, I don't think it was, it was divided - off. - -[Illustration: LARGE DOUBLE-COMPARTMENT TENT IN ITS FIRST FORM (1905) -(BUILT AT MARIEMONT AND TAKEN TO WOOLACOMBE)] - -[Illustration: THE TENT IN ITS SECOND FORM (1906) MADE OUT OF THE -REMAINS OF THE FIRST] - -[See photographs of two forms of this tent.] - - Now he is showing something right on top of that. Now he - is showing Feda a yacht, a boat with white sails. Now he - is going back to the tent again. The raised up land is at - the back of the tent, well set back. It doesn't give an - even sticking up, but it goes right along, with bits up - and bits lower down. - -[The description could not be completely taken down, but it gave the -impression of a raised bank of varying height, behind an open space, -and a tent in front of it. It quite suggested that sort of picture.] - -[See photograph facing p. 252.] - - Maps, what's that? Maps, maps, he says. He's saying - something about maps. This is something that the boys - will know. Poring, he says. Not pouring anything out, but - poring over maps. Ask the boys. [See note after further - reference to maps later in the sitting.] - -O. J. L.--What about that yacht with sails; did it run on the water? - - No. (Feda, _sotto voce_.--Oh, Raymond, don't be silly!) He - says, no. (Feda.--It must have done!) He's showing Feda - like a thing on land, yes, a land thing. It's standing up, - like edgeways. A narrow thing. No it isn't water, but it - has got nice white sails. - -O. J. L.--Did it go along? - - He says it DIDN'T! He's laughing! When he said 'didn't' - he shouted it. Feda should have said, 'He laid peculiar - emphasis on it.' This is for the boys. - -O. J. L.--Had they got to do with that thing? - - Yes, they will know, they will understand. Yes, he keeps - on showing like a boat--a yacht, he calls it, a yacht. - -[See note below and photographs.] - - Now he is showing Feda some figures. Something flat, like - a wall. Rods and things, long rods. Some have got little - round things shaking on them, like that. And he's got - strings, some have got strings. 'Strings' isn't the right - word, but it will do. Smooth, strong, string-like. In the - corner, where it's a little bit dark, some one is standing - up and leaning against something, and a piece of stuff is - flapping round them. - - Now he is saying again something about maps. He's going - to the maps again. It isn't a little map, but it's one - you can unfold and fold up small. And they used to go - with their fingers along it, like that--not he only, but - the boys. And it wasn't at home, but when they were going - somewhere--some distance from home. And Feda gets the - impression as though they must be looking at the map when - it was moving. They seem to be moving smoothly along, like - in one of those horrible trains. Feda has never been in a - train. - -[The mention of folded-up maps cannot be considered important, but it -is appropriate, because many of the boys' common reminiscences group -round long motor drives in Devonshire and Cornwall, when they must -frequently have been consulting the kind of map described.] - -[_Note by O. J. L. on Tent and Boat._--All this about the tent and -boat is excellent, though not outside my knowledge. The description -of the scenery showed plainly that it was Woolacombe sands that -was meant--whither the family had gone in the summer for several -years--a wide open stretch of sand, with ground rising at the back, -as described, and with tents along under the bank, one of which--a -big one--had been made by the boys. It was on wheels, it had two -chambers with a double door, and was used for bathing by both the -boys and girls. Quite a large affair, oblong in shape, like a small -cottage. One night a gale carried it up to the top of the sand-hills -and wrecked it. We saw it from the windows in the morning. - -[Illustration: FIRST EDITION OF THE SAND-BOAT (1906) AT WOOLACOMBE WITH -ALEC ON BOARD] - -[Illustration: RISING GROUND BEHIND OLDER TENTS ON WOOLACOMBE BEACH] - -The boys pulled it to pieces, and made a smaller tent of the remains, -this time with only one chamber, and its shape was now a bit -lop-sided. I felt in listening to the description that there was some -hesitation in Raymond's mind as to whether he was speaking of the -first or the second stage of this tent. - -As for the sand-boat, it was a thing they likewise made at Mariemont, -and carted down to Woolacombe. A kind of long narrow platform or -plank on wheels, with a rudder and sails. At first, when it had small -sails, it only went with a light passenger and a strong wind behind. -But in a second season they were more ambitious, and made bigger -sails to it, and that season I believe it went along the sands very -fast occasionally; but it still wouldn't sail at right angles to the -wind as they wanted. They finally smashed the mast by sailing in a -gale with three passengers. There had been ingenuity in making it, -and Raymond had been particularly active over it, as he was over all -constructions. On the whole it was regarded as a failure, the wheels -were too small; and Raymond's 'DIDN'T' is quite accepted. - -References to these things were evidently some of the tests (p. 249) -which he had got together for transmission to me. [See photographs.] - -The rod and rings and strings, mentioned after the 'boat,' I don't -at present understand. So far as I have ascertained, the boys don't -understand, either, at present.] - - * * * * * - -I don't know whether I have got anything more that I can really call -a test. You will have to take, he says (he's laughing now)--take the -information about the old lady as a test. - -O. J. L.--You mean what he began with? [_i.e._ about Mrs. Clegg.] - - Yes. - -O. J. L.--Well, it's a very good one. - - He's been trying to find somebody whose name begins with - K. But it isn't Mrs. Kathie, it's a gentleman. He's been - trying to find him. - -O. J. L.--What for? - - He thought his mother would be interested. There's - something funny about this. One is in the spirit world, - but one they believe is still on the earth plane. He - hasn't come over yet. [One of the two referred to - is certainly dead; the other may possibly, but very - improbably, be a prisoner.] There's a good deal of mystery - about this, but I'm sure he isn't actually come over yet. - Some people think that because we are here, we have only - to go anywhere we choose, and find out anything we like. - But that's Tommy-rot. They are limited, but they send - messages to each other, and what he sincerely believes is, - that that man has not passed on. - -O. J. L.--Mother thinks he has, and so do his people. - - Yes, yes. I don't know whether it would be advisable to - tell them anything, but I have a feeling that he isn't - here. I have been looking for him everywhere. - - He keeps on building up a J. He doesn't answer when Feda - asks what that is. He says there will be a few surprises - for people later on. - -O. J. L.--Well, I take it that he wants me to understand that J. K. -is on our side? - - Yes, he keeps nodding his head. Yes, in the body. Mind, - he says, I've got a feeling--I can only call it a - feeling--that he has been hurt, practically unconscious. - Anyway, time will prove if I am right. - -O. J. L.--I hope he will continue to live, and come back. - - I hope so too. Except for the possible doubt about it, - I would say tell them at once. But after all they are - happier in thinking that he has gone over, than that he's - in some place undergoing terrible privations. - - Now he's saying something carefully to Feda. He says they - should not go by finding a stick. He wants you to put - that down--they ought not to go by finding a stick. - -O. J. L.--Oh, they found a stick, did they? - - Yes, that's how, yes. - -[I clearly understood that this statement referred to a certain -Colonel, about whom there was uncertainty for months. But a funeral -service has now been held--an impressive one, which M. F. A. L. -attended. On inquiry from her, I find (what I didn't know at the time -of the sitting) that the evidence of his death is a riding-whip, -which they found in the hands of an unrecognisable corpse. From -some initials on this riding-whip, they thought it belonged to him; -and on this evidence have concluded him dead. So far as I know, -they entertain no doubt about it. At any rate, we have heard none -expressed, either publicly or privately. Hence, the information now -given may possibly turn out of interest, though there is always -the possibility that, if he is a prisoner in Germany, he may not -survive the treatment. He was leading an attack on the Hohenzollern -Redoubt when he fell; he was seen to fall, wounded; there was great -slaughter, and when at night his man returned to try and find him, he -could not be found. This is my recollection of the details, but of -course they can be more accurately given. At what period the whip was -found, I don't know, but can ascertain.] (See also p. 266.) - -[No further news yet--September 1916. But I must confess that I think -the information extremely unlikely.--O. J. L.] - -O. J. L.--Does he remember William, our gardener? - - Yes. - - Feda doesn't know what he means, but he says something - about coming over. (Feda, _sotto voce_.--Tell Feda what - you mean.) - - - He doesn't give it very clearly. Feda gets an idea that he - means coming over there. Yes, he does mean into the spirit - world. Feda asks him, did he mean soon; but he shakes his - head. - -O. J. L.--Does he mean that he has come already? - - He doesn't get that very clearly. He keeps saying, coming - over, coming over, and when Feda asked 'Soon?' he shook - his head, as if getting cross. - -O. J. L.--If he sees him, perhaps he will help him. - - Of course he will. He hasn't seen him yet. No, he hasn't - seen him. - - [I may here record that William, the gardener, died within a week - before the sitting, and that Raymond here clearly indicates a - knowledge, either of his death or of its imminence.] - - It's difficult when people approach you, and say they knew - your father or your mother; you don't quite know what to - say to them! - -O. J. L.--Yes, it must be a bother. Do you remember a bird in our -garden? - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--Yes, hopping about?) - -O. J. L.--No, Feda, a big bird. - - Of course, not sparrows, he says! Yes, he does. (Feda, - _sotto voce_.--Did he hop, Yaymond?) No, he says you - couldn't call it a hop. - -O. J. L.--Well, we will go on to something else now; I don't want to -bother him about birds. Ask him does he remember Mr. Jackson? - - Yes. Going away, going away, he says. He used to come to - the door. (Feda, _sotto voce_.--Do you know what he means? - Anyone can come to the door!) He used to see him every - day, he says, every day. (_Sotto voce_.--What did he do, - Yaymond?) - - He says, nothing. (I can't make out what he says.) He's - thinking. It's Feda's fault, he says. - -O. J. L.--Well, never mind. Report anything he says, whether it makes -sense or not. - - He says he fell down. He's sure of that. He hurt himself. - He builds up a letter T, and he shows a gate, a small - gate--looks like a foot-path; not one in the middle of a - town. Pain in hands and arms. - - -O. J. L.--Was he a friend of the family? - - No. No, he says, no. He gives Feda a feeling of tumbling, - again he gives a feeling as though--(Feda thinks Yaymond's - joking)--he laughed. He was well known among us, he says; - and yet, he says, not a friend of the family. Scarcely a - day passed without his name being mentioned. He's joking, - Feda feels sure. He's making fun of Feda. - -O. J. L.--No, tell me all he says. - - He says, put him on a pedestal. No, that they put him on a - pedestal. He was considered very wonderful. And he 'specs - that he wouldn't have appreciated it, if he had known; - but he didn't know, he says. Not sure if he ever will, he - says. It sounds nonsense, what he says. Feda has got an - impression that he's mixing him up with the bird, because - he said something about 'bird' in the middle of it--just - while he said something about Mr. Jackson, and then he - pulled himself up, and changed it again. Just before he - said 'pedestal' he said 'fine bird,' and then he stopped. - In trying to answer the one, he got both mixed up, Mr. - Jackson and the bird. - -O. J. L.--How absurd! Perhaps he's getting tired. - - He won't say he got this mixed up! But he did! Because - he said 'fine bird,' and then he started off about Mr. - Jackson. - -O. J. L.--What about the pedestal? - - On a pedestal, he said. - -O. J. L.--Would he like him put on a pedestal? - - No, he doesn't say nothing. - -[_Contemporary Note by O. J. L._--The episode of Mr. Jackson and the -bird is a good one. 'Mr. Jackson' is the comic name of our peacock. -Within the last week he has died, partly, I fear, by the severe -weather. But his legs have been rheumatic and troublesome for some -time; and in trying to walk he of late has tumbled down on them. He -was found dead in a yard on a cold morning with his neck broken. One -of the last people I saw before leaving home for this sitting was -a man whom Lady Lodge had sent to take the bird's body and have it -stuffed. She showed him a wooden pedestal on which she thought it -might be placed, and tail feathers were being sent with it. Hence, -the reference to the pedestal, if not telepathic from me, shows a -curious knowledge of what was going on. And the jocular withholding -from Feda of the real meaning of Mr. Jackson, and the appropriate -remarks made concerning him which puzzled Feda, were quite in -Raymond's vein of humour. - -Perhaps it was unfortunate that I had mentioned a bird first, but I -tried afterwards, by my manner and remarks, completely to dissociate -the name Jackson from what I had asked before about the bird; and -Raymond played up to it. - -It may be that he acquires some of these contemporary items of family -information through sittings which are held in Mariemont, where of -course all family gossip is told him freely, no outsider or medium -being present. But the death of Mr. Jackson, and the idea of having -him stuffed and put on a pedestal, were very recent, and I was -surprised that he had knowledge of them. I emphasise the episode as -exceptionally good.] - - He's trying to show Feda the side of a house; not a wall, - it has got glass. He's taking Feda round to it; it has got - glass stuff. Yes, and when you look in, it's like flowers - inside and green stuff. He used to go there a lot--be - there, he says. Red-coloured pots. - -O. J. L.--Is that anything to do with Mr. Jackson? - - He's shaking his head now. That's where mother got the - flowers from. Tell her, she will know. - -[Illustration: "GRANDFATHER W."] - -[Illustration: "MR. JACKSON" WITH M. F. A. L. AT MARIEMONT] - -[There is more than one greenhouse that might be referred to. M. F. -A. L. got the yellow jasmine, which she thinks is the flower referred -to, from the neighbourhood of one of them. And it is one on which the -peacock used commonly to roost; though whether the reference to it -followed on, or had any connexion with, the peacock is uncertain, and -seems to be denied.] - - Yes, he's not so clear now, Soliver. He _has_ enjoyed - himself. Sometimes he enjoys himself so much, he forgets - to do the good things he prepared. I could stay for hours - and hours, he says. But he's just as keen as you are in - getting tests through. I think I have got some. When I go - away, I pat myself on the back and think, That's something - for them to say, "Old Raymond does remember something." - What does aggravate him sometimes is that when he can't - get things through, people think it's because he has - forgotten. It isn't a case of forgetting. He doesn't - forget anything. - - Father, do you remember what I told mother about the place - I had been to, and whom I had been allowed to see? What - did they think of it? - -[See M. F. A. L. sitting with Mrs. Leonard, 4 February 1916, Chap. -XX.] - -O. J. L.--Well, the family thought that it wasn't like Raymond. - - Ah, that's what I was afraid of. That's the awful part of - it. - -O. J. L.--Well, I don't suppose they knew your serious side. - - Before he gave that to his mother, he hesitated, and - thought he wouldn't. And then he said, Never mind what - they think now, I must let mother and father know. Some - day they will know, and so, what does it matter? - - He knew that they might think it was something out of a - book, not me; but perhaps they didn't know that side of me - so well. - -O. J. L.--No. But among the things that came back, there was a -Bible with marked passages in it, and so I saw that you had thought -seriously about these things. [page 11.] - - Yes, he says. Yet there's something strange about it - somehow. We are afraid of showing that side; we keep it to - ourselves, and even hide it. - -O. J. L.--It must have been a great experience for you. - - I hadn't looked for it, I hadn't hoped for it, but it was - granted. - -O. J. L.--Do you think you could take some opportunity of speaking -about it through some other medium, not Feda? Because at present the -boys think that Feda invented it. - - Yes, that's what they do think. He says he will try very - hard. - -O. J. L.--Have you ever seen that Person otherwise than at that time? - - No, I have not seen Him, except as I told you; he says, - father, He doesn't come and mingle freely, here and there - and everywhere. I mean, not in that sense; but we are - always conscious, and we feel him. We are conscious of his - presence. But you know that people think that when they go - over, they will be with him hand in hand, but of course - they're wrong. - - He doesn't think he will say very much more about that - now, not until he's able to say it through some one else. - It may be that they will say it wrong, that it won't be - right; it may get twisted. Feda does that sometimes. - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--No, Feda doesn't!) Yes she does, and - that's why I say, go carefully. - -O. J. L.--Has he been through another medium to a friend of mine -lately? - -[This was intended to refer to a sitting which Mr. Hill was holding -with Peters about that date, and, as it turned out, on the same day.] - - He doesn't say much. No, he doesn't say nothing about it. - He hasn't got much power, and he's afraid that he might go - wrong. - - Good-bye, father, now. My love to you, my love to mother. - I am nearer to you than ever before, and I'm not so silly - about [not] showing it. Love to all of them. Lionel is a - dear old chap. My love to all. - -[Illustration: SECOND EDITION OF SAND-BOAT, AT MARIEMONT, BEFORE BEING -UNSHIPPED AND TAKEN TO WOOLACOMBE, 1907] - -[Illustration: RAYMOND WORKING AT THE SAND-BOAT IN THE BOYS' LABORATORY -AT MARIEMONT] - - Don't forget to tell mother about the roses I brought her. - There's nothing to understand about them; I just wanted - her to know that I brought her some flowers. - - Good night, father. I am always thinking of you. God bless - you all. - - Give Feda's love to SrAlec. - -O. J. L.--Yes, I will, Feda. We are all fond of you. - - Yes, Feda feels it, and it lifts Feda up, and helps her. - - * * * * * - -Mrs. Leonard speedily came-to, and seemed quite easy and well, -although the sitting had been a long one, and it was now nearly 11.30 -p.m. - - * * * * * - -[I repeat in conclusion that this was an excellent sitting, with a -good deal of evidential matter.--O. J. L.] - - [Footnote 27: This shows clear and independent knowledge - of the sitting which I had held with Mrs. Clegg that same - morning (see early parts of this chapter).] - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -MORE UNVERIFIABLE MATTER - - -On 24 March, we had some more unverifiable material through Mrs. -Leonard; it was much less striking than that given on 4 February, and -I am inclined myself to attribute a good deal of it to hypothetical -information received by Feda from other sitters: but it seems unfair -to suppress it. In accordance with my plan I propose to reproduce it -for what it is worth. - - -_Sitting with Mrs. Leonard at our Flat, Friday, 24 March 1916, from -5.45 p.m. to 8 p.m._ - -(_Present_--O. J. L. AND M. F. A. L.) - -REPORT BY O. J. L. - -(Mrs. Leonard arrived about 5.30 to tea, for a sitting with M. F. A. -L. I happened to be able to come too, in order to take notes. She -had just come away from another sitting, and had had some difficulty -in getting rid of her previous sitter in time, which rather bothered -her. The result was not specially conducive to lucidity, and the -sitting seemed only a moderately good one. - -When Feda arrived she seemed pleased, and said:--) - - Yes it is, yes, it's Soliver! - - How are you? Raymond's here! - -M. F. A. L.--Is he here already? - - Yes, of course he is! - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--What's he say?) He says he hasn't - come to play with Feda, or make jokes; he's come about - serious things. - - Do you remember, Miss Olive [Feda's name for Lady Lodge], - some time ago, about that beautiful experience what he - had? He's so glad that you and Soliver know about it, even - though the others can't take it in. Years hence he thinks - they may. He says, over there, they don't mind talking - about the real things, over there, 'cos they're the things - that count. - - He thinks the one that took it in mostly was Lionel. - Yes, it seemed to sink in mostly; he was turning it over - afterwards, though he didn't say much. He's more ready for - that than the others. He says he would never have believed - it when he was here, but he is. - - He hasn't been to that place again, not that same - place. But he's been to a place just below it. He's - been attending lectures, at what they call, "halls of - learning": you can prepare yourself for the higher spheres - while you are living in lower ones. He's on the third, but - he's told that even now he could go on to the fourth if he - chose; but he says he would rather be learning the laws - ap-per-taining to each sphere while he's still living on - the third, because it brings him closer--at least until - you two have come over. He will stay and learn, where he - is. He wouldn't like to go on there and then find it to be - difficult to get back. He will wait till we can go happily - and comfortably together! - - Would it interest you for him to tell you about one of - the places he's been to? It's so interesting to him, that - he might seem to exaggerate; but the experience is so - wonderful, it lives with him. - - He went into a place on the fifth sphere--a place he takes - to be made of alabaster. He's not sure that it really - was, but it looked like that. It looked like a kind of - a temple--a large one. There were crowds passing into - this place, and they looked very happy. And he thought, - "I wonder what I'm going to see here." When he got mixed - up with the crowd going into the temple, he felt a kind - of--(he's stopping to think). It's not irreverency what he - says, but he felt a kind of feeling as if he had had too - much champagne--it went to his head, he felt too buoyant, - as if carried a bit off the ground. - - That's 'cos he isn't quite attuned to the conditions of - that sphere. It's a most extraordinary feeling. He went - in, and he saw that though the building was white, there - were many different lights: looked like certain places - covered in red, and ... was blue, and the centre was - orange. These were not the crude colours that go by those - names, but a softened shade. And he looked to see what - they came from. Then he saw that a lot of the windows were - extremely large, and the panes in them had glass of these - colours. And he saw that some of the people would go and - stand in the pinky coloured light that came through the - red glass, and others would stand in the blue light, and - some would stand in the orange or yellow coloured light. - And he thought, "What are they doing that for?" Then - some one told him that the pinky coloured light was the - light of the love-colour; and the blue was the light of - actual spiritual healing; and the orange was the light of - intellect. And that, according to what people wanted, they - would go and stand under that light. And the guide told - him that it was more important than what people on earth - knew. And that, in years to come, there would be made a - study of the effect of different lights. - - The pinky people looked clever and developed in their - attitude and mentality generally; but they hadn't been - able to cultivate the love-interest much, their other - interests had overpowered that one. And the people who - went into the intellectual light looked softer and happy, - but not so clever looking. He says he felt more drawn to - the pink light himself, but some one said, "No, you have - felt a good deal of that," and he got out and went into - the other two, and he felt that he liked the blue light - best. And he thinks that perhaps you will read something - into that. I had the other conditions, but I wanted the - other so much. The blue seemed to call me more than the - others. After I had been in it some time, I felt that - nothing mattered much, except preparing for the spiritual - life. He says that the old Raymond seemed far away at the - time, as though he was looking back on some one else's - life--some one I hadn't much connexion with, and yet who - was linked on to me. And he felt, "What does anything - matter, if I can only attain this beautiful uplifting - feeling." I can't tell you what I felt like, but reading - it over afterwards, perhaps you will understand. Words - feel powerless to describe it. He won't try, he will just - tell you what happened after. - - We sat down--the seats were arranged something like pews - in a church--and as he looked towards the aisle, he saw - coming up it about seven figures. And he saw, from his - former experience, that they were evidently teachers come - down from the seventh sphere. He says, they went up to - the end part, and they stood on a little raised platform; - and then one of them came down each of the little aisles, - and put out their hands on those sitting in the pews. - And when one of the Guides put his hand on his head, he - felt a mixture of all three lights--as if he understood - everything, and as if everything that he had ever felt, - of anger or worry, all seemed nothing. And he felt as if - he could rise to any height, and as if he could raise - everybody round him. As if he had such a power in himself. - He's stopping to think over it again. - - They sat and listened, and the first part of the ceremony - was given in a lecture, in which one of the Guides was - telling them how to teach others on the lower spheres - and earth plane, to come more into the spiritual life, - while still on those lower planes. I think that all that - went before was to make it easy to understand. And he - didn't get only the words of the speaker, words didn't - seem to matter, he got the thought--whole sentences, - instead of one word at a time. And lessons were given on - concentration, and on the projection of uplifting and - helpful thoughts to those on the earth plane. And as he - sat there--he sat, they were not kneeling--he felt as if - something was going from him, through the other spheres on - to the earth, and was helping somebody, though he didn't - know who it was. He can't tell you how wonderful it was; - not once it happened, but several times. - - He's even been on to the sixth sphere too. The sixth - sphere was even more beautiful than the fifth, but at - present he didn't want to stay there. He would rather be - helping people where he is. - -O. J. L.--Does he see the troubles of people on the earth? - - Yes, he does sometimes. - - I do wish that we could alter people so that they were - not ashamed to talk about the things that matter. He can - see people preparing for the summer holidays, and yet - something may prevent them. But the journey that they have - got to go some time, that they don't prepare for at all. - -M. F. A. L.--How can you prepare for it? - - Yes, by speaking about it openly, and living your life so - as to make it easier for yourself and others. - -O. J. L.--Is Raymond still there? Has he got any more tests to give, -or anything to say, to the boys or anybody? - - Did they understand about the yacht? - -O. J. L.--Yes, they did. - - And about the tent? - -O. J. L.--Yes, they did. - - He's very pleased--it bucks him up when he gets things - through. - -O. J. L.--Have you learnt any more about [the Colonel[28]]? - - He's not on the spirit side. He feels sure he isn't. - Somebody told him that there was a body found, near the - place where he had been, and it was dressed in uniform - like he had had. But something had happened to it here - (pointing to her head). - -O. J. L.--Who was it told you? - - Some one on the other side; just a messenger, not one who - knew all about it. No, the messenger didn't seem to know - J. K. personally, but he had gathered the information - from the minds of people on the earth plane. And Feda - isn't quite sure, but thinks that there was something - missing from the body--missing from the body that they - took to be him, which would have identified him. - -O. J. L.--Do you mean the face? - - No, he doesn't mean the face. - - (M. F. A. L., here pointing to her chest, signified to me - that she knew that it was the identification disk that was - missing.) - -M. F. A. L.--Why was it missing? - - Because it wasn't he! In the first place, it couldn't be, - but if that had only been there, they would have known. He - can't say where he is at the present moment, but he heard - a few days ago that he is being kept somewhere, and as far - as he can make out, in Belgium. It's as though he had been - taken some distance. - - Raymond's not showing this--but Feda's shown in a sort - of flash a letter. First a B, and then an R. But the B - doesn't mean Belgium; it's either a B or an R, or both. It - just flashed up. It may mean the place where he is. But - Raymond doesn't know where he is, only he's quite sure - that he isn't on the spirit side. But he's afraid he's ill. - -O. J. L.--Have you anything more to say about E. A.? [See 3 -March record, p. 243.] - - No, no more. Raymond came to Feda to help the lady who - came. Feda started describing Raymond. And he said, no, - only come to help. And then he brought the one what was - drownded. He came to help also with another, but Feda - didn't tell that lady, 'cos she didn't know you. He - doesn't like Feda to tell. Feda couldn't understand why - he wanted to help, because she didn't know he knew that - gentleman. He helped E. A. to build up a picture of his - home. Perhaps she thinks it was Feda being so clever! - -O. J. L.--Yes, I know, she's been there to see it. [See p. -245.] - -Yes, and she found it what she said. He told - - her that she wouldn't be seeing his mother. She couldn't - see why she shouldn't see his mother; but she didn't. - [True.] Raymond hasn't got any good tests. He can't - manufacture them, and they are so hard to remember. - -O. J. L.--Is he still in his little house? - - Oh yes, he feels at home there. - -O. J. L.--He said it was made of bricks--I could make nothing of that. - - I knew you couldn't! It's difficult to explain. At-om-; - he say something about at-om-ic principle. They seem - to be able to draw (?) certain unstable atoms from the - atmosphere and crystallise them as they draw near certain - central attraction. That isn't quite what Feda thinks - of it. Feda has seen like something going round--a - wheel--something like electricity, some sparks dropping - off the edge of the wheel, and it goes crick, crick, - and becomes like hard; and then they falls like little - raindrops into the long thing under the wheel--Raymond - calls it the accumulator. I can't call them anything but - bricks. It's difficult to know what to call them. Wait - until you come over, and I'll show you round. And you will - say, "By Jove, so they are!" Things are quite real here. - Mind, I don't say things are as heavy as on the earth, - because they're not. And if he hit or kicked something - it wouldn't displace it so much as on the earth, because - we're lighter. I can't tell you exactly what it is; I'm - not very interested in making bricks, but I can see - plainly how it's apparently done. - - He says it appears to him too, that the spirit spheres - are built round the earth plane, and seem to revolve with - it. Only, naturally, the first sphere isn't revolving - at such a rate as the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and - seventh spheres. Greater circumference makes it seem to - revolve more rapidly. That seems to have an actual effect - on the atmospheric conditions prevailing in any one of the - spheres. Do you see what he's getting at? - -O. J. L.--Yes. He only means that the peripheral velocity is greater -for the bigger spheres, though the angular velocity is the same. - - Yes, that's just what he means. And it does affect the - different conditions, and that's why he felt a bit careful - when he was on a higher sphere, in hanging on to the - ground. - -[A good deal of this struck me as nonsense; as if Feda had picked it -up from some sitter. But I went on recording what was said.] - - Such a lot of people think it's a kind of thought-world, - where you think all sort of things--that it's all "think." - But when you come over you see that there's no thinking - about it; it's _there_, and it does impress you with - reality. He does wish you would come over. He will be - as proud as a cat with something tails--two tails, he - said. Proud as a cat with two tails showing you round the - places. He says, father will have a fine time, poking into - everything, and turning everything inside out. - - There's plenty flowers growing here, Miss Olive, you will - be glad to hear. But we don't cut them here. They doesn't - die and grow again; they seem to renew themselves. Just - like people, they are there all the time renewing their - spirit bodies. The higher the sphere he went to, the - lighter the bodies seemed to be--he means the fairer, - lighter in colour. He's got an idea that the reason why - people have drawn angels with long fair hair and very fair - complexion is that they have been inspired by somebody - from very high spheres. Feda's not fair; she's not brown, - but olive coloured; her hair is dark. All people that's - any good has black hair. - - Do you know that [a friend] won't be satisfied unless he - comes and has a talk through the table. Feda doesn't mind - now, 'cos she has had a talk. So she will go now and let - him talk through the table all right. - - Give Feda's love to all of them, specially to - SLionel--Feda likes him. - - * * * * * - -(Mrs. Leonard now came-to, and after about ten minutes she and M. F. -A. L. sat at a small octagonal table, which, in another five minutes, -began to tilt.) - -[But the subject now completely changed, and, if reported at all, -must be reported elsewhere.] - -I may say that several times, during a Feda sitting, some special -communicator has asked for a table sitting to follow, because he -considers it more definite and more private. And certainly some of -the evidence so got has been remarkable; as indeed it was on this -occasion. But the record concerns other people, distant friends of my -wife, some of whom take no interest in the subject whatever. - - [Footnote 28: See record on P. 254.] - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -A FEW ISOLATED INCIDENTS - - -There are a number of incidents which might be reported, some of them -of characteristic quality, and a few of them of the nature of good -tests. The first of these reported here is decidedly important. - - -I. SIMULTANEOUS SITTINGS IN LONDON AND EDGBASTON - -SPECIAL 'HONOLULU' TEST EPISODE - -Lionel and Norah, going through London on the way to Eastbourne, on -Friday, 26 May 1916, arranged to have a sitting with Mrs. Leonard -about noon. They held one from 11.55 to 1.30, and a portion of their -record is transcribed below. - -At noon it seems suddenly to have occurred to Alec in Birmingham to -try for a correspondence test; so he motored up from his office, -extracted some sisters from the Lady Mayoress's Depot, where they -were making surgical bandages, and took them to Mariemont for a -brief table sitting. It lasted about ten minutes, between 12.10 and -12.20 p.m. And the test which he then and there suggested was to ask -Raymond to get Feda in London to say the word "Honolulu." This task, -I am told, was vigorously accepted and acquiesced in. - - A record of this short sitting Alec wrote on a letter-card to me, -which I received at 7 p.m. the same evening at Mariemont: the first I -had heard of the experiment. The postmark is "1 p.m. 26 My 16," and -the card runs thus:-- - - "_Mariemont, Friday, 26 May, 12.29 p.m._ - - "Honor, Rosalynde, and Alec sitting in drawing-room at - table. Knowing Lionel and Norah having Feda sitting in - London simultaneously. Asked Raymond to give our love to - Norah and Lionel and to try and get Feda to say Honolulu. - Norah and Lionel know nothing of this, as it was arranged - by A. M. L. after 12 o'clock to-day. - - "(Signed) ALEC M. LODGE HONOR G. LODGE ROSALYNDE V. LODGE" - -It is endorsed on the back in pencil, "Posted at B'ham General P.O. -12.43 p.m."; and, in ink, "Received by me 7 p.m.--O. J. L. Opened and -read and filed at once." - -The sitters in London knew nothing of the contemporaneous attempt; -and nothing was told them, either then or later. Noticing nothing odd -in their sitting, which they had not considered a particularly good -one, they made no report till after both had returned from Eastbourne -a week later. - -The notes by that time had been written out, and were given me to -read to the family. As I read, I came on a passage near the end, and, -like the few others who were in the secret, was pleased to find that -the word "Honolulu" had been successfully got through. The subject of -music appeared to have been rather forced in by Raymond, in order to -get Feda to mention an otherwise disconnected and meaningless word; -the time when this was managed being, I _estimate_, about 1.0 or -1.15. But of course it was not noted as of any interest at the time. - -Here follow the London Notes. I will quote portions of the sitting -only, so as not to take up too much space:-- - - -_Sitting of Lionel and Norah with Mrs. Leonard in London, Friday, 26 -May 1916, beginning 11.55 a.m._ - -EXTRACTS FROM REPORT BY L. L. - -After referring to Raymond's married sister and her husband, Feda -suddenly ejaculated:-- - - How is Alec? - -L. L.--Oh, all right. - - He just wanted to know how he was, and send his love to - him. He does not always see who is at the table; he feels - some more than others.[29] - - He says you (to Norah) sat at the table and Lionel. - - He felt you (Norah) more than any one else at the table. - -[This is unlikely. He seems to be thinking that it is Honor.] - - Feda feels that if you started off very easily, you would - be able to see him. Develop a normal ... [clairvoyance - probably]. - - Raymond says, go slowly, develop just with time, go - slowly. Even the table helps a little. - - He can really get through now in his own words. When he is - there, he now knows what he has got through. - - The Indians have got through their hanky-panky. [We - thought that this meant playing with the table in a way - beyond his control.] - - He says that Lily is here. (Feda, _sotto voce_.--Where is - she?) - - She looks very beautiful, and has lilies; she will help - too, and give you power. - - Sit quietly once or twice a week, hold your hands, the - right over the left, so, for ten minutes, then sit - quiet--only patience. He could wait till doomsday. - - He says, Wait and see; he is laughing! - - He has seen Curly (p. 203). - -L. L.--Is Curly there now? - - No, see her when we wants to. That's the one that wriggles - and goes ... (here Feda made a sound like a dog panting, - with her tongue out--quite a good imitation). - - Raymond has met another boy like Paul, a boy called Ralph. - He likes him. There is what you call a set. People meet - there who are interested in the same things. Ralph is a - very decent sort of chap.[30] - - (To Norah).--You could play. - -N. M. L.--Play what? - - Not a game, a music. - -N. M. L.--I am afraid I can't, Raymond. - - (Feda, _sotto voce_.--She can't do that.) - - He wanted to know whether you could play Hulu--Honolulu. - - Well, can't you try to? He is rolling with laughter - [meaning that he's pleased about something]. - - He knows who he is speaking to, but he can't give the name. - -[Here he seems to know that it is Norah and not Honor.] - -L. L.--Should I tell him? - - No. - - He says something about a yacht; he means a test he sent - through about a yacht. Confounded Argonauts![31] - - He is going. Fondest love to them at Mariemont. - -The sitting continued for a short time longer, ending at 1.30 p.m., -but the present report may end here. - - -NOTE ON THE 'HONOLULU' EPISODE BY O. J. L. - -In my judgment there were signs that the simultaneous holding of two -sittings, one with Honor and Alec in Edgbaston, and one with Lionel -and Norah in London, introduced a little harmless confusion; there -was a tendency in London to confuse Norah with Honor, and Alec was -mentioned in London in perhaps an unnecessary way. I do not press -this, however, but I do press the 'Honolulu' episode-- - - (i) because it establishes a reality about the home sittings, - - (ii) because it so entirely eliminates anything of the nature of -collusion, conscious or unconscious, - - (iii) because the whole circumstances of the test make it an -exceedingly good one. - -What it does not exclude is telepathy. In fact it may be said to -suggest telepathy. Yes, it suggests distinctly one variety of what, -I think, is often called telepathy--a process sometimes conducted, I -suspect, by an unrecognised emissary or messenger between agent and -percipient. It was exactly like an experiment conducted for thought -transference at a distance. For at Edgbaston was a party of three -sitting round a table and thinking for a few seconds of the word -'Honolulu'; while in London was a party of two simultaneously sitting -with a medium and recording what was said. And in their record the -word 'Honolulu' occurs. Telepathy, however--of whatever kind--is not -a normal explanation; and I venture to say that there is no normal -explanation, since in my judgment chance is out of the question. The -subject of music was forced in by the communicator, in order to bring -in the word; it did not occur naturally; and even if the subject of -music had arisen, there was no sort of reason for referring to that -particular song. The chief thing that the episode establishes, to -my mind, and a thing that was worth establishing, is the genuine -character of the simple domestic sittings without a medium which -are occasionally held by the family circle at Mariemont. For it is -through these chiefly that Raymond remains as much a member of the -family group as ever. - - -II. IMPROMPTU MARIEMONT SITTING - -Once at Mariemont, I am told, when M. F. A. L. and Honor were -touching it, the table moved up to a book in which relics and -reminiscences of Raymond had been pasted, and caused it to be opened. -In it, among other things, was an enlargement of the snapshot facing -page 278, showing him in an old 'Nagant' motor, which had been passed -on to him by Alec, stopping outside a certain house in Somersetshire. -He was asked what house it was, and was expected to spell the name -of the friend who lived there, but instead he spelt the name of the -house. The record by M. F. A. L., with some unimportant omissions, -is here reproduced--merely, however, as another example of a private -sitting without a medium. - - -_Impromptu Table Sitting at Mariemont, Tuesday, 25 April 1916_ - -(REPORT BY M. F. A. L.) - -I had been thinking of Raymond all day, and wanting to thank him for -what he did yesterday for [a friend]. Honor had agreed that we might -do it some time, but when I mentioned it about 10.50 p.m., she did -not want to sit then--she thought it too late. We were then in the -library. - -Honor, sitting on the Chesterfield, said, "I wonder if any table -would be equally good for Raymond?"--placing her hands on the -middle-sized table of the nest of three. It at once began to stir, -and she asked me to place mine on the other side to steady it. - -I asked if it was Raymond, and it decidedly said YES. - -I then thanked him with much feeling for what he had done for [two -separate families] lately. I told him how much he had comforted them, -and how splendidly he was doing; that there were quite a number of -people he had helped now. We discussed a few others that needed help. - -Then I think we asked him if he knew what room we were in--YES. And -after knocking me a good deal, and making a noise which seemed to -please him against my eyeglasses, he managed, by laying the table -down, to get one foot on to the Chesterfield and raise the table -up on it; and there it stayed, and rocked about for a long time -answering questions--I thought it would make a hole in the cover. - -I don't quite remember how it got down, but it did, and then edged -itself up to the other larger table, which had been given me by -Alec, Noël, and Raymond, after they had broken a basket table I used -to use there--it was brought in with a paper, "To Mother from the -culprits." (This was a year or two ago.) Well, he got it up to this -table, and fidgeted about with the foot of the smaller table on which -we had our hands, until he rested it on a ledge and tried to raise -it up. But the way he did this most successfully was when he got the -ledge of our small table onto a corner of the other and then raised -it off the ground level. This he did several times. I took one hand -off, leaving one hand on the top, and Honor's two hands lying on the -top, _no part_ of them being over the edge, and I measured the height -the legs were off the ground. The first time it was the width of -three fingers, and the next time four fingers. - -Honor told him this was very clever. - -I then tried to press it down, but could not--a curious feeling, like -pressing on a cushion of air. - -He had by this time turned us right round, so that Honor was sitting -where I had been before, and I was sitting or sometimes standing in -her place. Then we were turned round again, and he seemed to want to -knock the other table again; he went at it in a curious way. I had -with one hand to remove a glass on it which I thought he would upset. -He continued to edge against it, until he reached a book lying on -it. This he knocked with such intention, that Honor asked him if he -wanted it opened. - - YES. - -[This was a scrap-book in which I collect anything about -him--photographs, old and new; poems made _about_ him, or sent to -me in consolation; and it has his name outside, drawn on in large -letters.--M. F. A. L.] - -So I opened it, and showed him the photograph of himself seated in -the 'Nagant.' [A motor-car which Alec had practically given him not -long before the war, and with which he was delighted.] - -Honor asked if he could see it, and he said YES, and seemed pleased. - -She asked if he could tell her what house it was standing in front -of, and he spelt out-- - - ST. GERMINS. - -[This was pretty good, as the name of the Jacques's house is 'St. -Germains.'] - - (Honor had forgotten the name till he began, and expected him to say - Jacques's.) - -We told him he had got it, but that his spelling wasn't quite as good -as it had been. - -Honor talked to him then about the 'Nagant' and the 'Gabrielle Horn,' -all of which seemed to delight him. - -We then showed him some other photographs, and the one of his dog, -and asked him to spell its name, which he did without mistake-- - - LARRY. - -He couldn't see the little photograph of the goats, as it was too -small. But he saw himself in uniform--the one taken by Rosalynde and -enlarged--and he seemed to like seeing that. - -We talked a lot to him. I asked if he remembered his journey with -me out to Italy, and the Pullman car, etc. At this he knocked very -affectionately against me. - -We then thought it was time for us all to go to bed. But he said NO. -So we went on telling him family news. He listened with interest and -appreciative knocks, and he then tried his balancing trick again, -sometimes with success, but often failing to get the leg right. But -he did it again in the end. We tried to say good night, it being then -nearly one o'clock, but he didn't seem to want to go. - -We said au revoir, and told him we would see him again soon. - - -III. EPISODE OF 'MR. JACKSON' - -A striking incident is reported in one of my 'Feda' sittings--that -on 3 March 1916--shortly after the death of our peacock, which went -by the comic name of 'Mr. Jackson,' his wives being Matilda Jackson -and Janet. He was a pet of M. F. A. L.'s, and had recently met with a -tragic end. It was decided to have him stuffed, and one of the last -things I had seen before leaving Mariemont was a wooden pedestal on -which it was proposed to put him. - -When I asked Feda if Raymond remembered Mr. Jackson, he spoke of him -humorously, greatly to Feda's puzzlement, who said at last that he -was mixing him up with a bird, about whom I had previously inquired; -because he said, 'Fine bird, put him on a pedestal.' - -[Illustration: "CURLEY" AND "VIX", CURLEY BEING THE SHAGGY ONE. "VIX" -WAS THE MOTHER OF RAYMOND'S DOG "LARRY"] - -[Illustration: RAYMOND IN HIS "NAGANT" MOTOR, 1913 OUTSIDE A FRIEND'S -HOUSE IN SOMERSETSHIRE] - -If this was not telepathy from me, it seems to show a curious -knowledge of what is going on at his home, for the bird had not -been dead a week, and if he were alive there would be no sense in -saying, 'put him on a pedestal.' Feda evidently understood it, or -tried to understand it, as meaning that some man, a Mr. Jackson, was -metaphorically put on a pedestal by the family. - -The fact, however, that Mr. Jackson was at once known by Raymond to -be a bird is itself evidential, for there was nothing in the way I -asked the question to make Feda or anyone think he was not a man. -Indeed, that is precisely why she got rather bewildered. See Chapter -XXI. - - -IV. EPISODE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS - -It is unnecessary to call attention to the importance of the -photograph incident, which is fully narrated in Chapter IV; but he -spoke later of another photograph, in which he said was included -his friend Case. It is mentioned near the end of Chapter IV. That -photograph we also obtained from Gale & Polden, and it is true that -Case is in it as well as Raymond, whereas he was not in the former -group; but this one is entirely different from the other, for they -are both in a back row standing up, and in a quite open place. -If this had been sent to us at first, instead of the right one, -we should have considered the description quite wrong. As it is, -the main photograph episode constitutes one of the best pieces of -evidence that has been given. - - * * * * * - - -REMARKS BY O. J. L. IN CONCLUDING PART II - -The number of more or less convincing proofs which we have obtained -is by this time very great. Some of them appeal more to one person, -some to another; but taking them all together every possible ground -of suspicion or doubt seems to the family to be now removed. And it -is legitimate to say, further, that partly through Raymond's activity -a certain amount of help of the same kind has been afforded to -other families. Incidentally it has been difficult to avoid brief -reference to a few early instances of this, in that part of the -record now published. For the most part, however, these and a great -number of other things are omitted; and I ought perhaps to apologise -for the quantity which I have thought proper to include. Some home -critics think that it would have been wiser to omit a great deal -more, so as to lighten the book. But one can only act in accordance -with one's own judgment; and the book, if it is to achieve what it -aims at, cannot be a light one. So, instead of ending it here, I -propose to add a quantity of more didactic material--expressing my -own views on the subject of Life and Death--the result of many years -of thought and many kinds of experience. - -Some people may prefer the details in Part II; but others who -have not the patience to read Part II may tolerate the more -general considerations adduced in Part III--the "Life and Death" -portion--which can be read without any reference to Raymond or to -Parts I and II. - - [Footnote 29: It is noteworthy, in connexion with these - remarks, that Honor and Alec were sitting for a short time - at Mariemont just about now.--O. J. L.] - - [Footnote 30: This is the first mention of a - Ralph--presumably the one whose people, not known to us - personally, had had excellent table sittings with Mrs. - Leonard. See Chapter XII.--O. J. L.] - - [Footnote 31: This is too late to be of any use, but - 'Yacht' appears to be the sort of answer they had wanted - to 'Argonauts.'--O. J. L.] - - - - -PART THREE: LIFE AND DEATH - - "Eternal form shall still divide - The eternal soul from all beside; - And I shall know him when we meet." - - Tennyson, _In Memoriam_. - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -In this "Life and Death" portion a definite side is unobtrusively -taken in connexion with two outstanding controversies; and though -the treatment is purposely simple and uncontroversial, the author is -under no delusion that every philosophical reader will agree with -him. Explicit argumentation on either side is no novelty, but this is -not the place for argument; moreover, the opposing views have already -been presented with ample clearness by skilled disputants. - -Briefly then it may be said that Interactionism rather than -Epiphenomenalism or Parallelism is the side taken in one controversy. -And the non-material nature of life--the real existence of some kind -of vital essence or vivifying principle as a controlling and guiding -entity--is postulated in another: though the author never calls it a -force or an energy. - -Philosophical literature teems with these topics, but it may -suffice here to call the attention of the general reader to two -or three easily readable summaries--one an explanatory article by -Mr. Gerald Balfour, in _The Hibbert Journal_ for April 1910, on -the Epiphenomenon controversy, and generally on the alternative -explanations of the connexion between Mind and Body, in the light -thrown on the subject by Telepathy and Psychical Research; while on -the vitality controversy a small book embodying a short course of -lectures by the physiologist and philosopher Dr. J. S. Haldane under -the title _Mechanism, Life, and Personality_, or a larger book by -Professor M'Dougal called _Body and Mind_, may be recommended. On -this subject also the writings of Professor J. Arthur Thomson may be -specially mentioned. - -The opinions of the present author on these topics, whatever they -may be worth, are held without apology or hesitation, because to him -they appear the inevitable consequence of facts of nature as now -known or knowable. Some of these facts are not generally accepted -by scientific men; and if the facts themselves are not admitted, -naturally any conclusion based upon them will appear ill-founded, and -the further developed structure illusory. He anticipates that this -will be said by critics. - -In so far as the author's manner of statement is in terms of frank -Dualism, he regards that as inevitable for scientific purposes. He -does not suppose that any form of Dualism can be the last word about -the Universe; but, for practical purposes, mind and matter, or soul -and body, must be thought of separately, and it must be the work of -higher Philosophy to detect ultimate unity--a unity which he feels -certain cannot possibly be materialistic in any sense intelligible to -those who are at present studying matter and energy. - -It may be doubted whether Materialism as a philosophy exists any -longer, in the sense of being sustained by serious philosophers; -but a few physiological writers, of skill and industry, continue -to advocate what they are pleased to call Scientific Materialism. -Properly regarded this is a Policy, not a Philosophy, as I will -explain; but they make the mistake of regarding it as a Philosophy -comprehensive enough to give them the right of negation as well -as of affirmation. They do this in the interest of what they feel -instinctively to be the ultimate achievement, a Monism in which mind -and matter can be recognised as aspects of some one fundamental -Reality. We can sympathise with the aim, and still feel how far from -accomplishment we are. Nothing is gained by undue haste, and by -unfounded negation much may be lost. We must not deny any part of the -Universe for the sake of a premature unification. Simplification by -exclusion or denial is a poverty-stricken device. - -The strength of such workers is that they base themselves on the -experience and discoveries of the past, and, by artificial but -convenient limitation of outlook, achieve practical results. But they -are not satisfied with results actually achieved--they forget their -limitations--and, by a gigantic system of extrapolation from what has -been done, try to infer what is going to be done; their device being -to anticipate and speak of what they hope for, as if it were already -an accomplished fact. Some of the assumptions or blind guesses made -by men of this school are well illustrated by an exposition in _The -Hibbert Journal_ for July 1916, where an able writer states the main -propositions of Scientific Materialism thus:-- - - 1. The law of universal causation; - - 2. The principle of mechanism--_i.e._ the denial of purpose in the - universe and all notions of absolute finalism or teleology; - - 3. The denial that there exists any form of 'spiritual' or 'mental' - entity that cannot be expressed in terms of matter and motion. - -These appear to be its three propositions, and they are formulated by -the exponent "as being of the first importance in the representation -of materialistic thought." - -Now proposition 1 is common property; materialistic thought has no -sort of exclusive right over it; and to claim propositions 2 and -3 as corollaries from it is farcical. Taking them as independent -postulates--which they are--all that need be said about proposition -2 is that a broad denial always needs more knowledge than a specific -assertion, and it is astonishing that any sane person can imagine -himself to know enough about the Universe as a whole to be able -complacently to deny the existence of any "purpose" in it. All he -can really mean is that scientific explanations must be framed so -as to exhibit the immediate means whereby results in nature are -accomplished; for whether, or in what sense, they are first or -simultaneously conceived in a Mind--as human undertakings are--is -a matter beyond our scientific ken. Thus Darwinian and Mendelian -attempts to explain how species arise, and how inheritance occurs, -are entirely legitimate and scientific. For our experience is that -every event has a proximate cause which we can investigate. Of -ultimate causes we as scientific men are ignorant: they belong to a -different region of inquiry. If the word "denial," therefore, in the -above proposition is replaced by the phrase "exclusion from practical -scientific attention," I for one have no quarrel with clause 2; -for it then becomes a mere self-denying ordinance, a convenient -limitation of scope. It represents Policy, not Philosophy. - -But attention may be more usefully directed to the extravagantly -gratuitous guess involved in hypothesis 3. As a minor point, it is -not even carefully worded; for entities which cannot be expressed in -terms of matter and motion are common enough without going outside -the domain of physics. Light, for instance, and Electricity, have -not yet proved amenable, and do not appear likely to be amenable, to -purely dynamical theory. - -Certain phenomena have been reduced to matter and motion,--heat, for -instance, and sound, the phenomena of gases and liquids, and all the -complexities of astronomy. And in a famous passage Newton expressed -an enthusiastic hope that all the phenomena of physics might some -day be similarly reduced to the attractive simplicity of the three -laws of motion--inertia, acceleration, and stress. And ever since -Newton it has been the aim of physics to explain everything in its -domain in terms of pure dynamics. The attempt has been only partially -successful: the Ether is recalcitrant. But its recalcitrance is not -like mere surly obstruction, it is of a helpful and illuminating -character, and I shall not be misleading anyone if I cheerfully -admit that in some modified and expanded form dynamical theory in -mathematical physics has proved itself to be supreme. - -But does dominance of that kind give to that splendid science--the -glory of Britain and of Cambridge--the right to make a gigantic -extrapolation and sprawl over all the rest of the Universe, throwing -out tentacles even into regions which it has definitely abstracted -from its attention or excluded from its ken? There is not a physicist -who thinks so. The only people who try to think so are a few -enthusiasts of a more speculative habit of thought, who are annoyed -with the physicists, from Lord Kelvin downwards, for not agreeing -with them. And being unable to gather from competent authority any -specific instance in which dynamics has explained a single fact in -the region of either life or mind or consciousness or emotion or -purpose or will,--because it is known perfectly well that dynamical -jurisdiction does not extend into those regions,--these speculators -set up as authorities on their own account, and, on the strength of -their own expectation, propound the broad and sweeping dogma that -nothing in the Universe exists which is not fully expressible in -terms of matter and motion. And then, having accustomed themselves to -the sound of some such collocation of words, they call upon humanity -to shut its eyes to any facts of common experience which render such -an assertion ridiculous. - -The energy and enthusiasm of these writers, and the good work -they may be doing in their own science, render them more or less -immune from attack; but every now and then it is necessary to say -clearly that such extravagant generalisations profane the modesty of -science: whose heritage it is to recognise the limitations of partial -knowledge, and to be always ready to gain fresh experience and learn -about the unknown. The new and unfamiliar is the vantage ground, not -of scientific dogmatism, but of scientific inquiry. - - * * * * * - -The expository or theoretical part of this book may at first appear -too abstract for the general reader who has had no experience of -the kind of facts already described. Such reader may fail to see a -connexion between this more didactic portion and the illustrations or -examples which have preceded it; but if he will give sufficient time -and thought to the subject, the connexion will dawn upon him with -considerable vividness. - -It has always seemed to the author legitimate, and in every way -desirable, for an experimenter to interpret and make himself -responsible for an explanation or theory of his observations, so far -as he can. To record bare facts and expect a reader of the record -to arrive at the same conclusion as that reached by one who has -been immersed in them for a long time, is to expect too strenuous -an effort, and is not a fair procedure. Such a practice, though -not unusual and sometimes even commended in physical science, is -not followed by the most famous workers; and it has been known to -retard progress for a considerable time by loading the student with -an accumulation of undigested facts. The hypothesis on which an -observer has been working, or which he has arrived at in the course -of his investigations, may or may not be of permanent value, but if -his experience has led him to regard it as the best solution so far -attainable, and if he is known not to be a specially obstinate or -self-opinionated person, his views for what they are worth should be -set forth for the guidance of future inquirers. If he mauls the facts -in his direction, he will be detected; but such an accusation is a -serious one, and should not be made lightly or without opportunity -for reply. - -The string on which beads are strung may not be extremely durable, -and in time it may give place to something stronger, but it is better -than a random heap of beads not threaded on anything at all. - -The main thread linking all the facts together in the present case is -the hypothesis not only of continued or personal psychical existence -in the abstract, but a definite inter-locking or inter-communication -between two grades of existence,--the two in which we are most -immediately interested and about which we can ascertain most,--that -of the present and that of the immediate future for each individual; -together with the added probabilities that the actual grades of -existence are far more than two, and that the forthcoming transition, -in which we cannot but be interested even if we do not believe in it, -is only one of many of which we shall, in some barely imaginable way, -in due time become aware. - -The hypothesis of continued existence in another set of conditions, -and of possible communication across a boundary, is not a gratuitous -one made for the sake of comfort and consolation, or because of a -dislike to the idea of extinction; it is a hypothesis which has been -gradually forced upon the author--as upon many other persons--by the -stringent coercion of definite experience. The foundation of the -atomic theory in Chemistry is to him no stronger. The evidence is -cumulative, and has broken the back of all legitimate and reasonable -scepticism. - -And if by selecting the atomic theory as an example he has chosen one -upon which supplementary and most interesting facts have been grafted -in the progress of discovery--facts not really contradicting the old -knowledge, even when superficially appearing to do so, but adding to -it and illuminating it further, while making changes perhaps in its -manner of formulation--he has chosen such an example of set purpose, -as not unlikely to be imitated in the present case also. - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE MEANING OF THE TERM LIFE - -"Eternal process moving on."--TENNYSON - - -The shorter the word the more inevitable it is that it will be used -in many significations; as can be proved by looking out almost any -monosyllable in a large dictionary. The tendency of a simple word to -have many glancing meanings--like shot silk, as Tennyson put it--is -a character of high literary value; though it may be occasionally -inconvenient for scientific purposes. It is unlikely that we can -escape an ambiguity due to this tendency, but I wish to use the term -'life' to signify the vivifying principle which animates matter. - -That the behaviour of animated matter differs from what is often -called dead matter is familiar, and is illustrated by the description -sometimes given of an uncanny piece of mechanism--that "it behaves -as if it were alive." In the case of a jumping bean, for instance, -its spasmodic and capricious behaviour can be explained with apparent -simplicity, though with a suspicious trend towards superstition, -by the information that a live and active maggot inhabits a cavity -inside. It is thereby removed from the bare category of physics -only, though still perfectly obedient to physical laws: it jumps in -accordance with mechanics, but neither the times nor the direction of -its jumps can be predicted.[32] - -We must admit that the term 'dead matter' is often misapplied. It -is used sometimes to denote merely the constituents of the general -inorganic world. But it is inconvenient to speak of utterly inanimate -things, like stones, as 'dead,' when no idea of life was ever -associated with them, and when 'inorganic' is all that is meant. The -term 'dead' applied to a piece of matter signifies the absence of a -vivifying principle, no doubt, but it is most properly applied to a -collocation of organic matter which has been animated. - -Again, when animation has ceased, the thing we properly call dead -is not the complete organism, but that material portion which is -left behind; we do not or should not intend to make any assertion -concerning the vivifying principle which has left it,--beyond the -bare fact of its departure. We know too little about that principle -to be able to make safe general assertions. The life that is -transmitted by an acorn or other seed fruit is always beyond our ken. -We can but study its effects, and note its presence or its absence by -results. - -Life must be considered _sui generis_; it is not a form of energy, -nor can it be expressed in terms of something else. Electricity is -in the same predicament; it too cannot be explained in terms of -something else. This is true of all fundamental forms of being. -Magnetism may be called a concomitant of moving electricity; ordinary -matter can perhaps be resolved into electric charges: but an electric -charge can certainly not be expressed in terms of either matter or -energy. No more can life. To show that the living principle in a seed -is not one of the forms of energy, it is sufficient to remember that -that seed can give rise to innumerable descendants, through countless -generations, without limit. There is nothing like a constant quantity -of something to be shared, as there is in all examples of energy: -there is no conservation about it: the seed embodies a stimulating -and organising principle which appears to well from a limitless -source. - -But although life is not energy, any more than it is matter, yet it -directs energy and thereby controls arrangements of matter. Through -the agency of life specific structures are composed which would not -otherwise exist, from a sea-shell to a cathedral, from a blade of -grass to an oak; and specific distributions of energy are caused, -from the luminosity of a firefly to an electric arc, from the song of -a cricket to an oratorio. - -Life makes use of any automatic activities, or transferences and -declensions of energy, which are either potentially or actually -occurring. In especial it makes use of the torrent of ether tremors -which reach the earth from the sun. Every plant is doing it -constantly. Admittedly life exerts no force, it does no work, but -it makes effective the energy available for an organism which it -controls and vivifies; it determines in what direction and when -work shall be done. It is plain matter of fact that it does this, -whether we understand the method or not,--and thus indirectly life -interacts with and influences the material world. The energy of -coal is indirectly wholly solar, but without human interference it -might remain buried in the earth, and certainly would never propel -a ship across the Atlantic. One way of putting the matter is to say -that life _times_, and _directs_. If it runs a railway train, it -runs the train not like a locomotive but like a General Manager. -It enters into battle with a walking-stick, but guns are fired to -its orders. It may be said to aim and fire: one of its functions is -to discriminate between the wholesome and the deleterious, between -friend and foe. That is a function outside the scope of physics. - -Energy controlled by life is not random energy: the kind of -self-composition or personal structure built by it depends on the -kind of life-unit which is operating, not on the pabulum which is -supplied. The same food will serve to build a pig, a chicken, or -a man. Food which is assimilable at all takes a shape determined -by the nature of the operative organism, and indeed by the portion -of the organism actually reached by it. Unconscious constructive -ability is as active in each cell of the body as in a honeycomb; only -in a beehive we can see the operators at work. The construction of -an eye or an ear is still more astonishing. In the inorganic world -such structures would be meaningless, for there would be nothing -to respond to their stimulus; they can only serve elementary mind -and consciousness. The brain and nerve system is an instrument of -transmutation or translation from the physical to the mental, and -_vice versa_. - - -STAGES OF EVOLUTION - -Steps in the progress of evolution--great stages which have been -likened by Sir James Crichton Browne to exceptional Mendelian -Mutations--may be rather imaginatively rehearsed somewhat thus:-- - -Starting with - - The uniform Ether of Space, we can first suppose - - The specialisation or organisation of specks of ether into Electrons; - followed by - - Associated systems of electrons, constituting atoms of Matter; and so - - The whole inorganic Universe. - -Then, as a new and astonishing departure, comes-- - - The cell, or protoplasmic complex which Life can construct and - utilise for manifestation and development.[33] - -And after that - - A brain cell, which can become the physical organ for the rudiments - of Mind. - -Followed by - - Further mental development until Consciousness becomes possible. - With subsequent - - Sublimation of consciousness into Ethics, Philosophy, and Religion. - -We need not insist on these or any other stages for our present -purpose; yet something of the kind would seem to have occurred, in -the mysterious course of time. - - -THREE EXPLANATORY NOTES - -NOTE A.--MECHANICS OF JUMPING BEAN - -The biological explanation of a jumping bean is sometimes felt to be -puzzling, inasmuch as the creature is wholly enclosed; and a man in -a boat knows that he cannot propel it by movement inside, without -touching the water or something external. But the reaction of a -table can be made use of through the envelope, and a live thing can -momentarily vary its own weight-pressure and even reverse its sign. -This fact has a bearing on some psycho-physical experiments, and -hence is worthy of a moment's attention. - -To weigh an animal that jumps and will not keep still is always -troublesome. It cannot alter its average weight, truly, but it can -redistribute it in time; at moments its apparent weight may be -excessive, and at other moments zero or even negative, as during the -middle of an energetic leap. Parenthetically we may here interpolate -a remark and say that what is called interference of light (two -lights producing darkness, in popular language) is a redistribution -of luminous energy in space. No light, nor any kind of wave motion, -is destroyed by interference when two sets of waves overlap, but the -energy rises to a maximum in some places, and in other places sinks -to zero. No wave energy is consumed by interference--only rearranged. -This fact is often misstated. And probably the other statement, about -the varying apparent weight--_i.e._ pressure on the ground--of a live -animal, may be misstated too: though there is no question of energy -about that, but only of force. The force or true weight, in the sense -of the earth's attraction, is there all the time, and is constant; -but the pressure on the ground, or the force needed to counteract the -weight, is not constant. After momentary violence, as in throwing, no -support need be supplied for several seconds; and, like the maggot -inside a hollow bean, a live thing turning itself into a projectile -may even carry something else up too. It is instructive also to -consider a flying bird, and a dirigible balloon, and to ask where the -still existing weight of these things can be found. - - -NOTE B.--DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A GROWING ORGANISM AND A GROWING -CRYSTAL - -The properties which differentiate living matter from any kind of -inorganic imitation may be instinctively felt, but can hardly be -formulated without expert knowledge. The differences between a -growing organism and a growing crystal are many and various, but it -must suffice here to specify the simplest and most familiar sort of -difference; and as it is convenient to take a possibly controversial -statement of this kind from the writings of a physiologist, I quote -here a passage from an article by Professor Fraser Harris, of -Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the current number of the quarterly magazine -called _Science Progress_ edited by Sir Ronald Ross-- - - "Living animal bioplasm has the power of growing, that - is of assimilating matter in most cases chemically - quite unlike that of its own constitution. Now this is - a remarkable power, not in the least degree shared by - non-living matter. Its very familiarity has blinded us to - its uniqueness as a chemical phenomenon. The mere fact - that a man eating beef, bird, fish, lobster, sugar, fat, - and innumerable other things can transform these into - human bioplasm, something chemically very different even - from that of them which most resembles human tissue, is - one of the most extraordinary facts in animal physiology. - A crystal growing in a solution is not only not analogous - to this process, it is in the sharpest possible contrast - with it. The crystal grows only in the sense that it - increases in bulk by accretions to its exterior, and only - does that by being immersed in a solution of the same - material as its own substance. It takes up to itself only - material which is already similar to itself; this is not - assimilation, it is merely incorporation. - - * * * * * - - "The term 'growth,' strictly speaking, can be applied - only to metabolism in the immature or convalescent - organism. The healthy adult is not 'growing' in this - sense; when of constant weight he is adding neither to - his stature nor his girth, and yet he is assimilating as - truly as ever he did. Put more technically: in the adult - of stationary weight, anabolism is quantitatively equal - to katabolism, whereas in the truly growing organism - anabolism is prevailing over katabolism; and reversely in - the wasting of an organism or in senile decay, katabolism - is prevailing over anabolism. The crystal in its solution - offers no analogies with the adult or the senile - states--but these are of the very essence of the life of - an organism.... - - "The fact, of course familiar to every beginner in - biology, is that the crystal is only incorporating and - not excreting anything, whereas the living matter is - always excreting as well as assimilating. This one-sided - metabolism--if it can be dignified with that term--is - indeed characteristic of the crystal, but it is at no - time characteristic of the living organism. The organism, - whether truly growing or only in metabolic equilibrium, - is constantly taking up material to replace effete - material, is replenishing because it has previously - displenished itself or cast off material. The resemblance - between a so-called 'growing' crystal and a growing - organism is verily of the most superficial kind." - -And Professor Fraser Harris concludes his article thus:-- - - "Between the living and the non-living there is a great - gulf fixed, and no efforts of ours, however heroic, have - as yet bridged it over." - - -NOTE C.--OLD AGE - -We know that as vitality diminishes the bodily deterioration called -old age sets in, and that a certain amount of deterioration results -in death; but it turns out, on systematic inquiry, that old age and -death are not essential to living organisms. They represent the -deterioration and wearing out of working parts, so that the vivifying -principle is hampered in its manifestation and cannot achieve results -which with a younger and healthier machine were possible; but the -parts which wear out are not the essential bearers of the vivifying -principle; they are accreted or supplementary portions appropriate -to developed individual earth life, and it does not appear -improbable that the progress of discovery may at least postpone the -deterioration that we call old age, for a much longer time than at -present. Emphasis on this distinction between germ cell and body -cell, usually associated with Weismann, seems to have been formulated -before him by Herdman of Liverpool. - -Biologists teach us that the phenomenon of old age is not evident in -the case of the unicellular organisms which reproduce by fission. -The cell can be killed, but it need neither grow old nor die. Death -appears to be a prerogative of the higher organisms. But even among -these Professor Weismann adopts and defends the view that "death is -not a primary necessity, but that it has been secondarily acquired -by adaptation." The cell is not inherently limited in its number -of cell-generations. The low unicellular organism is potentially -immortal; the higher multicellular form, with well-differentiated -organs, contains the germ of death within its _soma_. Death seems to -supervene by reason of its utility to the species: continued life of -an individual after a certain stage being comparatively useless. From -the point of view of the race the soma or main body is "a secondary -appendage of the real bearer of life--the reproductive cells." -The somatic cells probably lost their immortal qualities on this -immortality becoming useless to the species. Their mortality may have -been a mere consequence of their differentiation. "Natural death was -not introduced from absolute intrinsic necessity, inherent in the -nature of living matter," says Weismann, "but on grounds of utility; -that is from necessities which sprang up, not from the general -conditions of life, but from those special conditions which dominate -the life of multicellular organisms." - -It is not the germ cell itself, but the bodily accretion or -appendage, which is abandoned by life, and which accordingly dies and -decays. - - [Footnote 32: See Explanatory Note A at end of chapter.] - - [Footnote 33: See Explanatory Note B.] - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE MEANING OF THE TERM DEATH - -"And Life, still wreathing flowers for Death to -wear."--ROSSETTI - - -Whatever Life may really be, it is to us an abstraction: for the word -is a generalised term to signify that which is common to all animals -and plants, and which is not directly operative in the inorganic -world. To understand life we must study living things, to see what -is common to them all. An organism is alive when it moulds matter to -a characteristic form, and utilises energy for its own purposes--the -purposes especially of growth and reproduction. A living organism, -so far as it is alive, preserves its complicated structure from -deterioration and decay.[34] - -Death is the cessation of that controlling influence over matter and -energy, so that thereafter the uncontrolled activity of physical and -chemical forces supervene. Death is not the absence of life merely, -the term signifies its departure or separation, the severance of the -abstract principle from the concrete residue. The term only truly -applies to that which has been living. - -Death therefore may be called a dissociation, a dissolution, a -separation of a controlling entity from a physicochemical organism; -it may be spoken of in general and vague terms as a separation -of soul and body, if the term 'soul' is reduced to its lowest -denomination. - -Death is not extinction. Neither the soul nor the body is -extinguished or put out of existence. The body weighs just as much -as before, the only properties it loses at the moment of death are -potential properties. So also all we can assert concerning the vital -principle is that it no longer animates that material organism: we -cannot safely make further assertion regarding it, or maintain its -activity or its inactivity without further information. - -When we say that a body is dead we may be speaking accurately. When -we say that a _person_ is dead, we are using an ambiguous term; -we may be referring to his discarded body, in which case we may -be speaking truly and with precision. We may be referring to his -personality, his character, to what is really himself; in which case -though we must admit that we are speaking popularly, the term is -not quite simply applicable. He has gone, he has passed on, he has -"passed through the body and gone," as Browning says in _Abt Vogler_, -but he is--I venture to say--certainly not dead in the same sense as -the body is dead. It is his absence which allows the body to decay, -he himself need be subject to no decay nor any destructive influence. -Rather he is emancipated; he is freed from the burden of the flesh, -though with it he has also lost those material and terrestrial -potentialities which the bodily mechanism conferred upon him; and -if he can exert himself on the earth any more, it can only be with -some difficulty and as it were by permission and co-operation of -those still here. It appears as if sometimes and occasionally he can -still stimulate into activity suitable energetic mechanism, but his -accustomed machinery for manifestation has been lost: or rather it is -still there for a time, but it is out of action, it is dead. - -Nevertheless inasmuch as those who have lost their material body have -passed through the process of dissolution or dissociative severance -which we call death, it is often customary to speak of them as dead. -They are no longer living, if by living we mean associated with a -material body of the old kind; and in that sense we need not hesitate -to speak of them collectively as 'the dead.' - -We need not be afraid of the word, nor need we resent its use or -hesitate to employ it, when once we and our hearers understand the -sense in which it may rightly be employed. If ideas associated with -the term had always been sensible and wholesome, people need have had -no compunction at all about using it. But by the populace, and by -Ecclesiastics also, the term has been so misused, and the ideas of -people have been so confused by insistent concentration on merely -physical facts, and by the necessary but over-emphasised attention to -the body left behind, that it was natural for a time to employ other -words, until the latent ambiguity had ceased to be troublesome. And -occasionally, even now, it is well to be emphatic in this direction, -in order to indicate our disagreement with the policy of harping -on worms and graves and epitaphs, or on the accompanying idea of a -General Resurrection, with reanimation of buried bodies. Hence in -strenuous contradiction to all this superstition comes the use of -such phrases as 'transition' or 'passing,' and the occasional not -strictly justifiable assertion that "there is no death." - -For as a matter of familiar fact death there certainly is; and to -deny a fact is no assistance. No one really means to deny a fact; -those who make the statement only want to divert thoughts from a side -already too much emphasised, and to concentrate attention on another -side. What they mean is, there is no extinction. They definitely -mean to maintain that the process called death is a mere severence -of soul and body, and that the soul is freed rather than injured -thereby. The body alone dies and decays; but there is no extinction -even for it--only a change. For the other part there can hardly -be even a change--except a change of surroundings. It is unlikely -that character and personality are liable to sudden revolutions or -mutations. Potentially they may be different, because of different -opportunities, but actually at the moment they are the same. Likening -existence to a curve, the curvature has changed, but there is no -other discontinuity. - -Death is not a word to fear, any more than birth is. We change our -state at birth, and come into the world of air and sense and myriad -existence; we change our state at death and enter a region of--what? -Of Ether, I think, and still more myriad existence; a region in which -communion is more akin to what we here call telepathy, and where -intercourse is not conducted by the accustomed indirect physical -processes; but a region in which beauty and knowledge are as vivid as -they are here: a region in which progress is possible, and in which -"admiration, hope, and love" are even more real and dominant. It is -in this sense that we can truly say, "The dead are not dead, but -alive." ούδΠτεθνᾷσι θανὸντες. - - -APPENDIX ON FEELINGS WHEN DEATH IS IMMINENT - -PRELIMINARY STATEMENT BY O. J. L. - -A lady was brought by a friend to call on us at Mariemont during a -brief visit to Edgbaston, and I happened to have a talk with her -in the garden. I found that she had been one of the victims of the -_Lusitania_, and as she seemed very cheerful and placid about it, -I questioned her as to her feelings on the occasion. I found her a -charming person, and she entered into the matter with surprising -fulness, considering that she was a complete stranger. Her chief -anxiety seems to have been for her husband, whom she had left either -in America or the West Indies, and for her friends generally; but on -her own behalf she seems to have felt extremely little anxiety or -discomfort of any kind. She told me she had given up hope of being -saved, and was only worried about friends mourning on her behalf and -thinking that she must have suffered a good deal, whereas, in point -of fact, she was not really suffering at all. She was young and -healthy, and apparently felt no evil results from the three hours' -immersion. She was sucked down by the ship, and when she came to the -surface again, her first feeling was one of blank surprise at the -disappearance of what had brought her across the Atlantic. The ship -was "not there." - -I thought her account so interesting, that after a few months I got -her address from the friend with whom she had been staying, and wrote -asking if she would write it down for me. In due course she did so, -writing from abroad, and permits me to make use of the statement, -provided I suppress her name; which accordingly I do, quoting the -document otherwise in full. - -_The Document referred to_ - - "Your letter came to me as a great pleasure and surprise. - I have always remembered the sympathy with which you - listened to me, that morning at Edgbaston, and sometimes - wondered at the amount I said, as it is not easy to give - expression to feelings and speculations which are only - roused at critical moments in one's life. - - "What you ask me to do is not easy, as I am only one of - those who are puzzling and groping in the dark--while you - have found so much light for yourself and have imparted - it to others. - - "I would like, however, most sincerely to try to recall - my sensations with regard to that experience, if they - would be of any value to you. - - "It would be absurd to say now, that from the beginning - of the voyage I knew what would happen; it was not a - very actual knowledge, but I was conscious of a distinct - forewarning, and the very calmness and peace of the - voyage seemed, in a way, a state of waiting for some - great event. Therefore when the ship was rent by the - explosion (it was as sudden as the firing of a pistol) I - felt no particular shock, because of that curious inner - expectancy. The only acute feeling I remember at the - moment was one of anger that such a crime could have been - committed; the fighting instinct predominated in the face - of an unseen but near enemy. I sometimes think it was - partly that same instinct--the desire to die game--that - accounted for the rather grim calmness of some of the - passengers. After all--it was no ordinary shipwreck, but - a Chance of War. I put down my book and went round to the - other side of the ship where a great many passengers were - gathering round the boats; it was difficult to stand, as - the _Lusitania_ was listing heavily. There seemed to be - no panic whatever; I went into my cabin, a steward very - kindly helped me with a life-jacket, and advised me to - throw away my fur coat. I felt no hurry or anxiety, and - returned on deck, where I stood with some difficulty-- - discussing our chances with an elderly man I just knew by - sight. - - "It was then I think we realised what a strong instinct - there was in some of us--_not_ to struggle madly for - life--but to wait for something to come to us, whether - it be life or death; and not to lose our personality and - become like one of the struggling shouting creatures who - were by then swarming up from the lower decks and made - one's heart ache. I never felt for a moment that my time - to cross over had come--not until I found myself in the - water--floating farther and farther away from the scene - of wreckage and misery--in a sea as calm and vast as the - sky overhead. Behind me, the cries of those who were - sinking grew fainter, the splash of oars and the calls - of those who were doing rescue work in the lifeboats; - there seemed to be no possibility of rescue for me; so I - reasoned with myself and said, 'The time _has_ come--you - must believe it--the time to cross over'--but inwardly - and persistently something continued to say, 'No--not - now.' - - "The gulls were flying overhead and I remember noticing - the beauty of the blue shadows which the sea throws up - to their white feathers: they were very happy and alive - and made me feel rather lonely; my thoughts went to my - people--looking forward to seeing me, and at that moment - having tea in the garden at ----; the idea of their grief - was unbearable--I had to cry a little. Names of books - went through my brain;--one specially, called 'Where - no Fear is,' seemed to express my feeling at the time! - Loneliness, yes, and sorrow on account of the grief - of others--but no Fear. It seemed very normal,--very - right,--a natural development of some kind about to take - place. How can it be otherwise, when it _is_ natural? - I rather wished I knew some one on the other side, and - wondered if there are friendly strangers there who come - to the rescue. I was very near the border-line when a - wandering lifeboat quietly came up behind me and two men - bent down and lifted me in. It was extraordinary how - quickly life came rushing back;--every one in the boat - seemed very self-possessed--although there was one man - dead and another losing his reason. One woman expressed - a hope for a 'cup of tea' shortly--a hope which was - soon to be realised for all of us in a Mine Sweeper - from Queenstown. I have forgotten her name--but shall - always remember the kindness of her crew--specially the - Chief Officer, who saved me much danger by giving me dry - clothes and hot towels. - - "All this can be of very little interest to you--I have - no skill in putting things on paper;--but, you know. I - am glad to have been near the border; to have had the - feeling of how very near it is _always_--only there are - so many little things always going on to absorb one here. - - "Others on that day were passing through a Gate which was - not open for me--but I do not expect they were afraid - when the time came--they too probably felt that whatever - they were to find would be beautiful--only a fulfilment - of some kind.... I have reason to think that the passing - from here is very painless--at least when there is no - illness. We seemed to be passing through a stage on the - road of Life." - - - [Footnote 34: See Note C at end of preceding chapter.] - - - - -CHAPTER III - -DEATH AND DECAY - -"All, that doth live, lives always!"--EDWIN ARNOLD - - -Consider now the happenings to the discarnate body. In the first -place, I repeat, it is undesirable to concentrate attention on -a grave. The discarnate body must be duly attended to when done -with; the safety of the living is a paramount consideration; the -living must retain control over what is dead. Uncontrolled natural -forces are often dangerous: the only thing harmful about a flood -or a fire is the absence of control. Either the operations must be -supervised and intelligently directed, or they must be subjected -to such disabilities that they can do no harm. But to associate -continued personality with a dead body, such as is suggested by -phrases like "lay him in the earth", or "here lies such an one," or -to anticipate any kind of physical resuscitation, is unscientific and -painful. Unfortunately the orthodox religious world at some epochs -has attached superstitious importance, not to the decent disposal, -but to the imagined future of the body. Painful and troublesome to -humanity those rites have been. The tombs of Egypt are witness to the -harassing need felt by the living to provide their loved ones with -symbols or tokens of all that they might require in a future state of -existence,--as if material things were needed by them any more, or as -if we could provide them if they were.[35] The simple truth is always -so much saner and happier than the imaginings of men; or, as Dr. -Schuster said in his Presidential address to the British Association -at Manchester, 1915,--"The real world is far more beautiful than any -of our dreams." - -What is the simple truth? It can be regarded from two points of view, -the prosaic and the poetic. - -Prosaically we can say that the process of decay, if regarded -scientifically, is not in itself necessarily repugnant. It may be -as interesting as fermentation or any other chemical or biological -process. Putrefaction, like poison, is hostile to higher living -organisms, and hence a self-protecting feeling of disgust has arisen -round it, in the course of evolution. An emotional feeling arises -in the mind of anyone who has to combat any process or operation of -nature,--like the violent emotions excited in an extreme teetotaller -by the word 'drink': a result of the evil its profanation has done; -for the verb itself is surely quite harmless. Presumably a criminal -associates disagreeable anticipations with the simple word 'hanging.' -The idea of a rank weed is repulsive to a gardener, but not to a -botanist; the idea of disease is repellent to a prospective patient, -not to a doctor or bacteriologist; the idea of dirt is objectionable -to a housewife, but it is only matter out of place; the word 'poison' -conveys nothing objectionable to a chemist. Everything removed from -the emotional arena, and transplanted into the intellectual, becomes -interesting and tractable and worthy of study. Living organisms of -every kind are good in themselves, though when out of place and -beyond control they may be harmful. A tiger is an object of dread to -an Indian village: to a hunting party he may be keenly attractive. -In any case he is a lithe and beautiful and splendid creature. -Microscopic organisms may have troublesome and destructive effects, -but in themselves they can be studied with interest and avidity. All -living creatures have their assuredly useful function, only it may -be a function on which we naturally shrink from dwelling when in an -emotional mood. Everything of this kind is an affair of mood; and, -properly regarded, nothing in nature is common or unclean. That a -flying albatross is a beautiful object every one can cordially admit, -but that the crawling surface of a stagnant sea can be regarded with -friendly eyes seems an absurdity; yet there is nothing absurd in it. -It is surely the bare truth concerning all living creatures of every -grade, that "the Lord God made them all"; and it was of creeping -water-snakes that the stricken Mariner at length, when he had learnt -the lesson, ejaculated:-- - - "O happy living things! - A spring of love gushed from my heart, - And I blessed them unaware." - -For what can be said poetically about the fate of the beloved body, the -poets themselves must be appealed to. But that there is kinship between -the body and the earth is literal truth. Of terrestrial particles it is -wholly composed, and that they should be restored to the earth whence -they were borrowed is natural and peaceful. Moreover, out of the same -earth, and by aid of the very same particles, other helpful forms of -life may arise; and though there may be no conscious unification or -real identity, yet it is pardonable to associate, in an imaginative and -poetic mood, the past and future forms assumed by the particles:-- - - "Lay her i' the earth;-- - And from her fair and unpolluted flesh, - May violets spring!" - -Quotations are hardly necessary to show that this idea runs through -all poetry. An ancient variety is enshrined in the Hyacinthus and -Adonis legends. From spilt blood an inscribed lily springs, in the -one tale; and the other we may quote in Shakespeare's version (_Venus -and Adonis_):-- - - "And in his blood that on the ground lay spilled, - A purple flower sprung up chequered with white, - Resembling well his pale cheeks and the blood - Which in round drops upon their whiteness stood." - -So also Tennyson:-- - - "And from his ashes may be made - The violet of his native land." - - _In Memoriam_ - -We find the same idea again, I suppose, in the eastern original of -Fitzgerald's well-known stanza:-- - - "And this delightful Herb whose tender Green - Fledges the River's Lip on which we lean-- - Ah, lean upon it lightly! for who knows - From what once lovely Lip it springs unseen!" - -The soil of a garden is a veritable charnel-house of vegetable and -animal matter, and from one point of view represents death and decay, -but the coltsfoot covering an abandoned heap of refuse, or the briar -growing amid ruin, shows that Nature only needs time to make it all -beautiful again. Let us think of the body as transmuted, not as -stored. - -The visible shape of the body was no accident, it corresponded to -a reality, for it was caused by the indwelling vivifying essence; -and affection entwines itself inevitably round not only the true -personality of the departed, but round its material vehicle also--the -sign and symbol of so much beauty, so much love. Symbols appeal to -the heart of humanity, and anything cherished and honoured becomes -in itself a thing of intrinsic value, which cannot be regarded with -indifference. The old and tattered colours of a regiment, for which -men have laid down their lives--though replaced perhaps by something -newer and more durable--cannot be relegated to obscurity without a -pang. And any sensitive or sympathetic person, contemplating such -relics hereafter, may feel some echo of the feeling with which they -were regarded, and may become acquainted with their history and the -scenes through which they have passed. - - * * * * * - -In such cases the kind of knowledge to be gained from the relic, -and the means by which additional information can be acquired, -are intelligible; but in other cases also information can be -attained, though by means at present not understood. It may sound -superstitious, but it is a matter of actual experience, that some -sensitives have intuitive perception, of an unfamiliar kind, -concerning the history and personal associations of relics or -fragments or personal belongings. The faculty is called psychometry; -and it is no more intelligible, although no less well-evidenced, than -the possibly allied faculty of dowsing or so-called water-divining. -Psychometry is a large subject on which much has already been -written: this brief mention must here suffice. - -It seems to me that these facts, when at length properly -understood, will throw some light on the connexion between mind -and matter; and then many another obscure region of semi-science -and semi-superstition will be illuminated. At present in all such -tracts we have to walk warily, for the ground is uneven and insecure; -and it is better, or at least safer, for the majority to forgo the -recognition of some truth than rashly to invade a district full of -entanglements and pitfalls. - - -TRANSITION - -Longfellow's line, "There is no death; what seems so is transition," -at once suggests itself. Read literally the first half of this -sentence is obviously untrue, but in the sense intended, and as -a whole, the statement is true enough. There is no extinction, -and the change called death is the entrance to a new condition of -existence--what may be called a new life. - -Yet life itself is continuous, and the conditions of the whole of -existence remain precisely as before. Circumstances have changed -for the individual, but only in the sense that he is now aware of a -different group of facts. The change of surroundings is a subjective -one. The facts were of course there, all the time, as the stars are -there in the daytime; but they were out of our ken. Now these come -into our ken, and others fade into memory. - -The Universe is one, not two. Literally there is no 'other' -world--except in the limited and partial sense of other planets--the -Universe is one. We exist in it continuously all the time; sometimes -conscious in one way, sometimes conscious in another; sometimes aware -of a group of facts on one side of a partition, sometimes aware of -another group, on the other side. But the partition is a subjective -one; we are all one family all the time, so long as the link of -affection is not broken. And for those who believe in prayer at -all to cease from praying for the welfare of their friends because -they are materially inaccessible--though perhaps spiritually more -accessible than before--is to succumb unduly to the residual evil -of past ecclesiastical abuses, and to lose an opportunity of happy -service. - - [Footnote 35: It is rash to condemn a human custom - which has prevailed for centuries or millenniums, and - it is wrong to treat it _de haut en bas_. I would not - be understood as doing so, in this brief and inadequate - reference to the contents of Egyptian tombs. Their fuller - interpretation awaits the labour of students now working - at them. - - In the same spirit I wish to leave open the question of - what possible rational interpretation may be given to the - mediæval phrase "Resurrection of the body"; a subject on - which much has been written. What I am contending against - is not the scholarly but the popular interpretation. For - further remarks on this subject see Chapter VII below.] - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -CONTINUED EXISTENCE - - -DIFFICULTY OF BELIEF IN CONTINUED EXISTENCE - - "Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to - give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever - and to whatsoever abysses Nature leads."--HUXLEY. - -People often feel a notable difficulty in believing in the reality -of continued existence. Very likely it is difficult to believe or -to realise existence in what is sometimes called "the next world"; -but then, when we come to think of it, it is difficult to believe in -existence in this world too; it is difficult to believe in existence -at all. The whole problem of existence is a puzzling one. It could -by no means have been predicated _a priori_. The whole thing is a -question of experience; that is, of evidence. We know by experience -that things actually do exist; though how they came into being, and -what they are all for, and what consequences they have, is more -than we can tell. We have no reason for asserting that the kind we -are familiar with is the only kind of existence possible, unless -we choose to assert it on the ground that we have no experience of -any other. But that is becoming just the question at issue: have we -any evidence, either direct or indirect, for any other existence -than this? If we have, it is futile to cite in opposition to it the -difficulty of believing in the reality of such an existence; we -surely ought to be guided by facts. - -At this stage in the history of the human race few facts of science -are better established and more widely appreciated than the main -facts of Astronomy: a general acquaintance with the sizes and -distances, and the enormous number, of the solar systems distributed -throughout space is prevalent. Yet to the imaginative human mind the -facts, if really grasped, are overwhelming and incredible. - -The sun a million times bigger than the earth; Arcturus a hundred -times bigger than the sun, and so distant that light has taken two -centuries to come, though travelling at a rate able to carry it to -New York and back in less than the twentieth part of a second,--facts -like these are commonplaces of the nursery; but even as bare facts -they are appalling. - -That the earth is a speck invisible from any one of the stars, that -we are on a world which is but one among an innumerable multitude of -others, ought to make us realise the utter triviality of any view of -existence based upon familiarity with street and train and office, -ought to give us some sense of proportion between everyday experience -and ultimate reality. Even the portentous struggle in which Europe is -engaged-- - - "What is it all but a trouble of ants in the gleam of a - million million of suns?" - -Yet, for true interpretation, the infinite worth and vital importance -of each individual human soul must be apprehended too. And that -is another momentous fact, which, so far from restricting the -potentialities of existence, by implication still further enlarges -them. The multiplicity, the many-sidedness, the magnificence, of -material existence does not dwarf the human soul; far otherwise: it -illumines and expands the stage upon which the human drama is being -played, and ought to make us ready to perceive how far greater still -may be the possibilities--nay, the actualities--before it, in its -infinite unending progress. - -That we know little about such possibilities as yet, proves -nothing;--for mark how easy it would have been to be ignorant of the -existence of all the visible worlds and myriad modes of being in -space. Not until the business of the day is over, and our great star -has eclipsed itself behind the earth, not until the serener period of -night, does the grandeur of the material universe force itself upon -our attention. And, even then, let there be but a slight permanent -thickening of our atmosphere, and we should have had no revelation -of any world other than our own. Under those conditions--so barely -escaped from--how wretchedly meagre and limited would have been our -conception of the Universe! Aye, and, unless we foolishly imagine -that our circumstances are such as to have already given us a clue to -every kind of possible existence, I venture to say that "wretchedly -meagre and limited" must be a true description of our conception of -the Universe, even now,--even of the conception of those who have -permitted themselves, with least hesitation, to follow whithersoever -facts lead. - -If there be any group of scientific or historical or literary -students who advocate what they think to be a sensible, but what -I regard as a purblind, view of existence, based upon already -systematised knowledge and on unfounded and restricting speculation -as to probable boundaries and limitations of existence,--if such -students take their own horizon to be the measure of all things,--the -fact is to be deplored. Such workers, however admirable their -industry and detailed achievements, represent a school of thought -against the fruits of which we of the Allied Nations are in arms. - -Nevertheless speculation of this illegitimate and negative kind is -not unknown among us. It originates partly in admiration for the -successful labours of a bygone generation in clearing away a quantity -of clinging parasitic growth which was obscuring the fair fabric of -ascertained truth, and partly in an innate iconoclastic enthusiasm. - -The success which has attended Darwinian and other hypotheses has -had a tendency to lead men--not indeed men of Darwinian calibre, but -smaller and less conscientious men--in science as well as in history -and theology, to an over-eager confidence in probable conjecture -and inadequate attention to facts of experience. It has even been -said--I quote from a writer in the volume _Darwin and Modern -Science_, published in connexion with a Darwin jubilee celebration at -Cambridge--that "the age of materialism was the least matter-of-fact -age conceivable, and the age of science the age which showed least of -the patient temper of enquiry." I would not go so far as this myself, -the statement savours of exaggeration, but there is a regrettable -tendency in surviving materialistic quarters for combatants to -entrench themselves in dogma and preconceived opinion, to regard -these vulnerable shelters as sufficient protection against observed -and recorded facts, and even to employ them as strongholds from which -alien observation-posts can be shattered and overthrown. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE - - "How often have men thus feared that Nature's wonders - would be degraded by being closelier looked into! How - often, again, have they learnt that the truth was higher - than their imagination; and that it is man's work, but - never Nature's, which to be magnificent must remain - unknown!"--F. W. H. M., Introduction to _Phantasms of the - Living_ - - -Our actual experience is strangely limited. We cannot be actually -conscious of more than a single instant of time. The momentary flash -which we call the present, the visual image of which can be made -permanent by the snap of a camera, is all of the external world that -we directly apprehended. But our real existence embraces far more -than that. The present, alone and isolated, would be meaningless to -us; we look before and after. Our memories are thronged with the -past; our anticipations range over the future; and it is in the past -and the future that we really live. It is so even with the higher -animals: they too order their lives by memory and anticipation. It is -under the influence of the future that the animal world performs even -the most trivial conscious acts. We eat, we rest, we work, all with -an eye to the immediate future. The present moment is illuminated -and made significant, is controlled and dominated, by experience of -the past and by expectation of the future. Without any idea of the -future our existence would be purely mechanical and meaningless: with -too little eye to the future--a mere living from hand to mouth--it -becomes monotonous and dull. - -Hence it is right that humanity, transcending merely animal scope, -should seek to answer questions concerning its origin and destiny, -and should regard with intense interest every clue to the problems -of 'whence' and 'whither.' - -It is no doubt possible, as always, to overstep the happy mean, and -by absorption in and premature concern with future interests to lose -the benefit and the training of this present life. But although we -may rightly decide to live with full vigour in the present, and do -our duty from moment to moment, yet in order to be full-flavoured and -really intelligent beings--not merely with mechanical drift following -the line of least resistance--we ought to be aware that there is a -future,--a future determined to some extent by action in the present; -and it is only reasonable that we should seek to ascertain, roughly -and approximately, what sort of future it is likely to be. - -Inquiry into survival, and into the kind of experience through which -we shall all certainly have to go in a few years, is therefore -eminently sane, and may be vitally significant. It may colour all -our actions, and give a vivid meaning both to human history and to -personal experience. - -If death is not extinction, then on the other side of dissolution -mental activity must continue, and must be interacting with other -mental activity. For the fact of telepathy proves that bodily -organs are not absolutely essential to communication of ideas. Mind -turns out to be able to act directly on mind, and stimulate it into -response by other than material means. Thought does not belong to the -material region: although it is able to exert an influence on that -region through mechanism provided by vitality. Yet the means whereby -it accomplishes the feat are essentially unknown, and the fact that -such interaction is possible would be strange and surprising if we -were not too much accustomed to it. It is reasonable to suppose that -the mind can be more at home, and more directly and more exuberantly -active, where the need for such interaction between psychical and -physical--or let us more safely and specifically say between mental -and material--no longer exists, when the restraining influence -of brain and nerve mechanism is removed, and when some of the -limitations connected with bodily location in space are ended. - -Experience must be our guide. To shut the door on actual observation -and experiment in this particular region, because of preconceived -ideas and obstinate prejudices, is an attitude common enough, even -among scientific men; but it is an attitude markedly unscientific. -Certain people have decided that inquiry into the activities of -discarnate mind is futile; some few consider it impious; many, -perhaps wisely mistrusting their own powers, shrink from entering on -such an inquiry. But if there are any facts to be ascertained, it -must be the duty of some volunteers to try to ascertain them: and for -people having any acquaintance with scientific history to shut their -eyes to facts when definitely announced, and to forbid investigation -or report concerning them on pain of ostracism,--is to imitate a -bygone theological attitude in a spirit of unintended flattery--a -flattery which from every point of view is eccentric; and likewise to -display an extraordinary lack of humour. - - -ON THE POSSIBILITY OF PROGNOSTICATION - -I do not wish to complicate the issue at present by introducing -the idea of prognostication or prevision, for I do not understand -how anticipation of the future is possible. It is only known to be -possible by one of two processes-- - - (_a_) Inference--_i.e._ deduction from a wide knowledge of the - present; - - (_b_) Planning--_i.e._ the carrying out of a prearranged scheme. - -And these methods must be pressed to the utmost before admitting any -other hypothesis. - -As to the possibility of prevision in general, I do not dogmatise, -nor have I a theory wherewith to explain every instance; but I keep -an open mind and try to collate and contemplate the facts. - -Scientific prediction is familiar enough; science is always either -historic or prophetic (as Dr. Schuster said at Manchester in -the British Association Address for 1915), "and history is only -prophecy pursued in the negative direction." This thesis is worth -illustrating:--That Eclipses can be calculated forwards or backwards -is well known. A tide-calculating machine, again, which is used -to churn out tidal detail in advance by turning a handle, could be -as easily run backwards and give past tides if they were wanted; -but always on the assumption that no catastrophe, no unforeseen -contingency, nothing outside the limits of the data, occurs to -interfere with the placid course of phenomena. There must be no -dredging or harbour bar operations, for instance, if the tide machine -is to be depended on. Free-will is not allowed for, in Astronomy or -Physics; nor any interference by living agents. - -The real truth is that, except for unforeseen contingencies, past, -present, and future are welded together in a coherent whole; and -to a mind with wider purview, to whom perhaps hardly anything is -unforeseen, there may be possibilities of inference to an unsuspected -extent. Human character, and action based upon it, may be more -trustworthy and uncapricious than is usually supposed; and data -depending on humanity may be included in a completer scheme of -foreknowledge, without the exercise of any compulsion. "The past," -says Bertrand Russell eloquently, "does not change or strive; like -Duncan, after life's fitful fever it sleeps well; what was eager -and grasping, what was petty and transitory, has faded away; the -things that were beautiful and eternal shine out of it like stars in -the night." My ignorance will not allow me to attempt to compose a -similar or rather a contrasting sentence about the future. - -REFERENCE TO SPECIAL CASES - - It will be observed that none of those indications or - intimations or intuitions which are referred to in a - note on page 34, Part I, if they mean anything, raise - the difficult question of prevision. In every case the - impression was felt after or at the time of the event, - though before reception of the news. The only question - of possible prevision in the present instance arises in - connexion with the 'Faunus' message quoted and discussed - in Part II. But even here nothing more than kindly - provision, in case anything untoward should happen, need - be definitely assumed. Moreover, if the concurrence in - time suggests prognostication, the fact that a formidable - attempt to advance the English Front at the Ypres salient - was probably in prospect in August 1915, though not known - to ordinary people in England, and not fully carried - out till well on in September, must have been within - human knowledge; and so would have to be considered - telepathically accessible, if that hypothesis is - considered preferable to the admission of what Tennyson - speaks of as-- - - "Such refraction of events As often rises ere they rise." - - Prognostication can hardly be part of the evidence for - survival. The two things are not essential to each other; - they hardly appear to be connected. But one knows too - little about the whole thing to be sure even of this, and - I decline to take the responsibility for suppressing any - of the facts. I know that Mr. Myers used to express an - opinion that certain kinds of prevision would constitute - clear and satisfactory evidence of something supernormal, - and so attract attention; though the establishment of - such a possibility might tend to suggest a kind of higher - knowledge, not far short of what might be popularly - called omniscience, rather than of merely human survival. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -INTERACTION OF MIND AND MATTER - - "Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus - Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet." - - _Æneid_, vi. 726 - - -Life and mind and consciousness do not belong to the material region; -whatever they are in themselves, they are manifestly something quite -distinct from matter and energy, and yet they utilise the material -and dominate it. - -Matter is arranged and moved by means of energy, but often at the -behest of life and mind. Mind does not itself exert force, nor does -it enter into the scheme of physics, and yet it indirectly brings -about results which otherwise would not have happened. It definitely -causes movements and arrangements or constructions of a purposed -character. A bird grows a feather, and a bird builds a nest: I doubt -if there is less design in the one case than in the other. How life -achieves the guidance, how even it accomplishes the movements, is -a mystery, but that it does accomplish them is a commonplace of -observation. From the motion of a finger to the construction of an -aeroplane, there is but a succession of steps. From the growth of a -weed to the flight of an eagle,--from a yeast granule at one end, -to the human body at the other,--the organising power of life over -matter is conspicuous. - -Who can doubt the supremacy of the spiritual over the material? It is -a fact which, illustrated by trivial instances, may be pressed to the -most portentous consequences. - -If interaction between mind and matter really occurs, and if both -are persistent and enduring entities, there is no limit to the -possibilities under which such interaction may occur--no limit which -can be laid down beforehand--we must be guided and instructed solely -by experience. - -Whether the results produced are styled miraculous or not, depends -on our knowledge,--our knowledge of all the powers latent in nature, -and a knowledge of all the intelligences which exist. A savage on -his first encounter with white men must have come into contact with -what to him was supernatural. A letter, a gun, even artificial teeth, -have all aroused superstition; while a telegram must be obviously -miraculous, to anyone intelligent enough to perceive the wonder. A -colony of bees, unused to the ministrations or interference of man, -might puzzle itself over the provision made for its habitation and -activities, if it had intelligence enough to ponder the matter. -So human beings, if they are open-minded and developed enough to -contemplate all the happenings in which they are concerned, have been -led to recognise guidance; and they have responded to the perception -by the worshipful attitude of religion. In other words, they have -essentially recognised the existence of a Power transcending ordinary -nature--a Power that may properly be called supernatural. - - -MEANING OF THE TERM BODY - -Our experience of bodies here and now is that they are composed -of material particles derived from the earth, whether they be -bodies animated by vegetable or by animal forms of life. But I -take it that the real meaning of the term 'body' is a _means of -manifestation_,--perhaps a physical mode of manifestation adopted -by something which without such instrument or organ would be in a -different and elusive category. Why should we say that bodies must be -made of matter? Surely only because we know of nothing else of which -they could be made; but that lack of knowledge is not very efficient -as an argument. True, if they were made of anything else they would -not be apparent to us now, with our particular evolutionally-derived -sense organs; for these only inform us about matter and its -properties. Constructions built of Ether would have no chance of -appealing to our senses, they would not be apparent to us; they -would therefore not be what we ordinarily call bodies; at any rate -they would not be material bodies. In order to become apparent to us, -a psychical or vital entity must enter the material realm, and either -clothe itself with, or temporarily assimilate, material particles. - -It may be that etherial bodies do not exist; the burden of proof -rests upon those who conceive of their possible existence; but we -are bound to admit that even if they did exist, they would make no -impression on our senses. Hence if there are any intelligences in -another order of existence interlocked with ours, and if they can in -any sense be supposed to have bodies at all, those bodies must be -made either of Ether or of something equally intangible to us in our -present condition.[36] - -Yet, though intangible and elusive, we have reason to know that Ether -is substantial enough,--far more substantial indeed than matter, -which turns out to be a rare and filmy insertion in, or modification -of, the Ether of Space; and a different set of sense organs might -make the Ether eclipse matter in availability and usefulness. In my -book _The Ether of Space_ this thesis is elaborated from a purely -physical point of view. - -I wish, however, to make no assertion concerning the possible -psychical use of the Ether of Space. Anything of that kind must -be speculative; the only bodies we now know of in actual fact are -material bodies, and we must be guided by facts. Yet we must not shut -the door prematurely on other possibilities; and we can remember -that inspired writers have sometimes contemplated what they term a -spiritual body. - - -PERMANENCE OF BODY - -But why should anyone suppose a body of some kind always necessary? -Why should they assume a perpetual sort of dualism about existence? -The reason is that we have no knowledge of any other form of animate -existence; and it may be claimed as legitimate to assume that the -association between life and matter here on the planet has a real -and vital significance, that without such an episode of earth life -we should be less than we are, and that the relation is typical of -something real and permanent. - - "Such use may lie in blood and breath."--TENNYSON - -_Why_ matter should be thus useful to spirit and even to life it is -not easy to say. It may be that by the interaction of two things -better and newer results can always be obtained than was possible -for one alone. There are analogies enough for that. Do we not find -that genius seems to require the obstruction or the aid of matter -for its full development? The artist must enjoy being able to compel -refractory material to express his meaning. Didactic writings are -apt to emphasise the obstructiveness of matter; but that may be -because its usefulness seems self-evident. Our limbs, and senses, -and bodily faculties generally, are surely of momentous service; -microscopes and telescopes and laboratory instruments, and machinery -generally, are only extensions of them. Tools to the man who can -use them:--orchestra to the musician, lathe or theodolite to the -engineer, books and records to the historian, even though not much -more than pen and paper is needed by the poet or the mathematician. - -But our bodily organs are much more than any artificial tools can be, -they are part of our very being. The body is part of the constitution -of man. We are not spirit or soul alone,--though it is sometimes -necessary to emphasise the fact that we are soul at all,--we are in -truth soul and body together. And so I think we shall always be; -though our bodies need not always be composed of earthly particles. -Matter is the accidental part: there is an essential and more -permanent part, and the permanent part must survive. - -This is the strength, as I have said elsewhere and will not now -at any length repeat, of the sacramental claims and practices of -religion. Forms and customs which appeal to the body are a legitimate -part of the whole; and while some natures derive most benefit from -the exclusively psychical and spiritual essence, others probably do -well to prevent the more sensuous and more puzzling concomitants from -falling into disuse. - - [Footnote 36: That a great poet should have represented - the meeting between the still incarnate Æneas and his - discarnate father Anchises as a bodily disappointment, is - consistent:-- - - "Ter conatus ibi collo dare brachia circum; Ter frustra - comprensa manus effugit imago, Par levibus ventis, - volucrique simillima somno." - - _Æneid_, vi. 700 - - It may be said that what is intangible ought to be - invisible; but that does not follow. The Ether is a medium - for vision, not for touch. Ether and Ether may interact, - just as matter and matter interact; but interaction - between Ether and matter is peculiarly elusive.] - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -'RESURRECTION OF THE BODY' - - "Never the spirit was born; the spirit shall cease to be never." - - EDWIN ARNOLD - - -In the whole unknown drama of the soul the episode of bodily -existence must have profound significance. Matter cannot only be -obstructive, even usefully obstructive,--by which is meant the kind -of obstruction which stimulates to effort and trains for power, -like the hurdles in an obstacle race,--it must be auxiliary too. -Whatever may be the case with external matter, the body itself is -certainly an auxiliary, so long as it is in health and strength; -and it gives opportunity for the development of the soul in new and -unexpected ways--ways in which but for earth life its practice would -be deficient. This it is which makes calamity of too short a life. - -But let us not be over-despondent about the tragedy of the present. -It may be that the concentrated training and courageous facing of -fate which in most cases must have accompanied voluntary entry into -a dangerous war, compensates in intensity what it lacks in duration, -and that the benefit of bodily terrestrial life is not so much lost -by violent death of that kind as might at first appear. Yet even -with some such assurance, the spectacle of thousands of youths in -full vigour and joy of life having their earthly future violently -wrenched from them, amid scenes of grim horror and nerve-wracking -noise and confusion, is one which cannot and ought not to be regarded -with equanimity. It is a bad and unnatural truncation of an important -part of each individual career, a part which might have done much to -develop faculties and enlarge experience. - -Meanwhile, the very fact that we lament so sincerely this dire -and man-caused fate serves to illustrate the view we inevitably -take that the earth-body is not only a means of manifestation but -is a real servant of the soul,--that flesh can in some sense help -spirit as spirit can undoubtedly help flesh,--and that while its -very weaknesses are serviceable and stimulating, its strength is -exhilarating and superb. The faculties and powers developed in the -animal kingdom during all the millions of years of evolution, and -now inherited for better for worse by man, are not to be despised. -Those therefore who are able to think that some of the essential -elements or attributes of the body are carried forward into a higher -life--quite irrespective of the manifestly discarded material -particles which never were important to the body, for they were -always in perpetual flux as individual molecules--those, I say, who -think that the value derived and acquired through the body survives, -and becomes a permanent possession of the soul, may well feel that -they can employ the mediæval phrase "resurrection of the body" to -express their perception. They may feel that it is a truth which -needs emphasising all the more from its lack of obviousness. These -old phrases, consecrated by long usage, and familiar to all the -saints, though their early and superficial meaning is evidently -superseded, may be found to have an inner and spiritual significance -which when once grasped should be kept in memory, and brought before -attention, and sustained against challenge: in no case should they be -lightly or hastily discarded. - -It seems not altogether fanciful to trace some similarity or analogy, -between the ideas about inheritance usually associated with the name -of Weismann, and the inheritance or conveyance of bodily attributes, -or of powers acquired through the body, into the future life of the -soul. - -When considering whether anything, or what, is likely to be -permanent, the answer turns upon whether or not the soul has been -affected. Mere bodily accidents of course are temporary; loss of an -arm or an eye is no more carried on as a permanent disfigurement than -it is transmissible to offspring. But, apart from accidents which may -happen to the body, there are some evil things--rendered accessible -by and definitely associated with the body--which assault and hurt -the soul. And the effect of these is transmissible, and may become -permanent. Habits which write their mark on the countenance--whether -the writing be good or bad--are not likely to take effect on -the body alone. And in this sense also future existence may be -either glorified or stained, for a time, by persistence of bodily -traits,--by this kind of "resurrection of the body." - -Furthermore it is found that although bodily marks, scars and wounds, -are clearly not of soul-compelling and permanent character, yet -for purposes of identification, and when re-entering the physical -atmosphere for the purpose of communication with friends, these -temporary marks are re-assumed; just as the general appearance at -the remembered age, and details connected with clothes and little -unessential tricks of manner, may--in some unknown sense--be assumed -too. - -And it is to this category that I would attribute the curious -interest still felt in old personal possessions. They are attended to -and recalled, not for what by a shopman is called their 'value,' but -because they furnish useful and welcome evidence of identity; they -are like the _pièces de conviction_ brought up at a trial, they bear -silent witness to remembered fact. And in so far as the disposal or -treatment of them by survivors is evidence of the regard in which -their late owner was held, it is unlikely that they should have -suddenly become matters of complete indifference. Nothing human, in -the sense of affecting the human spirit, can be considered foreign to -a friendly and sympathetic soul, even though his new preoccupations -and industries and main activities are of a different order. It -appears as if, for the few moments of renewed earthly intercourse, -the newer surroundings shrink for a time into the background. They -are remembered, but not vividly. Indeed it seems difficult to live -in both worlds at once, especially after the life-long practice here -of living almost exclusively in one. Those whose existence here was -coloured or ennobled by wider knowledge and higher aims seem likely -to have the best chance of conveying instructive information across -the boundary; though their developed powers may be of such still -higher value, that only from a sense of duty or in a missionary -spirit can they be expected to absent them from felicity while in -order to help the brethren. - -Quotation of a passage from Plotinus seems here permissible:-- - -"Souls which once were in men, when they leave the body, need not -cease from benefiting mankind. Some indeed, in addition to other -services, give occult messages (oracular replies), thus proving by -their own case that other souls also survive" (_Enn._ IV. vii. 15). - - * * * * * - -As a digression of some importance, I venture to say that claims of -thoughtless and pertinacious people upon the charitable and eminent, -even here, are often excessive: it is to be hoped that such claims -become less troublesome and less effective hereafter; but it is a -hope without much foundation. Remonstrances are useless, however, -for only the more thoughtful and those most deserving of help are -likely to attend to remonstrances. Nevertheless--useless or not--it -behoves one to make them. We are indeed taught that in exceptional -cases there may ultimately supervene such an extraordinary elevation -of soul that no trouble is too great, and no appeal is unheard. But -still, even in the Loftiest case of all, the episode of having passed -through a human body contributes to the power of sympathising with -and aiding ordinary humanity. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -MIND AND BRAIN - - "For nothing is that errs from law."--TENNYSON - - -It is sometimes thought that memory is located in the brain; and -undoubtedly there must be some physiological process at work in the -brain when any incident of memory is recalled and either uttered or -written. But it does not at all follow that memory itself is located -in the brain; though there must be some easier channel, or some -already prepared path, which enables an idea to be translated from -the general mental reservoir into consciousness, with clarity and -power sufficient to stimulate the necessary nerves and muscles into a -condition adequate for reproduction. - -Sometimes in order to remember a thing, one writes it in a note-book; -and the memory may be said to be in the note-book about as accurately -as it may be said to be in the brain. A physical process has put it -in the note-book; there is a physical configuration persisting there; -and when a sort of reverse physical process is repeated, it can be -got back into consciousness by simply what we call 'looking' at the -book and reading. But surely the real memory is in the _mind_ all the -time, and the deposit in the note-book is a mere detent for calling -it out or for making it easy of recovery. In order to communicate -any information we must focus attention on it; and whether we -focus attention on a part of the brain or on a page of a note-book -matters very little; the attention itself is a mental process, not a -physiological one, though it has a physiological concomitant. - -This is an important matter, the keystone in fact of our problem -about the connexion between mind and matter, and I propose to amplify -its treatment further; for this is an unavoidably controversial -portion of the book. - - -THE SEAT OF MEMORY - -I am familiar with all the usual analogies drawn between organic -habit and memory on the one hand, and the more ready repetition of -physical processes by inorganic material on the other. Imperfectly -elastic springs, for instance, which show reminiscences of previous -bendings or twistings by their subsequent unwindings; and cogs which -wear into smooth running by repetition; are examples of this kind. -A violin which by long practice becomes more musical in tone, is -another; or a path which by being often traversed becomes easier to -the feet. A flower-bed recently altered in shape, by being partly -grassed over, is liable to exhibit its former outline by aid of bulbs -and other half-forgotten growths which come up through the grass in -the old pattern. - -This last is a striking example of apparent memory, not indeed in the -inorganic but in the unconscious world; where indeed it is prevalent, -for every one must recognise the memory of animals--there can be no -doubt of that. And it would seem that a kind of race-memory must be -invoked to account for many surprising cases of instinct; of which -the building of specific birds' nests, and the accurate pecking of a -newly-hatched chicken, are among the stock instances. No experience -can be lodged in the _brain_ of the newly-hatched! - -That some sort of stored facility should exist in the adult brain, -is in no way surprising; and that there is some physical or -physiological concomitant of actual remembrance is plain; but that is -a very different thing from asserting that memory itself, or any kind -of consciousness, is located in the brain; though truly without the -aid of the brain it is, as far as this planet is concerned, latent -and inaccessible. - -Plotinus puts the matter in an interesting but perhaps rather too -extreme form:-- - - "As to memory, the body is an impediment ... the unstable - and fluctuating nature of the body makes for oblivion not - for memory. Body is a veritable River of Lethe. Memory - belongs to the soul" (_Enn._ IV. iii. 26). - -The actual reproduction or remembrance of a fact--the demonstration -or realisation of memory--undoubtedly depends on brain and muscle -mechanism; but memory itself turns out to be essentially mental, -and is found to exist apart from the bodily mechanism which helped -originally to receive and store the impression. And though without -that same or some equivalent mechanism we cannot get at it, so that -it cannot be displayed to others, yet in my experience it turns out -not to be absolutely necessary to use actually the same instrument -for its reproduction as was responsible for its deposition: -though undoubtedly to use the same is easier and helpful. In the -early Edison phonographs the same instrument had to be used for -both reception and reproduction; but now a record can readily be -transferred from one instrument to another. This may be regarded as -a rough mechanical analogy to the telepathic or telergic process -whereby a psychic reservoir of memory can be partially tapped through -another organism. - -But, apart from any consideration of what may be regarded as -doubtful or uncertain, there are some facts about the relation of -brain to consciousness, which, though universally admitted, are -frequently misinterpreted. Injure the brain, and consciousness -is lost. 'Lost' is the right word--not 'destroyed.' Repair the -lesion, and consciousness may be restored, i.e. normal manifestation -of consciousness can once more occur. It is the _display_ of -consciousness, in all such cases, that we mean when we speak of the -effect of brain injury; the utilisation of bodily organs is necessary -for its exhibition. If the bodily organs do not exist, or are too -damaged, no normal manifestation is possible. That is the fact which -may be misinterpreted. - -In general we may say, with fair security, that no receptivity to -physical phenomena exists save through sense-organ, nerve, and brain; -nor any initiation of physical phenomena, save through brain, nerve, -and muscle. Apart from physical phenomena consciousness is isolated -and inaccessible: we have no right to say that it is non-existent. -In ordinary usage it is not customary or necessary to be always -harping on this completer aspect of things: it is only necessary when -misunderstanding has arisen from uniformly inaccurate, or rather -unguarded, modes of expression. - -In an excellent lecture by Dr. Mott on "The Effects of High -Explosives upon the Central Nervous System," I find this sentence:-- - -"It is known that a continuous supply of oxygen is essential for -consciousness." - -What is intended is clear enough, but analysed strictly this -assertion goes far beyond what is known. We do not really know that -oxygen, or any form of matter, has anything to do with consciousness: -all that we know, and all that Dr. Mott really means to say, I -presume, is that without a supply of oxygen consciousness gives no -physical sign. - -Partial interruptions of physical manifestations of consciousness -well illustrate this: as, for instance, when speech-centres of -the brain alone are affected. If in such case we had to depend on -mouth-muscle alone we should say that consciousness had departed, and -might even think that it was non-existent; but the arm-muscle may -remain under brain control, and by intelligent writing can show that -consciousness is there all the time, and that it is only inhibited -from one of the specially easy modes of manifestation. In some cases -the inhibition may be complete,--from such cases we do not learn -much; but when it is only partial we learn a good deal. - -I quote again from Dr. Mott, omitting for brevity the detailed -description of certain surgical war-cases, under his care, which -precedes the following explanatory interjection and summary:-- - - "Why should these men, whose silent thoughts are perfect, - be unable to speak? They comprehend all that is said - to them unless they are deaf; but it is quite clear - that [even] in these cases their internal language - is unaffected, for they are able to express their - thoughts and judgments perfectly well by writing, even - if they are deaf. The mutism is therefore not due to - an intellectual defect, nor is it due to volitional - inhibition of language in silent thought. Hearing, the - primary incitation to vocalisation and speech, is usually - unaffected, yet they are unable to speak; they cannot - even whisper, cough, whistle, or laugh aloud. Many who - are unable to speak voluntarily yet call out in their - dreams expressions they have used in trench warfare and - battle. Sometimes this is followed by return of speech, - but more often not. One man continually shouted out in - his sleep, but he did not recover voluntary speech or - power of phonation till eight months after admission to - the hospital for shell-shock." - -Very well, all this interesting experience serves among other things -to illustrate our simple but occasionally overlooked thesis. For it -is through physical phenomena that normally we apprehend, here and -now; and it is by aid of physical phenomena that we convey to others -our wishes, our impressions, our ideas, and our memories. Dislocate -the physical from the psychical, and communication ceases. Restore -the connexion, in however imperfect a form, and once more incipient -communication may become possible again. - -That is the rationale of the process of human intercourse. Do we -understand it? No. Do we understand even how our own mind operates on -our own body? No. We know for a fact that it does. - -Do we understand how a mind can with difficulty and imperfectly -operate another body submitted to its temporary guidance and control? -No. Do we know for a fact that it does? Aye, that is the question--a -question of evidence. I myself answer the question affirmatively; -not on theoretical grounds--far from that--but on a basis of -straightforward experience. Others, if they allow themselves to take -the trouble to get the experience, will come to the same conclusion. - -Will they do so best by allowing their own bodies or brains to be -utilised? No, that seems not even the best, and certainly not the -only way. It may not, for the majority of people, be a possible -way. The sensitive or medium who serves us, by putting his or her -bodily mechanism at our disposal, is not likely to be best informed -concerning the nature of the process. Mediums have perhaps but -little conscious information to give us concerning their powers; we -must learn from what they do, not from what they say. The outside -observer, the experimenter, whose senses are alert all the time and -who continues fully conscious without special receptivity or any -peculiar power of his own, is in a better position to note and judge -what is happening,--at least from the normal and scientific point of -view. Let us be as cautious and critical, aye and as sceptical as we -like, but let us also be patient and persevering and fair; do not let -us start with a preconceived notion of what is possible and what is -impossible in this almost unexplored universe; let us only be willing -to learn and be guided by facts, not by dogmas; and gradually the -truth will permeate our understanding and make for itself a place in -our minds as secure as in any other branch of observational science. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -LIFE AND CONSCIOUSNESS - - -The limitation of scope which eminent Professors of a certain school -of modern science have laid down for themselves is forcibly expressed -by one of the ablest of their champions thus:-- - - "No sane man has ever pretended, since science became a - definite body of doctrine, that we know or ever can hope - to know or conceive the possibility of knowing whence - the mechanism has come, why it is there, whither it is - going, or what may be beyond and beside it which our - senses are incapable of appreciating. These things are - not 'explained' by science and never can be."--SIR E. RAY - LANKESTER. - -I should myself hesitate to promulgate such a markedly _non-possumus_ -and _ignorabimus_ statement concerning the scope of physical science, -even as narrowly and popularly understood; but it illuminates the -position taken up by those _savants_ who are commonly known as -Materialists, and explains their expressed though non-personal -hostility to other scientific men who seek to exceed the boundaries -laid down, and investigate things beyond the immediate range of the -senses. - -Eliminating the future tense from the statement, however, I can -agree with it. The instrument of translation from the mental to the -physical, and back from the physical to the mental, is undoubtedly -the brain, but as to how the translation is accomplished, I venture -to say, we have not the inkling of an idea. Nevertheless, hints which -may gradually lead towards a partial understanding of psycho-physical -processes may be gained by study of exceptional cases: for such study -is often more instructive than continued scrutiny of the merely -normal. - -The fact of human consciousness, though it raises the problem to a -high degree of conspicuousness, by no means exhausts the difficulty; -for it is one which faces us in connexion with every form of life. -The association of life with matter, and of mind with life, are -problems of similar order, and a glimmering of understanding of -the one may be expected to throw light upon the other. But until -we know more of the method by which the simplest and most familiar -psycho-physical interaction occurs--until we know enough to see -how the gulf between two apparently different Modes of Being is -bridged--it is safest to observe and accumulate facts, and to be very -chary of making more than the most tentative and cautious of working -hypotheses. For to frame even a tentative hypothesis, of any helpful -kind, may require some clue which as yet we do not possess. - -I have been struck by the position taken by Dr. Chalmers Mitchell in -his notable small book _Evolution and the War_, the early chapters of -which, on Germany of the past and present, I would like unreservedly -to commend to the reader. Indeed, commendation of a friendly and -non-patronising kind may well extend to the whole book, although it -must be admitted that here and there mere exposition of Darwinism is -suspended, and difficult and debatable questions are touched upon. - -On these questions I would not like to be understood as expressing -a hasty opinion, either against or for the views of the author. -The points at issue between us are more or less fine-drawn, and -cannot be dealt with parenthetically; nor do I ever propose to deal -with them in a controversial manner. The author, as a biologist of -fame, is more than entitled to such expression of his own views -as he has cared to give. I quote with admiration, not necessarily -with agreement, a few passages from the part dealing with the -relation between mind and matter, and especially with the wide and -revolutionary difference between man and animal caused by either the -evolution or the incoming of free and conscious Choice. - -He will not allow, with Bergson and others, that the roots of -consciousness, in its lower grades, go deep down into the animal, -and even perhaps into the vegetable, kingdom; he has no patience -with those who associate elementary consciousness and freedom and -indeterminateness not merely with human life but with all life, and -who detect rudiments of purpose and intelligence in the protozoa. -Nor, on the other hand, does he approve the dogmatic teaching of the -'ultra-scientific' school, which, being obsessed by the idea of man's -animal origin, interprets human nature solely in terms of protoplasm. -He opposes the possibility of this by saying:-- - -"However fruitful and interesting it may be to remember that we are -rooted deep in the natal mud, our possession of consciousness and the -sense of freedom is a vital and overmastering distinction." - -On the more interesting of the above-mentioned alternatives Dr. -Chalmers Mitchell expresses himself thus:-- - - "The Bergsonian interpretation does nothing to make - consciousness and freedom more intelligible; and by - extending them from man, in whom we know them to exist, - to animals, in which their presence is at best an - inference, it not only robs them of definiteness and - reality, but it blurs the real distinction between men - and animals, and evades the most difficult problem - of science and philosophy. The facts are more truly - represented by such phraseology as that animals - are instinctive, man is intelligent, animals are - irresponsible, man is responsible, animals are automata, - man is free; or if you like, that God gave animals a - beautiful body, man a rational soul...." - -And soon afterwards he continues:-- - -"Not 'envisaging itself,' not being at once actor, spectator, and -critic, 'living in the flashing moment,' not seeing the past and the -present and the future separately, this is the highest at which we -can put the consciousness of animals, and herein lies the distinction -between man and the animals which makes the overwhelming difference. - - "Must we then suppose, with Russel Wallace, that - somewhere on the upward path from the tropical forests - to the groves of Paradise, a soul was interpolated from - an outside source into the gorilla-like ancestry of man? - I do not think so, although I not only admit but assert - that such a view gives a more accurate statement of fact - than does either of the fashionable doctrines that I - have discussed. I believe with Darwin, that as the body - of man has been evolved from the body of animals, so the - intellectual, emotional, and moral faculties of man have - been evolved from the qualities of animals. I help myself - towards the comprehension of the process by reflecting on - two phenomena of observation [which he proceeds to cite]. - I help myself, and perchance may help others; no more; - could I speak dogmatically on what is the central mystery - of all science and all philosophy and all thought, my - words would roll with the thunder of Sinai." - -Let it not be supposed for a moment that this distinguished biologist -is in agreement with me on many matters dealt with in the present book. -If he were, he would, I believe, achieve a more admirable and eloquent -work than is consistent with the technically 'apologetic' tone which, -in the present state of the scientific atmosphere, it behoves me to -take. To guard against unwelcome misrepresentation of his views, and -yet at the same time to indicate their force, I will make one more -quotation:-- - - "Writing as a hard-shell Darwinian evolutionist, a - lover of the scalpel and microscope, and of patient, - empirical observation, as one who dislikes all forms - of supernaturalism, and who does not shrink from the - implications even of the phrase that thought is a - secretion of the brain as bile is a secretion of the - liver, I assert as a biological fact that the moral - law is as real and as external to man as the starry - vault. It has no secure seat in any single man or in any - single nation. It is the work of the blood and tears - of long generations of men. It is not, in man, inborn - or innate, but is enshrined in his traditions, in his - customs, in his literature and his religion. Its creation - and sustenance are the crowning glory of man, and his - consciousness of it puts him in a high place above the - animal world. Men live and die; nations rise and fall, - but the struggle of individual lives and of individual - nations must be measured not by their immediate needs, - but as they tend to the debasement or perfection of man's - great achievement." - -My own view, which in such matters I only put forth with diffidence -and brevity, is more in favour of Continuity. I do not trace so -catastrophic a break between man and animals, nor between animal and -vegetable, perhaps not even between organised and unorganised forms of -matter, as does Dr. Chalmers Mitchell. - -I would venture to extend the range of the term 'soul' down to a very -large denominator,--to cases in which the magnitude of the fraction -becomes excessively minute,--and tentatively admit to the possibility -of survival, though not individual survival, every form of life. As to -Individuality and Personality--they can only survive where they already -exist; when they really exist they persist; but bare survival, as an -alternative to improbable extinction, may be widespread. - -Matter forms an instrument, a means of manifestation, but it need -not be the only one possible. We have utilised matter to build up -this beautiful bodily mechanism, but, when that is done with, _the -constructive ability remains_; and it can be expected to exercise -its organising powers in other than material environment. If this -hypothesis be true at all (and admittedly I am now making hypothesis) -_it must be true of all forms of life_; for what the process of -evolution has accomplished here may be accomplished elsewhere, under -conditions at present unknown.[37] So I venture to surmise that the -surroundings of non-material existence will be far more homely and -habitual than people in general have been accustomed to think likely. - -And how do I know that the visible material body of anything is all -the body, or all the existence, it possesses? Why should not things -exist also, or have etherial counterparts, in an etherial world? -Perhaps everything has already an etherial counterpart, of which our -senses tell us the material aspect only. I do not know. Such an idea -may be quoted as an absurdity; but if the evidence drives me in that -direction, in that direction I will go, without undue resistance. -There have been those who do not wait to be driven, but who lead; and -the inspired guidance of Plotinus in that direction may secure more -attention, and attract more disciples, when the way is illuminated by -discoverable facts. - -Meanwhile facts await discovery. - - * * * * * - -Passages from Plotinus, it may be remembered, are eloquently -translated by F. W. H. Myers, from the obscure and often -ungrammatical Greek, in _Human Personality_, vol. ii. pp. 289-291; -and readers of S.P.R. _Proceedings_, vol. xxii, pp. 108-172, will -remember the development by Mrs. Verall of the [Greek: kai autos -ouranos akumôn] motto prefixed to F. W. H. Myers's post-humously -published poem on Tennyson in _Fragments of Prose and Poetry_. - -My reference just above to teachings of Plotinus about the kind of -things to be met with in the other world, or the etherial world, or -whatever it may be called, is due to information from Professor J. -H. Muirhead that, roughly speaking, Plotinus teaches that things -there are on the same plan as things here: each thing here having -its counterpart or corresponding existence there, though glorified -and fuller of reality. Not to misrepresent this doctrine, but to -illustrate it as far as can be by a short passage, Professor Muirhead -has given me the following translation from the _Enneads_:-- - - "But again let us speak thus: For since we hold that - _this_ universe is framed after the pattern of _That_, - every living thing must needs first be There; and since - Its Being is perfect, all must be There. Heaven then must - There be a living thing nor void of what are here called - stars; indeed such things belong to heaven. Clearly too - the earth which is There is not an empty void, but much - more full of life, wherein are all creatures that are - here called land animals and plants that are rooted in - life. And sea is There, and all water in ebb and flow and - in abiding life, and all creatures that are in the water. - And air is a part of the all that is There, and creatures - of the air in accordance with the nature and laws of air. - For in the Living how should living things fail? How then - can any living thing fail to be There, seeing that as - each of the great parts of nature is, so needs must be - the living things that therein are? As then Heaven is, - and There exists, so are and exist all the creatures that - inhabit it; nor can these fail to be, else would those - (on earth?) not be." - - _Enn._ VI. vii. - -The reason why this strange utterance or speculation is reproduced -here is because it seems to some extent to correspond with curious -statements recorded in another part of this book; _e.g._ in Chapter -XIV, Part II. - -I expect that it would be misleading to suppose that the terms used by -Plotinus really signify any difference of locality. It may be nearer -the truth to suppose that when freed from our restricting and only -matter-revealing senses we become aware of much that was and is 'here' -all the time, interfused with the existence which we knew;--forming -part indeed of the one and only complete existence, of which our -present normal knowledge is limited to a single aspect. We might think -and speak of many interpenetrating universes, and yet recognise that -ultimately they must be all one. It is not likely that the Present -differs from what we now call the Future except in our mode of -perceiving it. - - [Footnote 37: I wish to emphasise this paragraph, as - perhaps an important one.] - - - - -CHAPTER X - -ON MEANS OF COMMUNICATION - - "In scientific truth there is no finality, and there - should therefore be no dogmatism. When this is forgotten, - then science will become stagnant, and its high-priests - will endeavour to strangle new learning at its birth."--R. - A. GREGORY, _Discovery_. - - -How does mind communicate with mind? Our accustomed process is -singularly indirect. - -Speech is the initiation of muscular movements, under brain and -nerve guidance, which result in the production of atmospheric -pulsations--alternate condensations and rarefactions--which spread -out in all directions in a way that can be likened superficially -to the spreading of ripples on a pond. In themselves the aerial -pulsations have no psychical connotation, and are as purely -mechanical as are those ripples, though like the indentations on the -wax of a phonograph their sequence is cunningly contrived; and it is -in their sequence that the code lies--a code which anyone who has -struggled with a foreign language knows is difficult to learn. Sound -waves have in some respects a still closer analogy with the etherial -pulsations generated at a wireless-telegraph sending station, which -affect all sensitive receiving instruments within range and convey a -code by their artificially induced sequence. - -Hearing is reception of a small modicum of the above aerial -pulsations, by suitable mechanism which enables them to stimulate -ingeniously contrived nerve-endings, and so at length to affect -auditory centres in the brain, and to get translated into the -same kind of consciousness as was responsible for the original -utterance. The whole is done so quickly and easily, by the perfect -physiological mechanism provided, that the indirect and surprising -nature of the process is usually overlooked; as most things are when -they have become familiar. Wireless telegraphy is not an iota more -marvellous, but, being unfamiliar, it has aroused a sense of wonder. - -Writing and Reading by aid of black marks on a piece of paper, -perceived by means of the Ether instead of the air, and through -the agency of the eye instead of the ear,--though the symbols are -ultimately to be interpreted as if heard,--hardly need elaboration -in order to exhibit their curiously artificial and complicated -indirectness: and in their case an element of delay, even a long -time-interval--perhaps centuries--may intervene between production -and reception. - -Artistic representation also, such as painting or music, though of -a less articulate character, less dependent on purely linguistic -convention and less limited by nationality, is still truly -astonishing when intellectually regarded. An arrangement of pigments -designed for the reception and modification and re-emission or -reflexion of ether-tremors, in the one case; and, in the other, -a continuous series of complicated vibrations excited by grossly -mechanical means; intervene between the minds of painter and -spectator, of composer and auditor, or, in more general terms, -between agent and percipient,--again with possible great lapse of -time. - -That ideas and feelings, thus indirectly and mechanically transmitted -or stored, can affect the sensitive soul in unmistakable fashion, is -a fact of experience; but that deposits in matter are competent to -produce so purely psychic an effect can surely only be explained in -terms of the potentialities and previous experience of the mind or -soul itself. No emotional influence can be expressed, or rendered -intelligible, in terms of matter. Matter is an indirect medium -of communication between mind and mind. That direct telepathic -intercourse should be able to occur between mind and mind, without -all this intermediate physical mechanism, is therefore not really -surprising. It has to be proved, no doubt, but the fact is -intrinsically less puzzling than many of those other facts to which -we have grown hardened by usage. - -Why should telepathy be unfamiliar to us? Why should it seem only an -exceptional or occasional method of communication? There is probably, -as M. Bergson has said, an evolutionary advantage in our present -almost exclusive limitation to mechanical and physical methods of -communication; for these are under muscular control and can be shut -off. We can isolate ourselves from them, if not in a mechanical, then -in a topographical manner: we can go away, out of range. We could not -thus protect ourselves against insistent telepathy. Hence probably -the practical usefulness of the inhibiting and abstracting power of -the brain; a power which in some lunatics is permanently deficient. - -Physical things can reach consciousness--if at all--only through the -brain; that remains true as regards physical things, however much we -may admit telepathy from other minds; and, conversely, only through -the brain can we operate with conscious purpose on the material -world. To any more direct mental or spiritual intercourse we are, -unless specially awakened, temporarily dead or asleep. There is some -inversion of ordinary ideas here, for a state of trance appears to -rouse or free the dormant faculties, and to render direct intercourse -more possible. At any rate it does this for some people. For we find -here and there, a few perfectly sane individuals, from whom, when in -a rather exceptional state, the customary brain-limitation seems to -be withdrawn or withdrawable. Their minds cease to be isolated for a -time, and are accessible to more direct influences. Not the familiar -part of their minds, not the part accustomed to operate and to be -operated on by the habitually used portion of brain, no, but what is -called a subliminal stratum of mind, a part only accessible perhaps -to physical things through an ordinarily unused and only subconscious -portion of the brain. - -The occurrence of such people, _i.e._ of people with such exceptional -and really simple faculties, could not have been predicted or -expected on a basis of everyday experience; but if evidence is -forthcoming for their existence--even although it be not quite -of an ordinary character--and if we can make examination of the -subject-matter and criticise the statements of fact which are thus -receivable, there is no sort of sense in opposing the facts by -adducing preconceived negative opinions about impossibility, and -declining to look into the evidence or judge of the results. There -were people once who would not look at the satellites of Jupiter, -lest their cherished convictions should be disturbed. There was -a mathematician not long ago who would not see an experimental -demonstration of conical refraction, lest if it failed his confidence -in refined optical theory should be upset. And so, strange to -say, there are people to-day who deny the fact, and condemn the -investigation, of any manner of communication outside the realm of -ordinary commonplace experience: having no ground at all for their -denial save prejudice. - -Well, like other little systems, they have their day and cease to be. -We need not attend to them overmuch. If the facts of the Universe -have come within our contemplation, a certain amount of contemporary -blindness, though it may surprise, need not perplex us. The study -of the material side of things, under the limitations appropriate -thereto, has done splendid service. Only gradually can mental scope -be enlarged to take in not only all this but more also. - -In so far as those who are open to the less well-defined and more -ambitious region are ignorant or unresponsive to what has been -achieved in the material realm, it is no wonder that their asserted -enlargement of scope is not credited. It does not seem likely that -a new revelation has been vouchsafed to them, when they are so -ignorant concerning the other and already recognised kind of Natural -knowledge. They cannot indeed have attained information through the -same channels, or in the same way. And it is this dislocation of -knowledge, this difference of atmosphere, this barely reconcilable -attitude of two diverse groups of people--though occasionally, by the -device of water-tight compartments, the same individual has breathed -both kinds of air and belonged to both groups--it is this bifurcation -of method that has retarded mutual understanding. There are -pugnacious members of either group who try to strengthen their own -position by decrying the methods of the other; and were it not for -the occurrence from time to time of a Wallace or a Crookes, _i.e._ -of men who combine in their own persons something of both kinds of -knowledge, attained not by different but by similar methods--all -their theses being maintained and justified on scientific grounds, -and after experimental inquiry--the chances for a reasonable and -scientific outlook into a new region, and ultimately over the -border-line into the domain of religion, would not be encouraging. -The existence of such men, however, has given the world pause, has -sometimes checked its facile abuse, and has brought it occasionally -into a reflective, perhaps now even into a partially receptive, mood. -We need not be in any hurry, though we can hardly help hoping for -quick progress if the new knowledge can in any way alleviate the -terrible amount of sorrow in the world at present; moreover, if a new -volume is to be opened in man's study of the Universe, it is time -that the early chapters were being perused. - -It may be asked, do I recommend all bereaved persons to devote the -time and attention which I have done to getting communications and -recording them? Most certainly I do not. I am a student of the -subject, and a student often undertakes detailed labour of a special -kind. I recommend people in general to learn and realise that their -loved ones are still active and useful and interested and happy--more -alive than ever in one sense--and to make up their minds to live a -useful life till they rejoin them. - -What steps should be taken to gain this peaceful assurance must -depend on the individual. Some may get it from the consolations of -religion, some from the testimony of trusted people, while some -may find it necessary to have first-hand experience of their own -for a time. And if this experience can be attained privately, with -no outside assistance, by quiet and meditation or by favour of -occasional waking dreams, so much the better. - -What people should not do, is to close their minds to the possibility -of continued existence except in some lofty and inaccessible and -essentially unsuitable condition; they should not selfishly seek to -lessen pain by discouraging all mention, and even hiding everything -likely to remind them, of those they have lost; nor should they give -themselves over to unavailing and prostrating grief. Now is the time -for action; and it is an ill return to those who have sacrificed -all and died for the Country if those left behind do not throw off -enervating distress and helpless lamentation, and seek to live for -the Country and for humanity, to the utmost of their power. - -Any steps which are calculated to lead to this wholesome result in -any given instance are justified; and it is not for me to offer -advice as to the kind of activity most appropriate to each individual -case. - - * * * * * - -I have suggested that the new knowledge, when generally established -and incorporated with existing systems, will have a bearing and -influence on the region hitherto explored by other faculties, and -considered to be the domain of faith. It certainly must be so, -whether the suggested expansion of scientific scope is welcomed or -not. Certainly the conclusions to which I myself have been led by -one mode of access are not contradictory of the conclusions which -have been arrived at by those who (naturally) seem to me the more -enlightened theologians; though I must confess that with some of -the ecclesiastical superstructure which has descended to us from a -bygone day, a psychic investigator can have but little sympathy. -Indeed he only refrains from attacking it because he feels that, left -to itself, it will be superseded by higher and better knowledge, -and will die a natural death. There is too much wheat mingled with -the tares to render it safe for any but an ecclesiastical expert to -attempt to uproot them. - -Meanwhile, although some of the official exponents of Christian -doctrine condemn any attempt to explore things of this kind by -secular methods; while others refrain from countenancing any results -thus obtained; there are many who would utilise them in their -teaching if they conscientiously could, and a few who have already -begun to do so, on the strength of their own knowledge, however -derived, and in spite of the risk of offending weaker brethren.[38] - - [Footnote 38: For instance, a book called _The Gospel of - the Hereafter_, by Dr. J. Paterson Smyth, of Montreal, may - be brought to the notice of anyone who, while clinging - tightly to the essential tenets of orthodox Christianity, - and unwilling or unable to enter upon a course of study, - would gladly interpret eastern and mediæval phrases in a - sense not repugnant to the modern spirit.] - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -ON THE FACT OF SUPERNORMAL COMMUNICATION - - "But he, the spirit himself, may come - Where all the nerve of sense is numb." - - TENNYSON, _In Memoriam_ - - -However it be accomplished, and whatever reception the present-day -scientific world may give to the assertion, there are many now who -know, by first-hand experience, that communication is possible across -the boundary--if there is a boundary--between the world apprehended -by our few animal-derived senses and the larger existence concerning -which our knowledge is still more limited. - -Communication is not easy, but it occurs; and humanity has reason -to be grateful to those few individuals who, finding themselves -possessed of the faculty of mediumship, and therefore able to act as -intermediaries, allow themselves to be used for this purpose. - -Such means of enlarging our knowledge, and entering into relations -with things beyond animal ken, can be abused like any other power: it -can be played with by the merely curious, or it can be exploited in -a very mundane and unworthy way in the hope of warping it into the -service of selfish ends, in the same way as old and long accessible -kinds of knowledge have too often been employed. But it can also be -used reverently and seriously, for the very legitimate purpose of -comforting the sorrowful, helping the bereaved, and restoring some -portion of the broken link between souls united in affection but -separated for a time by an apparently impassable barrier. The barrier -is turning out to be not hopelessly obdurate after all; intercourse -between the two states is not so impossible as had been thought; -something can be learnt about occurrences from either side; and -gradually it is probable that a large amount of consistent and fairly -coherent knowledge will be accumulated. - -Meanwhile broken ties of affection have the first claim; and early -efforts at communication from the departed are nearly always directed -towards assuring survivors of the fact of continued personal -existence, towards helping them to realise that changed surroundings -have in no way weakened love or destroyed memory, and urging upon -their friends with eager insistence that earthly happiness need -not be irretrievably spoiled by bereavement. For purposes of this -kind many trivial incidents are recalled, such as are well adapted -to convince intimate friends and relatives that one particular -intelligence, and no other, must be the source from which the -messages ultimately spring, through whatever intermediaries they have -to be conveyed. And to people new to the subject such messages are -often immediately convincing. - -Further thought, however, raises difficulties and doubts. The -gradually recognized possibility of what may be called normal -telepathy, or unconscious mind-reading from survivors, raises -hesitation--felt most by studious and thoughtful people--about -accepting such messages as irrefragable evidence of persistent -personal existence; and to overcome this curious and unexpected and -perhaps rather artificial difficulty, it is demanded that facts -shall be given which are unknown to anyone present, and can only -subsequently be verified. Communications of this occasional and -exceptional kind are what are called, by psychic investigators, more -specifically 'evidential': and time and perhaps good fortune may be -required for their adequate reception and critical appreciation. -For it is manifest that most things readily talked about between -two friends, and easily reproducible in hasty conversation, will -naturally be of a nature common to both, and on subjects well within -each other's knowledge. - -The more recent development of an elaborate scheme of -'cross-correspondence,' entered upon since the death of specially -experienced and critical investigators of the S.P.R., who were -familiar with all these difficulties, and who have taken strong -and most ingenious means to overcome them, has made the proof, -already very strong, now almost crucial. The only alternative, in -the best cases, is to imagine a sort of supernormal mischievousness, -so elaborately misleading that it would have to be stigmatised as -vicious or even diabolical. - -In most cases complete proof of this complicated and cold-blooded -kind is neither forthcoming nor is necessary: indeed it can hardly -be appreciated or understood by non-studious people. Effective -evidence is in most cases of a different kind, and varies with the -personality concerned. It often happens that little personal touches, -incommunicable to others in their full persuasiveness, sooner or -later break down the last vestiges of legitimate scepticism. What -goes on beyond that will depend upon personal training and interest. -With many, anything like scientific inquiry lapses at this point, -and communication resolves itself into emotional and domestic -interchange of ordinary ideas. But in a few cases the desire to -give new information is awakened; and when there is sufficient -receptivity, and, what is very important, a competent and suitable -Medium for anything beyond commonplace messages, instructive and -general information may be forthcoming. An explanation or description -of the methods of communication, for instance, as seen from their -side; or some information concerning the manner of life there; -and occasionally even some intelligent attempt to lessen human -difficulties about religious conceptions, and to give larger ideas -about the Universe as a whole,--all these attempts have been made. -But they always insist that their information is but little greater -than ours, and that they are still fallible gropers after truth,--of -which they keenly feel the beauty and importance, but of which they -realise the infinitude, and their own inadequacy of mental grasp, -quite as clearly as we do here. - -These are what we call the 'unverifiable' communications; for we -cannot bring them to book by subsequent terrestrial inquiry in the -same way as we can test information concerning personal or mundane -affairs. Information of the higher kind has often been received, but -has seldom been published; and it is difficult to know what value to -put upon it, or how far it is really trustworthy. - -I am inclined to think, however--with a growing number of serious -students of the subject--that the time is getting ripe now for -the production and discussion of material of this technically -unverifiable kind; to be scrutinised and tested by internal -consistency and inherent probability, in the same sort of way as -travellers' tales have to be scrutinised and tested. But until -humanity as a whole has taken the initial step, and shown itself -willing to regard such communications as within the range of -possibility, it may be unwise to venture far in this more ambitious -direction. - -It has nevertheless been suggested, from a philosophic point of view, -that strict proof of individual survival must in the last resort -depend on examination and collation of these 'travellers' tales,' -rather than on any kind of resuscitation of the past; because, until -we know more about memory, it is possible to conjecture, as I think -Professor Bergson does, that all the past is potentially accessible -to a super-subliminal faculty for disinterring it. And so one might, -in a sceptical mood, when confronted with records of apparently -personal reminiscence, attribute them to an unconscious exercise of -this faculty, and say with Tennyson - - "I hear a wind - Of memory murmuring the past." - -I do not myself regard this impersonal memory as a reasonable -hypothesis, I think that the simpler view is likely to be the -truer one, so I attach importance to trivial reminiscences and -characteristic personal touches; but I do agree that abstention from -recording and publishing, however apologetically, those other efforts -has had the effect of making ill-informed people--_i.e._ people with -very little personal experience--jump to the conclusion that all -communications are of a trivial and contemptible nature. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - ON THE CONTENTION THAT ALL PSYCHIC COMMUNICATIONS ARE OF A TRIVIAL - NATURE AND DEAL WITH INSIGNIFICANT TOPICS - - -That such a contention as that mentioned at the end of the preceding -chapter is false is well known to people of experience; but so long -as the demand for verification and proof of identity persists--and -it will be long indeed before they can be dispensed with--so long -are trifling reminiscences the best way to achieve the desired end. -The end in this case amply explains and justifies the means. Hence -it is that novices and critics are naturally and properly regaled -with references to readily remembered and verifiable facts; and since -these facts, to be useful, must not be of the nature of public news, -nor anything which can be gleaned from biographical or historical -records, they usually relate to trifling family affairs or other -humorous details such as seem likely to stay in the memory. It can -freely be admitted that such facts are only redeemed from triviality -by the affectionate recollections interlinked with them, and by the -motive which has caused them to be reproduced. For their special -purpose they may be admirable; and there is no sort of triviality -about the thing to be proven by them. The idea that a departed friend -ought to be occupied wholly and entirely with grave matters, and -ought not to remember jokes and fun, is a gratuitous claim which has -to be abandoned. Humour does not cease with earth-life. Why should it? - -It should be evident that communications concerning deeper matters -are not similarly serviceable as proof of identity, though they -may have a value and interest of their own; but it is an interest -which could not be legitimately aroused until the first step--the -recognition of veridical intercourse--had been taken; for, as a rule, -they are essentially unverifiable. Of such communications a multitude -could be quoted; and almost at random I select a few specimens from -the automatic writings of the gentleman and schoolmaster known to a -former generation as _M.A.Oxon._[39] Take this one, which happens to -be printed in a current issue of _Light_ (22 April 1916), with the -statement that it occurs in one of M.A.Oxon.'s subliminally written -and private notebooks, under date 12 July 1873--many others will -be found in the selections which he himself extracted from his own -script and published in a book called _Spirit Teachings_:-- - - "You do not sufficiently grasp the scanty hold that - religion has upon the mass of mankind, nor the - adaptability of what we preach to the wants and cravings - of men. Or perhaps it is necessary that you be reminded - of what you cannot see clearly in your present state - and among your present associations. You cannot see, - as we see, the carelessness that has crept over men - as to the future. Those who have thought over their - future have come to know that they can find out nothing - about it, except, indeed, that what man pretends to - tell is foolish, contradictory, and unsatisfying. His - reasoning faculties convince him that the Revelation of - God contains very plain marks of human origin; that it - will not stand the test of sifting such as is applied to - works professedly human; and that the priestly fiction - that reason is no measure of revelation, and that it - must be left on the threshold of inquiry and give place - to faith, is a cunningly planned means of preventing man - from discovering the errors and contradictions which - throng the pages of the Bible. Those who reason discover - this soon; those who do not, betake themselves to the - refuge of Faith, and become blind devotees, fanatical, - irrational, and bigoted; conformed to a groove in which - they have been educated and from which they have not - broken loose simply because they have not dared to think. - It would be hard for man to devise a means [more capable] - of cramping the mind and dwarfing the spirit's growth - than this persuading of a man that he must not think - about religion. It is one which paralyses all freedom of - thought and renders it almost impossible for the soul to - rise. The spirit is condemned to a hereditary religion - whether suited or not to its wants. That which may have - suited a far-off ancestor may be quite unsuited to a - struggling soul that lives in other times from those - in which such ideas had vitality. The spirit's life is - so made a question of birth and of locality. It is a - question over which he can exercise no control, whether - he is Christian, Mohammedan, or, as ye say, heathen: - whether his God be the Great Spirit of the Red Indian, or - the fetish of the savage; whether his prophet be Christ - or Mahomet or Confucius; in short, whether his notion - of religion be that of East, West, North, or South; for - in all these quarters men have evolved for themselves a - theology which they teach their children to believe. - - "The days are coming when this geographical sectarianism - will give place before the enlightenment caused by the - spread of our revelation, for which men are far riper - than you think. The time draws nigh apace when the - sublime truths of Spiritualism, rational and noble as - they are when viewed by man's standard, shall wipe away - from the face of God's earth the sectarian jealousy and - theological bitterness, the anger and ill-will, the folly - and stupidity, which have disgraced the name of religion - and the worship of God; and man shall see in a clearer - light the Supreme Creator and the spirit's eternal - destiny. - - "We tell you, friend, that the end draws nigh; the - night of ignorance is passing fast; the shackles which - priestcraft has strung round the struggling souls shall - be knocked off, and in place of fanatical folly and - ignorant speculation and superstitious belief, ye shall - have a reasonable religion and a knowledge of the reality - of the spirit-world and of the ministry of angels with - you. Ye shall know that the dead are alive indeed, living - as they lived on earth, but more truly, ministering to - you with undiminished love, animated in their perpetual - intercourse with the same affection which they had whilst - yet incarned." - -Any one of these serious messages can be criticised and commented -upon with hostility and suspicion; they are not suited to establish -the first premise of the argument for continuance of personality; -and if they were put forward as part of the proof of survival, -then perhaps the hostility would be legitimate. It ought to be -clear that they are not to be taken as oracular utterances, or as -anything vastly superior to the capabilities of the medium through -whom they come,--though in fact they often are superior to any known -power of a given medium, and are frequently characteristic of the -departed personality, as we knew him, who is purporting to be the -Communicator: though this remark is not applicable to the particular -class of impersonal messages here selected for quotation. Yet in all -cases they must surely be more or less sophisticated by the channel, -and by the more or less strained method of communication, and must -share some of its limitations and imperfections. - -However that may be, it is proper to quote them occasionally, -as here; not as specially profound utterances, but merely in -contradiction of the imaginary and false thesis that only trivial -and insignificant subjects are dealt with in automatic writings and -mediumistic utterances. For such utterances--whatever their value or -lack of value--are manifestly conclusive against that gratuitous and -ignorant supposition. Whatever is thought of them, they are at least -conceived in a spirit of earnestness, and are characterised by a -genuine fervour that may be properly called religious. - -I now quote a few more of the records published in the book cited -above,--in this case dealing with Theological questions and puzzles -in the mind of the automatic writer himself:-- - - "All your fancied theories about God have filtered down - to you through human channels; the embodiments of human - cravings after knowledge of Him; the creation of minds - that were undeveloped, whose wants were not your wants, - whose God, or rather whose notions about God are not - yours. You try hard to make the ideas fit in, but they - will not fit, because they are the product of divers - degrees of development...." - - "God! Ye know Him not! One day, when the Spirit stands - within the veil which shrouds the spirit world from - mortal gaze, you shall wonder at your ignorance of Him - whom you have so foolishly imagined! He is far other - than you have pictured Him. Were He such as you have - pictured Him, were He such as you think, He would avenge - on presumptuous man the insults which he puts on his - Creator. But He is other, far other than man's poor - grovelling mind can grasp, and He pities and forgives - the ignorance of the blind mortal who paints Him after - a self-imagined pattern.... When you rashly complain - of us that our teaching to you controverts that of the - Old Testament, we can but answer that it does indeed - controvert that old and repulsive view ... but that it is - in fullest accord with that divinely inspired revelation - of Himself which He gave through Jesus Christ--a - revelation which man has done so much to debase, and - from which the best of the followers of Christ have so - grievously fallen away." - -And again, in answer to other doubts and questions in the mind of the -automatist as to the legitimacy of the means of communication, and -his hesitation about employing a means which he knew was sometimes -prostituted by knaves to unworthy and frivolous or even base -objects,--very different from those served by humorous and friendly -family messages, about which no one with a spark of human feeling -has a word to say when once they have realised their nature and -object,--the writing continued thus:-- - - "If there be nought in what we say of God and of man's - after-life that commends itself to you, it must be that - your mind has ceased to love the grander and simpler - conceptions which it had once learned to drink in...." - - "Cease to be anxious about the minute questions which - are of minor moment. Dwell much on the great, the - overwhelming necessity for a clearer revealing of the - Supreme; on the blank and cheerless ignorance of God - and of us which has crept over the world: on the noble - creed we teach, on the bright future we reveal. Cease - to be perplexed by thoughts of an imagined Devil. For - the honest, pure, and truthful soul there is no Devil - nor Prince of Evil such as theology has feigned.... - The clouds of sorrow and anguish of soul may gather - round [such a man] and his spirit may be saddened with - the burden of sin--weighed down with consciousness of - surrounding misery and guilt, but no fabled Devil can - gain dominion over him, or prevail to drag down his soul - to hell. All the sadness of spirit, the acquaintance - with grief, the intermingling with guilt, is part of - the experience, in virtue of which his soul shall rise - hereafter. The guardians are training and fitting it by - those means to progress, and jealously protect it from - the dominion of the foe. - - "It is only they who, by a fondness for evil, by a - lack of spiritual and excess of corporeal development, - attract to themselves the congenial spirits of the - undeveloped who have left the body but not forgotten its - desires. These alone risk incursion of evil. These by - proclivity attract evil, and it dwells with them at their - invitation. They attract the lower spirits who hover - nearest Earth, and who are but too ready to rush in and - mar our plans, and ruin our work for souls. These are - they of whom you speak when you say in haste, that the - result of Spiritualism is not for good. You err, friend. - Blame not us that the lower spirits manifest for those - who bid them welcome. Blame man's insensate folly, which - will choose the low and grovelling rather than the pure - and elevated. Blame his foolish laws, which daily hurry - into a life for which they are unprepared, thousands of - spirits, hampered and dragged down by a life of folly and - sin, which has been fostered by custom and fashion. Blame - the ginshops, and the madhouses, and the prisons, and the - encouraged lusts and fiendish selfishness of man. This it - is which damns legions of spirits--not, as ye fancy, in - a sea of material fire, but in the flames of perpetuated - lust, condemned to burn itself out in hopeless longing - till the purged soul rises through the fire and surmounts - its dead passions. Yes, blame these and kindred causes, - if there be around undeveloped intelligences who shock - you by their deception, and annoy you by frivolity and - falsehood." - -I suppose that the worst that can be said about writing of this -kind is that it consists of 'sermon-stuffe' such as could have -been presumably invented--whether consciously or unconsciously--by -the automatic writer himself. And the fact that with some of it he -tended to disagree, proves no more than the corresponding kind of -unexpected argumentation experienced by some dreamers. (Cf. L. P. -Jacks, _Hibbert Journal_, July, 1916.) The same kind of explanation -may serve for both phenomena, but I do not know what that explanation -is. - - [Footnote 39: The Rev. Stainton Moses (M. A. Oxon) was one - of the masters at University College School in London. He - wrote automatically, _i.e._ subconsciously, in private - notebooks at a regular short time each day for nearly - twenty years, and felt that he was in touch with helpful - and informing intelligences.] - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -ON THE MANNER OF COMMUNICATION - - -Perhaps the commonest and easiest method of communication is what -is called 'automatic writing'--the method by which the above -examples were received--i.e. writing performed through the agency -of subconscious intelligence; the writer leaving his or her hand -at liberty to write whatever comes, without attempting to control -it, and without necessarily attending at the time to what is being -written. - -That a novice will usually get nothing, or mere nonsense or -scribbling, in this way is obvious: the remarkable thing is that some -persons are thus able to get sense, and to tap sources of information -outside their normal range. If a rudiment of such power exists, it -is possible, though not always desirable, to cultivate it; but care, -pertinacity, and intelligence are needed to utilise a faculty of -this kind. Unless people are well-balanced and self-critical and -wholesomely occupied, they had better leave the subject alone. - -In most cases of fully-developed automatism known to me the -automatist reads what comes, and makes suitable oral replies or -comments to the sentences as they appear: so that the whole has then -the effect of a straightforward conversation of which one side is -spoken and the other written--the speaking side being usually rather -silent and reserved, the writing side free and expansive. - -Naturally not every person has the power of cultivating this simple -form of what is technically known as motor automatism, one of the -recognised subliminal forms of activity; but probably more people -could do it if they tried; though for some people it would be -injudicious, and for many others hardly worth while. - -The intermediate mentality employed in this process seems to be a -usually submerged or dream-like stratum of the automatist whose hand -is being used. The hand is probably worked by its usual physiological -mechanism, guided and controlled by nerve centres not in the most -conscious and ordinarily employed region of the brain. In some cases -the content or subject-matter of the writing may emanate entirely -from these nerve centres, and be of no more value than a dream; as -is frequently the case with the more elementary automatism set in -action by the use of instruments known as 'planchette' and 'ouija,' -often employed by beginners. But when the message turns out to be of -evidential value it is presumably because this subliminal portion of -the person is in touch, either telepathically or in some other way, -with intelligences not ordinarily accessible,--with living people at -a distance perhaps, or more often with the apparently more accessible -people who have passed on, for whom distance in the ordinary sense -seems hardly to exist, and whose links of connexion are of a kind -other than spatial. It need hardly be said that proof of communion -of this kind is absolutely necessary, and has to be insisted on; -but experience has demonstrated that now and again sound proof is -forthcoming. - -Another method, and one that turns out to be still more powerful, is -for the automatist not only to take off his or her attention from -what is being transmitted through his or her organism, but to become -comprehensively unconscious and go into a trance. In that case it -appears that the physiological mechanism is more amenable to control, -and is less sophisticated by the ordinary intelligence of the person -to whom it normally belongs; so that messages of importance and -privacy may be got through. But the messages have to be received -and attended to by another person; for in such cases, when genuine, -the entranced person on waking up is found to be ignorant of what -has been either written or uttered. In this state, speech is as -common as writing, probably more common because less troublesome to -the recipient, _i.e._ the friend or relative to whom or for whom -messages are being thus sent. The communicating personality during -trance may be the same as the one operating the hand without trance, -and the messages may have the same general character as those got -by automatic writing, when the consciousness is not suspended but -only in temporary and local abeyance; but in the trance state a -dramatic characterisation is usually imparted to the proceedings, by -the appearance of an entity called a 'Control,' who works the body -of the automatist in the apparent absence of its customary manager. -This personality is believed by some to be merely the subliminal self -of the entranced person, brought to the surface, or liberated and -dramatised into a sort of dream existence, for the time. By others -it is supposed to be a healthy and manageable variety of the more or -less pathological phenomenon known to physicians and psychiatrists as -cases of dual or multiple personality. By others again it is believed -to be in reality the separate intelligence which it claims to be. - -But however much can be and has been written on this subject, and -whatever different opinions may be held, it is universally admitted -that the _dramatic semblance_ of the control is undoubtedly that of -a separate person,--a person asserted to be permanently existing -on the other side, and to be occupied on that side in much the -same functions as the medium is on this. The duty of controlling -and transmitting messages seems to be laid upon such a one--it is -his special work. The dramatic character of most of the controls -is so vivid and self-consistent, that whatever any given sitter -or experimenter may feel is the probable truth concerning their -real nature, the simplest way is to humour them by taking them at -their face value and treating them as separate and responsible and -real individuals. It is true that in the case of some mediums, -especially when overdone or tired, there are evanescent and absurd -obtrusions every now and then, which cannot be seriously regarded. -Those have to be eliminated; and for anyone to treat them as real -people would be ludicrous; but undoubtedly the serious controls -show a character and personality and memory of their own, and they -appear to carry on as continuous an existence as anyone else whom -one only meets occasionally for conversation. The conversation can -be taken up at the point where it left off, and all that was said -appears to be remarkably well remembered by the appropriate control; -while usually memory of it is naturally and properly repudiated by -another control, even when operating through the same medium; and -the entranced medium knows nothing of it afterwards after having -completely woke up. - -So clearly is the personality of the control brought out, in the -best cases, so clear also are the statements of the communicators -that the control who is kindly transmitting their messages is a real -person, that I am disposed to accept their assertions, and to regard -a control, when not a mere mischievous and temporary impersonation, -as akin on their side to the person whom we call a medium on ours. - -The process of regular communication--apart from the exceptional -more direct privilege occasionally vouchsafed to people in -extreme sorrow--thus seems to involve normally a double medium of -communication, and the activity of several people. First there is the -'Communicator' or originator of ideas and messages on the other side. -Then there is the 'control' who accepts and transmits the messages -by setting into operation a physical organism lent for the occasion. -Then there is the 'Medium' or person whose normal consciousness is in -abeyance but whose physiological mechanism is being used. And finally -there is the 'Sitter'--a rather absurd name--the recipient of the -messages, who reads or hears and answers them, and for whose benefit -all this trouble is taken. In many cases there is also present a -Note-taker to record all that is said, whether by sitters or by or -through the medium; and it is clear that the note-taker should pay -special attention to and carefully record any hints or information -either purposely or accidentally imparted by the sitter. - -In scientific and more elaborately conducted cases there is also some -one present who is known as the Experimenter in charge--a responsible -and experienced person who looks after the health and safety of the -medium, who arranges the circumstances and selects the sitters, -making provision for anonymity and other precautions, and who -frequently combines with his other functions the duties of note-taker. - -In oral or voice sittings the function of the note-taker is more -laborious and more responsible than in writing sittings; for -these latter to a great extent supply their own notes. Only as -the trance-writing is blindfold, _i.e._ done with shut eyes and -head averted, it is rather illegible without practice; and so the -experimenter in charge frequently finds it necessary to assist the -sitter, to whom it is addressed, by deciphering it and reading it -aloud as it comes--rather a tiring process; at the same time jotting -down, usually on the same paper, the remarks which the sitter makes -in reply, or the questions from time to time asked. Unless this is -done the subsequent automatic record lacks a good deal of clearness, -and sometimes lacks intelligibility. - -For a voice-sitting the note-taker must be a rapid writer, and if -able to employ shorthand has an advantage. Sometimes a stenographer -is introduced; but the presence of a stranger, or of any person -not intimately concerned, is liable to hamper the distinctness and -fulness of a message; and may prevent or retard the occurrence of -such emotional episodes as are from time to time almost inevitable in -the cases--alas too numerous at present--where the sitter has been -recently and violently bereaved. - -It is perhaps noteworthy--though it may not be interesting or -intelligible to a novice--that communicators wishing to give -private communications seldom or never object to the presence of -the actual 'medium'--_i.e._ the one on our side. That person seems -to be regarded as absent, or practically non-existent for a time; -the person whose presence they sometimes resent at first is the -'control,' _i.e._ the intelligence on their side who is ready to -receive and transmit their message, somewhat perhaps as an Eastern -scribe is ready to write the love-letters of illiterate persons. - -As to the presence of a note-taker or third person on our side, such -person is taken note of by the control, and when anything private -or possibly private is mentioned--details of illnesses or such -like--that third person is often ordered out of the room. Sometimes -the experimenter in charge is likewise politely dispensed with, -and under these circumstances the sitting occasionally takes on -a poignant character in which note-taking by the deeply affected -sitter becomes a practical impossibility. But this experience is -comparatively rare; it must not be expected, and cannot wisely be -forced. - -Another circumstance which makes me think that the more responsible -kind of control is a real person, is that sometimes, after -gained experience, the Communicator himself takes control, and -speaks or writes in the first person, not only as a matter of -first-person-reporting, which frequently occurs, but really in his -own proper person and with many of his old characteristics. So if -one control is a real person I see no reason against the probability -of others being real likewise. I cannot say that the tone of voice -or the handwriting is often thus reproduced--though it is, for a few -moments, by special effort sometimes; but the unusual physiological -mechanism accounts for outstanding or residual differences. Apart -from that, the peculiarities, the attitudes, the little touches -of manner, are often more or less faithfully reproduced, although -the medium may have known nothing of the person concerned. And the -characteristic quality of the message, and the kind of subjects dealt -with, become still more marked in such cases of actual control, than -when everything has to be transmitted through a kindly stranger -control, to whom things of a recondite or technical character may -appear rather as a meaningless collocation of words, very difficult -to remember and reproduce. - - -NOTE ON DIFFICULTY OF REMEMBERING NAMES - - When operating indirectly in the ordinary way through a - control and a medium, it usually appears to be remarkably - difficult to get names transmitted. Most mediums are - able to convey a name only with difficulty. Now plainly - a name, especially the proper name of a person, is a - very conventional and meaningless thing: it has very few - links to connect it with other items in memory; and hence - arises the normally well-known difficulty of recalling - one. Conscious effort made to recover a name seems to - inhibit the power of doing so: the best plan is to leave - it, and let subconsciousness work. An example occurred - to me the other day, when I tried to remember the name - of a prominent statesman or ex-Prime Minister whom I had - met in Australia. What I seemed to recollect was that - the name began with "D," and I made several shots at - it, which I recorded. The effort went on at intervals - for days, since I thought it would be an instructive - experiment. I know now, a month or two later, without - any effort and without looking it up, that the name was - Deakin; but what my shots at it were I do not remember. - I will have the page in the note-book looked up and - reproduced here, as an example of memory-groping, at - intervals, during more than one day. Here they are:--D. - Dering, Denman, Deeming, Derriman, Derring, Deeley, - Dempster, Denting, Desman, Deering. - - Now I knew the name quite well, and have known it for - long, and have taken some interest in the gentleman who - owns it; and I am known by some members of my family to - have done so. Hence if I had been on 'the other side' - and could only get as far as D, it would have seemed - rather absurd to anyone whose memory for names is good. - But indeed I have had times when names very much more - familiar to me than that could not on the spur of the - moment be recalled--not always even the initial letter; - though, for some reason or other, the initial letter is - certainly easier than the word. - - The kind of shots which I made at the name before - recalling it--which it may seem frivolous to have - actually recorded--are reminiscent of the kind of shots - which are made by mediums under control when they too - are striving after a name; and it was a perception of - this analogy which caused me to jot down my own guesses, - or what, in the case of a medium, we should impolitely - call 'fishing.' I think that the name was certainly in - my memory though it would not come through my brain. The - effort is like the effort to use a muscle not often or - ever used--say the outer ear--one does not know which - string to pull, so to speak, or, more accurately, which - nerve to stimulate, and the result is a peculiarly - helpless feeling, akin to stammering. In the case of a - medium, I suppose the name is often in the mind of the - communicator, but it will not come through the control. - The control sometimes describes it as being spoken or - shown but not clearly caught. The communicator often does - not know whether a medium has successfully conveyed it or - not. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -VARIOUS PSYCHO-PHYSICAL METHODS - - "If man, then, shall attempt to sound and fathom the - depths that lie not without him, but within, analogy - may surely warn him that the first attempts of his rude - _psychoscopes_ to give precision and actuality to thought - will grope among 'beggarly elements'--will be concerned - with things grotesque, or trivial, or obscure. Yet here - also one handsbreadth of reality gives better footing than - all the castles of our dream; here also by beginning with - the least things we shall best learn how great things may - remain to do."--F. W. H. M., Introduction to _Phantasms of - the Living_ - - -I must not shirk a rather queer subject which yet needs touching -upon, though it bristles with theoretical difficulties; and that is -the rationale of one of the most elementary methods of ultra-normal -communication, a method which many find practically the easiest to -begin with. - -It is possible to get communication of a kind, not by holding a -pencil in the fingers, but by placing the hand on a larger piece of -wood not at all adapted for writing with. The movements are then -coarser, and the code more elementary; but in principle, when the -procedure is analysed, it is seen not to be essentially different. It -may be more akin to semaphore-arm signalling or flag-wagging; but any -device whereby mental activity can translate itself into movements -of matter will serve for subliminal as well as for conscious action; -and messages by tilting of a table, though crude and elementary, are -not really so surprising or absurd as at first sight they seem. The -tilts of a telegraphic operator's key are still more restricted; but -they serve. A pen or pencil is an inanimate piece of matter guided by -the fingers. A planchette is a mere piece of wood, and when touched -it must be presumed to be guided by the muscles,--though there is -often an illusion, as with the twig of the dowser, that the inanimate -object is moved directly, and not by muscular intervention. So also -we may assume that a table or other piece of furniture is tilted -or moved by regular muscular force: certainly it can only move at -the expense of the energy of the medium or of people present. And -yet in all these cases the substance of the message may be foreign -to the mind of anyone touching the instrument, and the guidance -necessary for sense and relevance need not be exercised by their own -consciousness. - -When a table or similar rough instrument is employed, the ostensible -communicators say that they feel more _directly_ in touch with the -sitters than when they operate through an intermediary or 'control' -on their side,--as they appear to find it necessary to do for actual -speech or writing,--and accordingly they find themselves able to give -more private messages, and also to reproduce names and technicalities -with greater facility and precision. The process of spelling out -words in this way is a slow one, much slower than writing, and -therefore the method labours under disadvantages, but it seems to -possess advantages which to some extent counterbalance them. - -Whether it sounds credible or not, and it is certainly surprising, I -must testify that when a thing of any mobility is controlled in this -more direct way, it is able to convey touches of emotion and phases -of intonation, so to speak, in a most successful manner. A telegraph -key could hardly do it, its range of movement is too restricted, -it operates only in a discontinuous manner, by make and break; -but a light table, under these conditions, seems no longer inert, -it behaves as if animated. For the time it is animated--somewhat -perhaps as a violin or piano is animated by a skilled musician and -schooled to his will,--and the dramatic action thus attained is very -remarkable. It can exhibit hesitation, it can exhibit certainty; it -can seek for information, it can convey it; it can apparently ponder -before giving a reply; it can welcome a new-comer; it can indicate -joy or sorrow, fun or gravity; it can keep time with a song as if -joining in the chorus; and, most notable of all, it can exhibit -affection in an unmistakable manner. - -The hand of a writing medium can do these things too; and that -the whole body of a normal person can display these emotions is -a commonplace. Yet they are all pieces of matter, though some -are more permanently animated than others. But all are animated -temporarily,--not one of them permanently,--and there appears to be -no sharp line of demarcation. What we have to realise is that matter -in any form is able to act as agent to the soul, and that by aid of -matter various emotions as well as intelligence can be temporarily -incarnated and displayed. - -The extraction of elementary music from all manner of -unlikely objects--kitchen utensils, for instance--is a known -stage-performance. The utilisation of unlikely objects for purposes -of communication, though it would not have been expected, may have to -be included in the same general category. - -With things made for the purpose, from a violin to the puppets of a -marionette show, we know that simple human passions can be shown and -can be roused. With things made for quiet other purposes it turns out -that the same sort of possibility exists. - -Table-tilting is an old and despised form of amusement, known to many -families and often wisely discarded; but with care and sobriety and -seriousness even this can be used as a means of communication; and -the amount of mediumistic power necessary for this elementary form of -psychic activity appears to be distinctly less than would be required -for more elaborate methods. - -One thing it is necessary clearly to realise and admit, namely -that in all cases when an object is moved by direct contact of an -operator's body, whether the instrument be a pencil or a piece of -wood, unconscious muscular guidance must be allowed for; and anything -that comes through of a kind known to or suspected by the operator -must be discounted. Sometimes, however, the message comes in an -unexpected and for the moment puzzling form, and sometimes it conveys -information unknown to him. It is by the content of the communication -that its supernormal value must be estimated. - -There are many obvious disadvantages about a Table Sitting, -especially in the slowness of the communications and in the fact -that the sitter has to do most of the talking; whereas when some -personality is controlling a medium, the sitters need say very little. - -But, as said above, there are some communicators who object to a -control's presence, especially if they have anything private to say; -and these often prefer the table because it seems to bring them more -directly into contact with the sitter, without an intermediary. -They seem to ignore the presence of the medium on our side, -notwithstanding the fact that, at a table sitting, she is present in -her own consciousness and is aware of what goes on; they appear to -be satisfied with having dispensed with the medium on their side. -Moreover, it is in some cases found that information can be conveyed -in a briefer and more direct manner, not having to be wrapped up in -roundabout phrases, that names can be given more easily, and direct -questions answered better, through the table than through a control. - -It must be remembered that under control every medium has some -peculiarities. Mrs. Leonard, for instance, is a very straightforward -and honest medium, but not a particularly strong one. Accordingly -anything like conversation and free interchange of ideas is hardly -possible, and direct questions seldom receive direct answers, when -put to the communicator through Feda. - -I have known mediums much more powerful in this respect, so that free -conversation with one or two specially skilled communicators was -quite possible, and interchange of ideas almost as easy as when the -communicator was in the flesh. But instances of that kind are hardly -to be expected among hard-worked professional mediums. - - * * * * * - - I shall not in this volume touch upon still more - puzzling and still more directly and peculiarly physical - phenomena, such as are spoken of as 'direct voice,' - 'direct writing,' and 'materialisation.' In these strange - and, from one point of view, more advanced occurrences, - though lower in another sense, inert matter appears - to be operated on without the direct intervention of - physiological mechanism. And yet such mechanism must be - in the neighbourhood. I am inclined to think that these - weird phenomena, when established, will be found to shade - off into those other methods that I have been speaking - of, and that no complete theory of either can be given - until more is known about both. This is one of the facts - which causes me to be undogmatic about the certainty - that all movements, even under contact, are initiated - in the muscles. I only here hold up a warning against - premature decision. The whole subject of psycho-physical - interaction and activity requires attention in due time - and place; but the ground is now more treacherous, the - pitfalls more numerous, and the territory to many minds - comparatively unattractive. Let it wait until long-range - artillery has beaten down some of the entanglements, - before organised forces are summoned to advance. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -ATTITUDE OF THE WISE AND PRUDENT - - "The vagueness and confusion inevitable at the beginning - of a novel line of research, [are] naturally distasteful - to the _savant_ accustomed to proceed by measurable - increments of knowledge from experimental bases already - assured. Such an one, if he reads this book, may feel as - though he had been called away from an ordnance survey, - conducted with a competent staff and familiar instruments, - to plough slowly with inexperienced mariners through some - strange ocean where beds of entangling seaweed cumber the - trackless way. We accept the analogy; but we would remind - him that even floating weeds of novel genera may foreshow - a land unknown; and that it was not without ultimate gain - to men that the straining keels of Columbus first pressed - through the Sargasso Sea."--F. W. H. M., Introduction to - _Phantasms of the Living_ - - -It is rather remarkable that the majority of learned men have closed -their minds to what have seemed bare and simple facts to many people. -Those who call themselves spiritualists have an easy and simple -faith; they interpret their experiences in the most straightforward -and unsophisticated manner, and some of them have shown unfortunately -that they can be led into credulity and error, without much -difficulty, by unscrupulous people. Nevertheless, that simple-hearted -folk are most accessible to new facts seems to be rather accordant -with history. Whenever, not by reasoning but by direct experience, -knowledge has been enlarged, or when a revelation has come to the -human race through the agency of higher powers, it is not the wise -but the simple who are first to receive it. This cannot be used as an -argument either way; the simple may be mistaken, and may too blithely -interpret their sense-impressions in the most obvious manner; just as -on the other hand the eyes of the learned may be closed to anything -which appears disconnected from their previous knowledge. For after -all it is inevitable that any really new order of things must be so -disconnected; some little time must elapse before the weight of facts -impel the learned in a new direction, and meanwhile the unlearned -may be absorbing direct experience, and in their own fashion may be -forging ahead. It is an example of the ancient paradox propounded in -and about 1 _Cor._ i. 26; and no fault need be found with what is -natural. - -It behoves me to mention in particular the attitude of men of -science, of whom I may say _quorum pars parva fui_; for in no way do -I wish to dissociate myself from either such stricture or such praise -as may be appropriate to men who have made a study of science their -vocation,--not indeed the peaks of the race, but the general body. -For it is safe to assume that we must have some qualities in common, -and that these must be among the causes which have switched us on to -a laborious and materially unremunerative road. - -Michael Foster said in his Presidential Address to the British -Association at Dover:-- - - "Men of science have no peculiar virtues, no special - powers. They are ordinary men, their characters are - common, even commonplace. Science, as Huxley said, is - organised common sense, and men of science are common - men, drilled in the ways of common sense." - -This of course, like any aphorism, does not bear pressing unduly: and -Dr. Arthur Schuster in a similar Address at Manchester hedged it round -with qualifying clauses:-- - - "This saying of Huxley's has been repeated so often - that one almost wishes it were true; but unfortunately - I cannot find a definition of common sense that fits - the phrase. Sometimes the word is used as if it were - identical with uncommon sense, sometimes as if it were - the same thing as common nonsense. Often it means - untrained intelligence, and in its best aspect it is, I - think, that faculty which recognises that the obvious - solution of a problem is frequently the right one. When, - for instance, I see during a total solar eclipse red - flames shooting out from the edge of the sun, the obvious - explanation is that these are real phenomena, caused by - masses of glowing vapours ejected from the sun. And when - a learned friend tells me that all this is an optical - illusion due to anomalous refraction, I object on the - ground that the explanation violates my common sense. He - replies by giving me the reasons which have led him to - his conclusions; and though I still believe that I am - right, I have to meet him with a more substantial reply - than an appeal to my own convictions. Against a solid - argument common sense has no power, and must remain a - useful but fallible guide which both leads and misleads - all classes of the community alike." - -The sound moral of this is, not that a common-sense explanation is -likely to be the right one, or that it necessarily has any merits if -there are sound reasons to oppose to it, but that the common sense or -most obvious and superficial explanation _may_ turn out to be after -all truer as well as simpler than more recondite hypotheses which -have been substituted for it. In other words--the straightforward -explanation need not be false. - -Now the phenomena encountered in psychical research have long ago -suggested an explanation, in terms of other than living human -intelligences, which may be properly called spiritistic. Every -kind of alternative explanation, including the almost equally -unorthodox one of telepathy from living people, has been tried: and -these attempts have been necessary and perfectly legitimate. If -they had succeeded, well and good; but inasmuch as in my judgment -there are phenomena which they cannot explain, and inasmuch as some -form of spiritistic hypothesis, given certain postulates, explains -practically all, I have found myself driven back on what I may call -the common-sense explanation; or, to adopt Dr. Schuster's parable, I -consider that the red flames round the sun are what they appear to be. - -To attribute capricious mechanical performance to the action of live -things, is sufficient as a proximate explanation; as we saw in the -case of the jumping bean, Chapter I. If the existence of the live -thing is otherwise unknown, the explanation may seem forced and -unsatisfactory. But if after trying other hypotheses we find that -this only will fit the case, we may return to it after all with a -clear conscience. That represents the history of my own progress in -Psychical Research. - - -APOLOGIA - -Meanwhile the attitude of scientific men is perfectly intelligible; -and not unreasonable, except when they forget their self-imposed -limitations and cultivate a baseless negative philosophy. People -who study mechanism of course find Mechanics, and if the mechanism -is physiological they find Physics and Chemistry as well; but they -are not thereby compelled to deny the existence of everything else. -They need not philosophise at all, though they should be able to -realise their philosophical position when it is pointed out. The -business of science is to trace out the mode of action of the laws of -Chemistry and Physics, everywhere and under all circumstances. Those -laws appear to be of universal application throughout the material -Universe,--in the most distant star as well as on the earth,--in the -animal organism as well as in inorganic matter; and the study of -their action alone has proved an ample task. - -But scientific workers are sometimes thought to be philosophising -seriously when they should be understood as really only expressing -the natural scope of their special subject. Laplace, for instance, is -often misunderstood, because, when challenged about the place of God -in his system, he said that he had no need of such a hypothesis,--a -dictum often quoted as if it were atheistical. It is not necessarily -anything of the kind. As a brief statement it is right, though rather -unconciliatory and blunt. He was trying to explain astronomy on clear -and definite mechanical principles, and the introduction of a "finger -of God" would have been not only an unwarrantable complication but -a senseless intrusion. Not an intrusion or a complication in the -Universe, be it understood, but in Laplace's scheme, his _Systéme -du Monde_. Yet Browning's "flash of the will that can" in _Abt -Vogler_, with all that the context implies, remains essentially and -permanently true. - -Theologians who admit that the Deity always works through agents -and rational means can grant to scientific workers all that they -legitimately claim in the positive direction, and can encourage them -in the detailed study of those agents and means. If people knew more -about science, and the atmosphere in which scientific men work, they -would be better able to interpret occasional rather rash negations; -which are quite explicable in terms of the artificial limitation of -range which physical science hitherto has wisely laid down for itself. - -It is a true instinct which resents the mediæval practice of freely -introducing occult and unknown causes into working science. To -attribute the rise of sap, for instance, to a 'vital force' would -be absurd, it would be giving up the problem and stating nothing at -all. Progress in science began when spiritual and transcendental -causes were eliminated and treated as non-existent. The simplicity -so attained was congenial to the scientific type of mind; the -abstraction was eminently useful, and was justified by results. Yet -unknown causes of an immaterial and even of a spiritual kind may in -reality exist, and may influence or produce phenomena, for all that; -and it may have to be the business of science to discover and begin -to attend to them, as soon as the ordinary solid ground-plan of -Nature has been made sufficiently secure. - -Some of us--whether wisely or unwisely--now want to enlarge the -recognised scope of physical science, so as gradually to take a -wider purview and include more of the totality of things. That is -what the Society for Psychical Research was established for,--to -begin extending the range of scientific law and order, by patient -exploration in a comparatively new region. The effort has been -resented, and at first ridiculed, only because misunderstood. The -effort may be ambitious, but it is perfectly legitimate; and if it -fails it fails. - -But advance in new directions may be wisely slow, and it is readily -admissible that Societies devoted to long-established branches -of science are right to resist extraneous novelties, as long as -possible, and leave the study of occult phenomena to a Society -established for the purpose. Outlandish territories may in time -be incorporated as States, but they must make their claim good and -become civilised first. - -Yet unfamiliar causes must be introduced occasionally into -systematised knowledge, unless our scrutiny of the Universe is -already exhaustive. Unpalatable facts can be ruled out from -attention, but they cannot without investigation be denied. Strange -facts do really happen, even though unprovided for in our sciences. -Amid their orthodox relations, they may be regarded as a nuisance. -The feeling they cause is as if capricious or mischievous live -things had been allowed to intrude into the determinate apparatus of -a physical laboratory, thereby introducing hopeless complexity and -appearing superficially to interfere with established laws. To avoid -such alien incursion a laboratory can be locked, but the Universe can -not. And if ever, under any circumstances, we actually do encounter -the interaction of intelligences other than that of living men, we -shall sooner or later become aware of the fact, and shall ultimately -have to admit it into a more comprehensive scheme of existence. Early -attempts, like those of the present, must be unsatisfactory and -crude; especially as the evidence is of a kind to which scientific -men for the most part are unaccustomed; so no wonder they are -resentful. Still the evidence is there, and I for one cannot ignore -it. Members of the Society for Psychical Research are aware that the -evidence already published--the carefully edited and sifted evidence -published by their own organisation--occupies some forty volumes of -_Journal_ and _Proceedings_; and some of them know that a great deal -more evidence exists than has been published, and that some of the -best evidence is not likely to be published,--not yet at any rate. It -stands to reason that, at the present stage, the best evidence must -often be of a very private and family character. Many, however, are -the persons who are acquainted with facts in their own experience -which appeal to them more strongly than anything that has ever been -published. No records can surpass first-hand direct experience in -cogency. - -Nevertheless we are also aware, or ought to be, that no one crucial -episode can ever be brought forward as deciding such a matter. That -is not the way in which things of importance are proven. Evidence -is cumulative, it is on the strength of a mass of experience that an -induction is ultimately made, and a conclusion provisionally arrived -at; though sometimes it happens that a single exceptionally strong -instance, or series of instances, may clinch it for some individual. - -But indeed the evidence, in one form and another, has been crudely -before the human race from remote antiquity; only it has been treated -in ways more or less obfuscated by superstition. The same sort of -occurrences as were known to Virgil, and to many another seer--the -same sort of experiences as are found by folk-lore students, not only -in history but in every part of the earth to-day--are happening now -in a scientific age, and sometimes under scientific scrutiny. Hence -it is that from the scientific point of view progress is at length -being made; and any one with a real desire to know the truth need -not lack evidence, if he will first read the records with an open -mind, and then bide his time and be patient till an opportunity for -first-hand critical observation is vouchsafed him. The opportunity -may occur at any time: the readiness is all. Really clinching -evidence in such a case is never in the past; a _prima facie_ case -for investigation is established by the records, but real conviction -must be attained by first-hand experience in the present. - -The things to be investigated are either true or false. If false, -pertinacious inquiry will reveal their falsity. If true, they are -profoundly important. For there are no half-truths in Nature; every -smallest new departure has portentous consequences; our eyes must -open slowly, or we should be overwhelmed. I once likened the feeling -of physical investigators in the year 1889 to that of a boy who had -long been strumming on the keyboard of a deserted organ into which -an unseen power had begun to blow a vivifying breath.[40] That was -at the beginning of the series of revolutionary discoveries about -radiation and the nature of matter which have since resounded -through the world. And now once more the touch of a finger elicits a -responsive note, and again the boy hesitates, half delighted, half -affrighted, at the chords which it would seem he can now summon forth -almost at will. - - [Footnote 40: _Modern Views of Electricity_, p. 408 of - third and current edition.] - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -OUTLOOK ON THE UNIVERSE - - -What then is the conclusion of the whole matter? Or rather, what -effect have these investigations had upon my own outlook on the -Universe? The question is not so unimportant as it seems; because if -the facts are to influence others they must have influenced myself -too; and that is the only influence of which I have first-hand -knowledge. It must not be supposed that my outlook has changed -appreciably since the event and the particular experiences related -in the foregoing pages: my conclusion has been gradually forming -itself for years, though undoubtedly it is based on experience of the -same sort of thing. But this event has strengthened and liberated my -testimony. It can now be associated with a private experience of my -own, instead of with the private experiences of others. So long as -one was dependent on evidence connected, even indirectly connected, -with the bereavement of others, one had to be reticent and cautious -and in some cases silent. Only by special permission could any -portion of the facts be reproduced; and that permission might in -important cases be withheld. My own deductions were the same then as -they are now, but the facts are now my own. - -One little point of difference, between the time before and the time -after, has however become manifest. In the old days, if I sat with a -medium, I was never told of any serious imaginary bereavement which -had befallen myself--beyond the natural and inevitable losses from an -older generation which fall to the lot of every son of man. But now, -if I or any member of my family goes anonymously to a genuine medium, -giving not the slightest normal clue, my son is quickly to the fore -and continues his clear and convincing series of evidences; sometimes -giving testimony of a critically selected kind, sometimes contenting -himself with friendly family chaff and reminiscences, but always -acting in a manner consistent with his personality and memories and -varying moods. If in any case a given medium had weak power, or if -there were special difficulties encountered on a given occasion, he -is aware of the fact; and he refers to it, when there is opportunity, -through another totally disconnected medium (cf. Chapter XXI, Part -II). In every way he has shown himself anxious to give convincing -evidence. Moreover, he wants me to speak out; and I shall. - -I am as convinced of continued existence, on the other side of -death, as I am of existence here. It may be said, you cannot be as -sure as you are of sensory experience. I say I can. A physicist is -never limited to direct sensory impressions, he has to deal with a -multitude of conceptions and things for which he has no physical -organ: the dynamical theory of heat, for instance, and of gases, -the theories of electricity, of magnetism, of chemical affinity, -of cohesion, aye and his apprehension of the Ether itself, lead -him into regions where sight and hearing and touch are impotent -as direct witnesses, where they are no longer efficient guides. -In such regions everything has to be interpreted in terms of the -insensible, the apparently unsubstantial, and in a definite sense the -imaginary. Yet these regions of knowledge are as clear and vivid to -him as are any of those encountered in everyday occupations; indeed -most commonplace phenomena themselves require interpretation in -terms of ideas more subtle,--the apparent solidity of matter itself -demands explanation,--and the underlying non-material entities of a -physicist's conception become gradually as real and substantial as -anything he knows. As Lord Kelvin used to say, when in a paradoxical -mood, we really know more about electricity than we know about matter. - -That being so, I shall go further and say that I am reasonably -convinced of the existence of grades of being, not only lower in the -scale than man but higher also, grades of every order of magnitude -from zero to infinity. And I know by experience that among these -beings are some who care for and help and guide humanity, not -disdaining to enter even into what must seem petty details, if by -so doing they can assist souls striving on their upward course. And -further it is my faith--however humbly it may be held--that among -these lofty beings, highest of those who concern themselves directly -with this earth of all the myriads of worlds in infinite space, is -One on whom the right instinct of Christianity has always lavished -heartfelt reverence and devotion. - -Those who think that the day of that Messiah is over are strangely -mistaken: it has hardly begun. In individual souls Christianity has -flourished and borne fruit, but for the ills of the world itself it -is an almost untried panacea. It will be strange if this ghastly war -fosters and simplifies and improves a knowledge of Christ, and aids -a perception of the ineffable beauty of his life and teaching: yet -stranger things have happened; and, whatever the Churches may do, I -believe that the call of Christ himself will be heard and attended -to, by a large part of humanity in the near future, as never yet it -has been heard or attended to on earth. - -My own time down here is getting short; it matters little: but I -dare not go till I have borne this testimony to the grace and truth -which emanate from that divine Being,--the realisation of whose -tender-hearted simplicity and love for man may have been overlaid at -times and almost lost amid well-intentioned but inappropriate dogma, -but who is accessible as always to the humble and meek. - -Intercommunion between the states or grades of existence is not -limited to messages from friends and relatives, or to conversation -with personalities of our own order of magnitude,--that is only a -small and verifiable portion of the whole truth,--intercourse between -the states carries with it occasional, and sometimes unconscious, -communion with lofty souls who have gone before. The truth of such -continued influence corresponds with the highest of the Revelations -vouchsafed to humanity. This truth, when assimilated by man, means -an assurance of the reality of prayer, and a certainty of gracious -sympathy and fellowfeeling from one who never despised the -suffering, the sinful, or the lowly; yea, it means more--it means -nothing less than the possibility some day of a glance or a word of -approval from the Eternal Christ. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF GOD - -A PLEA FOR SIMPLICITY[41] - - -Investigation is laborious and unexciting; it takes years, and -progress is slow; but in all regions of knowledge it is the method -which in the long-run has led towards truth; it is the method by -which what we feel to be solid and substantial progress has always -been made. In many departments of human knowledge this fact is -admitted--though men of science have had to fight hard for their -method before getting it generally recognised. In some departments -it is still contested, and the arguments of Bacon in favour of free -experimental inquiry are applicable to those subjects which are -claimed as superior to scientific test. - -If it be objected that not by such means is truth in religious -matters ascertained, if it be held that we must walk by faith, not -by sight, and that never by searching will man find out any of the -secrets of God, I do not care to contest the objection, though I -disagree with its negative portion. That no amount of searching will -ever enable us to find out the Almighty to perfection is manifestly -true; that secrets may be revealed to inspired 'babes' which are -hidden from the wise and prudent is likewise certain; but that no -secret things of God can be brought to light by patient examination -and inquiry into facts is false, for you cannot parcel out truth -into that which is divine and that which is not divine; the truths -of science were as much God's secrets as any other, and they have -yielded up their mystery to precisely the process which is called in -question. - -We are part of the Universe, our senses have been evolved in and -by it; it follows that they are harmonious with it, and that the -way it appeals to our senses is a true way; though their obvious -limitation entitles us to expect from time to time fresh discoveries -of surprising and fundamental novelty, and a growing perception of -tracts beyond our ancient ken. - -Some critics there are, however, who, calling themselves scientific, -have made up their minds in a negative direction and a contrary -sense. These are impressed not only with the _genuineness_ of the -truth afforded us through our senses and perceptions, but with -its _completeness_; they appear to think that the main lines of -research have already been mapped out or laid down, they will not -believe that regions other than those to which they are accustomed -can be open to scientific exploration; especially they imagine that -in the so-called religious domain there can be no guides except -preconception and prejudice. Accordingly, they appear to disbelieve -that anyone can be conscientiously taking trouble to grope his way -by patient inquiry, with the aid of such clues as are available; -and in order to contradict the results of such inquiry they fall -into the habit of doing that of which they accuse the workers,--they -appeal to sentiment and presumption. They talk freely about what -they believe, what they think unlikely, and what is impossible. They -are governed by prejudice; their minds are made up. Doubtless they -regard knowledge on certain topics as inaccessible, so they are -positive and selfsatisfied and opinionated and quite sure. They pride -themselves on their hard-headed scepticism and robust common sense; -while the truth is that they have bound themselves into a narrow cell -by walls of sentiment, and have thus excluded whole regions of human -experience from their purview. - - * * * * * - -It so happens that I have been engaged for over forty years in -mathematical and physical science, and for more than half that period -in exploration into unusual psychical development, as opportunity -arose; and I have thus been led to certain tentative conclusions -respecting permissible ways of regarding the universe. - -First, I have learned to regard the universe as a concrete and -full-bodied reality, with parts accessible and intelligible to us, -all of it capable of being understood and investigated by the human -mind, not as an abstraction or dream-like entity whose appearances -are deceptive. Our senses do not deceive us; their testimony is true -as far as it goes. I have learned to believe in Intelligibility. - -Next, that everything, every single thing, has many aspects. Even -such a thing as water, for instance. Water, regarded by the chemist, -is an assemblage or aggregate of complex molecules; regarded by the -meteorologist and physiographer, it is an element of singular and -vitally important properties; every poet has treated of some aspect -of beauty exhibited by this common substance; while to the citizen -it is an ordinary need of daily life. All the aspects together do -not exhaust the subject, but each of them is real. The properties of -matter of which our senses tell us, or enable us to inquire into in -laboratories, are true properties, real and true. They are not the -whole truth, a great deal more is known about them by men of science, -but the more complex truths do not make the simpler ones false. -Moreover, we must admit that the whole truth about the simplest thing -is assuredly beyond us; the Thing-in-itself is related to the whole -universe, and in its fulness is incomprehensible. - -Furthermore, I have learned that while positive assertions on any -given subject are often true, error creeps in when simple aspects -are denied in order to emphasise the more complex, or _vice versa_. -A trigonometrical sine, for instance, may be expressed in terms -of imaginary exponentials in a way familiar to all mathematical -students; also as an infinite series of fractions with increasing -factorials in the denominators; also in a number of other true and -legitimate and useful ways; but the simple geometrical definition, by -aid of the chord of a circle or the string of a bow, survives them -all, and is true too. - -So it is, I venture to say, with the concept God. - -It can be regarded from some absolute and transcendental standpoint -which humanity can only pretend to attain to. It can be regarded -as the highest and best idea which the human mind has as yet been -able to form. It can be regarded as dominating and including all -existence, and as synonymous with all existence when that is made -sufficiently comprehensive. All these views are legitimate, but they -are not final or complete. God can also be represented by some of the -attributes of humanity, and can be depicted as a powerful and loving -Friend with whom our spirits may commune at every hour of the day, -one whose patience and wisdom and long-suffering and beneficence are -never exhausted. He can, in fact, be regarded as displayed to us, in -such fashion as we can make use of, in the person of an incarnate -Being who came for the express purpose of revealing to man such -attributes of deity as would otherwise have been missed. - -The images are not mutually exclusive, they may all be in some sort -true. None of them is complete. They are all aspects--partly true and -partly false as conceived by any individual, but capable of being -expressed so as to be, as far as they go, true. - -Undoubtedly the Christian idea of God is the simple one. -Overpoweringly and appallingly simple is the notion presented to us -by the orthodox Christian Churches:-- - -A babe born of poor parents, born in a stable among cattle because -there was no room for them in the village inn--no room for them in -the inn--what a master touch! Revealed to shepherds. Religious people -inattentive. Royalty ignorant, or bent on massacre. A glimmering -perception, according to one noble legend, attained in the Far -East--where also similar occurrences have been narrated. Then the -child growing into a peasant youth, brought up to a trade. At length -a few years of itinerant preaching; flashes of miraculous power and -insight. And then a swift end: set upon by the religious people; his -followers overawed and scattered, himself tried as a blasphemer, -flogged, and finally tortured to death. - -Simplicity most thorough and most strange! In itself it is not -unique; such occurrences seem inevitable to highest humanity in an -unregenerate world; but who, without inspiration, would see in them a -revelation of the nature of God? The life of Buddha, the life of Joan -of Arc, are not thus regarded. Yet the Christian revelation is clear -enough and true enough if our eyes are open, and if we care to read -and accept the simple record which, whatever its historical value, is -all that has been handed down to us. - -Critics often object that there have been other attempted Messiahs, -that the ancient world was expectant of a Divine Incarnation. True -enough. But what then? We need not be afraid of an idea because it -has several times striven to make itself appreciated. It is foolish -to decline a revelation because it has been more than once offered to -humanity. Every great revelation is likely to have been foreshadowed -in more or less imperfect forms, so as to prepare our minds and make -ready the way for complete perception hereafter. It is probable that -the human race is quite incompetent to receive a really great idea -the first time it is offered. There must be many failures to effect -an entrance before the final success, many struggles to overcome -natural obstacles and submerge the stony products of human stolidity. -Lapse of time for preparation is required before anything great can -be permanently accomplished, and repeated attempts are necessary; but -the tide of general progress is rising all the time. The idea is well -expressed in Clough's familiar lines:-- - - "For while the tired waves, vainly breaking, - Seem here no painful inch to gain, - Far back, through creeks and inlets making, - Comes silent, flooding in, the main." - -So it was with the idea of the Messiah which was abroad in the land, -and had been for centuries, before Christ's coming; and never has he -been really recognised by more than a few. Dare we not say that he is -more truly recognised now than in any previous age in the history of -the Church--except perhaps the very earliest? And I doubt if we need -make that exception. - -The idea of his Messiahship gradually dawned upon him, and he made no -mistake as to his mission:-- - - The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's who - sent me. - - As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. - - The words which I say unto you I speak not of myself; the - Father which dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. - - The Father is greater than I. - - - But, for all that, - - He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. - -Yes, truly, Christ was a planetary manifestation of Deity, a -revelation to the human race, the highest and simplest it has yet -had; a revelation in the only form accessible to man, a revelation in -the full-bodied form of humanity. - -Little conception had they in those days of the whole universe as we -know it now. The earth was the whole world to them, and that which -revealed God to the earth was naturally regarded as the whole Cosmic -Deity. Yet it was a truly divine Incarnation. - -A deity of some kind is common to every branch of the human race. It -seems to be possessed by every savage, overawed as he necessarily -is by the forces of nature. Caprice, jealousy, openness to flattery -and rewards, are likewise parts of early theology. Then in the gods -of Olympus--that poetic conception which rose to such heights and -fell to such depths at different epochs in the ancient world--the -attributes of power and beauty were specially emphasised. _Power_ -is common to all deities, and favouritism in its use seems also a -natural supposition to early tribes; but the element of _Beauty_, -as a divine attribute, we in these islands, save for the poets, -have largely lost or forgotten--to our great detriment. In -Jehovah, however, the Hebrew race rose to a conception of divine -_Righteousness_ which we have assimilated and permanently retained; -and upon that foundation Christianity was grafted. It was to a race -who had risen thus far--a race with a genius for theology--that the -Christian revelation came. It was rendered possible, though only just -possible, by the stage attained. Simple and unknown folk were ready -to receive it, or, at least, were willing to take the first steps to -learn. - -The power, the righteousness, and other worthy attributes belonging -to Jehovah, were known of old. The Christian conception takes -_them_ for granted, and concentrates attention on the pity, the -love, the friendliness, the compassion, the earnest desire to help -mankind--attributes which, though now and again dimly discerned by -one or another of the great seers of old, had not yet been thrown -into concrete form. - - * * * * * - -People sometimes seek to deny such attributes as are connoted by -the word 'Personality' in the Godhead--they say it is a human -conception. Certainly it is a human conception; it is through -humanity that it has been revealed. Why seek to deny it? God -transcends personality, objectors say. By all means: transcends all -our conceptions infinitely, transcends every revelation which has -ever been vouchsafed; but the revelations are true as far as they go, -for all that. - -Let us not befog ourselves by attempting impossible conceptions to -such an extent that we lose the simple and manifest reality. No -conception that we can make is too high, too good, too worthy. It -is easy to imagine ourselves mistaken, but never because ideas are -too high or too good. It were preposterous to imagine an over-lofty -conception in a creature. Reality is always found to exceed our -clear conception of it; never once in science has it permanently -fallen short. No conception is too great or too high. But also no -devout conception is too simple, too lowly, too childlike to have an -element--some grain--of vital truth stored away, a mustard seed ready -to germinate and bud, a leaven which may permeate the whole mass. - -I would apply all this to what for brevity may be called Human -Immortality. It is possible to think of that rather simply; and, on -the other hand, it is possible to confuse ourselves with tortuous -thoughts till it seems unreal and impossible. It is part of the -problem of personality and individuality; for the question of how far -these are dependent on the bodily organism, or whether they can exist -without it, is a scientific question. It is open to research. And yet -it is connected with Christianity; for undoubtedly the Christian idea -of God involves a belief in human immortality. If _per impossible_ -this latter could be authoritatively denied, a paralysing blow would -have been struck at the Christian idea. On the other hand, if by -scientific investigation the persistence of individual memory and -character were proved, a great step in the direction of orthodox -theology would have been taken. - -The modern superstition about the universe is that, being suffused -with law and order, it contains nothing personal, nothing -indeterminate, nothing unforeseen; that there is no room for the -free activity of intelligent beings, that everything is mechanically -determined; so that given the velocity and acceleration and position -of every atom at any instant, the whole future could be unravelled by -sufficient mathematical power. - -The doctrines of Uniformity and Determinism are supposed to be based -upon experience. But experience includes experience of the actions -of human beings; and some of them certainly appear to be of a -capricious and undetermined character. Or without considering human -beings, watch the orbits of a group of flies as they play; they are -manifestly not controlled completely by mechanical laws as are the -motions of the planets. The simplest view of their activity is that -it is self-determined, that they are flying about at their own will, -and turning when and where they choose. The conservation of energy -has nothing to say against it. Here we see free-will in its simplest -form. To suppose anything else in such a case, to suppose that every -twist could have been predicted through all eternity, is to introduce -præternatural complexity, and is quite unnecessary. - -Why not assume, what is manifestly the truth, that free-will exists -and has to be reckoned with, that the universe is not a machine -subject to outside forces, but a living organism with initiations -of its own; and that the laws which govern it, though they include -mechanical and physical and chemical laws, are not limited to those, -but involve other and higher abstractions, which may perhaps some day -be formulated, for life and mind and spirit? - -If it be said that free-will can be granted to deity but to nothing -lower, inasmuch as the Deity must be aware of all that is going to -happen, I reply that you are now making a hypothesis of a complicated -kind, and going beyond knowledge into speculation. But if still the -speculation appears reasonable, that only the Deity can be endowed -with free-will, it merely opens the question, What shall be included -in that term? If freedom is the characteristic mark of deity, then -those are justified who have taught that every fragment of mind and -will is a contributory element in the essence of the Divine Being. - -How, then, can we conceive of deity? The analogy of the human -body and its relation to the white corpuscles in its blood is -instructive. Each corpuscle is a living-creature endowed with the -powers of locomotion, of assimilation, and, under certain conditions -now being inquired into, of reproduction by fission. The health and -polity of the body are largely dependent on the activity of these -phagocytes. They are to us extremely important; they are an essential -part of our being. - -But now suppose one of these corpuscles endowed with -intelligence--what conception of the universe will it be able to -form? It may examine its surroundings, discourse of the vessels -through which it passes, of the adventures it encounters; and -if philosophically minded, it may speculate on a being of which -perhaps it and all its like form a part--an immanent deity, whose -constituents they are, a being which includes them and includes all -else which they know or can imagine--a being to whose existence -they contribute, and whose purposes they serve or share. So far -they could speculate, and so far they would be right. But if they -proceeded further, and entered on negations, if they surmised that -that immanent aspect of the universe in which they lived and moved -and had their being was the sole and only aspect, if they surmised -that there was no personality, no feeling, no locomotion, no mind, -no purpose, apart from them and their kind, they would greatly err. -What conception could they ever form of the manifold interests and -activities of man? Still less of the universe known to man, of which -he himself forms so trivial a portion. - -All analogies fail at some point, but they are a help nevertheless, -and this analogy will bear pressing rather far. We ourselves are a -part of the agencies for good or evil; we have the power to help or -to hinder, to mend or to mar, within the scope of our activity. Our -help is asked for; lowly as we are, it is really wanted, on the earth -here and now, just as much wanted as our body needs the help of its -lowly white corpuscles--to contribute to health, to attack disease, -to maintain the normal and healthy life of the organism. We are the -white corpuscles of the cosmos, we serve and form part of an immanent -Deity. - -Truly it is no easy service to which we are called; something of -the wisdom of the serpent must enter into our activities; sanity -and moral dignity and sound sense must govern our proceedings; all -our powers must be called out, and there must be no sluggishness. -Impulses, even good impulses, alone are not sufficient; every faculty -of the human brain must be exerted, and we must be continually on -guard against the flabbiness of mere good intentions. - -Our activity and service are thus an integral part of the Divine -Existence, which likewise includes that of all the perceptible -universe. But to suppose that this exhausts the matter, and that the -Deity has no transcendent Existence of which we can form no idea,--to -suppose that what happens is not the result of his dominant and -controlling Personality, is to step beyond legitimate inference, and -to treat appearance as exhaustive of reality. - -Always mistrust negations. They commonly signify blindness and -prejudice--except when thoroughly established and carefully -formulated in the light of actual experience or mathematical proof. -And even then we should be ready to admit the possibility of higher -generalisations which may uproot them. They are only safe when thrown -into the form of a positive assertion. - -The impossibility of squaring the circle is not really a negative -proposition, except in form. It is safer and more convincing when -thrown into the positive and definite form that the ratio of area -to diameter is incommensurable. That statement is perfectly clear -and legitimate; and the illustration may be used as a parable. A -positive form should be demanded of every comprehensive denial; and -whatever cannot be thrown into positive form, it is wise to mistrust. -Its promulgator is probably stepping out of bounds, into the cheap -and easy region of negative speculation. He is like a rationalistic -microbe denying the existence of a human being. - -I have urged that the simple aspect of things is to be considered and -not despised; but, for the majority of people, is not the tendency -the other way? Are they not too much given to suppose the Universe -limited to the simplicity of their first and everyday conception of -it? The stockbroker has his idea of the totality of things; the navvy -has his. Students of mathematical physics are liable to think of it -as a determinate assemblage of atoms and ether, with no room for -spiritual entities--no room, as my brilliant teacher, W. K. Clifford, -expressed it, no room for ghosts. - -Biological students are apt to think of life as a physicochemical -process of protoplasmic structure and cell organisation, with -consciousness as an epiphenomenon. They watch the lowly stages of -animal organisms, and hope to imitate their behaviour by judicious -treatment of inorganic materials. By all means let them try; the -effort is entirely legitimate, and not unhopeful. That which has -come into being in the past may come into being under observation in -the present, and the intelligence and co-operation of man may help. -Why not? The material vehicle would thus have been provided--in this -case, without doubt, purposely and designedly--for some incipient -phase of life. But would that in the least explain the nature of life -and mind and will, and reduce them to simple atomic mechanism and -dynamics? Not a whit. The real nature of these things would remain an -unanswered question. - -During the past century progress has lain chiefly in the domain of -the mechanical and material. The progress has been admirable, and -has led to natural rejoicing and legitimate pride. It has also led -to a supposition that all possible scientific advance lies in this -same direction, or even that all the great fundamental discoveries -have now been made! Discovery proceeds by stages, and enthusiasm at -the acquisition of a step or a landing-place obscures for a time -our perception of the flight of stairs immediately ahead; but it is -rational to take a more comprehensive view. - -Part of our experience is the connexion of spirit with matter. We are -conscious of our own identity, our own mind and purpose and will: we -are also conscious of the matter in which it is at present incarnate -and manifested. Let us use these experiences and learn from them. -Incarnation is a fact; we are not matter, yet we utilise it. Through -the mechanism of the brain we can influence the material world; we -are in it, but not of it; we transcend it by our consciousness. The -body is our machine, our instrument, our vehicle of manifestation; -and through it we can achieve results in the material sphere. Why -seek to deny either the spiritual or the material? Both are real, -both are true. In some higher mind, perhaps, they may be unified: -meanwhile we do not possess this higher mind. Scientific progress -is made by accepting realities and learning from them; the rest is -speculation. It is not likely that we are the only intelligent beings -in the Universe. There may be many higher grades, up to the Divine; -just as there are lower grades, down to the amoeba. Nor need all -these grades of intelligence be clothed in matter or inhabit the -surface of a planet. That is the kind of existence with which we are -now familiar, truly, and anything beyond that is for the most part -supersensuous; but our senses are confessedly limited, and if there -is any truth in the doctrine of human immortality the existence of -myriads of departed individuals must be assumed, on what has been -called "the other side." - -But how are we to get evidence in favour of such an apparently -gratuitous hypothesis? Well, speaking for myself and with full and -cautious responsibility, I have to state that as an outcome of my -investigation into psychical matters I have at length and quite -gradually become convinced, after more than thirty years of study, -not only that persistent individual existence is a fact, but that -occasional communication across the chasm--with difficulty and under -definite conditions--is possible. - -This is not a subject on which one comes lightly and easily to a -conclusion, nor can the evidence be explained except to those who -will give to it time and careful study; but clearly the conclusion -is either folly and self-deception, or it is a truth of the utmost -importance to humanity--and of importance to us in connexion with our -present subject. For it is a conclusion which cannot stand alone. -Mistaken or true, it affords a foothold for a whole range of other -thoughts, other conclusions, other ideas: false and misleading if the -foothold is insecure, worthy of attention if the foothold is sound. -Let posterity judge. - -Meanwhile it is a subject that attracts cranks and charlatans. Rash -opinions are freely expressed on both sides. I call upon the educated -of the younger generation to refrain from accepting assertions -without severe scrutiny, and, above all, to keep an open mind. - -If departed human beings can communicate with us, can advise us and -help us, can have any influence on our actions,--then clearly the -doors are open to a wealth of spiritual intercourse beyond what we -have yet imagined. - -The region of the miraculous, it is called, and the bare possibility -of its existence has been hastily and illegitimately denied. But so -long as we do not imagine it to be a region denuded of a law and -order of its own, akin to the law and order of the psychological -realm, our denial has no foundation. The existence of such a region -may be established by experience; its non-existence cannot be -established, for non-experience might merely mean that owing to -deficiencies of our sense organs it was beyond our ken. In judging of -what are called miracles we must be guided by historical evidence and -literary criticism. We need not urge _a priori_ objections to them on -scientific grounds. They need be no more impossible, no more lawless, -than the interference of a human being would seem to a colony of ants -or bees. - -The Christian idea of God certainly has involved, and presumably -always will involve, an element of the miraculous,--a flooding of -human life with influences which lie outside it, a controlling of -human destiny by higher and beneficent agencies. By evil agencies -too? Yes, the influences are not all on one side; but the Christian -faith is that the good are the stronger. Experience has shown to many -a saint, however tormented by evil, that appeal to the powers of good -can result in ultimate victory. Let us not reject experience on the -ground of dogmatic assertion and baseless speculation. - -Historical records tell us of a Divine Incarnation. We may -consider it freely on historical grounds. We are not debarred from -contemplating such a thing by anything that science has to say to -the contrary. Science does not speak directly on the subject. If the -historical evidence is good we may credit it, just as we may credit -the hypothesis of survival if the present-day evidence is good. It -sounds too simple and popular an explanation--too much like the kind -of ideas suited to unsophisticated man and to the infancy of the -race. True; but has it not happened often in the history of science -that reality has been found simpler than our attempted conception of -it? Electricity long ago was often treated as a fluid; and a little -time ago it was customary to jeer at the expression--legitimate in -the mouth of Benjamin Franklin, but now apparently outgrown. And yet -what else is the crowd of mobile electrons, postulated by [not] the -very latest theory, in a metal? Surely it is in some sense a fluid, -though not a material one? The guess was not so far wrong after all. -Meanwhile we learned to treat it by mathematical devices, vector -potential, and other recondite methods. With great veneration I speak -of the mathematical physicists of the past century. They have been -almost superhuman in power, and have attained extraordinary results, -but in time the process of discovery will enable mankind to apprehend -all these things more simply. Progress lies in simple investigation -as well as in speculation and thought up to the limits of human -power; and when things are really understood, they are perceived to -be fairly simple after all. - -So it seems likely to be with a future state, or our own permanent -existence; it has been thought of and spoken of as if it were -altogether transcendental--something beyond space and time (as it -may be), something outside and beyond all conception. But it is -not necessarily so at all; it is a question of fact; it is open -to investigation. I find part of it turning out quite reasonably -simple; not easy to grasp or express, for lack of experience and -language--that is true,--but not by any means conveying a feeling -of immediate vast difference and change. Something much more like -terrestrial existence, at least on one aspect of it, than we had -imagined. Not as a rule associated with matter; no, but perhaps -associated with ether--an etherial body instead of a material one; -certainly a body, or mode of manifestation, of some kind. It appears -to be a state which leaves personality and character and intelligence -much where it was. No sudden jump into something supernal, but steady -and continued progress. Many activities and interests beyond our -present ken, but with a surviving terrestrial aspect, occasionally -accessible, and showing interest in the doings of those on earth, -together with great desire to help and to encourage all efforts for -the welfare of the race. We need not search after something so far -removed from humanity as to be unintelligible. - - * * * * * - -So likewise with the idea of God. - -No matter how complex and transcendentally vast the Reality must be, -the Christian conception of God is humanly simple. It appeals to the -unlettered and ignorant; it appeals to "babes." - -That is the way with the greatest things. The sun is the centre of -the solar system, a glorious object full of mystery and unknown -forces, but the sunshine is a friendly and homely thing, which shines -in at a cottage window, touches common objects with radiance, and -brings warmth and comfort even to the cat. - -The sunshine is not the sun, but it is the human and terrestrial -aspect of the sun; it is that which matters in daily life. It -is independent of study and discovery; it is given us by direct -experience, and for ordinary life it suffices. - -Thus would I represent the Christian conception of God. Christ is the -human and practical and workaday aspect. Christ is the sunshine--that -fraction of transcendental Cosmic Deity which suffices for the earth. -Jesus of Nazareth is plainly a terrestrial heritage. His advent is -the glory, His reception the shame, of the human race. - - * * * * * - -Once more, then. Although there may be undue simplification of the -complex, there is also an undue complication of the simple; it is -easy to invent unnecessary problems, to manufacture gratuitous -difficulties, to lose our way in a humanly constructed and quite -undivine fog. But the way is really simple, and when the fog lifts -and the sunshine appears, all becomes clear and we proceed without -effort on our way: the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err -therein. The way, the truth, and the life are all one. Reality -is always simple; it is concrete and real and expressible. Our -customary view of the commonest objects is not indeed the last word, -nay, rather, it is the first word, as to their nature; but it is a -true word as far as it goes. Analysing a liquid into a congeries -of discrete atoms does not destroy or weaken or interfere with its -property or fluidity. Analysing an atom into electrons does not -destroy the atom. Reducing matter to electricity, or to any other -etherial substratum, does not alter the known and familiarly utilised -properties of a bit of wood or iron or glass, in the least; no, nor -of a bit of bone or feather or flesh. Study may superadd properties -imperceptible to the plain man, but the plain man's concrete and -simple view serves for ordinary purposes of daily life. - -And God's view, strange to say, must be more akin to that of the -plain man than to that of the philosopher or statistician. That is -how it comes that children are near the kingdom of heaven. It is -not likely that God really makes abstractions and "geometrises." -All those higher and elaborate modes of expression are human -counters; and the difficulties of dealing with them are human too. -Only in early stages do things require superhuman power for their -apprehension; they are easy to grasp when they are really understood. -They come out then into daily life; they are not then matters of -intellectual strain; they can appeal to our sense of beauty; they -can affect us with emotion and love and appreciation and joy; they -can enter into poetry and music, and constitute the subject-matter -of Art of all kinds. The range of art and of enjoyment must increase -infinitely with perfect knowledge. This is the atmosphere of God. -"Where dwells enjoyment, there is He." We are struggling upwards into -that atmosphere slowly and laboriously. The struggle is human, and -for us quite necessary, but the mountain top is serene and pure and -lovely, and its beauty is in nowise enhanced by the efforts of the -exhausted climber, as he slowly wins his way thither. - -Yet the effort itself is of value. The climber, too, is part of the -scheme, and his upward trend may be growth and gain to the whole. -It adds interest, though not beauty. Do not let us think that the -universe is stagnant and fixed and settled and dull, and that all -its appearance of "going on" is illusion and deception. I would even -venture to urge that, ever since the grant to living creatures of -free will, there must be, in some sense or other, a real element of -contingency,--that there is no dulness about it, even to the Deity, -but a constant and aspiring Effort. - -Let us trust our experience in this also. The Universe is a flux, it -is a becoming, it is a progress. Evolution is a reality. True and not -imaginary progress is possible. Effort is not a sham. Existence is a -true adventure. There is a real risk. - -There was a real risk about creation--directly it went beyond the -inert and mechanical. The granting of choice and free will involved a -risk. Thenceforward things could go wrong. They might be kept right -by main force, but that would not be playing the game, that would not -be loyalty to the conditions. - -As William James says: A football team desire to get a ball to a -certain spot, but that is not all they desire; they wish to do it -under certain conditions and overcome inherent difficulties--else -might they get up in the night and put it there. - -So also we may say, Good is the end and aim of the Divine Being; but -not without conditions. Not by compulsion. Perfection as of machinery -would be too dull and low an achievement--something much higher is -sought. The creation of free creatures who, in so far as they go -right, do so because they will, not because they must,--that was the -Divine problem, and it is the highest of which we have any conception. - -Yes, there was a real risk in making a human race on this planet. -Ultimate good was not guaranteed. Some parts of the Universe must -be far better than this, but some may be worse. Some planets may -comparatively fail. The power of evil may here and there get the -upper hand: although it must ultimately lead to suicidal destructive -failure, for evil is pregnant with calamity. - -This planet is surely not going to fail. Its destinies have been more -and more entrusted to us. For millions of years it laboured, and -now it has produced a human race--a late-comer to the planet, only -recently arrived, only partly civilised as yet. But already it has -produced Plato and Newton and Shakespeare; yes, and it has been the -dwelling-place of Christ. Surely it is going to succeed, and in good -time to be the theatre of such a magnificent development of human -energy and power and joy as to compensate, and more than compensate, -for all the pain and suffering, all the blood and tears, which have -gone to prepare the way. - -The struggle is a real one. The effort is not confined to humanity -alone: according to the Christian conception God has shared in it. -"God so loved the world that He gave"--we know the text. The earth's -case was not hopeless; the world was bad, but it could be redeemed; -and the redemption was worth the painful effort which then was -undergone, and which the disciples of the Cross have since in their -measure shared. Aye, that is the Christian conception; not of a God -apart from His creatures, looking on, taking no personal interest -in their behaviour, sitting aloof only to judge them; but One who -anxiously takes measures for their betterment, takes trouble, takes -pains--a pregnant phrase, takes pains,--One who suffers when they go -wrong, One who feels painfully the miseries and wrongdoings and sins -and cruelties of the creatures whom He has endowed with free will; -One who actively enters into the storm and the conflict; One who -actually took flesh and dwelt among us, to save us from the slough -into which we might have fallen, to show us what the beauty and -dignity of man might be. - -Well, it is a great idea, a great and simple idea, so simple as to be -incredible to some minds. It has been hidden from many of the wise -and prudent; it has been revealed to babes. - - * * * * * - -To sum up: Let us not be discouraged by simplicity. Real things are -simple. Human conceptions are not altogether misleading. Our view of -the Universe is a partial one but is not an untrue one. Our knowledge -of the conditions of existence is not altogether false--only -inadequate. The Christian idea of God is a genuine representation of -reality. - -Nor let us imagine that existence hereafter, removed from these atoms -of matter which now both confuse and manifest it, will be something -so wholly remote and different as to be unimaginable; but let us -learn by the testimony of experience--either our own or that of -others--that those who have been, still are; that they care for us -and help us; that they, too, are progressing and learning and working -and hoping; that there are grades of existence, stretching upward -and upward to all eternity; and that God Himself, through His agents -and messengers, is continually striving and working and planning, so -as to bring this creation of His through its preparatory labour and -pain, and lead it on to an existence higher and better than anything -we have ever known. - - [Footnote 41: _Hibbert Journal_, July 1911.] - - -INDEX - - - Abstraction, 370, 372, 380 - - _Abt Vogler_, 297, 370 - - Acorn, 290 - - Acquired characters, Inheritance of, 323, 324 - - Acrostic, 19, 21, 25, 145 - - Adonis, 304 - - Æneid, 14, 317, 319 - - Aeroplane, 142 - - Agents, 291, 371, 386, 396 - - Alec, 35, 46, 53, 70, 71, 120, 146, 147, 157, 162, 193, - 202, 208, 224, 271, 272, 276 - - Amoeba, 389 - - Animation of Matter, 363 - - Anonymity, 96, 117, 128, 129, 180, 240, 247 - - Anticipation and Reality, 303, 384, 386 - - Argonauts, 153, 155, 211, 250, 274 - - Army officers, 53 - - Arnold, Sir Edwin, 302, 322 - - Art, 393 - - Aspasia, 13 - - Asquith, Mr., 55 - - Atheism, 370 - - Atomic Theory, 288 - - Atonement, 178, 249, 395 - - Attacks, 52, 53 - - Aunt Anne, 175 - - Aunt Jennie, 203 - - Australia, 9, 117, 149 - - Automatic Writing, 86, 90, 94, 117, 118, 119, 120, 123, - 124, 205, 206, 207, 225, 350, 352, 355 - - - Bacon, Lord, 378 - - Bailey, 61 - - Balfour, Rt. Hon. G. W., 283 - - Banks, Mitchell, 155 - - Barbara, 38, 112, 145, 223 - - Barrett, Sir W. F., 86 - - Bayfield, Rev. M. A., 92 - - Beads on string, 288 - - Bean, Jumping, 289, 293, 369 - - Beauty, 305, 383, 393 - - Bedales, 4, 136 - - Beehive, 291 - - Belgian stove, 44 - - Belgium, 25, 39 - - Bereavement, 47, 102, 342, 374 - - Bergson, Professor, 191, 333, 340, 348 - - Biddy, 168 - - Bill, Brother. See William - - Birmingham, 133 - - Birthday, 212, 235 - - Boast, Captain S. T., 77, 108, 110, 112, 113 - - Body, 194, 195, 235, 305, 313, 318, 319, 320, 323, 388, - 391 - - Body and Mind, 328, 330 - - Books, 5, 132, 209 - - Boy at organ, 373 - - Brain, Function of, 340 - - Bricklaying, 34 - - Bridging the chasm, 83, 389 - - Briscoe, A. E., 109, 111 - - British Warm, 19 - - Brittain, Mrs., 161 - - Brodie (B.), 208, 214 - - Brothers, Two, 200, 210 - - Browne, Sir James Crichton, 291 - - Browning, 1, 297, 370 - - Buddha, 381 - - Burial, 48, 50, 65, 235 - - Burial, Care taken in, 68 - - Burlton, Lieut., 53 - - - Calamity, 322 - - Calendar of Photograph, 115 - - Cambridge, 286 - - Card, Memorial, 12 - - Case, Lieut., 42, 75, 76, 77, 114, 141, 279 - - Caton, Dr., 155 - - Cavalry officers, 54 - - Change of Conditions, 306 - - Charlatans, 389 - - Chasm bridging, 83, 389 - - Château, 25, 26, 27, 66 - - Cheerfulness, 36, 42, 50, 59, 70, 71, 98, 99, 126, 127, - 159, 187, 204 - - Chemistry, 100, 133, 288 - - Chemistry and Physics, 370 - - Cheves, Captain, 78, 106, 206 - - Childhood, 5, 8 - - Christian claim, 85 - - Christianity, 178, 232, 376, 381, 383, 392, 395 - - Christmas, 188, 190, 205, 207, 218 - - Christopher Sonnenschein, 240, 247 - - Clairvoyance, 86, 129 - - Clegg, Mrs., 237, 239, 241, 243, 253 - - Clifford, W. K., 388 - - Clothes, 189, 197, 199 - - Clough, A. H., 382 - - Code signalling, 362 - - Coleridge, 304 - - Columbus, 367 - - Coming down hill, 154, 155, 156 - - Common-sense explanations, 348, 369 - - Communicating, Instruction in, 165 - - Communication, 389 - - Communicator, 87, 171, 358 - - Coniston, 52, 155 - - Consciousness, 330, 332, 333 - - Conservation, 290 - - Constructive ability, 290, 291, 336 - - Contingency, 289, 312, 385, 393, 394 - - Continuity, 335, 391 - - Control, 86, 103, 163, 167, 170, 171, 183, 238, 241, 357, - 358, 360 - - Control, Method, 126 - - Cooking, 28 - - 1 Corinthians i. 26, 368 - - Corpuscles (white), 385, 386 - - Cotton, Colonel, 53 - - Covering Party, 68 - - Creatures, Living, 304 - - Crookes, Sir William, 170, 342 - - Cross, Falling, 99, 128 - - Cross-correspondence, 135, 159, 160, 172, 182, 189, 190, - 241, 242, 253 - - Crystal and Organism, 293 - - Curly, 203, 273, 278 - - - Dallas, Miss H. A., 86 - - Damp, 62, 70 - - Darlington, 240, 247 - - Dartmoor, 154, 155, 211, 214 - - Darwin, 310, 335 - - Darwin and Mendel, 285 - - Dead Matter, 289 - - Deakin, The Hon. Mr. Alfred, 360 - - Death, 6, 103, 126, 127, 134, 183, 202, 249, 294, 295, - 296, 298, 300, 306, 313 - - Decay, 303 - - Depression, 48, 203 - - Design, 317, 393 - - Determinism, 385, 394 - - Diary Entry, 31, 108, 111, 115, 116, 148 - - Dickebusch, 21, 75 - - Digging, 36, 44 - - Diotima, 83 - - Direct Voice, 193, 201, 365 - - Direct Writing, 365 - - Dog, 79, 154, 203, 273, 278 - - Dogmatism, 314 - - Dowsing, 363 - - Dream, 31, 34, 35 - - Dualism, 284, 320 - - Dug-outs, 33, 53, 57 - - Dvinsk, 130 - - Dynamics, 286 - - - E. A. Episode, 243, 244, 245, 267 - - Ecclesiastes, 92 - - Eclipse, Solar, 369 - - Edinburgh, 3, 10, 45, 52 - - Effort, Real, 393, 395 - - Eggs and bacon, 67 - - Egyptian tombs, 302 - - Electric charge, 290 - - Electricity, 286, 290, 375, 391 - - Electricity, Modern views on, 373 - - Electrons, 391 - - Elusiveness, 319 - - Emotion, Conveyance of, 220, 221, 222, 278, 363 - - Energy, Directed, 138, 144, 151, 291 - - Engineering, 3, 9, 29, 240 - - Enjoyment, 393 - - Enquiry, 313, 314 - - Enquiry, Free, 378 - - Enteric, 25, 46 - - Entry in Diary, 31, 108, 111, 115, 116, 148 - - Epiphenomenon, 283, 388 - - Ether, 286, 298, 318, 319, 336, 339, 375, 391 - - Ether of Space, The, 319 - - Etherial body, 319, 336 - - Evidence, 115, 151, 159, 201, 308, 324, 373 - - Evil, 230, 353, 390, 394 - - Evolution 292, 336 - - Exclusion, 372, 379 - - Exposure, 62, 70 - - Extrapolation, 284, 286 - - - Facts, 287, 288, 308, 310, 314 - - Faith, 367 - - Falling Cross, 99, 128 - - Faunus, 104, 315 - - Faunus message, 90 - - Fear, 126, 132, 168, 174, 175, 300 - - Feda, 98, 120, 121, 125, 180, 191, 192, 213, 236, 260, 261 - - Ferry, 154, 156, 157 - - Fiacre, 55 - - Fiddler, 46 - - Finding people, 254 - - Finger of God, 370 - - Fire-fly, 290 - - Fitzgerald, 305 - - Fletcher, Lieut., 17, 22, 23, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, - 41, 42, 43, 49, 51, 75, 77 - - Flopping about, 239, 242 - - Flowers, 227, 235, 258, 269 - - Foster, Sir Michael, 368 - - Franklin, Benjamin, 391 - - Freedom, 289, 384, 394, 395 - - Free enquiry, 378 - - Free-will, 289, 315, 333, 385 - - Future, 313 - - - Gale & Polden, 112, 113, 279 - - Gardener, 255, 256 - - Gas, 30, 47, 49 - - Gow, Mr., 111 - - Grades of Being, 375, 389, 396 - - Grades of Existence, 389, 395 - - Grandfather W., 121, 122, 127, 143, 159, 181, 184, 209 - - Granny, 121, 165 - - Grave, 78, 298, 302, 304 - - Gray, 61, 67, 76 - - Greece, 185 - - Greenbank, 8 - - Gregory, R. A., 338 - - Grove Park, 5, 135, 145 - - Gullane, 35, 95 - - Gunn, Marjorie, 58 - - Gurney, Edmund, 143, 145 - - Guy Le Breton, 122, 123 - - - Habits, 324 - - Haldane, Dr. J. S., 283 - - Harborne, 51 - - Harris, Professor Fraser, 293, 294 - - Hell, 230, 353 - - Helmet, German, 64 - - Helping, 98, 102, 103, 123, 126, 143, 150, 160, 166, 178, - 185, 226, 232, 241, 243, 279, 307, 325, 376, 386, 391 - - Herdman, Professor, 295 - - _Hibbert Journal_, 283, 285, 378 - - Hill, Coming down, 154, 155, 156 - - Hill, Mr. J. Arthur, 86, 101, 109, 111, 174, 260 - - Hill, 60, 38, 45, 58 - - Hockey, 148 - - Hodgson, Dr. Richard, 88, 90 - - Holden, Mr., 57, 65 - - Holt, Alfred, 155 - - Homeliness, 184, 336, 337 - - Honolulu, 216, 271, 274 - - Honor, 112, 122, 186, 194, 219, 222, 272, 276 - - Hooge, 63, 64, 74, 75 - - Hope, Anthony, 41 - - Horace, 91, 93, 104 - - Hospitality, 53 - - House-hunting, 56 - - Houses, 135, 145, 230 - - Humour, 349 - - Humour of the life in France, 56 - - Hun, 69 - - Huxley, 308, 368 - - Hyacinthus, 304 - - Hypothesis, 287, 288, 389 - - - Immanence, 386 - - Impersonal Memory, 348 - - Impersonations, 357 - - Impossibility, 387 - - Impression, 126, 160, 209 - - Incarnation, 381, 383, 388, 390 - - Individual Case, 84, 85 - - Infinitude, 309 - - Information got from Sitters, 192, 196, 199 - - Inheritance of acquired characters, 323, 324 - - Inhibition, 138, 340 - - Inspection by Army Corps Commander, 71 - - Inspiration, 381 - - Instruction in communicating, 165 - - Instruments, 320 - - Intelligibility, 380 - - Interaction, 283, 317, 366, 372 - - Intercommunion, 376 - - "Irish Eyes," 215 - - Italy, 11, 43, 45, 144, 278 - - - Jackson, Mr., 256, 258, 278 - - James, Professor Wm., 87, 394 - - J. K. Episode, 254, 266 - - Joan of Arc, 381 - - Johnsons, 32 - - Jumping bean, 289, 293, 369 - - - Kelvin, Lord, 286, 375 - - Kennedy, Mrs., 96, 97, 117, 120, 129, 158, 205 - - Kitchener, Lord, 55 - - Knife-rests, 28 - - - Langland Bay, 157 - - Lankester, Sir E. Ray, 332 - - Laplace, 370, 385 - - Larry, 79, 154, 278 - - Laws, Mr., 17, 21, 23, 39, 42, 43, 51 - - Leave, 52, 54, 55 - - Lectures, 43, 265 - - Leith, Miss, 70 - - Leith, Professor, 24 - - Leonard, Mrs. Orborne, 98, 101, 106, 118, 121, 365 - - Lethe, 327 - - Life, 289 - - Life and Energy, 290 - - Life and Matter, 320 - - Light, 286 - - Lights, Coloured, 264 - - Lights, "Very," 22, 24, 30, 31, 64 - - Lily, 134, 159, 187, 190, 199, 200, 210, 221, 229, 273 - - Limitation of Scope, 341 - - Linga, The, 67, 95 - - Lionel, 70, 147, 180, 186, 188, 193, 196, 202, 271, 273 - - Liverpool, 3, 10, 135 - - Living creatures, 304 - - Lodge Brothers, 3, 9, 79 - - Lodge Fume Deposit Co., 79 - - Longfellow, 306 - - Loos, 74 - - Lorna, 52, 112, 220, 224 - - Lusitania, 299, 300 - - - M.A.Oxon., 350 - - Machine Gun, 3, 52, 54, 61, 66, 73, 77 - - Madame Le Breton, 97, 119, 121, 123, 135 - - Maggie Magee, 215 - - Magnetism, 144, 164, 290 - - Maps, 251, 252 - - Margaret, 45 - - Mariemont Sittings, 158, 159, 182, 190, 194, 211, 217, - 219, 222, 273, 274, 275 - - Mariemont, Views of, 224 - - Materialisation, 184, 197, 198, 201, 268, 365 - - Materialism, 249, 284, 285, 310 - - Mathematical Physics, 286 - - Matter, Dead, 289 - - Matter and Life, 320 - - Maurice, 40, 41, 43, 72 - - Maxwell, Clerk, 391 - - McCreadie, Miss, 228 - - M'Dougal, Professor, 283 - - Meagreness of Conceptions, 310 - - Mechanics, 289 - - Mechanism, 88, 388 - - Medium of artist, 88, 320, 339 - - Mediums, 118, 128, 330, 358 - - Memorial Card, 12 - - Memorial Tablet, 7 - - Memory, 259, 326, 327, 330, 348, 357 - - Mendel and Darwin, 285 - - Menexenus, 13 - - Merlin, 93 - - Messiah, 376, 382 - - Microbe, 387 - - Military terms, 41 - - Mind and Matter, 291, 339 - - Mines, 57, 61 - - Miracles, 390 - - Missionary spirit, 325 - - Missionary zeal, 83 - - Mitchell, Captain, 141, 142, 146, 149 - - Mitchell, Dr. Chalmers, 333, 334, 335 - - M. N. W., 228, 229 - - Molesworth, 71 - - Monism, 284 - - Moonstone, 100, 105, 129, 164, 177 - - Moses, Rev. Stainton, 350 - - Motor, Nagant, 277 - - Motor-buses, 51, 52, 72 - - Motoring, 58, 156 - - Motors, 58, 71, 212, 252, 278 - - Mott, Dr., 329 - - Mud, 17, 20, 184 - - Muirhead, Dr. Alex., 170 - - Muirhead, Prof. J. H., 337 - - Music, 46, 222, 234 - - "My Southern Maid," 216 - - Myers, 84, 85, 88, 90, 92, 96, 97, 98, 100, 101, 103, - 104, 122, 143, 145, 159, 169, 177, 201, 203, 206, 234, - 249, 312, 316, 336, 362, 367 - - - Nagant Motor, 275, 277, 278 - - Names, 173 - - Names, Difficulty in remembering, 360 - - Negations, 379, 387, 390 - - Nerve cases, 40 - - Newcastle, 145, 220 - - Newton, 286, 394 - - Nicknames, 148 - - Noël, 22, 70, 140, 146, 148, 224, 276 - - Norah, 38, 39, 52, 219, 271, 273 - - Norman, 140, 146, 147, 148, 179 - - Note-book, 326 - - Note-taking, 358 - - - O'Brien, Sergeant, 33 - - Old age, 295 - - Olive, Miss, 227, 229, 262, 269 - - Oliver, 6, 45, 52, 135 - - Olives, 131, 144 - - Omniscience, 316 - - "Orange Girl, My," 215 - - Oratorio, 290 - - Orderly, 16, 18, 28, 61, 67, 76 - - Organ, Boy at, 373 - - Organising Power. See Constructive Ability - - Organism and Crystal, 293 - - Ouija, 186, 356 - - Outlook, 374 - - - Paraffin, exchange for window, 44 - - Partition, 100, 133, 306, 345 - - Pat, 140, 148, 161, 223 - - Paul Kennedy, 117, 119, 121, 123, 146, 149, 176, 234, - 235, 241 - - Peace, 25, 50 - - Peacock, 256, 257, 258, 278 - - Pedestal, 257, 279 - - Penkhull, 8 - - Periscope rifle attachments, 62 - - Personal possessions, 324 - - Personality, 298, 336, 383, 387, 391 - - Peters, Mr. A. Vout, 99, 104, 105, 118, 129, 162, 163, - 174, 178, 260 - - Phagocytes, 386 - - Phinuit, Dr., 129 - - Phonograph, 328 - - Photograph, 105, 112, 114, 116, 132, 206, 279 - - Photograph, Calendar of, 115 - - Photograph, Description of, 110 - - Physical phenomena, 137, 218, 222, 224, 277 - - Physics and Chemistry, 370 - - Piddington, Mr., 172 - - Piper, Mrs., 87, 90, 94, 95, 129, 228 - - Planchette, 356, 362 - - Planisphere, 30 - - Plato, 13, 394 - - Plotinus, 325, 327, 330, 337 - - Plumer, Sir Herbert, 71 - - Polchet, M., 43, 45, 46, 51 - - Policy not philosophy, 284, 285 - - Poperinghe, 71 - - Prayer, 183, 227, 307, 376 - - Prediction. See Prevision - - Prejudice, 379 - - Prevision, 35, 130, 185, 312, 314, 315, 316, 385 - - Primus stove, 18, 29, 44 - - Prisoners, 47 - - Private affairs, 374 - - Professional mediums, 118, 128 - - Prognostication. See Prevision - - Progress, 395 - - Protoplasm, 388 - - Psychometry, 305, 306 - - Purpose, 285 - - - Questions, Test, 152, 157, 159, 224, 249 - - - Ralph, 173, 273, 274 - - Raps, 89 - - Rathbone, William, 8 - - Rats, 28 - - Rawnsley, Canon, 12 - - Reality and Anticipation, 303, 384, 386 - - Record sleeps, 66, 119, 120, 121, 123, 145 - - Rector, 129 - - Red flames, 369 - - Red roses, 246, 261 - - Redfeather, 166, 235 - - Relics, 305, 324 - - Reninghelst, 113 - - Resurrection, 298, 322, 323 - - Revelation, 309, 376, 384 - - Reverse, 34 - - Riding, 37, 38 - - Risk, 394 - - Robbins, Miss, 90 - - Rocking-horse, 220 - - Rods and rings, 251, 253 - - Room in Violet's house, 45, 226 - - Rosalynde, 109, 112, 145, 272 - - Roscoe, Lt. William, 42, 58, 60, 73 - - Roses, 46, 47, 246, 261 - - Ross, Sir Ronald, 294 - - Rossetti, 296 - - Roumania, 186 - - Rowland, 35, 131, 135, 191, 226 - - Russell, Bertrand, 315 - - Russia, 186 - - - Sacraments, 321 - - Sacrifice, 178, 249 - - Salter, Captain, 48 - - Sandboat, 251, 252, 253, 260 - - Satellites of Jupiter, 341 - - Sausages, 59, 61, 67 - - Schuster, Dr. Arthur, 303, 368, 369 - - Science, Men of, 368 - - Secondary personality, 86, 171, 357 - - Selection, 88 - - Self-control, 225 - - Senses, 380 - - Serbia, 186 - - Serenading, 46 - - Serious messages, 352 - - Serious side, 11, 233, 234, 259, 263, 266 - - Servants, 16, 18, 28, 61, 67, 76 - - Shakespeare, 304, 315, 394 - - Shell shock, 329 - - Shelley, 81 - - Shelling, 3, 32, 60, 62 - - Shrapnel, 32, 45, 47 - - Sighs, 139, 160 - - Simplicity, 380, 381, 384, 391, 392, 395 - - Sinai, 335 - - Singing, 201, 212, 213 - - Sitter, 358 - - Sitters, Information from, 192, 196, 199 - - Slang, 40 - - Sleeps, 66, 119, 120, 121, 123, 145 - - Small Heath, 79, 132, 133 - - Smyth, Dr. J. Patterson, 344 - - Snipers, 48 - - Sniperscopes, 63, 68 - - Solidity, 184, 194, 198, 209, 375 - - Songs, 212, 215, 222 - - Sonnenschein, Professor, 240, 246, 247 - - Sophistication, 87, 88, 180, 192, 213, 351 - - Souvenir, 64, 69 - - Speculation, 310 - - Speech, 338 - - Spirit and Matter, 320, 323 - - _Spirit Teachings_, 350 - - Spiritual body, 319 - - S. P. R., 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, 100, 102, 104, 114, 133, - 172, 346, 371, 372 - - Stallard, 79, 154 - - Stand-to, 43, 44, 65, 66 - - Stars, 24, 30, 200, 306, 309 - - Stead, Mr., 131, 178 - - St. Eloi, 73, 75 - - St. Germains, 277 - - St. Omer, 51 - - St. Paul, 102, 170 - - String, 196 - - String of beads, 288 - - Strong, Professor, 94 - - Suffering, 178 - - Summerland, 224, 230, 233, 263 - - Superstition, 318 - - Supremacy of Spiritual over Material, 317 - - Surroundings of non-material existence, 336 - - Survival, General, 336 - - Survival of Man, 83, 86, 87, 101, 172 - - Swinburne, 4, 7 - - Symbols, 305 - - Symposium, 83 - - - Table tilting, 89, 121, 122, 136, 137, 138, 143, 144, - 151, 183, 190, 224, 270, 362, 363, 364 - - Tate, Harry, 54 - - Taylor, Captain, 15, 17, 22, 37, 63, 64, 69, 71, 72 - - Telegram, 153 - - Telekinesis, 89 - - Telepathy, 88, 114, 275, 283, 313, 339, 346 - - Telephone operators, 87 - - Telergy, 88 - - Tennyson, 281, 289, 305, 309, 316, 320, 326, 345, 348 - - Tent, 250, 252, 266 - - Tent Lodge, Coniston, 155 - - Tests, 152, 157, 159, 224, 249 - - Theological attitude, 314 - - Theology, 352, 384, 395 - - Think things wanted said, 159 - - Thomas, Humphrey, 17, 23, 31, 42, 43, 47, 49 - - Thompson, Mrs. Isaac, 112 - - Thomson, Professor J. Arthur, 283 - - Thought Forms, 184, 198, 230 - - Tools, 320 - - Trance, 129, 356 - - Trance medium, 86, 88 - - Transcendence, 380, 384 - - Transition, 101, 288, 306 - - Trench improvement, 29, 33, 36, 63, 64, 66 - - Trenches, 20, 24 - - Trivial messages, 346, 349 - - Truncation of Life, 322 - - Tunnel simile, 100, 133 - - - Uncle Jerry, 166 - - Unity, 284, 306, 307, 337 - - Unverifiable statements, 171, 188, 195, 196, 207, 209, - 226, 230, 347 - - - Ventris, Mr., 57, 74, 76, 77, 78 - - Verrall, Mr., 88, 91, 336 - - Versailles, 43 - - Violet, 35, 45, 52, 134, 226 - - Virgil, 14, 317, 319, 373 - - Vital Force, 371 - - Voice, 193, 201, 365 - - - Walker, Messrs. Thos. & Son, 63 - - Wallace, Dr. A. Russel, 334, 342 - - War, 185, 309 - - Warning, 225, 342 - - Way, Lieutenant, 53, 55 - - Weddings, 58 - - Weismann, Professor, 295, 323 - - Whizz-bangs, 56, 60 - - Will, 134 - - William (see also Grandfather and Gardener), 159, 187, - 190, 210, 213, 221, 229 - - Window, exchange for paraffin, 44 - - Winifred, 52 - - Winter campaign, 50 - - Wireless telegraphy, 244, 338 - - Wolseley Motor Works, 4, 79 - - Wood, Miss. F. A., 218, 221 - - Woolacombe, 250, 253 - - Wordsworth, vi - - Workers, 291 - - Wriedt, Mrs., 118 - - Wyatt, Lieut., 19, 42 - - - Yacht, 251, 266 - - Yogi, 177 - - Ypres, 12, 31, 44, 47, 58, 74, 78, 92 - - - Zeppelins, 228 - - - - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Raymond, or Life and Death, by Sir Oliver J. 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Lodge. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body {margin-left:10%; - margin-right: 10%;} - -#coverpage {border: 1px solid black;} -#half-title { text-align: center; font-size: large; line-height: 150%;} - -@media screen {#half-title {margin: 6em 0;}} -@media print, handheld {#half-title - {page-break-before: always; page-break-after: always;}} - -@media print, handheld { - div.chapter {page-break-before: always;}} - -@media print {span.pagenum { - visibility : hidden; - color : white; - display : none;}} - -h1,h2,h3,h4 {text-align: center; clear: both;} - -.xsmall {font-size: 60%;} -.small {font-size: 75%;} -.smaller {font-size: 85%;} -.normal {font-size: 100%;} -.large {font-size: 110%;} -.larger {font-size: 125%;} -.xxlarge {font-size: 175%;} - -p {margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em;} - -.p2 {margin-top: .51em; - text-indent: 2em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em;} - -.p4 {margin-top: .51em; - text-indent: 4em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em;} - -.blockreply2 {margin-left: 2%; margin-right: 10%;} -.blockreply5 {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} - -hr.r15 {width:15%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - clear: both;} - -hr.tb {width: 45%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - clear: both;} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - clear: both;} - -.u {text-decoration: underline;} - -ol.rom {list-style-type: lower-roman;} - -.gesperrt {letter-spacing: 0.2em; - margin-right: -0.2em;} - -table {width: auto; - margin:0 auto} - -td.left {text-align: left; font-size: 1em; padding-right: 0.5em;} -td.right {text-align: right; font-size: 1em; padding-left: 0.5em;} -td.td-indent2 {text-indent: 2em; margin-left: 2em;} - .tdl {text-align: left;} - .tdr {text-align: right;} - .tdc {text-align: center;} - -.pagenum {position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: small; - text-align: right;} - -.blockquote {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter {padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em; margin: auto; - text-align: center; max-width:100%;} - -.caption {text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; - margin:0.25em 0;} -img {max-width: 100%;} -.caption p.smaller {font-size: 90%;} - -/* Footnotes */ -.footnotes {border: dashed 1px; margin-top: 2em;} - -.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} - -.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 80%; text-align: right;} - -.fnanchor {vertical-align: super; - font-size: .8em; - text-decoration: none;} - -/* Poetry */ - - .poem {margin: auto; font-size: 1.0em; - display: inline-block; - text-align: left;} - - .width24 {max-width: 24em;} - .width30 {max-width: 30em;} - - .poem .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} - .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} - -.poetry-container {text-align: center;} - -@media handheld { -.poem {display: block; margin-left: 1.5em;}} - -@media handheld { -.poem {display: block; margin-left: 1.5em;}} - -p.drop-cap { - text-indent: 0em; -} -p.drop-cap:first-letter -{ - float: left; - margin: 0.15em 0.1em 0em 0em; - font-size: 200%; - line-height:0.85em; -} -@media handheld -{ - p.drop-cap:first-letter - { - float: none; - margin: 0; - font-size: 100%; - } -} - -.covernote {visibility: visible; display: block; margin-top: 2em;} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:1em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif;} - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's Raymond, or Life and Death, by Sir Oliver J. Lodge - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Raymond, or Life and Death - With examples of the evidence for survival of memory and - affection after death. - -Author: Sir Oliver J. Lodge - -Release Date: January 30, 2016 [EBook #51086] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAYMOND, OR LIFE AND DEATH *** - - - - -Produced by Brian Wilsden and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover" /> -</div> - -<div class="transnote covernote"> -<p class="center" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;">The cover -has been repaired by the transcriber.</p> -</div> - -<div class="transnote"> -<p>Transcriber's Notes:</p> -<p>Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible.</p> -<p>Minor typographical errors have been corrected.</p> -<p>The original text contains many unclosed quotes that are obviously the -author's intention. These have been left as written in the original.</p> -<p>Page 93: "prope funeratus / arboris ictu" changed to "prope funeratus arboris ictu" to avoid unwanted '/'.</p> -<p>Page 139: Unclosed bracket "(" left unchanged.</p> -<p>Page 221: Unnecessary ")" removed. Typographical error.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<h1>RAYMOND<br /> -<span class="xsmall">OR</span><br /> -<span class="small"><span class="u">LIFE AND DEATH</span></span> -</h1> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="center"> -<span class="larger">BY SIR OLIVER J. LODGE</span> -<hr class="r15" /> -<span class="smcap">Raymond, or Life and Death</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Modern Problems</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">The Substance of Faith,</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Allied with Science</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Man and the Universe</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">The Survival of Man</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Reason and Belief</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">The War and After</span><br /> -</div></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_004"></a> -<img src="images/i_004.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">RAYMOND</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="xxlarge"><span class="gesperrt">RAYMOND</span></span><br /> -<span class="large">OR</span><br /> -<span class="larger">LIFE AND DEATH</span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smaller">WITH EXAMPLES OF THE EVIDENCE<br /> -FOR SURVIVAL OF MEMORY AND AFFECTION<br /> -AFTER DEATH</span><br /> -<br /> - -<span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -<span class="larger"><span class="smcap">Sir</span> OLIVER J. LODGE</span><br /> -<br /> - -<span class="xsmall">WITH EIGHTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS</span><br /> -<br /><br /> -<span class="normal">NEW YORK<br /> -GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY</span></h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"> -COPYRIGHT, 1916,<br /> -BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY -<br /><br /><br /> - -PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA -</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"> -TO<br /> -<span class="larger">HIS MOTHER AND FAMILY</span><br /> -<br /> -WITH GRATITUDE FOR PERMISSION<br /> -TO USE PRIVATE MATERIAL<br /> -FOR PUBLIC ENDS<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p><span style="margin-left: 6em;">"Divine must be</span></p> -<p>That triumph, when the very worst, the pain,</p> -<p>And even the prospect of our brethren slain,</p> -<p>Hath something in it which the heart enjoys."</p> -<br /> -<p style="margin-left: 6em;"><span class="smcap">Wordsworth</span>, <i>Sonnet</i> -<span class="smcap">XXVI</span>.</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>PREFACE</h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THIS book is named after my son who was killed in -the War.</p> - -<p>It is divided into three parts. In the first part some idea of the -kind of life lived and the spirit shown by any number of youths, fully -engaged in civil occupations, who joined for service when war broke out -and went to the Front, is illustrated by extracts from his letters. -The object of this portion is to engender a friendly feeling towards -the writer of the letters, so that whatever more has to be said in -the sequel may not have the inevitable dulness of details concerning -an entire stranger. This is the sole object of this portion. The -letters are not supposed to be remarkable; though as a picture of part -of the life at the Front during the 1915 phase of the war they are -interesting, as many other such letters must have been.</p> - -<p>The second part gives specimens of what at present are considered by -most people unusual communications; though these again are in many -respects of an ordinary type, and will be recognised as such by other -bereaved persons who have had similar messages. In a few particulars, -indeed, those here quoted have rather special features, by reason of -the assistance given by the group of my friends "on the other side" -who had closely studied the subject. It is partly owing to the urgency -therein indicated that I have thought it my duty to speak out, though -it may well be believed that it is not without hesitation that I have -ventured thus to obtrude family affairs. I should not have done so were -it not that the amount of premature and unnatural bereavement at the -present time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span> -is so appalling that the pain caused by exposing one's -own sorrow and its alleviation, to possible scoffers, becomes almost -negligible in view of the service which it is legitimate to hope may -thus be rendered to mourners, if they can derive comfort by learning -that communication across the gulf is possible. Incidentally I have -to thank those friends, some of them previously unknown, who have in -the same spirit allowed the names of loved ones to appear in this -book, and I am grateful for the help which one or two of those friends -have accorded. Some few more perhaps may be thus led to pay critical -attention to any assurance of continued and happy and useful existence -which may reach them from the other side.</p> - -<p>The third part of the book is of a more expository character, and is -designed to help people in general to realise that this subject is -not the bugbear which ignorance and prejudice have made it, that it -belongs to a coherent system of thought full of new facts of which -continued study is necessary, that it is subject to a law and order of -its own, and that though comparatively in its infancy it is a genuine -branch of psychological science. This third part is called "Life and -Death," because these are the two great undeniable facts which concern -everybody, and in which it is natural for every one to feel a keen -interest, if they once begin to realise that such interest is not -futile, and that it is possible to learn something real about them. It -may be willingly admitted that these chapters are inadequate to the -magnitude of the subject, but it is hoped that they are of a usefully -introductory character.</p> - -<p>The "In Memoriam" chapter of Part I is no doubt -chiefly of interest to family and friends; but everybody -is very friendly, and under the circumstances it will be -excused.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table summary="Contents" style="width:55%"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> </td><td class="tdr"><span class="small">PAGE</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Preface</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_vii">vii</a></td> -</tr> -<tr><td> </td></tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">PART ONE: NORMAL PORTION</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="small">CHAPTER</span></td><td class="tdl"> </td><td class="tdl"> </td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">I. <span class="smcap">In Memoriam</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">II. <span class="smcap">Letters from the Front</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">III. <span class="smcap">Letters from Officers</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td> -</tr> -<tr><td> </td></tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">PART TWO: SUPERNORMAL PORTION</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">I. <span class="smcap">Elementary Explanation</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">II. <span class="smcap">The 'Faunus' Message</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">III. <span class="smcap">Sequel to the 'Faunus' Message</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">IV. <span class="smcap">The Group Photograph</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">V. <span class="smcap">Beginning of Historical Record</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">VI. <span class="smcap">First Sitting of O. J. L. with Mrs. Leonard</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">VII. <span class="smcap">First Peters Sitting</span> (<span class="smcap">Anonymous</span>)</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">VIII. <span class="smcap">A Table Sitting</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">IX. <span class="smcap">Attempts at Stricter Evidence</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">X. <span class="smcap">Record Continued</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_158">158</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XI. <span class="smcap">First Sitting of Alec</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XII. <span class="smcap">General Remarks on Conversational</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Reports and on Cross-Correspondences</span></span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XIII. <span class="smcap">An O. J.L. Sitting with Peters</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XIV. <span class="smcap">First Sitting of Lionel</span><span class="smcap"> Anonymous</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_180">180</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XV. <span class="smcap">M.F. A.L. Sitting of November 26</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_188">188</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XVI. <span class="smcap">O. J. L. Sitting of December 3</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XVII. <span class="smcap">K.K. Automatic Writing</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_205">205</a> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XVIII. <span class="smcap">First Sitting of Alec with Mrs. Leonard</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XIX. <span class="smcap">Private Sittings at Mariemont</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_217">217</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XX. <span class="smcap">A Few more Records, with some Unverifiable Matter</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_226">226</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XXI. <span class="smcap">Two Evidential Sittings of March 3</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XXII. <span class="smcap">More Unverifiable Matter</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_262">262</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XXIII. <span class="smcap">A Few Isolated Incidents</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_271">271</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr><td> </td></tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdc">PART THREE: LIFE AND DEATH</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">I. <span class="smcap">The Meaning of the Term Life</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_289">289</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">II. <span class="smcap">The Meaning of the Term Death</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_296">296</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">III. <span class="smcap">Death and Decay</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_302">302</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">IV. <span class="smcap">Continued Existence</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_308">308</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">V. <span class="smcap">Past, Present, and Future</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_312">312</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">VI. <span class="smcap">Interaction of Mind and Matter</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_317">317</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">VII. '<span class="smcap">Resurrection of the Body</span>'</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_322">322</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">VIII. <span class="smcap">Mind and Brain</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_326">326</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">IX. <span class="smcap">Life and Consciousness</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_332">332</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">X. <span class="smcap">On Means of Communication</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_338">338</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XI. <span class="smcap">On the Fact of Supernormal Communication</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_345">345</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XII. <span class="smcap">On the Contention that all Psychic Communications</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">are of a Trivial Nature and Deal with</span></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Insignificant Topics</span></span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_349">349</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XIII. <span class="smcap">On the Manner of Communication</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_355">355</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XIV. <span class="smcap">Various Psycho-physical Methods</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_362">362</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XV. <span class="smcap">Attitude of the Wise and Prudent</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_367">367</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XVI. <span class="smcap">Outlook on the Universe</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_374">374</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">XVII. <span class="smcap">The Christian Idea of God</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_378">378</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Index</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_397">397</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> -</div> - -<table summary="Illustrations" style="width:60%"> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Raymond</span></td><td class="tdr"><i>Frontispiece</i></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> </td><td class="tdr"><span class="small">PAGE</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Raymond when Two Years Old</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_023">8</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Raymond, 1915</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_095">78</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Group of Officers, as Sent Us by Mrs. Cheves on December 7,</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">1915, Showing an Arm Resting on Raymond's Shoulder</span></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_117">110</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Another Edition of the Group-Photograph, with</span> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Shoulder Instead of Hand</span></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_138">112</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Group Subsequently Obtained, Evidently Taken at the</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Same Time, but Pressure on Shoulder Removed</span></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_139">114</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mariemont</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_249top">224</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Raymond and Brodie with the Pigeons at Mariemont</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_249bottom">224</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Large Double-Compartment Tent in Its First Form (1905)</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">(Built at Mariemont and Taken to Woolacombe)</span></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_277top">250</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Tent in Its Second Form (1906) Made out of the Remains</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">of the First</span></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_277bottom">250</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">First Edition of the Sandboat (1906) at Woolacombe, with</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Alec on Board</span></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_281top">252</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Rising Ground Behind Older Tents on Woolacombe Beach</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_281bottom">252</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">"Grandfather W."</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_289top">258</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">"Mr. Jackson" with M.F. A.L. at Mariemont</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_289bottom">258</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Second Edition of Sandboat, at Mariemont, Before Being</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Unshipped and Taken to Woolacombe, 1907</span></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_293top">260</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Raymond Working at the Sandboat in the Boys' Laboratory</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">at Mariemont</span></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_293bottom">260</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">"Curly" and "Vix." Curly being the Shaggy One. Vix was</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">the Mother of Raymond's Dog "Larry"</span></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_313">278</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Raymond in His "Nagant" Motor, 1913.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Outside a Friend's -House in Somersetshire</span></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_317">278</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1-2]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>PART ONE: NORMAL PORTION</h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>"And this to fill us with regard for man,</p> -<p>With apprehension of his passing worth."</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 10em;"><span class="smcap">Browning</span></span>, <i>Paracelsus</i>.</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER I</span><br /> -<span class="small">IN MEMORIAM</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THE bare facts are much as reported in <i>The -Times</i>:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">Second Lieutenant Raymond Lodge</span> was the youngest son of -Sir Oliver and Lady Lodge, and was by taste and training an -engineer. He volunteered for service in September 1914 and was -at once given a commission in the 3rd South Lancashires. After -training near Liverpool and Edinburgh, he went to the Front in -the early spring of 1915, attached to the 2nd South Lancashire -Regiment of the Regular Army, and was soon in the trenches near -Ypres or Hooge. His engineering skill was of service in details of -trench construction, and he later was attached to a Machine-Gun -Section for a time, and had various escapes from shell fire and -shrapnel. His Captain having sprained an ankle, he was called back -to Company work, and at the time of his death was in command of -a Company engaged in some early episode of an attack or attempted -advance which was then beginning. He was struck by a fragment -of shell in the attack on Hooge Hill on the 14th September 1915, -and died in a few hours.</p> - -<p>Raymond Lodge had been educated at Bedales School and -Birmingham University. He had a great aptitude and love for -mechanical engineering, and was soon to have become a partner -with his elder brothers, who highly valued his services, and -desired his return to assist in the Government work which now -occupies their firm.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>In amplification of this bare record a few members of -the family wrote reminiscences of him, and the following -memoir is by his eldest brother:—</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[ 4]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>RAYMOND LODGE</h3> -</div> -<p class="center">(1889-1915)</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By O. W. F. L.</span> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">MOST lives have marriages, births of children, productive years; but -the lives of the defenders of their Country are short and of majestic -simplicity. The obscure records of childhood, the few years of school -and university and constructive and inventive work, and then the sudden -sacrifice of all the promise of the future, of work, of home, of love; -the months of hard living and hard work well carried through, the -cheerful humorous letters home making it out all very good fun; and in -front, in a strange ruined and desolate land, certain mutilation or -death. And now that death has come.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>Unto each man his handiwork, to each his crown,</p> -<p><span style="margin-left:3em;">The just Fate gives;</span></p> -<p>Whoso takes the world's life on him and his own lays down,</p> -<p><span style="margin-left:3em;">He, dying so, lives.<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></span></p> -</div></div></div> - -<p>My brother was born at Liverpool on January 25th, 1889, and was at -Bedales School for five or six years, and afterwards at Birmingham -University, where he studied engineering and was exceptionally -competent in the workshop. He went through the usual two years' -practical training at the Wolseley Motor Works, and then entered his -brothers' works, where he remained until he obtained a commission at -the outbreak of war.</p> - -<p>His was a mind of rare stamp. It had unusual power, -unusual quickness, and patience and understanding of -difficulties in my experience unparalleled, so that he was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> -able to make anyone understand really difficult things. -I think we were most of us proudest and most hopeful of -him. Some of us, I did myself, sometimes took problems -technical or intellectual to him, sure of a wise and -sound solution.</p> - -<p>Though his chief strength lay on the side of mechanical and electrical -engineering it was not confined to that. He read widely, and liked good -literature of an intellectual and witty but not highly imaginative -type, at least I do not know that he read Shelley or much of William -Morris, but he was fond of Fielding, Pope, and Jane Austen. Naturally -he read Shakespeare, and I particularly associate him with <i>Twelfth -Night</i> and <i>Love's Labour's Lost</i>. Among novelists, his favourites, -after Fielding and Miss Austen, were I believe Dickens and Reade; and -he frequently quoted from the essays and letters of Charles Lamb. -<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p>Of the stories of his early childhood, and his overflowing vitality -made many, I was too often from home to be able to speak at large. But -one I may tell. Once when a small boy at Grove Park, Liverpool, he -jumped out of the bath and ran down the stairs with the nurse after -him, out of the front door, down one drive along the road and up the -other, and was safely back in the bath again before the horrified -nursemaid could catch up with him. [<i>body of Memoir incomplete, and -omitted here.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span><br /></p> - -<p class="center">[<i>Close of Memoir</i>] -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<p>That death is the end has never been a Christian doctrine, and evidence -collected by careful men in our own day has, perhaps needlessly, -upheld with weak props of experiment the mighty arch of Faith. Death -is real and grievous, and is not to be tempered by the glossing -timidities of those who would substitute journalese like "passing-on," -"passing-over," etc., for that tremendous word: but it is the end of a -stage, not the end of the journey. The road stretches on beyond that -inn, and beyond our imagination, "the moonlit endless way."</p> - -<p>Let us think of him then, not as lying near Ypres with -all his work ended, but rather, after due rest and refreshment, -continuing his noble and useful career in more peaceful -surroundings, and quietly calling us his family from -paralysing grief to resolute and high endeavour.</p> - -<p>Indeed, it is not right that we should weep for a death -like his. Rather let us pay him our homage in praise and -imitation, by growing like him and by holding our lives -lightly in our Country's service, so that if need be we may -die like him. This is true honour and his best memorial.</p> - -<p>Not that I would undervalue those of brass or stone, -for if beautiful they are good and worthy things. But fame -illuminates memorials, and fame has but a narrow circle -in a life of twenty-six years.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>Who shall remember him, who climb</p> -<p>His all-unripened fame to wake,</p> -<p>Who dies an age before his time?</p> -<p>But nobly, but for England's sake.</p> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p>Who will believe us when we cry</p> -<p>He was as great as he was brave?</p> -<p>His name that years had lifted high</p> -<p>Lies buried in that Belgian grave.</p> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p>O strong and patient, kind and true,</p> -<p>Valiant of heart, and clear of brain—</p> -<p>They cannot know the man we knew,</p> -<p>Our words go down the wind like rain.</p> -<p><span style="margin-left:12em;">O. W. F. L.</span></p> -<p><span style="margin-left:0em;"><i>Tintern</i></span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[ 7]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>EPITAPH<br /> -ON MEMORIAL TABLET<br /> -IN ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH, EDGBASTON</h3> -</div> - -<p class="center"><span class="smaller"><b>REMEMBER</b></span><br /> -<span class="smaller"><span class="gesperrt">RAYMOND LODGE</span><br /> -<br /> -SECOND LIEUTENANT SECOND SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGIMENT<br /> -BELOVED SON OF SIR OLIVER AND LADY LODGE OF THIS PARISH<br /> -WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS COUNTRY<br /> -HE WAS BORN JANUARY 25TH 1889<br /> -AND WAS KILLED IN ACTION IN FLANDERS<br /> -ABOUT NOON SEPTEMBER 14TH<br /> -IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1915<br /> -AGED 26 YEARS</span><br /> -</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width30"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>Whoso bears the whole heaviness of the wronged world's weight</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">And puts it by,</span></p> -<p>It is well with him suffering, though he face man's fate;</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">How should he die?</span></p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 20em;"><i>Swinburne</i></span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[ 8]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>REMINISCENCES BY O. J. L.</h3> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">OF all my sons, the youngest, when he was small, was most like myself -at the same age. In bodily appearance I could recognise the likeness -to my early self, as preserved in old photographs; an old schoolfellow -of mine who knew me between the ages of eight and eleven, visiting -Mariemont in April 1904, remarked on it forcibly and at once, directly -he saw Raymond—then a schoolboy; and innumerable small mental traits -in the boy recalled to me my childhood's feelings. Even an absurd -difficulty he had as a child in saying the hard letters—the hard G and -K—was markedly reminiscent of my own similar difficulty.</p> - -<p>Another peculiarity which we shared in childhood was dislike of -children's parties—indeed, in my own case, a party of any kind. I -remember being truly miserable at a Christmas party at The Mount, -Penkhull, where I have no doubt that every one was more than -friendly,—though probably over-patronising, as people often are -with children,—but where I determinedly abstained from supper, and -went home hungry. Raymond's prominent instance was at the hospitable -Liverpool house, "Greenbank," which the Rathbones annually delivered -up to family festivities each Christmas afternoon and evening, being -good enough to include us in their family group. On one such occasion -Raymond, a very small boy, was found in the hall making a bee-line for -the front door and home. I remember sympathising with him, from ancient -memories, and taking him home, subsequently returning myself.</p> - -<p>At a later stage of boyhood I perceived that his ability and tastes -were akin to mine, for we had the same passionate love of engineering -and machinery; though in my case, having no opportunity of exercising -it to any useful extent, it gradually turned into special aptitude for -physical science. Raymond was never anything like as good at physics, -nor had he the same enthusiasm for mathematics that I had, but he -was better at engineering, was in many ways I consider stronger in -character, and would have made, I expect, a first-rate engineer. His -pertinacious ability in the mechanical and workshop direction was very -marked. Nothing could have been further from his natural tastes and -proclivities than to enter upon a military career; nothing but a sense -of duty impelled him in that direction, which was quite foreign to -family tradition, at least on my side.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_023"></a> -<img src="images/i_023.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">RAYMOND WHEN TWO YEARS OLD</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[ 9]</a></span></p> - -<p>He also excelled me in a keen sense of humour—not -only appreciation, but achievement. The whole family -could not but admire and enjoy the readiness with which -he perceived at once the humorous side of everything; and -he usually kept lively any gathering of which he was a unit. -At school, indeed, his active wit rather interfered with the -studies of himself and others, and in the supposed interests -of his classmates it had to be more or less suppressed, but -to the end he continued to be rather one of the wags of the -school.</p> - -<p>Being so desperately busy all my life I failed to see -as much as I should like either of him or of the other -boys, but there was always an instinctive sympathy between -us; and it is a relief to me to be unable to remember -any, even a single, occasion on which I have been vexed -with him. In all serious matters he was, as far as I could -judge, one of the best youths I have ever known; and -we all looked forward to a happy life for him and a brilliant -career.</p> - -<p>His elder brothers highly valued his services in their -Works. He got on admirably with the men; his mode -of dealing with overbearing foremen at the Works, -where he was for some years an apprentice, was testified -to as masterly, and was much appreciated by his -"mates"; and honestly I cannot bethink myself of any -trait in his character which I would have had different—unless -it be that he might have had a more thorough liking -and aptitude for, and greater industry in, my own subject -of physics.</p> - -<p>When the war broke out his mother and I were in -Australia, and it was some time before we heard that he -had considered it his duty to volunteer. He did so in -September 1914, getting a commission in the Regular -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[ 10]</a></span> -Army which was ante-dated to August; and he threw -himself into military duties with the same ability and -thoroughness as he had applied to more naturally congenial -occupations. He went through a course of training at -Great Crosby, near Liverpool, with the Regiment in which -he was a Second Lieutenant, namely the 3rd South -Lancashires, being attached to the 2nd when he went to -the Front; his Company spent the winter in more active -service on the south coast of the Firth of Forth and Edinburgh; -and he gained his desired opportunity to go out -to Flanders on 15 March 1915. Here he applied his engineering -faculty to trench and shelter construction, in addition -to ordinary military duties; and presently he became a -machine-gun officer. How desperately welcome to the family -his safe return would have been, at the end of the war, -I need not say. He had a hard and strenuous time at the -Front, and we all keenly desired to make it up to him by -a course of home "spoiling." But it was too much to hope -for—though I confess I did hope for it.</p> - -<p>He has entered another region of service now; and this -we realise. For though in the first shock of bereavement -the outlook of life felt irretrievably darkened, a perception -of his continued usefulness has mercifully dawned -upon us, and we know that his activity is not over. His -bright ingenuity will lead to developments beyond what -we could have anticipated; and we have clear hopes for -the future.</p> - -<p class="right"><span style="margin-right:2em;">O. J. L.</span></p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Mariemont</span>,<i> September 30, 1915</i>.</span></p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<h3>A MOTHER'S LAMENT</h3> - -<p class="center"><i>Written on a scrap of paper, September 26, 1915</i>,<br /><br /> -"<i>To ease the pain and to try to get in touch</i>"<br /><br /></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">RAYMOND, darling, you have gone from our world, -and <i>oh</i>, to ease the pain. I want to know if you -are happy, and that you <i>yourself</i> are really talking -to me and no sham.</p> - -<p>"No more letters from you, my own dear son, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[ 11]</a></span> -I have loved them so. They are all there; we shall have -them typed together into a sort of book.</p> - -<p>"Now we shall be parted until I join you there. I -have not seen as much of you as I wanted on this earth, -but I do love to think of the bits I have had of you, -specially our journeys to and from Italy. I had you to -myself then, and you were so dear.</p> - -<p>"I want to say, dear, how we recognise the glorious -way in which you have done your duty, with a certain -straight pressing on, never letting anyone see the effort, and -with your fun and laughter playing round all the time, -cheering and helping others. You know how your brothers -and sisters feel your loss, and your poor father!"</p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p class="drop-cap">THE religious side of Raymond was hardly known to the -family; but among his possessions at the Front was found a -small pocket Bible called "The Palestine Pictorial Bible" (Pearl -24mo), Oxford University Press, in which a number of passages are -marked; and on the fly-leaf, pencilled in his writing, is an index -to these passages, which page I copy here:—</p> - -<table style="margin-left: 35%; margin-right:40%; width: 25%;" summary="Pal-Pic-Bible"> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> </td><td class="tdr"><span class="small">PAGE</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Ex. xxxiii. 14</td><td class="tdr">63</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">St. John xiv.</td><td class="tdr">689</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Eph. ii.</td><td class="tdr">749</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Neh. i. 6, II</td><td class="tdr">337</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">St. John xvi. 33</td><td class="tdr">689</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Rom. viii. 35</td><td class="tdr">723</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">St. Matt. xi. 28</td><td class="tdr">616</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Ps. cxxiv. 8</td><td class="tdr">415</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Ps. xliii. 2</td><td class="tdr">468</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Deut. xxxiii. 27</td><td class="tdr">151</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Deut. xxxii. 43</td><td class="tdr">150</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Isa. li. 12</td><td class="tdr">473</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Isa. lii. 12</td><td class="tdr">474</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Jude 24</td><td class="tdr">784</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Ezra ix. 9</td><td class="tdr">335</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Isa. xii. 2</td><td class="tdr">451</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Isa. i. 18</td><td class="tdr">445</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Isa. xl. 31</td><td class="tdr">467</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Rev. vii. 14</td><td class="tdr">788</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Rev. xxi. 4</td><td class="tdr">795</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><span class="smcap">Mizpah. Gen. xxxi. 49.</span></td><td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">14/8/15</td><td class="tdr">R. L.</td> -</tr> - -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[ 12]</a></span> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">THE following poem was kindly sent me by Canon Rawnsley, -in acknowledgment of a Memorial Card:— -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="larger">OUR ANGEL-HOST OF HELP</span><br /><br /> -<span class="smaller">IN MEMORY OF RAYMOND LODGE,</span> -</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Who Fell in Flanders, 14 Sept. 1915</span></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="p2">"<i>His strong young body is laid under some trees on the road<br /> -from Ypres to Menin.</i>" [From the Memorial Card sent to friends.]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>'Twixt Ypres and Menin night and day</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The poplar trees in leaf of gold</span></p> -<p>Were whispering either side the way<br /></p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of sorrow manifold,</span></p> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p>—Of war that never should have been,</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of war that still perforce must be,</span></p> -<p>Till in what brotherhood can mean</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The nations all agree.</span></p> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p>But where they laid your gallant lad</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">I heard no sorrow in the air,</span></p> -<p>The boy who gave the best he had</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">That others good might share.</span></p> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p>For golden leaf and gentle grass</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">They too had offered of their best</span></p> -<p>To banish grief from all who pass</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">His hero's place of rest.</span></p> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p>There as I gazed, the guests of God,</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">An angel host before mine eyes,</span></p> -<p>Silent as if on air they trod</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Marched straight from Paradise.</span></p> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p>And one sprang forth to join the throng</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">From where the grass was gold and green,</span></p> -<p>His body seemed more lithe and strong</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Than it had ever been.</span></p> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p>I cried, "But why in bright array</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of crowns and palms toward the north</span></p> -<p>And those white trenches far away,</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Doth this great host go forth?"</span></p> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<p>He answered, "Forth we go to fight</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">To help all need where need there be,</span></p> -<p>Sworn in for right against brute might</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Till Europe shall be free."</span></p> -<div class="stanza"></div> -<p><span style="margin-left: 9em;"><span class="smcap">H. D. Rawnsley</span> -</span> -</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[ 13]</a></span></p> - -<h3>EXTRACTS FROM PLATO'S DIALOGUE<br /> -"MENEXENUS"</h3> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Being part of a Speech in honour of those who had<br /> -died in Battle for their Country</span> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">AND I think that I ought now to repeat the message -which your fathers, when they went out -to battle, urged us to deliver to you who are their -survivors, in case anything happened to them. I will tell -you what I heard them say, and what, if they could, they -would fain be saying now, judging from what they then -said; but you must imagine that you hear it all from their -lips. Thus they spoke:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"Sons, the event proves that your fathers were brave -men. For we, who might have continued to live, though -without glory, choose a glorious death rather than bring -reproach on you and your children, and rather than disgrace -our fathers and all of our race who have gone before -us, believing that for the man who brings shame on his -own people life is not worth living, and that such an one -is loved neither by men nor gods, either on earth or in -the underworld when he is dead.</p> - -<p>"Some of us have fathers and mothers still living, and -you must encourage them to bear their trouble, should it -come, as lightly as may be; and do not join them in lamentations, -for they will have no need of aught that would -give their grief a keener edge. They will have pain -enough from what has befallen them. Endeavour rather -to soothe and heal their wound, reminding them that of -all the boons they ever prayed for the greatest have been -granted to them. For they did not pray that their sons -should live for ever, but that they should be brave and -of fair fame. Courage and honour are the best of all -blessings, and while for a mortal man it can hardly be -that everything in his own life will turn out as he would -have it, their prayer for those two things has been heard. -Moreover, if they bear their troubles bravely, it will be perceived -that they are indeed fathers of brave sons, and -that they themselves are like them.... So minded, <i>we</i>, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[ 14]</a></span> -at any rate, bid those dear to us to be; such we would have -them be; and such we say we are now showing that we -ourselves are, neither grieving overmuch nor fearing overmuch -if we are to die in this battle. And we entreat our -fathers and mothers to continue to be thus minded for the -rest of their days, for we would have them know that it is -not by bewailing and lamentation that they will please us -best. If the dead have any knowledge of the living, they -will give us no pleasure by breaking down under their -trouble, or by bearing it with impatience.... For our -lives will have had an end the most glorious of all that -fall to the lot of man; it is therefore more fitting to do us -honour than to lament us."</p> -</blockquote> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p><i>Stat sua cuique dies; breve et irreparabile tempus</i></p> -<p><i>Omnibus est vitae: sed famam extendere factis,</i></p> -<p><i>Hoc virtutis opus.</i></p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 15em;"><i>Æn.</i> x. 467</span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span> -</a>Swinburne, _Super Flumina Babylonis_.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2"> -<span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>Note by O. J. L.</i>—A volume of poems by O. W. F. L. had been -sent to Raymond by the author; and this came back with his kit, inscribed -on the title page in a way which showed that it had been appreciated:—</p> - -<p class="p2">"Received at Wisques (Machine-Gun School), near St. Omer,</p> -<p class="p4">France—<i>12th July 1915</i>.</p> -<p class="p2">Taken to camp near Poperinghe—<i>13th July</i>.</p> -<p class="p2">To huts near Dickebusch—<i>21st July</i>.</p> -<p class="p2">To first-line trenches near St. Eloi, in front of 'The Mound of</p> -<p class="p4">Death'—<i>24th July</i>."</p> -</div> -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[ 15]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER II</span><br /> -<span class="small">LETTERS FROM THE FRONT</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">I SHALL now, for reasons explained in the Preface, -quote extracts from letters which Raymond wrote to -members of his family during the time he was serving -in Flanders.</p> - -<p>A short note made by me the day after he first started -for the Front may serve as a preliminary statement of -fact:— -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -<i>Mariemont, Edgbaston,<br /> -16 March 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>Raymond was recently transferred back from Edinburgh to -Great Crosby near Liverpool; and once more began life in tents -or temporary sheds.</p> - -<p>Yesterday morning, Monday the 15th March, one of the -subalterns was ordered to the Front; he went to a doctor, who -refused to pass him, owing to some temporary indisposition. -Raymond was then asked if he was fit: he replied, Perfectly. -So at 10 a.m. he was told to start for France that night. Accordingly -he packed up; and at 3.00 we at Mariemont received a -telegram from him asking to be met at 5 p.m., and saying he could -spend six hours at home.</p> - -<p>His mother unfortunately was in London, and for many -hours was inaccessible. At last some of the telegrams reached -her, at 7 p.m., and she came by the first available (slow) train -from Paddington, getting here at 11.</p> - -<p>Raymond took the midnight train to Euston; Alec, Lionel, -and Noël accompanying him. They would reach Euston at 3.50 -a.m. and have two hours to wait, when he was to meet a Captain -[Capt. Taylor], and start from Waterloo for Southampton. The -boys intended to see him off at Waterloo, and then return home -to their war-business as quickly as they could.</p> - -<p>He seems quite well; but naturally it has been rather a -strain for the family: as the same sort of thing has been for so -many other families.</p> - -<p class="right"> -O. J. L.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>First comes a letter written on his way to the Front -after leaving Southampton.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[ 16]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -<i>"Hotel Dervaux, 75 Grande Rue,<br /> -Boulogne-s/Mer,<br /> -Wednesday, 24 March 1915, 11.30 a.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Following on my recent despatch, I have the honour -to report that we have got stuck here on our way to the -Front. Not stuck exactly, but they have shunted us into -a siding which we reached about 8 a.m., and we are free -until 2.30 p.m. when we have to telephone for further orders -to find out where we are to join our train. I don't know -whether this is the regular way to the Front from Rouen. -I don't think it is, I fancy the more direct way must be -reserved for urgent supplies and wounded.</p> - -<p>"My servant has been invaluable <i>en route</i> and he has -caused us a great deal of amusement. He hunted round -at the goods station at Rouen (whence we started) and -found a large circular tin. He pierced this all over to form -a brazier and attached a wire handle. As soon as we got -going he lit this, having filled it with coal purloined from -somewhere, and when we stopped by the wayside about 10 -or 11 p.m. he supplied my compartment (four officers) with -fine hot tea. He had previously purchased some condensed -milk. He also saw to it that a large share of the rations, -provided by the authorities before we left, fell to our -share, and looked after us and our baggage in the most -splendid way.</p> - -<p>"He insists on treating the train as a tram. As soon -as it slows down to four miles an hour, he is down on the -permanent way gathering firewood or visiting some railway -hut in search of plunder. He rides with a number of -other servants in the baggage waggon, and as they had no -light he nipped out at a small station and stole one of the -railway men's lamps. However, there was a good deal of -fuss, and the owner came and indignantly recovered it.</p> - -<p>"As soon as we stop anywhere, he lowers out of his van -the glowing brazier. He keeps it burning in the van! I -wonder the railway authorities don't object. If they do, of -course he pretends not to understand any French.</p> - -<p>"He often gets left behind on the line, and has to -scramble into our carriage, where he regales us with his -life history until the next stop, when he returns to his own -van.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[ 17]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Altogether he is a very rough customer and wants a -lot of watching—all the same he makes an excellent servant." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Letters from the Front in Flanders</span></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Friday, 26 March 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I arrived here yesterday about 5 p.m., and found the -Battalion resting from the trenches. We all return there -on Sunday evening.</p> - -<p>"I got a splendid reception from my friends here, and -they have managed to get me into an excellent Company, -all the officers of which are my friends. This place is -very muddy, but better than it was, I understand. We -are in tents." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Saturday, 27 March 1915, 4.30 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"We moved from our camp into billets last night and -are now in a farm-house. The natives still live here, and -we (five officers) have a room to ourselves, and our five -servants and our cook live and cook for us in the kitchen. -The men of our Company are quartered in neighbouring -farm buildings, and other Companies farther down the road. -We are within a mile of a village and about three or -four miles to the southward of a fair-sized and well-known -town. The weather is steadily improving and the mud is -drying up—though I haven't seen what the trenches are -like yet....</p> - -<p>"I am now permanently attached to C Company and am -devoutly thankful. Captain T. is in command and the -subalterns are Laws, Fletcher, and Thomas, all old friends -of mine. F. was the man whose room I shared at Edinburgh -and over whose bed I fixed the picture....</p> - -<p>"We went on a 'fatigue' job to-day—just our Company—and -were wrongly directed and so went too far -and got right in view of the enemy's big guns. However, -we cleared out very quickly when we discovered our error, -and had got back on to the main road again when a -couple of shells burst apparently fairly near where we had -been. There were a couple of hostile aeroplanes about -too.... Thank you very much for your letter wondering -where I am. 'Very pressing are the Germans,' a buried -city."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[ 18]</a></span></p> - -<p>[This of course privately signified to the family that -he was at Ypres.]</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"><i>"1 April 1915, 1.15 p.m.</i> -</p> - -<p>"We dug trenches by night on Monday and Wednesday, -and although we were only about 300 to 500 yards from -the enemy we had a most peaceful time, only a very few -stray bullets whistling over from time to time." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Saturday, 3 April 1915, 7 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I am having quite a nice time in the trenches. I am -writing this in my dug-out by candle-light; this afternoon -I had a welcome shave. Shaving and washing is usually -dispensed with during our spell of duty (even by the -Colonel), but if I left it six days I should burst my razor -I think. I have got my little 'Primus' with me and it is -very useful indeed as a standby, although we do all our -main cooking on a charcoal brazier....</p> - -<p>"I will look out for the great sunrise to-morrow morning -and am wishing you all a jolly good Easter: I shan't -have at all a bad one. It is very like Robinson Crusoe—we -treasure up our water supply most carefully (it is -brought up in stone jars), and we have excellent meals off -limited and simple rations, by the exercise of a little native -cunning on the part of our servants, especially mine." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Bank Holiday, 5 April 1915, 4.30 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"The trenches are only approached and relieved at night-time, -and even here we are not allowed to stir from the -house by day on any pretext whatever, and no fires are -allowed on account of the smoke. (Fires are started within -doors when darkness falls and we have a hot meal then -and again in the early morning—that is the rule—however, -we do get a fire in the day by using charcoal only -and lighting up from a candle to one piece and from that -one piece to the rest, by blowing; also I have my Primus -stove.) ... We are still within rifle-fire range here, but -of course it is all unaimed fire from the intermittent conflict -going on at the firing line....</p> - -<p>"I have a straw bed covered with my tarpaulin sheet—(it -is useful although I have also the regular military -rubber ground sheet as well)—and my invaluable air-pillow. -I am of course travelling light and have to carry -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[ 19]</a></span> -everything in my 'pack' until I get back to my valise -and 'rest billets,' so I sleep in my clothes. Simply take -off my boots and puttees, put my feet in a nice clean sack, -take off my coat and cover myself up with my British -Warm coat (put on sideways so as to use its great width -to the full). Like this I sleep like a top and am absolutely -comfortable."</p> - -<p>"I have been making up an Acrostic for you all to guess—here -it is:</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lights.</span> -<span style="margin-left: 0.8em;">My first is speechless, and a bell</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Has often the complaint as well.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Three letters promising to pay,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Each letter for a word does stay.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">There's nothing gross about this act;—</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">A gentle kiss involving tact.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">A General less his final 'k,'</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">A hen would have no more to say.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Our Neenie who is going wes</span>t<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Her proper name will serve you best.</span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Whole.</span> -<span style="margin-left: 0.8em;">My whole, though in a foreign tongue,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Is Richard's name when he is young.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The rest is just a shrub or tree</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">With spelling 'Made in Germany.'</span><br /><br /> -</p> - -<p>"That's the lot. The word has ten letters and is divided -into two halves for the purpose of the Acrostic.</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<blockquote> -<p>"My room-mate has changed for to-night, and I have -got Wyatt, who has just come in covered in mud, after -four days in the trenches. He is machine-gun officer, and -works very hard. I am so glad to have him.</p> - -<p>"By the way the support-trenches aren't half bad. I -didn't want to leave them, but it's all right here too." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Thursday, 8 April 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Here I am back again in 'Rest Billets,' for six days' -rest. When I set off for the six days' duty I was ardently -looking forward to this moment, but there is not much -difference; here we 'pig' it pretty comfortably in a house, -and there we 'pig' it almost as comfortably in a 'dug-out.' -There we are exposed to rifle fire, nearly all unaimed, -and here we are exposed to shell fire—aimed, but -from about five miles away.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[ 20]</a></span></p> - -<p>"On the whole this is the better, because there is more -room to move about, more freedom for exercise, and there -is less mud. But you will understand how much conditions -in the trenches have improved if comparison is possible -at all.</p> - -<p>"My platoon (No. 11) has been very fortunate; we have -had no casualties at all in the last six days. The nearest -thing to one was yesterday when we were in the firing -trench, and a man got a bullet through his cap quite close -to his head. He was peeping over the top, a thing they -are all told not to do in the daytime. The trenches at our -point are about a hundred yards apart, and it is really safe -to look over if you don't do it too often, but it is unnecessary, -as we had a periscope and a few loopholes....</p> - -<p>"I am awfully grateful for all the things that have -been sent, and are being sent.... I will attach a list of -wants at the end of this letter. I am very insatiable (that's -not quite the word I wanted), but I am going on the principle -that you and the rest of the family are only waiting -to gratify my every whim! So, if I think of a thing I ask -for it....</p> - -<p>"By the way we have changed our billets here. Our -last ones have been shelled while we were away—a prodigious -hole through the roof wrecking the kitchen, but -not touching our little room at the back. However, it is -not safe enough for habitation and the natives even have -left!</p> - -<p>"Things are awfully quiet here. We thought at first -that it was 'fishy' and something was preparing, but I don't -think so now. It is possibly the principle of 'live and let -live.' In the trenches if we don't stir them up with shots -they leave us pretty well alone. Of course we are ready -for anything all the same.</p> - -<p>"Yes, we see the daily papers here as often as we want -to (the day's before). Personally, and I think my view -is shared by all the other officers, I would rather read a -romance, or anything not connected with this war, than -a daily paper....</p> - -<p>"Was the Easter sunrise a success? It wasn't here. -Cloudy and dull was how I should describe it. Fair to -fine generally, some rain (the latter not to be taken in the -American sense).</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[ 21]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I wonder if you got my Acrostic [see previous letter] -and whether anybody guessed it; it was meant to be very -easy, but perhaps acrostics are no longer the fashion and -are somewhat boring. I always think they are more fun -to make than to undo. The solution is a household word -here, because it is only a half-mile or so away, and provides -most things."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>[The family had soon guessed the Acrostic, giving the -place as Dickebusch. The "lights" are—</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left:40%"><span class="smcap">D um B</span></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left:40%"><span class="smcap">I o U</span></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left:40%"><span class="smcap">Cares S</span></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left:40%"><span class="smcap">K lu Ck</span></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left:40%"><span class="smcap">E dit H.</span>]</span><br /> -<br /></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<blockquote> -<h3>[<i>To a Brother</i>]</h3> - -<p class="right"> -"<i>Billets, Tuesday, 13 April 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"We are all right here except for the shells. When -I arrived I found every one suffering from nerves and -unwilling to talk about shells at all. And now I understand -why. The other day a shrapnel burst near our billet -and a piece of the case caught one of our servants (Mr. -Laws's) on the leg and hand. He lost the fingers of his -right hand, and I have been trying to forget the mess it -made of his right leg—ever since. He will have had it -amputated by now.</p> - -<p>"They make you feel awfully shaky, and when one -comes over it is surprising the pace at which every one gets -down into any ditch or hole near.</p> - -<p>"One large shell landed right on the field where the -men were playing football on Sunday evening. They all -fell flat, and all, I'm thankful to say, escaped injury, though -a few were within a yard or so of the hole. The other -subalterns of the Company and I were (<i>mirabile dictu</i>) in -church at the time.</p> - -<p>"I wonder if you can get hold of some morphia tablets -[for wounded men]. I think injection is too complicated, -but I understand there are tablets that can merely be placed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[ 22]</a></span> -in the mouth to relieve pain. They might prove very useful -in the trenches, because if a man is hit in the morning he -will usually have to wait till dark to be removed.</p> - -<p>"My revolver has arrived this morning." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Sunday, 18 April 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I came out of the trenches on Friday night. It was -raining, so the surface of the ground was very slippery; -and it was the darkest night I can remember. There was -a good deal of 'liveliness' too, shots were flying around -more than usual. There were about a hundred of us in our -party, two platoons (Fletcher's and mine) which had been -in the fire trenches, though I was only with them for one -day, Thursday night till Friday night. Captain Taylor was -in front, then Fletcher's platoon, then Fletcher, then my -platoon, then me bringing up the rear. We always travel -in single file, because there are so many obstacles to negotiate—plank -bridges and 'Johnson' holes being the chief.</p> - -<p>"Picture us then shuffling our way across the fields -behind the trenches at about one mile an hour—with frequent -stops while those in front negotiate some obstacle -(during these stops we crouch down to try and miss most -of the bullets!). Every few minutes a 'Very' light will -go up and then the whole line 'freezes' and remains absolutely -stationary in its tracks till the light is over. A -'Very' light is an 'asteroid.' (Noël will explain that.) It -is fired either by means of a rocket (in the German case) -or of a special pistol called a 'Very' pistol after the inventor -(in our case). The light is not of magnesium -brightness, but is just a bright star light with a little parachute -attached, so that it falls slowly through the air. -The light lasts about five seconds. These things are being -shot up at short intervals all night long. Sometimes -dozens are in the air together, especially if an attack -is on.</p> - -<p>"Well, to go back to Friday night:—it took us a very -long time to get back, and at one point it was hard to believe -that they hadn't seen us. Lights went up and almost -a volley whistled over us. We all got right down and -waited for a bit. Really we were much too far off for -them to see us, but we were on rather an exposed bit of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[ 23]</a></span> -ground, and they very likely fix a few rifles on to that part -in the daytime and 'poop' them off at night. That is a -favourite plan of theirs, and works very well.</p> - -<p>"We did get here in the end, and had no casualties, -though we had had one just before leaving the trench. -A man called Raymond (in my platoon) got shot through -the left forearm. He was firing over the parapet and -had been sniping snipers (firing at their flashes). Rather -a nasty wound through an artery. They applied a tourniquet -and managed to stop the bleeding, but he was so -weak from loss of blood he had to be carried back on a -stretcher.</p> - -<p>"I had noticed this man before, partly on account of -his name. Last time I was in the fire trenches (about ten -days ago) I was dozing in my dug-out one evening and the -Sergeant-Major was in his, next door. Suddenly he calls -out 'Raymond!' I started. Then he calls again 'Raymond! -Come here!' I shouted out 'Hallo! What's the matter?' -But then I heard the other Raymond answering, so I guessed -how it was....</p> - -<p>"While at tea in the next room the post came and brought -me your letter and one from Alec. Isn't it perfectly marvellous? -You were surprised at the speed of my last letter. -But how about yours? The postmark is 2.30 p.m. on the -16th at Birmingham, and here it is in my hands at 4 p.m. on -the 18th!</p> - -<p>"I was telling you about the difficulties of going to and -fro between here and the trenches, but you will understand -it is not always like that. If there is a moon, or even if -there is a clear sky so that we can get the benefit of the -starlight (which is considerable and much more than I -thought), matters are much improved, because if you can -still see the man in front, when he is, say, 5 yards in front -of you, and can also see the holes instead of finding them -with your person, all that 'waiting for the "tail" to close up' -is done away with....</p> - -<p>"Last night Laws, Thomas, and myself each took a -party of about forty-five down separately, leaving the remainder -guarding the various billets. Then when we returned -Fletcher took the rest down.</p> - -<p>"It was a glorious night, starry, with a very young and -inexperienced moon, and quite dry and warm. I would not -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[ 24]</a></span> -have minded going down again except that I would rather -go to bed, which I did.</p> - -<p>"Do you know that joke in <i>Punch</i> where the Aunt says: -'Send me a postcard when you are safely in the trenches!'? -Well, there is a great deal of truth in that—one feels quite -safe when one reaches the friendly shelter of the trench, -though of course the approaches aren't really very dangerous. -One is 'thrilled' by the whistle of the bullets near you. -That describes the feeling best, I think—it is a kind of -excitement." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Thursday, 22 April 1915, 6.50 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I have received a most grand periscope packed, with -spare mirrors, in a canvas haversack. It is a glorious one -and I am quite keen to use it, thank you very much indeed -for it. Thank you also for two sets of ear defenders -which I am going to test when firing off a 'Very' light. -A 'parachuted' star is fired from a brass pistol with a -bore of about 1 inch and a barrel of about 6 inches. The -report is very deafening, I believe—though I haven't fired -one yet.</p> - -<p>"The star, by the way, though it lights up the country -for some distance, is not too bright to look at.</p> - -<p>"I have just remembered something I wanted to tell you, -so I will put it in here.</p> - -<p>"When walking to and from the trenches in the darkness, -I find it is a great help to study the stars (not for purposes -of direction). I know very little about them, and -I saw a very useful plan in, I think, the <i>Daily News</i> of -3 April, called 'The Night Sky in April.' It was just -a circle with the chief planets and stars shown and -labelled. The periphery of the circle represented the -horizon.</p> - -<p>"If you know of such a plan that is quite easily obtainable -I should be glad to have one. The simpler the thing -the better.</p> - -<p>"The books you had sent me, which were passed on to -me by Professor Leith, are much appreciated. They circulate -among officers of this Company like a library. At -the time they arrived we were running short of reading-matter, -but since then our Regimental Headquarters have -come to the rescue and supplied each Company with half -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[ 25]</a></span> -a dozen books, to be passed on to other Companies afterwards.</p> - -<p>"I enclose an acrostic that I made up while in the -trenches during our last spell. It seems to be a prolific place -for this sort of thing."</p> - -<div style="margin-left:13em;"> -<p><span style="margin-left: 8em;"><span class="smcap">Acrostic</span></span></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 5em;">(One word of five letters)</span></p> -<p><span class="smcap">Lights.</span> -<span style="margin-left: 0.8em;">The lowest rank with lowest pay,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Don't make this public though, I pray!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Inoculation's victim, though</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Defeated still a powerful foe.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">When Government 'full-stop' would say</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">It does so in this novel way.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The verb's success, the noun's disgrace</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And lands you in a foreign place.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">A king of kings without a roar,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">His kingdom that no anger bore.</span><br /> -<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The final goal—the end of all—</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">What all desire, both great and small.</span> -<span style="margin-left: 10em;"> -R. L., <i>19 April 1915</i></span> -</p> -</div> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p>[The solution of this is the word <i>Peace</i> given twice—once inverted. -The first 'light,' which is not 'public' is 'Private'; -the second is 'Enteric'; the third is a sign employed in Government -telegrams to denote a full-stop, viz., 'aaa'; the fourth is -'Capture'; and the fifth (with apologies) is 'Emp,' and some -occult reference to Edward VII, not remembered now; the -kingdom without anger being Empire without ire.—O. J. L.] -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Friday, 30 April 1915, 4.10 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I wish you could see me now. I am having a little -holiday in Belgium. At the moment I am sitting in the -shade of a large tree, leaning against its trunk, writing to -you. The sun is pouring down and I have been sitting in -it lying on a fallen tree, but it makes me feel lazy, so I -came here to write (in the shade).</p> - -<p>"Before me, across a moat, is the château—ruined now, -but not by old age. It is quite a handsome building, two -storeys high. It is built of brick with a slate roof; the -bricks are colour-washed yellow with a white band 18 inches -deep under the roof; there are two towers with pointed -roofs that stand to the front of the house, projecting -slightly from it, forming bay windows. These towers, from -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[ 26]</a></span> -the roof down to the ground, are red brick, as are the fronts -of the dormer windows in the main building.</p> - -<p>"The larger and taller tower is octagonal and stands -in the middle of the front, the smaller one is square and -stands on the right corner. On each side of the main building -are flanking buildings consisting on this (left) side of -a brick-built palm-house and beyond that again a glass-covered -conservatory. The other flank has a conservatory -also, but I have not explored as far as that. The front of -the building is about 70 to 80 yards long.</p> -</blockquote> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_026a"></a> -<img src="images/i_026a.png" alt="Faceview of Château" /> -</div> - -<blockquote> -<p>"The main entrance is on the other or northern side. -It is reached by a drawbridge over the moat. The house -on that (north) side is not so much damaged. It has long -windows with shutters that give it a continental air. I can't -sketch it, so I have given you a rough elevation from the -south. I am sitting to the south-west, just across the -moat.</p> -</blockquote> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_026b"></a> -<img src="images/i_026b.png" alt="FloorPlan of Château" /> -</div> - -<blockquote> -<p>"The place is in an awful mess. In some parts it is -difficult to tell how the original building went. One can -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[ 27]</a></span> -see into several of the rooms; the outer wall has fallen -away, exposing about three rooms and an attic. In one -room the floor has dropped at one corner to some 8 feet -below its proper level, and a bed is just above poised on the -edge of the room, almost falling out where the room is -sectioned.</p> - -<p>"There is no glass in any of the green-houses—it is all -on the floor. The palm-house is full of green tubs with -plants in them, mostly overturned.</p> - -<p>"In the garden the trees are blossoming, some of the -fruit trees are covered with white blossom; but many, -even of these, are lying flat and blossoming in the moat. -The drive runs down to the road on the south side in an -absolutely straight line, flanked by tall trees. But many of -these are down too. I was lying on one just now. The -garden is in good order, though getting a little out of hand. -There is a small plantation of gooseberry bushes that looks -very healthy. Shell holes are all about, however.</p> - -<p>"The house, although it is not on an eminence, commands -a good view to the southward and has a fine view -of the German lines, which are slightly raised just here. -The enemy evidently suspected this château was used as an -observation post, as indeed it may have been.</p> - -<p>"We came out of the trenches on Wednesday night into -Reserve Billets, and I was placed with No. 9 platoon -(instead of my own) in a little house not far from this -château. We are not allowed to leave it by day, or rather -we are not allowed to show ourselves on the south side of -it, as it might draw shell-fire on to it. But I managed to -sneak away to the north under cover of a hedge without -any risk of being seen.</p> - -<p>"After being relieved in the trenches on Wednesday, -and marching back and having a meal with the other officers -of C Company in the Reserve Billets (a brewery), -it was one o'clock before I got to bed in our little house. -And we had to 'stand to arms' in the morning for an hour -while dawn was breaking (we always do, and at dusk too). -So after this I went to sleep till 2 p.m. I sleep in an outhouse -with no door, on straw laid on a brick floor. My -ground-sheet on the straw, my coat over me, my feet in a -sack and an air-cushion under my head, and I can sleep -as peacefully as at home. The place is swarming with rats -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[ 28]</a></span> -and mice, you can hear them directly you lie still. They -go 'plop, plop, plop,' on the straw overhead, as if they -were obliged to take long strides owing to their feet sinking -into the straw. Immediately over my head, I should judge, -there is a family of young rats by the noise. Occasionally -they have a stampede and a lot of dust comes down on -my face.</p> - -<p>"But one gets used to this, and muttering 'Nom d'un -chien!' one turns the other cheek. By the way, they say -these rats 'stand to' at dawn, just as we do.</p> - -<p>"I am terrified of a rat running over my face, but my -servant sleeps with me, so I console myself that the chances -are just even that they won't choose me. I wish he wouldn't -snore though—he's lowering the odds.</p> - -<p>"Last night we had to turn out for fatigue parties. I -took a party down to one of the fire trenches with 'knife -rests.' These are sections of barbed wire entanglement. -They are made by fixing cross-pieces on the ends of a long -pole. The tips of these cross-pieces are joined together -with barbed wire laid parallel to the centre pole. Then -the whole is wound with more barbed wire laid on spirally, -thus: [a sketch]</p> - -<p>These are slung out in front of the trenches and fixed together. -They are now fixed also to the trench, because -the Germans used to harpoon them and draw them over to -their own side!</p> - -<p>"Well, we set off about 11 p.m. and took twenty-two of -these down. We didn't exactly bless the full moon—although -it showed us the holes and obstructions in the way. -Still, we had no casualties and made good time. We got -back about midnight. So I only slept till 12.30 this morning! -Of course I had to get up for an hour at dawn. I used -the time to brew myself some cocoa. I am getting an expert -cook, and can make that 'Bivouac' cocoa taste like the very -finest chocolate....</p> - -<p>"Just before going into the trenches I received another -of those splendid parcels of cabbage and apples. The apples -are simply splendid. The cabbage is good, but I never -cared very much for it—it is medicinal in this case. However, -it is great to have such a fine supply of green stuff -instead of none at all. The Mess does appreciate it.</p> - -<p>"I have been supplying our Mess (C Company) with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[ 29]</a></span> -butter. And the supply sent up to now has just effected -this with none to spare. But I don't know whether you -want to do this, and that is why I suggested cutting down -the supply. I don't want you to think any of it has been -wasted though—it hasn't, and is splendid stuff....</p> - -<p>"In the trenches one is not always doing nothing. These -last three days in I have been up all night. I had a working -party in two shifts working all night and all three nights, -digging communication trenches. I used to go to bed about -4.20 a.m. and sleep till lunch-time, and perhaps lie down -again for a bit in the afternoon. That is why my letters -have not been so frequent.</p> - -<p>"It is extraordinary that what is wanted at the moment -is not so much a soldier as a civil engineer. There -are trenches to be laid out and dug, and the drainage of -them to be thought out and carried through. Often the -sides have to be 'riveted' or staked, and a flooring of -boards put in, supported on small piles.</p> - -<p>"Then there is the water-supply, where one exists. I -have had great fun arranging a 'source' in my trench -(the support trench that I have been in these last three -days and that I have been in often before). A little stream, -quite clear and drinkable after boiling, runs out at one -place (at about 1 pint a minute!) and makes a muddy -mess of the trenches near. By damming it up and putting -a water-bottle with the bottom knocked in on top of the -dam, the water runs in a little stream from the mouth of -the bottle. It falls into a hole large enough to receive a -stone water-jar, and then runs away down a deep trough -cut beside the trench. Farther down it is again dammed -up to form a small basin which the men use for washing; and -it finally escapes into a kind of marshy pond in rear of the -trenches.</p> - -<p>"I quite enjoyed this job, and there are many like it; -plank bridges to be put up, seats and steps to be cut, etc. -One officer put half a dozen of his men on to making a -folding bed! But it was not for himself, but for his Captain, -who has meningitis and can't sleep. The men enjoy -these jobs too; it is much better than doing nothing.</p> - -<p>"I will creep back to my quarters now and make myself -some tea on my 'Primus' (no fires are allowed).</p> - -<p>"A cuckoo has been singing on a tree near me—in full -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[ 30]</a></span> -view. (It left hurriedly when one of our guns went off -close behind the château.) The first time I have ever seen -one, I think. It is amazing how tame the animals get. -They have so much ground to themselves in the daytime—the -rats especially; they flourish freely in the space between -the trenches.</p> - -<p>"Things are fairly quiet and easy here just now." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>[In one of his letters to me <a href="#Page_24">(22 April 1915)</a>, he said he had -plenty of time now to watch the stars, and would like a set of -star maps or something in order to increase his knowledge of -them. Accordingly, I sent him a planisphere which I happened -to have—an ingenious cardboard arrangement which can be -turned so as to show, in a rough way, the stars visible in these -latitudes at any time of day and any period of the year.—O. -J. L.] -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>May Day 1915, 3.20 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Thank you very much for the planisphere and for -your letter. I have often seen the planisphere before, but -never appreciated it until now.</p> - -<p>"As to the 'Very' pistol, I quite agree that the 'barrel' -is too short. If it were longer the light would be thrown -farther, which would be much better. As it is, it falls -between us and the Germans.</p> - -<p>"The German lights, which I now learn are fired from -a kind of mortar and not by a rocket as I thought, are -much better than ours; they give a better and steadier, -fatter light, and they are thrown well behind our trenches. -However, ours are much better, and theirs are worse than -they used to be....</p> - -<p>"They have not turned the gas on to us here, though -on some days I have smelled distinct traces coming down -wind from the north. I should say it was chlorine rather -than SO<sub>2</sub> that I smelled. I don't know whether the ammonia -preventive would be better than the soda one. In any -case, the great thing is that one is provided. The soda -method is the one in use, I believe, in the chlorine works at -Widnes and elsewhere." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Tuesday, 3 May 1915, 12.40 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"For the first three days we are out here in new billets—officers -in a comfortable little house. Last three days -of our 'rest' (!) we are going into a wood quite close -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[ 31]</a></span> -to our 'Reserve Billets.' We are in 'support' in case of -a sudden attack. Roads are so much knocked about by -shells that traffic is limited and restricted. So we might -not be able to support quick enough unless we were -close.</p> - -<p>"Everything is still very much upset, due to the penetration -of our (French) line. They have been shelling our -village from the rear (!) and most of the companies have -had to quit. <i>We</i> (C Company) are well back now....</p> - -<p>"Two of our platoons went digging last night. Mine -was one. We left here about eight o'clock, and I got back -at 1 a.m., and then I sat up with another subaltern (Fletcher) -after I had had some supper until the other man -(Thomas) had come in and eaten. We went to bed at 3 -a.m. Breakfast at nine this morning, and we are <i>resting</i>. -However, I am going to have an absolutely slack day to-day. -A bath too, if I can manage it....</p> - -<p>"Last night the moon got up very late and was quite -useless. They fire more when there is no light, they get -scared—at least uneasy; they fire off 'Very' lights constantly, -and let off volleys. We lie absolutely flat while this goes -on. It is a funny sight; the men look like a row of -starfish!" -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Tuesday, 11 May 1915, 9.15 a.m.</i><br /> -(<i>really Wednesday the</i> 12<i>th. I had got wrong</i>)<br /> -</p> - -<p>"We are within view of a well-known place [no doubt -Ypres.—O. J. L.], and the place has been on fire in three -or four places for about two days, and is still going strong. -A magnificent spectacle at night. The place is, I believe, -a city of ruins and dead, and there is probably no one to -put a fire out. Probably, too, a fire is rather a good thing -than otherwise; the place must be terribly in need of purifying.</p> - -<p>"I was awfully interested in father's dream.<a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Your -letter is dated the 8th, and you say that the other night -he dreamt that I was in the thick of the fighting, but that -they were taking care of me from the other side.</p> - -<p>"Well, I don't know about 'the thick of the fighting,' -but I have been through what I can only describe as a -hell of a shelling with shrapnel. My diary tells me it was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[ 32]</a></span> -on the 7th, at about 10.15 a.m. Our Company were ordered -forward from one set of dug-outs to others nearer the -firing line, and the formation adopted was platoons in single -file, with intervals between. That is, four columns of -about fifty men each, in single file, with about 20 to 50 -yards between each column. I was the third platoon, though -I was not with my own but with No. 9. Fletcher brought -up the last one, thus:— -</p> -</blockquote> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_048"></a> -<img src="images/i_048.png" alt="" /> -</div> - -<blockquote> -<p>(My platoon is No. 11.—No. 9's platoon commander, Laws, -is in England on sick leave, as his nerves are all wrong.)</p> - -<p>"Well, anyhow, we had not gone far before the gunners -saw us, and an aeroplane was flying along above -and with us. They sent over some 'Johnsons,' but these -all went too far; we were screened by a reservoir embankment. -However, we had to pass through a ruined -village and they knew it, so they put shrapnel over it. -Still we were unaffected. But when we came out into -the open on the far side, we caught it properly. Shell -after shell came over and burst above us, and when I and -about three men behind me had just turned a corner one -burst above, in exactly the spot I should have wished it -to if I had been the enemy. I looked up and saw the air -full of flying pieces, some large and some small. These -spattered down all round us. I was untouched, but my -servant, who was immediately behind me, was hit on the -knee, but only wounded slightly. He was rather scared. -I led him back round the corner again and put him in a -ditch. The rest of the platoon got in too, while I was -doing this. I thought that was the best thing they could -do until the shelling ceased, but Fletcher shouted that we -must get on, whatever happened.</p> - -<p>"So I called the men out again, and, leaving a man -with the wounded, we set off. I don't believe it was -right, but we just walked along. It felt rather awful. -(When one is <i>retiring</i> it is important not to let the men -'double,' as they get out of hand; but in this case we were -advancing, so I think we might have done so.) I felt very -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[ 33]</a></span> -much protected. It was really a miracle that we weren't -nearly all 'wiped out.' The shrapnel seemed very poor -stuff. As it was, we had one man killed and about five or -six injured, all more or less slightly.</p> - -<p>"We moved up into a support trench that same evening, -and after a couple of days we moved a few yards -farther to these trenches, which are also support trenches. -Things are very quiet, and I am enjoying myself very -much. If it wasn't for the unpleasant sights one is liable -to see, war would be a most interesting and pleasant -affair.</p> - -<p>"My friends the other officers of C Company have -given me the honorary position of 'O.C. Works.' One is -always 'O.C. something or other' out here—all but the -Colonel, he is 'C.O.' Orders for the day read: "O.C. -Companies will do so-and-so.' Then there are O.C. Details, -O.C. Reinforcements, etc. 'O.C.' of course stands -for 'officer commanding.' Well, I am 'O.C. Works,' and -have a fine time. I just do any job I fancy, giving -preference to trench improvement. It is fine to -have at one's disposal a large squad of men with shovels -(or without). They fill sandbags and carry them, they carry -timber and saw it, and in short do anything that -is required. One can accomplish something under these -conditions." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -<i>"6 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"We have been told that we are being relieved to-night, -and that we are going back to our old place (No. 2). -So everything should be as before, once we are back. We -may not manage to get <i>all</i> the way back to-night, as we -cannot travel by daylight as most of the road is under -direct observation. If daylight catches us we shall encamp -in dug-outs <i>en route</i>.</p> - -<p>"I am rather disappointed that we are going to-night, -as Fletcher and I were going to rebuild our dug-out here. -We both got very keen indeed and had laid out the plan -carefully. (He has been an architect.)</p> - -<p>"I had another disappointment when I was back in -the wood (as supports). It reminds me of one of our -Quartermaster-Sergeants in Edinburgh. He is an Irishman, -O'Brien. I found him on the platform while we were -waiting to see a draft off; he looked very despondent. I -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[ 34]</a></span> -asked him how he was, and was surprised when he replied, -'I've had a reverse, sorr!' It turned out that he had applied -to headquarters for an improvement in his position, and was -told he <i>didn't deserve any</i>. It had almost broken his -heart!</p> - -<p>"Well, <i>I</i> had a reverse. I was given the job of building -a hut and was nearly through with it when we were -ordered away. If we get back to the old wood again I shall -go on with it, in spite of whatever the present tenants may -have done in the way of completing it (our guns are now -'going at it' hammer and tongs).</p> - -<p>"I did enjoy laying the sandbags and building a proper -wall with 'headers' and 'stretchers.' I got a very good -testimonial too, for the Sergeant asked me in all seriousness -whether I was a brick-setter in civil life. I was awfully -proud. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Later</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"(I had to leave off here because we were ordered -to 'fire-rapid' in between periods of our artillery fire, -and I had to turn out to watch.)" -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<h3>NOTE BY O. J. L.</h3> - -<p>The dream referred to, near the beginning of this long letter -to his mother, Mr. J. Arthur Hill remembers that I told him of, -in a letter dated 7 May 1915, which he has now returned; and -I reproduce it here:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="center">"To J. A. H.</p> -<p class="right"> -"<i>7 May 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I do not reckon that I often have conscious intuitions; and -when I have had vivid dreams they have not meant anything, -though once or twice I have recorded them because I have -them seldom. I happen, however, to have had an intuition this -morning, before I was more than half awake, which, though -not specially vivid, perhaps I had better record, namely, that -an attack was going on at the present moment, that my son -was in it, but that 'they' were taking care of him. I had this -clearly in mind before seeing the morning papers; and indeed -I do not know that there is anything in the morning papers -suggesting it, since of course their news is comparatively old. -One might have surmised, however, that there would be a -struggle for Hill 60, and I know that my son is not far off -Ypres. (By the way, I have been told that the Flemish -Belgians really do call it 'Wipers'; it does not sound likely, -and it needs confirmation. I know of course that our troops -are said to call it so, which is natural enough.) O. J. L."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[ 35]</a></span></p> - -<p>I now (August 1916) notice for the first time that the coincidence -in time between dream and fact is rather good, especially -as it was the only dream or 'impression' that I remember having -during the war. Practically I do not dream.</p> - -<p>But as this incident raises the question of possible presentiment -I must deny that we had any serious presentiment about -Raymond. My wife tells me that her anxiety about Raymond, -though always present, was hardly keen, as she had an idea -that he would be protected. She wrote to a friend on 22 March -1915:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"... I ought to get him back safe. I have a hole in my -heart and shall have till he comes back. I only saw him -for the inside of an hour before he left, as I was away -when he came home for six hours...."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>At the same time I must admit that on the morning of -15 September 1915 (the day after Raymond's death, which we -did not know of till the 17th) I was in an exceptional state of -depression; and though a special game, to which I had been -looking forward, on the No. 1 Course at Gullane had been arranged -with Rowland Waterhouse, I could not play a bit. Not ordinary -bad play, but total incompetence; so much so that after seven -holes we gave up the game, and returned to the hotel. To make -sure of the date, I wrote to Rowland Waterhouse, asking him -when that abortive match occurred, since I knew that it was his -last day at Gullane. He replies:—</p> - -<p>"Violet and I left Gullane for Musselburgh on Wednesday, -15 September. Our final match ended that morning on the -eighth tee" [which that year was on the reservoir hill].</p> - -<p>One more dream I may as well now mention:—</p> - -<p>After the family had returned home from Scotland and -elsewhere, near the end of September 1915, and begun to settle -down, Alec, who had felt Raymond's death exceedingly, told me -that the night before he heard the news—or rather the early -morning of the same day, 17 September—he had had an extraordinarily -painful and vivid dream, quite an exceptional occurrence -for him, and one of which he had spoken to a manageress in the -hotel near Swansea where he was staying, describing it as the -worst he had ever had in his life. He did not know that it had -any significance, and neither do I, as the dream, though rather -ghastly, was not about Raymond or anyone in particular; but -it seemed an odd coincidence that the ill news should be, so to -speak, on the way, at the time of a quite exceptional and painful -impression. The person to whom he told the dream handed -him the telegram a few hours later. He has written the dream -down, but it need not be reproduced.</p> - -<p>No real provision is involved in any of this, unless it be that -of an hour or two in my own impression, in May; but for general -remarks on the question of the possibility of prevision <a href="#Page_312">Chapter V</a> -in Part III may be referred to. -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[ 36]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Friday, 14 May 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I had a glorious hot bath yesterday; Fletcher and -I went up to the brewery here. The bath is zinc, and -full length, and we have as much water, and as hot, as we -like....</p> - -<p>"I spent some time too stemming the leaks in the roof -of our shed. With my <i>two</i> waterproof sheets I have rigged -up a kind of chute above my bed, so that any water that -comes through the roof is led down behind my head. I -don't know what happens to it there. I thought of leading -it across on to the man next me, as the Germans used -to do in the winter campaign. They fitted a pump in their -trenches and led the delivery pipe forward, so that -the water used to run into ours—only the plan was -discovered....</p> - -<p>"I wonder if you saw the appreciation of the soda cake -on the back of my letter from the woods. M.P. stands for -Mess President. Fletcher was M.P. and was a very good -one. I am now, as he has done it for a long time and is -tired....</p> - -<p>"As cheerful and well and happy as ever. Don't think -I am having a rotten time—I am not." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Sunday, 5.40 p.m., 16 May 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"We had a very fine piece of news yesterday. Over -three weeks ago we were called out one night and were -urgently required to dig a certain new trench behind our -lines. The men worked splendidly and got the job done -in a very short time (working of course in complete darkness). -The next day the Brigadier-General inspected the -trench and sent in a complimentary message about it to -our Colonel. The day after he complimented us again—for -the same piece of work! Well, we have had several such -jobs to do, and just recently we have been to Hill 60, where -the bulk of our work was deepening the trenches and improving -the parapets. We were lent for this purpose to -another Division (the Division that is at the moment occupying -that area), and were away from here exactly a -week. We got a splendid testimonial from the General of -this other Division, who told our Colonel he had got 'a -top-hole battalion.' Arising out of all this, we have now -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[ 37]</a></span> -been selected as a 'Pioneer Battalion,' We are relieved -from all ordinary trench work for some time to come. We -simply go out at night and dig trenches or build parapets -and so forth, and have the day to ourselves. This was -arranged yesterday, and last night we went out and returned -here at 1.30 a.m. The work is more or less under -fire, but only from stray shots and nothing very serious. -Our Colonel is awfully pleased that we have done so well; -and we are all pleased with the new arrangement. One -great advantage is that we can settle down in our billets -and are not continually having to pack up everything and -move off. We can now start and make tables, chairs, -beds, a proper door for the hut, a glass window, and so -on....</p> - -<p>"As to aeroplanes, when one passes overhead a whistle -is blown and every one either takes cover or stands perfectly -still. The men are forbidden to look up. Then the -whistle is blown several times when the danger is past. -I am afraid, though, these regulations are more honoured in -the breach than the observance.</p> - -<p>"We had quite a nice informal service here this afternoon -sitting in a field. The chaplain has the rank of Major -and has been out here seven months.</p> - -<p>"Yesterday the Captain, Fletcher, and myself went for -a ride on horses. We went about five miles out, stopped -for about twenty minutes at a little inn (the last in Belgium -on that particular road), and then came back again. -The country was perfectly lovely, though I did not appreciate -it as much as I otherwise would have done, as I had -a trooper's saddle and the Captain would trot. I got -most awfully sore going out, and thought I should never -be able to get back. However, I discovered a method at -last, and that was to go at a full gallop. So I alternately -went at a walk and 'hell for leather,' and got back in comparative -comfort. I thoroughly enjoyed it; it was very -bad for the horse, I am afraid, on the stone setts (<i>pavé</i>), -but sometimes I could get him on to the softer bits at the -side. I was terribly afraid some one would think the horse -was running away with me and 'block' him, so I had to look -as pleased as possible. And really I <i>was</i> pleased, it was -such a blessed relief after that awful trotting. I trotted -along in rear of the other two until I could stand it no -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[ 38]</a></span> -longer, and then I encouraged my nag and hit him until -he broke into a canter, and then I roared past the others, -who cursed like anything because theirs wanted to gallop -too. My horse's cantor changed imperceptibly into a full -gallop, and I 'got down to it' and felt like a jockey. After -about half a mile I would walk until the others came up -and passed me, and then I would go off again. All the -same, I am very sore.</p> - -<p>"Good-bye for the present; it is lovely hot weather -and we are all well—fit—and happy." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Tuesday, 18 May 1915, 5.15 p.m.</i> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Norah and Barbara</span>,—I don't expect I -am far wrong in attributing my ripping present of dates -and figs to you two. I did enjoy them, and they are not -finished yet.</p> - -<p>"They arrived by the first post after we had returned -from our little trip. We were at Hill 60; it was so interesting -and rather exciting, although we were there chiefly, -I think, to improve the trenches, which were very shallow -and dangerous when we arrived.</p> - -<p>"The men worked splendidly—all night and most of -the day, and, when we left, the trenches were vastly improved -and quite habitable. We also made some entirely -new ones. We are now kept for this sort of job only, and -we go out working at nights and sleep by day.</p> - -<p>"I must explain to you about 'standing to.' A proportion -of the men are always awake in the trenches to -guard against surprises, for as the most likely times for an -attack are at dawn and at dusk, everybody has to be -awake and ready then. Of course it does interfere with -your sleep, and you do not get very much as a rule in the -trenches, but that is why you are not there for more than -about three days at a time. In the 'supports' you 'stand to' -so as to be ready to reinforce the front line quickly in case -of an attack. Out in 'Rest Billets,' I am glad to say, it is -no longer necessary.</p> - -<p>"I am so sorry, my friend Fletcher has just gone off -this morning for a rest cure. I shall miss him awfully. -He is about five miles away and I am going to ride over to-morrow -to see him. But later on he will probably go back -to England. His nerves are all wrong and he needs a rest,</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[ 39]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Good-bye for now, and very best wishes to you both.—Your -very loving brother, -<br /> -</p> -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Raymond</span>"<br /> -</p> - -<p>"I hope you get my <i>communiqués</i> regularly from home -(swank). Some one must have the time of their lives copying -out all the stuff I write. I hope, however, there are a -few grains in the bundle of chaff (I'm fishing again)!</p> - -<p>"You say, Norah, that you don't think the château -was as quiet as I described. Well, provided I mentioned -our gun, that went off at occasional intervals close behind -it with a terrific report, it was just as I described—a peaceful -summer afternoon. I know that people think that -everything in Belgium is chaos and slaughter, but it isn't -so. For instance, where Fletcher is, is a charming country -place with trees and fields and everything in full green. -Simply ripping. If I had only had a motor-cycle to see it -from instead of a trotting horse I should have enjoyed it -even more!</p> -<p class="right">R." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Wednesday, 19 May 1915, 12.50 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"You must know that we have now only three officers -in our Company. I am very sorry indeed to lose Fletcher. -He went off for a rest cure yesterday morning to a place -about five miles from here. He is my greatest friend in -the Battalion, so I miss him very much and hope he won't -be long away. He will probably go back to England, however, -as his nerves are all wrong. He is going the same -way as Laws did and needs a complete rest. I am going -to ride over to see him this afternoon with the Captain. -I am afraid it won't be 'good going' as the roads are thick -with mud. The slightest rain, and they are as bad as -ever.</p> - -<p>"I told you that I was Mess President (M.P.). I am -sure you would smile to see me ordering the meals, and -inspecting the joints. I don't know anything about them, -and when the cook calls me up specially to view a joint -I have hastily to decide whether he means me to disparage -it—or the reverse. However, I am usually safe in running -it down." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Thursday, 20 May 1915, 9.10 a.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"We rode over and saw Fletcher yesterday and had -tea with him. He is with about twenty other similar cases -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[ 40]</a></span> -in a splendid château (this one is not ruined and has -magnificent grounds). Unfortunately this is probably the -very worst possible treatment he could have. He has -nothing to do, no interest in anything, and no society except -people who, like himself, want cheering. He does -not read, he does not even walk about the grounds. He -cannot sleep much, and he said he did not know exactly -<i>what</i> he did. Under these conditions I know it will not be -long before he is sent home. Brooding is just the very worst -thing for him. He sees all the past horrors all over again; -things which, at the time, he shut his mind to. The best -treatment (even better than home, <i>I</i> think) would be to send -him back for a month or so to Crosby. He would then -have plenty to occupy his mind and would have cheerful -companions...." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>6.20 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I have attached a list of a few slang terms and curious -expressions in use in this Regiment and I believe universal -at the moment. Some of these are amazing, and it is difficult -to trace the origin. 'Drumming up' is one, and 'wind -up' another. I saw an old Belgian cart yesterday, a three-wheeled -affair. It had been overturned on its side and -the spokes of the lowest wheel had been broken. Well, -some one had 'drummed up' on them—every one had disappeared. -These men here will 'drum up' on anything. -'Drumming up' on a thing does not mean lighting a fire <i>on</i> -it but <i>with</i> it.</p> - -<p>"When we were at that place where we were for a -week, there was a most peculiar state of affairs. The Germans -were holding a small piece of trench joining, and in -line with, ours. They were only separated from us by double -barricades—their and ours. They corresponded to the meat -in a sandwich. [A sketch is omitted.] When I say 'ours' -I mean the English. I was not actually in this trench, but -in the one just behind. The trench on one side of the 'meat' -was held by one of our Companies, and the other by another -Regiment...." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Friday, 10.20 a.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"My nickname in the Mess is 'Maurice' (with a French -pronunciation); I am called after the small boy in the -grocery shop here. The good dame always says 'Oui, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[ 41]</a></span> -monsieur le lieutenant!' 'Non, monsieur le lieutenant!' -to everything one says; she gets in about six to the -minute. Well, we used to imitate her after our visits -to the shop, and one day she called out 'Maurice'; so -Fletcher calls me 'Maurice,' and I reply, 'Oui, monsieur -le lieutenant.'" -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<h3>SOME MILITARY TERMS</h3> - -<table summary="Military Terms" style="width: 65%;" > -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Water-Party</span></td> -<td class="tdl">A fatigue party carrying water.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">To have Wind up</span></td> -<td class="tdl">(to rhyme with 'pinned up')—To be uneasy, 'on edge.'</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Drumming up</span></td> -<td class="tdl">Making a fire for the purpose of warming food.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Blighty</span></td> -<td class="tdl">England.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Blighty Wound</span></td> -<td class="tdl">A wound that necessitates invaliding home.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Pucca</span></td> -<td class="tdl"> Real, genuine.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Rally up</span></td> -<td class="tdl">A short period of considerable firing in the trenches.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Dug-out</span></td> -<td class="tdl">A cramped dwelling-place, usually above ground.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Stand-to</span></td> -<td class="tdl">An hour of preparedness at dawn and at dusk when every one is</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> </td> -<td class="td-indent2">awake and wears his equipment (in trenches and supports</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> </td> -<td class="td-indent2">only).</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Stand-down</span></td> -<td class="tdl">The finish of 'stand-to.'</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Knife-Rests</span></td> -<td class="tdl">Barbed wire in sections.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Cushy</span></td> -<td class="tdl">A 'soft' thing.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">To Go Sick</span></td> -<td class="tdl">To report oneself ill to the doctor.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">To Get Down to it</span></td> -<td class="tdl">To lie down, go to bed.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Cribbing or Grousing</span></td> -<td class="tdl">Complaining.</td> -</tr> -<tr><td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">20.5.15</td> -<td class="tdr">R. L.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<h3>[<i>To a Brother</i>]</h3> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>26 May 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I expect you have read it, but I want to recommend -to you <i>Simon Dale</i>, by Anthony Hope.</p> - -<p>"We had the gas over here on Monday morning about -3 or 4 a.m. Although it was coming from a point about -four miles away, as we learnt afterwards, it was very -strong and made our eyes smart very much.</p> - -<p>"We have got hold of some liqueurs from Railhead, a -large bottle of Chartreuse and one of Curaçao.</p> - -<p>"Good-bye and good luck." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Saturday, 29 May 1915, 8.30 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"We have again done a little move, this time with bag -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[ 42]</a></span> -and baggage. We are now on the outskirts of 'No. 1,' -and due west of it. The men have built themselves dug-outs -along a hedge and we (C Coy. officers) are installed -in an untouched château. Quite comfortable. Fine lofty -rooms. We only use part of the house. We have the -kitchen, and a large dining-room on the ground floor. We -sleep upstairs on the first floor (our valise on hay). At -least, Thomas and I do, the Captain and Case have moved -down and sleep on large fat palliasses in the dining-room! -We have the rest of the house empty to ourselves to-night, -but various headquarter staffs seem to come in turn -and occupy two of the other ground floor rooms occasionally.</p> - -<p>"We have been out two nights digging on the opposite -side of the town, but we have not been ordered out to-night, -so far.</p> - -<p>"I notice I have now been gazetted back to 15 August, -the same as most of my contemporaries.</p> - -<p>"There has been a suggestion made that I should take -a course of machine-gun instruction in order that I -might act as understudy to our present Machine-Gun -Officer (M.G.O.) who is Roscoe, and is the successor to -Wyatt. I agreed, but it may have 'fallen through' owing -to the move. If it comes off I shall go for a fortnight's -course to a place which I will call No. 3 [probably St. -Omer.]</p> - -<p>"I got a letter from you to-day about 5 p.m. I was -so glad.</p> - -<p>"No, I am not making things out better than they really -are. I like to write mostly about the pleasant parts, of -course. We have our unpleasant moments, shelling and so -on, but no very bad times as yet. Being on tenterhooks is -quite the worst part.</p> - -<p>"As regards Fletcher being worse than us, of course -he came out much earlier. He left Edinburgh for the -Front on 4 January, and Laws left on 31 December. He -has had some awful times and the winter campaign, and -in any case the length of time one is exposed to the mental -strain and worry makes a difference. I do my best to -keep cheerful and happy all the time—I don't believe in -meeting trouble half-way. If there was some indication of -the termination of the war it would help matters—the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[ 43]</a></span> -unending vista is apt to be rather disheartening at times. -I am very glad Italy is in—at last.</p> - -<p>"By the way, Fletcher has not been sent to England -(Blighty) after all. He is at Versailles, in the No. 4 -General Hospital there, having a nice time if he can enjoy -it. This hospital is the Trianon Palace. The Captain had -a letter from him in which he sent his love to 'Maurice' and -'his lordship' (that's Thomas)." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>2 June 1915, 4.45 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Our interpreter is a Belgian, and is a very nice man. -He does our shopping for us in the town, which is ten miles -or so away, and (as now arranged) he makes the journey -twice a week. It is very funny to hear him talk, he picks -up the soldiers' idioms and uses them in the wrong places. -One he is very fond of is the expression 'Every time'! He -puts such a funny emphasis on it.</p> - -<p>"The last member of our Mess is a man who has just -come out and has not long had his commission. He used -to be Regimental Sergeant-Major to our 1st Battalion and -has had about twenty-six years' service, so he knows his -job.</p> - -<p>"Unfortunately, however, his arrival is not an unmixed -blessing. The Captain is seized with enthusiasm and wants -to make our Company the finest Company in the Battalion. -The result is that we have now nothing but parades and -much less rest than before. When we were turned into -a pioneer battalion the Colonel told the men that they would -go digging at night and would do nothing else except for -rifle inspection. Now, however, we have in addition an -hour's drill of various sorts in the morning and a lecture -to N.C.O.s in the afternoon, at which all subalterns -have to attend and take notes. On the day following a -rest night we have to be up about seven o'clock, and be -on parade while the men do half an hour's physical exercise -before breakfast. Then we have an hour and a half's -drill afterwards and the lecture. And these parades seem -to be growing. I am afraid they will wear us all out and -the men as well. Thomas feels it most and is very worried—although -he is Senior Subaltern in the Company he is -left right out of things. I am afraid of his going like -Laws and Fletcher did. Some 'rankers' are very good -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[ 44]</a></span> -fellows. They bring tremendous experience with them, -but, on the other hand, we bring something too, and -when they ride the high horse they can be very unbearable....</p> - -<p>"I got a supply of paraffin to-day; D Company has -bought a huge barrel of it, and I sent over a petrol tin -for some. They gave me nearly two gallons and asked -if I could let them have a window in exchange! I hunted -round and found quite a good loose one and sent it across -with my compliments. The reason they have bought up -so much paraffin is because their Captain has presented -pocket Primuses to his men. Each section of twelve men -has one between them with one man in charge of it. It -is a killing sight to see their Company sitting in a field and -drumming up!</p> - -<p>"The Belgian cooking stove is rather a curious thing. -It is of the same design in every house apparently. It -consists of a metal urn to hold the fire; this has a removable -lid for which you can substitute a kettle or pan which -just fits the round opening. The urn stands about 3 feet -from the wall and has a flat-shaped iron chimney leading -into the main chimney. This iron chimney can be used -for heating pots or for warming plates. The base of the -urn is an ash collector. You will see that there is no oven; -this is built separately and is a brick affair with a separate -fire to it. [Sketch.]" -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Thursday, 3 June 1915, 1.30 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I am all right again to-day; you mustn't pay any attention -to my grumbles, it just depends what I feel like; and -I am going to stir things up about these parades. We -had a fine time last night—very exciting. We went through -the heart of the city and it is still very much on fire. The -enemy keeps sending an occasional shell into it to keep it -going. Just on the far side is a graveyard, and this has -been 'crumped' out of existence nearly! It is an unpleasant -place to pass now.</p> - -<p>"The town is almost unbelievable. I don't think anyone -would credit that they could do so much damage and -not leave a single house untouched, without entering the -place at all. [Ypres again, probably.]</p> - -<p>"Our digging last night was near a small road much used -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[ 45]</a></span> -by transport (which is very audible at night). As the -enemy can hear the rumble of the horse-drawn carts quite -plainly, they kept on sending shrapnel over, and we had -quite a warm time of it. We were quite glad to get away -again. (No one was hit while we were there.)</p> - -<p>"I was very interested in father's pamphlet on 'War -and Christianity,' and I have passed it on to the others. I -like the way he gets right outside and looks at things from -above. It is a very soothing thing to read.<a name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>...</p> - -<p>"I had such an interesting talk with the interpreter yesterday -(his rank is the equivalent of one of our Sergeant-Majors). -He was a merchant in Morocco, and -chucked up everything and came and joined the Belgian -army as a private. He fought at Namur, Antwerp, and -other places, and is most awfully keen. He was offered -the job of Interpreter to the British Army, and, thinking -he could help more by that means and also partly for -monetary considerations, he took the job. He understood -he would be fighting with us in the trenches, but they -have put him on to shopping for us! He is awfully disappointed. -He rides up when he can, and when we went -up to Hill 60 he went up with our transports and showed -them the way and helped them a lot, although shells were -falling all round. He is a most gentlemanly man; his name -is Polchet....</p> - -<p>"I had a letter from Violet and another from Margaret -yesterday. I understand they have gone up to Edinburgh -now; I shall like to go up there too 'after the war.' -I believe Violet is getting <i>my</i> room ready for me in -their house. I like everything very plain, just a valise -and a little hay, and then you see if I am hungry in the -night——....</p> - -<p>"P.S.—I had a most interesting letter from Oliver. -His discussion of Italy's motives is fine. I like hearing -what people think of events; we are apt to get very warped -views out here unless we have the other point of view -occasionally." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Sunday, 6 June 1915, 12 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"The Mess was thrown into the greatest state of excitement -yesterday by the arrival of kippers! How splendid!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[ 46]</a></span></p> - -<p>We had a grand breakfast this morning, quite like -the summer holidays again—breakfast after a bathe—with -Alec of course!...</p> - -<p>"By the way, I did not present the last lot of asparagus -to the Mess—this was not because we didn't appreciate -it, but because I felt so sorry for M. Polchet (our interpreter), -and I wondered if he had any green stuff or -luxuries. So I sent it over to him. And do you know -what he has done? He has just sent me a shallow wooden -box with a thick cotton-wool pad in it. In the pad are -six hollows, and in each hollow is a ripping nectarine. Isn't -it fine of him?</p> - -<p>"We have roses picked every day for the Mess-room; -it does improve it. The other evening we had a specially -nice meal. We sat round the polished table with candles -in the centre and bowls of roses round them (as a matter -of fact the bowls were old tinned-fruit tins, but what of -that). The food was very special, though I can't remember -what it was, but to crown all there was in the room just -across the passage ... a real fiddler with a real fiddle. -I really don't know how he managed to bring a fiddle out -here; he is a private in the Royal Garrison Artillery, and -plays simply beautifully. He has long hair and just a -suggestion of side whiskers, and large boots, and, but -that he would not be complimented, looks like a -Viennese.</p> - -<p>"He started off by playing Grand Opera—I believe—and -he gave us the Intermezzo from 'Cavalleria Rusticana.' -Then he gave us 'Gipsy Love' and the 'Merry -Widow,' and so on. He finished up with American ragtime. -We sent him in a bottle of whisky half-way through -the performance, and the music got lighter thenceforward. -It was most amusing to notice the effect. When we looked -in later the whisky was standing on the table, and he was -walking round it with his fiddle, playing hard and apparently -serenading it!</p> - -<p>"I was inoculated again on Friday evening because it -is only <i>really</i> effective for about six months, and there is -going to be a lot of enteric about, I expect. This apparently -is just the very place for it—flat low-lying country, -poor water supply, and the soil heavily manured. -So I have been feeling rather weak and feverish after it, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[ 47]</a></span> -but I am better again now. I have to have it done again -ten days later—but the second time is not so bad.</p> - -<p>"Talking about roses, Thomas picked a beauty this -morning (before I got up) and brought it to me in bed. -It is in front of me now, and is 5 inches across, and has -a very fine smell." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Wednesday, 16 June 1915, 1.30 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"We made an attack early this morning, and our Company -waited here to receive the prisoners. Poor devils, -I do feel so sorry for them. One officer of sixteen with -six weeks' service. Old men with grey beards too, and -many of the student type with spectacles—not fit to have -to fight.</p> - -<p>"You remember 'Very Pressing are the Germans'; well, -that's where I am, right inside the walls. Quite shell-proof, -but very dank.</p> - -<p>"I have got the machine-gun job, and am going for a -fortnight's course, starting on the 26th of June." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Monday, 21 June 1915, 4.30 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"We have had an extremely trying time lately, and I -am very sorry to say we have lost Thomas.</p> - -<p>"He was hit on the head by shrapnel on the night -after the attack—I expect you saw the account in the papers—and -died about an hour later, having never recovered -consciousness.</p> - -<p>"It was a most fatal night—the whole battalion was -ordered out digging to consolidate the captured positions. -We got half-way out, and then got stuck—the road being -blocked by parties of wounded. We waited on a path -alongside a hedge for over an hour, and though we could -not be seen we had a good deal of shrapnel sent over us. -To make matters worse, they put some gas shells near, -and we had to wear our helmets though the gas was not -very strong. It was exceedingly unpleasant, and we could -hardly see at all. It was while we were waiting like this -that Thomas got knocked out.</p> - -<p>"We are all sorry to lose him, and I miss him very -much, but it is nothing to the trouble there will be at his -home, for he is his mother's favourite son.</p> - -<p>"I have written to his mother, but I have not told her -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[ 48]</a></span> -what makes us feel so mad about it—namely, that we did -no digging that night at all. When we got to the position -we were so late, and there was still such confusion there -due to the attack, that we marched back again and just got -in before daylight. We might just as well never have gone -out. Isn't it fairly sickening?</p> - -<p>"The next night we went out again, and we had a very -quiet night and no casualties. The scene of the battle was -pretty bad, and I put all my spare men on to burying.</p> - -<p>"Altogether we are very thankful to have a change from -'pioneering,' and get back to the trenches!</p> - -<p>"Our chief trouble here is snipers. We are in a wood, -and parties going for water and so on to our headquarters -<i>will</i> walk outside the trench instead of in it, just because -the trench goes like this. [A diagram is omitted.] They -take the straight course along the side in spite of repeated -warnings. There is one point that a sniper has got marked. -He gets our men coming back as they get into the trench -just too late. We had a man hit this morning, but not -badly, and a few minutes ago I had to stop this letter and go -to a man of B Company who had got hit, and rather more -seriously, at the same spot. I have put up a large notice -there now, and hope it will prevent any more.</p> - -<p>"I am sorry this is not a very cheerful letter, but we -have all been rather sad lately. I am getting over it now. -Luckily one absorbs these things very gradually; I could -not realise it at first. It was an awful blow, because, especially -since Fletcher went away (he is now at home), we -had become very friendly, and one is apt to forget that -there is always the chance of losing a friend suddenly. As -a matter of fact, Thomas is the first officer of C Company -that has been killed for seven months.</p> - -<p>"When we were up in this wood before, digging (about -a fortnight ago) B Company lost Captain Salter. I dare -say you saw his name in the Roll of Honour. We were -just going to collect our spades and come in, when he was -shot through the head by a stray bullet.</p> - -<p>"What a very melancholy strain I am writing in, I am -so sorry. I am quite well and fit. We have mislaid our -mess-box coming up here with all our specially selected -foods. The result is we are on short commons—great -fun. I am eating awful messes and enjoying them. Fried -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[ 49]</a></span> -bacon and fried cheese together! Awful; but, by Jove, -when you're hungry." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Letter from Raymond to the Mother of an Officer<br /> -Friend of his who had been Killed</span></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>2nd S. Lancashire Regt., B.E.F., Front,<br /> -17 June 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mrs. Thomas</span>,—I am very sorry to say I have -to tell you the very worst of bad news. I know what Humphrey's -loss must be to you, and I want to tell you how much -it is to all of us too. I know I have not realised it yet -myself properly. I have been in a kind of trance since last -night and I dread to wake up.</p> - -<p>"He was a very fine friend to me, especially since -Fletcher went away, and I miss him frightfully. Last -night (16th to 17th) the whole Battalion went out digging. -There had been an attack by the English early the same -morning, and the enemy's guns were still very busy even -in the evening. Our road was blocked in front owing to -the moving of a lot of wounded, and while we were held up -on a little field path alongside a hedge we had several -shrapnel shells over us. To add to the horrors of the situation -they had put some gas shells over too, and we were -obliged to put on our gas helmets. While Humphrey was -standing with his helmet on in the rear of our Company -talking to the Captain of the Company behind, a shell came -over and a piece of it caught him on the head. He was -rendered unconscious, and it was evident from the first -he had no chance of recovery. He was immediately taken -a little way back to a place where there was no gas, and -here the doctor dressed his wound. He was then taken back -on a stretcher to the dressing-station. He died there about -an hour after he had been admitted, having never recovered -consciousness.</p> - -<p>"If he had to die, I am thankful he was spared pain -beforehand. It made my heart ache this afternoon packing -his valise; I have given his chocolate, cigarettes, and -tobacco to the Mess, and I have wrapped up his diary and -a few loose letters and made them into a small parcel which -is in the middle of his valise.</p> - -<p>"The papers and valuables which he had on him at the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[ 50]</a></span> -time will be sent back through our headquarters, the other -things, such as letters, etc., in his other pockets I have left -just as they were. I hope the valise will arrive safely.</p> - -<p>"He will be buried very simply, and probably due east -of Ypres about three-quarters of a mile out—near the dressing-station. -I will of course see he has a proper cross.</p> - -<p>"Humphrey was splendid always when shells were bursting -near. He hated them as much as any of us, but he -just made himself appear unconcerned in order to put heart -into the troops. Three nights ago we were digging a trench -and the Germans thought our attack was coming off that -night. For nearly three-quarters of an hour they put every -kind of shell over us and some came very close. We all lay -down in the trench and waited. On looking up once I was -amazed to see a lone figure walking calmly about as if nothing -was going on at all. It may have been foolish but it was -grand." -</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Tuesday, 22 June 1915, 4.45 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Well! What a long war, isn't it? Never mind, I -believe it will finish up without much help from us, and our -job is really killing time. And our time is so pleasant -it doesn't need much killing out here. The days roll along—nice -sunny days too—bringing us nearer I suppose to Peace. -(One hardly dares even to write the word now, it has such -a significance.) There have been cases where the war has -driven people off their heads (this applies only, I think, to -the winter campaign), but I often think if Peace comes suddenly -that there will be many such cases.</p> - -<p>"It really is rather amazing the unanimity of everybody -on this subject, and it must be the same behind the -German front-line trenches.</p> - -<p>"I should think that never in this world before have -there been so many men so 'fed up' before. And then the -women at home too—it is wonderful where the driving force -comes from to keep things going on.</p> - -<p>"But still—I don't want to convey a false impression. -If you took my last letter by itself you might think things -were very terrible out here all the time. They are not. -On the whole it is not a bad time at all. The life is full of -interest, and the discomforts are few and far between. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[ 51]</a></span> -Bad times do come along occasionally, but they are by way -of exceptions. It is most like a long picnic in all sorts of -places with a sort of constraint and uneasiness in the air. -This last is purely mental, and the less one worries about -it the less it is, and so one can contrive to be light-hearted -and happy through it all—unless one starts to get depressed -and moody. And it is just that which has happened to -Laws and Fletcher and one or two others. They had -been out long and had seen unpleasant times and -without an occasional rest; none but the very thick can -stand it." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Saturday, 26 June 1915, 6.40 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Here I am installed in the school [Machine Gun] -which is, or was, a convent. Fine large place and grounds. -Two officers per bedroom and a large Mess-room; about -twenty officers up for the course (or more) which starts -to-morrow (Sunday). Your solution of the Thompson -acrostic [St. Omer] was perfectly right, we <i>are</i> far back. -This convent is about two miles from that town.</p> - -<p>"I am so pleased to be in the 'pleasant, sunny land of -France,' amid absolute peacefulness. We had a curious -journey. Last night I slept at our transport (and had a -bath!). I got up soon after six, mounted a horse just -before eight (after breakfast). My servant and my valise, -also a groom to bring my horse back, came in a limber. -And that excellent man Polchet rode all the way to <i>Divisional</i> -Headquarters with me, although it was about six -miles out of his way. We got to Headquarters at a quarter -to ten—a motor-bus was to start at ten for here. It -started at 10.30 with me, my luggage, and my servant (I -don't know why he comes last) in it. The Harborne -motor-buses in the Harborne High Street weren't in it. -We got shaken to a jelly—we were on top. We went back -about two miles to pick up some of our Division, and having -done so, we set off to pick up some of the 14th Division, -at a point carefully specified in our driver's instructions. -This was about five miles away, in our proper -direction. But when we got to the spot we discovered -they (the Division) had left it a week ago and gone to -a point quite close to where we had just picked up the -3rd Division men. I telephoned in vain; we had to go -all the way back. We found the place with difficulty (we -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[ 52]</a></span> -found all our places with difficulty as we had no maps), collected -the men, and came all the way out <i>again</i>. Then we -came straight here, which was about fifteen miles at least. -We got here at 4.30 p.m.! Six hours' motorbussing! and -the bus's maximum was 25 m.p.h. at least, I should judge. -Luckily it was a glorious day, and I sat in front with the -driver and enjoyed it all....</p> - -<p>"I told you leave was starting—well, it has now started. -Three of our officers have gone—and all together! They -are only getting three clear days in England—but -still!</p> - -<p>"I am going to find out when this course finishes—I -think it lasts for sixteen days—and then I am going to -apply for my leave to follow on. I wish—oh, how I -wish—I may get it; but of course many things may intervene.</p> - -<p>"If it does come off I hope there will be a representative -gathering to meet me at dinner. That is, I hope -Violet will be back from Edinburgh, Lorna and Norah -from Coniston, and perhaps Oliver and his Winifred will -pay a flying visit from Cardiff. Haven't I got an enlarged -opinion of my own importance? I suppose it is too much -to expect the offices to have a whole holiday!" -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Monday, 28 June 1915, 6.15 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"The enemy's lines round here do not appear to be -strongly held, in fact quite the reverse—that is, the front -lines. But attacks on our part don't always pay—even -so. Their method, as I understand it, is simply to lose -less men than we do. Accordingly, they leave very few -men in their front trench, but what there are have a good -supply of machine guns and are well supported by artillery. -We precede our attacks by heavy shelling, and the few men -get into well-built dug-outs until it is over, then they come -out and get to work with their machine guns on -the attacking infantry. The trench ultimately falls after -rather heavy loss on our side (especially if the wire -isn't properly cut) and the few defenders hold up their -hands. Some are made prisoners—some are not. If the -enemy want the trench very badly they try and retake -it by means of a strong counter-attack, trusting that our -men and arrangements are in sufficient confusion to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[ 53]</a></span> -prevent adequate support. That is why our attacks are so -expensive and why we aren't constantly attacking. The -alternative plan is, I think, simply to shell them heavily—in -all their lines—and leave out the actual attack in -most cases....</p> - -<p>"I was so interested to hear that Alec had applied for -me to come back. It is not at all impossible, because I -have known two or three cases where officers have been -recalled—one was chief chemist (or so he said) at Brunner -Mond's. He was returning as I came out, and tried to -make one's flesh creep by his tales of war. But I don't -think it is likely to happen in my case. I only wish it -would. I should love to come home again, although I -don't feel as if I had done my bit yet—really. I haven't -been in any big scrap, and I haven't killed my man -even....</p> - -<p>"I had a ripping time at the transport; I hope they enjoyed -the peas—they deserved to. They were hospitality -itself. They welcomed me, gave me three meals, lent me -anything I wanted, made room for me to sleep in their large -room (this necessitated the Quartermaster-Sergeant moving -his bed into another room), gave me a warm bath, and -generally made me feel quite at home. They have a ripping -dug-out. Rooms half underground, 7 feet high, plenty of -ventilation, boarded floor and walls, and a wooden roof supported -on square wooden pillars and covered in earth well -sodded on top....</p> - -<p>"Talking about the Major (Major Cotton), he used to -be our Adjutant at Crosby—he was Captain then. He -came out as second in command and has now got the -Battalion while our Colonel (Colonel Dudgeon) is away -sick. The latter got his C.B. in the last honours list. He -is an excellent man. Lieut. Burlton, too, got a Military -Cross. He has now been wounded twice; he was the -moving spirit of the hockey matches at Crosby in the old -days, and, when he was recalled to the Front, his mantle -fell upon me....</p> - -<p>"All the officers here are from different regiments -with a very few exceptions. It is most interesting. At -meals, Way and I sit among the Cavalry, Dragoons and -Lancers, etc. They are fine chaps—the real Army officers -of which there are now all too few."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[ 54]</a></span> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Machine-Gun School, G.H.Q.,<br /> -Wednesday, 7 July 1915, 5 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Here I am getting towards the end of my little holiday, -only five more days to go. No word has reached me -from my Battalion on the subject of leave, or of anything -else for that matter....</p> - -<p>"If this threatened push on Calais is real, or if the -higher commands have got 'wind up' about it, they will -very likely stop all leave, and then I shall just have to wait -until it starts again....</p> - -<p>"I am sure that the fact of our nation being 'down' -and preparing for a winter campaign will materially assist -in shortening the war and rendering that preparation unnecessary.</p> - -<p>"We have an awfully amusing chap here who is in -the Grenadier Guards. He is always imitating Harry Tate. -A great big hefty chap, in great big sloppy clothes (including -what are known as 'Prince of Wales' breeches). He gets -his mouth right over to the side of his face and says 'You -stupid boy!' in Harry Tate's voice. He does this in the -middle of our instructional squads when some wretched person -does something wrong with the gun, and sends every one -into fits of laughter.... [A lot more about a motor that -wouldn't go.]</p> - -<p>"My M.G. course is going on very nicely. I have -learnt a very great deal, have been intensely interested, -and am very keen on the work. My function as a reserve -machine-gunner should really be to train the reserve team -and such parts of the main team as are not actually required -in the trenches, in a safe spot behind the lines! It sounds -'cushy,' but those in authority over us are not sufficiently -enlightened, I am afraid, to adopt such a plan. The object -of course is to prevent your reserve men from being 'used -up' as riflemen, as otherwise when you want them to take -the place of the others they are casualties and all their training -goes for nothing.</p> - -<p>The Cavalry officers here are a great joke. They find -this life very tiring. They are quite keen to get back -again and have been from the beginning. We, on the other -hand, fairly enjoy it and are not at all anxious to go back -to our regiments. That shows the difference between the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[ 55]</a></span> -lives we lead. Of course they <i>have</i> been in the trenches and -have had some very bad times there, but they only go in -in emergencies and at long intervals....</p> - -<p>"Another difference between us is that they keep their -buttons as bright as possible and themselves as spick and -span as can be. The infantry officer gets his buttons as -dull as possible, and if they are green so much the better, as -it shows he has been through gas. He likes his clothes and -especially his puttees to be rather torn, and his hat to be -any old sloppy shape. If he gets a new hat he is almost -ashamed to wear it—he is terrified of being mistaken for -'Kitcheners'!</p> - -<p>"Lord Kitchener and Mr. Asquith came here last evening. -Here, to this convent. I don't know what for; but there was -of course a good deal of stir here.</p> - -<p>"Way and I went into the town last night. We hired -a <i>fiacre</i> for the return journey. It came on to rain, so it -was just as well we had a hood. We both thoroughly enjoyed -the journey. The <i>fiacre</i> was what would be dignified -by the name of 'Victoria' in England. But in France, where -it seems to be etiquette not to take any trouble over carriagework, -<i>fiacre</i> is the only word you could apply, and it just -fits it. It expresses not only its shabbiness but also hints -at its broken-backed appearance.</p> - -<p>"We went into some stables and inquired about a <i>fiacre</i>, -and a fat boy in a blue apron with a white handkerchief -tied over one eye said we could have one. So I said, 'Où -est le cocher?' and he pointed to his breast and said, -'C'est moi!'</p> - -<p>"The fare, he said, would be six francs and the <i>pourboire</i>. -Thoughtful of him not to forget that. We agreed, -and he eventually produced the usual French horse.</p> - -<p>"The <i>fiacre</i> was very comfortable and we were awfully -tickled with the idea of us two in that absurd conveyance, -especially when we passed staff officers, which was frequently. -Altogether we were quite sorry when our drive -was over." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<h3>NOTE BY O. J. L.</h3> - -<p>On 16 July 1915, Raymond came home on leave, and he had a -great reception. On 20 July he went back. -<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[ 56]</a></span> -<br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Sunday, 25 July 1915, 7.30 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I have got quite a nice dug-out, with a chair and -table in it. The table was away from the door and got -no light, so I have spent about two hours to-day turning -things round. I went to bed about three this morning -(just after 'stand-to') and slept till nearly twelve. Then -I had breakfast (bacon and eggs). As my former platoon -Sergeant remarked: 'It is a great thing to have a few -comforts, it makes you forget there is a war,'</p> - -<p>"So it does until a whizz-bang comes over.</p> - -<p>"I have just seen an aeroplane brought down (German -luckily). I missed the first part, where one of ours went -up to it and a flame shot across between them (machine -gun, I expect). I ran out just in time to see the machine -descending on fire. It came down quite steadily inside -our lines (about a mile or more away), but the flames were -quite clearly visible," -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Thursday, 29 July 1915, 7.35 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Here I am in the trenches again, quite like old times, -and quite in the swing again after the unsettling effect of -coming home! You know I can't help laughing at things -out here. The curious aspect of things sometimes comes -and hits me, and I sit down and laugh (not insanely or -hysterically, <i>bien entendu</i>; but I just can't help chuckling). -It is so absurd, the reasons and causes that have drawn -me to this particular and unlikely field in Belgium, and, -having arrived here, that make me set about at once house-hunting—for -all the world as if it was the most natural -thing in life. And having selected my little house and -arranged all my belongings in it, I regard it as home and -spend a few days there. And then one morning my servant -and I, we pack up everything once more and hoist -them on to our backs and set off, staff in hand, like a pair -of gipsies to another field a mile or so distant, and there -make a new home....</p> - -<p>"I was very loth to leave my front line dug-out, because -I had arranged things to my liking—had moved the table -so that it caught the light, and so on. It had a built-in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[ 57]</a></span> -table (which took a lot of moving), a chair and a sandbag -bed. Quite small and snug.</p> - -<p>"But still—this new dug-out back here is quite nice. -Large and roomy, with windows with bars in them (but -no glass)—a proper square table on four legs—three chairs -and a sandbag bed. So I am quite happy. The sandbag -bed is apparently made as follows: Cover a portion of the -floor, 6 feet 6 inches by 3 feet 6 inches, with a single layer -of sandbags filled with earth. Over these place several layers -of empty sandbags, and the bed is finished. If the hollows -and lumps are carefully placed, the former in the middle and -the latter at the head, the result is quite a success. Of course -one sleeps in one's clothes covered by a coat and with an -air pillow under one's head.</p> - -<p>"We have had a very gay time in the trenches. I -think I told you how I saw a hostile aeroplane brought -down on fire in our lines. That was on Sunday, and the -official report says both pilots killed. On Monday I went -down to a support trench to have meat tea and a -chat with Holden and Ventris (two of C Company -officers). At a quarter to ten there was a loud rumbling -explosion and the dug-out we were in rocked for -several seconds. The Germans had fired a mine about 60 -feet in front of our trench to try to blow in some of our -workings.</p> - -<p>"I rushed to my guns—both were quite safe. You -should have heard the noise. Every man in the place -got up to the parapet and blazed away for all he was -worth. It was exciting! One machine gun fired two -belts (500 rounds), and the other fifty rounds. I heard -afterwards that several of the enemy were seen to leap -their parapets, but turned back when they heard the machine -guns open fire. It took a good while for things to -quieten down. Some of our miners were at work when -it went off, but their gallery was some way off and they -were quite all right.</p> - -<p>"Last night they actually exploded another one! Aren't -they keen? This was a much smaller affair, but closer -to our trench. It shook down a portion of our parapet, -which was easily rebuilt and entombed temporarily -two of our miners. In neither case were there any -casualties....</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[ 58]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I am so sorry the date of the wedding had to be -altered, but I agree it was for the best. I only hope you -remembered to inform the bridegroom—he is often forgotten -on these occasions, and I have known a lot of trouble -caused by just this omission." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Letter from Raymond to Mrs. Fred Stratton,<br /> -formerly Miss Marjorie Gunn</span></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>1 August 1915, Sunday, 11.20 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I am not actually in the trenches at the moment, -though most of the Battalion is. I was in for five days, -and then I was relieved about four days ago by another -officer (Roscoe), who shares with me the duties of machine-gun -officer. So I am in a dug-out about three-quarters of -a mile behind the firing line while he is taking his turn in -that line. (A mine has just gone off and shaken the ground, -followed by a burst of heavy rifle firing. This makes the -fourth mine this week! Two went off while I was up there, -and the whole earth rocked for several seconds. The first -three mines were theirs, this last may be ours, I don't know; -we had one ready!)</p> - -<p>"We have been at Hill 60 and also up at Ypres. At -present we are south of that appalling place, but I learn -with regret that to-morrow we are moving again and are -going up north of Ypres. We are all depressed in consequence.</p> - -<p>"What an awfully good letter you have written me; -but, do you know, it makes me ache all over when you -write like that about the car. You have only to mention -you have got a Rover, and I am as keen as mustard to -come and tinker with it! Aren't I young?</p> - -<p>"But you must know I want to come to New Park -in any case. I am awfully keen to stay there and see it -from inside, and see its inmates again after many years -(it feels like). So after the war (may it be soon!) I am -just going to arrive. I may let you know!</p> - -<p>"Your remarks on weddings in general depress me -very much! I hope the bridegroom's lot is better than -the poor bride's. Because my turn is bound to come!</p> - -<p>"I am so glad Hester gave a good account of my -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[ 59]</a></span> -appearance. I <i>am</i> very fit, it is the only way to exist here. -Once you begin to get 'down' and to worry, it is all up -with you. You go into a rapid decline, and eventually -arrive home a wreck! But as long as you smile and don't -care a hang about anything, well the war seems to go on -quite all right!</p> - -<p>"I enjoyed my few days' leave very much indeed. I -had five days in England and three full days and four -nights at home. I dropped into my old life just as if -no change had occurred. And the time was not long -enough to make the getting back difficult.</p> - -<p>"This life is a change for me, as you say. I haven't -done laughing at its humorous side yet. In some ways -we get treated like schoolboys. More so at Crosby than -here, however."</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Saturday, 7 August 1915, 7.30 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I have been having rather a bad time lately,—one -of those times that reminds one that it is war -and not a picnic,—but, thank goodness, it is all over -now.</p> - -<p>"I think I told you that we were about to move up -north of Ypres, to St. Julien or thereabouts. Well, just -before we handed over these trenches to one of Kitchener's -Battalions, the Germans went and knocked down a lot -of our parapet, and also sent over some appalling things -that we call 'sausages,' or 'aerial torpedoes,' though they -are not the latter. They are great shell-shaped affairs, -about 3 feet along and 9 inches in diameter, I should -think. They are visible during the whole of their flight. -They are thrown up about 100 yards into the air -and fall down as they go up, broadside on—not point -first. A few seconds after they fall there is the most -appalling explosion I have ever heard. From a distance -of 100 yards the rush of air is so strong that it feels -as if the thing had gone off close at hand. Luckily there -is a slight explosion when they are sent up, and, as I said, -they are visible all the time in the air. The result is our -men have time to dodge them, provided they are not mesmerised -as one man was. He got stuck with his mouth open, -pointing at one! A Corporal gave him a push which -sent him 10 yards, and the 'sausage' landed not far from -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[ 60]</a></span> -where he had been. Although they have sent more than -twenty of these things over altogether, we have only -had one casualty, and that a scratch. Their effect is -to terrify every one and keep them on tenterhooks watching -for them. Their purpose is to destroy mine galleries, -I believe....</p> - -<p>"Monday, August the 2nd, was the day we should have -been relieved, and that night I went up from headquarters -and relieved Roscoe, who had had a bad time in the fire -trenches....</p> - -<p>"They were firing armour-piercing shells that go right -in and blow the parapet to blazes; dug-outs too, of course, -if they happen to be near. After punishing the right end of -the left-hand bit of trench, they traversed along, laying -waste the whole of our bit.</p> - -<p>"I was in my dug-out with Hogg, another officer. I -was trying to make tea, but every shell blew out the -Primus, and covered us in dust. I made it, however, -eventually, and we had just drunk it when a shell blew -the parados of the trench down, not far from our door, -and the next wrecked the dug-out next door to mine (a -man who happened to be inside having a miraculous escape). -We judged it was time to clear (the machine guns had -already been withdrawn to safety), and got away as best -we could through and over the debris that had been a -trench.</p> - -<p>"Later in the day I made my way back, and recovered -my pack and most of my belongings. It was exciting -work getting back, because they were sending whizz-bangs -through the gaps in the parapet, and the communication -trenches in the rear were blocked in places, so that -you had to get up on top and 'scoot' across and drop in -the trench again.</p> - -<p>"That evening they gave us a second shelling, and one -hit my dug-out fair and square (I had quarters in a support -trench). When I returned next day for the rest of -my things—my equipment and some provisions—I had to -put two men on to dig them out. It took three-quarters of -an hour to get at them, through the wreckage of timber, -corrugated iron, and earth....</p> - -<p>"On Tuesday afternoon they sent off another mine,—about -the seventh since we have been in,—but they are -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[ 61]</a></span> -all well in front of our parapet. And on Wednesday they -gave us twelve sausages—the first I had seen.</p> - -<p>"The trouble is, we have a number of mine shafts under -the ground between our trenches and theirs, and they are -fearfully 'windy' about them. They keep trying to stop -us mining them, and their shelling is with the object of -blowing down our sap-heads. Their mines, too, go up -short, because they are trying to blow in our galleries; or -else they are so scared they send them off before they are -ready. I think the last explanation is probably more -near the truth, because when one of their mines went up -recently a lot of Germans went up with it!...</p> - -<p>"We have been in here a fortnight to-night. You can -imagine how we long for clean clothes. Most of the -officers have not been out of their clothes all that time, -but I have been very lucky. I had two good cold baths -when I was down here before, and to-day I had a lovely -hot one in a full-length wooden bath. A tremendous luxury! -Also I had some clean socks to put on....</p> - -<p>"On the day I was shelled out of my dug-out my servant, -Bailey, was hit on the leg by a piece of shell and has gone -down the line wounded, not very seriously, I think. He -is a great loss to me, but I have got another one now, -Gray, who shapes very well. He is young and willing, and -quite intelligent.</p> - -<p>"You ask whether that time when the mine went off -was the first time I had used these guns. Yes, absolutely. -The plan adopted in trench warfare is to place your guns -in position with a good wide loophole in front of them, -then block this up and keep a sharp look-out. When the -enemy attacks, you blaze away at them, and then shift -hurriedly to another gun-position and watch the old one -being shelled to blazes.</p> - -<p>"If you fire on other occasions you are rather apt to -have your guns knocked out, and we can't afford to lose -<i>any</i>. That is why I was rather horrified to find one gun -had fired 500 rounds the other night. However, it was not -discovered. I think the long grass in front hid the -flashes....</p> - -<p>"Yes, the sandbags might be damp when used for a -bed, and I always lay my waterproof ground-sheet on top -of them. I either sleep on that or on some new clean bags -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[ 62]</a></span> -laid above that again. It is not only dampness, though, that -one fears!</p> - -<p>"As a matter of fact, one is not very sensitive to damp -when living so much out of doors. It is common to get -one's feet slightly wet and go for about four days without -removing one's boots—most unpleasant, but not in the least -damaging to health." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Monday, 16 August 1915, Noon</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"We are now out and resting after doing a long spell. -I did nineteen days, and some did a few more days than -that. Three weeks is a long time to live continuously in -clothes, boots, and puttees....</p> - -<p>"I came out of the trenches on Thursday night, and -was really a day too soon, because on Friday we were -having Orderly-Room right in the country, in front of the -C.O.'s tent; the Colonel was there surrounded by most of -the officers, when we heard a shell. Well, that's nothing -unusual, but this one got crescendo, and we all looked up -in alarm. Then it got very crescendo, and finally cleared -us and landed with a loud explosion about 50 yards beyond -us, and not far from several groups of men. It was -an 8-inch 'crump.' One man only was killed, but we -knew that more were likely to come over, and so we gradually -spread out to the sides. Four came altogether at two-minute -intervals, but we only had two casualties. Rather -upsetting when we were supposed to be resting. I don't -know whether they could see our (officers') white tents, or -whether they saw the cricket match that took place on -the day before.</p> - -<p>"Anyway we moved our tents slightly—every one put -their tents where they pleased, and then the Pioneer Sergeant -came and amused himself daubing green paint on -them in patches. Ours (three of C Coy.) was the best; -the splodges looked just like hazel nuts (?) when there -are three together in their little green cases, and they were -interspersed with a kind of pansy-shaped flower. Altogether -a very tasteful and pleasing effect....</p> - -<p>"A couple of gun stocks have come. They arrived from -Walker's, the makers, and I should very much like -to know who had them sent. They are ripping, sniping -attachments with periscopes for use with the ordinary rifle. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[ 63]</a></span> -I shall stick to one, and unless I hear otherwise I -shall present the other one to our sniping officer (honorary -rank)."<a name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Wednesday, 25 August 1915, 3 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I am in the trenches once more. We marched in -(about 10 miles) last night. We had a meal at 3 p.m., -and marched off soon after six. Our rations (officers') went -astray, because they were on a hand-cart in charge of our -servants, who missed their way, so we have had practically -nothing to eat since late lunch yesterday, and are pretty hungry. -I have had a piece of chocolate, and my water-bottle -was nearly full of lemon squash....</p> - -<p>"We are in support trenches at Hooge, just on the left -of our former position up here. Except for some shelling -(chiefly ours), things are fairly quiet.</p> - -<p>"Since we were here last the position is greatly improved; -the Germans have been driven over the ridge in -front (during the recapture of trenches here), and the -whole place is much 'healthier' in consequence....</p> - -<p>"I have been out here five calendar months to-day, -and in the Army just over eleven months. They will be -pensioning me off soon as an old soldier." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>29 August 1915, 11.30 a.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I am having a very quiet and lazy time at the moment, -and feel I deserve it. We went into support trenches -for three days, and worked two nights from 7.30 p.m. -till 3 a.m. building and improving the fire trench. Then -on the third night we had a most exciting time. One -company, under Captain Taylor, was sent up right in front -to dig a new fire trench to connect with another on our left. -We had to go up a trench which ran right out into space, and -which had only just been built itself, and when there we had -to get over the parapet and creep forward to the new -line we were to dig. Of course we had to be dead -quiet, but there was a big moon, and of course they -saw us. Most of the way we were not more than -30 yards away from their front position (and they had -bombing parties out in front of that). While we were -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[ 64]</a></span> -digging we had one platoon with bombs to cover us, and -some of this party were as close as 25 yards to their front -position. It was awful work, because they kept throwing -bombs at us, and what was almost worse was the close-range -sniping.</p> - -<p>"'Very' lights were going up from the German lines -all the time, and you could see the bullets kicking up the -dust all around. When we first got out there I picked -out my ground pretty carefully before lying down (because -the recent scrap there was much in evidence), but -when the snipers got busy I didn't worry about what I -was on, I just hugged the ground as close as I could. They -would put the 'Very' lights right into us, and one just -missed me by a yard. If they are not spent when they -come down, they blaze fiercely on the ground, and when -they finish, they look like a little coke fire. They would -burn you badly if they fell on you. I have seen a dead -man that one had fallen on afterwards. His clothes were -fearfully burned.</p> - -<p>"The Germans were on the edge of a wood and our -ground was tipped towards them, so it was extremely difficult -to get cover. Shell holes were the best. Soon the -men got their trenches down, and things were a little better. -The men worked extremely well, and the Wilts were working -on our left, and we eventually joined up with them. -After about five hours' work, the trenches were fit to hold, -and we filed out and the new garrison filed in. Our casualties -were much lighter than I should have thought possible. -The Colonel came along the new trenches just before -we left, and he was most awfully pleased with C Company, -and so is the General. Captain Taylor is very -bucked about it.</p> - -<p>"The scene of this affair was right against the Château -of Hooge, and close to the mine crater. We found a German -machine gun half buried, but in good condition, and -any number of souvenirs. The Captain has got a helmet—a -dirty thing; he had to have it cleaned out, because -part of the owner was still inside it! It is a rummy -shape, so flat-topped and square, with a brass spike -and a gold band down the back. I expect it was an -officer's.</p> - -<p>"Oh! I have seen my first German (not counting prisoners). -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[ 65]</a></span> -I was standing up and a 'Very' light went up, so I -kept perfectly still. I was looking towards the wood where -the Germans were (I was 40 or 50 yards away), and I saw -one quite distinctly walking into the wood.</p> - -<p>"Our men that were killed (sniped) were buried just -behind, within a quarter of an hour of being hit. Rather -awful.</p> - -<p>"The actual digging was rather trying in places, and in -one case they actually came on a horse!—which dates it -back to November, when we were pushed back to these -positions in the first battle of Ypres.</p> - -<p>"The men in such places work with their respirators -on and are often actually sick. I have had whiffs of the -smell since in my food. Once smelt never forgotten. I can -tell the difference between a man and a horse, but I don't -know which I like least.</p> - -<p>"Rather a morbid topic, I am afraid. Well, after leaving -the scene of our labours (and glad to get out), we -called for our packs and had to march about two and a -half miles. We were dead beat when we arrived here -(nice safe dug-outs—roomy and comfortable—with our -valises ready to sleep in when we arrived), but we found a -good meal awaiting us, and about half-past four we 'got -down to it' and slept till noon. Holden and I share a -palatial dug-out, and we had breakfast in bed, and I did -not get up till just before our evening meal at 7. I washed -and dressed in slacks—had a meal, and later on went to -bed again. This morning we had breakfast in bed again -about 9.30, and then I got up, washed and shaved, dressed, -and am now sitting on my bed, leaning against the wall -writing my letters.</p> - -<p>"The General let us off 'stand-to' because he knew we -were fagged out; and it is a great mercy. Turning out -fully dressed at about 2.30 a.m. and remaining up for an -hour does not improve one's night's rest. I suppose, though, -that we shall have to start it soon—perhaps to-night.</p> - -<p>"We are here till to-morrow night, I believe, and then -we go to some fairly nice trenches near the ones we were -in last. We are short of subalterns—rather—and they -have taken me off machine guns for the time being. I <i>am</i> -sick, but I get a bit in when I can. In the last trench we -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[ 66]</a></span> -built (I and my platoon), not the exposed one, there was -a machine-gun position, and I took great pleasure in building -it a really good emplacement....</p> - -<p>"Are you doing anything about getting me back for -Munitions? I don't know what you think about it, and -whether you think I ought to carry on out here. I am -sure that after six months I shall be just about fed-up -with this business, but am not sure that after a couple of -months at home I shan't be wanting to come out again." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Wednesday, 1 September 1915, 4.45 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I will just write you a short letter to let you know -I am still well and happy, and still leading the strange life -of the picnic-hermit.</p> - -<p>"When I last wrote to you I believe I was in the very -same spot as now, namely, support trenches in the neighbourhood -of a now famous château. Last time we were in -for three days, and on the night we left we had a very -blood-curdling experience digging a trench which was to -bring us closer to our friends the enemy. But they were -inclined to resent our advances, and they welcomed us, not -with open arms, but with lighted bombs. However, having -completed our work to the great satisfaction of those in -authority over us (namely, the Colonel and the General -[Brigadier]), we made good our escape.</p> - -<p>"Then for three blissful days we lived (with our valises) -in some magnificent dug-outs in one of the safest -spots in this accursed though much improved neighbourhood. -These days we spent competing who could sleep -furthest round the clock (if that is a permissible expression). -I think I won, and on my record day I got up -and dressed for dinner at about 7.30 p.m., made my bed -afterwards, and got back into it again. This halcyon -period was only interrupted once, when we all had to go -out and dig a trench one night long. However, the worst -feature of this expedition was the rain, which made 'going' -very difficult, and things in general rather uncomfortable -(especially for the men), so we hadn't much to grumble -about.</p> - -<p>"Then we came back here and the first night we slept -in peace, getting up at about 3 a.m. ostensibly for the -purpose of 'stand-to,' but really to brew ourselves some -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[ 67]</a></span> -cocoa. Then sleep till 9, 10, or 11, I forget which. I -crawl to the door of my dug-out and shout for Gray, -who lives just opposite. 'Breakfast!' I say, and he invariably -asks, 'What will you have, sir?' just as if he could -command the larders of the Carlton or the Linga.</p> - -<p>"Knowing my rations, and that an attempt at humour -would only put me off my <i>plat du jour</i> or daily -round, I usually think for a few moments and then order -eggs and bacon, and face the common task. The only -variation I permit myself is that on one or two days in -the week I funk the bacon and have boiled eggs. Where -do the eggs come from? They are purchased out of the -Mess fund by our Mess cook who lives with the -Transport when we are in the trenches, and brings them -up personally when the rations arrive at night. Yes, he -has a 'cushy' time of it, does our Mess cook; and -how can he avoid being happy, living as he does in a perpetual -transport?</p> - -<p>"What of the days when no eggs are available? -Why, then, <i>horrible dictu</i>, I have fried cheese and -bacon!</p> - -<p>"It occurs to me here, although all this was not written -with intention, that this could be a good place to ask -whether sausages are yet in season. If they are, a few -cooked ones (or half cooked) sent out now and again would -make a splendid variant for our menu.</p> - -<p>"The meat season is hard to follow out here. Bully -beef is such a hardy perennial. (This does not mean that -we live on it—I never eat it, there is always a good supply -of fresh beef.)</p> - -<p>"Blackberries are coming on, I notice with pleasure, -and I can usually tell what shells are in season (the season -for sausages in this department is, let us hope, mercifully -short. I believe we are now in the middle of the close-time -for this sturdy little fellow, I trust he is not utilising it to -increase and multiply).</p> - -<p>"I am sorry I have had rather a sharp attack of parentheses -lately, the touch of winter in the air cramps my style. -And I really did think this was going to be quite a short -letter. I cannot divine my moods, I find, I did not feel like -writing until I got going.</p> - -<p>"Please thank father very much indeed for the sniperscopes. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[ 68]</a></span> -I have given one to the Captain of D Company, -who is keen on everything. He is an engineer (civil), and -is a most useful man out here. I have not tried mine yet, -as I haven't been in a fire trench, and it would hardly be -fair to use it in a support trench, the backs of our infantry -in the trench in front being too easy a target to give the thing -a fair trial.</p> - -<p>"Oh! I was telling you about my work in this trench but -got switched off on to food. Last time I was here I -(and my platoon) worked for two nights from 7.30 till 3 -improving the parapets. Well, the second night of <i>this</i> -period (last night) I had got all sorts of plans ready and -was going to have a thoroughly good night building dug-outs, -draining the trench, and building a second machine-gun -emplacement (not my job really at the moment). However, -word came along that the platoon was wanted -to dig another trench right in front again and near -the other one. They said, 'A covering party with bombs -will be provided, and send in your casualty report in the -morning!' So I asked if they were supplying stretchers and -all complete! But they were not. It is a most cheering -way of sending you off, is it not? It is a wonder they -did not make us take up our own grave crosses, just in -case.</p> - -<p>"(By the way, it is most impressive to meet two men -walking along at night and one carrying a large white cross. -The burying and decking of the graves is done very well -here, and conscientiously. There is a special organisation -for making the crosses, lettering them and putting them up. -The position of the grave is reported to them, with the particulars, -and they do the rest.)</p> - -<p>"The great difference in last night's job was that I -only had a platoon to deal with, while before the Captain -had a whole company. Also I was not quite so close to -the enemy (we were 30 yards off, and less, before), and the -moon was mostly obscured. I determined not to let them -know we were working, so I crept out and explored the -ground with the Corporal of the covering party (this was the -worst part of the job, because you did not know when you -might not come across a party of the enemy in the many -shell holes and old trenches with which the ground was covered). -I had my large revolver in my pocket, but I did not -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[ 69]</a></span> -want to use it, as it would have given our game -away.</p> - -<p>"All went well, and I got the men placed out in absolute -silence, with the covering party pushed out in front -to listen and watch. The men worked very quietly, and -when a light went up they got down and kept still. Lights -were very few, because the enemy had got a working party -out too—at one side, and we could occasionally hear them -driving in stakes for wire.</p> - -<p>"We had to use picks in some places where the ground -was stony, and these are the hardest to keep quiet. We got -through it all right, and only one shot, I think, was fired -all the time. It came fairly close, too. I am sure -they guessed we were out, because when one light went -up I hadn't time to get down, so I kept still and -I plainly saw a Hun standing upright on his own parapet. -He straightened up as the light grew bright, and I -just caught sight of the movement and saw him then distinctly.</p> - -<p>"The ground out there has been fought over a good -deal, and there are plenty of souvenirs about. I have got -one myself—a Hun rifle. The original owner, who was -buried with it—probably by a shell—happened to lie exactly -where we dug our trench, and we were obliged to move -him elsewhere. I brought his rifle home and put it over the -door of my dug-out. That was early this morning. But -the enemy have been putting shrapnel over us (in reply to -a good 'strafing' by our guns), and one piece has gone clean -through the stock.</p> - -<p>"Our artillery are going great guns nowadays. It -certainly feels as if the shell supply was all right—or nearly -so.</p> - -<p>"I don't know whether we shall be wanted for any job -to-night, or whether we shall rest, or whether I can get on -with my projects. I must go round and see Captain T. in -the other trench. By the way, he came to see how I was -getting on last night about midnight, and was very pleased -with the work and with the fact that we were having no -casualties.</p> - -<p>"That cake was fine, and much appreciated in the Mess. -The little knife you gave me when home on leave is proving -most useful.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[ 70]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Please thank Lionel for chocolate received and Alec for -gourdoulis.</p> - -<p>"I have sent another box of Surplus Kit home addressed -to Noël. Rather late to do it, I know, and I shall -want one or two of the things sent back later, but not -for a long time, and it is a relief to get rid of some of my -impedimenta. The socks returned want mending. That -reminds me, thank you and please thank Miss Leith very -much for the socks. They are quite all right for size. Perhaps -not so long and narrow in the foot might be better, -but it doesn't seem to affect the wear; they are most comfortable.</p> - -<p>"I am still attached to the Company and not to the machine -guns—much to my annoyance." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Monday, 6 September 1915, 9.30 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Thank you so much for your inspiring and encouraging -letter. I hope I am being useful out here. I sometimes -doubt if I am very much use—not as much as I -should like to be. Possibly I help to keep C Company -officers more cheerful! I am very sorry they have taken -me off machine guns for the present, I hope it may not -be long.</p> - -<p>"Great happenings are expected here shortly and we -are going to have a share. We are resting at present and -have been out a few days now. We had only two periods -of three days each in the trenches last time in....</p> - -<p>"Our last two days in the trenches were appallingly wet. -My conduct would have given me double pneumonia at -home. My rain-coat was soaked, so I had to sleep in -shirt sleeves under my tunic, and the knees of my breeches -were wet.</p> - -<p>"The next day the rain was incessant, and presently -I found the floor of my dug-out was swimming—the water -having welled up through the ground below and the sandbags.</p> - -<p>"I didn't have to sleep on it luckily, because we were -relieved that night. But before we went I had to turn -out with fifty men and work till midnight in water up to -one foot deep. So at 8.30 p.m. I got my boots full of cold -water and sat out in them till 12, then marched some -eight miles. After nine hours' rest and some breakfast -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[ 71]</a></span> -we came here, another three or four. It was nice to get -a dry pair of boots and our valises and a tent.</p> - -<p>"That night I rode into Poperinghe with Captain Taylor, -and we had a really good dinner there—great fun.</p> - -<p>"We have a full set of parades here unfortunately, otherwise -things are all right....</p> - -<p>"Alec has very kindly had a 'Molesworth' sent me. Most -useful.</p> - -<p>"I would like a motor paper now and then, I think! -<i>The Motor</i> for preference—or <i>The Autocar</i>. Aren't I -young?</p> - -<p>"Captain Taylor has sprained his ankle by falling from -his horse one night, and has gone to a rest home -near. So I am commanding C Company at the moment. -Hope not for long. Too responsible at the present time -of crisis. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>9 September, 3.30 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Must just finish this off for post.</p> - -<p>"We have just had an inspection by the Army Corps -Commander, Lieut.-General Plumer [Sir Herbert].</p> - -<p>"I am still in command of C Company, and had to call -them to attention and go round with the General, followed -by a whole string of minor generals, colonels, etc. He -asked me a good many questions:—</p> - -<p>"First.—How long had I had the Company? Then, -how long had I been out? I said since March. He then -asked if I had been sick or wounded even, and I said no!</p> - -<p>"Then he said, 'Good lad for sticking it!' at least I -thought he was going to.</p> - -<p>"We are kept very busy nowadays. I must try and -write a proper letter soon. I do apologise.</p> - -<p>"A box of cigarettes has arrived from, I suppose, Alec. -Virginias, I mean, and heaps of them.</p> - -<p>"We have just got another tent—we have been so short -and have been sleeping five in. Now we shall be two in -each. The new one is a lovely dove-grey—like a thundercloud. -After the war I shall buy one.</p> - -<p>"I shall be quite insufferable, I know; I shall want everything -done for me on the word of command. Never mind—roll -on the end of the war!</p> - -<p>"Cheer-ho, lovely weather, great spirits! Aeroplane -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[ 72]</a></span> -[English] came down in our field yesterday slightly on -fire. All right though.—Good-bye, much love,</p> - -<p class="right"> -"<span class="smcap">Raymond [Maurice].</span>" -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Sunday, 12 September 1915, 2 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"You will understand that I still have the Company -to look after, and we are going into the front-line trenches -this evening at 5 p.m. for an ordinary tour of duty. We -are going up in motor buses!...</p> - -<p>"Capt. T. thinks he will be away a month!"</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Telegram from the War Office</span></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>17 September 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Deeply regret to inform you that Second Lieut. R. -Lodge, Second South Lancs, was wounded 14 Sept. -and has since died. Lord Kitchener expresses his sympathy."</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Telegram from the King and Queen</span></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -<i>21 September 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"The King and Queen deeply regret the loss you and -the army have sustained by the death of your son in the -service of his country. Their Majesties truly sympathise -with you in your sorrow."</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> -See Note by O. J. L. at the end of this letter.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> - This must have been part of my book "The War and After."—O. J. L.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> -Thos. Walker & Son, of Oxford Street, Birmingham, had kindly -given me two periscope rifle-stock attachments with excellent mirrors, -so as to allow accurate sighting.—O. J. L.</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[ 73]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER III</span><br /> -<span class="small">LETTERS FROM OFFICERS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">SOME letters from other officers gradually arrived, -giving a few particulars. But it was an exceptionally -strenuous period at the Ypres salient, and there -was little time for writing. Moreover, some of his -friends were killed either at the same time or soon -afterwards.</p> - -<p>The fullest account that has reached us is in the following -letter, which arrived eight months later:— -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Letter From Lieutenant William Roscoe<br /> -To Sir Oliver Lodge</span></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>7th Brigade Machine-Gun Company,<br /> -B.E.F., 16 May 1916</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sir Oliver Lodge</span>,—When I was lately on leave, -a brother of mine, who had met one of your relatives, -encouraged me to write and tell you what I knew of your -son Raymond. I was in the South Lancashire Regiment -when he joined the Battalion out here last spring, and I -think spent the first spell he had in the trenches in his -company.</p> - -<p>"Afterwards I became Machine Gunner, and in the -summer he became my assistant, and working in shifts -we tided over some very trying times indeed. In particular -during August at St. Eloi. To me at any rate it was -most pleasant being associated together, and I think he -very much preferred work with the gunners to Company -work. Being of a mechanical turn of mind, he was always -devising some new 'gadget' for use with the gun—for -instance, a mounting for firing at aeroplanes, and a device -for automatic traversing; and those of my men who knew -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[ 74]</a></span> -him still quote him as their authority when laying down the -law and arguing about machine gunning.</p> - -<p>"I wish we had more like him, and the endless possibilities -of the Maxim would be more quickly brought to -light.</p> - -<p>"I am always glad to think that it was not in any -way under my responsibility that he was killed.</p> - -<p>"During September times grew worse and worse up -in the Ypres salient, culminating in the attack we made on -the 25th, auxiliary to the Loos battle. The trenches were -ruins, there was endless work building them up at night, -generally to be wrecked again the next day. The place -was the target for every gun for miles on either side of -the salient.</p> - -<p>"Every day our guns gave the enemy a severe bombardment, -in preparation for the attack, and every third or fourth -day we took it back from them with interest: the place was -at all times a shell trap.</p> - -<p>"It was during this time that your son was killed. He -was doing duty again with the Company, which was short-handed, -and I remember one night in particular being -struck with his cheerfulness on turning out to a particularly -unpleasant bit of trench digging in front of our lines near -the Stables at Hooge, a mass of ruins and broken trenches -where no one could tell you where you might run across -the enemy; but the men had to dig for hours on end, with -only a small covering party looking out a few yards in front -of them.</p> - -<p>"The morning your son was killed they were bombarding -our trenches on the top of the hill, and some of the -men were being withdrawn from a bad piece. He and -Ventris were moving down the trench in rear of the party—which -I think must have been seen—for a shell came and -hit them both, but I think none of the men in front.</p> - -<p>"Some time later, I don't know how long, I was going -up to the line to visit the guns, when I saw Ventris, who -was killed, laid out ready to be carried down, and presently -I saw your son in a dug-out, with a man watching -him. He was then quite unconscious though still breathing -with difficulty. I could see it was all over with him. -He was still just alive when I went away.</p> - -<p>"Our regiment was to lose many more on that same hill -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[ 75]</a></span> -before the month was over, and those of us that remain -are glad to be far away from it now; but I always feel -that anyone who has died on Hooge Hill has at all events -died in very fine company.—Yours sincerely,</p> - -<p class="right">"Signed <span class="smcap">William Roscoe</span>,<br /> -<i>Lieut. 2nd S. Lancs. Regt., attached</i><br /> -<i>7th Brigade, M.G. Company</i> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Letter from Lieutenant Fletcher,<br /> -Great Crosby, Liverpool</span></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right">"<i>21 September 1915</i> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>"Raymond was the best pal I've ever had, and we've -always been together; in the old days at Brook Road, then -in Edinburgh, and lastly in France, and nobody could ever -have a better friend than he was to me.</p> - -<p>"I'll never forget the first day he came to us at Dickebusch, -and how pleased we all were to see him again; -and through it all he was always the same, ever ready to -help anyone in any way he could, whilst his men were -awfully fond of him and would have done anything for -him." -</p> - -<p class="right">"<i>24 September 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"I hear that we were digging trenches in advance of -our present ones at St. Eloi last week, so it must have -been then that he was hit, as he was awfully keen on digging -new trenches, and heaps of times I've had to tell him -to keep down when he was watching the men working....</p> - -<p>"I always thought he would come through all right, -and I know he thought so himself, as, the last time I saw -him, we made great plans for spending some time together -when we got back, and it seems so difficult to realise that -he has gone.</p> - -<p class="right">(Signed) <span class="smcap">Eric S. Fletcher</span>." -</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Letter from Lieutenant Case to Brodie</span></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right">"<i>Thursday, 23 September 1915</i></p> - -<p>"Yes, I knew Raymond Lodge very well, and he was -indeed a friend of mine, being one of the nicest fellows it -has ever been my privilege to meet. I was with him when -he died. This was how it happened to the best of my -knowledge.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[ 76]</a></span></p> - -<p>"'A' Company (the one I am in) and 'C' Company -were in the trenches at the time. The gunners had sent -up word that there was going to be a bombardment, and -so they recommended us to evacuate the front-line trenches, -in case the Hun retaliated, and it was whilst C Company -were proceeding down the communication trench, till -the bombardment was over, that the shell came which -killed your brother. He was in command of C Company -at the time, and was going down at the rear of his -men, having seen them all safely out of the trenches. -His servant, Gray, was hit first, in the head (from which -he afterwards died). Then Lodge went along to tell the -Sergeant-Major, and to see about assistance, farther down -the trench. Whilst talking to the Company Sergeant-Major -he was hit in the left side of the back, by a piece of shell, -I think. Lower down the trench poor Ventris was hit -and killed. As soon as I heard about it I went along to -see if I could be of any use. I saw Lodge lying in a dug-out, -with a servant looking after him. I saw he was badly -hit, and tried to cheer him up. He recognised me and -was just able to ask a few questions. That must have -been about twenty minutes or so after he was hit. I think -he lived about half an hour, and I don't think he suffered -much pain, thank God.</p> - -<p>"I was very, very grieved at his death, for he was one -of the very nicest fellows I have met. That he was universally -liked, both by officers and men, it is needless to -say....</p> - -<p>"I was for nearly three months in C Company with your -brother, and was thus able to see his extreme coolness and -ability in military matters.</p> - -<p class="right"> -(Signed) <span class="smcap">G. R. A. Case</span>"<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Letter from Lieutenant Case to Lady Lodge</span></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>Friday, 24 September 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Need I say how grieved we all were at his loss? He -was hit about midday, and died about half an hour or so -afterwards. I forget the date, but I have written more -fully to his brother. I don't think he suffered much pain. -He was conscious when I arrived, and recognised me, I -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[ 77]</a></span> -think, and I remained with him for some time. I then went -off to see if there was any possibility of finding the doctor, -but all the telephone wires were cut, and even if we had -been able to get the doctor up, it would have been of no -avail. The stretcher-bearers did all that was possible.... -Another subaltern, Mr. Ventris, was killed at the same -time, as was his servant Gray as well.</p> - -<p class="right"> -"(Signed) <span class="smcap">G. R. A. Case</span>"<a name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a><br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Letter from Captain S. T. Boast</span></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>27 September 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"First of all I beg to offer you and your family my -sincere sympathies in the loss of your son, 2nd Lieut. -Lodge. His loss to us is very great: he was a charming -young fellow—always so very cheerful and willing, hard -working, and a bright example of what a good soldier -ought to be. He was a most efficient officer, and only -recently qualified in the handling and command of Maxim -guns—a most useful accomplishment in the present war. -Briefly, the circumstances which led to his death were as -follows:—</p> - -<p>"On 14 September, C Company to which 2nd Lieut. -Lodge belonged, was in position in a forward fire trench. -During the morning the commander of the artillery -covering the position informed 2nd Lieut. Lodge, who at -the time was in command of C Company, that it was intended -to shell the enemy's positions, and as his trenches -were only a short distance from ours, it was considered -advisable to withdraw from our trench during the shelling. -2nd Lieut. Lodge gave orders for his Company to withdraw -into a communication trench in the rear. He and -2nd Lieut. Ventris were the last to leave the forward -trench, and in entering the communication trench both -these officers were caught by enemy's shrapnel. Ventris -was killed—Lodge mortally wounded and died of his -wounds shortly afterwards. These are the circumstances of -his death."</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[ 78]</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">From Captain A. B. Cheves, R.A.M.C.</span></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>22 September 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"The Colonel has asked me to write you, giving some -idea of the burial-ground in which your son's grave is. I -understand that he was leading his Company back from -one of the communication trenches when the Germans -shelled the front and rear of the column, killing your son -and the officer who was at the rear. At the same time -one man was killed and two wounded. I knew nothing -about this until later in the day, as communication with -my aid post was very difficult, and he was reported to -me as having been killed. I understand that he lived -for about three hours after being wounded, and all the -officers and men who were present speak very highly of -his conduct during this time. His wound was unfortunately -in such a position that there was no chance of saving -his life, and this was recognised by all, including -your son himself. When his body was brought down in -the evening the expression on his face was absolutely -peaceful, and I should think that he probably did not -suffer a great deal of pain. He was buried on the same -evening in our cemetery just outside the aid post, side by -side with Lieut. Ventris, who was unfortunately killed -on the same day. The cemetery is in the garden adjoining -a ruined farm-house. It is well enclosed by hedges, -and your son's grave is under some tall trees that stand -in the garden. There are graves there of men of many -regiments who have fallen, and our graves are enclosed by -a wire fence, so keeping them quite distinct from the others. -There is a wooden cross marking the head of the grave, -and a small one at the foot. I am afraid that our condolences -will be small consolation to you, but I can assure -you that he was one of the most popular officers with the -Battalion, both amongst the officers and men, and all feel -his loss very greatly."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>Information sent by Captain Cheves to Mrs. Ventris, -mother of the Second Lieutenant who was killed at the -same time as Raymond and buried with him:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"He was buried on the right of the Ypres-Menin Road, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[ 79-80]</a></span> -just past where the Zonebeke Rail cuts. If you can get -hold of Sheet 28, Belgium 1/40,000, the reference is I. 16. -b 2. Any soldier will show you how to read the map."</p> -</blockquote> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_095"></a> -<img src="images/i_095.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">RAYMOND, 1915</div> -</div> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Letter from a Foreman Workman</span></h3> - -<p>[I also append a letter received from a workman who -used to be at the same bench with Raymond when he was -going through his workshop course at the Wolseley Motor -Works. Stallard is a man he thought highly of, and befriended. -He is now foreman in the Lodge Fume Deposit -Company, after making an effort to get a berth in Lodge -Brothers for Raymond's sake. He is now, and has been -since the war began, the owner of Raymond's dog Larry, -about whom some local people remember that there was -an amusing County Court case.] -<br /> -</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>98 Mansel Road, Small Heath, Birmingham,<br /> -17 September 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Lionel</span>,—The shock was too great for me -to speak to you this afternoon. I should like to express -to you, and all the family, my deepest and most heartfelt -sympathy in your terrible loss. Mr. Raymond was the -best friend I ever had.</p> - -<p>"Truly, I thought more of him than any other man -living, not only for his kind thoughts towards me, but for -his most admirable qualities, which I knew he possessed.</p> - -<p>"The memory of him will remain with me as long as I -live.—Believe me to be, yours faithfully,</p> - -<p class="right"> -"(Signed) <span class="smcap">Norman Stallard</span>"<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> -Lieutenant Case himself, alas! was killed on the 25th of -September 1915. It was a fatal time. Lieutenant Fletcher also has been -killed now, on 3rd July 1916.</p> -</div> -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[ 81-82]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>PART TWO: SUPERNORMAL PORTION</h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>"Peace, peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep—</p> -<p>He hath awakened from the dream of life."</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 13em"><span class="smcap">Shelley</span>, <i>Adonais</i>.</span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[ 83]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>INTRODUCTION</h3> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">I HAVE made no secret of my conviction, not merely -that personality persists, but that its continued -existence is more entwined with the life of every day -than has been generally imagined; that there is no real -breach of continuity between the dead and the living; -and that methods of intercommunion across what has -seemed to be a gulf can be set going in response to the -urgent demand of affection,—that in fact, as Diotima told -Socrates (<i>Symposium</i>, 202 and 203), <span class="smcap">Love bridges the -chasm</span>.</p> - -<p>Nor is it affection only that controls and empowers -supernormal intercourse: scientific interest and missionary -zeal constitute supplementary motives which are found -efficacious; and it has been mainly through efforts so -actuated that I and some others have been gradually -convinced, by direct experience, of a fact which before -long must become patent to mankind.</p> - -<p>Hitherto I have testified to occurrences and messages -of which the motive is intellectual rather than emotional: -and though much, very much, even of this evidence -remains inaccessible to the public, yet a good deal has -appeared from time to time by many writers in the -<i>Proceedings</i> of the Society for Psychical Research, -and in my personal collection called <i>The Survival of -Man</i>. No one therefore will be surprised if I now -further testify concerning communications which come -home to me in a peculiar sense; communications from -which sentiment is not excluded, though still they appear -to be guided and managed with intelligent and on the -whole evidential purpose. These are what I now decide -to publish; and I shall cite them as among those evidences -for survival for the publication of which some legitimate -demand has of late been made, owing to my having -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[ 84]</a></span> -declared my belief in continued existence without being -able to give the full grounds of that belief, because much -of it concerned other people. The portion of evidence I -shall now cite concerns only myself and family.</p> - -<p>I must make selection, it is true, for the bulk has -become great; but I shall try to select fairly, and especially -shall give in fair fulness those early communications -which, though not so free and easy as they became with -more experience, have yet an interest of their own, since -they represent nascent powers and were being received -through members of the family to whom the medium was -a complete stranger and who gave no clue to identity.</p> - -<p>Messages of an intelligible though rather recondite -character from "Myers" began to reach me indeed a -week or two before the death of my son; and nearly all -the messages received since his death differ greatly in -character from those which in the old days were received -through any medium with whom I sat. No youth was -then represented as eager to communicate; and though -friends were described as sending messages, the messages -were represented as coming from appropriate people—members -of an elder generation, leaders of the Society -for Psychical Research, and personal acquaintances. -Whereas now, whenever any member of the family visits -anonymously a competent medium, the same youth soon -comes to the fore and is represented as eager to prove his -personal survival and identity.</p> - -<p>I consider that he has done so. And the family -scepticism, which up to this time has been sufficiently -strong, is now, I may fairly say, overborne by the facts. -How far these facts can be conveyed to the sympathetic -understanding of strangers, I am doubtful. But I must -plead for a patient hearing; and if I make mistakes, -either in what I include, or in what for brevity I omit, or -if my notes and comments fail in clearness, I bespeak a -friendly interpretation: for it is truly from a sense of duty -that in so personal a matter I lay myself open to harsh and -perhaps cynical criticism.</p> - -<p>It may be said—Why attach so much importance to -one individual case? I do not attach especial importance -to it, but every individual case is of moment, because -in such a matter the aphorism <i>Ex uno disce omnes</i> is -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[ 85]</a></span> -strictly applicable. If we can establish the survival of -any single ordinary individual we have established it -for all.</p> - -<p>Christians may say that the case for one Individual -was established nearly 1900 years ago; but they have -most of them confused the issue by excessive though -perhaps legitimate and necessary emphasis on the exceptional -and unique character of that Personality. And -a school of thought has arisen which teaches that ordinary -men can only attain immortality vicariously—that is, -conditionally on acceptance of a certain view concerning -the benefits of that Sacrificial Act, and active assimilation -of them.</p> - -<p>So without arguing on any such subject, and without -entering in the slightest degree on any theological question, -I have endeavoured to state the evidence fully and frankly -for the persistent existence of one of the multitude of -youths who have sacrificed their lives at the call of their -Country when endangered by an aggressor of calculated -ruthlessness.</p> - -<p>Some critics may claim that there are many stronger -cases of established survival. That may be, but this is a -case which touches me closely and has necessarily received -my careful attention. In so far as there are other strong -cases—and I know of several—so much the better. I myself -considered the case of survival practically proven -before, and clinched by the efforts of Myers and others of -the S.P.R. group on the other side; but evidence is cumulative, -and the discussion of a fresh case in no way weakens -those that have gone before. Each stick of the faggot -must be tested, and, unless absolutely broken, it adds to the -strength of the bundle.</p> - -<p>To base so momentous a conclusion as a scientific -demonstration of human survival on any single instance, if -it were not sustained on all sides by a great consensus of -similar evidence, would doubtless be unwise; for some -other explanation of a merely isolated case would have -to be sought. But we are justified in examining the evidence -for any case of which all the details are known, and -in trying to set forth the truth of it as completely and fairly -as we may.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[ 86]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER I</span><br /> -<span class="small">ELEMENTARY EXPLANATION</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">FOR people who have studied psychical matters, or -who have read any books on the subject, it is unnecessary -to explain what a 'sitting' is. Novices must -be asked to refer to other writings—to small books, for -instance, by Sir W. F. Barrett or Mr. J. Arthur Hill or -Miss H. A. Dallas, which are easily accessible, or to my -own previous book on this subject called <i>The Survival of -Man</i>, which begins more at the beginning so far as my own -experience is concerned.</p> - -<p>Of mediumship there are many grades, one of the -simplest forms being the capacity to receive an impression -or automatic writing, under peaceful conditions, in an ordinary -state; but the whole subject is too large to be treated -here. Suffice it to say that the kind of medium chiefly -dealt with in this book is one who, by waiting quietly, -goes more or less into a trance, and is then subject to -what is called 'control'—speaking or writing in a manner -quite different from the medium's own normal or customary -manner, under the guidance of a separate intelligence -technically known as 'a control,' which some think must -be a secondary personality—which indeed certainly is a -secondary personality of the medium, whatever that phrase -may really signify—the transition being effected in most -cases quite easily and naturally. In this secondary state, -a degree of clairvoyance or lucidity is attained quite beyond -the medium's normal consciousness, and facts are referred -to which must be outside his or her normal knowledge. -The control, or second personality which speaks during the -trance, appears to be more closely in touch with what is -popularly spoken of as 'the next world' than with customary -human existence, and accordingly is able to get messages -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[ 87]</a></span> -through from people deceased; transmitting them -through the speech or writing of the medium, usually with -some obscurity and misunderstanding, and with mannerisms -belonging either to the medium or to the control. -The amount of sophistication varies according to the quality -of the medium, and to the state of the same medium -at different times; it must be attributed in the best cases -physiologically to the medium, intellectually to the control. -The confusion is no greater than might be expected from -a pair of operators, connected by a telephone of rather -delicate and uncertain quality, who were engaged in transmitting -messages between two stranger communicators, -one of whom was anxious to get messages transmitted, -though perhaps not very skilled in wording them, while -the other was nearly silent and anxious not to give any -information or assistance at all; being, indeed, more or -less suspicious that the whole appearance of things was -deceptive, and that his friend, the ostensible communicator, -was not really there. Under such circumstances the -effort of the distant communicator would be chiefly directed -to sending such natural and appropriate messages -as should gradually break down the inevitable scepticism of -his friend.</p> - -<h3>Further Preliminary Explanation</h3> - -<p>I must assume it known that messages purporting to -come from various deceased people have been received -through various mediums, and that the Society for -Psychical Research has especially studied those coming -through Mrs. Piper—a resident in the neighbourhood of -Boston, U.S.A.—during the past thirty years. We were -introduced to her by Professor William James. My own -experience with this lady began during her visit to this -country in 1889, and was renewed in 1906. The account -has been fully published in the <i>Proceedings</i> of the -Society for Psychical Research, vols. vi. and xxiii., and -an abbreviated version of some of the incidents there -recorded can be referred to in my book <i>The Survival -of Man</i>.</p> - -<p>It will be convenient, however, to explain here that -some of the communicators on the other side, like Mr. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[ 88]</a></span> -Myers and Dr. Richard Hodgson, both now deceased, have -appeared to utilise many mediums; and that to allow -for possible sophistication by normal mental idiosyncrasies, -and for any natural warping due to the physiological -mechanism employed, or to the brain-deposit from -which selection has to be made, we write the name of the -ostensible communicator in each case with a suffix—like -Myers<sub>P</sub>, Myers<sub>V</sub>, etc.; meaning by this kind of designation -to signify that part of the Myers-like intelligence which -operates through Mrs. Piper or through Mrs. Verrall, etc., -respectively.</p> - -<p>We know that communication must be hampered, and -its form largely determined, by the unconscious but inevitable -influence of a transmitting mechanism, whether -that be of a merely mechanical or of a physiological character. -Every artist knows that he must adapt the expression -of his thought to his material, and that what is possible -with one 'medium,' even in the artist's sense of the word, -is not possible with another.</p> - -<p>And when the method of communication is purely -mental or telepathic, we are assured that the communicator -'on the other side' has to select from and utilise those -ideas and channels which represent the customary mental -scope of the medium; though by practised skill and ingenuity -they can be woven into fresh patterns and be made -to convey to a patient and discriminating interpreter the -real intention of the communicator's thought. In many -such telepathic communications the physical form which -the emergent message takes is that of automatic or semiconscious -writing or speech; the manner of the utterance -being fairly normal, but the substance of it appearing not -to emanate from the writer's or speaker's own mind: -though but very seldom is either the subject-matter or the -language of a kind quite beyond the writer's or speaker's -normal capabilities.</p> - -<p>In other cases, when the medium becomes entranced, -the demonstration of a communicator's separate intelligence -may become stronger and the sophistication less. A -still further stage is reached when by special effort what is -called <i>telergy</i> is employed, <i>i.e.</i> when physiological mechanism -is more directly utilised without telepathic operation -on the mind. And a still further step away from -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[ 89]</a></span> -personal sophistication, though under extra mechanical difficulties, -is attainable in <i>telekinesis</i> or what appears to be -the direct movement of inorganic matter. To this last category—though -in its very simplest form—must belong, I -suppose, the percussive sounds known as raps.</p> - -<p>To understand the intelligent tiltings of a table in contact -with human muscles is a much simpler matter. It is -crude and elementary, but in principle it does not appear -to differ from automatic writing; though inasmuch as the -code and the movements are so simple, it appears to be the -easiest of all to beginners. It is so simple that it has been -often employed as a sort of game, and so has fallen into -disrepute. But its possibilities are not to be ignored for all -that; and in so far as it enables a feeling of more direct -influence—in so far as the communicator feels able himself -to control the energy necessary, instead of having to -entrust his message to a third person—it is by many communicators -preferred. More on this subject will be found -in Chapters <a href="#Page_137">VIII of Part II</a> and <a href="#Page_362">XIV of Part III.</a></p> - -<p>Before beginning an historical record of the communications -and messages received from or about my -son since his death, I think it will be well to prelude it -by—</p> - -<blockquote> -<ol class="rom"> - <li> A message which arrived before the event;</li> - <li> A selection of subsequent communications bearing on and supplementing<br /> -<span style="margin-left:1.5em;">this message;</span></li> - <li> One of the evidential episodes, selected from subsequent communications,<br /> -<span style="margin-left:1.8em;">which turned out to be exactly verifiable.</span></li> -</ol> -</blockquote> - -<p>A few further details about these things, and another series -of messages of evidential importance, will be found in that -Part of the <i>Proceedings</i> of the S.P.R. which is to be published -about October 1916.</p> - -<p>If the full discussion allowed to these selected portions -appears rather complicated, an unstudious reader may skip -the next three chapters, on a first reading, and may learn -about the simpler facts in their evolutionary or historical -order.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[ 90]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER II</span><br /> -<span class="small">THE 'FAUNUS' MESSAGE</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3><i>Preliminary Facts</i></h3> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap">Raymond</span> joined the Army in September 1914; trained near -Liverpool and Edinburgh with the South Lancashires, and -in March 1915 was sent to the trenches in Flanders. In -the middle of July 1915 he had a few days' leave at home, -and on the 20th returned to the Front. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Initial 'Piper' Message</span></h3> - -<p>The first intimation that I had that anything might be -going wrong, was a message from Myers through Mrs. -Piper in America; communicated apparently by "Richard -Hodgson" at a time when a Miss Robbins was having a -sitting at Mrs. Piper's house, Greenfield, New Hampshire, -on 8 August 1915, and sent me by Miss Alta Piper (A. L. -P.) together with the original script. Here follows the -extract, which at a certain stage in Miss Robbins's sitting, -after having dealt with matters of personal significance to -her, none of which had anything whatever to do with me, -began abruptly thus:—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">R. H.</span>—Now Lodge, while we are not here as of old, <i>i.e.</i> -not quite, we are here enough to take and give messages.</p> - -<p>Myers says you take the part of the poet, and he -will act as Faunus. <span class="smcap">Faunus.</span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Miss R.</span>—Faunus?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">R. H.</span>—Yes. Myers. <i>Protect.</i> -He will understand.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Evidently referring to Lodge.—A. L. P.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>What have you to say, Lodge? Good work. -Ask Verrall, she will also understand. Arthur -says so. [This means Dr. Arthur W. Verrall -(deceased).—O. J. L.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[ 91]</a></span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Miss R.</span>—Do you mean Arthur Tennyson?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> - -<p>[This absurd confusion, stimulated by the word -'poet,' was evidently the result of a long strain at -reading barely legible trance-writing for more than -an hour, and was recognised immediately afterwards -with dismayed amusement by the sitter. It -is only of interest as showing how completely unknown -to anyone present was the reference intended -by the communicator.—O. J. L.] -</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">R. H.</span>—<i>No. Myers</i> knows. So does ——. You -got mixed (to Miss R.), but Myers is straight about -Poet and Faunus.</p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p>I venture to say that to non-classical people the above -message conveys nothing. It did not convey anything to -me, beyond the assurance, based on past experience, that -it certainly meant something definite, that its meaning was -probably embedded in a classical quotation, and that a -scholar like Mrs. Verrall would be able to interpret it, -even if only the bare skeleton of the message were given -without any details as to source. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Letter from Mrs. Verrall</span></h3> - -<p>In order to interpret this message, therefore, I wrote -to Mrs. Verrall as instructed, asking her: "Does <i>The Poet -and Faunus</i> mean anything to you? Did one 'protect' -the other?" She replied at once (8 September 1915) -referring me to Horace, <i>Carm</i>. <span class="smcap">II.</span> xvii. 27-30, and -saying:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"The reference is to Horace's account of his narrow -escape from death, from a falling tree, which he ascribes -to the intervention of Faunus. Cf. Hor. <i>Odes</i>, <span class="smcap">II.</span> xiii.; -<span class="smcap">II.</span> xvii. 27; <span class="smcap">III.</span> iv. 27; <span class="smcap">III.</span> viii. 8, for references to -the subject. The allusion to Faunus is in Ode <span class="smcap">II.</span> xvii. -27-30:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>'Me truncus illapsus cerebro</p> -<p>Sustulerat, nisi <i>Faunus</i> ictum</p> -<p>Dextra levasset, Mercurialium</p> -<p><i>Custos</i> virorum.'</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>"'Faunus, the guardian of poets' ('poets' being the usual -interpretation of 'Mercury's men').</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[ 92]</a></span></p> - -<p>"The passage is a very well-known one to all readers -of Horace, and is perhaps specially familiar from its containing, -in the sentence quoted, an unusual grammatical -construction. It is likely to occur in a detailed work on -Latin Grammar.</p> - -<p>"The passage has no special associations for me other -than as I have described, though it has some interest as -forming part of a chronological sequence among the <i>Odes</i>, -not generally admitted by commentators, but accepted -by me.</p> - -<p>"The words quoted are, of course, strictly applicable -to the Horatian passage, which they instantly recalled -to me.</p> - -<p class="right"> -(Signed) <span class="smcap">M. de G. Verrall</span>"<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p>I perceived therefore, from this manifestly correct interpretation -of the 'Myers' message to me, that the meaning -was that some blow was going to fall, or was likely to -fall, though I didn't know of what kind, and that Myers -would intervene, apparently to protect me from it. So far -as I can recollect my comparatively trivial thoughts on -the subject, I believe that I had some vague idea that the -catastrophe intended was perhaps of a financial rather than -of a personal kind.</p> - -<p>The above message reached me near the beginning of -September in Scotland. Raymond was killed near Ypres -on 14 September 1915, and we got the news by telegram -from the War Office on 17 September. A fallen or falling -tree is a frequently used symbol for death; perhaps through -misinterpretation of <i>Eccl.</i> xi, 3. To several other classical -scholars I have since put the question I addressed to Mrs. -Verrall, and they all referred me to Horace, <i>Carm.</i> <span class="smcap">II.</span> xvii. -as the unmistakable reference. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h4><i>Mr. Bayfield's Criticism</i></h4> - -<p>Soon after the event, I informed the Rev. M. A. Bayfield, -ex-headmaster of Eastbourne College, fully of the -facts, as an interesting S.P.R. incident (saying at the same -time that Myers had not been able to 'ward off' the blow); -and he was good enough to send me a careful note in -reply:—</p> - -<p>"Horace does not, in any reference to his escape, say -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[ 93]</a></span> -clearly whether the tree struck him, but I have always -thought it did. He says Faunus lightened the blow; he -does not say 'turned it aside.' As bearing on your terrible -loss, the meaning seems to be that the blow would fall but -would not crush; it would be 'lightened' by the assurance, -conveyed afresh to you by a special message from the still -living Myers, that your boy still lives.</p> - -<p>"I shall be interested to know what you think of this -interpretation. The 'protect' I take to mean protect from -being overwhelmed by the blow, from losing faith and hope, -as we are all in danger of doing when smitten by some -crushing personal calamity. Many a man when so smitten -has, like Merlin, lain</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p><span style="margin-left: 13em;">'as dead,</span></p> -<p>And lost to life and use and name and fame.'</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>That seems to me to give a sufficiently precise application -to the word (on which Myers apparently insists) and to -the whole reference to Horace."</p> - -<p>In a postscript he adds the following:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"In <i>Carm.</i> iii. 8, Horace describes himself as <i>prope -funeratus arboris ictu</i>, 'wellnigh killed by a blow from -a tree.' An artist in expression, such as he was, would -not have mentioned any 'blow' if there had been none; -he would have said 'well nigh killed by a falling tree'—or -the like. It is to be noted that in both passages he -uses the word <i>ictus</i>. And in ii. 13. 11 (the whole ode is -addressed to the tree) he says the man must have been a -fellow steeped in every wickedness 'who planted thee -an accursed lump of wood, a thing meant to fall (this is -the delicate meaning of <i>caducum</i>—not merely "falling") -on thine undeserving master's head.' Here again the -language implies that he was struck, and struck on the -head.</p> - -<p>"Indeed, the escape must have been a narrow one, and -it is to me impossible to believe that Horace would have -been so deeply impressed by the accident if he had not -actually been struck. He refers to it four times:—</p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:4.6em;"><i>Carm.</i>ii. 13.—(Ode addressed to the tree—forty -lines long.)</span></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:7.2em;">ii. 17. 27.</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[ 94]</a></span></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:7em;">iii. 4. 27.—(Here he puts the risk he ran on a -parallel with that of the rout at -Philippi, from which he escaped.)</span></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:7em;">iii. 8. 8.</span></p> - -<p>"I insist on all this as strengthening my interpretation, -and also as strengthening the assignment of the script -to Myers, who would of course be fully alive to all the -points to be found in his reference to Faunus and -Horace—and, as I have no doubt, believed that Horace -did not escape the actual blow, and that it was a severe -one."<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<h3>NOTE BY O. J. L.</h3> - -<p>Since some of the translators, especially verse translators, of -Horace convey the idea of turning aside or warding off the blow, -it may be well to emphasise the fact that most of the scholars -consulted gave "lightened" or "weakened" as the translation. -And Professor Strong says—"no doubt at all that 'levasset' -means 'weakened' the blow; the bough fell and struck the -Poet, but lightly, through the action of Faunus. 'Levo' in this -sense is quite common and classical."</p> - -<p>Bryce's prose translation (Bohn) is quite clear— -"a tree-stem falling on my head had surely been my death, -had not good Faunus eased the blow...."</p> - -<p>And although Conington's translation -has "check'd the blow in mid descent," -he really means the same thing, because it is the slaying, -not the wounding or striking of the Poet that is prevented:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>"Me the curst trunk, that smote my skull,</p> -<p>Had slain; but Faunus, strong to shield</p> -<p>The friends of Mercury, check'd the blow</p> -<p>In mid descent."</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Additional Piper Script</span></h3> - -<p>Mr. Bayfield also calls my attention to another portion -of Piper Script—in this case not a trance or semi-trance -sitting, but ordinary automatic writing—dated 5 August, -which reached me simultaneously with the one already -quoted from, at the beginning of September, and which -he says seems intended to prepare me for some personal -trouble:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"Yes. For the moment, Lodge, have faith and wisdom -[? confidence] in all that is highest and best. -Have you all not been profoundly guided and cared -for? Can you answer, 'No'? It is by your faith that -all is well and has been."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[ 95]</a></span></p> - -<p>I remember being a little struck by the wording in the -above script, urging me to admit that we—presumably the -family—had "been profoundly guided and cared for," and -"that all is well and has been"; because it seemed to indicate -that something was not going to be quite so well. But -it was too indefinite to lead me to make any careful record -of it, or to send it as a prediction to anybody for filing; -and it would no doubt have evaporated from my mind -except for the 'Faunus' warning, given three days later, -though received at the same time, which seemed to me -clearly intended as a prediction, whether it happened to -come off or not.</p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p>The two Piper communications, of which parts have -now been quoted, reached me at Gullane, East Lothian, -where my wife (M. F. A. L.) and I were staying for a few -weeks. They arrived early in September 1915, and as soon -as I had heard from Mrs. Verrall I wrote to Miss Piper to -acknowledge them, as follows:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>The Linga Private Hotel,<br /> -Gullane, East Lothian,<br /> -12 September 1915</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Alta</span>,—The reference to the Poet and Faunus -in your mother's last script is quite intelligible, and a good classical -allusion. You might tell the 'communicator' some time if there -is opportunity.</p> - -<p>"I feel sure that it must convey nothing to you and yours. -That is quite as it should be, as you know, for evidential reasons."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>This was written two days before Raymond's death, -and five days before we heard of it. The Pipers' ignorance -of any meaning in the Poet and Faunus allusion was -subsequently confirmed.</p> - -<p>It so happens that this letter was returned to me, for -some unknown reason, through the Dead Letter Office, -reaching me on 14 November 1915, and being then sent -forward by me again.<a name="FNanchor_7" id="FNanchor_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> -Further Piper and other communications, obscurely relevant -to this subject, will be found in a Paper which will appear in the -S.P.R. <i>Proceedings</i> for the autumn of 1916.</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[ 96]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER III</span><br /> -<span class="small">SEQUEL TO THE 'FAUNUS' MESSAGE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">IT now remains to indicate how far Myers carried out -his implied promise, and what steps he took, or -has been represented as having taken, to lighten the -blow—which it is permissible to say was a terribly severe -one.</p> - -<p>For such evidence I must quote from the record of -sittings held here in England with mediums previously -unknown, and by sitters who gave no sort of clue as to identity. -(See the historical record, beginning at <a href="#Page_117">Chapter V.</a>)</p> - -<p>It may be objected that my own general appearance is -known or might be guessed. But that does not apply to -members of my family, who went quite anonymously to -private sittings kindly arranged for by a friend in London -(Mrs. Kennedy, wife of Dr. Kennedy), who was no relation -whatever, but whose own personal experience caused her -to be sympathetic and helpful, and who is both keen and -critical about evidential considerations.</p> - -<p>I may state, for what it is worth, that as a matter of -fact normal clues to identity are disliked, and, in so far as -they are gratuitous, are even resented, by a good medium; -for they are no manner of use, and yet subsequently they -appear to spoil evidence. It is practically impossible for -mediums to hunt up and become normally acquainted with -the family history of their numerous sitters, and those who -know them are well aware that they do nothing of the sort, -but in making arrangements for a sitting it is not easy, -unless special precautions are taken, to avoid giving a name -and an address, and thereby appearing to give facilities -for fraud.</p> - -<p>In our case, and in that of our immediate friends, these -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[ 97]</a></span> -precautions have been taken—sometimes in a rather elaborate -manner.</p> - -<p>The first sitting that was held after Raymond's death -by any member of the family was held not explicitly for -the purpose of getting into communication with him—still -less with any remotest notion of entering into communication -with Mr. Myers—but mainly because a French -widow lady, who had been kind to our daughters during -winters in Paris, was staying with my wife at Edgbaston—her -first real visit to England—and was in great distress -at the loss of both her beloved sons in the war, within -a week of each other, so that she was left desolate. To -comfort her my wife took her up to London to call on Mrs. -Kennedy, and to get a sitting arranged for with a medium -whom that lady knew and recommended. Two anonymous -interviews were duly held, and incidentally I may say that -the two sons of Madame communicated, on both occasions, -though with difficulty; that one of them gave his name -completely, the other approximately; and that the mother, -who was new to the whole subject, was partially consoled.<a name="FNanchor_8" id="FNanchor_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> -Raymond, however, was represented as coming with them -and helping them, and as sending some messages on his own -account. I shall here only quote those messages which bear -upon the subject of <i>Myers</i> and have any possible connexion -with the 'Faunus' message.</p> - -<p>(For an elementary explanation about 'sittings' in general, -see <a href="#Page_86">Chapter I. </a>) -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Extracts Relating to 'Myers' from Early<br /> -Anonymous Sittings</span></h3> - -<p>We heard first of Raymond's death on 17 September -1915, and on 25 September his mother (M. F. A. L.), who -was having an anonymous sitting for a friend with Mrs. -Leonard, then a complete stranger, had the following -spelt out by tilts of a table, as purporting to come from -Raymond:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Tell father I have met some friends of his.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Can you give any name?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[ 98]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes. Myers.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>(That was all on that subject on that occasion.)</p> - -<p>On the 27th of September 1915, I myself went to London -and had my first sitting, between noon and one o'clock, -with Mrs. Leonard. I went to her house or flat alone, as -a complete stranger, for whom an appointment had been -made through Mrs. Kennedy. Before we began, Mrs. -Leonard informed me that her 'guide' or 'control' was a -young girl named "Feda."</p> - -<p>In a short time after the medium had gone into trance, -a youth was described in terms which distinctly suggested -Raymond, and "Feda" brought messages. I extract the -following:—</p> - -<h4><i>From First Anonymous Sitting of O. J. L. with<br /> -Mrs. Leonard, 27 September 1915</i></h4> - -<p class="center">(Mrs. Leonard's control, Feda, supposed to be speaking -throughout.) -</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He finds it difficult, he says, but he has got so many -kind friends helping him. He didn't think when he waked -up first that he was going to be happy, but now he is, and -he says he is going to be happier. He knows that as soon -as he is a little more ready he has got a great deal of work -to do. "I almost wonder," he says, "shall I be fit and able -to do it. They tell me I shall."</p> - -<p>"I have instructors and teachers with me." Now he is -trying to build up a letter of some one; M. he shows me.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(A short time later, he said:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"People think I say I am happy in order to make -them happier, but I don't.<a name="FNanchor_9" id="FNanchor_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> -I have met hundreds of friends. I don't know them all. I have met -many who tell me that, a little later, they will explain why they are -helping me. I feel I have got two fathers now. I don't feel I have lost -one and got another; I have got both. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[ 99]</a></span> -I have got my old one, and another too—a <i>pro tem</i>. -father."</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Here Feda ejaculated "What's that? Is that -right?" O. J. L. replied 'Yes.')</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>There is a weight gone off his mind the last day or two; -he feels brighter and lighter and happier altogether, the -last few days. There was confusion at first. He could -not get his bearings, didn't seem to know where he was. -"But I was not very long," he says, "and I think I was -very fortunate; it was not very long before it was explained -to me where I was."</p> -</div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>But the most remarkable indirect allusion, or apparent -allusion, to something like the 'Faunus' message, came at -the end of the sitting, after "Raymond" had gone, and just -before Mrs. Leonard came out of trance:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"He is gone, but Feda sees something which is only -symbolic; she sees a cross falling back on to you; very -dark, falling on to you; dark and heavy looking; and as -it falls it gets twisted round and the other side seems all -light, and the light is shining all over you. It is a sort of -pale blue, but it is white and quite light when it touches -you. Yes, that is what Feda sees. The cross looked dark, -and then it suddenly twisted round and became a beautiful -light. The cross is a means of shedding real light. It is -going to help a great deal.</p> - -<p>"Did you know you had a coloured Guide?... He -says your son is the cross of light; he is the cross of light, -and he is going to be a light that will help you; he is -going to help too to prove to the world the Truth. That -is why they built up the dark cross that turned to bright. -You know; but others, they do so want to know. Feda -is loosing hold; good-bye."</p> -</div> - -<p class="center">[<i>This ends the O. J. L. first Leonard sitting of<br /> -27 September 1915.</i>]</p> - -<p>On the afternoon of the same day, 27 September 1915, -that I had this first sitting with Mrs. Leonard, Lady Lodge -had her first sitting, as a complete stranger, with Mr. A. -Vout Peters, who had been invited for the purpose—without -any name being given—to Mrs. Kennedy's house at -3.30 p.m.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[ 100]</a></span></p> - -<p>Here again, Raymond was described well enough, fairly -early in the sitting, and several identifying messages were -given. Presently 'Moonstone' (Peters's chief control) -asked, "Was he not associated with Chemistry?" As a -matter of fact, my laboratory has been rather specially -chemical of late; and the record continues, copied with -subsequent annotations in square brackets as it stands:—</p> - -<h4><i>From First Anonymous Sitting of M. F. A. L. with Peters,<br /> -27 September 1915</i></h4> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Was he not associated with chemistry? If not, some -one associated with him was, because I see all the -things in a chemical laboratory.</p> - -<p>That chemistry thing takes me away from him to a -man in the flesh [O. J. L. presumably]; and, connected -with him, a man, a writer of poetry, on our -side, closely connected with spiritualism. He was -very clever—he too passed away out of England.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[This is clearly meant for Myers, who died in -Rome.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He has communicated several times. This gentleman -who wrote poetry—I see the letter M—he is -helping your son to communicate.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[His presence and help were also independently -mentioned by Mrs. Leonard.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He is built up in the chemical conditions.</p> - -<p>If your son didn't know this man, he knew of him.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Yes, he could hardly have known him, as he was -only about twelve at the time of Myers's death.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>At the back of the gentleman beginning with M, and -who wrote poetry, is a whole group of people. [The -S.P.R. group, doubtless.] They are very interested. -And don't be surprised if you get messages -from them, even if you don't know them.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Then 'Moonstone' stopped, and said:—</span>)</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>This is so important that is going to be said now, -that I want to go slowly, for you to write clearly -every word (dictating carefully):—</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Not only is the partition so thin that you can -hear the operators on the other side, but a big -hole has been made.</span>"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[ 101]</a></span></p> - -<p>This message is for the gentleman associated with -the chemical laboratory.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Considering that my wife was quite unknown -to the medium, this is a remarkably evidential and -identifying message. Cf. passage in my book, <i>Survival -of Man</i>, containing this tunnel-boring simile; -page 341 of American edition (Moffat Yard & Co.).—O. J. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p>'Moonstone' continued:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>The boy—I call them all boys because I was over a -hundred when I lived here and they are all boys to -me—he says, he is here, but he says:—</p> - -<p>"Hitherto it has been a thing of the head, now I am -come over it is a thing of the heart."</p> - -<p>What is more (here Peters jumped up in his chair, -vigorously, snapped his fingers excitedly, and spoke -loudly)—</p> - -<p>"Good God! how father will be able to speak out! -much firmer than he has ever done, because it will -touch our hearts."</p> - -<p class="right">(<i>Here ends extract from Peters sitting of 27<br /> -September 1915. A completer record will be<br /> -found in <a href="#Page_129">Chapter VII</a>.</i>)</p> -</div> - -<p>At a Leonard Table Sitting on 12 October 1915—by -which time our identity was known to Mrs. Leonard—I -told 'Myers' that I understood his Piper message about -Faunus and the Poet; and the only point of interest about -the reply or comment is that the two following sentences -were spelt out, purporting to come either indirectly or -directly from 'Myers':—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>1. He says it meant your son's tr[ansition].</p> - -<p>2. Your son shall be mine.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p>The next 'Myers' reference came on 29 October, when -I had a sitting with Peters, unexpectedly and unknown to -my family, at his London room (15 Devereux Court, Fleet -Street)—a sitting arranged for by Mr. J. A. Hill for an -anonymous friend:—</p> - -<p>Peters went into trance, and after some other communications, -gave messages from a youth who was recognised -by the control and identified as my son; and later on -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[ 102]</a></span> -Peters's 'control,' whom it is customary to call 'Moonstone,' -spoke thus:—</p> - -<h4><i>From Sitting of O. J. L. with Peters on 29 October 1915</i></h4> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Your common-sense method of approaching the subject in the family has been the means of helping -him to come back as he has been able to do; and had he not known what you had told him, then it -would have been far more difficult for him to come back. He is very deliberate in what he says. He is -a young man that knows what he is saying. Do you know F W M? -</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes, I do.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Because I see those three letters. Now, after -them, do you know S T; yes, I get S T, then a dot, -and then P? These are shown me; I see them in -light; your boy shows these things to me. -</p></div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes, I understand. [Meaning that I recognised -the allusion to F. W. H. Myers's poem <i>St. Paul</i>.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Well, he says to me: "He has helped me so -much, more than you think. That is F W M."</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Bless him!</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, your boy laughs, he has got an ulterior motive -for it; don't think it was only for charity's -sake, he has got an ulterior motive, and thinks that -you will be able by the strength of your personality -to do what you want to do now, to ride over the -quibbles of the fools, and to make the Society, <i>the</i> -Society, he says, of some use to the world.... Can -you understand?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Now he says, "He helped me because, with me -through you, he can break away the dam that -people have set up. Later on, you are going to -speak to them. It is already on the programme, -and you will break down the opposition because of -me." Then he says, "For God's sake, father, do it. -Because if you only knew, and could only see what -I see: hundreds of men and women heart-broken. -And if you could only see the boys on our side shut -out, you would throw the whole strength of yourself -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[ 103]</a></span> -into this work. But you can do it." He is very -earnest. Oh, and he wants—No, I must stop him, -I must prevent him, I don't want him to control the -medium.—Don't think me unkind, but I must protect -my medium; he would not be able to do the -work he has to do; the medium would be ill from it, -I must protect him, the emotion would be too great, -too great for both of you, so I must prevent him -from controlling.</p> - -<p>He understands, but he wants me to tell you -this:—</p> - -<p>The feeling on going over was one of intense disappointment, -he had no idea of death. The second -too was grief. (Pause.)</p> -</div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<blockquote> -<p>This is a time when men and women have had -the crust broken off them—a crust of convention, -of ... of indifference, has been smashed, and everybody -thinks, though some selfishly.</p> - -<p>Now, returning to him, how patient he is! He -was not always so patient. After the grief there -was a glimmering of hope, because he realised that -he could get back to you; and because his grandmother -came to him. Then his brother was introduced -to him. Then, he says, other people. Myerse—"Myerse," -it sounds like—do you know what -he means?—came to him, and then he knew he could -get back. He knew.</p> - -<p>Now he wants me to tell you this: That from -his death, which is only one of thousands, that the -work which he (I have to translate his ideas into -words, I don't get them verbatum [<i>sic</i>])—the work -which he volunteered to be able to succeed in,—no, -that's not it. The work which he enlisted for, that -is what he says, only he was only a unit and seemingly -lost—yet the very fact of his death will be -the means of pushing it on. Now I have got it. -By his passing away, many hundreds will be benefited. -</p> -</blockquote> - -<p class="center">(<i>End of extract from Peters sitting of<br /> -29 October 1915.</i>)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[ 104]</a></span></p> - -<p>(A still fuller account of the whole 'Faunus' episode, -and a further sequel to it of a classical kind, called the -"Horace O. L." message, will be found in the S.P.R. -<i>Proceedings</i> for the autumn of 1916.)</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It will be understood, I hope, that the above extracts -from sittings have been reproduced here in order to show -that, if we take the incidents on their face value, Myers -had redeemed his 'Faunus' promise, and had lightened the -blow by looking after and helping my son 'on the other -side.' I now propose to make some further extracts—of -a more evidential character—tending to establish the survival -of my son's own personality and memory. There have -been several of these evidential episodes, making strongly -in this direction; but I select, for description here, one -relating to a certain group photograph, of which we were -told through two mediums, but of which we normally knew -nothing till afterwards.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> -I realise now, though the relevance has only just struck me, -that from the point of view of an outside critic, pardonably suspicious -of bad faith, this episode of the bereaved French lady—an obviously -complete stranger to Mrs. Kennedy as well as to the medium—has an -evidential and therefore helpful side.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_9" id="Footnote_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> -This is reminiscent of a sentence in one of his letters -from the Front: "As cheerful and well and happy as ever. Don't think -I am having a rotten time—I am not." Dated 11 May 1915 (really 12).</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[ 105]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER IV</span><br /> -<span class="small">THE GROUP PHOTOGRAPH</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">I NOW come to a peculiarly good piece of evidence -arising out of the sittings which from time to time -we held in the autumn of 1915, namely, the mention -and description of a group photograph taken near the Front, -of the existence of which we were in complete ignorance, -but which was afterwards verified in a satisfactory and -complete manner. It is necessary to report the circumstances -rather fully:—</p> - -<p>Raymond was killed on 14 September 1915.</p> - -<p>The first reference to a photograph taken of him with -other men was made by Peters at M. F. A. L.'s first sitting -with Peters, in Mrs. Kennedy's house, on 27 September -1915, thus:—</p> - -<h3><i>Extract from M. F. A. L.'s anonymous Sitting with Peters<br /> -on 27 September 1915</i></h3> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"You have several portraits of this boy. Before he -went away you had got a good portrait of him—two—no, -three. Two where he is alone and one -where he is in a group of other men. He is particular -that I should tell you of this. In one you -see his walking-stick"—('Moonstone' here put an -imaginary stick under his arm).</p> -</div> - -<p>We had single photographs of him of course, and in -uniform, but we did not know of the existence of a photograph -in which he was one of a group; and M. F. A. L. -was sceptical about it, thinking that it might well be only -a shot or guess on the part of Peters at something -probable. But Mrs. Kennedy (as Note-taker) had written -down most of what was said, and this record was kept, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[ 106]</a></span> -copied, and sent to Mr. Hill in the ordinary course at the -time.</p> - -<p>I was myself, moreover, rather impressed with the -emphasis laid on it—"he is particular that I should tell -you of this"—and accordingly made a half-hearted inquiry -or two; but nothing more was heard on the subject for -two months. On Monday, 29 November, however, a letter -came from Mrs. Cheves, a stranger to us, mother of Captain -Cheves of the R.A.M.C., who had known Raymond and -had reported to us concerning the nature of his wound, -and who is still doing good work at the Front.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Cheves' welcome letter ran as follows:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>28 November 1915</i> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Lady Lodge</span>,—My son, who is M.O. to the 2nd South -Lancs, has sent us a group of officers taken in August, and I -wondered whether you knew of this photo and had had a copy. -If not may I send you one, as we have half a dozen and also a -key? I hope you will forgive my writing to ask this, but I have -often thought of you and felt so much for you in yr. great sorrow.</p> - -<p class="right"> -—Sincerely yours, <span class="smcap">B. P. Cheves</span>"<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>M. F. A. L. promptly wrote, thanking her, and asking -for it; but fortunately it did not come at once.</p> - -<p>Before it came, I (O. J. L.) was having a sitting with -Mrs. Leonard alone at her house on 3 December; and on -this occasion, among other questions, I asked carefully -concerning the photograph, wishing to get more detailed -information about it, before it was seen. It should be -understood that the subject was not introduced by Mrs. -Leonard or her control. The previous mention of a photograph -had been through Peters. It was I that introduced -the subject through Mrs. Leonard, and asked a question; -and the answers were thus reported and recorded at the -time—the typing out of the sitting being all done before -the photograph arrived:—</p> - -<h3><i>Extract from the Record of O. J. L.'s Sitting with<br /> -Mrs. Leonard, 3 December 1915</i></h3> - -<p class="center">(Mrs. Leonard's child-control, Feda, supposed to be speaking,<br /> -and often speaking of herself in the third person.) -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">FEDA.</span>—Now ask him some more.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well, -he said something about having a photograph -taken with some other men. We haven't seen that photograph yet. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[ 107]</a></span> -Does he want to say anything more about it? He spoke about a photograph.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, but he thinks it wasn't here. He looks at -Feda, and he says, it wasn't to you, Feda.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—No, he's quite right. It wasn't. Can he say where -he spoke of it?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says it wasn't through the table.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—No, it wasn't.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>It wasn't here at all. He didn't know the person -that he said it through. The conditions were strange there—a strange house. -[Quite true, it was said through Peters in Mrs. Kennedy's house during an -anonymous sitting on 27 September.]</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Do you recollect the photograph at all?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He thinks there were several others taken with -him, not one or two, but several.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Were they friends of yours?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Some of them, he says. He didn't know them -all, not very well. But he knew some; he heard of -some; they were not all friends.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Does he remember how he looked in the photograph?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, he doesn't remember how he looked.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—No, no, I mean was he standing up?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, he doesn't seem to think so. Some were -raised up round; he was sitting down, and some -were raised up at the back of him.Some were -standing, and some were sitting, he thinks.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Were they soldiers?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says yes—a mixed lot. Somebody called C -was on it with him; and somebody called R—not -his own name, but another R.K, K, K—he says something about K.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He also mentions a man beginning with B—(indistinct -muttering something like Berry, Burney—then -clearly) but put down B.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"> -<span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—I am asking about the photograph because we -haven't seen it yet. Somebody is going to send it to us. -We have heard that it exists, and that's all.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[While this is being written out, the above remains -true. The photograph has not yet come.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[ 108]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He has the impression of about a dozen on it. -A dozen, he says, if not more. Feda thinks it must -be a big photograph.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, he doesn't think so, he says they were -grouped close together.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Did he have a stick?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He doesn't remember that. He remembers that -somebody wanted to lean on him, but he is not sure -if he was taken with some one leaning on him. -But somebody wanted to lean on him he remembers. -The last what he gave you, what were a B, will be -rather prominent in that photograph. -It wasn't taken in a photographer's place.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Was it out of doors?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, practically.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">FEDA</span> (<i>sotto voce</i>).—What you mean, 'yes practically'; must -have been out of doors or not out of doors. You mean 'yes,' don't you?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Feda thinks he means 'yes,' because he says -'practically.'</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—It may have been a shelter.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>It might have been. Try to show Feda.</p> -</div> - -<p>At the back he shows me lines going down. It -looks like a black background, with lines at the back -of them. (Feda here kept drawing vertical lines in -the air.)</p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p>There was, for some reason, considerable delay in the -arrival of the photograph; it did not arrive till the afternoon -of December 7. Meanwhile, on December 6, Lady -Lodge had been looking up Raymond's Diary, which had -been returned from the Front with his kit, and found an -entry:—</p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:4em;">"<i>24 August.</i>—Photo taken."</span></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:4em;">(A statement will follow to this effect.)</span></p> - -<p>Now Raymond had only had one "leave" home since -going to the Front, and this leave was from 16 July to -20 July. The photograph had not been taken then, and -so he could not have told us anything about it. The exposure -was only made twenty-one days before his death, -and some days may have elapsed before he saw a print, if -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[ 109]</a></span> -he ever saw one. He certainly never mentioned it in his -letters. We were therefore in complete ignorance concerning -it; and only recently had we normally become aware -of its existence.</p> - -<p>On the morning of 7 December another note came from -Mrs. Cheves, in answer to a question about the delay; and -this letter said that the photograph was being sent off. -Accordingly I (O. J. L.), thinking that the photograph -might be coming at once, dictated a letter to go to Mr. -Hill, recording roughly my impression of what the photograph -would be like, on the strength of the communication -received by me from 'Raymond' through Mrs. Leonard; -and this was posted by A. E. Briscoe about lunch-time on -the same day. (See statement by Mr. Briscoe at the end.) -My statement to Mr. Hill ran thus:—</p> - -<h3><i>Copy of what was written by O. J. L. to Mr. Hill about the<br /> -Photograph on the morning of Tuesday, 7 December 1915</i></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p>"Concerning that photograph which Raymond mentioned -through Peters [saying this: 'One where he is in a group of -other men. He is particular that I should tell you of this. In -one you see his walking-stick,'],<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> -he has said some more about it through Mrs. Leonard. But he is doubtful -about the stick. What he says is that there is a considerable number of -men in the photograph; that the front row is sitting, and that there is -a back row, or some of the people grouped and set up at the back; also -that there are a dozen or more people in the photograph, and that some -of them he hardly knew; that a B is prominent in the photograph, and -that there is also a C; that he himself is sitting down, and that there -are people behind him, one of whom either leant on his shoulder, or -tried to.</p> - -<p>"The photograph has not come yet, but it may come any -day now; so I send this off before I get it.</p> - -<p>"The actual record of what was said in the sitting is being -typed, but the above represents my impression of it."</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p>The photograph was delivered at Mariemont between -3 and 4 p.m. on the afternoon of 7 December. It was a -wet afternoon, and the package was received by Rosalynde, -who took the wet wrapper off it. Its size was -12 by 9 inches, and was an enlargement from a 5 by 7 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[ 110]</a></span> -inch original. The number of people in the photograph is -twenty-one, made up as follows:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>Five in the front row squatting on the grass, Raymond -being one of these; the second from the right.</p> - -<p>Seven in the second row seated upon chairs.</p> - -<p>Nine in the back row standing up against the outside -of a temporary wooden structure such as might -be a hospital shed or something -of that kind.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>On examining the photograph, we found that every -peculiarity mentioned by Raymond, unaided by the -medium, was strikingly correct. The walking-stick is -there (but Peters had put a stick under his arm, which is -not correct), and in connexion with the background Feda -had indicated vertical lines, not only by gesture but by saying -"lines going down," as well as "a black background -with lines at the back of them." There are six conspicuous -nearly vertical lines on the roof of the shed, but the horizontal -lines in the background generally are equally conspicuous.</p> - -<p>By "a mixed lot," we understood members of different -Companies—not all belonging to Raymond's Company, but -a collection from several. This must be correct, as they -are too numerous for one Company. It is probable that -they all belong to one Regiment, except perhaps one whose -cap seems to have a thistle badge instead of three feathers.</p> - -<p>As to "prominence," I have asked several people which -member of the group seemed to them the most prominent; -and except as regards central position, a well-lighted standing -figure on the right has usually been pointed to as most -prominent. This one is "B," as stated, namely, Captain -S. T. Boast.</p> - -<p>Some of the officers must have been barely known to -Raymond, while some were his friends. Officers whose -names begin with B, with C, and with R were among them; -though not any name beginning with K. The nearest approach -to a K-sound in the group is one beginning with a -hard C.</p> - -<p>Some of the group are sitting, while others are standing -behind. Raymond is one of those sitting on the ground -in front, and his walking-stick or regulation cane is lying -across his feet.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_117"></a> -<img src="images/i_117.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">GROUP OF OFFICERS, AS SENT US BY MRS. CHEVES ON<br /> -7 DECEMBER, 1915, SHOWING AN ARM RESTING ON<br />RAYMOND'S SHOULDER</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[ 111]</a></span></p> - -<p>The background is dark, and is conspicuously lined.</p> - -<p>It is out of doors, close in front of a shed or military -hut, pretty much as suggested to me by the statements -made in the 'Leonard' sitting—what I called a -"shelter."</p> - -<p>But by far the most striking piece of evidence is the -fact that some one sitting behind Raymond is leaning or -resting a hand on his shoulder. The photograph fortunately -shows the actual occurrence, and almost indicates -that Raymond was rather annoyed with it; for his face -is a little screwed up, and his head has been slightly bent -to one side out of the way of the man's arm. It is the only -case in the photograph where one man is leaning or resting -his hand on the shoulder of another, and I judge that it is -a thing not unlikely to be remembered by the one to whom -it occurred.</p> - -<h3>CONFIRMATORY STATEMENTS</h3> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Statement by Raymond's Mother</span></h4> - -<p>Four days ago (6 December), I was looking through my son -Raymond's Diary which had been returned with his kit from the -Front. (The edges are soaked, and some of the leaves stuck -together, with his blood.) I was struck by finding an entry -"Photo taken" under the date 24 August, and I entered the -fact in my own Diary at once, thus:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"<i>6 December.</i>—Read Raymond's Diary for first time, saw record -of 'photo taken' 24 August."</p> - -<p class="right"> -(Signed) <span class="smcap">Mary F. A. Lodge</span></p> - -<p class="left"><i>10 December 1915</i></p> -</blockquote> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Statement by A. E. Briscoe</span></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p>The dictated letter to Mr. Hill, recording roughly Sir Oliver's -impression of what the photograph would be like, was written out -by me on the morning of Tuesday, 7 December, at Mariemont; it -was signed by Sir Oliver at about noon, and shortly afterwards -I started for the University, taking that and other letters with -me for posting in town. I went straight to the University, and -at lunch-time (about 1.30) posted the packet to Mr. Hill at the -General Post Office.</p> - -<p>(In the packet, I remember, there was also a letter on another -subject, and a printed document from Mr. Gow, the Editor of -<i>Light</i>.)</p> - -<p class="right">(Signed) <span class="smcap">A. E. Briscoe</span></p> -<p class="left"><i>8 December 1915</i> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Statement by A. E. Briscoe</span></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p>The dictated letter to Mr. Hill, recording roughly Sir Oliver's -impression of what the photograph would be like, was written out -by me on the morning of Tuesday, 7 December, at Mariemont; it -was signed by Sir Oliver at about noon, and shortly afterwards -I started for the University, taking that and other letters with -me for posting in town. I went straight to the University, and -at lunch-time (about 1.30) posted the packet to Mr. Hill at the -General Post Office.</p> - -<p>(In the packet, I remember, there was also a letter on another -subject, and a printed document from Mr. Gow, the Editor of -<i>Light</i>.)</p> - -<p class="right"> -(Signed) <span class="smcap">A. E. Briscoe</span>,<br /> -<i>Secretary to Sir Oliver Lodge</i></p> -<p class="left"><i>8 December 1915</i><br /></p> -</blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[ 112]</a></span></p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Statement by Rosalynde</span></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p>I was sitting in the library at Mariemont about 3.45 on Tuesday -afternoon, 7 December 1915, when Harrison came in with a -flat cardboard parcel addressed to Mother. Mother was resting; -and as the paper, wrapping up what I took to be the photograph, -was wet with the rain, I undid it and left the photograph in tissue -paper on a table, having just glanced at it to see if it was the -one we'd been waiting for.</p> - -<p>No one saw it or was shown it till after tea, when I showed it -to Mother. That would be about 6. Mrs. Thompson, Lorna, and -Barbara now also saw it. Honor was not at home and did not -see it till later.</p> - -<p class="right"> -(Signed) <span class="smcap">R. V. Lodge</span></p> - -<p class="left"><i>8 December 1915</i></p> -</blockquote> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Note by O. J. L.</span></h4> - -<p>In answer to an inquiry, Messrs. Gale & Polden, of -Aldershot and London, the firm whose name was printed at -the foot of the photograph, informed me that it was "from -a negative of a group of Officers sent to us by Captain -Boast of the 2nd South Lancashire Regiment"; and having -kindly looked up the date, they further tell me that they -received the negative from Captain Boast on 15 October -1915.</p> - -<p>It will be remembered that information about the existence -of the photograph came through Peters on 27 September—more -than a fortnight, therefore, before the negative -reached England.</p> - -<p>The photograph is only shown here because of its evidential -interest. Considered as a likeness of Raymond, it -is an exceptionally bad one; he appears shrunk into an -uncomfortable position.</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Further Information about the Photograph</span></h3> - -<h4><i>Extract from a letter by Captain Boast from the Trenches,<br /> -dated 7 May 1916, to Mrs. Case, and lent me to see</i></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p>"Some months ago (last summer) the Officers of our -Battalion had their photo taken.... You see, the photographer -who took us was a man who had been shelled out -of house and home, and as he had no means of doing the -photos for us, we bought the negatives, and sent them along -to be finished in England."</p> -</blockquote> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_138"></a> -<img src="images/i_138.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">ANOTHER EDITION OF THE GROUP-PHOTOGRAPH,<br /> -WITH LEG TOUCHING SHOULDER INSTEAD OF HAND</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[ 113]</a></span></p> - -<h4><i>A later Letter from Captain Boast</i></h4> - -<p>In answer to a special inquiry addressed to Captain -Boast at the Front, he has been good enough to favour me -with the following letter:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right">"<i>10 July 1916</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—Your letter of 4 July has just reached -me. The proofs of the photographs referred to were -received by me from the photographer at Reninghelst two -or three days after being taken. To the best of my belief, -your son saw the proofs, but I cannot now say positively. -I obtained particulars of requirements from the officers -forming the group, but the photographer then found he -was unable to obtain paper for printing. I therefore bought -the negatives and sent them home to Gale & Polden. In -view of the fact that your son did not go back to the -trenches till 12 September 1915, it is highly probable that -he saw the proofs, but he certainly did not see the negatives.—Yours -faithfully,</p> - -<p class="right"> -"(Signed) <span class="smcap">Sydney T. Boast</span>"<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>It thus appears that Raymond had probably seen a -proof of the photograph, but that there were no copies -or prints available. Consequently neither we, nor any -other people at home, could have received them; and the -negatives were only received in England by Gale & Polden -on 15 October 1915, after Peters had mentioned the -existence of the photograph, which he did on 27 September -1915.</p> - -<p>I obtained from Messrs. Gale & Polden prints of all -the accessible photographs which had been taken at the -same time. The size of these prints was 5 by 7 inches.</p> - -<p>I found that the group had been repeated, with slight -variations, three times—the Officers all in the same relative -positions, but not in identically the same attitudes. -One of the three prints is the same as the one we had seen, -with some one's hand resting on Raymond's shoulder, and -Raymond's head leaning a little on one side, as if rather -annoyed. In another the hand had been removed, being -supported by the owner's stick; and in that one Raymond's -head is upright. This corresponds to his uncertainty as -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[ 114]</a></span> -to whether he was actually taken with the man leaning on -him or not. In the third, however, the sitting officer's leg -rests against Raymond's shoulder as he squats in front, -and the slant of the head and slight look of annoyance have -returned.</p> - -<p>These two additional photographs are here reproduced. -Their merit is in showing that the leaning on him, mentioned -by 'Raymond' through Feda, was well marked, and -yet that he was quite right in being uncertain whether -he was actually being leant on while the photograph was -being taken. The fact turns out to be that during two -exposures he was being leaned on, and during one exposure -he was not. It was, so to speak, lucky that the -edition sent us happened to show in one form the actual -leaning.</p> - -<p>I have since discovered what is apparently the only -other photograph of Officers in which Raymond occurs, -but it is quite a different one, and none of the description -applies to it. For it is completely in the open air, and -Raymond is standing up in the hinder of two rows. He is -second from the left, the tall one in the middle is his friend -Lieutenant Case, and standing next him is Mr. Ventris -(see p.<a href="#Page_279"> 279</a>). It is fortunate again that this photograph -did not happen to be the one sent us; for we should have -considered the description hopelessly wrong. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3>SUMMARY</h3> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Concluding Note by O. J. L.</span></h4> - -<p>As to the evidential value of the whole communication, -it will be observed that there is something of the nature -of cross-correspondence, of a simple kind, in the fact that -a reference to the photograph was made through one -medium, and a description given, in answer to a question, -through another independent one.</p> - -<p>The episode is to be published in the <i>Proceedings</i> of the -S.P.R. for 1916, and a few further facts or comments are -there added.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_139"></a> -<img src="images/i_139.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">GROUP SUBSEQUENTLY OBTAINED, EVIDENTLY TAKEN AT<br /> -THE SAME TIME, BUT PRESSURE ON SHOULDER REMOVED -</div> -</div> - -<p>The elimination of ordinary telepathy from the living, -except under the far-fetched hypothesis of the unconscious -influence of complete strangers, was exceptionally complete; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[ 115]</a></span> -inasmuch as the whole of the information was -recorded before any of us had seen the photograph.</p> - -<p>Even the establishment of a date in August for the -taking of the photograph, as mentioned first in Mrs. Cheves' -letter and confirmed by finding an entry in Raymond's -Diary, is important, because the last time we ever saw -Raymond was in July.</p> - -<p>To my mind the whole incident is rather exceptionally -good as a piece of evidence; and that 'Raymond' expected -it to be good evidence is plain from Peters's ('Moonstone's') -statement, at that first reference to a photograph on 27 -September, namely, "He is particular that I should tell -you of this." (This sentence it probably was which made -me look out for such a photograph, and take pains to get -records soundly made beforehand.) Our complete ignorance, -even of the existence of the photograph, in the first -place, and secondly the delayed manner in which knowledge -of it normally came to us, so that we were able to make -provision for getting the supernormally acquired details -definitely noted beforehand, seem to me to make it a first-class -case. While, as to the amount of coincidence between -the description and the actual photograph, that surely is -quite beyond chance or guesswork. For not only are many -things right, but practically nothing is wrong. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3>CALENDAR</h3> - -<table summary="Calendar" style="width:60%"> - -<tr> -<td class="left"><i>20 July 1915</i></td> -<td class="left">Raymond's last visit home.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="left"><i>24 August 1915</i></td> -<td class="left">Photograph taken at the Front, as</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">shown by entry in Raymond's</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">private Diary, but not mentioned</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">by him.</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left"><i>14 September 1915</i></td> -<td class="left">Raymond's death.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left"><i>27 September 1915</i></td> -<td class="left">Peters' ('Moonstone's') mention of</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">the photograph as a message from</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">'Raymond.'</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left"><i>15 October 1915</i></td> -<td class="left"> Negative sent with other negatives</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">by Capt. Sydney T. Boast, from</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Front in Flanders, to Messrs.</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gale & Polden, Aldershot, for</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">printing.</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left"><i>29 November 1915</i></td> -<td class="left"> Mrs. Cheves wrote spontaneously,</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">saying that she had a group-photograph</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">of some 2nd South</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lancashire Officers, which she</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">could send if desired.</span> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[ 116]</a></span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left"><i>3 December 1915</i></td> -<td class="left">Feda's (Mrs. Leonard's) further description</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">of a photograph which</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">had been mentioned through another</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">medium, in answer to a</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">direct question addressed to 'Raymond.'</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left"><i>6 December 1915</i></td> -<td class="left">M. F. A. L. found an entry in Raymond's</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Diary showing that a</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">photograph had been taken on</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">24 August.</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left"><i>Morning of 7 Dec. 1915</i></td> -<td class="left">To make sure, O. J. L. wrote to</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">J. A. H. his impression of the</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">photograph before it came.</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left"><i>Afternoon of 7 Dec 1915</i></td> -<td class="left">Arrival of the photograph.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left"><i>Evening of 7 Dec 1915</i></td> -<td class="left">The photograph was shown to the</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">home members of the family, and</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">examined by O. J. L.</span></td> -</tr> - -</table> -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span> -</a> This bit not written to J. A. H., but is copied from -Peters's sitting, of which Mr. Hill had seen the record.</p> -</div> -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[ 117]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER V</span><br /> -<span class="small">BEGINNING OF HISTORICAL RECORD OF<br /> -SITTINGS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Although this episode of the photograph is a -good and evidential one, I should be sorry to base -an important conclusion on any one piece of evidence, -however cogent. All proofs are really cumulative; -and though it is legitimate to emphasise anything like a -crucial instance, it always needs supplementing by many -others, lest there may have been some oversight. Accordingly, -I now proceed to quote from sittings held by members -of the family after Raymond's death—laying stress -upon those which were arranged for, and held throughout, -in an anonymous manner, so that there was not the slightest -normal clue to identity.</p> - -<p>The first message came to us through a recent friend -of ours in London, Mrs. Kennedy, who herself has the -power of automatic writing, and who, having lost her -specially beloved son Paul, has had her hand frequently -controlled by him—usually only so as to give affectionate -messages, but sometimes in a moderately evidential way. -She had been sceptical about the genuineness of this power -apparently possessed by herself; and it was her painful -uncertainty on this point that had brought her into correspondence -with me, for she was trying to test her own -writing in various ways, as she was so anxious not to be -deceived. The first I ever heard of her was the following -letter which came while I was in Australia, and was dealt -with by Mr. Hill:— -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3>FIRST LETTER FROM MRS. KENNEDY TO O. J. L.</h3> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -"<i>16 August 1914</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir Oliver Lodge.</span></p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—Because of your investigations into spirit life, -I venture to ask your help.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[ 118]</a></span></p> - -<p>"My only son died 23 June, eight weeks after a terrible -accident. On 25 June (without my asking for it or having -thought of it) I felt obliged to hold a pencil, and I received in -automatic writing his name and 'yes' and 'no' in answer to -questions.</p> - -<p>"Since then I have had several pages of writing from him -every day and sometimes twice daily. I say 'from him'; the whole -torturing question is—is it from him or am I self-deceived?</p> - -<p>"My knowledge is infinitesimal. Nineteen years ago a sister -who had died the year before suddenly used my hand, and after -that wrote short messages at intervals; another sister a year -later, and my father one message sixteen years ago; but I felt so -self-deceived that I always pushed it aside, until it came back -to me, unasked, after my son's passing over.</p> - -<p>"Your knowledge is what I appeal to, and the deep, personal -respect one has for you and your investigations. It is for my -son's sake—he is only seventeen—and he writes with such intense -sadness of my lack of decided belief that I venture to beg help -of a stranger in a matter so sacred to me.</p> - -<p>"Do you ever come to London, and, if so, could you possibly -allow me to see you for even half an hour? and you might judge -from the strange and holy revelations (I know no other way to -express many of the messages that are sent) whether they can -possibly be only from my own subconscious mind.... Pardon -this length of letter.—Yours faithfully,</p> - -<p class="right"> -"(Signed) -<span class="smcap">Katherine Kennedy</span>"<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>Ultimately I was able to take her anonymously and -unexpectedly to an American medium, Mrs. Wriedt, and -there she received strong and unmistakable proofs.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> She -also received excellent confirmation through several -other mediums whom she had discovered for herself—notably -Mr. Vout Peters and Mrs. Osborne Leonard. -Of Mrs. Leonard I had not previously heard; I had heard -of a Madame St. Leonard, or some name like that, -but this is somebody else. Mrs. Kennedy tells me -that she herself had not known Mrs. Leonard long, -her own first sitting with that lady having been on -14 September 1915. I must emphasise the fact that -Mrs. Kennedy is keen and careful about evidential considerations.</p> - -<p>As Mrs. Kennedy's son Paul plays a part in what - -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[ 119]</a></span> - -follows, perhaps it is permissible to quote here a description -of him which she gave to Mr. Hill in October 1914, -accompanying an expression of surprise at the serious messages -which she sometimes received from him—interspersed -with his fun and his affection:—</p> - -<h3>K. K.'s DESCRIPTION OF PAUL</h3> - -<blockquote> -<p>"Picture to yourself this boy: not quite eighteen but always -taken for twenty or twenty-two; an almost divine character -underneath, but exteriorly a typical 'motor knut,' driving racing-cars -at Brooklands, riding for the Jarrott Cup on a motor cycle, -and flying at Hendon as an Air Mechanic; dining out perpetually, -because of his charm which made him almost besieged by friends; -and apparently without any creed except honour, generosity, love -of children, the bringing home of every stray cat to be fed here -and comforted, a total disregard of social distinctions when choosing -his friends, and a hatred of hurting anyone's feelings."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>On seeing the announcement of Mr. R. Lodge's death -in a newspaper, Mrs. Kennedy 'spoke' to Paul about it, -and asked him to help; she also asked for a special sitting -with Mrs. Leonard for the same purpose, though without -saying why. The name Raymond was on that occasion -spelt out through the medium, and he was said to be -sleeping. This was on 18 September. On the 21st, -while Mrs. Kennedy was writing in her garden on ordinary -affairs, her own hand suddenly wrote, as from her son -Paul:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"I am here.... I have seen that boy Sir Oliver's -son; he's better, and has had a splendid rest, tell his -people."</p> -</div> - -<p>Lady Lodge having been told about Mrs. Leonard, and -wanting to help a widowed French lady, Madame Le -Breton, who had lost both her sons, and was on a visit to -England, asked Mrs. Kennedy to arrange a sitting, so as -to avoid giving any name. A sitting was accordingly -arranged with Mrs. Leonard for 24 September 1915.</p> - -<p>On 22 September, Mrs. Kennedy, while having what -she called a 'talk' with Paul, suddenly wrote automatically:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"I shall bring Raymond to his father when he comes -to see you.... He is so jolly, every one loves him; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[ 120]</a></span> -he has found heaps of his own folks here,and he is settling -down wonderfully. <span class="smcap">Do tell his father and -mother</span>.... He spoke clearly to-day.... He doesn't fight -like the others, he seems so settled already. It is a ripping -thing to see one boy like this. He has been sleeping a long -time, but he has spoken to-day....</p> - -<p>"If you people only knew how we long to come, they -would all call us."</p> -</div> - -<p><span style="margin-left:3em;">[Capitals indicate large and emphatic writing.]</span></p> - -<p>On the 23rd, during Lady Lodge's call, Mrs. Kennedy's -hand wrote what purported to be a brief message from -Raymond, thus:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"I am here, mother.... I have been to Alec already, -but he can't hear me. I do wish he would believe that we are here safe; it isn't a dismal hole like -people think, it is a place where there is life."</p> -</div> - -<p>And again:</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"Wait till I have learned better how to speak like -this.... We can express all we want later; give -me time."</p> -</div> - -<p>I need hardly say that there is nothing in the least -evidential in all this. I quote it only for the sake of -reasonable completeness, so as to give the history from the -beginning. Evidence comes later.</p> - -<p>Next day, 24 September 1915, the ladies went for an -interview with Mrs. Leonard, who knew no more than that -friends of Mrs. Kennedy would accompany her. The -following is Lady Lodge's account of the sitting:—</p> - -<h3><i>First Sitting of any Member of the Family (Anonymous)<br /> -with Mrs. Leonard</i></h3> - -<h4><span class="smaller">GENERAL ACCOUNT BY M. F. A. L.</span><br /> -<span class="smcap"><span class="smaller">24 September 1915</span></span></h4> - -<blockquote> -<p>Mrs. Leonard went into a sort of trance, I suppose, and came -back as a little Indian girl called 'Freda,' or 'Feda,' rubbing her -hands, and talking in the silly way they do.</p> - -<p>However, she soon said there was an old gentleman and a -young one present, whom she described; and Mrs. Kennedy told -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[ 121]</a></span> -me afterwards that they were her father and her son Paul. There -seemed to be many others standing beside us, so 'Feda' said.</p> - -<p>Then Feda described some one brought in lying down—about -twenty-four or twenty-five, not yet able to sit up; the features -she described might quite well have belonged to Raymond. (I -forgot to say Mrs. Leonard did not know me or my name, or -Madame le Breton's.) Feda soon said she saw a large R beside -this young man, then an A, then she got a long letter with a tail, -which she could not make out, then she drew an M in the air, -but forgot to mention it, and she said an O came next, and she -said there was another O with a long stroke to it, and finally, she -said she heard 'Yaymond' (which is only her way of pronouncing -it). [The name was presumably got from 'Paul.'—O. J. L.] Then -she said that he just seemed to open his eyes and smile; and then -he had a choking feeling, which distressed me very much; but -he said he hadn't suffered much—not nearly as much as I should -think; whether he said this, or Paul, I forget; but Paul asked -me not to tell him to-morrow night that I was not with him, as he -had so much the feeling that I was with him when he died, that -he (Paul) wouldn't like to undeceive him.</p> - -<p>I then asked that some one in that other world might kiss -him for me, and a lady, whom they described in a way which was -just like my mother, came and kissed him, and said she was -taking care of him. And there was also an old gentleman, full -white beard, etc. (evidently my stepfather, but Feda said with a -moustache, which was a mistake), with W. up beside him, also -taking care; said he had met Raymond, and he was looking after -him, and lots of others too; but said he [W.] belonged to me and -to 'O.' [Correct.] I asked how and what it was he had done -for me, and Feda made a movement with her fingers, as though -disentangling something, and then putting it into straight lines. -He then said he had made things easier for me. So I said that -was right, and thanked him gratefully. I said also that if Raymond -was in his and Mamma's hands, I was satisfied.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>[I do not append the notes of this sitting, since it was -held mainly for Madame and her two sons, both of whom -were described, and from whom some messages appeared -to come.] -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h4><i>Table Sitting at Mrs. Leonard's</i></h4> - -<p>Next day (Saturday, 25 September 1915), as arranged -partly by Paul, the three ladies went to Mrs. Leonard's -house again for a sitting with a table, and Dr. Kennedy -kindly accompanied them to take notes.</p> - -<p>The three ladies and the medium sat round a small -table, with their hands lightly on it, and it tilted in the -usual way. The plan adopted here is for the table to tilt -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[ 122]</a></span> -as each letter of the alphabet is spoken by the medium, -and to stop, or 'hold,' when a right letter is reached. -For general remarks on the rationale, or what most people -will naturally consider the absurdity, of intelligent movements -of this kind, see <a href="#Page_362">Chapter XIV, Part III.</a></p> - -<p>It was a rather complicated sitting, as it was mainly -for Madame who was a novice in the subject. Towards the -end unfortunately, though momentarily and not at all -pronouncedly, she spoke to Lady Lodge by name. At -these table sittings the medium, Mrs. Leonard, is not unconscious; -accordingly she heard it in her normal self, and -afterwards said that she had heard it. The following -extracts from the early part of the sitting may be -quoted here, as answers purporting to be spelt out by -Raymond:—</p> - -<table summary="QuesAns" style="width:70%"> -<tr> -<td class="left"><span class="smcap"><b>Questions</b></span></td> -<td class="left"><span class="smcap"><b>Answers</b></span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left">Are you lonely?</td> -<td class="left">No.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left">Who is with you?</td> -<td class="left">Grandfather W.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left">Have you anything to say to me?</td> -<td class="left">You know I can't help missing you,</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="left"> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left:1em;">but I am learning to be happy.</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left">Have you any message for any of them?</td> -<td class="left">Tell them I have many good friends.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left">Can you tell me the name of anyone at home?</td> -<td class="left">Honor. [One of his sisters.]</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="right">(Other messages of affection and </td> -<td class="left">naturalness.)</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td> </td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left">Have I enough to satisfy them at home?</td> -<td class="left">No.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left">Is there anything you want to send?</td> -<td class="left">Tell father I have met some friends of his.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left">Any name?</td> -<td class="left"> Yes; Myers.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left">Have you anything else to say?</td> -<td class="left">(No answer.)</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left">Is some one else there?</td> -<td class="left">Yes; Guy. (This was a son of Madame,</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left"> </td> -<td class="left"><span style="margin-left:1em;">and the sitting became French.)</span></td> -</tr> - -</table> - -<p>Reasonable and natural messages were spelt out in -French. The other son of Madame was named Didier, -and an unsuccessful attempt to spell this name was made, -but the only result was <span class="smcap">Dodi</span>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[ 123]</a></span></p> - -<h4><i>Automatic Writing by Mrs. Kennedy, 26 September</i></h4> - -<p>On 26 September Mrs. Kennedy (alone) had a lot of -automatic writing, with her own hand, mainly from Paul, -who presently wrote, "Mother, I have been let to bring -Raymond."</p> - -<p>(After a welcome, Raymond was represented as sending -this message:—)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"I can speak easier than I could at the table, because -you are helping all the time. It is easy when we are alone -with you, but if I go there it confuses me a little.... I -long to comfort them. Will you tell them that Raymond -had been to you, and that Paul tells me I can come to you -whenever I like? It is so good of you to let the boys all -come...."</p> - -<p>"Paul tells me he has been here since he was seventeen; -he is a jolly chap; every one seems fond of him. I don't -wonder, for he helps every one. It seems a rule to call Paul -if you get in a fix."</p> -</div> - -<p>(Then Paul said he was back, and wrote:—)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"He is quite happy really since he finds he can get to -his people. He has slept ever since last night, till I was -told to fetch him to-night."</p> -</div> - -<p>(Asked about the French boys, Paul said:—)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"I saw them when I brought them, but I don't see -them otherwise; they are older than I am ... they hardly -believe it yet that they have spoken. All the time they -felt it was impossible, and they nearly gave it up, but I -kept on begging them to tell their mother they lived."</p> - -<p>"I do hope she felt it true, mother...."</p> - -<p>"It is hard to think your sons are dead; but such a lot -of people do think it. It is revolting to hear the boys tell -you how no one speaks to them ever; it hurts me through -and through."</p> -</div> - -<p>(Interval. Paul fetched Guy [one of Madame Le -Breton's sons], saying:—)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"I can't stand it when they call out for help. Speak -to him please, mother."</p> -</div> - -<p>(Mrs. Kennedy spoke to Guy, saying that she felt he -could not believe any of it, but would he give time and -trouble to studying the subject as she was doing? The -following writing came:—)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[ 124]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Guy.</span>—I think you hear me because it is just as I am feeling; -how <span class="smcap">CAN</span> I believe we can speak to you who -live where we once lived? It was not possible then -for us to speak to dead people; and why should it -be possible for us to speak. Will you keep on helping -me, please, for I can't follow it, and I long to? -</p> -</div> - -<p>(Mrs. Kennedy asked him to ask Paul, that being an -easier method, probably, than getting information through -her. She asked him to 'excuse' Paul's youth.)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Guy.</span>—I like Paul; he is good to us. I shall be glad to talk -to him constantly if he has time for all of us; he -seems a sort of messenger between us and you, -isn't he?</p> -</div> - -<p>[Guy had been to school in England, his brother had -not.]</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> -I think it only fair to mention the names of professional -mediums, if I find them at all genuine. I do not guarantee their -efficiency, for mediumship is not a power that can always be depended -on,—it is liable to vary; sitters also may be incompetent, and -conditions may be bad. The circumstances under which sensitives work -are difficult at the present time and ought to be improved.</p> -</div> -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[ 125]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER VI</span><br /> -<span class="small">FIRST SITTING OF O. J. L. WITH MRS. LEONARD</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">ON 27 September, as already stated in Chapter III, -I myself visited Mrs. Leonard, going anonymously -and alone, and giving no information beyond the -fact that I was a friend of Mrs. Kennedy. I lay no stress, -on my anonymity, however.</p> - -<p>In a short time Feda controlled, and at first described -an elderly gentleman as present. Then she said he brought -some one with the letter R; and as I took verbatim notes -I propose to reproduce this portion in full, so as to give -the general flavour of a 'Feda' sitting; only omitting -what has already been extracted and quoted in <a href="#Page_93">Chapter -III.</a> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><i>O. J. L. at Mrs. Leonard's, Monday, 27 September 1915, -12 noon to 1 o'clock</i></h3> - -<p class="center">(Mrs. Leonard's control 'Feda' speaking all the time.) -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>There is some one here with a little difficulty; not fully -built up; youngish looking; form more like an outline; -he has not completely learnt how to build up as yet. Is a -young man, rather above the medium height; rather well-built, -not thick-set or heavy, but well-built. He holds himself -up well. He has not been over long. His hair is between -colours. He is not easy to describe, because he is not -building himself up so solid as some do. He has greyish -eyes; hair brown, short at the sides; a fine-shaped head; -eyebrows also brown, not much arched; nice-shaped nose, -fairly straight, broader at the nostrils a little; a nice-shaped -mouth, a good-sized mouth it is, but it does not -look large because he holds the lips nicely together; chin -not heavy; face oval. He is not built up quite clearly, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[ 126]</a></span> -but it feels as if Feda knew him. He must have been here -waiting for you. Now he looks at Feda and smiles; now -he laughs, he is having a joke with Feda, and Paulie laughs -too. Paul says he has been here before, and that Paul -brought him. But Feda sees many hundreds of people, -but they tell me this one has been brought quite lately. -Yes, I have seen him before. Feda remembers a letter -with him too. R, that is to do with him.</p> - -<p>(Then Feda murmured, as if to herself, "Try and give -me another letter.") (Pause.)</p> - -<p>It is a funny name, not Robert or Richard. He is not -giving the rest of it, but says R again; it is from him. -He wants to know where his mother is; he is looking for -her; he does not understand why she is not here.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Tell him he will see her this afternoon, and that -she is not here this morning, because she wants to -meet him this afternoon at three o'clock.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Meaning through another medium, namely -Peters. But that, of course, was not said.]</span> -</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He has been to see you before, and he says that -once he thought you knew he was there, and that -two or three times he was not quite sure. Feda -gets it mostly by impression; it is not always what -he says, but what she gets; but Feda says "he says," -because she gets it from him somehow.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> He finds -it difficult, he says, but he has got so many kind -friends helping him. He didn't think when he waked -up first that he was going to be happy, but now -he is, and he says he is going to be happier. He -knows that as soon as he is a little more ready, he has -got a great deal of work to do. "I almost wonder," -he says, "shall I be fit and able to do it. They tell -me I shall."</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[<i>And so on as reported in <a href="#Page_73">Chapter III.</a></i>]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He seems to know what the work is. The first -work he will have to do, will be helping at the -Front; not the wounded so much, but helping those -who are passing over in the war. He knows that -when they pass on and wake up, they still feel a -certain fear—and some other word which Feda -missed. Feda hears a something and 'fear.' Some -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[ 127]</a></span> -even go on fighting; at least they want to; -they don't believe they have passed on. So -that many are wanted where he is now, to -explain to them and help them, and soothe them. -They do not know where they are, nor why they are -there.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[I considered that this was ordinary 'Feda talk,' -such as it is probably customary to get -through mediums at this time; therefore, though the -statements are likely enough, there -is nothing new in them, and I thought -it better to interrupt by asking a question. So -I said:—]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Does he want to send a message to anyone at -home? Or will he give the name of one of his -instructors?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[I admit that it is stupid thus to ask two questions -at once.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He shows me a capital H, and says that is not -an instructor, it is some one he knows on the earth -side. He wants them to be sure that he is all right -and happy. He says, "People think I say I am happy -in order to make them happier, but I don't".</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[<i>And so on as already reported in <a href="#Page_73">Chapter III.</a></i>]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Now the first gentleman with the letter W is -going over to him and putting his arm round his -shoulder, and he is putting his arm round the gentleman's -back. Feda feels like a string round -her head; a tight feeling in the head, and also an -empty sort of feeling in the chest, empty, as if sort -of something gone. A feeling like a sort of vacant -feeling there; also a bursting sensation in the -head. But he does not know he is giving this. -He has not done it on purpose, they have tried to -make him forget all that, but Feda gets it from him. -There is a noise with it too, an awful noise and a -rushing noise.</p> - -<p>He has lost all that now, but he does not seem -to know why Feda feels it now. "I feel splendid," -he says, "I feel splendid! But I was worried at -first. I was worried, for I was wanting to make it -clear to those left behind that I was all right, and -that they were not to worry about me."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[ 128]</a></span></p> - -<p>You may think it strange, but he felt that you -would not worry so much as some one else; two -others, two ladies, Feda thinks. You would know, -he says, but two ladies would worry and be uncertain; -but now he believes they know more.</p> -</div> - -<p>Then, before Mrs. Leonard came out of trance, came the -description of a falling dark cross which twisted round and -became bright, as reported in <a href="#Page_96">Chapter III.</a></p> - -<p>After the sitting, and before I went away, I asked Mrs. -Leonard if she knew who I was. She replied, "Are you -by chance connected with those two ladies who came on -Saturday night?" On my assenting, Mrs. Leonard added, -"Oh! then I know, because the French lady gave the name -away; she said 'Lady Lodge' in the middle of a French -sentence."</p> - -<p>I also spoke to her about not having too many sittings -and straining her power. She said she "preferred not to -have more than two or three a day, though sometimes she -could not avoid it; and some days she had to take a -complete rest." But she admitted that she was going to -have another one that day at two o'clock. I told her that -three per day was rather much. She pleaded that there -are so many people who want help now, that she declined -all those who came for only commercial or fortune-telling -motives, but that she felt bound to help those who are distressed -by the war. I report this to show that she saw many -people totally disconnected with Raymond or his family: so -that what she might say to a new unknown member of the -family could be quite evidential.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> -Note this, as an elucidatory statement.</p> -</div> -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[ 129]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER VII</span><br /> -<span class="small">FIRST PETERS SITTING (ANONYMOUS)</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">MRS.KENNEDY desired Lady Lodge to try with a -different and independent medium, and therefore -kindly arranged with Mr. A. Vout Peters to come -to her house on Monday afternoon and give a trance sitting -to 'a friend of hers' not specified. Accordingly, -at or about 3 p.m. on Monday, 27 September 1915, Lady -Lodge went by herself to Mrs. Kennedy's house, so as not -to have to give any name, and awaited the arrival of -Peters, who, when he came, said he would prefer to sit in -Mrs. Kennedy's own room in which he had sat before, and -which he associated with her son Paul. No kind of introduction -was made, and Peters was a total stranger to -Lady Lodge; though to Mrs. Kennedy he was fairly well -known, having several times given her first-rate evidence -about her son, who had proved his identity in several striking -ways.</p> - -<p>When Peters goes into a trance his personality is supposed -to change to that of another man, who, we -understand, is called 'Moonstone'; much as Mrs. Piper -was controlled by apparent personalities calling themselves -'Phinuit' or 'Rector.' When Peters does not go -into a trance he has some clairvoyant faculty of his -own.</p> - -<p>The only other person present on this occasion was -Mrs. Kennedy, who kindly took notes.</p> - -<p>This is an important sitting, as it was held for a complete -stranger, so I propose to report it practically -in full. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[ 130]</a></span></p> - -<h3><i>M. F. A. L. Sitting with A. Vout Peters, in Mrs. Kennedy's<br /> -House, on 27 September 1915, at 3.30 p.m.</i></h3> - -<table summary="sitters" style="width: 40%;" > -<tr> -<td class="left"><span class="smcap">Medium</span></td> -<td class="left"><span class="smcap">A. Vout Peters.</span></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left"><span class="smcap">Sitter</span> </td> -<td class="left"><span class="smcap">Lady Lodge</span> (M. F. A. L.).</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="left"><span class="smcap">Recorder</span></td> -<td class="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Katherine Kennedy</span> (K. K.).</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p class="center"><i>The record consists of Mrs. Kennedy's notes. Annotations in square<br /> -brackets have been added subsequently by O. J. L.</i> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>While only partially under control, Peters said: "I feel -a lot of force here, Mrs. Kennedy."</p> - -<p>Peters was controlled quickly by 'Moonstone,' who -greeted K. K. and reminded her of a prophecy of his. (This -prophecy related to the Russian place Dvinsk, and to the -important actions likely to be going on there—as if the -decisive battle of the war was to be fought there.) Then -he turned to L. L. and said:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>What a useful life you have led, and will lead.</p> - -<p>You have always been the prop of things.</p> - -<p>You have always been associated with men a lot.</p> - -<p>You are the mother and house prop.</p> - -<p>You are not unacquainted with spiritualism.</p> - -<p>You have been associated with it more or less for some -time.</p> - -<p>I sense you as living away from London—in the North -or North-West.</p> - -<p>You are much associated with men, and you are the -house prop—the mother. You have no word in the -language that quite gives it—there are always four -walls, but something more is needed—you are the house -prop.</p> - -<p>You have had a tremendous lot of sadness recently, from -a death that has come suddenly.</p> - -<p>You never thought it was to be like this. (Peters went -on talking glibly, and there was no need for the sitter -to say anything.)</p> - -<p>There is a gentleman here who is on the other side—he -went very suddenly. Fairly tall, rather broad, upright -(here the medium sat up very straight and squared his -shoulders)—rather long face, fairly long nose, lips full, -moustache, nice teeth, quick and active, strong sense of -humour—he could always laugh, keen sense of affection.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[ 131]</a></span></p> - -<p>He went over into the spirit world very quickly. There -is no idea of death because it was so sudden, with no -illness.</p> - -<p>Do you know anything connected with the letter L? -(No answer was given to this.)</p> - -<p>What I am going to say now is from Paul—he says: -"Tell mother it is not one L, it is double L." He says: -"Tell mother she always loved a riddle"—he laughs. -(L. L. and K. K. both said they could not understand.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> -'Moonstone' continued:—)</p> - -<p>They don't want to make it too easy for you, and -funnily enough, the easier it seems to you sometimes the -more difficult it seems to them.</p> - -<p>This man is a soldier—an officer. He went over where -it is warm.</p> - -<p>You are his mother, aren't you—and he does not call you -ma, or mamma, or mater—just mother, mother. -[True.]</p> - -<p>He is reticent and yet he told you a tremendous lot.</p> - -<p>You were not only his mother but his friend.</p> - -<p>Wasn't he clever with books? He laughs and says: -"Anyhow I ought to be, I was brought up with them." -He was not altogether a booky person.</p> - -<p>He knew of spiritualism before he passed over, but he -was a little bit sceptical—he had an attitude of carefulness -about it. He tells me to tell you this:</p> - -<p>The attitude of Mr. Stead and some of those people -turned him aside; on one side there was too much -credulity—on the other side too much piffling at -trifles.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[See also Appendix to this sitting.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He holds up in his hand a little heap of olives, as a -symbol for you—then he laughs. Now he says—for -a test—Associated with the olives is the word Roland.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> -All of this is to give you proof that he is here.</p> - -<p>Before you came you were very down in the dumps.</p> - -<p>Was he ill three weeks after he was hurt? [More like -three hours, probably less.]</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Various other guesses were made for the meaning of 3.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I see the figure 3 so plainly—can't you find a meaning -for it?</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(L. L. suggested 3rd Battalion, and 'Moonstone' continued:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says "Yes"—and wasn't he officially put down on -another one? [Perfectly true, he was attached to the -2nd Battalion at the Front, to the 3rd or reserve Battalion -while training.]<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> - -<p>He says: "Don't forget to tell father all this."</p> - -<p>His home is associated with books—both reading and -writing books. Wait a minute, he wants to give me a -word, he is a little impatient with me. Manuscripts, he -says, manuscripts—that's the word.</p> - -<p>He sends a message, and he says—this is more for father—"It -is no good his attempting to come to the medium -here, he will simply frighten the medium for all he is -worth, and he will not get anything. But he is not -afraid of you, and if there is communication wanted -with this man again, <i>you</i> must come."</p> - -<p>You have several portraits of this boy. Before he went -away you had got a good portrait of him—2—no, 3. -[Fully as many as that.]</p> - -<p>Two where he is alone and one where he is in a group -of other men. [This last is not yet verified.]<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> - -<p>He is particular that I should tell you of this. In one -you see his walking-stick ('Moonstone' here put an -imaginary stick under his arm). [Not known yet]</p> - -<p>He had particularly strong hands.</p> - -<p>When he was younger, he was very strongly associated -with football and outdoor sports. You have in your -house prizes that he won, I can't tell you what. [Incorrect; -possibly some confusion in record here; or else -wrong.]</p> - -<p>Why should I get two words—'Small' and 'Heath,'</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[ 133]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Small Heath is a place near Birmingham with which he -had some but not close associations.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Also I see, but very dimly as in a mist, the letters B I R. -[Probably Birmingham.]</p> - -<p>You heard of either his death or of his being hurt by -telegram.</p> - -<p>He didn't die at once. He had three wounds.</p> - -<p>I don't think you have got details yet. [No, not -fully.]</p> - -<p>If he had lived he would have made a name for himself -in his own particular line.</p> - -<p>Was he not associated with chemistry? If not, some -one associated with him was, because I see all the things -in a chemical laboratory.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[The next portion has already been reported in -<a href="#Page_96">Chapter III</a>, but I do not omit it from its context -here.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>That chemistry thing takes me away from him to a -man in the flesh.</p> - -<p>And connected with him a man, a writer of poetry, on -our side, closely connected with spiritualism.</p> - -<p>He was very clever—he too passed away out of -England.</p> - -<p>He has communicated several times.</p> - -<p>This gentleman who wrote poetry—I see the letter M—he -is helping your son to communicate.</p> - -<p>He is built up in the chemical conditions.</p> - -<p>If your son didn't know this man, he knew of him.</p> - -<p>At the back of the gentleman beginning with M and who -wrote poetry is a whole group of people.</p> - -<p>They are very interested. And don't be surprised if -you get messages from them, even if you don't know -them.</p> - -<p>This is so important that is going to be said now, that I -want to go slowly, for you to write clearly every word -(dictates carefully).</p> - -<p>"Not only is the partition so thin that you can hear -the operators on the other side, but a big hole has been -made."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[ 134]</a></span></p> - -<p>This message is for the gentleman associated with the -chemical laboratory.</p> - -<p>The boy—I call them all boys, because I was over a -hundred when I lived here and they are all boys to -me—he says, he is here, but he says: "Hitherto it -has been a thing of the head, now I am come over it -is a thing of the heart. What is more (here Peters -jumped up in his chair vigorously, snapped his fingers -excitedly, and spoke loudly):</p> - -<p>"Good God! how father will be able to speak out! much -firmer than he has ever done, because it will touch our -hearts."</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Does he want his father to speak out?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, but not yet—wait, the evidence will be given -in such a way that it cannot be contradicted, and -his name is big enough to sweep all stupid opposition -on one side.</p> - -<p>I was not conscious of much suffering, and I am -glad that I settled my affairs before I went.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[He did; he made a will just before leaving -England, and left things in good order. He also cleared up things when he -joined the Army.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Have you a sister of his with you, and one on -our side? A little child almost, so little that you -never associated her with him.</p> - -<p>There are two sisters, one on each side of him, -one in the dark and one in the light.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Raymond was the only boy sandwiched in between -two sisters; Violet older than he, and still living (presumably in the dark), -and Laura<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> -younger than he, died a few minutes after birth (in the light). -Raymond was the youngest boy, and had thus a -sister on either side of him.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Your girl is standing on one side, Paul on the -other, and your boy in the centre. (Here 'Moonstone' -put his arm round K. K.'s shoulder to show -how the boy was standing.) Now he stoops over you -and kisses you there (indicating the brow).</p> - -<p>Before he went away he came home for a little -while. Didn't he come for three days?</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(There is a little unimportant confusion in the -record about 'days.')</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[ 135]</a></span></p> - -<p>Then, with evident intention of trying to give a 'test,' -some trivial but characteristic features were mentioned -about the interior of three houses—the one we are in now, -the one we had last occupied at Liverpool, and the one he -called 'Mother's home.' But there is again some confusion -in the record, partly because M. F. A. L. didn't understand -what he was driving at, partly because the recorder -found it difficult to follow; and though the confusion was -subsequently disentangled through another medium next -day, 28 September, it is hardly worth while to give as -much explanation as would be needed to make the points -clear. So this part is omitted. (See p. <a href="#Page_145">145</a>).</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>And he wanted me to tell you of a kiss on the -forehead.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—He did not kiss me on the forehead when he -said good-bye.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Well he is taller than you, isn't he?</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Yes.)</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Not very demonstrative before strangers. But -when alone with you, like a little boy again.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—I don't think he was undemonstrative before -strangers.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Oh yes, all you English are like that. You lock -up your affection, and you sometimes lose the key.</p> - -<p>He laughs. He says you didn't understand about -Rowland. He can get it through now, it's a Roland -for your Oliver [p. <a href="#Page_131">131</a>].</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Excellent. By recent marriages the family has -gained a Rowland (son-in-law) and lost (so to speak) an Oliver (son).]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He is going. He gives his love to all.</p> - -<p>It has been easy for him to come for two reasons: -First, because you came to get help for -Madame.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> -Secondly, because he had the knowledge in this life.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>— -I hope it has been a pleasure to him to come?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Not a pleasure, a joy.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—I hope he will come to me again.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>As much as he can.</p> - -<p>Paul now wants to speak to his mother. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[ 136]</a></span></p> - -<h3><i>Appendix to First Peters Sitting</i></h3> - -<h4>NOTE ON RAYMOND'S OLD ATTITUDE TO<br /> -PSYCHO-PHYSICAL PHENOMENA</h4> - -<p>Mrs. Rowland Waterhouse has recently found among her -papers an old letter from Bedales School which she received -from her brother Raymond when she was in Paris during the -winter 1905-1906. The concluding part of it is of some small -interest in the light of later developments:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"I should like to hear more about table turning. I don't -believe in it. The girls here say they have done it at Steephurst, -and they attribute it to some sense of which we know nothing, -and which I want to turn to some account, driving a dynamo or -something, if it is possible, as they make out, to cause a table to -revolve without any exertion.—I am your affectionate brother,</p> - -<p class="right"> -"<span class="smcap">Raymond.</span>"<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Though K. K.'s record, being made at the time, reads L. L. -(meaning Lady Lodge) throughout. When she speaks, later on, I change the -L. L. of the record to her proper initials to avoid confusion.—O. J. L.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> This is clear, though apparently it was not so recognised -at the time. See later, pp. <a href="#Page_135">135</a> and <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Let it be understood, once for all, that remarks in square -brackets represent nothing said at the time, but are comments afterwards -by me when I read the record.—O. J. L.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> The photograph episode is described above, in Chapter IV, -in the light of later information.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> -Now apparently called Lily: see later.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> This is curious, because it was with Mrs. Leonard that -Madame had sat, not with Peters at all. It is a simple -cross-correspondence.</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[ 132]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[ 137]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER VIII</span><br /> -<span class="small">A TABLE SITTING</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">ON 28 September my wife and I together had a -table sitting with Mrs. Leonard, which may be -reported nearly in full together with my preliminary -note written immediately afterwards. This is done not -because it is a particularly good specimen, but because -these early sittings have an importance of their own, and -because it may be instructive to others to see the general -manner of a table sitting. It was, I think, the first joint-sitting -of any kind which we had had since the old Piper -days.</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Note by O. J. L. on Table Tiltings</span></h3> - -<p>A table sitting is not good for conversation, but it is -useful for getting definite brief answers—such as names -and incidents, since it seems to be less interfered with by -the mental activity of an intervening medium, and to be -rather more direct. But it has difficulties of its own. The -tilting of the table need not be regarded as a 'physical phenomenon' -in the technical or supernormal sense, yet it does -not <i>appear</i> to be done by the muscles of those present. The -effort required to tilt the table is slight, and evidentially it -must, no doubt, be assumed that so far as mechanical force -is concerned, it is exerted by muscular action. But my -impression is that the tilting is an incipient physical phenomenon, -and that though the energy, of course, comes from -the people present, it does not appear to be applied in quite -a normal way <a href="#Page_362">(XIV, Pt. III).</a></p> - -<p>As regards evidence, however, the issue must be limited -to intelligent direction of the energy. All that can safely -be claimed is that the energy is intelligently directed, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[ 138]</a></span> -the self-stoppage of the table at the right letter conveys -by touch a sort of withholding feeling—a kind of sensation -as of inhibition—to those whose hands lie flat on the top -of the table. The light was always quite sufficient to see -all the hands, and it works quite well in full daylight. -The usual method is for the alphabet to be called over, -and for the table to tilt or thump at each letter, till it stops -at the right one. The table tilts three times to indicate -"yes," and once to indicate "no"; but as one tilt also represents -the letter A of the alphabet, an error of interpretation -is occasionally made by the sitters. So also C might perhaps -be mistaken for "yes," or <i>vice versa</i>; but that mistake is not -so likely.</p> - -<p>Unconscious guidance can hardly be excluded, <i>i.e.</i> cannot -be excluded with any certainty when the answer is of -a kind expected. But first, our desire was rather in the -direction of avoiding such control; and second, the stoppages -were sometimes at unexpected places; and third, a -long succession of letters soon becomes meaningless, except -to the recorder who is writing them down silently, -as they are called out to him <i>seriatim</i>, in another part of -the room.</p> - -<p>It will also be observed that at a table sitting it is natural -for the sitters to do most of the talking, and that their object -is to get definite and not verbose replies.</p> - -<p>On this occasion the control of the table seemed to -improve as the sitting went on, owing presumably to increased -practice on the part of the communicator, until -towards the end, when there seemed to be some signs of -weariness or incipient exhaustion; and, since the sitting -lasted an hour and a half, tiredness is in no way surprising.</p> - -<p>No further attempt was made to keep our identity -from Mrs. Leonard: our name had been given away, as -reported near the end of <a href="#Page_125">Chapter VI</a>.</p> - -<h3><i>Table Sitting with Mrs. Leonard, Tuesday, 28 September<br /> -1915, at 5.30 p.m.</i></h3> - -<p class="center"><i>Present</i>—O. J. L., M. F. A. L., K. K., with <span class="smcap">Dr. Kennedy -at another Table As Recorder</span></p> - -<p>A small partly wicker table with a square top was used, about -18 inches square. O. J. L. and M. F. A. L. sat opposite to each -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[ 139]</a></span> -other; K. K. and Mrs. Leonard occupied the other positions, -Mrs. Leonard to the right of O. J. L. After four minutes' interval, -the table began to tilt.</p> - -<p><i>Medium.</i>—Will you tilt three times to show you understand?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(It did.)</p> -</div> - -<p><i>Medium.</i>—Will you like to give your name?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(It gave three tilts indicating Yes.)</span></p> -</div> - -<p><i>Medium.</i>—Very well, then, the alphabet. Spell it, please.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Mrs. Leonard here repeated the alphabet fairly quickly, -while the table tilted slightly at each letter as it was said,</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 11.6em;">stopping first at the letter P</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 15.2em;">then at the letter A</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">then U</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">then L.</span><br /> -</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">O. J. L.—Yes, very well, Paul; we know who you are, and you -know who we are, and we know that you have brought -Raymond, and have come to help.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">O. J. L.—We that are here know about this, and you have given -us evidence already, but I am here to get evidence for the family.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">O. J. L.—Would you like to say something first, before I ask a -question?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Silence.)</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">Then the table moved and shook a little, indicating -that it wanted the alphabet; and when the medium -recited the letters, it spelt out in the same -manner as before, <i>i.e.</i> by stopping at the one desired by -whatever intelligence was controlling the table:—</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">RAYMOND WANTS TO COME HIMSELF.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>Here M. L. ejaculated: "Dear Raymond," and sighed -unconsciously.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>The table spelt—it being understood that Raymond had -now taken control:—</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">DO NOT SIGH.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Was I sighing?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">O. J. L.—Yes, but you must not be so distressed; he doesn't -like it. He is there all right, and I am glad to have some -one on the other side.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes</span>.</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Raymond, your mother is much happier now.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes</span>.</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Now then, shall I ask you questions?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes</span>.</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Well now, wait a minute and take your time, and I will -ask the first question:—</p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 3em;">"What did the boys call you?"</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[ 140]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">The medium now again repeated the alphabet, the table -tilting to each letter as before,</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 14em;">first stopping at P</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">then at A</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">then at P again;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0em;">it then shook as if something was wrong.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>O. J. L.—Very well, try again, begin once more.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">Again it spelt <span class="smcap">Pap</span>, but again indicated dissent, and -tried again: at the third trial it appeared to spell</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Pas</span>.</p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Raymond dear, you have given two letters right, -try and give the third.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">It now stopped at T; making <span class="smcap">Pat</span>.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Yes, that is right.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[This was, of course, well in our knowledge and therefore -not strictly evidential, but it would not be in -the knowledge of the medium.] (Cf. p. <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes</span>.</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Well, now, you have done that, shall I ask another?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes</span>.</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Will you give the name of a brother?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">The alphabet was repeated as usual by the medium, -in a monotonous manner, the table tilting as before</span></p> -</div> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left:15em;">and stopping first at N</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 20.3em;">then at O</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 10.7em;">then going past E, it stopped at R</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 15.1em;">and the next time at M</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 10.2em;">then, by a single tilt, it indicated A or else "No."</span><br /> -</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">O. J. L., thinking that the letters R and M were wrong, -because the (to him) meaningless name <span class="smcap">Norman</span> was evidently being given, -took it as "No," and said:—</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—You are confused now, better begin again.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">The name accordingly was begun again, and this time it spelt</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">NOEL</span>.</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—That is right. [But see appended Note, p. <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.]</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">A slight pause took place here; the table then indicated -that it wanted the alphabet again, and spelt out -an apparently single meaningless word which Dr. -Kennedy, as he wrote the letters down, perceived to be</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">FIRE AWAY</span>.</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Oh! You want another question! Would you like -to say the name of an officer?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes</span>.</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Very well then, spell it.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Table spelt:—</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">MIP</span>,<br /> -then indicated error.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[ 141]</a></span></p> - -<p>O. J. L.—Not P?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Well, begin again.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">MITCHELL.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Then the officer's name is Mitchell?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Was he a captain?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Silence.)</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Was he a lieutenant?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Silence.)</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Was he a second lieutenant perhaps?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Apparent assent, but nothing forcible.)</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—I am now going to give a name away on purpose; I am -going to ask—Do you remember Case?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Would you like to say anything about him?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Very well then, let us have the alphabet.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Table spelt:—</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">HE IS A GOING A LLONG ALL RRIGHT.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Erasures signify errors which were made either by the -communicator or the interpreter, and are in accordance -with the record. The method was that -each letter, as understood, was called out, usually by me, -to the recorder. When a wrong letter was indicated, -or when there was obviously a duplication, it was -scratched out as above.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(After a short silence the spelling began again, it being -easy for the table to indicate to the medium, by -shaking or fidgeting, that she is wanted to -repeat the alphabet.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">HE IS HERE.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—What, on your side?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Thinking it referred to Lieutenant Case.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>A loud "<span class="smcap">No</span>."</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">HE IS HERE SPEAK.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>K. K. (interpreting for us).—It only means Raymond is here -and waiting.</p> - -<p>O. J. L.—Under what circumstances did you see him last?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(The answer was apparently a faint "<span class="smcap">Yes</span>.")</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Have you any special message, or did you give Case a -special message?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—What was it?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">SO IM NOT SO IM WUO</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Here some confusion was indicated; and M. F. A. L. -said, "Try and spell the name"—meaning for whom -the message was, if it was a message that -was intended, which was very doubtful.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[ 142]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">It seemed to me that he was trying to say, or remember, -what he had said to Lieutenant Case, who saw him after he had been struck; and that what -he thought he had said was "So I'm wounded"; but I thought -it unadvisable to continue on this tack, and rather regretted that I had begun it, since -it was liable to put him back into a period of reminiscence -which his friends would prefer that he did not dwell upon. Moreover, these last few -questions did not seem particularly to interest him, -and the responses were comparatively weak. Accordingly, I decided to switch him on to a -topic that would be more likely to interest him.) -</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Would you like your mother to go and see a friend of -yours?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Some names of friends of his were now correctly given, -but as we knew them I need not reproduce this part.)</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—I say, Raymond, would you like a Ford? [motor].</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(After a moment's apparent surprise:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Aren't you tired now?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Loud "<span class="smcap">No.</span>"</p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Raymond, I don't know Mitchell.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Well, that will be better evidence.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Is that why you chose it?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">AER</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Medium</span> (<i>sotto voce</i>).—No, that can't be right.</p> - -<p>O. J. L. (<i>ditto</i>).—I don't know; it may be. Go on.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">OPLANE.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—You mean that Mitchell is an aeroplane officer?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"<span class="smcap">Yes</span>" (very loud).</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">M. F. A. L. (misunderstanding, and thinking that he had said -that he would like an aeroplane in preference to a Ford).—Still -at your jokes, Raymond!</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Then again the table indicated, by slight rocking, that -the alphabet was wanted; and it spelt:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">RAYMOND IS BEATING U.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(The sitters here made a little explanatory comment -to each other on what they understood this unimportant -sentence to mean; after which O. J. L. -appears to have said:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—I don't like bothering you.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">Table moved, indicating that it was no trouble.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Raymond, can you see us?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Can you see that I have been writing to you? [See <a href="#Page_10">Part I, p. 10</a>.]</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[ 143]</a></span></p> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Can you read what I am writing?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—How do you read it? By looking over my shoulder?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">Table again called for alphabet and spelt:—</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">SENSE IT.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Shall you ever be able to write through my hand -do you think?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Silence.)</p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Well, anyhow, you would like me to try?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Raymond, have you plenty to do over there?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Loud "<span class="smcap">Yes.</span>"</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Well, look here, I am going to give another name away.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Oh! You prefer not! Very well, I will ask you in -this way: Have you met any particular friend of mine?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Very well then, spell his name.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">The table spelt:—</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">MYRES AND GRA.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">Here O. J. L. thought that he had got wrong—rather -suspected that the A meant "No," and stupidly -said:—</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">O. J. L.—Well, it doesn't matter, it won't be evidential, so I -may as well guess what you mean: Is it Gurney?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">The table assented. But it still went on spelling. It -again spelt:—</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">GRA</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">and then</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">ND</span>,</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">at which O. J. L. queried: Grand men?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">The table dissented, and went on and spelt:—</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">FATHER.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">O. J. L.—Oh! You mean Grandfather!</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">M. F. A. L.—Is he with Myers and Gurney?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Emphatic "<span class="smcap">No.</span>"</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">M. F. A. L.—Which grandfather is it that you mean? Give the -first letter of his Christian name.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">W.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">M. F. A. L.—Dear Grandpapa! He would be sure to come and -help you!</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">O. J. L.—I say, do you like this table method better than the -'Feda' method?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">O. J. L.—But you remember that you can send anything you -want specially through Paul always?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">O. J. L.—That was a grand sitting yesterday that your mother -had! [<i>i.e.</i> the one with Peters.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[ 144]</a></span></p> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Do you remember showing olives?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—What did you mean by them?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">OLIVER.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Then we now understand—A Roland for an Oliver.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">O. J. L.—You intended no reference to Italy? [We had been -doubtful at first of the significance of the olives; see p. <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—But you were interested in Italy?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Do you remember anyone special in Italy?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Well, spell the name.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(A name was spelt correctly.)</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—You <i>are</i> clever at this!</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Loud "<span class="smcap">Yes.</span>"</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—You always did like mechanical things.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Can you explain how you do this? I mean how you -work the table?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;"> -The table then spelt with the alphabet for a long time, -and as the words were not divided up, the sitters lost -touch, one after the other, with what was -being said. I, for instance, lost touch after the word -"magnetism," and, for all I know, it was nonsense -that was being said; but the recorder put all the -letters down as they came, each letter being called -out by me according to the stoppages of the table, -and the record reads thus:—</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">You all supply magnetism gathered in medium, and -that goes into table; and we manipulate.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[The interest of this is due to the fact that the table -was spelling our coherent words, although the -sitters could hardly, under the circumstances, be -exercising any control. Naturally, this does not -prevent the medium from being supposed to be -tilting out a message herself, and hence it is quite -unevidential of course; but, in innumerable other -cases, the things said were quite outside the knowledge -of the medium.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—It is not what <i>I</i> should call "magnetism," is it?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—But you do not object to the term?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L—Paul's mother offers to take messages from you, and -if she gets them, she will transmit them to us.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L—So when you want to get anything special through, -just speak to Paul.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[ 145]</a></span></p> - -<p>O. J. L.—And sometimes I shall be able to get a message back -to you.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Loud "<span class="smcap">Yes</span>."</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;"> -(In answer to a question about which of his sisters were -at school with a specified person, the names of the -right two sisters were now spelt out:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Rosalind.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;"> -[We generally spell the name Rosalynde, but it was -spelt here Rosalind as shown.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">BARBARA.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Isn't it clever of him?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Loud and amusing "<span class="smcap">Yes</span>."</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—I never thought you would do it so quickly.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Can you still make acrostics? [O. J. L. immediately -regretted having asked this leading sort of question, but it -was asked.]</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>K. K.—You are not going to make one now?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Can you see me, Raymond, at other times when I -am not with a medium?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Alphabet called for, and spelt:—</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">SOMETIMES.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—You mean when I think of you?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—That must be very often.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Loud "<span class="smcap">Yes</span>."</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[When a 'loud' <span class="smcap">Yes</span> or <span class="smcap">No</span> -is stated, it means that the table tilted violently, bumping on the floor and -making a noise which impressed the recorder, so -that the words "loud bumps" were added in the -record.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[I then asked him about the houses (of which he had -specified some identifying features at a previous sitting -through Peters on 27 September). He seemed to regret that there had been some confusion, and -now correctly spelt out <span class="smcap">GROVEPARK</span> as the name of -one house, and <span class="smcap">NEWCASTLE</span> as -the place where'Mother's home' was. But I omit details, as before.] -(See p. <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.)</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—-Tell Mr. Myers and Mr. Gurney that I am glad to hear -from them and that they are helping you.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Give my affectionate regards to Mr. Gurney for a -message which he got through for me some time ago.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Now you must rest.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—One of your record sleeps.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Loud "<span class="smcap">Yes</span>."</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[ 146]</a></span></p> - -<p>O. J. L.—Good-bye, I will tell the family to-morrow.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Alec especially.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Noël will love to have his name spelt out.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Well, good-bye, old man, we shall hear from you again.</p> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Good-bye, Raymond darling.</p> - -<p>O. J. L.—Before we stop, does Paul want to say a word?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Paul was then understood to take control, and spelt -out:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">HE IS GETTING ON WELL.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(We then thanked Paul for helping, and said good-bye.)</span></p> -</div> - -<p class="center">(<i>End of sitting.</i>)</p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p>To complete the record I shall append the few annotations -which I made a couple of days afterwards, before I -supplement them with later information.</p> - -<h3><i>Contemporary Annotations for Table Sitting on<br /> -28 September</i></h3> - -<p>Very many things were given right at the sitting above -recorded, and in most cases the rightness will be clear from -the comments of the sitters as recorded. But two names -are given on which further annotation is necessary, because -the sitters did not understand them; in other words, they -were such as, if confirmed, would furnish excellent and -indeed exceptional evidence.</p> - -<p>The first is 'Norman,' about which a very important -report could be made at once; but I think it better not to -put anything in writing on that subject even now, at the -present stage, since it is quite distinct, unforgettable, and -of the first importance.</p> - -<p>The other is the name 'Mitchell,' which at present we -have had no opportunity for verifying; hence annotation -on that must be postponed. Suffice it to say that to-day -(6 October 1915) it remains unknown. Whether an Army -List has been published this year seems doubtful, and on -the whole unlikely; and no Army List later than 1909 has -been so far accessible. Such few inquiries as have up to -now been made have drawn blank. [See, however, three -pages further on.]</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[ 147]</a></span></p> - -<h3><i>Later Information</i></h3> - -<p>On 10 October Mrs. Kennedy, alone, had some automatic -writing as follows:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Mother, Paul is bringing Raymond. I have him -here; he will speak to you....</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"Please listen carefully now I want to speak to -you about <span class="smcap">Norman</span>. There is a special meaning -to that because we always called my brother -Alec Norman, the (muddle ...)."</p> -</div> - -<p>(K. K. said that she couldn't get the rest clearly.)</p> - -<p>On 12 October we had a sitting with Mrs. Leonard, -K. K. also present, and I said to 'Raymond':—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">Do you want to say anything more about that name -'Norman'? You gave a message about it to Mrs. -Kennedy, but I don't know whether she got it clearly. -Perhaps you want to amplify it? If so, now is your -chance. (The reply spelt out was:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">I told her that I called Lionel.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>On which K. K. said: "I am afraid I often get names -wrong. I suppose I got the name of the wrong -brother." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Note by O. J. L. about the name 'Norman'</span></h3> - -<p>It appears that 'Norman' was a kind of general nickname; -and especially that when the boys played hockey -together, which they often did in the field here, by way of -getting concentrated exercise, Raymond, who was specially -active at this game, had a habit of shouting out, -"Now then, Norman," or other words of encouragement, -to any of his other brothers whom he wished to stimulate, -especially apparently Lionel, though sometimes Alec and the -others. That is what I am now told, and I can easily realise -the manner of it. But I can testify that I was not aware -that a name like this was used, nor was Lady Lodge, we -two being the only members of the family present at the -Leonard table sitting where the name 'Norman' was given. -(See p. <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.)</p> - -<p>It will be remembered that at that sitting I first asked -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[ 148]</a></span> -him what name the boys had called him, and, after a few -partial failures, obviously only due to mismanagement of -the table, he replied, 'Pat,' which was quite right. I -then asked if he would like to give the name of a brother, -and he replied 'Norman,' which I thought was quite wrong. -I did not even allow him to finish the last letter. -I said he was confused, and had better begin again; after -which he amended it to '*Noël,' which I accepted as correct. -But it will now be observed that the name 'Norman' -was the best he could possibly give, as a kind of -comprehensive nickname applicable to almost any brother. -And a nickname was an appropriate kind of response, -because we had already had the nickname 'Pat,' Furthermore, -on subsequent occasions he explained that it was -the name by which he had called Lionel; and, through -Mrs. Kennedy—if she did not make a mistake—that it was -a name he had called Alec by. It is quite possible, however, -that he had intended to say 'Lionel' on that occasion, -and that she got it wrong. I am not sure how that may -be. Again, at a later stage, in a family sitting—no medium -present—one of the boys said, "Pat, do you remember 'Norman'?" -at which with some excitement, the girls only touching -the table, he spelt out '<span class="smcap">Hockey</span>'; thus completing the -whole incident.</p> - -<p>The most evidential portions, however, are those obtained -when nobody present understood what was being said—namely, -first, the spelling of the name 'Norman' when those -present thought that it was all a mistake after the first two -letters; and secondly, the explanation to Mrs. Kennedy that -it was a name by which he had called one of his brothers, -showing that it was originally given by no accident, but -with intention.</p> - -<p>As to the name 'Pat' (p. <a href="#Page_140">140</a>), I extract the following -from a diary of Noël, as evidence that it was very much -Raymond's nickname; but of course we knew it:—</p> - -<p> -1914<br /> -"Sept. 9. Pat goes to L'pool <i>re</i> Commission.<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">" 10. Pat gets commission in 3rd South Lanc's.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">" 14. Pat collecting kit. We inspect revolvers.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">" 18. Pat comes up to Harborne for some rifle practice.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 7em;">Does not find it too easy.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">" 19. I become member of Harborne Rifle Club.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">" 20. Pat shoots again.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[ 149]</a></span></p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.25em;">Sept. 23. Pat leaves for L'pool to start his training at Great Crosby.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">I give up commission-idea for the present.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Oct. 17. Pat comes home to welcome Parents back from Australia.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1.25em;"> " 20. Pat returns to L'pool."</span><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><i>Note on the name 'Mitchell' (added later)</i></h3> - -<p>It can be remembered that, when asked on 28 September -for the name of an officer, Raymond spelt out <span class="smcap">Mitchell</span>, -and indicated decisively that the word <span class="smcap">Aeroplane</span> was connected -with him; he also assented to the idea that he was -one whom the family didn't know, and that so it would be -better as evidence (pp. <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>).</p> - -<p>After several failures at identification I learnt, on 10 -October, through the kind offices of the Librarian of the -London Library, that he had ascertained from the War -Office that there was a 2nd Lieut. E. H. Mitchell now -attached to the Royal Flying Corps. Accordingly, I wrote -to the Record Office, Farnborough; and ultimately, on 6 -November, received a post card from Captain Mitchell, to -whom I must apologise for the, I hope, quite harmless use -of his name:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"Many thanks for your kind letter. I believe I have met -your son, though where I forget. My wounds are quite healed, -and I am posted to Home Establishment for a bit, with rank of -Captain. Your letter only got here (Dover) from France this -morning, so please excuse delay in answering.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">E. H. Mitchell.</span>"</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p>In concluding this chapter, I may quote a little bit of -non-evidential but characteristic writing from 'Paul.' It -was received on 30 September 1915 by Mrs. Kennedy, when -alone, and her record runs thus:—</p> - -<p>(After writing of other things, I <i>not</i> having asked anything -about Raymond.)</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"I think it hardly possible for you to believe how -quickly Raymond learns; he seems to believe all -that we have to fight to teach the others.</p> - -<p>"Poor chaps, you see no one has told them before they -come over, and it is so hard for them when they see -us and they feel alive, and their people keep on -sobbing.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[ 150]</a></span></p> - -<p>"The business for you and me gets harder and harder -as the days go on, mother; it needs thousand at -this work, and you are so small.</p> - -<p>"I feel that God helps us, but I want Him to find -others, darling; there is no time to waste either in -your place or mine, but I know you are trying ever -so hard."</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[ 151]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER IX</span><br /> -<span class="small">ATTEMPTS AT STRICTER EVIDENCE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">IN a Table Sitting it is manifest that the hypothesis -of unconscious muscular guidance must be pressed -to extremes, as a normal explanation, when the communications -are within the knowledge of any of the people -sitting at the table.</p> - -<p>Many of the answers obtained were quite outside the -knowledge of the medium or of Mrs. Kennedy, but many -were inevitably known to us; and in so far as they were -within our knowledge it might be supposed, even by ourselves, -that we partially controlled the tilting, though of -course we were careful to try not to do so. And besides, -the things that came, or the form in which they came, were -often quite unexpected, and could not consciously have -been controlled by us. Moreover, when the sentence -spelt out was a long one, we lost our way in it and could -not tell whether it was sense or nonsense; for the words -ran into each other. The note-taker, who puts each -letter down as it is called out to him by the sitters at the -table, has no difficulty in reading a message, although, -with the words all run together, it hardly looks intelligible -at first sight, even when written. For instance:—</p> - -<p class="center">BELESSWORRIEDALECPLEASEOLDCHAP,</p> - -<p>which was one message, or:—</p> - -<p class="center">GATHEREDINMEDIUMANDTHATGOESINTOTABLEANDWEMANIPULATE,</p> - -<p>which was part of another. Neither could be readily -followed if called out slowly letter by letter.</p> - -<p>Still, the family were naturally and properly sceptical -about it all.</p> - -<p>Accordingly, my sons devised certain questions in the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[ 152]</a></span> -nature of tests, referring to trivial matters which they -thought would be within Raymond's recollection, but -which had happened to them alone during summer excursions -or the like, and so were quite outside my knowledge. -They gave me a few written questions, devised in -conclave in their own room; and on 12 October I took -them to London with me in a sealed envelope, which I -opened in the train when going up for a sitting; and after -the sitting had begun I took an early opportunity of -putting the questions it contained. We had already had -(on 28 September, reported in last chapter) one incident of -a kind unknown to us, in the name 'Norman,' but they -wanted more of the same or of a still more marked kind. -I think it will be well to copy the actual contemporary -record of this part of the sitting in full:— -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><i>Second Table Sitting of O. J. L. and M. F. A. L. with<br /> -Mrs. Leonard, 12 October 1915, 5.30 p. m.</i></h3> - -<p class="center"><i>Present.</i>—<span class="smcap">O. J. L., M. F. A. L., K. K., with Dr. Kennedy<br /> -as Recorder</span> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>At the beginning of the sitting O. J. L. explained that -they were now engaged in trying to get distinct and crucial -evidence; that preparations had been made accordingly; -and that no doubt those on the other side approved, and -would co-operate.</p> - -<p>A pause of three and a half minutes then ensued, and -the table gave a slow tilt.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Is Paul there?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Have you brought Raymond?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Are you there, Raymond?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span> (after M. F. A. L. had greeted him).—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Well now, look here, my boy, I have got a few questions which your brothers think you will -know something about, whereas to me they are quite meaningless. -Their object is to make quite sure that we don't unconsciously help in getting the answers because -we know them. In this case that is impossible, -because nobody here knows the answers at all. Do you understand the object?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[ 153]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Very well then, shall I begin?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Oh! You want to say something yourself -first?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Very well then, the alphabet.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">TELLTHEMINOWTRYTOPROVEIHAVEMESSAGESTOTHEWORLD.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Taking these long messages down is rather -tedious, and it is noteworthy that the sitters lose their way sooner or later—I had -no idea what was coming or whether it was sense—but of course when it is complete -the recorder can easily interpret, and does so.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Is that the end of what you want to say yourself?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well then, now I will give you one of the boys' -questions, but I had better explain that you may not in every case understand the reference yourself. We -can hardly expect you to answer all of -them, and if you don't do one, I will pass on to another. But don't hurry, and we will take down -whatever you choose to say on each of them. The first -question is:—</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—"Do you remember anything about the Argonauts?"</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Silence for a short time.)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—'Argonauts' is the word. Does it mean anything -to you? Take your time.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well, would you like to say what you remember?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">Then, by repeating the alphabet, was spelt:—</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">TELEGRAM.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Is that the end of that answer?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[ 154]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well, now I will go on to the second question -then. "What do you recollect about Dartmoor?"</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">The time for thought was now much briefer, -and the table began to spell pretty soon:—</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>COMING DOWN.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Is that all?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Very well then, continue.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">HILL FERRY.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Is that the end of the answer?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes</span>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Very -well then, now I will go on to the third -question, which appears to be a bit complicated. -"What do the following suggest to you:—</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Evinrude<br /> -O. B. P.<br /> -Kaiser's sister."</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(No good answers were obtained to these -questions: they seemed to awaken no reminiscence.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">Asked the name of the man to whom Raymond -had given his dog, the table spelt out -<span class="smcap">STALLARD</span> quite correctly. But this was -within our knowledge.)</span></p> -</div> - -<p class="center">(<i>End of extract from record</i>.)</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Note on the Reminiscences awakened by the<br /> -Words 'Argonauts' and 'Dartmoor'</span></h3> - -<p>On reporting to my sons the answers given about -'Argonauts' and 'Dartmoor' they were not at all -satisfied.</p> - -<p>I found, however, from the rest of the family that the -word <span class="smcap">TELEGRAM</span> had a meaning in connexion with -'Argonauts'—a meaning quite unknown to me or to my -wife—but it was not the meaning that his brothers had -expected. It seems that in a previous year, while his -mother and I were away from home, the boys travelled -by motor to somewhere in Devonshire, and (as they -think) at Taunton Raymond had gone into a post office, -sent a telegram home to say that they were all right, and -had signed it 'Argonauts.' The girls at home remembered -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[ 155]</a></span> -the telegram quite well; the other boys did not specially -remember it.</p> - -<p>The kind of reference they had wanted, Raymond gave -ultimately though meagrely, but only after so much time -had elapsed that the test had lost its value, and only -after I had been told to switch him on to "Tent Lodge, -Coniston," as a clue.</p> - -<p>Now that I know the answer I do not think the question -was a particularly good one; and the word 'telegram,' -which they had not expected and did not want, -seems to me quite as good an incident as the one which, -without a clue, they had expected him to recall in connexion -with 'Argonauts.' Besides, I happened myself to know -about an Iceland trip in Mr. Alfred Holt's yacht 'Argo' -and its poetic description by Mr. Mitchell Banks and Dr. -Caton in a book in the drawing-room at Tent Lodge, -Coniston (though the boys were not aware of my knowledge), -but it never struck me that this was the thing -wanted; and if it had come, the test would have been of -inferior quality.</p> - -<p>Concerning the answer to 'Dartmoor,' his brothers said -that <span class="smcap">COMING DOWN HILL</span> was correct but incomplete; and -that they didn't remember any <span class="smcap">FERRY</span>. I therefore on -another occasion, namely, on 22 October, during a sitting -with Feda (that is to say, not a table sitting, but one -in which Mrs. Leonard's control Feda was speaking and -reporting messages), said—still knowing nothing about the -matter beyond what I had obtained in the table sitting—"Raymond, -do you remember about 'Dartmoor' and the -hill?"</p> - -<p>The answer is recorded as follows, together with the -explanatory note added soon afterwards—though the -record is no doubt a little abbreviated, as there was some -dramatic representation by Feda of sudden swerves and -holding on:— -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h4><i>From Sitting of O. J. L. and M. F. A. L. on</i><br /> -22 <i>October</i> 1915. <i>'Feda' speaking</i></h4> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Raymond, do you remember about Dartmoor and -the hill?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[ 156]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he said something about that. He says it -was exciting. What is that he says? Brake—something -about a brake—putting the brake on. Then he -says, sudden curve—a curve— he gives -Feda a jerk like going round a quick curve.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[I thought at the time that this was only -padding, but subsequently learnt from Alec that it was right. It was on a very long -night-journey on their motor, when the -silencer had broken down by bursting, at -the bottom of an exceptionally steep hill, and there was an unnerving -noise. The one who was driving went down other steep -hills at a great pace, with sudden applications of the brake and sudden quick -curves, so that those at the back felt it dangerous, -and ultimately had to stop him and insist on going slower. Raymond was in front with -the one who was driving. The sensations of those at -the back of the car were strongly connected with the brake and with curves; -but they had mainly expected a reference from Raymond to the noise from the broken -silencer, which they ultimately repaired during the same night with tools -obtained at the first town they stopped at.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Did he say anything about a ferry?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, he doesn't remember that he did.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well, I got it down.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>There is one: all the same there is one. But -he didn't mean to say anything about it. He says it was a stray thought that he didn't mean to give -through the table. He has found one or two things -come in like that. It was only a stray thought. You have got what you wanted, he says. 'Hill,' -he meant to give, but not 'ferry.' They have -nothing to do with each other.</p> -</div> - -<p>On a later occasion I took an opportunity of catechising -him further about this word <span class="smcap">FERRY</span>, since none of -the family remembered a ferry, or could attach any -significance to the word. He still insisted that his -mention of a ferry in connexion with a motor trip was not -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[ 157]</a></span> -wrong, only he admitted that "some people wouldn't -call it a ferry." I waited to see if any further light would -come; and now, long afterwards, on 18 August 1916 I -receive from Alec a note referring to a recent trip, this -month, which says:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"By the way, on the run to Langland Bay -(which is the motor run we all did the year before -the run to Newquay) we pass through Briton Ferry; -and there is precious little ferry about it."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>So even this semi-accidental reminiscence seems to be -turning out not altogether unmeaning; though probably -it ought not to have come in answer to 'Dartmoor.' (See -more about Dartmoor on p. <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.) -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">General Remarks on this Type of Question</span></h3> - -<p>It will be realised, I think, that a single word, apart -from the context, thus thrown at a person who may be in -a totally different mood at the time, is exceedingly difficult; -and on the whole I think he must be credited with -some success, though not with as much as had been hoped -for. If his brothers had been present, or had had any -interview with him in the meantime, it would have spoilt -the test, considered strictly; nevertheless, it might have -made the obtaining of the answers they wanted much -more feasible, inasmuch as in their presence he would -have been in their atmosphere and be more likely to remember -their sort of surroundings. Up to this date they -had not had any sitting with a medium at all. In -presence of his mother and myself, and under all the -circumstances, and what he felt to be the gravity of some -of his recent experiences, it is not to me surprising that -the answers were only partially satisfactory; though, -indeed, to me they seem rather good. Anyhow, they -had the effect of stimulating his brothers to arrange some -sittings with a table at home on their own account.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[ 158]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER X</span><br /> -<span class="small">RECORD CONTINUED</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>I might make many more extracts from this sitting -of 22 October, of which a short extract has just been -quoted, because, though not specially evidential, -they have instructive and so to speak common-sense -features, but it is impossible to include everything. I -will therefore omit most of it, but quote a little, not -because it is evidential, but because what is said may be -instructive to inquirers. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3>FROM O. J. L. AND M. F. A. L. SITTING WITH<br /> -MRS. LEONARD, <span class="small">22</span> OCTOBER <span class="small">1915</span></h3> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He wants to gather evidence and give something clearly. -He seems to think that his brother had been coming here -(looking about).</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Your brother will come to see you to-morrow. [He -was not coming to Mrs. Leonard.]</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Where is he? He got the impression that he had either -been here or should be here now; he has got the thought -of him. He has been trying to get into touch with -him himself; he has been trying to speak to him. Seems to -have something to do with Mrs. Kathie,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> and he has tried -to write to him. The trouble is, that he can't always see -distinctly. He feels in the air, but can't see always distinctly. -(To M. F. A. L.) When you are sitting at the -table he sees you, and can see what you have got on. -When he tries to come to you, he can only sense you; but -at the table he can see you. -</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Has he seen his brothers at a table?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, not at the table. He sensed them, and he thought -they were trying to speak to him; but didn't feel as if he -was going to get near. It has something to do with a -medium. Medium. [Meaning that they were trying to do -without a medium.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[ 159]</a></span></p> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—When did he see me?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>When a medium is present he sees you quite distinctly. -He saw you, not here, but at another place. Oh, it was -in London, another place in London, some time ago. He -was surprised to see you, and wondered how he could. -[Presumably the occasion intended was when Mrs. Kennedy, -who herself has power, was present as well as Peters.] -He can only think the things he wants to say.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> [Then -reverting to his brothers' attempts at Mariemont.] -"Tell them to go on. I shall never get tired. Never! -Tell them to have patience. It is more interesting to me -than to them." He does not seem sure if he got anything -through. It is so peculiar. Even here, he is not always -quite certain that he has said what he wanted to say, -except sometimes when it is clear and you jump at it. -Sometimes then he feels, "I've got that home, anyway!" -He has got to feel his way. They must go easy with him—not -ask too much all at once. If they have plenty of -patience, in a while he will be able to come and talk as if -he were there. -</p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Do you mean with the voice?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, with the table.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>More important than talking is to get things through -with his own people, and to give absolute evidence. He -doesn't want them to bother him with test questions till he -feels at home. It doesn't matter here, where there is a -medium, but the conditions there are not yet good. Tell -them to take for granted that it is he, and later on he will -be able to talk to them and say all he wishes to say. The -boys are so eager to get tests. When grandpapa comes, it -is to relieve him a little, while he is not there. He doesn't -himself want to speak. -</p> - -<p>Twice a week, he says.</p> - -<p>He is bringing a girl with him now—a young girl, -growing up in the spirit world. She belongs to Raymond: -long golden hair, pretty tall, slight, brings a lily -in her hand. There is another spirit too who passed out -very young—a boy; you wouldn't know him as he is now; -he looks about the same age as Raymond, but very spiritual -in appearance; he brings a W with him; he doesn't -know much of the earth plane, nor the lily either; he -passed over too young. They are both with Raymond now. -They look spiritual and young. Spirit people look young -if they passed on young. Raymond is in the middle between -them. He says this is not very scientific. [All this is -appropriate to a deceased brother and sister; the brother -older, the sister younger.]</p> - -<p>Raymond really is happy now. He doesn't say this to -make you feel satisfied. He is really happy now. He says -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[ 160]</a></span> -this is most interesting, and is going to be fifty times more -interesting than on the earth plane. There is such a big -field to work in. Father and he are going to do such a lot -together. He says, "I am going to help for all I am -worth." (To M. F. A. L.) If you are happy, I will be happier -too. You used to sigh; it had an awful effect on him, -but he is getting lighter with you. Father has been wonderful. -He is often with Paulie, and has been to see Mrs. -Kathie too.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Meaning Mrs. Katherine Kennedy. Feda, of course, is -speaking throughout.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—Which way does he find the easiest to come?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He is able to get to you by impression, and not only by -writing. He thinks he can make you hear. He is trying -to make you clair-audient. Let there be no misapprehension -about that. He does it in order to help himself. -He hopes to get something through.</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—You might send the same thing through different -channels.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he says. He need not say much, but is going -to think it out. He can get Mrs. K. to write it out, and -then get it through the table with them. He thinks he -will be able to do a lot with you, Mrs. Kathie. You know -that Paulie's here?</p> - -<p>(K. K. spoke to Paul for a short time.)</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Do you think it had better be tried on the same evening, -or on different evenings?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Try it on the same evening at first, and see what success -is got; if only one word came through the same, he -would be very pleased. He might get one word first, then -two, then two or three. Tell them to reserve a little time -for just that, and give him some time specially for it, not -mix it up with other things in the sittings.</p> -</div> - -<p>K. K.—Shall I ask him to write some word?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He will think of some word—no matter if it is meaningless. -What you have to do is, not to doubt, but take it -down. One word might be much more valuable than a -long oration. One word would do, no matter how silly -it sounded; even if it is only a jumble, so long as it is the -same jumble. He is jumping now. [Meaning, he is pleased -with the idea.] He says he finds it difficult owing to the -medium. He is not able to get through all he wants to -say, but on the whole thinks he got it pretty straight -to-night.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[The quickness with which the communicator jumped -at the idea of a cross-correspondence was notable, -because I do not think he had known anything about -them. It sounded rather like the result of rapid -Myersian instruction. I rather doubt if cross-correspondences -of this kind can be got through -Mrs. Kennedy, though she knows we are going to -try for them. The boys are quite willing to take -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[ 161]</a></span> -down any jumble, but she herself likes to understand -what she gets, and automatically rejects gibberish.—O. -J. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p>On 13 October, through the kind arrangement of Mrs. -Kennedy, we had an anonymous sitting with a medium -new to us, a Mrs. Brittain, of Hanley, Staffordshire, in -Mrs. Kennedy's house.</p> - -<p>It was not very successful—the medium seemed tired -and worried—but there were a few evidential points -obtained, though little or nothing about the boy; in the -waking stage, however, she said that some one was calling -the name 'Raymond.'</p> - -<p>At an interview next day with Mrs. Kennedy, Mrs. -Brittain said that a boy named 'Pat' had come with -Paul to see her on the evening after the sitting (see p. <a href="#Page_148">148</a> -for the significance of 'Pat'); and she described it in -writing to Mrs. Kennedy thus:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right"> -14 <i>October</i> 1915<br /> -</p> - -<p>"I was just resting, thinking over the events of the day, -and worrying just a little about my ordeal of next Monday, -when I became conscious of the presence of such a dear soldier -boy. He said, 'I am Pat, and oh, I did want to speak to my mother.' -Then I saw with him your dear boy [Paul]; he asked me to tell -you about Pat, and to give the message to his father that he would -get proof without seeking it."</p> -</blockquote> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> -Mrs. Kennedy's name is Katherine, and Feda usually speaks of her as Mrs. Kathie.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> This corresponds with an early statement made by "Myers" -through Mrs. Thompson. See <i>Proceedings</i>, S.P.R., vol. xxiii. -p. 221.</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[ 162]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XI</span><br /> -<span class="small">FIRST SITTING OF ALEC (A. M. L.)</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3><i>Introduction by O. J. L.</i></h3> - -<p class="drop-cap">A WORD may be necessary about the attitude of Raymond's -family to the whole subject. It may be thought that my -own known interest in the subject was naturally shared -by the family, but that is not so. So far as I can judge, it -had rather the opposite effect; and not until they had received -unmistakable proof, devised largely by themselves, was this -healthy scepticism ultimately broken down.</p> - -<p>My wife had had experience with Mrs. Piper in 1889, though -she continued very sceptical till 1906 or thereabouts, when she had -some extraordinarily good evidence. But none of this experience -was shared by the family, who read neither my nor anyone else's -books on the subject, and had no first-hand evidence. For the -most part they regarded it without interest and with practical -scepticism. If in saying this I convey the impression of anything -like friction or disappointment, the impression is totally false. -Life was full of interest of many kinds, and, until Raymond's -death, there was no need for them to think twice about survival or -the possibility of communication.</p> - -<p>The first sitting held by any of his brothers, apart from private -amateur attempts at home,—the first sitting, I may say, held by -any of them with any medium,—took place on 23 October, when -Alec had a sitting with Peters; his mother also was present, but -no names were given. Alec's record of this sitting, together with -his preliminary Note, I propose to quote practically in full.</p> - -<p>Alec and his mother went in the morning to Mrs. Kennedy's -house, where the sitting was to take place. M. F. A. L. stopped -on the way to buy a bunch of violets, which she put on Peters' -table. When he arrived and saw them, he was very pleased; -ejaculated "my flower," and said that he could not have had anything -that gave him more pleasure.</p> - -<p>I may here remark, incidentally, that Peters is a man who -takes his mediumship seriously, and tries to regulate his life so as -to get good conditions. Thus, he goes into the country at intervals, -and stops all work for a time to recuperate. He lives, in fact, -at Westgate-on-Sea, and only has a room in London. He seems -to lead a simple life altogether, and his "control" spoke of his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[ 163]</a></span> -having been prepared since six o'clock that morning for this -sitting.</p> - -<p>Alec went up prepared to take notes, and after the sitting -wrote the following preliminary account:— -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><i>A. M. L.'s Remarks on the Sitting</i></h3> - -<p>Mother and I arrived at Mrs. Kennedy's house at -five minutes to eleven. We saw Mrs. Kennedy, who -asked us if we would like her to be present. We said -yes. Then she told us that Peters had come, and that she -would ask him. Peters wanted her to be present.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Kennedy brought Peters up; he shook hands, -without any introduction. We had all gone up to Mrs. -Kennedy's private room, where Peters likes the sittings to -take place. We four sat round a table about four feet in -diameter. A. and M. with backs to one or other of the -two windows, K. and P. more or less facing them. A. -was opposite P.; M. was opposite K. There was plenty of -light, but the room was partly shaded by pulling down -blinds. They talked about street noises at first. P. held -K.'s and M.'s hands for a time. K. and M. talked together -a little. P. now moved about a little and rubbed his face -and eyes. Suddenly he jerked himself up and began talking -in broken English.</p> - -<p>During the trance his eyes were apparently closed all -the time; and when speaking to anyone he 'looked' at -them with his eyelids screwed up. Sometimes a change -of control occurred. While that was taking place, he -sat quiet, and usually held K.'s and M.'s hands until -another sudden jerk occurred, when he let go and started -talking.</p> - -<p>The sitting was rather disjointed, and most of it -apparently not of much importance, but for a few minutes -in the middle it was very impressive. It then felt to me -exactly as if my hand was being held in both Raymond's, -and as if Raymond himself was speaking in his own voice. -My right hand was being held, but even if I had had it free -I could not possibly have taken notes under the circumstances.</p> - -<p>(M. F. A. L. adds that neither could she nor anyone, -while that part of the sitting was going on.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[ 164]</a></span></p> - -<p>Peters spoke often very quickly, and sometimes indistinctly, -so that the notes are rather incomplete.</p> - -<p>(To this O. J. L. adds that it was Alec's first experience -of a sitting, and that, even with experience, it is -difficult to take anything like full notes.) -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><i>Report of Peters Sitting in Mrs. Kennedy's Room, at<br /> -11 a.m. on Saturday, 23 October 1915</i></h3> - -<p class="center">(Revised by the Sitters)</p> - -<p class="center"><i>Present</i>—<span class="smcap">Mrs. Kennedy</span> (K. K.), <span class="smcap">Lady Lodge</span> (M. F. A. L.),<br /> -<span class="smcap">Alec M. Lodge</span>, and the Medium—<span class="smcap">Vout Peters</span></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Report by</span> A. M. L. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>In a short time Peters went into trance, and 'Moonstone' -was understood to be taking control. He first made -some general remarks:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Good morning! I generally say, "Good evening," -don't I? Don't be afraid for Medie; he has -been prepared since six o'clock this morning. -Magnetism has to be stored up, and therefore it is -best to use the same room and the same furniture -every time.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply2"> -<p>Then he spoke to K. K.:—</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Will you call on little woman close to? It will -mean salvation to two people. [Abbreviated.]</p> -</div> - -<p>(K. K. understood.)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">Then the medium took M.'s hand.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Somebody not easy to describe; old lady; not -tall; grey hair, parted in centre; grey eyes; nose -thin; mouth fairly large and full. This describes -her as she was before she passed away. Had -big influence on your early life. Good character; -loving, but perhaps lived in narrow outlook; not -only a mother to her own belongings, but she -mothered every man, woman, or child she came -into contact with. She is here this morning and -has been before. Is it not your Mother?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—If it is my Mother, it is a great pleasure to -me.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[ 165]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>She has been with you and comforted you -through this trial.</p> - -<p>She has been, and will go on, looking after the -boy. You must not think she is not just as much -with you because she has no body. She is just as -much your mother. She <i>has</i> a body, though it is -different.</p> - -<p>(Pointing to A.) She is related to <i>him</i>. She -puts her hand on his shoulder. She is very proud -of what he is doing at the present time. He has -been a great help to you. Since the passing away -of him who is loved by you both, he has looked -on spiritualism with much more respect, because -previously it has not touched his heart. It is not -only a thing of the head, it is now a thing of the -heart.</p> - -<p>She suffered terribly before passing away. She -bore her suffering patiently.</p> - -<p>She put her finger on her lips and says: "I am -so proud of O.!" (Medium puts one finger on -middle of lips.)</p> - -<p>It has always been what I thought: the -triumph (?) has been a long time coming, but it will -come greater than had been anticipated. There -have been difficulties. I am glad of success. It -will come greater than before. The book that is to -be will be written from the heart, and not the head. -But the book will not be written now. <span class="smcap">Not now!</span> -<span class="smcap">Not now!</span> <span class="smcap">Not now!</span> (loud). Written later on. -<span class="smcap">The Book</span> which is going to help many and convert -many. The work done already is big. But -what is coming is bigger.</p> -</div> - -<p class="center">(Interval.) -</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Paul, sending a message to K. K.:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I have been drilling her to link up. You don't -know what it is. It is like teaching people to -transmit messages by the telegraph. Don't let -the boy come, let Granny come. (The medium -here imitated Paul's manner of sitting down and -pulling up the knees of his trousers.) She laughs -at the idea of being drilled.</p> - -<p>He says (Paul still communicating): You know, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[ 166]</a></span> -little Mother, you wonder why I was taken; but -it is a great deal better like this. Thousands of -people can be helped like this. You are the link, -and the means of reaching thousands of mothers.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Then 'Moonstone' was understood to say:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Returning to Madam (<i>i.e.</i> the old lady again, -and medium turning to M. F. A. L.), she says: -"I am so glad you not only told him what you did—this -is not to you but some one away (finger on -lips), somebody she will not give—and reached out -as you did."</p> - -<p>This is from Madam. She is going away.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—My love to her.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, no, no, she does not go away; she stands -back, to let some one else come forward—like -actors take turns at a theatre.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Then an impersonation of my Uncle Jerry -was represented, with the statement, "Your -husband will know who he is"; but this -part of the record is omitted as comparatively -unimportant. It was unintelligible -to the sitter.—O. J. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Then a new control came in, which was by -K. K. understood to be 'Redfeather.' When he arrived, the medium smacked -his hands and spoke to K. K.:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I come dis little minute to try experiment. If -we succeed, all right; if we don't, don't mind. -There will be some difficulties.</p> - -<p>You know me? (To K. K.)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">K. K.</span>—Yes. It is 'Redfeather.'</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Glad to see you better. You used to feel—a -hand on your head. It was a little girl. It was -your boy who brought her. Now I go. Just talk -a little.</p> -</div> - -<p>(K. K. then thanked the speaker for his help.)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Who could help better than me?</p> - -<p><span class="gesperrt">...</span> long ago I was killed.</p> - -<p>Who could help better?</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Then there was an interval, and evident -change of control. And speech very indistinct -at first.)</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[ 167]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I want to come.</p> - -<p>Call Mother to help me.</p> - -<p>Because you know.</p> - -<p>You understand.</p> - -<p>It wasn't so bad.</p> - -<p>Not so bad.</p> - -<p>I knew you knew the possibility of communicating, -so when I went out as I did, I was in a -better condition than others on the other side. -We had often talked about this subject, father -understanding it as he did; and now, coming -into touch with his strength, makes it easy.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Medium here reached out across the table to -A. and grasped his right hand, so that the -notes were temporarily interrupted. The -medium's arms were now both stretched out -across the table, with his head down on -them, and he held A.'s hand in both his. -All this time he spoke with great emotion: -the medium was shaken with sobs; his -head and neck were suffused with blood; -the whole circumstances were strained, and -strongly emotional; and the voice was -extraordinarily like Raymond's. A., too, -felt that his hands were being gripped in a -grasp just like Raymond's. This was the -central part of the sitting; and for the -time no notes could be taken, even by Mrs. -Kennedy. But after a bit the hand was -released, the strain rather lightened, and -notes continue which run thus:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[A. M. L. says, "In time the interval was brief," -but it was surcharged with emotion, strongly felt by all present.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>But no, wait.</p> - -<p>Because they tell me.</p> - -<p>I am not ashamed.</p> - -<p>I am glad.</p> - -<p>I tell you, I would do it again.</p> - -<p>I realise things differently to what one saw here.</p> - -<p>And oh, thank God, I can speak!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[ 168]</a></span></p> - -<p>But ——</p> - -<p>The boys help me.</p> - -<p>You don't know what he has done.</p> - -<p>Who could help?</p> - -<p>But I must keep quiet, I promised them to keep -calm.</p> - -<p>The time is so short.</p> - -<p>Tell father that I am happy.</p> - -<p>That I am happy that he has not come.</p> - -<p>If he had come here, I couldn't have spoken.</p> - -<p>I find it difficult to express what I want.</p> - -<p>Every time I come back it is easier.</p> - -<p>The only thing that was hard was just before.</p> - -<p>The 15th, do you understand?</p> - -<p>And the 12th.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[We do not clearly understand these dates.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>But every time I come it is better.</p> - -<p>Grandmamma helped or I couldn't.</p> - -<p>Now I must go.</p> - -<p>—— broken ——</p> - -<p>But I have done it, thank God!</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Then this special control ended; while the -medium murmured, as to himself, first the -word 'John,' and then the word 'God.' -Then the strain was relieved by a new -control, understood to be 'Biddy.')</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Surely it's meself that has come to speak. -Here's another mother. I am helping the boy. -I said to him to come out.</p> - -<p>(To <span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>) Just you go and do your work. -When the boy comes as he did, it upsets the -body. I come to help to soothe the nerves of -the medium. It is a privilege to help. I am -an old Irishwoman.</p> - -<p>(To <span class="smcap">K. K.</span>) You don't realise that the world -is governed by chains, and that you are one of -the links. I was a washerwoman and lived next -a church, and they say cleanliness comes next -to godliness! One of my chains is to help -mothers. Well, I am going. But for comfort,—the -boy is glad he is come. (To <span class="smcap">K. K.</span>) Your -husband is a fine man. I love him. His -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[ 169]</a></span> -heart's as big as his body, and it is not only -medicine, but love that he dispenses.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Then an interval; and another control—probably -'Moonstone' again, or else Peters himself -clairvoyantly:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>We succeeded a little in our experiment.</p> - -<p>Now the boy is with....</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Here the medium seized <i>both</i> Alec's hands, and -K. K. continues the notes.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[But they may be abbreviated here, as they represent -only Peters's ordinary clairvoyance—probably.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>You bring with you a tremendous force. You -don't always say what you think. A quick way -of making up your mind. Your intuitional force -is very strong. Your mind is very evenly balanced, -[and so on].... The last three months, things -have altered. It has stirred you to the depths of -your innermost being. You had no idea how strong -the bond was between you and one who has been -here to-day. Want to shield and take care of your -mother. You know her devotion to both you and the -one gone over....</p> - -<p>The one gone over is a brother. He wants to -send a message.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Some messages omitted.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>You did not cry, but heart crying inside.</p> - -<p>Help others. You are doing it. If you ever tried -to do what he did, you would physically break down. -All this is from him.</p> - -<p>(To Mother) So glad about the photograph. -Something you have had done that is satisfactory.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[This is good, but it only occurred to me to-day, -31 October. It evidently relates to two photographs -in a pocket case, found on his body, -which Raymond carried with him, and which -had been returned to the original by us.—A. M. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Wants to convey message to father, but it is not -about himself this time. I get the initials F W M—not -clear about all the letters—but F M wishes -to be remembered. He says: I am still very -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[ 170]</a></span> -active. Get into touch with Crookes <i>re</i> the -Wireless.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[O. J. L. was at Muirhead's works in Kent on -this subject, at this moment.—A. M. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Still active, still at work.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Spoken like "I see you are still active, still at -work."—A. M. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Then he gives me a curious thing, and laughs. -One of the things I am most proud of is "St. Paul."</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[This puzzled K. K., the note-taker.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(To Alec.) So glad you <i>came</i>, boy! What a lot -you think!</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Medium came-to, breathing and struggling. Said -he had been under <i>very</i> deep—like coming-to -after an anæsthetic.)</span></p> -</div> - -<h3>NOTE BY O. J. L.</h3> - -<p>Lady Lodge impressed me considerably with the genuine -and deeply affecting character of the above episode of personal -control. It was evidently difficult to get over for the -rest of the day. I doubt if the bare record conveys much: -though it may to people of like experience.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[ 171]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XII</span><br /> -<span class="small">GENERAL REMARKS ON CONVERSATIONAL<br /> -REPORTS AND ON CROSS-CORRESPONDENCES</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">IT may be asked why I report so much of what may be -called ordinary conversation, instead of abbreviating -and concentrating on specific instances and definite statements -of fact. I reply:—</p> - -<p class="p2">1. That a concentrated version is hard to read, while a -fuller version is really less tedious in spite of its greater -length. A record is always a poor substitute for actual -experience; and too much abbreviation might destroy whatever -relic of human interest the records possess.</p> - -<p class="p2">2. That abbreviation runs the risk of garbling and -amending; it is undesirable in reports of this kind to amend -style at the expense of accuracy.</p> - -<p class="p2">3. That the mannerisms and eccentricities of a 'control' -(or secondary personality) are interesting, and may be -instructive; at any rate they exhibit to a novice the kind -of thing to be expected.</p> - -<p class="p2">4. A number of inquiries want to know—and I think -properly want to know—what a sitting is like, what kind -of subjects are talked about, what the 'communicators'—<i>i.e.</i> -the hypothetical personalities who send messages -through the 'control'—have to say about their own feelings -and interests and state of existence generally. Hence, however -the record be interpreted, it seems better to quote some -specimens fully.</p> - -<p class="p2">5. I am aware that some of the records may appear -absurd. Especially absurd will appear the free-and-easy -statements, quoted later, about the nature of things 'on the -other side,'—the kind of assertions which are not only -unevidential but unverifiable, and which we usually either -discourage or suppress. I have stated elsewhere my own -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[ 172]</a></span> -reasons for occasionally encouraging statements of -this kind and quoting them as they stand. (See -beginning of <a href="#Page_191">Chapter XVI</a>.) And though I admit that to -publish them is probably indiscreet, I still think that the -evidence, such as it is, ought to be presented as -a whole.</p> - -<p class="p2">6. The most evidential class of utterance, what we call -cross-correspondence, is not overlooked; and while every -now and then it occurs naturally and spontaneously, sometimes -an effort is made to obtain it.</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Note about the Meaning of Cross-Correspondence</span></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p>It will be convenient to explain that by the term "Cross-correspondence" -is meant the obtaining through two or more -independent mediums, at about the same time, a message from a -single communicator on any one definite subject.</p> - -<p>It is usually impossible for the coincidence of time to be exact, -because both mediums may not be sitting at the same time. But -in some cases, wherein coincidence of subject is well marked, -coincidence in time is of little moment; always provided that the -subject is really an out-of-the-way or far-fetched one, and not one -common to every English-speaking person, like Kitchener or -Roberts or Jellicoe.</p> - -<p>Cross-correspondences are of various grades. The simplest -kind is when two mediums both use the same exceptional word, or -both refer to the same non-public event, without any normal reason -that can be assigned. Another variety is when, say, three mediums -refer to one and the same idea in different terms,—employing, for -instance, different languages, like 'mors,' 'death,' and 'thanatos.' -(See <i>Proc.</i>, S.P.R., xxii, 295-304.) Another is when the idea -is thoroughly masked and brought in only by some quotation—perhaps -by a quotation the special significance of which is -unknown to the medium who reproduces it, and is only detected -and interpreted by a subsequent investigator to whom all the -records are submitted. Sometimes a quotation is maltreated, -evidently with intention, by the communicator; the important -word to which attention is being directed being either omitted -or changed.</p> - -<p>A large number of examples of this more complex kind of -cross-correspondence are reported at length in the <i>Proceedings</i> of -the Society for Psychical Research; see especially vol. xxi. p. 369 -and xxii. <i>passim</i>, or a briefer statement in <i>Survival of Man</i>, -chap. xxv.</p> - -<p>Some of these instances as expounded by Mr. Piddington may -seem extraordinarily complicated and purposely concealed. That -is admitted. They are specially designed to eliminate the possibility -of unintended and unconscious telepathy direct from one -medium to another, and to throw the investigator back on what is -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[ 173]</a></span> -asserted to be the truth, namely that the mind of one single communicator, -or the combined mind of a group of communicators,—all -men of letters,—is sending carefully designed messages through -different channels, in order to prove primarily the reality of the -operating intelligence, and incidentally the genuineness of the -mediums who are capable of receiving and transmitting fragments -of messages so worded as to appear to each of them -separately mere meaningless jargon; though ultimately when all -the messages are put together by a skilled person the meaning is -luminous enough. Moreover, we are assured that the puzzles and -hidden allusions contained in these messages are not more difficult -than literary scholars are accustomed to; that, indeed, they are -precisely of similar order.</p> - -<p>This explanation is unnecessary for the simple cross-correspondences -(c.c.) sometimes obtained and reported here; but the -subject itself is an important one, and is not always understood -even by investigators, so I take this opportunity of referring to it -in order to direct the attention of those who need stricter evidence -to more profitable records.</p> -</blockquote> - -<h3><span class="smcap">General Note</span></h3> - -<p>Returning to the kind of family records here given, in -which evidence is sporadic rather than systematic though -none the less effective, one of the minor points, which -yet is of interest, is the appropriate way in which different -youths greet their relatives. Thus, while Paul calls his -father 'Daddy' and his mother by pet names, as he used -to; and while Raymond calls us simply 'Father' and -'Mother,' as he used to; another youth named Ralph—an -athlete who had fallen after splendid service in the war—greeted -his father, when at length that gentleman was -induced to attend a sitting, with the extraordinary salutation -"Ullo 'Erb!," spelt out as one word through the table; -though, to the astonishment of the medium, it was admitted -to be consistent and evidential. The ease and freedom with -which this Ralph managed to communicate are astonishing, -and I am tempted to add as an appendix some records -which his family have kindly allowed me to see, -but I refrain, as they have nothing to do with -Raymond.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[ 174]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XIII</span><br /> -<span class="small">AN O. J. L. SITTING WITH PETERS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">ON the 29th of October I had a sitting with Peters -alone, unknown to the family, who I felt sure were -still sceptical concerning the whole subject. It was -arranged for, as an anonymous sitting, by my friend Mr. -J. Arthur Hill of Bradford. The things said were remarkable, -and distinctly pointed to clairvoyance. I am doubtful -about reporting more than a few lines, however. There -was a great deal that might be taken as encouraging and -stimulating, intermixed with the more evidential portions. -A small part of this sitting is already reported in <a href="#Page_96">Chapter -III</a>, and might now be read by anyone interested in the historical -sequence.</p> - -<p>A few unimportant opening lines I think it necessary to -report, because of their connexion with another sitting:— -</p> - -<h3><i>Anonymous O. J. L. Sitting with A. Vout Peters at 15 -Devereux Court, Fleet Street, on Friday,<br /> -29 October 1915, from 10.30 to 11.45 a.m.</i></h3> - -<p class="center">(Sitter only spoken of as a friend of Mr. Hill)<a name="FNanchor_21_21" -id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> -</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">PETERS.</span>—Before we begin, I must say something: I feel -that I have a certain fear of you, I don't know what -it is, but you affect me in a most curious way. I -must tell you the honest truth before I am controlled....</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Whatever this may mean it corresponds with -what was said at the previous M. F. A. L. -Sitting, p. <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, though M. F. A. L. had sat -as a friend of Mrs. Kennedy in her house, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[ 175]</a></span> -and I sat as a friend of Mr. Hill in Peters's -room, and no sort of connexion was indicated -between us].</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Soon afterwards the medium twitched, snapped -his fingers, and began to speak as 'Moonstone':—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"I come to speak to you, but I must get my -Medie deep; we get superficial control first, and then -go deeper and deeper; with your strong personality -you frighten him a little; I find a little fear in the -medium.... You bring with you a tremendous -amount of work and business," etc.</p> - -<p>Now I get a new influence: an old lady, medium -height, rounded face; light eyes; grey hair; small -nose; lips somewhat thin, or held together as suppressed; -a lady with very strong will; tremendously -forcible she is. She passed away after leading a -very active life....</p> - -<p>She's a very good woman. It is not the first time -she has come back. She tells me to tell you that -they are all here. <span class="smcap">All</span>. Because they are trying -to reach out to you their love and sympathy at the -present occasion, and they are thanking you both for -the opportunity of getting back to you. "We are -trying all we can also to bring him back to you, to -let you realise that your faith, which you have held -as a theory"—it is curious, but she wants me to -say her message word for word—"as a theory for -years, shall be justified." Then she rejoices ... -(and refers to religious matters, etc.). [This clearly -suggested the relative whose first utterance of this -kind is reported so long ago as 1889 in <i>Proc.</i>, S.P.R., -vol. vi. p. 468 & 470.]</p> - -<p>Now she brings up a young man from the back. -I must explain what we mean by 'the back' some -time.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—But I understand.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He is of medium height; somewhat light eyes; -the face browned somewhat; fairly long nose; the -lips a little full; nice teeth. He is standing pretty -quiet.</p> - -<p>Look here, I know this man! And it is not -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[ 176]</a></span> -the first time he has been to us. Now he smiles, -'cos I recsonise him [so pronounced], but he comes -back very, very strongly. He tells me that he is -pushing the door open wider. Now he wants me -to give you a message. He is going to try to come -down with you; because it looks to me as though -you are travelling to-day. "Down," he says. "I -come down with you. We will try" (he says 'we,' -not 'I'), "we will try to bring our united power -to prove to you that I am here; I and the -other young man who helped me, and who will -help me."</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[The association of Raymond with 'another -young man,' and his intention to come 'down' -with me when I travelled back home on the -same day to meet Mrs. Kennedy there, are -entirely appropriate.—O. J. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Look here, it is your boy! Because he calls you -'Father'; not 'Pa,' nor anything, but 'Father.' -[True.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes, my son.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Wait a minute; now he wants to tell me one -thing: "I am so glad that you took such a common-sense -view of the subject, and that you didn't -force it on mother. But you spoke of it as an -actuality. She treated it like she treats all your -things that she couldn't understand; giving you, -as she always has done, the credit of being more -clever than herself. But when I came over as I -did, and in her despair, she came to you for help; -but she wanted to get away from anything that -you should influence."</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Unfortunately, some one knocked at the door—a -servant probably, wanted to come in and -clear the room. The medium jerked and -said, "Tell them to go away." I called out, -"Can't come in now, private, engaged." -Some talking continued outside for a little -time—very likely it was some one wanting -an interview with Peters. After a time the -disturbance ceased. It was not very loud; -the medium ignored it, except for the rather -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[ 177]</a></span> -loud and strong knock, which certainly perturbed -him.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Tell me where I was.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(I repeated: "She wanted to get away from -anything that you should influence.")</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Oh yes. He wants to say that you were quite -right in staying away and letting her work altogether -by herself. She was able to do better than -if you had been there. You would have spoilt it.</p> - -<p>Your common-sense method of approaching the -subject in the family has been the means of helping -him to come back as he has been able to do; -and had he not known what you had told him, then -it would have been far more difficult for him to -come back. He is very deliberate in what he says. -He is a young man that knows what he is -saying.</p> - -<p>Do you know F. W. M.?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes, I do.</p> - -<p>[The next portion, relating to Myers, has been -already reported in <a href="#Page_96">Chapter III</a>; and the concluding -portion, which is rather puzzling, shall be suppressed, as it relates to other -people.]</p> - -<p>Towards the end 'Moonstone' began talking about himself, -which he does in an interesting manner, and I shall -perhaps give him an opportunity of saying more about the -assumption of 'control' from his point of view. Meanwhile -I quote this further extract:— -</p> - -<h3>MOONSTONE'S' ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF</h3> - -<blockquote> -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Have you been suffering inside?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—No, not that I know of.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Your heart's been bleeding. You never thought you -could love so deep. There must be more or less suffering. -Even though you are crucified, you will arise the stronger, -bigger, better man. But out of this suffering and crucifixion, -oh, how you are going to help humanity! This is a -big work. It has been prophesied. It is through the -sufferings of humanity that humanity is reached. It must -be through pain. Let me tell you something about myself. -I was Yogi—do you understand?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes; a kind of hermit.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[ 178]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I lived a selfish life: a good life, but a selfish one, -though I didn't know it then. I isolated myself and did -not mix with people, not even with family life. When I go -over, I find it was a negative goodness, so then I wanted -to help humanity, because I hadn't helped it. I had not -taken on the sufferings even of a family man. It was useless. -And so that is why I came back to my Medie, and try -to bear through him the sorrows of the world. It is through -suffering that humanity is helped. That is one great thing -in your beautiful religion; you know what I mean—the -sacrifice of Jesus. He demonstrated eternity, but to do it -He must be sacrificed and taste death. So all who teach the -high ... must tread the same path; there's no escaping -the crucifixion, it comes in one way or another. And you -must remember, back in the past, when the good things -came to you, how you began to realise (?) that there was a -spirit world and a possibility of coming back. Though you -speak cautiously, yet possibly in your prayers to God you -say, "Let me suffer, let me know my cross, so that I can -benefit humanity"; and when you make a compact with -the unseen world, it is kept. You have told no one this, -but it belongs to you and to your son. Out of it will come -much joy, much happiness to others.</p> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Stead was, I understand, a friend to Peters, and -how much of the above is tinged by Mr. Stead's influence, -I cannot say: but immediately afterwards his name was -mentioned, in the following way:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Flashing down the line comes a message from Mr. -Stead. I can't help it, I must give it. He says: "We -did not see eye to eye; you thought I was too impetuous -and too rash, but our conclusions are about the same now. -We are pretty well on the level, and I have realised, even -through mistakes, that I have reached and influenced a -world that is suffering and sorrowing. But you have a world -bigger and wider than mine, and your message will be -bigger and will reach farther."</p> -</div> -</blockquote> - -<h3>SUMMARY</h3> - -<p>As far as evidence is concerned, Peters has done well -at each of the three sittings any member of my family has -had with him since Raymond's death. On the whole, I -think he has done as well as any medium; especially as -the abstention from supplying him normally with any identifying -information has been strict.</p> - -<p>It is true that I have not, through Peters, asked test -questions of which the answers were unknown to me, as I -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[ 179]</a></span> -did at one sitting with Mrs. Leonard (<a href="#Page_151">Chapter IX</a>). But -the answers there given, though fairly good, and in my view -beyond chance, were not perfect. Under the circumstances -I think they could hardly have been expected to be perfect. -It was little more than a month since the death, and new -experiences and serious surroundings must have been -crowding in upon the youth, so that old semi-frivolous -reminiscences were difficult to recall. There was, however, -with Peters no single incident so striking as the name 'Norman,' -to me unknown and meaningless, which was given -in perfectly appropriate connexion through the table at Mrs. -Leonard's.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Whether it be assumed that I was known or not, does not -much matter; but I have no reason to suppose that I was. Rather the -contrary. Peters seems barely to look at his sitters, and to be anxious -to receive no normal information.</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[ 180]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XIV</span><br /> -<span class="small">FIRST SITTING OF LIONEL (ANONYMOUS)</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">AT length, on 17 November 1915, Raymond's brother -Lionel (L. L.) went to London to see if he could -get an anonymous sitting with Mrs. Leonard, without -the intervention of Mrs. Kennedy or anybody. He -was aware that by that time the medium must have sat -with dozens of strangers and people not in any way connected -with our family, and fortunately he succeeded in -getting admitted as a complete stranger. This therefore -is worth reporting, and the contemporary record follows. -A few portions are omitted, partly for brevity, partly because -private, but some non-evidential and what may seem -rather absurd statements are reproduced, for what they -are worth. It must be understood that Feda is speaking -throughout, and that she is sometimes reporting in the third -person, sometimes in the first, and sometimes speaking for -herself. It is unlikely that lucidity is constant all the time, -and Feda may have to do some padding. She is quite good -and fairly careful, but of course, like all controls, she is -responsible for certain mannerisms, and in her case for -childishly modified names like 'Paulie,' etc. The dramatic -circumstances of a sitting will be familiar to people of experience. -The record tries to reproduce them—probably -with but poor success. And it is always possible that the -attempt, however conscientious, may furnish opportunity -for ridicule, if any hostile critic thinks ridicule appropriate.</p> - -<h3><i>L. L.'s Sitting with Mrs. Leonard at her house,<br />as a -stranger, no one else being present,<br />12 o'clock, Wednesday, -17 November 1915.</i></h3> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Introduction by O. J. L.</span></h3> - -<p>Lionel wrote to Mrs. Leonard at her old address in Warwick -Avenue, for I had forgotten that she had moved, and I had not -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[ 181]</a></span> -told him her new address. He wrote on plain paper from Westminster -without signing it, saying that he would be coming at a -certain time. But she did not get the letter; so that, when he -arrived about noon on Wednesday, 17 November, he arrived as a -complete stranger without an appointment. He had at first -gone to the wrong house and been redirected. Mrs. Leonard -answered the door. She took him in at once when he said he -wanted a sitting. She drew the blind down, and lit a red lamp as -usual. She told him that she was controlled by 'Feda.' Very -quickly—in about two minutes—the trance began, and Feda spoke.</p> - -<p>Here follows his record:—</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Report by L. L.</span></h3> - -<p class="center"><i>Subsequent annotations, in square brackets, are by O. J. L.</i> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Good morning!</p> - -<p>Why, you are psychic yourself!</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—I didn't know I was.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>It will come out later.</p> - -<p>There are two spirits standing by you; the elder -is fully built up, but the younger is not clear yet.</p> - -<p>The elder is on the tall side, and well built; he -has a beard round his chin, but no moustache.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;"> -(This seemed to worry Feda, and she repeated -it several times, as if trying to make it clear.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>A beard round chin, and hair at the sides, but -upper lip shaved. A good forehead, eyebrows heavy -and rather straight—not arched—eyes greyish; hair -thin on top, and grey at the sides and back. It looks -as if it had been brown before it went grey. A -fine-looking face. He is building up something. He -suffered here before he passed out (medium indicating -chest or stomach). Letter W is held up. -(See photograph facing p. <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.)</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[This is the one that to other members of the -family had been called Grandfather W., -p. <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>There is another spirit.</p> - -<p>Somebody is laughing.</p> - -<p>Don't joke—it is serious.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(This was whispered, and sounded as if said to -some one else, not to me.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>It's a young man, about twenty-three, or might -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[ 182]</a></span> -be twenty-five, judging only by appearance. Tall; -well-built; not stout, well-built; brown hair, short at -the sides and back; clean shaven; face more oval -than round; nose not quite straight, rather rounded, -and broader at the nostrils.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(<i>Whispering.</i>) Feda can't see his face.</p> - -<p>(<i>Then clearly.</i>) He won't let Feda see his face; -he is laughing.</p> - -<p>(<i>Whispered several times.</i>) L, L, L.</p> - -<p>(<i>Then said out loud.</i>) L. This is not his name; -he puts it by you.</p> - -<p>(<i>Whispering again.</i>) Feda knows him—Raymond.</p> - -<p>Oh, it's Raymond!</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;"> -(The medium here jumps about, and fidgets with -her hands, just as a child would when pleased.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>That is why he would not show his face, because -Feda would know him.</p> - -<p>He is patting you on the shoulder hard. You -can't feel it, but he thinks he is hitting you hard.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[It seems to have been a trick of his to pat a -brother on the shoulder gradually harder and -harder till humorous retaliation set in.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He is very bright.</p> - -<p>This is the way it is given—it's an impression.</p> - -<p>He has been trying to come to you at home, but -there has been some horrible mix-ups; not really -horrible, but a muddle. He really got through to -you, but other conditions get through there, and -mixes him up.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;"> -[This evidently refers to some private 'Mariemont' -sittings, without a medium, with which -neither Feda nor Mrs. Leonard had had anything -to do. It therefore shows specific knowledge -and is of the nature of a mild cross-correspondence; -cf. p. <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—How can we improve it?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He does not understand it sufficiently himself -yet. Other spirits get in, not bad spirits, but ones -that like to feel they are helping. The peculiar -manifestations are not him, and it only confuses -him terribly. Part of it was him, but -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[ 183]</a></span> -when the table was careering about, it was not -him at all. He started it, but something comes -along stronger than himself, and he loses the -control.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(<i>Whispered.</i>) "Feda, can't you suggest something?"</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[This seemed to be a reported part of conversation -on the other side.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Be very firm when it starts to move about.</p> - -<p>Prayer helps when things are not relevant.</p> - -<p>He is anxious about F.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—I don't know who F. is. Is it some friend?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Medium here fidgets.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Letter F. all right; it's some one he is interested -in.</p> - -<p>He says he is sorry he worried his mother -about [an incident mentioned at some previous -sitting].</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Was it a mistake?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, tell her, because (etc. etc.). When I -thought it over I knew it was a mistake. If it had -been now, and I had a little more experience in -control, I should not have said so; but it was at -the beginning—everything seemed such a rush—and -I was not quite sure of what I did get through. -He did not look at things in the right pers—perpec——</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Perspective?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, that's what he said.</p> - -<p>Do you follow me, old chap?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Perfectly.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Do you remember a sitting at home when you told -me you had a lot to tell me?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes. What he principally wanted to say was -about the place he is in. He could not <i>spell</i> it all -out—too laborious. He felt rather upset at first. -You do not feel so real as people do where he is, and -walls appear transparent to him now. The great -thing that made him reconciled to his new surroundings -was—that things appear so solid and substantial. -The first idea upon waking up was, I suppose, -of what they call 'passing over.' It was only -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[ 184]</a></span> -for a second or two, as you count time, [that it -seemed a] shadowy vague place, everything vapoury -and vague. He had that feeling about it.</p> - -<p>The first person to meet him was Grandfather.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(This was said very carefully, as if trying to get -it right with difficulty.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>And others then, some of whom he had only -heard about. They all appeared to be so solid, that -he could scarcely believe that he had passed over.</p> - -<p>He lives in a house—a house built of bricks—and -there are trees and flowers, and the ground is solid. -And if you kneel down in the mud, apparently you -get your clothes soiled. The thing I don't understand -yet is that the night doesn't follow the day here, as -it did on the earth plane. It seems to get dark sometimes, -when he would like it to be dark, but the time -in between light and dark is not always the -same. I don't know if you think all this is a -bore.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(I was here thinking whether my pencils would -last out; I had two, and was starting on the -second one.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>What I am worrying round about is, how it's -made, of what it is composed. I have not found -out yet, but I've got a theory. It is not an original -idea of my own; I was helped to it by words let drop -here and there.</p> - -<p>People who think everything is created by thought -are wrong. I thought that for a little time, -that one's thoughts formed the buildings and the -flowers and trees and solid ground; but there is more -than that.</p> - -<p>He says something of this sort:—</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[This means that Feda is going to report in the -third person again, or else to speak for herself.—O. -J. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>There is something always rising from the earth -plane—something chemical in form. As it rises to -ours, it goes through various changes and solidifies -on our plane. Of course I am only speaking of -where I am now.</p> - -<p>He feels sure that it is something given off -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[ 185]</a></span> -from the earth, that makes the solid trees and flowers, -etc.</p> - -<p>He does not know any more. He is making a -study of this, but it takes a good long time.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—I should like to know whether he can get into touch -with anybody on earth?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Not always.</p> - -<p>Only those wishing to see him, and who it would -be right for him to see. Then he sees them before -he has thought.</p> - -<p>I don't seem to wish for anything.</p> - -<p>He does not wish to see anybody unless they -are going to be brought to him.</p> - -<p>I am told that I can meet anyone at any time -that I want to; there is no difficulty in the way of -it. That is what makes it such a jolly fine place -to live in.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Can he help people here?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>That is part of his work, but there are others -doing that; the greatest amount of his work is -still at the war.</p> - -<p>I've been home—only likely I've been home—but -my actual work is at the war.</p> - -<p>He has something to do with father, though -his work still lies at the war, helping on poor -chaps literally shot into the spirit world.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Can you see ahead at all?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He thinks sometimes that he can, but it's not -easy to predict.</p> - -<p>I don't think that I really know any more -than when on earth.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Can you tell anything about how the war is going -on?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>There are better prospects for the war. On -all sides now more satisfactory than it has been -before.</p> - -<p>This is not apparent on the earth plane, but -I feel more ... the surface, and more satisfied -than before.</p> - -<p>I can't help feeling intensely interested. I -believe we have lost Greece, and am not sure -that it was not due to our own fault. We have -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[ 186]</a></span> -only done now what should have been done months -ago.</p> - -<p>He does not agree about Serbia. Having left -them so long has had a bad effect upon Roumania. -Roumania thinks will she be in the same boat, if -she joins in.</p> - -<p>All agree that Russia will do well right through -the winter. They are going to show what they -can do. They are used to their ground and winter -conditions, and Germany is not. There will be -steady progress right through the winter.</p> - -<p>I think there is something looming now.</p> - -<p>Some of the piffling things I used to be interested -in, I have forgotten all about. There is such -a lot to be interested in here. I realise the -seriousness sometimes of this war.... It is like -watching a most interesting race or game gradually -developing before you. I am doing work in it, -which is not so interesting as watching.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Have you any message for home?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Of course love to his mother, and to all, specially -to mother. H. is doing very well. [Meaning -his sister Honor.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—In what way?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>H. is helping him in a psychic way; she makes it -easy for him. He doesn't think he need tell father -anything, he is so certain in himself meaning -Raymond, in spite of silly mistakes. It disappoints -him. We must separate out the good from the -bad, and not try more than one form; not the -jig—jig——</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—I know; jigger. [A kind of Ouija.]</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No. He didn't like the jigger. He thinks he -can work the table. [See <a href="#Page_217">Chapter XIX</a>.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Would you tell me how I could help in any way?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Just go very easily, only let one person speak, -as he has said before. It can be H. or L. L. Settle -on one person to put the questions, the different -sound of voices confuses him, and he mixes it up -with questions from another's thoughts. In time -he hopes it will be not so difficult. He wouldn't -give it up, he loves it. Don't try more than twice -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[ 187]</a></span> -a week, perhaps only once a week. Try to keep the -same times always, and to the same day if possible.</p> - -<p>He is going.</p> - -<p>Give my love to them all. Tell them I am very -happy. Very well, and plenty to do, and intensely -interested. I did suffer from shock at first, but I'm -extremely happy now.</p> - -<p>I'm off. He won't say good-bye. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>A lady comes too: A girl, about medium -height; on the slender side, not thin, but slender; -face, oval shape; blue eyes; lightish brown hair, -not golden.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Can she give a name—I cannot guess who she is -from the description?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>She builds up an L.</p> - -<p>Not like the description when she was on earth. -Very little earth life. She is related to you. She -has grown up in the spirit life.</p> - -<p>Oh, she is your sister!</p> - -<p>She is fair; not so tall as you; a nice face; blue -eyes.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—I know her name now. [See at a previous sitting -where this deceased sister is described, p. <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Give her love to them at home, but also principally -to mother. And say that she and her brother, -not Raymond, have been also to the sittings at -home.</p> - -<p>She is giving his name. She gives it in such a -funny way, as if she was writing, so—— She -wrote an N, then quickly changed it into a W. -[See also pp. <a href="#Page_134">134</a>,<a href="#Page_159"> 159</a>, and <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.]</p> - -<p>She brings lilies with her; she is singing—it's -like humming; Feda can't hear the words.</p> - -<p>She is going too—power is going.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Give my love to her.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Feda sends her love also.</p> - -<p>Raymond was having a joke by not showing his -face to Feda.</p> - -<p>Good-bye.</p> -</div> - -<p class="center">(<i>Sitting ended at 1.30 p.m.</i>) -</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[ 188]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XV</span><br /> -<span class="small">SITTING OF M. F. A. L. WITH MRS. LEONARD</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="center"><i>Friday, 26 November 1915</i> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">A FEW things may be reported from a sitting which -Lady Lodge had with Mrs. Leonard on 26 November, -however absurd they may seem. They are of -course repeated by the childish control Feda, but I do not by -that statement of bare fact intend to stigmatise them in any -way. Criticism of unverifiable utterances seems to me -premature.</p> - -<p>The sitting began without preliminaries as usual. It -is not a particularly good one, and the notes are rather -incomplete, especially near the end of the time, when Feda -seemed to wander from the point, and when rather tedious -descriptions of people began. These are omitted. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><i>Sitting of M. F. A. L. with Mrs. Leonard at her house on<br /> -Friday, 26 November 1915, from 3 to 4.30 p.m.</i></h3> - -<p class="center">(No one else present.) -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"> -(The sitting began with a statement from Feda that she -liked Lionel, and that Raymond had taken her down -to his home. Then she reported that Raymond -said:—)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"Mother darling, I am so happy, and so much -more so because you are."</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Yes, we are; and as your father says, we can -face Christmas now.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Raymond says he will be there.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—We will put a chair for him.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he will come and sit in it.</p> - -<p>He wants to strike a bargain with you. He -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[ 189]</a></span> -says, "If I come there, there must be no sadness. -I don't want to be a ghost at the feast. There -mustn't be one sigh. Please, darling, keep them -in order, rally them up. Don't let them. If they -do, I shall have the hump." (Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—'hump,' -what he say.)</p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—We will all drink his health and happiness.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, you can think I am wishing you health too.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">M. F. A. L.—We were interested in hearing about his -clothes and things; we can't think how he gets -them! [The reference is to a second sitting of -Lionel, not available for publication.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>They are all man-u-fac-tured. [Feda stumbling -over long words.]</p> - -<p>Can you fancy you seeing me in white robes? -Mind, I didn't care for them at first, and I wouldn't -wear them. Just like a fellow gone to a country -where there is a hot climate—an ignorant fellow, -not knowing what he is going to; it's just like that. -He may make up his mind to wear his own clothes -a little while, but he will soon be dressing like the -natives. He was allowed to have earth clothes -here until he got acclimatised; they let him; they -didn't force him. I don't think I will ever be able -to make the boys see me in white robes.</p> - -<p>Mother, don't go doing too much.</p> -</div> - -<p>M. F. A. L.—I am very strong.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>You think you are, but you tire yourself out -too much. It troubles me.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">M. F. A. L.—Yes, but I should be quite glad to come over -there, if I could come quickly, even though I am -so happy here, and I don't want to leave people.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Don't you think I would be glad to have you -here! If you do what he says, you will come over -when the time comes—quick, sharp.</p> - -<p>He says he comes and sees you in bed. The -reason for that is the air is so quiet then. You -often go up there in the spirit-land while your body -is asleep.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;">M. F. A. L.—Would you like us to sit on the same night -as Mrs. Kennedy sits, or on different nights? -[Meaning in trials for cross-correspondences.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[ 190]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>On the same night, as it wastes less time. Besides, -he forgets, if there is too long an interval. He -wants to get something of the same sort to each -place.</p> - -<p>William and Lily come to play with Raymond. -Lily had gone on, but came back to be with Raymond. -[These mean his long-deceased infant brother and -sister.]</p> -</div> - -<p class="center"> -(More family talk omitted.) -</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Get some sittings soon, so as to get into full -swing by Christmas. Tell them when they get him -through, and he says, "Raymond," tell them to go -very easily, and not to ask too many questions. -Questions want thinking out beforehand. They are -not to talk among themselves, because then they get -part of one thing and part of another. And not to -say, "No, don't ask him that," or he gets mixed.</p> - -<p>Do you know we sometimes have to prepare -answers a little before we transmit them; it is a -sort of mental effort to give answers through the -table. When they say, do you ask, we begin to -get ready to speak through the table. Write down -a few questions and keep to them.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[ 191]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XVI</span><br /> -<span class="small">O. J. L. SITTING OF DECEMBER 3</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="center"><i>With Some Unverifiable Matter</i> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">AT a sitting which I had with Mrs. Leonard on -3 December 1915, information was given about -the photograph—as already reported, Chapter IV. -In all these 'Feda' sittings, the remarks styled <i>sotto -voce</i> represent conversation between Feda and the -communicator, not addressed to the sitter at all. I -always try to record these scraps when I can overhear -them; for they are often interesting, and sometimes -better than what is subsequently reported as the result -of the brief conversation. For she appears to be uttering -under her breath not only her own question or comment, -but also what she is being told; and sometimes names -are in that way mentioned correctly, when afterwards -she muddles them. For instance, on one occasion she -said <i>sotto voce</i>, "What you say? Rowland?" (in a -clear whisper); and then, aloud, "He says something like -Ronald." Whereas in this case 'Rowland' proved to be -correct. The dramatically childlike character of Feda -seems to carry with it a certain amount of childish irresponsibility. -Raymond says that he "has to talk to her -seriously about it sometimes."</p> - -<p>A few other portions, not about the photograph, -are included in the record of this sitting, some of a -very non-evidential and perhaps ridiculous kind, but I -do not feel inclined to suppress them. (For reasons, see -<a href="#Page_171">Chapter XII</a>.) Some of them are rather amusing. Unverifiable -statements have hitherto been generally suppressed, -in reporting Piper and other sittings; but here, -in deference partly to the opinion of Professor Bergson— -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[ 192]</a></span> -who when he was in England urged that statements -about life on the other side, properly studied, like -travellers' tales, might ultimately furnish proof more -logically cogent than was possible from mere access -to earth memories—they are for the most part reproduced. -I should think, myself, that they are of very -varying degrees of value, and peculiarly liable to unintentional -sophistication by the medium. They cannot -be really satisfactory, as we have no means of bringing -them to book. The difficulty is that Feda encounters -many sitters, and though the majority are just inquirers, -taking what comes and saying very little, one or two -may be themselves full of theories, and may either intentionally -or unconsciously convey them to the 'control'; -who may thereafter retail them as actual information, -without perhaps being sure whence they were derived. -Some books, moreover, have been published of late, -purporting to give information about ill-understood things -in a positive and assured manner, and it is possible that -the medium has read these and may be influenced by -them. It will be regrettable if these books are taken as -authoritative by people unable to judge of the scientific -errors which are conspicuous in their more normal portions; -and the books themselves seem likely to retard -the development of the subject in the minds of critical -persons. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><i>Sitting with Mrs. Leonard at her House on Friday,<br /> -3 December 1915, from 6.10 p.m. to 8.20 p.m.</i></h3> - -<p class="center">(O. J. L. alone.) -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p><i>This is a long record, because I took verbatim notes, but -I propose to inflict it all upon the reader, in accordance with -promise to report unverifiable and possibly absurd matter, -just as it comes, and even to encourage it.</i></p> - -<p>Feda soon arrived, said good evening, jerked about -on the chair, and squeaked or chuckled, after her manner -when indicating pleasure. Then, without preliminaries, -she spoke:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He is waiting; he's looking very pleased. He's -awful anxious to tell you about the place where -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[ 193]</a></span> -he lives; he doesn't understand <i>yet</i> how it looks -so solid. (Cf. p. <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.)</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—What you say? Yes, Feda -knows.) He's been watching lately different kinds -of people what come over, and the different kinds -of effect it has on them.</p> - -<p>Oh, it is interesting, he says—much more than -on the old earth plane. I didn't want to -leave you and mother and all of them, but it -<i>is</i> interesting. I wish you could come over for -one day, and be with me here. There are times -you do go there, but you won't remember. They -have all been over with him at night-time, and so -have you, but he thought it very hard you couldn't -remember. If you did, he is told (he doesn't -know it himself, but he is told this), the brain -would scarcely bear the burden of the double -existence, and would be unfitted for its daily -duties; so the memory is shut out. That is -the explanation given to him.</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—What, Raymond? Al—lec, -he says, Al—lec, Al—lec.)</p> - -<p>He keeps on saying something about Alec. -He has been trying to get to Alec, to communicate -with him; and he couldn't see if he made himself -felt—whether he really got through.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(The medium hitherto had been holding -O. J. L.'s left hand; here she let go, Feda -saying: He will let you have your own -hand back.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He thought he had got into a bedroom, and -that he knocked; but there wasn't much notice -taken.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Alec must come here sometime.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he wanted to see him.</p> - -<p>And he also hopes to be able to talk to Lionel -with the direct voice; not here, he says, but somewhere else. He is very anxious to speak -to him. Through a chap, he says, a direct voice chap.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Very well, I will take the message.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[ 194]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Well, he says, he wants to try once or twice. -He wants to be able to say what he says to Feda -in another way. He thinks he could get through -in his own home sometime. He would much rather -have it there. And he thinks that if he got through -once or twice with direct voice, he might be able -to do better in his own home. H. is psychic, he -says, but he is afraid of hurting her; he doesn't -want to take too much from her. But he really is -going to get through. He really has got through -at home; but silly spirits wanted to have a game. -There was a strange feeling there; he didn't seem -to know how much he was doing himself, so he stood -aside part of the time. [Mariemont sittings are -reported later. Chapter <a href="#Page_217">XIX</a>.]</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;"> -<i>Then the photograph episode came, as reported in -Chapter <a href="#Page_151">IV</a>.</i></span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">Then it went on (Feda talking, of course, all the -time):—</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says he has been trying to go to somebody, -and see somebody he used to know. He's not -related to them, and the name begins with S. It's -a gentleman, he says, and he can't remember, or -can't tell Feda the name, but it begins with S. He -was trying to get to them, but is not sure that he -succeeded.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Did he want to?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says it was only curiosity; but he likes to -feel that he can look up anybody. But he says, if -they take no notice, I shall give up soon, only I just -like to see what it feels like to be looking at them -from where I am.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Does he want to say anything more about his -house or his clothes or his body?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Oh yes. He is bursting to tell you.</p> - -<p>He says, my body's very similar to the one I -had before. I pinch myself sometimes to see if it's -real, and it is, but it doesn't seem to hurt as much -as when I pinched the flesh body. The internal -organs don't seem constituted on the same lines as -before. They can't be quite the same. But to all -appearances, and outwardly, they are the same as -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[ 195]</a></span> -before. I can move somewhat more freely, he -says.</p> - -<p>Oh, there's one thing, he says, I have never -seen anybody bleed.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Wouldn't he bleed if he pricked himself?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He never tried it. But as yet he has seen no -blood at all.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Has he got ears and eyes?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, yes, and eyelashes, and eyebrows, exactly -the same, and a tongue and teeth. He has got a -new tooth now in place of another one he had—one -that wasn't quite right then. He has got it right, -and a good tooth has come in place of the one -that had gone.</p> - -<p>He knew a man that had lost his arm, but he -has got another one. Yes, he has got two arms -now. He seemed as if without a limb when first he -entered the astral, seemed incomplete, but after a -while it got more and more complete, until he got -a new one. He is talking of people who have lost -a limb for some years.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—What about a limb lost in battle?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Oh, if they have only just lost it, it makes -no difference, it doesn't matter; they are quite all -right when they get here. But I am told—he -doesn't know this himself, but he has been told—that -when anybody's blown to pieces, it takes some -time for the spirit-body to complete itself, to gather -itself all in, and to be complete. It dissipated a -certain amount of substance which is undoubtedly -theric, theric—etheric, and it has to be concentrated -again. The <i>spirit</i> isn't blown apart, of -course,—he doesn't mean that,—but it has an effect -upon it. He hasn't seen all this, but he has been -inquiring because he is interested.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—What about bodies that are burnt?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Oh, if they get burnt by accident, if they know -about it on this side, they detach the spirit first. -What we call a spirit-doctor comes round and helps. -But bodies should not be burnt on purpose. We -have terrible trouble sometimes over people who -are cremated too soon; they shouldn't be. It's a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[ 196]</a></span> -terrible thing; it has worried me. People are so -careless. The idea seems to be—"hurry up and -get them out of the way now that they are dead." -Not until seven days, he says. They shouldn't be -cremated for seven days.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—But what if the body goes bad?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>When it goes bad, the spirit is already out. If -that much (indicating a trifle) of spirit is left in the -body, it doesn't start mortifying. It is the action -of the spirit on the body that keeps it from mortifying. -When you speak about a person 'dying upwards,' -it means that the spirit is getting ready and -gradually getting out of the body. He saw the -other day a man going to be cremated two days -after the doctor said he was dead. When his relations -on this side heard about it, they brought a -certain doctor on our side, and when they saw that -the spirit hadn't got really out of the body, they -magnetised it, and helped it out. But there was -still a cord, and it had to be severed rather quickly, -and it gave a little shock to the spirit, like as if you -had something amputated; but it had to be done. -He believes it has to be done in every case. If the -body is to be consumed by fire, it is helped out by -spirit-doctors. He doesn't mean that a spirit-body -comes out of its own body, but an essence comes -out of the body—oozes out, he says, and goes into -the other body which is being prepared. Oozes, -he says, like in a string. String, that's what he say. -Then it seems to shape itself, or something meets it -and shapes round it. Like as if they met and went -together, and formed a duplicate of the body left -behind. It's all very interesting.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> - -<p>He told Lionel about his wanting a suit at first -[at an unreported second sitting]. He never thought -that they would be able to provide him with one.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[ 197]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span> -—Yes, I know, Lionel told us; that you wanted -something more like your old clothes at first, -and that they didn't force you into new ones, -but let you begin with the old kind, until you -got accustomed to the place (p. <a href="#Page_189">189</a>).</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he says, they didn't force me, but most of -the people here wear white robes.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Then, can you tell any difference between men -and women?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>There are men here, and there are women here. -I don't think that they stand to each other quite -the same as they did on the earth plane, but they -seem to have the same feeling to each other, with a -different expression of it. There don't seem to be -any children born here. People are sent into the -physical body to have children on the earth plane; -they don't have them here. But there's a feeling -of love between men and women here which is of a -different quality to that between two men or two -women; and husband and wife seem to meet -differently from mother and son, or father and -daughter. He says he doesn't want to eat now. -But he sees some who do; he says they have to be -given something which has all the appearance of an -earth food. People here try to provide everything -that is wanted. A chap came over the other day, -would <i>would</i> have a cigar. "That's finished them," -he thought. He means he thought they would -never be able to provide that. But there are -laboratories over here, and they manufacture all -sorts of things in them. Not like you do, out of -solid matter, but out of essences, and ethers, -and gases. It's not the same as on the earth -plane, but they were able to manufacture what -looked like a cigar. He didn't try one himself, -because he didn't care to; you know he wouldn't -want to. But the other chap jumped at it. -But when he began to smoke it, he didn't think -so much of it; he had four altogether, and now -he doesn't look at one.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> They don't seem to get -the same satisfaction out of it, so gradually it -seems to drop from them. But when they first - -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[ 198]</a></span> - -come they do want things. Some want meat, and some strong drink; they call for whisky sodas. -Don't think I'm stretching it, when I tell you that -they can manufacture even that. But when they -have had one or two, they don't seem to want it -so much—not those that are near here. He has -heard of drunkards who want it for months and -years over here, but he hasn't seen any. Those -I have seen, he says, don't want it any more—like -himself with his suit, he could dispense with it -under the new conditions.</p> - -<p>He wants people to realise that it's just as -natural as on the earth plane.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Raymond, you said your house was made of -bricks. How can that be? What are the bricks -made of?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>That's what he hasn't found out yet. He is told -by some, who he doesn't think would lead him -astray, that they are made from sort of emanations -from the earth. He says there's something -rising, like atoms rising, and consolidating after -they come; they are not solid when they come, -but we can collect and concentrate them—I -mean those that are with me. They appear to -be bricks, and when I touch them, they feel like -bricks; and I have seen granite too.</p> - -<p>There's something perpetually rising from your -plane; practically invisible—in atoms when it leaves -your plane—but when it comes to the ether, it gains -certain other qualities round each atom, and by the -time it reaches us, certain people take it in hand, -and manufacture solid things from it. Just as you -can manufacture solid things.</p> - -<p>All the decay that goes on on the earth plane -is not lost. It doesn't just form manure or dust. -Certain vegetable and decayed tissue does form -manure for a time, but it gives off an essence or -a gas, which ascends, and which becomes what -you call a 'smell.' Everything dead has a smell, -if you notice; and I know now that the smell is -of actual use, because it is from that smell that -we are able to produce duplicates of whatever -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[ 199]</a></span> -form it had before it became a smell. Even old -wood has a smell different from new wood; you -may have to have a keen nose to detect these -things on the earth plane.</p> - -<p>Old rags, he says (<i>sotto voce</i>.—Yes, all right, -Feda will go back), cloth decaying and going -rotten. Different kinds of cloth give off different -smells—rotting linen smells different to rotting -wool. You can understand how all this interests -me. Apparently, as far as I can gather, the -rotting wool appears to be used for making things -like tweeds on our side. But I know I am jumping, -I'm guessing at it. My suit I expect was made -from decayed worsted on your side.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> - -<p>Some people here won't take this in even yet—about -the material cause of all these things. They -go talking about spiritual robes made of light, -built by the thoughts on the earth plane. I -don't believe it. They go about thinking that it is -a thought robe that they're wearing, resulting -from the spiritual life they led; and when we try -to tell them that it is manufactured out of -materials, they don't believe it. They say, "No, -no, it's a robe of light and brightness which I -manufactured by thought." So we just leave it. -But I don't say that they won't get robes quicker -when they have led spiritual lives down there; -I think they do, and that's what makes them -think that they made the robes by their lives.</p> - -<p>You know flowers, how they decay. We have -got flowers here; your decayed flowers flower again -with us—beautiful flowers. Lily has helped me a -lot with flowers.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Do you like her?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, but he didn't expect to see her.</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—No. Raymond, you don't -mean that.)</p> - -<p>Yes, he does. He says he's afraid he wasn't very -polite to her when he met her at first; he didn't -expect a grown-up sister there. Am I a little -brother, he said, or is she my little sister? She -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[ 200]</a></span> -calls me her little brother, but I have a decided -impression that she should be my little sister.</p> - -<p>He feels a bit of a mystery: he has got a -brother there he knows, but he says <i>two</i>.</p> - -<p>(<i>Sotto voce.</i>—No, Yaymond, you can't have -two. No, Feda doesn't understand.) Is it possible, -he says, that he has got another brother—one -that didn't live at all?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes, it is possible.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>But he says, no earth life at all! That's -what's strange. I've seen some one that I am told -is a brother, but I can't be expected to recognise -him, can I? I feel somehow closer to Lily than -I do to that one. By and by I will get to know -him, I dare say.</p> - -<p>I'm told that I am doing very well in the short -time I have been here. Taking to it—what he -say?—duck to water, he say.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—You know the earth is rolling along through -space. How do you keep up with it?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>It doesn't seem like that to him.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—No, I suppose not. Do you see the stars?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he sees the stars. The stars seem like -what they did, only he feels closer to them. Not -really closer, but they look clearer; not appreciably -closer, he says.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Are they grouped the same? Do you see the -Great Bear, for instance?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Oh, yes, he sees the Great Bear. And he sees -the ch, ch, chariot, he says.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Do you mean Cassiopeia?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes. [But I don't suppose he did.]</p> - -<p>There's one more mystery to him yet, it doesn't -seem day and night quite by regular turns, like -it did on the earth.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—But I suppose you see the sun?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he sees the sun; but it seems always about -the same degree of warmth, he doesn't feel heat or -cold where he is. The sun doesn't make him -uncomfortably hot. That is not because the -sun has lost its heat, but because he hasn't got -the same body that sensed the heat. When he -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[ 201]</a></span> -comes into contact with the earth plane, and is -manifesting, then he feels a little cold or warm—at -least he does when a medium is present—not -when he comes in the ordinary way just to -look round. When he sang last night, he felt -cold for a minute or two.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Did he sing?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he and Paulie had a scuffle. Paulie was -singing first, and Yaymond thought he would -like to sing too, so he chipped in at the end. He -sang about three verses. It wasn't difficult, -because there was a good deal of power there. -Also nobody except Mrs. Kathie knew who he -was, and so all eyes were not on him, and they -were not expecting it, and that made it easier for -him. He says it wasn't so difficult as keeping -up a conversation; he just took the organs there, -and materialised his own voice in her throat. He -didn't find it very difficult, he hadn't got to -think of anything, or collect his ideas; there -was an easy flow of words, and he just sang. And -I <i>did</i> sing, he says; I thought I'd nearly killed the -medium. She hadn't any voice at all after. When -he heard himself that he had really got it, he had -to let go. Raised the roof, he says, and he <i>did</i> -enjoy it!</p> - -<p>(Here Feda gave an amused chuckle with a -jump and a squeak.)</p> - -<p>He was just practising there, Yaymond says. -At first he thought it wouldn't be easy.</p> - -<p>[This relates to what I am told was a real -occurrence at a private gathering; but -it is not evidential.]</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Raymond, you know you want to give me some -proofs. What kind of proofs do you think are -best? Have you talked it over with Mr. Myers, -and have you decided on the kind of proof that -will be most evidential?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I don't know yet. I feel divided between -two ways: One is to give you objective proof, -such as simple materialisations and direct voice, -which you can set down and have attested. Or -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[ 202]</a></span> -else I should have to give you information -about my different experiences here, either -something like what I am doing now, or through -the table, or some other way. But he doesn't -know whether he will be able to do the two things -together.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—No, not likely, not at the same time. But you -can take opportunities of saying more about your -life there.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, that's why he has been collecting information. -He does so want to encourage people -to look forward to a life they will certainly have -to enter upon, and realise that it is a rational life. -All this that he has been giving you now, and -that I gave to Lionel, you must sort out, and -put in order, because I can only give it -scrappily. I want to study things here a lot. -Would you think it selfish if I say I wouldn't -like to be back now?—I wouldn't give this up -for anything. Don't think it selfish, or that I -want to be away from you all. I have still -got you, because I feel you so close, closer even. -I wouldn't come back, I wouldn't for anything -that anyone could give me.</p> - -<p>He hardly liked to put it that way to his mother.</p> - -<p>Is Alec here? (Feda looking round.)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—No, but I hope he will be coming.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Tell him not to say who he is. I did enjoy myself -that first time that Lionel came—I could talk -for hours.</p> -</div> - -<p>(O. J. L. had here looked at his watch quietly.)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I could talk for hours; don't go yet.</p> - -<p>He says he thinks he was lucky when he passed -on, because he had so many to meet him. That -came, he knows now, through your having been in -with this thing for so long. He wants to impress -this on those that you will be writing for: that it -makes it so much easier for them if they and their -friends know about it beforehand. It's awful when -they have passed over and won't believe it for -weeks,—they just think they're dreaming. And -they won't realise things at all sometimes. He -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[ 203]</a></span> -doesn't mind telling you now that, just at first, -when he woke up, he felt a little depression. But -it didn't last long. He cast his eyes round, and soon -he didn't mind. But it was like finding yourself in a -strange place, like a strange city; with people you -hadn't seen, or not seen for a long time, round you. -Grandfather was with me straight away; and -presently Robert. I got mixed up between two -Roberts. And there's some one called Jane comes -to him, who calls herself an aunt, he says. Jane. -He's uncertain about her. Jane—Jennie. She -calls herself an aunt; he is told to call her 'Aunt -Jennie.' Is she my Aunt Jennie? he says.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—No, but your mother used to call her that.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>[And so on, simple talk about family and friends.]</p> - -<p>He has brought that doggie again, nice doggie. -A doggie that goes like this, and twists about -(Feda indicating a wriggle). He has got a nice tail, -not a little stumpy tail, nice tail with nice hair on it. -He sits up like that sometimes, and comes down -again, and puts his tongue out of his mouth. He's -got a cat too, plenty of animals, he says. He hasn't -seen any lions and tigers, but he sees horses, cats, -dogs, and birds. He says you know this doggie; -he has nice hair, a little wavy, which sticks up -all over him, and has twists at the end. Now he's -jumping round. He hasn't got a very pointed face, -but it isn't like a little pug-dog either; it's rather -a long shape. And he has nice ears what flaps, -not standing up; nice long hairs on them too. -A darkish colour he looks, darkish, as near as Feda -can see him. [See photograph, p. 278.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Does he call him by any name?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says, 'Not him.'</p> - -<p>(<i>Sotto voce.</i>—What you mean 'not him'? It -is a 'him'; you don't call him 'it.')</p> - -<p>No, he won't explain. No, he didn't give it a -name. It can jump.</p> - -<p>[All this about a she-dog called Curly, whose -death had been specially mentioned by -'Myers' through another medium some -years ago,—an incident reported privately -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[ 204]</a></span> -to the S.P.R. at the time,—is quite good as -far as it goes.]</p> - -<p>He has met a spirit here, he says, who knows -you—G. Nothing to do with the other G. Some -one that's a very fine sort indeed. His name begins -with G—Gal, Gals, Got, Got,—he doesn't know -him very well, but it sounds like that. It isn't who -you feel, though it might have been, nothing to do -with that at all. Some one called Golt—he didn't -know him, but he is interested in you, and had -met you.</p> - -<p>It's surprising how many people come up to -me, he says, and shake me by the hand, and speak -to me. I don't know them from Adam. (<i>Sotto -voce</i>.—Adam, he say.) But they are doing me -honour here, and some of them are such fine men. -He doesn't know them, but they all seem to be interested -in you, and they say, "Oh, are you his son?—how-do-you-do?"</p> - -<p>Feda is losing control.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well, good-bye, Raymond, then, and God bless -you.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>God bless <i>you</i>. I do so want you to know that I -am very happy. And bless them all. My love to -you. I can't tell what I feel, but you can guess. -It's difficult to put into words. My love to all. -God bless you and everybody. Good-bye, father.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Good-bye, Raymond. Good-bye, Feda.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Feda here gave a jerk, and a 'good-bye.')</p> - -<p>Love to her what 'longs to you, and to Lionel. -Feda knows what your name is, 'Soliver,' yes. -(Another squeak.)</p> -</div> - -<p class="center">(<i>Sitting ended 8.20 p.m.</i>)</p> - -<p>The conclusion of sittings is seldom of an evidential -character, and by most people would not be recorded; -but occasionally it may be best to quote one completely, -just as a specimen of what may be called the 'manner' -of a sitting.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> -Alec had had a sitting with Peters, not with Mrs. Leonard.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> -I confess that I think that Feda may have got a great deal -of this, perhaps all of it, from people who have read or written some of -the books referred to in my introductory remarks. But inasmuch as her -other utterances are often evidential, I feel that I have no right to -pick and choose; <i>especially as I know nothing about it, one way or -the other</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> -Some of this Feda talk is at least humorous.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> -I have not yet traced the source of all this supposed information.</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[ 205]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XVII</span><br /> -<span class="small">K. K. AUTOMATIC WRITING</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">ON 17 December 1915, I was talking to Mrs. Kennedy -when her hand began to write, and I had a short -conversation which may be worth reporting:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I have been here such a long time, please tell -father I am here—Raymond.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—My boy!</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Dear father!</p> - -<p>Father, it was difficult to say all one felt, but -now I don't care. I love you. I love you intensely. -Father, please speak to me.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—I recognise it, Raymond. Have you anything -to say for the folk at home?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I have been there to-day; I spoke to mother. I -don't know if she heard me, but I rather think so. -Please tell her this, and kiss her from me.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—She had a rather vivid dream or vision of you -one morning lately. I don't know if it was a dream.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I feel sure she will see me, but I don't know, -because I am so often near her that I can't say yes -or no to any particular time.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Raymond, you know it is getting near Christmas -now?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I know. I shall be there; keep jolly or it hurts -me horribly. Truly, I know it is difficult, but -you <i>must</i> know by now that I am so splendid. I -shall never be one instant out of the house on -Christmas Day. (Pause.)</p> - -<p>He has gone to fetch some one.—Paul.</p> - -<p>(This is the sort of interpolation which frequently -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[ 206]</a></span> -happens. Paul signs his explanatory sentence.)</p> -</div> - -<p>(K. K. presently said that Raymond had returned, -and expected me to be aware of it.)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I have brought Mr. Myers. He says he doesn't -often come to use this means, but he wants to speak -for a moment.</p> - -<p>"Get free and go on," he says. "Don't let them -trammel you. Get at it, Lodge."—Myers.</p> - -<p>He has gone, tell my father.</p> -</div> - -<p>(<span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>, <i>sotto voce</i>.—What does that mean?)</p> - -<p>(<span class="smcap">K. K.</span>—I haven't an idea.)</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Has Myers gone right away?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"I have spoken, but I will speak again, if you -keep quiet (meaning K. K.). Do cease to think, or -you are useless. Tell Lodge I can't explain half -his boy is to me. I feel as if I had my own dearly -loved son here, yet I know he is only lent to me.</p> - -<p>"Pardon me if I rarely use you (to K. K.); I -can't stand the way you bother."—Myers.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">K. K.</span>—Do you mean the way I get nervous if I am taking -a message from you?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>"Yes, I do."</p> - -<p>[This interpolated episode was commented on -by O. J. L. as very characteristic.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Is Raymond still there?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Raymond, do you know we've got that photograph -you spoke of? Mrs. Cheves sent us it, the -mother of Cheves—Captain Cheves, you remember him?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, I know you have the photograph.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes, and your description of it was very good. -And we have seen the man leaning on you. Was -there another one taken of you?</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">K. K.</span>—'Four,' he says 'four.' Did you say 'four,' -Raymond?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, I did.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes, we have those taken of you by yourself, but -was another taken of you with other officers?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I hear, father; I shall look, but I think you -have had the one I want you to have; I have seen -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[ 207]</a></span> -you looking at it. I have heard all that father has -said. It is ripping to come like this. Tell my -father I have enjoyed it.—Raymond.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Before you go, Raymond, I want to ask a -serious question. Have you been let to see Christ?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Father, I shall see him presently. It is not -time yet. I am not ready. But I know he lives, -and I know he comes here. All the sad ones see him -if no one else can help them. Paul has seen him: -you see he had such a lot of pain, poor chap. I am -not expecting to see him yet, father. I shall love -to when it's the time.—Raymond.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well, we shall be very happy this Christmas I -think.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Father, tell mother she has her son with her all -day on Christmas Day. There will be thousands -and thousands of us back in the homes on that day, -but the horrid part is that so many of the fellows -don't get welcomed. Please keep a place for me. -I must go now. Bless you again, father.—Raymond.</p> -</div> - -<p class="center">(Paul then wrote a few words to his mother.)</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[ 208]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XVIII</span><br /> -<span class="small">FIRST SITTING OF ALEC WITH MRS. LEONARD</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">ON 21 December 1915 Alec had his first sitting with -Mrs. Leonard; but he did not manage to go quite -anonymously—the medium knew that he was my -son. Again there is a good deal of unverifiable matter, -which whether absurd or not I prefer not to suppress; my -reasons are indicated in Chapters xii and xvi Part II, -and xi Part III. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><i>Alec's (A. M. L.'s) Sitting with Mrs. Leonard at her House<br /> -on Tuesday Afternoon, 21 December 1915, 3.15 to 4.30 p.m.</i></h3> - -<p class="center">(Medium knows I am Sir Oliver Lodge's son.) -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Front room; curtains drawn; dark; small red lamp. -No one else present.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Leonard shook hands saying, "Mr. Lodge?"</p> - -<p>(Medium begins by rubbing her own hands vigorously.)</p> - -<p>Good morning! This is Feda.</p> - -<p>Raymond's here. He would have liked A -<i>and</i> B.</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—What you mean, A <i>and</i> B?)</p> - -<p>Oh, he would have liked to talk to A and B. -[See <a href="#Page_212">Note A</a>.] He says: "I wish you could see -me, I am so pleased; but you know I am pleased."</p> - -<p>He has been trying hard to get to you at home. -He thinks he is getting closer, and better able -to understand the conditions which govern this -way of communicating. He thinks that in a -little while he will be able to give actual tests -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[ 209]</a></span> -at home. He knows he has got through, but not -satisfactorily. He gets so far, and then flounders.</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—That's what fishes do!)</p> - -<p>He says he is feeling splendid. He did not -think it was possible to feel so well.</p> - -<p>He was waiting here; he knew you were -coming, but thought you might not be able to -come to-day. [Train half an hour late.]</p> - -<p>Did you take notice of what he said about -the place he is in?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—Yes. But I find it very difficult to understand.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says, it is such a solid place, I have not -got over it yet. It is so wonderfully real.</p> - -<p>He spoke about a river to his father; he has -not seen the sea yet. He has found water, but -doesn't know whether he will find a sea. He is -making new discoveries every day. So <i>much</i> -is new, although of course not to people who -have been here some time.</p> - -<p>He went into the library with his grandfather—Grandfather -William—and also somebody -called Richard, and he says the books there -seem to be the same as you read.</p> - -<p>Now this is extraordinary: There are books -there not yet published on the earth plane. He -is told—only told, he does not know if it is correct—that -those books will be produced, books like -those that are there now; that the matter in them -will be impressed on the brain of some man, he -supposes an author.</p> - -<p>He says that not everybody on his plane is -allowed to read those books; they might hurt -them—that is, the books not published yet. Father -is going to write one—not the one on now, but a -fresh one.</p> - -<p>Has his father found out who it was, beginning -with G, who said he was going to help -(meaning help Raymond) for his father's sake? -It was not the person he thought it was at the -time (p. <a href="#Page_204">204</a>).</p> - -<p>It is very difficult to get things through. He -wants to keep saying how pleased he is to come.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[ 210]</a></span></p> - -<p>There are hundreds of things he will think of after he is gone.</p> - -<p>He has brought Lily, and William—the young one——</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—I don't know whether it is -right, but he appears to have two brothers.)</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Two brothers as well as a sister died in extreme -infancy. He would hardly know that, -normally.—O. J. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—Feda, will you ask Raymond if he would like -me to ask some questions?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, with pleasure, he says.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—A little time ago, -Raymond said he was with mother. Mother would like to know if he can say -what she was doing when he came? Ask Raymond -to think it over, and see if he can remember?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, yes. She'd got some wool and scissors. -She had a square piece of stuff—he is showing -me this—she was working on the square piece -of stuff. He shows me that she was cutting -the wool with the scissors.</p> - -<p>Another time, she was in bed.</p> - -<p>She was in a big chair—dark covered——</p> - -<p>This refers to the time mentioned first. [<a href="#Page_214">Note B</a>.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—Ask Raymond if he can remember which -room she was in?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Pause.)</p> - -<p>He can't remember. He can't always see -more than a corner of the room—it appears -vapourish and shadowy.</p> - -<p>He often comes when you're in bed.</p> - -<p>He tried to call out loudly: he shouted, -'Alec, Alec!' but he didn't get any answer. -That is what puzzles him. He thinks he has -shouted, but apparently he has not even manufactured -a whisper.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—Feda, will you ask -Raymond if he can remember trivial things that happened, as these -things often make the best tests?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says he can now and again.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—The questions that -father asked about 'Evinrude,' 'Dartmoor,' and 'Argonauts,' are all trivial, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[ 211]</a></span> -but make good tests, as father knows nothing about them.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, Raymond quite understands. He is just -as keen as you are to give those tests.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—Ask Raymond if the word 'Evinrude' in connexion -with a holiday trip reminds him of anything?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes. (Definitely.)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—And 'Argonauts'?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes. (Definitely.)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—And 'Dartmoor'?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes. (Definitely.)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—Well, don't answer the questions now, but if -father asks them again, see if you can remember -anything.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(While Alec was speaking, Feda was getting a -message simultaneously:—)</p> - -<p>He says something burst.</p> - -<p>[This is excellent for Dartmoor, but I knew it.—A. -M. L.] [<a href="#Page_214">Note C</a>.]</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—Tell Raymond I -am quite sure he gets things -through occasionally, but that I think often the -meaning comes through altered, and very often -appears to be affected by the sitter. It appears -to me that they usually get what they expect.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Raymond says, "I only wish they did!" But -in a way you are right. He is never able to give -all he wishes. Sometimes only a word, which -often must appear quite disconnected. Often the -word does not come from his mind; he has no trace -of it. Raymond says, for this reason it is a good -thing to try, more, to come and give something -definite at home. When you sit at the table, he -feels sure that what he wants to say is influenced -by some one at the table. Some one is helping -him, some one at the table is guessing at the words. -He often starts a word, but somebody finishes it.</p> - -<p>He asked father to let you come and not say who -you were; he says it would have been a bit of fun.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—Ask Raymond if he can remember any characteristic -things we used to talk about among ourselves?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[ 212]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes. He says you used to talk about cars.</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—What you mean? Everybody -talks about cars!)</p> - -<p>And singing. He used to fancy he could sing. -He didn't sing hymns. On Thursday nights he has -to sing hymns, but they are not in his line.</p> - -<p>[On Thursday nights I am told that a circle -holds sittings for developing the direct voice -at Mrs. Leonard's, and that they sing hymns. -Paul and Raymond have been said to join in. -Cf. near end of Chapter XVI, p. <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—What used he to sing?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Hello—Hullalo—sounds like Hullulu—Hullulo. -Something about 'Hottentot'; but he is going back -a long way, he thinks. [See note in Appendix -about this statement.]</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—An orange lady?)</p> - -<p>He says something about an orange lady.</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—Not what sold oranges?)</p> - -<p>No, of course not. He says a song extolling the -virtues and beauties of an orange lady.</p> - -<p>[Song: "My Orange Girl." Excellent. The -last song he bought.—A. M. L.]</p> - -<p>And a funny song which starts '<span class="smcap">Ma</span>,' but Feda -can't see any more—like somebody's name. Also -something about 'Irish eyes.' [See <a href="#Page_215">Note D</a>.]</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—Are they really songs?)</p> - -<p>Very much so.</p> - -<p>(A number of unimportant incidents were now -mentioned.)</p> - -<p>He says it is somebody's birthday in January.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—It <i>is</i>.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—What's a beano? Whose -birthday?)</p> - -<p>He won't say whose birthday. He says, <i>He</i> -knows (meaning A.).</p> - -<p>[Raymond's own birthday, 25 Jan., was understood.]</p> -</div> - -<p class="center">(More family talk.)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he says he is going now. He says the -power is getting thin.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—Wish him good luck from me, Feda.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Love to all of them.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[ 213]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>My love to you, old chap.</p> - -<p>Just before I go: Don't ever any of you regret -my going. I believe I have got more to do than -I could have ever done on the earth plane. It is -only a case of waiting, and just meeting every one -of you as you come across to him. He is going -now. He says Willie too—young Willie. [His -deceased brother.]</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—Yes, what? Proclivities?)</p> - -<p>Oh, he is only joking.</p> - -<p>He says: Not Willie of the weary proplic—propensities—that's -it.</p> - -<p>He is joking. Just as many jokes here as ever -before. Even when singing hymns. When he -and Paul are singing, they do a funny dance with -their arms. (Showing a sort of cake-walk—moving -arms up and down.)</p> - -<p>(Feda.—It's a silly dance, anyway.)</p> - -<p>Good-bye, and good luck.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Characteristic; see, for instance, a letter of his -on page 41 above. I happen to have just seen another letter, to -Brodie, which concludes: -"Well, good-bye, Brodie, and good -luck."—O. J. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he is going. Yes. He is gone now, yes.</p> - -<p>Do you want to say anything to Feda?</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—Yes, thank you -very much for all your help. -The messages are sometimes difficult, but it is most -important to try and give exactly what you hear, -and nothing more, whether you understand it -or not.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Feda understands. She only say exactly what -she hear, even though it is double-Dutch. Don't -forget to give my love to them all.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—Good-bye, Feda. (Shakes hands.)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Medium comes-to in about two or three minutes.</p> -</div> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 40em;">(Signed) A. M. L.</span></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:3em;">21 <i>December</i> 1915</span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>[All written out fair same evening. Part on -way home, and part after arriving, without -disturbance from seeing anybody.] -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[ 214]</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Notes by O. J. L. on the A. M. L. Record</span></h3> - -<p>This seems to have been a good average sitting; it -contains a few sufficiently characteristic remarks, but not -much evidential. What is said about songs in it, however, -is rather specially good. In further explanation, a -few notes, embodying more particular information obtained -by me from the family when reading the sitting -over to them, may now be added:— -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h4>NOTE A</h4> - -<p>The 'A <i>and</i> B' manifestly mean his brothers Alec and Brodie; -and there was a natural reason for bracketing them together, -inasmuch as they constitute the firm Lodge Brothers, with which -Raymond was already to a large extent, and hoped to be still -more closely, associated. But there may have been a minor point -in it, since between Alec and Brodie long ago, at their joint preparatory -school, there was a sort of joke, of which Raymond was -aware, about problems given in algebra and arithmetic books: -where, for instance, A buys so many dozen at some price, and -B buys some at another price; the question being to compare their -profits. Or where A does a piece of work in so many days, and -B does something else. It is usually not at all obvious, without -working out, which gets the better of it, A or B; and Alec seems -to have recognised, in the manner of saying A and B, some reference -to old family chaff on this subject. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h4>NOTE B</h4> - -<p>The reference to a square piece of stuff, cut with scissors, -suggests to his mother, not the wool-work which she is doing like -everybody else for soldiers, but the cutting of a circular piece out -of a Raymond blanket that came back with his kit, for the purpose -of covering a round four-legged table which was subsequently used -for sittings, in order to keep it clean without its having to be -dusted or otherwise touched by servants. It is not distinct enough -to be evidential, however. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h4>NOTE C</h4> - -<p>About Dartmoor, "he says something burst." Incidents -referred to in a previous sitting, when I was there alone, were the -running downhill, clapping on brake, and swirling round corners -(p. <a href="#Page_156">156</a>); but all this was associated with, and partly caused by, -the bursting of the silencer in the night after the hilly country -had been reached. And it was the fearful noise subsequent to -the bursting of the silencer that the boys had expected him to -remember. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[ 215]</a></span></p> - -<h4>NOTE D</h4> - -<p>The best evidential thing, however, is on p. <a href="#Page_212">212</a>—a reference -to a song of his called "My Orange Girl." If the name of the -song merely had been given, though good enough, it would not -have been quite so good, because the name of a song is common -property. But the particular mode of describing it, in such a -way as to puzzle Feda, namely, "an orange lady," making her -think rather of a market woman, is characteristic of Raymond—especially -the sentence about "extolling her virtues and beauties," -which is not at all appropriate to Feda, and is exactly like Raymond. -So is "Willie of the weary proclivities."</p> - -<p>The song "Irish Eyes" was also, I find, quite correct. It -seems to have been a comparatively recent song, which he had -sung several times.</p> - -<p>Again, the song described thus by Feda:—</p> - -<p>"A funny song which starts Ma. But Feda can't see any -more—like somebody's name."</p> - -<p>I find that the letters M A were pronounced separately—not -as a word. To me the <span class="smcap">Ma</span> had suggested one of those nigger -songs about 'Ma Honey'—the kind of song which may have -been indicated by the word 'Hottentot' above. But, at a later -table sitting at Mariemont, he was asked what song he meant by -the letters M A, and then he spelt out clearly the name 'Maggie.' -This song was apparently unknown to those at the table, but -was recognised by Norah, who was in the room, though not at -the table, as a still more recent song of Raymond's, about "Maggie -Magee." (See Appendix also.)</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Appendix to Sitting of 21 December 1915</span></h3> - -<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Written 3-1/2 Months later</span>)</p> - -<p class="center">(Dictated by O. J. L., 12 April 1916.) -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>Last night the family were singing over some songs, -and came across one which is obviously the one referred -to in the above sitting of A. M. L. with Mrs. Leonard, -held nearly four months ago, of which a portion ran thus -(just before the reference to Orange Girl):—</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">A. M. L.</span>—What used he to sing?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Hello—Hullalo—sounds like Hullulu,—Hullulo. -Something about 'Hottentot'; but he is -going back a long way, he thinks."</p> -</div> - -<p>References to other songs known to the family -followed, but this reference to an unknown song was -vaguely remembered by the family as a puzzle; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[ 216]</a></span> -and it existed in A. M. L.'s mind as "a song about -'Honolulu,'"—this being apparently the residual impression -produced by the 'Hullulu' in combination with -'Hottentot'; but no Honolulu song was known.</p> - -<p>A forgotten and overlooked song has now (11 April -1916) turned up, which is marked in pencil "R. L. 3.3.4.," -<i>i.e.</i> 3 March 1904, which corresponds to his "going back a -long way"—to a time, in fact, when he was only fifteen. -It is called, "My Southern Maid"; and although no word -about 'Honolulu' occurs in the printed version, one of the -verses has been altered in Raymond's writing in pencil; -and that alteration is the following absurd introduction -to a noisy chorus:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>"Any little flower from a tulip to a rose,</p> -<p>If you'll be Mrs. John James Brown</p> -<p>Of Hon-o-lu-la-lu-la town."</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Until these words were sung last night, nobody seems -to have remembered the song "My Southern Maid," and -there appears to be no reason for associating it with the -word 'Honolulu' or any similar sound, so far as public -knowledge was concerned, or apart from Raymond's -alterations.</p> - -<p>Alec calls attention to the fact that, in answer to his -question about songs, no songs were mentioned which were -not actually Raymond's songs; and that those which -were mentioned were not those he was expecting. Furthermore, -that if he had thought of these songs he would have -thought of them by their ordinary titles, such as "My -Orange Girl" and "My Southern Maid"; though the -latter he had forgotten altogether.</p> - -<p>(A sort of disconnected sequel to this song episode -occurred some months later, as reported in <a href="#Page_271">Chapter -XXIII</a>.)</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[ 217]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XIX</span><br /> -<span class="small">PRIVATE SITTINGS AT MARIEMONT</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">It had been several times indicated that Raymond -wanted to come into the family circle at home, and -that Honor, whom he often refers to as H., would be -able to help him. Attempted private sittings of this kind -were referred to by Raymond through London mediums, -and he gave instruction as to procedure, as already -reported (pp. <a href="#Page_160">160</a> and <a href="#Page_190">190</a>).</p> - -<p>After a time some messages were received, and family -communications without any outside medium have gradually -become easy.</p> - -<p>Records were at first carefully kept, but I do not report -them, because clearly it is difficult to regard anything -thus got as evidential. At the same time, the naturalness -of the whole, and the ready way in which family jokes -were entered into and each new-comer recognised and -welcomed appropriately, were very striking. A few incidents, -moreover, were really of an evidential character, -and these must be reported in due course.</p> - -<p>But occasionally the table got rather rampageous and -had to be quieted down. Sometimes, indeed, both the -table and things like flower-pots got broken. After these -more violent occasions, Raymond volunteered the explanation, -through mediums in London, that he couldn't always -control it, and that there was a certain amount of skylarking, -not on our side, which he tried to prevent (see -pp. <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a> and <a href="#Page_273">273</a>); though in certain of the surprising -mechanical demonstrations, and, so to speak, tricks, which -certainly seemed beyond the normal power of anyone -touching the table, he appeared to be decidedly interested, -and was represented as desirous of repeating a few of the -more remarkable ones for my edification.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[ 218]</a></span></p> - -<p>I do not, however, propose to report in this book concerning -any purely physical phenomena. They require a -more thorough treatment. Suffice it to say that the movements -were not only intelligent, but were sometimes, -though very seldom, such as apparently could not be -accomplished by any normal application of muscular force, -however unconsciously such force might be exerted by -anyone—it might only be a single person—left in contact -with the table.</p> - -<p>A family sitting with no medium present is quite -different from one held with a professional or indeed any -outside medium. Information is freely given about the -doings of the family; and the general air is that of a family -conversation; because, of course, in fact, no one but the -family is present.</p> - -<p>At any kind of sitting the conversation is rather one-sided, -but whereas with a medium the sitter is reticent, and -the communicator is left to do nearly all the talking, in a -family group the sitters are sometimes voluble; while the -ostensible control only occasionally takes the trouble to -spell out a sentence, most of his activity consisting in -affirmation and negation and rather effective dumb show.</p> - -<p>I am reluctant to print a specimen of these domestic -chats, though it seems necessary to give some account of -them.</p> - -<p>On Christmas Day, 1915, the family had a long table -sitting. It was a friendly and jovial meeting, with plenty -of old songs interspersed, which he seemed thoroughly to -enjoy and, as it were, 'conduct'; but for publication I -think it will be better to select something shorter, and I -find a description written by one to whom such things -were quite new except by report—a lady who had been -governess in the family for many years, when even the -elder children were small, and long before Raymond was -born. This lady, Miss F. A. Wood, commonly called -'Woodie' from old times, happened to be staying on a -visit to Mariemont in March 1916, and was present at two -or three of the family sittings. She was much interested -in her first experience, and wrote an account immediately -afterwards, which, as realistically giving the impression of -a witness, I have obtained her permission to copy here.</p> - -<p>At this date the room was usually considerably darkened -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[ 219]</a></span> -for a sitting; but even partial darkness was unnecessary, -and was soon afterwards dispensed with, especially as -it interfered with easy reading of music at the piano.</p> - -<h3><i>Table Sitting in the Drawing-room at Mariemont,<br /> -Thursday, 2 March 1916, about 6 p.m.</i></h3> - -<p class="center"><i>Sitters</i>—<span class="smcap">Lady Lodge</span>, -<span class="smcap">Norah</span>, and <span class="smcap">Woodie</span>; later, <span class="smcap">Honor</span></p> - -<p class="center"><i>Report by Miss F. A. Wood</i> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>As it was the first time that I had ever been at a sitting of any -kind, I shall put down the details as fully as I can remember -them.</p> - -<p>The only light in the room was from the gas-fire, a large one, -so that we could see each other and things in the room fairly -distinctly; the table used at this time was a rather small octagonal -one, though weighty for its size, with strong centre stem, supported -on three short legs, top like a chess-board. Lady Lodge sat with -her back to window looking on to drive, Norah with back to -windows looking on to tennis-lawn, and I, Woodie, had my back -to the sofa.</p> - -<p>As we were about to sit down, Lady Lodge said: "We -always say a little prayer first."</p> - -<p>I had hoped that she intended to pray aloud for us all, but -she did it silently, so I did the same, having been upstairs before -and done this also.</p> - -<p>For some time nothing whatever happened. I only felt that -the table was keeping my hands extremely cold.</p> - -<p>After about half an hour, Lady Lodge said: "I don't think -that anyone is coming to-night; we will wait just a little longer, -and then go."</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">Lady Lodge</span>.—Is anyone -here to-night to speak to us? Do come if you can, because we want to show Woodie what a sitting -is like. Raymond, dear, do you think you could come to us?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(No answer.)</p> -</div> - -<p>During the half-hour before Lady Lodge asked any -questions I had felt every now and then a curious tingling -in my hands and fingers, and then a much stronger drawing -sort of feeling through my hands and arms, which caused -the table to have a strange intermittent trembling sort of -feeling, though it was not a movement of the <i>whole</i> table. -Another 'feeling' was as if a 'bubble' of the table came -up, and tapped gently on the palm of my left hand. At -first I only felt it once; after a short interval three times; -then a little later about twelve times. And once (I shall -not be able to explain this) I felt rather than heard a faint -tap in the centre of the table (away from people's hands).</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[ 220]</a></span></p> - -<p>Nearly every time I felt these queer movements Lady -Lodge asked, "Did you move, Woodie?" I had certainly -not done so consciously, and said so, and while I was -feeling that 'drawing' feeling through hands and arms, I -said nothing myself, till Lady Lodge and Norah both said, -"What <i>is</i> the table doing? It has never done like this -before." Then I told of my strange feelings in hands and -arms, etc. Lady Lodge said it must be due to nerves, or -muscles, or something of the sort. These strange feelings -did not last long at a time, and generally, but not always, -they came after Lady Lodge had asked questions (to some -one on the other side).</p> - -<p>After a bit, when the 'feelings' had gone from me at -least, Lady Lodge suggested Norah's going for Honor, -who came, but said on first sitting down that the -table felt dead, and she did not think that anyone was -there.</p> - - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">Lady L.</span>—Is anyone coming? -We should be so pleased if anyone -could; we have been sitting here some time very -patiently.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Nothing happened for a bit, and Lady Lodge said, "I -don't think it is any good."</p> - -<p>But I said, "Oh, do wait a little longer, that tingling -feeling is coming back again."</p> - -<p>And Honor said, "Yes, I think there is something."</p> - -<p>And then the table began to move, and Lady Lodge -asked:—</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady L.</span>—Raymond, darling, is that you?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(The table rocked three times.) -</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady L.</span>—That is good of you, because Woodie did so want you -to come.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(The table rocked to and fro with a pleased motion, -most difficult to express on paper.)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Woodie.</span>—Do you think that I have any power?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span> -</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Personally, I do not feel so sure of this. After the -sitting and during it, I felt there might be a possibility.—Woodie.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">Lady L.</span>—Lorna has gone to -nurse the soldiers, night duty. -They are typhoid patients, and I do not like it. Do you -think it will do her any harm?</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span> -</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady L.</span>—Do you like her doing this?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span> -</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady L.</span>—You are rocking like a rocking-horse. Do you remember -the rocking-horse at Newcastle?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span> -</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady L.</span>—Can you give its name? (They went through the alphabet, -and it spelt out:—)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Prince.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>[It used to be called Archer Prince.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[ 221]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Soon after this the table began to show signs of restlessness, -and Honor said: "I expect he wants to send a -message." So Lady Lodge said:—)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady L.</span>—Do you want to send a message?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Honor.</span>—Well, we're all ready; start away.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>YOURLOVETOMYRTYPEKILL.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Honor.</span>—Raymond, that is wrong, isn't it? Was "Your love to -my" right?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Honor.</span>—Very well, we will start from there.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(The message then ran:—</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>YOUR LOVE TO MY LITTLE SISTER.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Before the whole of 'sister' was made out, he showed -great delight; and when the message was repeated to him -in full to see if it was right, he was so pleased, and showed -it so vigorously, that <i>he</i>, and we, all laughed together.</p> - -<p>I could never have believed how real the feeling would -be of his presence amongst us.)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady L.</span>—Do you mean Lily?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady L.</span>—Is she here?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady L.</span>—Are you here in the room?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady L.</span>—Can Lily see us?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">Lady L.</span>—Lily, darling, your mother does love you so dearly. -I have wanted to send you my love. I shall come to see -you some time, and then we shall be so happy, my dear, -dear little girl. Thank you very much for coming to help -Raymond, and coming to the table sometimes, till he can -come himself. My love to you, darling, and to Brother -Bill, too.</span></p> - -<p>(Raymond seemed very pleased when Brother Bill was -mentioned.)</p> - -<p>(The table now seemed to wish to get into Lady Lodge's -lap, and made most caressing movements to and fro, and -seemed as if it could not get close enough to her.</p> - -<p>Soon we realised that he was wanting to go, so we asked -him if this was so, and he said:—)</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(So we said 'good night' to him, and after giving two -rather slight movements, which I gather is what he generally -does just as he is going, we said 'good night' once -more, and came away.)</p> - -<p class="right">(Signed) <span class="smcap">Woodie</span><br /> -</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[ 222]</a></span></p> - -<p>One other family sitting, a still shorter one, may be -quoted as a specimen also; though out of place. A -question asked was suggested by something reported on -page 230. It appears that Miss Wood was still here, but -that on this occasion she was not one of those that -touched the table.</p> - -<p>At this date the table generally used happened to be -a chess-table with centre pillar and three claw feet. After -this table and another one had got broken during the -more exuberant period of these domestic sittings, before -the power had got under control, a stronger and heavier -round table with four legs was obtained, and employed -only for this purpose. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><i>Table Sitting in the Drawing-Room at Mariemont,<br /> -9 p.m., Monday, 17 April 1916</i></h3> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Report by M. F. A. L.</span></h4> - -<p>Music going on in the drawing-room at Mariemont.</p> - -<p>The girls (four of them) and Alec singing at the -piano. Woodie and Honor and I sitting at the other -end of the room. Lionel in the large chair.</p> - -<p>The Shakespeare Society was meeting in the -house, and at that time having coffee in the dining-room, -so O. J. L. was not with us.</p> - -<p>Woodie thought Raymond was in the room and -would like to hear the singing, but Honor thought -it too late to begin with the table, as we should shortly -be going into the dining-room.</p> - -<p>However, I got the table ready near the piano, -and Honor came to it, and the <i>instant</i> she placed -her hands on it, it began to rock. I put my hands -on too.</p> - -<p>We asked if it was Raymond, and if he had been -waiting, and he said:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>He seemed to wish to listen to the music, and kept -time with it gently. And after a song was over -that he liked, he very distinctly and decidedly applauded.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[ 223]</a></span></p> - -<p>Lionel came (I think at Raymond's request) and -sat at the table with us. It was determined to -edge itself close to the piano, though we said we -must pull it back, and did so. But it would go -there, and thumped Barbie, who was playing the -piano, in time to the music. Alec took one of the -black satin cushions and held it against her as a -buffer. The table continued to bang, and made a -little hole in the cushion.</p> - -<p>It then edged itself along the floor, where for -a minute or two it could make a sound on the boards -beyond the carpet. Then it seemed to be feeling -about with one foot (it has three).</p> - -<p>It found a corner of the skirting board, where -it could lodge one foot about 6 inches from the -ground. It then raised the other three level with -it, in the air; and this it did many times, seeming -delighted with its new trick.</p> - -<p>It then laid itself down on the ground, and we -asked if we should help it and lift it up, but it -banged a</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No</span></p> -</div> - -<p>on the floor, and raised itself a little several times -without having the strength to get up. It lifted -itself quite a foot from the ground, and was again -asked if we might not lift it, but it again banged -once for</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">No.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>But Lionel then said:—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">LIONEL.</span>—Well, Pat, my hand is in a most uncomfortable -position; won't you let me put the table up?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>It at once banged three times for</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>So we raised it.</p> - -<p>I then said:—</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Raymond, I want to ask you a question as a -test: What is the name of the sphere on which you are living?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[I did this, because others beside Raymond have -said, through Mrs. Leonard, that they were living on the third sphere, and that it was -called 'Summerland,' so I thought it might be -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[ 224]</a></span> -an idea of the medium's.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> I don't much like -these 'sphere' messages, and don't know whether they mean anything; but I assume -that 'sphere' may mean condition, or state of development.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>We took the alphabet, and the answer came at -once:—</p> -</div> - -<h3>SUMMERRLODGE.</h3> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>We asked, after the second R, if there was not -some mistake; and again when O came, instead of -the A we had expected for 'Summerland.'</p> - -<p>But he said No.</p> - -<p>So we went on, though I thought it was hopelessly -wrong, and ceased to follow. I felt sure it was mere -muddle.</p> - -<p>So my surprise was the greater when the note-taker -read out, 'Summer R. Lodge,' and I found -he had signed his name to it, to show, I suppose, -that it was his own statement, and not Feda's.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Lorna reports that the impression made upon -them was that Raymond knew they had been -expecting one ending, and that he was amused -at having succeeded in giving them another. -They enjoyed the joke together, and the table -shook as if laughing.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>We talked to him a little after this, and Alec -and Noël put their hands on the table, and we said -good night.</p> -</div> - -<p>It is only necessary to add that the mechanical movements -here described are <i>not</i> among those which, on page -218, I referred to as physically unable to be done by muscular -effort on the part of anyone whose hands are only on -the table top. I am not in this book describing any cases -of that sort. Whatever was the cause of the above mechanical -trick movements, which were repeated on a subsequent -occasion for my observation, the circumstances were not -strictly evidential. I ought to say, however, that most certainly -I am sure that no <i>conscious</i> effort was employed by -anyone present.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_249top"></a> -<img src="images/i_249top.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">MARIEMONT</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_249bottom"></a> -<img src="images/i_249bottom.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">RAYMOND AND BRODIE WITH THE PIGEONS AT MARIEMONT</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[ 225]</a></span></p> - -<h3>WARNING</h3> - -<p>It may be well to give a word of warning to those who -find that they possess any unusual power in the psychic -direction, and to counsel regulated moderation in its use. -Every power can be abused, and even the simple faculty of -automatic writing can with the best intentions be misapplied. -Self-control is more important than any other -form of control, and whoever possesses the power of receiving -communications in any form should see to it that -he remains master of the situation. To give up your own -judgement and depend solely on adventitious aid is a grave -blunder, and may in the long run have disastrous consequences. -Moderation and common sense are required in -those who try to utilise powers which neither they nor any -fully understand, and a dominating occupation in mundane -affairs is a wholesome safeguard.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> -The statement will be found on page 230, in the record of -a sitting preceding this in date.</p></div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[ 226]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XX</span><br /> -<span class="small">A FEW MORE RECORDS, WITH SOME<br /> -UNVERIFIABLE MATTER</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">AFTER Christmas I had proposed to drop the historical -order and make selections as convenient, but I -find that sequence must to some extent be maintained, -because of the inter-locking of sittings with different mediums -and development generally. I shall, however, only -preserve historical order so far as it turns out useful or -relevant, and will content myself with reporting that on 3 -January 1916 Raymond's eldest sister, Violet (the one married -to the 'Rowland' that he mentioned through Feda), had -a good sitting with him, and was not only recognised easily, -but knowledge was shown of much that she had been doing, -and of what she was immediately planning to do. Reference -was also made by Raymond to what he called his special -room in her house (p. <a href="#Page_45">45</a>); and, later, he said that that room -was bare of furniture, which it was.</p> - -<p>And at some of the sittings now, deceased friends, not -relatives, were brought by Raymond, and gave notable evidence -both to us and to other people; especially to parents -in some cases, to widows in others; some of which may -perhaps be partially reported hereafter.</p> - -<p>I propose now to pass on to some unverifiable matter -(see Chapters <a href="#Page_171">XII</a> and <a href="#Page_191">XVI</a>), and especially to a strange -and striking sitting which Lady Lodge had with Mrs. -Leonard on 4 February 1916.</p> - -<p>This may as well be reported almost in full, in spite -of unimportant and introductory portions, since it seems -fairer to give the context, especially of unverifiable matter. -But I feel bound to say that there is divergence of opinion -as to whether this particular record ought to be published -or not. I can only say that I recognise the responsibility, -and hope that I am right in partially accepting it. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[ 227]</a></span></p> - -<h3><i>Non-Evidential Sitting of M. F. A. L. with Mrs. Leonard<br /> -at her House on Friday, 4 February 1916,<br /> -from 8.30 p.m. to 11.10 p.m.</i></h3> - -<p class="center">(M. F. A. L. alone.) -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Feda.—Oh, it's Miss Olive!</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—So glad to meet you, Feda!</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Feda love you and Soliver best of all. SLionel -and SAlec too she love very much.</p> - -<p>Yaymond is here. He has been all over the place -with Paulie, to all sorts of places to the mediums, to -try and get poor boys into touch with their mothers. -Some are very jealous of those who succeed. They -try to get to their mothers, and they can't—they are -shut out. They make me feel as though I could cry -to see them. We explain that their mothers and -fathers don't know about communicating. They say, -why don't they all go to mediums?</p> - -<p>Yaymond say, it makes me wonder too.</p> - -<p>He say, he was telling Feda, it was awful funny -the things some of them did—it has a funny side, -going to see the mediums. You see, Paul and he -couldn't help having a joke; they are boys themselves, -laughing over funny things.</p> - -<p>He says he was listening to Paul, and he was -describing the drawing-room at home. (A good -description was now given of the drawing-room at -Mariemont, which the medium had never seen.)</p> - -<p>Feda sees flowers; they're Feda's, not Gladys's.</p> - -<p>[M. F. A. L. had brought flowers for Mrs. Leonard.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Don't you have flowers, then?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, lots of flowers. But Feda like to have -them in Gladys's room. [Apparently this must be -Mrs. Leonard's name.]</p> - -<p>There's a lot in prayer. Prayer keeps out evil -things, and keeps nice clean conditions. Raymond -says, keeps out devils.</p> - -<p>Mother, I don't want to talk about material things, -but to satisfy anxiety. I was very uneasy on Monday -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[ 228]</a></span> -night. I tried to come near, but there was a -band round me. We were all there.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—The Zeppelins did come on Monday night, but -they did not touch us. [We went to bed and didn't -worry about them.]</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says, they worked in a circular way, east and -south of you. Awful! He hoped it wouldn't upset -you; he didn't want them to come too close. I -know you're not nervous, but I fear for you. If -he'd been on the earth plane, he'd have been flying -home. He says <i>New Street</i> was the mark.</p> - -<p>Some one called 'M.' sent you a message through -Mrs. F. (?), and wanted her dearest love given. -She's had to be away rather from the earth plane -for some time, but he actually has seen M. several -times. Conditions of war have brought her back. -She had progressed a good way. She wondered if -you realised it was not her will to leave you so long, -but progression. She belongs to a higher plane.</p> - -<p>M. knew something about this before she passed -on, though perhaps it makes it easier to be always -communicating.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Some friends will know for whom this is intended—a -great friend of our and many -other children. She had had one sitting with -Mrs. Piper at Mariemont, not a good one.—O. -J. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Her life on the earth plane made it easier for her -to go on quickly after she passed out.</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—What you say?)</p> - -<p>M. says, it will be a test, that she was with his -father at a medium's, where she saw a control -named Alice Anne, a little girl control; she didn't -speak to Soliver, but was with him at the medium's. -"The old Scotch girl" what Paulie calls her; old -Scotch lady—same thing.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[This is correct about a sitting with Miss McCreadie, -when this 'M.' had unmistakably sent -messages through Miss McC.'s usual control.—O. -J. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[ 229]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center">(<i><b>Added later</b></i>.) -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>Some friends will be interested in this lady,—a really beautiful -character, with initials M. N. W.,—so I record something that came -through from Feda on a much later occasion—in July 1916:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>Raymond's got rather a young lady with him. Not the sister -who passed away a little baby. But she's young—she looks -twenty-four or twenty-five. She's rather slender, rather pretty. -Brown hair, oval face. Not awful handsome, but got a nice expression. -She's very nice, and comes from a high sphere. She's -able to come close to-night, but can't always come. Name -begins with an M. And she says, "Don't think that because she -didn't come, she didn't want to come. She had to keep away for -so long. It was necessary for her to stay away from the earth for -a while, because she had work in high spheres for three years, and -it's difficult for her to come through.</p> - -<p>Good, good—something about the lady, lady—two people, she -says. Lady and good man. Feda ought to remember it—a lady -and good man.</p> - -<p>Between them Soliver and her, Soliver and Miss Olive, and her. -Lady and good man and M. She must have been very good on -the earth plane, she wasn't ordinary at all. Quite unusual and -very very good. You can tell that by what she looks like now.</p> - -<p>She brings a lot of flowers—pansies, not quite pansies, flower -like a pansy, and not quite a pansy. Heartsease, that's what it is. -She brings lots of those to you. She brought a lot of them when -Raymond wented over there. But not for very long, she didn't—they -wasn't wanted very long. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<p class="center"><i><b>M. F. A. L. Record of February 4—continued</b></i></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He said about some one, that she'd gone right on -to a very high sphere indeed, as near celestial as -could possibly be. His sister, he says—can't get her -name. [He means Lily, presumably.] He says William -had gone on too, a good way, but not too far to -come to him. [His brother.]</p> - -<p>Those who are fond of you never go too far to -come back to you—sometimes too far to communicate, -never too far to meet you when you pass -over.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—That's so comforting, darling. I don't want to -hold you back.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>You gravitate here to the ones you're fond of. -Those you're not fond of, if you meet them in the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[ 230]</a></span> -street, you don't bother yourself to say 'how-do-you-do.'</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—There are streets, then?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes. He was pleased to see streets and -houses.</p> - -<p>At one time, I thought it might be created by -one's own thoughts. You gravitate to a place you -are fitted for. Mother, there's no judge and jury, -you just gravitate, like to like.</p> - -<p>I've seen some boys pass on who had nasty -ideas and vices. They go to a place I'm very glad -I didn't have to go to, but it's not hell exactly. -More like a reformatory—it's a place where you're -given a chance, and when you want to look for something -better, you're given a chance to have it. They -gravitate together, but get so bored. Learn to help -yourself, and immediately you'll be helped. Very -like your world; only no unfairness, no injustice—a -common law operating for each and every -one.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Are all of the same rank and grade?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Rank doesn't count as a virtue. High rank comes -by being virtuous. Those who have been virtuous -have to pass through lower rank to understand -things. All go on to the astral first, just for a -little.</p> - -<p>He doesn't remember being on the astral himself. -He thinks where he is now, he's about third. -Summerland—Homeland, some call it. It is a -very happy medium. The very highest can come -to visit you. It is just sufficiently near the earth -plane to be able to get to those on earth. He -thinks you have the best of it there, so far as he -can see.</p> - -<p>Mother, I went to a gorgeous place the other -day.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Where was it?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Goodness knows!</p> - -<p>I was permitted, so that I might see what was going -on in the Highest Sphere. Generally the High -Spirits come to us.</p> - -<p>I wonder if I can tell you what it looked like!</p> -</div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[ 231]</a></span></p> - -<p>[Until the case for survival is considered established, -it is thought improper and unwise to -relate an experience of a kind which may be -imagined, in a book dealing for the most part -with evidential matter. So I have omitted the -description here, and the brief reported utterance -which followed. I think it fair, however, -to quote the record so far as it refers to the -youth's own feelings, because otherwise the -picture would be incomplete and one-sided, -and he might appear occupied only with comparatively -frivolous concerns.]</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I felt exalted, purified, lifted up. I was kneeling. -I couldn't stand up, I <i>wanted</i> to kneel.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Mother, I thrilled from head to foot. He didn't -come near me, and I didn't feel I wanted to go near -him. Didn't feel I ought. The Voice was like a -bell. I can't tell you what he was dressed or robed -in. All seemed a mixture of shining colours.</p> - -<p>No good; can you imagine what I felt like when -he put those beautiful rays on to me? I don't -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[ 232]</a></span> -know what I've ever done that I should have been -given that wonderful experience. I never thought of -such a thing being possible, not at any rate for years, -and years, and years. No one could tell what I -felt, I can't explain it.</p> - -<p>Will they understand it?</p> - -<p>I know father and you will, but I want the others -to try. I can't put it into words.</p> - -<p>I didn't walk, I had to be taken back to Summerland, -I don't know what happened to me. If you -could faint with delight! Weren't those beautiful -words?</p> - -<p>I've asked if Christ will go and be seen by -everybody; but was told, "Not quite in the same -sense as you saw Him." I was told Christ was -always in spirit on earth—a sort of projection, something -like those rays, something of him in every -one.</p> - -<p>People think he is <i>a</i> Spirit, walking about in a -particular place. Christ is everywhere, not as a personality. -There <i>is</i> a Christ, and He lives on the -higher plane, and that is the one I was permitted -to see.</p> - -<p>There was more given me in that beautiful message; -I can't remember it all. He said the whole of -it, nearly and word for word, of what I've given -you. You see from that I'm given a mission to do, -helping near the earth plane....</p> - -<p>Shall I tell you why I'm so glad that is my work, -given me by the Highest Authority of all!</p> - -<p>First of all, I'm proud to do His work, no matter -what it is; but the great thing is, I can be near you -and father.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—If we can only be worthy!</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>You are both doing it, every bit you can.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Well, I'm getting to love people more than -I used to do.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I have learnt over here, that every one is not -for you. If not in affinity, let them go, and be with -those you <i>do</i> like.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[ 233]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Mother, will they think I'm kind of puffing myself -up or humbugging? It's so wonderful, -will they be able to understand that it's just -Raymond that's been through this? No Sunday -school.</p> - -<p>I treasured it up to give you to-night. I put -it off because I didn't know if I could give it in the -right words that would make them feel like I feel—or -something like. Isn't it a comfort? You -and father think it well over. I didn't ask for -work to be near the earth plane! I thought that -things would be made right. But think of it -being given me, the work I should have prayed -for!</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Then you're nearer?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Much nearer! I was bound to be drawn (?). -So beautiful to think, now I can <i>honestly</i> stay near -the earth plane. Eventually, instead of going up -by degrees, I shall take, as Feda has been promised, -a jump. And when you and father come, you will -be on one side, and father on the other. We shall -be a while in Summerland, just to get used to conditions. -He says very likely we shall be wanted to -keep an eye on the others. He means brothers and -sisters. I can't tell you how pleased I feel—'pleased' -is a poor word!</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—About what, my dear?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>About being very near the earth plane.</p> - -<p>I've pressed on, getting used to conditions here, -and yet when I went into the Presence I was overawed.</p> - -<p>How can people....</p> - -<p>It made me wish, in the few seconds I was able -to think of anything, that I had led one of the purest -lives imaginable. If there's any little tiny thing -I've ever done, it would stand out like a mountain. -I didn't have much time to think, but I did feel in -that few seconds....</p> - -<p>I felt when I found myself back in Summerland -that I was <i>charged</i> with something—some wonderful -power. As if I could stop rivers, move mountains; -and so wonderfully glad.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[ 234]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says, don't bother yourself about trying to -like people you've got an antipathy for, it's waste -of you. Keep love for those who want it, don't -throw it away on those who don't; it's like giving -things to over-fed people when hungry chaps are -standing by.</p> - -<p>Do you know that I can feel my ideas altering, -somehow.</p> - -<p>I feel more naturally in tune with conditions -very far removed from the earth plane; yet I like -to go round with Paul, and have fun, and enjoy -myself.</p> - -<p>After that wonderful experience, I asked some -one if it wasn't stupid to like to have fun and go -with the others. But they said that if you've got -a work to do on the earth plane, you're not to -have all the black side, you are allowed to have the -lighter side too, sunshine and shadow. One throws -the other up, and makes you better able to judge -the value of each. There are places on my -sphere where they can listen to beautiful music -when they choose. Everybody, even here, doesn't -care for music, so it's not in my sphere compulsory.</p> - -<p>He likes music and singing, but wouldn't like -to live in the middle of it always, he can go and -hear it if he wants to, he is getting more fond of it -than he was.</p> - -<p>Mr. Myers was very pleased. He says, you -know it isn't always the parsons, not always the -parsons, that go highest first. It isn't what you -professed, it's what you've done. If you have not -believed definitely in life after death, but have -tried to do as much as you could, and -led a decent life, and have left alone things you -don't understand, that's all that's required of -you. Considering how simple it is, you'd -think everybody would have done it, but very -few do.</p> - -<p>On our side, we expect a few years will make a -great difference in the conditions of people on the -earth plane.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[ 235]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>In five years, ever so many more will be wanting -to know about the life to come, and how they shall -live on the earth plane so that they shall have a -pretty good life when they pass on. They'll do it, -if only as a wise precaution. But the more they -know, the higher lines people will be going on.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Did you see me reading the sitting to your -father?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I'm going to stop father from feeling tired. Chap -with red feather helping. Isn't it wonderful that I -can be near you and father?</p> - -<p>Some people ask me, are you pleased with where -your body lies? I tell them I don't care a bit, -I've no curiosity about my body now. It's like -an old coat that I've done with, and hope some one -will dispose of it. I don't want flowers on -my body. Flowers in house, in Raymond's -home.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Can he tell the kind of flowers I put for him -on his birthday?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—Try and tell Feda.)</p> - -<p>Doesn't seem able to get it.</p> - -<p>Don't think he knew. I can't get it through. -Don't think I don't appreciate them. Sees some yellow -and some white.</p> - -<p>He thinks it is some power he takes from the -medium which makes for him a certain amount of -physical sight. He can't see properly.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Can he tell me where I got the flowers from -for his birthday?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—Flowers doesn't grow now. -Winter here!)</p> - -<p>Yes, they do. Thinks they came from home.</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—Try and tell me any little -thing.)</p> - -<p>He means they came from his own garden.</p> - -<p>[Yes, they did. It was yellow jasmine, cut from -the garden at Mariemont.—M. F. A. L.]</p> - -<p>Paul's worried 'cos medium talk like book. Paul -calls Feda 'Imp.' Raymond sometimes calls Feda -'Illustrious One.' I think Yaymond laughing! -Always pretending Feda very little, and that they've -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[ 236]</a></span> -lost Feda, afraid of walking on her, but -Feda pinches them sometimes, pretend they've -trodden on Feda. But Feda just as tall as lots of -Englishes.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Isn't Feda tired now?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—I think Raymond must be.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Well, power is going.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Anyhow, I must go. Some one perhaps of your -brothers will come soon.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I want no heralds or flourish of trumpets, let -them come and see if I can get through to them.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—(I here said something about myself, I forget; -I think it was about being proud.)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>If I see any signs, I'll take you in hand at once; -it shall be nipped in the bud!</p> - -<p>Good night.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Do you sleep?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Well, I doze.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Do you have rain?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Well, you can go to a place where rain is.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Do you know that your father is having all -the sittings bound together in a book?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>It will be very interesting to see how I change as -I go on.</p> - -<p>Good night. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Note by O. J. L.</span></h3> - -<p>It must be remembered that all this, though reported in the -first person, really comes through Feda; and though her style -and grammar improve in the more serious portions, due allowance -must be made for this fact.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[ 237]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XXI</span><br /> -<span class="small">TWO RATHER EVIDENTIAL SITTINGS BY -O. J. L. ON 3 MARCH 1916</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">ON the morning of 3 March I had a sitting in Mrs. -Kennedy's house with a Mrs. Clegg, a fairly elderly -dame whose peculiarity is that she allows direct -control by the communicator more readily than most -mediums do.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Kennedy has had Mrs. Clegg two or three times to -her house, and Paul has learnt how to control her pretty -easily, and is able to make very affectionate demonstrations -and to talk through the organs of the medium, though -in rather a jerky and broken way. She accordingly kindly -arranged an anonymous sitting for me.</p> - -<p>The sitting began with sudden clairvoyance, which was -unexpected. It was a genuine though not a specially successful -sitting, and it is worth partially reporting because -of the reference to it which came afterwards through -another medium, on the evening of the same day; making -a simple but exceptionally clear and natural cross-correspondence:—</p> - -<h3><i>Anonymous Sitting of O. J. L. with Mrs. Clegg</i></h3> - -<p>At 11.15 a.m. on Friday, 3 March 1916, I arrived at -Mrs. Kennedy's, went up and talked to her in the drawing-room -till nearly 11.30, when Mrs. Clegg arrived.</p> - -<p>She came into the room while I was seeing to the fire, -spoke to Mrs. Kennedy, and said, "Oh, is this the gentleman -that I am to sit with?" She was then given a seat -in front of the fire, being asked to get quiet after her -omnibus journey. But she had hardly seated herself before -she said:—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[ 238]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh, this room is so full of people; oh, some one so -eager to come! I hear some one say 'Sir Oliver Lodge.' -Do you know anyone of that name?"</p> - -<p>I said, yes, I know him.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Kennedy got up to darken the room slightly, and -Mrs. Clegg ejaculated:—</p> - -<p>"Who is Raymond, Raymond, Raymond? He is standing -close to me."</p> - -<p>She was evidently going off into a trance, so we moved -her chair back farther from the fire, and without more -preparation she went off.</p> - -<p>For some time, however, nothing further happened, -except contortions, struggling to get speech, rubbings of -the back as if in some pain or discomfort there, and a -certain amount of gasping for breath.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Kennedy came to try and help, and to give power. -She knelt by her side and soothed her. I sat and waited.</p> - -<p>Presently the utterance was distinguished as, "Help me, -where's the doctor?"</p> - -<p>After a time, with K. K.'s help, the control seemed -to get a little clearer, and the words, "So glad; father; -love to mother; so glad," frequently repeated in an indistinct -and muffled tone of voice, were heard, followed -by, "Love to all of them."</p> - -<p>Nothing was put down at the time, for there seemed -nothing to record—it seemed only preliminary effort; and -in so far as anything was said, it consisted merely of simple -messages of affection, and indications of joy at being able -to come through, and of disappointment at not being able -to do better. The medium, however, went through a good -deal of pantomime, embracing me, stroking my arm, -patting my knees, and sometimes stroking my head, -sometimes also throwing her arms round me and giving -the impression of being overjoyed, but unable to speak -plainly.</p> - -<p>Then other dumb show was begun. He seemed to be -thinking of the things in his kit, or things which had been -in his possession, and trying to enumerate them. He indicated -that his revolver had not come back, and that in -his diary the last page was not written up. I promised to -complete it.</p> - -<p>After a time, utterance being so difficult, I gave the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[ 239]</a></span> -medium a pad and pencil, and asked for writing. The -writing was large and sprawly, single words: 'Captain' -among them.</p> - -<p>While Raymond was speaking, and at intervals, the -medium kept flopping over to one side or the other, hanging -on the arm of her chair with head down, or else -drooping forward, or with head thrown back—assuming -various limp and wounded attitudes. Though every now -and then she seemed to make an effort to hold herself up, -and once or twice crossed knees and sat up firm, with arms -more or less folded. But the greater part of the time she -was flopping about.</p> - -<p>Presently Raymond said 'Good-bye,' and a Captain -was supposed to control. She now spoke in a vigorous -martial voice, as if ordering things, but saying nothing of -any moment.</p> - -<p>Then he too went away, and 'Hope' appeared, who, -I am told, is Mrs. Clegg's normal control. Hope was able -to talk reasonably well, and what she said I recorded for -what it might be worth, but I omit the record, because -though it contained references to people and things outside -the knowledge of the medium or Mrs. Kennedy, and was -therefore evidential as regards the genuineness and honesty -of the medium, it was not otherwise worth reporting, unless -much else of what was said on the same subjects by other -mediums were reported too.</p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p>On the evening of this same 3rd of March—<i>i.e.</i> later in -the same day that I had sat with Mrs. Clegg—I went alone -to Mrs. Leonard's house and had rather a remarkable -sitting, at which full knowledge of the Clegg performance -was shown. It is worthy therefore of some careful attention.</p> - -<p>After reading this part, the above very abbreviated -record of the Clegg sitting, held some hours before in -another house and other conditions, should again be read. -I wish to call attention to the following 3rd of March -sitting as one of the best; other members of the family -have probably had equally good ones, but my notes are -fuller. I hope it is fully understood that the mannerisms -are Feda's throughout. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[ 240]</a></span></p> - -<h3><i>Sitting of O. J. L. with Mrs. Leonard at her House on<br /> -Friday, 3 March 1916, from 9.15 p.m. to 11.15 p.m.</i></h3> - -<p class="center">(O. J. L. alone.) -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>No preliminaries to report. Feda came through -quickly, jerked in the chair, and seemed very pleased -to find me.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(I asked if she had seen Raymond lately.)</p> - -<p>Oh yes, Raymond's here.</p> - -<p>He came to help Feda with the lady and gentleman—on -Monday, Feda thinks it was. Not quite -sure when. But there was a lady and gentleman, -and he came to help; and Feda said, "Go away, -Raymond!" He said, "No, I've come to stay." -He wouldn't go away, and he did help them through -with their boy.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;"> -[The reference here is to a sitting which a colleague -of mine, Professor and Mrs. Sonnenschein, -had had, unknown to me, with Mrs. -Leonard. I learnt afterwards that the arrangements -had been made by them in a -carefully anonymous manner, the correspondence -being conducted <i>via</i> a friend in -Darlington; so that they were only known -to Mrs. Leonard as "a lady and gentleman -from Darlington." They had reported -to me that their son Christopher had -sent good and evidential messages, and that -Raymond had turned up to help. It -was quite appropriate for Raymond to take -an interest in them and bring their son, -since Christopher Sonnenschein had been an -engineering fellow-student with Raymond -at Birmingham. But there was no earthly -reason, so far as Mrs. Leonard's knowledge -was concerned, for him to put in an appearance; -and indeed Feda at first told him to -'Go away,' until he explained that he -had come to help. Hence the mention of -Raymond, under the circumstances, was -evidential.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[ 241]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He's only been once to help beside this, and -then he said, Don't tell the lady he was helping. -[See below.]</p> - -<p>He's been with Paulie to-day, to Paulie's -mother's. He says he's been at Paulie's house, -but not with Mrs. Kathie, with another lady, a -medie, Feda thinks. She was older than this one; -a new one to him.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> He wanted to speak through -her, but he found it was difficult. Paul manages it -all right, he says, but <i>he</i> finds it difficult. He says -he started to get through, and then he didn't feel -like himself. It's awful strange when one tries to -control anybody. He wanted to very bad; he -almost had them. (<i>Sotto voce.</i>—What you mean, -Yaymond?) He says he thought he almost had -them. He means he nearly got through. Oh, he -says, he's not given it up; he's going to try again. -What worries him is that he doesn't feel like himself. -You know, father, I might be anybody. He -says, Do you believe that in that way, practice -makes perfect?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes, I'm sure it gets easier with practice.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Oh, then he'll practise dozens of times, if he -thinks it will be any good.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L</span>.—Did he like the old woman?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Oh, yes; she's a very good sort.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Who was there sitting?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[This question itself indicates, what was the -fact, that I had so far given no recognition -to the statement that Raymond had been -trying to control a medium on the morning -of that same day. I wanted to take what -came through, without any assistance.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He's not sure, because he didn't seem to get all -properly into the conditions; it was like being in -a kind of mist, in a fog. He felt he was getting -hold of the lady, but he didn't quite know where -he was. He'd got something ready to say, and he -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[ 242]</a></span> -started to try and say it, and it seemed as if he -didn't know where he was.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Feda reports sometimes in the third person, -sometimes in the first.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>What does she flop about for, father? <i>I</i> don't -want to do that; it bothered me rather, I didn't -know if I was making her ill or something. Paulie -said she thought it was the correct thing to do! -But I wish she wouldn't. If she would only keep -quiet, and let me come calmly, it would be much -easier. Mrs. Kathie [Feda's name for Mrs. Katherine -Kennedy] tries to help all she can, but it -makes such a muddled condition. I might not be -able to get a test through, even when I controlled -better; I should have to get quite at home there, -before I could give tests through her. He and -Paulie used to joke about the old lady, but they -don't now. Paul manages to control; he used to -see Paulie doing it. I will try again, he says, and -I will try again. It's worth trying a few times, -then I can get my bearings, and I feel that what -I wanted to say beforehand I will be able to get -through.</p> - -<p>Feda has an idea that what he had saved up to -say was only just the usual messages. He had got -them ready in his head; he had learnt it up—just a -few words. Paulie told him he had better do that, -and then (oh, you had better not tell Mrs. Kathie -this, for it isn't polite!)—and then Paulie told him -to spit it out. And that's what he tried to do—just -to say the few words that he had learnt up. He -just wanted to say how pleased he was to see you. -He wanted also to speak about his mother, and -to bring in, if he could, about having talked to you -through Feda. Just simple things like that. He -had to think of simple things, because Paulie had -told him that it was no good trying to think of -anything in-tri-cate.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Feda always pronounces what she no doubt -considers long words in a careful and drawnout -manner.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He didn't see clearly, but he felt. He had a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[ 243]</a></span> -good idea that you were there, and that Mrs. -Kathie was there, but he wasn't sure; he was all -muddled up. Poor Mrs. Kathie was doing her best. -He says, Don't change the conditions, if you try it -again. He never quite knows whether he is going -to have good conditions or not. He wanted to -speak about all this. That's all about that.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[This is a completely accurate reference to what -had happened with Mrs. Clegg in the morning -of the same day. Everything is properly -and accurately represented. It is the best -thing about the sitting perhaps, though there -are many good things in it.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[The next incident concerns other people—and -I usually omit these—but I propose to include -this one.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>About the lady he tried to help—the one that he -didn't want Feda to tell who he was (p. <a href="#Page_241">241</a>).</p> - -<p>He was helping through a man who had got -drowned. This lady had had no belief nor nothing -in spiritual things before. The guides brought her -to Feda, that she might speak with a dear friend of -hers. I helped him, he says, and got both of his -initials through to her—E. A.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Do I know these people?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, you write a lot to the lady.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[I remembered afterwards that I had had some -correspondence with a lady who was told at -a sitting, apparently by Raymond, that I -knew a Dr. A. She was and is a stranger, -but for this curious introduction.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Is A the surname?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, the spirit's, not the lady's. The lady doesn't -know that he [Raymond] is telling you this. And -she doesn't know that he helped her. He says, It's -for your own use, father. It's given her a new outlook -on life.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—I have no idea who she is. Can you get her -name?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Oh yes, she's a lady called Mrs. D. [Full name -given easily, but no doubt got from the sitter -in ordinary course.] And before, you see, she was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[ 244]</a></span> -living a worldly life. She was interested in a way, -but not much. She never tried to come into it. -When she came, she thought she would have her -fortune told. Raymond was waiting for her to come, -and brought up the right conditions at once. The -man was a nice man, he liked him, and he wanted -to bring her into it. The man was fond of her. Raymond -has been helping him a lot. He says, I can -only help in a small way, but if you could go round -and see the people just on the verge of learning -something! I can't help them in a big way, but -still, it's something important even what I can do. -For every one I bring in like that lady, there will be -a dozen coming from that.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span> (still remembering nothing about these people.)—Did -the man drown himself?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Oh no, he wented down in a boat; they nearly -all wented down together.</p> - -<p>The lady wasn't expecting him—she nearly -flopped over when he came.</p></div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Was he related to the lady?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, but he had been the biggest thing in her life. -He says it seemed as though she must have felt -something, to make her write to you.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—However did Raymond know that she had -written to me?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Feda doesn't know. (<i>Sotto voce.</i>—Tell Feda, -Yaymond.)</p> - -<p>Do you believe me, father, I really can't tell you -how I know some things. It's not through inquiry, -but sometimes I get it just like a Marconi apparatus -receives a message from somewhere, and doesn't -know where it comes from at first. Sometimes I -try to find out things, and I can't.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[I perceived gradually that this episode related -to some one named E. A. (unknown to me), -about whom I had been told at a Feda sitting -on Friday, 28 January 1916, Raymond -seeming to want me to speak to E. A.'s -father about him. And in a note to that -sitting it is explained how I received a letter -shortly afterwards from a stranger, a Mrs. D., -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[ 245]</a></span> -who consulted me about informing Dr. A. -of the appearance of his son. The whole -episode is an excellent one, but it concerns -other people, and if narrated at all must be -narrated more fully and in another place. -Suffice it to say that the son had been lost in -tragic circumstances, and that the father is -impressed by the singular nature of the evidence -that has now been given through the -lady—a special visit to Scotland having been -made by her for that express purpose. She -had not known the father before, but she -found him and his house as described; -and he admits the details as surprisingly -accurate.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p>Here is the extract from my sitting of 28 January 1916 -relating to this affair:—</p> - -<h3>EXTRACT FROM O. J. L.'S SITTING WITH MRS. -LEONARD,<br />FRIDAY, 28 JANUARY 1916</h3> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He has met somebody called E., Raymond has. He -doesn't know who it is, but wonders if you do.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Is she an old lady?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>It's a man, he says. He was drownded. I have helped -him a bit, at least I tried, he says. He passed on before -Raymond did.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Did he drown himself?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Raymond doesn't say that. His name was E. He was -from Scotland. You will know his father.</p> - -<p>Raymond says, I have got a motive in this, father; -I don't want to say too much, and I don't want to say too -little. You have met E.'s father, and you will meet him -again; he comes from Scotland. Raymond is not quite -certain, but he thinks he is in Scotland now. His father's -name begins with an A, so the other man is E. A. He -was fighting his ship. Raymond thinks they was all -drownded. He's older than Raymond. Raymond says -he's a pretty dark chap. You know his father best, I -don't know whether you knew the other chap at all. You -have known his father for some years, but you don't often -get a chance of meeting. I have got an idea that you will -be hearing from him soon. Then you will be able to unload -this onto him. They are trying to bring it about, -that meeting with the father of E.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[ 246]</a></span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—I could make a guess at the surname, but perhaps I had -better not.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, don't. You know I'm not always sure of my facts. -I know pretty well how things are, and I think I am pretty -safe in saying that it is Scotland. He gives D. also. -That's not a person, it's a place. Some place not far from -it, called D., he says. It's near, not the place, where he -lives. 'Flanked,' he calls it, 'flanked' on the other side by L. -They never knew how E. passed on really. They know he -was drowned, but not how it happened.</p> -</div> - -<p>On receiving this message I felt that the case was a genuine -one, and that I did know a Dr. A. precisely as described. And I -also gradually remembered that he had lost a son at sea, though I -did not know the son. But I felt that I must wait for further -particulars before broaching what might be an unpalatable -subject to Dr. A.</p> - -<p class="center">(<i>End of extract from 28 January 1916.</i>) -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>Ultimately I did receive further particulars as narrated -above, and so a month later I did go to call on the old -Doctor, after the ice had been broken by Mrs. D.,—who in -some trepidation had made a special journey for the purpose, -and then nearly came away without opening the -subject,—and I verified the trance description of his house -which Mrs. D. had received and sent me. Indeed, all the -facts stated turned out to be true.</p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p>The sitting of 3 March, now being reported, and interrupted -by this quotation from a previous sitting, went -on thus:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He took his mother some red roses, and he wants -you to tell her. He took them to her from the spirit -world, they won't materialise, but I gathered some -and took them to her. This isn't a test, father.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—No. Very well, you just want her to know. I -will tell her.</p> - -<p class="center">(A little talk omitted.)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Do you want to say -anything about the other two people that you helped—last Monday, I think it -was? [The Sonnenscheins; still only known to Mrs. Leonard as a lady and gentleman from Darlington.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, there's nothing much to tell you about -that, or about them. But he brought a son to them.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[ 247]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He stood on one side so as not to take any of the -power. He just came at first to show Feda it was -all right, and he just came in at the end to send his -love.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Why did he help those particular people?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[I knew why, but I thought proper to ask, since -from the medium's point of view there was no reason at all.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says he had to. They have been worrying -about whether their son had suffered much pain -before he passed on. There seems to have been -some uncertainty about as to whether he had or not. -His body wasn't recovered as soon as it ought to -have been. But he didn't suffer much. He was -numbed, and didn't as a matter of fact feel much. -He throwed up his arms, and rolled down a bank -place.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[Christopher Sonnenschein was killed by falling -down a snow mountain, and his body was not -recovered for five days.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Did you know these people before?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes. He says, yes. But he won't tell Feda who -they is.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Does he want to send them any message?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says nothing further has come out, except -that he is getting on very well, and that he was -pleased. You might tell them that he is happier -now. Yes, he is, since he seed them.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[The sitting referred to here, as having been -held by a lady and gentleman last Monday, -refers to my colleague and his wife and their -deceased son Christopher. Their identity -had been completely masked by the arrangements -they had made, without my -knowledge. The letters making arrangements -were sent round by Darlington to be -posted, in order to cover up tracks and remove -all chance of a discoverable connexion -with me. (See p. <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.) Hence it is interesting -that Raymond turned up to help, for in their -normal life the two youths had known each -other.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[ 248]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He has been trying to help you since he saw -you here last time. He thought that you knew -that he was. He did try hard. He says, I helped -you in such a funny way. I got near you and felt -such a desire to help you and prevent you from -getting tired. He was concentrating on the back -of your head, and sort of saying to himself, and -impressing the thought towards you: "It's coming -easy, you shan't get tired, the brain is going to -be very receptive, everything is going to flow -through it easily in order." I feel myself saying it -all the time, and I get so close I nearly lean on -you. To my great delight, I saw you sit up once, -and you said: "Ah, that's good." It was some little -time back.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—I speak to your photograph sometimes.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes. I can speak to you without a photograph! -I am often with you, very often.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He's taking Feda into a room with a desk in it; -too big for a desk, it must be a table. A sort of a -desk, a pretty big one. A chair is in front of it, -not a chair like that, a high up chair, more wooden, -not woolly stuff; and the light is falling on to the -desk; and you are sitting there with a pen or -pencil in your hand; you aren't writing much, but -you are looking through writing, and making bits of -writing on it; you are not doing all the writing yourself, -but only bits on it. Raymond is standing at -the back of you; he isn't looking at what you are -doing. [The description is correct.]</p> - -<p>He thought you were tired out last time you -came here. He knows you are sometimes. He's -been wanting to say to you, "Leave some of it."</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—But there's so much to be done.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he knows it isn't easy to leave it. But it -would be better in the end if you can leave a bit, -father. You are doing too much.</p> - -<p>You know that I am longing and dying for the -day when you come over to me. It will be a -splendid day for me. But I mustn't be selfish. -I have got to work to keep you away from us, and -that's not easy for me.</p> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[ 249]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says that lots over here talk, and say that -you will be doing the most wonderful work of your -life through the war. People are ready to listen -now. They had too many things before to let -them think about them; but now it's the great thing -to think about the after-life.</p> - -<p>I want you to know that when first I came over -here, I thought it a bit unfair that such a lot of -fellows were coming over in the prime of life, coming -over here. But now he sees that for every one -that came over, dozens of people open their eyes, -and want to know where he has gone to. Directly -they want to know, they begin to learn something. -Some of them never stopped to think seriously before. -"He must be somewhere," they say, "he was -so full of life; can we find out?" Then I see that -through this, people are going to find out, and find -out not only for themselves, but will pass it on to -many others, and so it will grow.</p> - -<p>He wants to tell you that Mr. Myers says that -in ten years from now the world will be a different -place. He says that about fifty per cent. of the -civilised portion of the globe will be either spiritualists, -or coming into it.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Fifteen per cent.?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Fifty, he said.</p> - -<p>Raymond says, I am no judge of that, but he -isn't the only one that thinks it. He says, I've -got a kind of theory, in a crude sort of way, that -man has made the earth plane into such a hotbed -of materialism and selfishness, that man again has -to atone by sacrifices of mankind in the prime of -their physical life. So that by that prime self-effacement, -they will bring more spiritual conditions -on to the earth, which will crush the spirit of -materialism. He says that isn't how I meant to -put it, but I've forgotten how I meant to say it.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well now, Raymond, Mr. Myers sent me a message -to say that you had got some tests ready to -get through, and that I was to give you an opportunity of giving them.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Oh yes, he says. But I can't get anything -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[ 250]</a></span> -through about the Argonauts: that seems worst of -anything.</p> - -<p>He's showing Feda a thing that looks like a canvas -house. Yes, it must be a canvas house. And -it looks to Feda as though it's on a place that -seems to be open—a wide place. Yes, no, there's -not much green showing where Feda can see. -There's a kind of a door in it, like that. (Feda -made some sign I didn't catch.) The canvas is -sort of grey, quite a light colour, but not quite -white. Oh yes, Feda feels the sound of water not -far from it—ripple, ripple. Feda sees a boy—not -Raymond—half lying, half sitting at the door of -the tent place, and he hasn't got a proper coat on; -he's got a shirt thing on here, and he's like spreaded -out. It's a browny-coloured earth, not nice green, -but sandy-coloured ground. As Feda looks at the -land, the ground rises sharp at the back. Must -have been made to rise, it sticks up in the air. -He's showing it as though it should be in some -photograph or picture. Feda got wondering about -it, what it was for. It's a funny-shaped tent, not -round, sort of lop-sided. The door isn't a -proper door, it flops. You ought to be able to -see a picture of this. [See photographs opposite.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Has it got to do with the Argonauts?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Oh, it's not Coniston then?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Is it by the sea?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Near the water, he says; he doesn't say the sea. -No, he won't say that; he says, near water. It -looks hot there.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Will the boys know?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>You will know soon about it, he says.</p> - -<p>Feda gets a feeling that there are two or three -moving about inside that tent.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Is it all one chamber in the tent?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He didn't say that. He was going to say, no, -and then he stopped to think. No, I don't think -it was, it was divided off.</p> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_277top"></a> -<img src="images/i_277top.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">LARGE DOUBLE-COMPARTMENT TENT IN ITS -FIRST FORM (1905)<br /> -(BUILT AT MARIEMONT AND TAKEN TO WOOLACOMBE)</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_277bottom"></a> -<img src="images/i_277bottom.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">THE TENT IN ITS SECOND FORM (1906)<br /> -MADE OUT OF THE REMAINS OF THE FIRST</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>[See photographs of two forms of this tent.]</p> - -<p>Now he is showing something right on top of -that. Now he is showing Feda a yacht, a boat -with white sails. Now he is going back to the tent -again. The raised up land is at the back of the tent, -well set back. It doesn't give an even sticking up, -but it goes right along, with bits up and bits lower -down.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[The description could not be completely taken -down, but it gave the impression of a raised -bank of varying height, behind an open -space, and a tent in front of it. It quite -suggested that sort of picture.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[See photograph facing p. <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Maps, what's that? Maps, maps, he says. He's -saying something about maps. This is something -that the boys will know. Poring, he says. Not -pouring anything out, but poring over maps. Ask -the boys. [See note after further reference to -maps later in the sitting.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—What about that yacht with sails; did it run on -the water?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No. (Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—Oh, Raymond, don't be -silly!) He says, no. (Feda.—It must have done!) -He's showing Feda like a thing on land, yes, a -land thing. It's standing up, like edgeways. A -narrow thing. No it isn't water, but it has got -nice white sails.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Did it go along?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says it <span class="smcap">DIDN'T</span>! He's laughing! When he -said 'didn't' he shouted it. Feda should have said, -'He laid peculiar emphasis on it.' This is for the -boys.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Had they got to do with that thing?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, they will know, they will understand. -Yes, he keeps on showing like a boat—a yacht, he -calls it, a yacht.</p> - -<p>[See note below and photographs.]</p> - -<p>Now he is showing Feda some figures. Something -flat, like a wall. Rods and things, long rods. -Some have got little round things shaking on them, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[ 252]</a></span> -like that. And he's got strings, some have got -strings. 'Strings' isn't the right word, but it will -do. Smooth, strong, string-like. In the corner, -where it's a little bit dark, some one is standing -up and leaning against something, and a piece of -stuff is flapping round them.</p> - -<p>Now he is saying again something about maps. -He's going to the maps again. It isn't a little map, -but it's one you can unfold and fold up small. And -they used to go with their fingers along it, like that—not -he only, but the boys. And it wasn't at home, -but when they were going somewhere—some distance -from home. And Feda gets the impression as -though they must be looking at the map when it was -moving. They seem to be moving smoothly along, -like in one of those horrible trains. Feda has never -been in a train.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[The mention of folded-up maps cannot be -considered important, but it is appropriate, -because many of the boys' common reminiscences -group round long motor drives in -Devonshire and Cornwall, when they must -frequently have been consulting the kind of -map described.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[<i>Note by O. J. L. on Tent and Boat.</i>—All this -about the tent and boat is excellent, though -not outside my knowledge. The description -of the scenery showed plainly that it -was Woolacombe sands that was meant—whither -the family had gone in the summer -for several years—a wide open stretch of -sand, with ground rising at the back, as described, -and with tents along under the bank, -one of which—a big one—had been made -by the boys. It was on wheels, it had -two chambers with a double door, and was -used for bathing by both the boys and girls. -Quite a large affair, oblong in shape, like a -small cottage. One night a gale carried it -up to the top of the sand-hills and wrecked it. -We saw it from the windows in the morning.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_281top"></a> -<img src="images/i_281top.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">FIRST EDITION OF THE SAND-BOAT (1906)<br /> -AT WOOLACOMBE WITH ALEC ON BOARD</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_281bottom"></a> -<img src="images/i_281bottom.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">RISING GROUND BEHIND OLDER TENTS<br /> -ON WOOLACOMBE BEACH</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>The boys pulled it to pieces, and made a -smaller tent of the remains, this time with -only one chamber, and its shape was now a -bit lop-sided. I felt in listening to the description -that there was some hesitation in -Raymond's mind as to whether he was -speaking of the first or the second stage of -this tent.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">As for the sand-boat, it was a thing they likewise -made at Mariemont, and carted down -to Woolacombe. A kind of long narrow -platform or plank on wheels, with a rudder -and sails. At first, when it had small sails, -it only went with a light passenger and a -strong wind behind. But in a second season -they were more ambitious, and made bigger -sails to it, and that season I believe it went -along the sands very fast occasionally; but -it still wouldn't sail at right angles to the -wind as they wanted. They finally smashed -the mast by sailing in a gale with three passengers. -There had been ingenuity in making -it, and Raymond had been particularly active -over it, as he was over all constructions. On -the whole it was regarded as a failure, the -wheels were too small; and Raymond's -'<span class="smcap">DIDN'T</span>' is quite accepted.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">References to these things were evidently some -of the tests (p. <a href="#Page_249">249</a>) which he had got together -for transmission to me. [See photographs.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">The rod and rings and strings, mentioned after -the 'boat,' I don't at present understand. So -far as I have ascertained, the boys don't -understand, either, at present.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I don't know whether I have got anything more -that I can really call a test. You will have to take, -he says (he's laughing now)—take the information -about the old lady as a test.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—You mean what he began with? [<i>i.e.</i> about Mrs. -Clegg.]</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[ 254]</a></span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well, it's a very good one.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He's been trying to find somebody whose name -begins with K. But it isn't Mrs. Kathie, it's a -gentleman. He's been trying to find him.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—What for?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He thought his mother would be interested. -There's something funny about this. One is in the -spirit world, but one they believe is still on the -earth plane. He hasn't come over yet. [One of -the two referred to is certainly dead; the other -may possibly, but very improbably, be a prisoner.] -There's a good deal of mystery about this, but -I'm sure he isn't actually come over yet. Some -people think that because we are here, we have -only to go anywhere we choose, and find out anything -we like. But that's Tommy-rot. They are -limited, but they send messages to each other, and -what he sincerely believes is, that that man has -not passed on.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Mother thinks he has, and so do his people.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, yes. I don't know whether it would be -advisable to tell them anything, but I have a -feeling that he isn't here. I have been looking for -him everywhere.</p> - -<p>He keeps on building up a J. He doesn't answer -when Feda asks what that is. He says there will -be a few surprises for people later on.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well, I take it that he wants me to understand -that J. K. is on our side?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he keeps nodding his head. Yes, in the -body. Mind, he says, I've got a feeling—I can -only call it a feeling—that he has been hurt, -practically unconscious. Anyway, time will prove -if I am right.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—I hope he will continue to live, and come back.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I hope so too. Except for the possible doubt -about it, I would say tell them at once. But after -all they are happier in thinking that he has gone -over, than that he's in some place undergoing terrible -privations.</p> - -<p>Now he's saying something carefully to Feda. -He says they should not go by finding a stick. He -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[ 255]</a></span> -wants you to put that down—they ought not to -go by finding a stick.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Oh, they found a stick, did they?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, that's how, yes.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[I clearly understood that this statement referred -to a certain Colonel, about whom -there was uncertainty for months. But a -funeral service has now been held—an impressive -one, which M. F. A. L. attended. -On inquiry from her, I find (what I didn't -know at the time of the sitting) that the -evidence of his death is a riding-whip, which -they found in the hands of an unrecognisable -corpse. From some initials on this riding-whip, -they thought it belonged to him; and -on this evidence have concluded him dead. -So far as I know, they entertain no doubt -about it. At any rate, we have heard none -expressed, either publicly or privately. Hence, -the information now given may possibly -turn out of interest, though there is always -the possibility that, if he is a prisoner in -Germany, he may not survive the treatment. -He was leading an attack on the Hohenzollern -Redoubt when he fell; he was seen -to fall, wounded; there was great slaughter, -and when at night his man returned to try -and find him, he could not be found. -This is my recollection of the details, but -of course they can be more accurately given. -At what period the whip was found, I -don't know, but can ascertain.] (See also -p. <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.)</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[No further news yet—September 1916. But -I must confess that I think the information extremely unlikely.<br />—O. J. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Does he remember William, our gardener?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes.</p> - -<p>Feda doesn't know what he means, but he says -something about coming over. (Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—Tell -Feda what you mean.)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[ 256]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He doesn't give it very clearly. Feda gets an -idea that he means coming over there. Yes, he -does mean into the spirit world. Feda asks him, -did he mean soon; but he shakes his head.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Does he mean that he has come already?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He doesn't get that very clearly. He keeps -saying, coming over, coming over, and when Feda -asked 'Soon?' he shook his head, as if getting cross.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—If he sees him, perhaps he will help him.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Of course he will. He hasn't seen him yet. -No, he hasn't seen him.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[I may here record that William, the gardener, -died within a week before the sitting, and that -Raymond here clearly indicates a knowledge, -either of his death or of its imminence.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>It's difficult when people approach you, and say -they knew your father or your mother; you don't -quite know what to say to them!</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes, it must be a bother. Do you remember a -bird in our garden?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—Yes, hopping about?)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—No, Feda, a big bird.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Of course, not sparrows, he says! Yes, he does. -(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—Did he hop, Yaymond?) No, -he says you couldn't call it a hop.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well, we will go on to something else now; I -don't want to bother him about birds. Ask him -does he remember Mr. Jackson?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes. Going away, going away, he says. He -used to come to the door. (Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—Do -you know what he means? Anyone can come to the -door!) He used to see him every day, he says, every -day. (<i>Sotto voce</i>.—What did he do, Yaymond?)</p> - -<p>He says, nothing. (I can't make out what he -says.) He's thinking. It's Feda's fault, he says.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well, never mind. Report anything he says, -whether it makes sense or not.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says he fell down. He's sure of that. He -hurt himself. He builds up a letter T, and he -shows a gate, a small gate—looks like a foot-path; -not one in the middle of a town. Pain in hands -and arms.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[ 257]</a></span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Was he a friend of the family?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No. No, he says, no. He gives Feda a feeling -of tumbling, again he gives a feeling as though—(Feda -thinks Yaymond's joking)—he laughed. He -was well known among us, he says; and yet, he says, -not a friend of the family. Scarcely a day passed -without his name being mentioned. He's joking, -Feda feels sure. He's making fun of Feda.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—No, tell me all he says.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He says, put him on a pedestal. No, that they -put him on a pedestal. He was considered very -wonderful. And he 'specs that he wouldn't have -appreciated it, if he had known; but he didn't know, -he says. Not sure if he ever will, he says. It sounds -nonsense, what he says. Feda has got an impression -that he's mixing him up with the bird, -because he said something about 'bird' in the middle -of it—just while he said something about Mr. -Jackson, and then he pulled himself up, and changed -it again. Just before he said 'pedestal' he said -'fine bird,' and then he stopped. In trying to answer -the one, he got both mixed up, Mr. Jackson and -the bird.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—How absurd! Perhaps he's getting tired.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He won't say he got this mixed up! But he did! -Because he said 'fine bird,' and then he started off -about Mr. Jackson.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—What about the pedestal?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>On a pedestal, he said.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Would he like him put on a pedestal?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, he doesn't say nothing.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[<i>Contemporary Note by O. J. L.</i>—The episode of -Mr. Jackson and the bird is a good one. 'Mr. -Jackson' is the comic name of our peacock. -Within the last week he has died, partly, I -fear, by the severe weather. But his legs -have been rheumatic and troublesome for -some time; and in trying to walk he of late -has tumbled down on them. He was found -dead in a yard on a cold morning with his -neck broken. One of the last people I saw -before leaving home for this sitting was a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[ 258]</a></span> -man whom Lady Lodge had sent to take the -bird's body and have it stuffed. She showed -him a wooden pedestal on which she thought -it might be placed, and tail feathers were -being sent with it. Hence, the reference to -the pedestal, if not telepathic from me, shows -a curious knowledge of what was going on. -And the jocular withholding from Feda of the -real meaning of Mr. Jackson, and the appropriate -remarks made concerning him which -puzzled Feda, were quite in Raymond's vein -of humour.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">Perhaps it was unfortunate that I had mentioned -a bird first, but I tried afterwards, by my -manner and remarks, completely to dissociate -the name Jackson from what I had asked before -about the bird; and Raymond played -up to it.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">It may be that he acquires some of these contemporary -items of family information -through sittings which are held in Mariemont, -where of course all family gossip is -told him freely, no outsider or medium being -present. But the death of Mr. Jackson, and -the idea of having him stuffed and put on a -pedestal, were very recent, and I was surprised -that he had knowledge of them. I -emphasise the episode as exceptionally -good.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He's trying to show Feda the side of a house; -not a wall, it has got glass. He's taking Feda round -to it; it has got glass stuff. Yes, and when you -look in, it's like flowers inside and green stuff. He -used to go there a lot—be there, he says. Red-coloured -pots.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Is that anything to do with Mr. Jackson?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He's shaking his head now. That's where -mother got the flowers from. Tell her, she will -know.</p> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_289top"></a> -<img src="images/i_289top.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"GRANDFATHER W."</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_289bottom"></a> -<img src="images/i_289bottom.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"MR. JACKSON" WITH M. F. A. L. AT MARIEMONT</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[There is more than one greenhouse that might -be referred to. M. F. A. L. got the yellow -jasmine, which she thinks is the flower referred -to, from the neighbourhood of one of -them. And it is one on which the peacock -used commonly to roost; though whether the -reference to it followed on, or had any connexion -with, the peacock is uncertain, and -seems to be denied.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he's not so clear now, Soliver. He <i>has</i> enjoyed -himself. Sometimes he enjoys himself so -much, he forgets to do the good things he prepared. -I could stay for hours and hours, he says. -But he's just as keen as you are in getting tests -through. I think I have got some. When I go -away, I pat myself on the back and think, That's -something for them to say, "Old Raymond does -remember something." What does aggravate him -sometimes is that when he can't get things through, -people think it's because he has forgotten. It isn't -a case of forgetting. He doesn't forget anything.</p> - -<p>Father, do you remember what I told mother -about the place I had been to, and whom I had been -allowed to see? What did they think of it?</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[See M. F. A. L. sitting with Mrs. Leonard, -4 February 1916, Chap. <a href="#Page_226">XX</a>.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well, the family thought that it wasn't like Raymond.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Ah, that's what I was afraid of. That's the -awful part of it.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Well, I don't suppose they knew your serious -side.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Before he gave that to his mother, he hesitated, -and thought he wouldn't. And then he said, Never -mind what they think now, I must let mother and -father know. Some day they will know, and so, -what does it matter?</p> - -<p>He knew that they might think it was something -out of a book, not me; but perhaps they didn't know -that side of me so well.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—No. -But among the things that came back, there -was a Bible with marked passages in it, and so I -saw that you had thought seriously about these -things. [page <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he says. Yet there's something strange -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[ 260]</a></span> -about it somehow. We are afraid of showing that -side; we keep it to ourselves, and even hide it.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—It must have been a great experience for you.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I hadn't looked for it, I hadn't hoped for it, but -it was granted.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -3.5em;"><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Do you think you -could take some opportunity of speaking about it through some other medium, -not Feda? Because at present the boys think that Feda invented it.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, that's what they do think. He says he will try very hard.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Have you ever seen that Person otherwise than -at that time?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, I have not seen Him, except as I told you; -he says, father, He doesn't come and mingle freely, -here and there and everywhere. I mean, not in that -sense; but we are always conscious, and we feel -him. We are conscious of his presence. But you -know that people think that when they go over, they -will be with him hand in hand, but of course they're -wrong.</p> - -<p>He doesn't think he will say very much more -about that now, not until he's able to say it through -some one else. It may be that they will say it -wrong, that it won't be right; it may get twisted. -Feda does that sometimes. (Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—No, -Feda doesn't!) Yes she does, and that's why I -say, go carefully.</p> -</div> - -<p>O. J. L.—Has he been through another medium to a friend -of mine lately?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[This was intended to refer to a sitting which -Mr. Hill was holding with Peters about that -date, and, as it turned out, on the same -day.]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He doesn't say much. No, he doesn't say nothing -about it. He hasn't got much power, and he's -afraid that he might go wrong.</p> - -<p>Good-bye, father, now. My love to you, my love -to mother. I am nearer to you than ever before, -and I'm not so silly about [not] showing it. Love -to all of them. Lionel is a dear old chap. My -love to all.</p> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_293top"></a> -<img src="images/i_293top.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">SECOND EDITION OF SAND-BOAT, AT MARIEMONT,<br /> -BEFORE BEING UNSHIPPED AND TAKEN TO WOOLACOMBE, 1907</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_293bottom"></a> -<img src="images/i_293bottom.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">RAYMOND WORKING AT THE SAND-BOAT IN THE BOYS'<br /> -LABORATORY AT MARIEMONT</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[ 261]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Don't forget to tell mother about the roses I -brought her. There's nothing to understand about -them; I just wanted her to know that I brought her -some flowers.</p> - -<p>Good night, father. I am always thinking of -you. God bless you all.</p> - -<p>Give Feda's love to SrAlec.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes, I will, Feda. We are all fond of you.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, Feda feels it, and it lifts Feda up, and helps -her. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<p>Mrs. Leonard speedily came-to, and seemed quite easy -and well, although the sitting had been a long one, and it -was now nearly 11.30 p.m. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>[I repeat in conclusion that this was an excellent sitting, -with a good deal of evidential matter.—O. J. L.]</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[ 262]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XXII</span><br /> -<span class="small">MORE UNVERIFIABLE MATTER</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">ON 24 March, we had some more unverifiable material -through Mrs. Leonard; it was much less striking -than that given on 4 February, and I am inclined -myself to attribute a good deal of it to hypothetical information -received by Feda from other sitters: but it seems -unfair to suppress it. In accordance with my plan I propose -to reproduce it for what it is worth. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><i>Sitting with Mrs. Leonard at our Flat, Friday, 24 March<br /> -1916, from 5.45 p.m. to 8 p.m.</i></h3> - -<p class="center">(<i>Present</i>—<span class="smcap">O. J. L. and M. F. A. L.</span>)</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Report by O. J. L.</span> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>(Mrs. Leonard arrived about 5.30 to tea, for a sitting -with M. F. A. L. I happened to be able to come too, in -order to take notes. She had just come away from another -sitting, and had had some difficulty in getting rid -of her previous sitter in time, which rather bothered her. -The result was not specially conducive to lucidity, and the -sitting seemed only a moderately good one.</p> - -<p>When Feda arrived she seemed pleased, and said:—)</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes it is, yes, it's Soliver!</p> - -<p>How are you? Raymond's here!</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Is he here already?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, of course he is!</p> - -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—What's he say?) He says he -hasn't come to play with Feda, or make jokes; he's -come about serious things.</p> - -<p>Do you remember, Miss Olive [Feda's name for -Lady Lodge], some time ago, about that beautiful -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[ 263]</a></span> -experience what he had? He's so glad that you -and Soliver know about it, even though the others -can't take it in. Years hence he thinks they may. -He says, over there, they don't mind talking about -the real things, over there, 'cos they're the things -that count.</p> - -<p>He thinks the one that took it in mostly was -Lionel. Yes, it seemed to sink in mostly; he was -turning it over afterwards, though he didn't say -much. He's more ready for that than the others. -He says he would never have believed it when he -was here, but he is.</p> - -<p>He hasn't been to that place again, not that -same place. But he's been to a place just below it. -He's been attending lectures, at what they call, "halls -of learning": you can prepare yourself for the higher -spheres while you are living in lower ones. He's on -the third, but he's told that even now he could go -on to the fourth if he chose; but he says he would -rather be learning the laws ap-per-taining to each -sphere while he's still living on the third, because -it brings him closer—at least until you two have come -over. He will stay and learn, where he is. He -wouldn't like to go on there and then find it to -be difficult to get back. He will wait till we can -go happily and comfortably together!</p> - -<p>Would it interest you for him to tell you about -one of the places he's been to? It's so interesting -to him, that he might seem to exaggerate; but the -experience is so wonderful, it lives with him.</p> - -<p>He went into a place on the fifth sphere—a place -he takes to be made of alabaster. He's not sure -that it really was, but it looked like that. It looked -like a kind of a temple—a large one. There were -crowds passing into this place, and they looked -very happy. And he thought, "I wonder what I'm -going to see here." When he got mixed up with -the crowd going into the temple, he felt a kind of—(he's -stopping to think). It's not irreverency what -he says, but he felt a kind of feeling as if he had had -too much champagne—it went to his head, he felt -too buoyant, as if carried a bit off the ground.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[ 264]</a></span></p> - -<p>That's 'cos he isn't quite attuned to the conditions -of that sphere. It's a most extraordinary feeling. -He went in, and he saw that though the building -was white, there were many different lights: looked -like certain places covered in red, and ... was -blue, and the centre was orange. These were not the -crude colours that go by those names, but a softened -shade. And he looked to see what they came -from. Then he saw that a lot of the windows were -extremely large, and the panes in them had glass of -these colours. And he saw that some of the people -would go and stand in the pinky coloured light -that came through the red glass, and others -would stand in the blue light, and some would stand -in the orange or yellow coloured light. And -he thought, "What are they doing that for?" -Then some one told him that the pinky coloured -light was the light of the love-colour; and the blue -was the light of actual spiritual healing; and the -orange was the light of intellect. And that, according -to what people wanted, they would go and -stand under that light. And the guide told him -that it was more important than what people on -earth knew. And that, in years to come, there -would be made a study of the effect of different -lights.</p> - -<p>The pinky people looked clever and developed -in their attitude and mentality generally; but they -hadn't been able to cultivate the love-interest much, -their other interests had overpowered that one. -And the people who went into the intellectual light -looked softer and happy, but not so clever looking. -He says he felt more drawn to the pink light himself, -but some one said, "No, you have felt a good -deal of that," and he got out and went into the -other two, and he felt that he liked the blue light -best. And he thinks that perhaps you will read -something into that. I had the other conditions, -but I wanted the other so much. The blue seemed -to call me more than the others. After I had been -in it some time, I felt that nothing mattered much, -except preparing for the spiritual life. He says -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[ 265]</a></span> -that the old Raymond seemed far away at the time, -as though he was looking back on some one else's -life—some one I hadn't much connexion with, and -yet who was linked on to me. And he felt, "What -does anything matter, if I can only attain this beautiful -uplifting feeling." I can't tell you what I felt -like, but reading it over afterwards, perhaps you -will understand. Words feel powerless to describe -it. He won't try, he will just tell you what happened -after.</p> - -<p>We sat down—the seats were arranged something -like pews in a church—and as he looked -towards the aisle, he saw coming up it about seven -figures. And he saw, from his former experience, -that they were evidently teachers come down from -the seventh sphere. He says, they went up to the -end part, and they stood on a little raised platform; -and then one of them came down each of -the little aisles, and put out their hands on those -sitting in the pews. And when one of the Guides -put his hand on his head, he felt a mixture of all -three lights—as if he understood everything, and -as if everything that he had ever felt, of anger or -worry, all seemed nothing. And he felt as if -he could rise to any height, and as if he could -raise everybody round him. As if he had such a -power in himself. He's stopping to think over -it again.</p> - -<p>They sat and listened, and the first part of the -ceremony was given in a lecture, in which one of -the Guides was telling them how to teach others on -the lower spheres and earth plane, to come more -into the spiritual life, while still on those lower -planes. I think that all that went before was to -make it easy to understand. And he didn't get -only the words of the speaker, words didn't seem -to matter, he got the thought—whole sentences, instead -of one word at a time. And lessons were -given on concentration, and on the projection of -uplifting and helpful thoughts to those on the -earth plane. And as he sat there—he sat, they -were not kneeling—he felt as if something was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[ 266]</a></span> -going from him, through the other spheres on to -the earth, and was helping somebody, though he -didn't know who it was. He can't tell you how -wonderful it was; not once it happened, but several -times.</p> - -<p>He's even been on to the sixth sphere too. The -sixth sphere was even more beautiful than the fifth, -but at present he didn't want to stay there. He -would rather be helping people where he is.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Does he see the troubles of people on the earth?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, he does sometimes.</p> - -<p>I do wish that we could alter people so that -they were not ashamed to talk about the things -that matter. He can see people preparing for the -summer holidays, and yet something may prevent -them. But the journey that they have got to go -some time, that they don't prepare for at all.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—How can you prepare for it?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, by speaking about it openly, and living your -life so as to make it easier for yourself and -others.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Is Raymond still there? Has he got any more -tests to give, or anything to say, to the boys or -anybody?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Did they understand about the yacht?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes, they did.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>And about the tent?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes, they did.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He's very pleased—it bucks him up when he gets -things through.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Have you learnt any more about -[the Colonel<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>]?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He's not on the spirit side. He feels sure he -isn't. Somebody told him that there was a body -found, near the place where he had been, and it -was dressed in uniform like he had had. But -something had happened to it here (pointing to her -head).</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Who was it told you?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Some one on the other side; just a messenger, -not one who knew all about it. No, the messenger -didn't seem to know J. K. personally, but he had -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[ 267]</a></span> -gathered the information from the minds of people -on the earth plane. And Feda isn't quite sure, but -thinks that there was something missing from the -body—missing from the body that they took to be -him, which would have identified him.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Do you mean the face?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, he doesn't mean the face.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(M. F. A. L., here pointing to her chest, signified -to me that she knew that it was the identification -disk that was missing.)</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">M. F. A. L.</span>—Why was it missing?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Because it wasn't he! In the first place, it -couldn't be, but if that had only been there, they -would have known. He can't say where he is at -the present moment, but he heard a few days ago -that he is being kept somewhere, and as far as he -can make out, in Belgium. It's as though he had -been taken some distance.</p> - -<p>Raymond's not showing this—but Feda's shown -in a sort of flash a letter. First a B, and then an -R. But the B doesn't mean Belgium; it's either -a B or an R, or both. It just flashed up. It may -mean the place where he is. But Raymond -doesn't know where he is, only he's quite sure that -he isn't on the spirit side. But he's afraid he's -ill.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Have you anything more to say about E. A.? -[See 3 March record, p. <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.]</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, no more. Raymond came to Feda to help -the lady who came. Feda started describing Raymond. -And he said, no, only come to help. And -then he brought the one what was drownded. He -came to help also with another, but Feda didn't -tell that lady, 'cos she didn't know you. He -doesn't like Feda to tell. Feda couldn't understand -why he wanted to help, because she didn't -know he knew that gentleman. He helped E. A. -to build up a picture of his home. Perhaps she -thinks it was Feda being so clever!</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes, I know, she's been there to see it. [See -p. <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.]</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, and she found it what she said. He told -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[ 268]</a></span> -her that she wouldn't be seeing his mother. She -couldn't see why she shouldn't see his mother; but -she didn't. [True.]</p> - -<p>Raymond hasn't got any good tests. He can't -manufacture them, and they are so hard to remember.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Is he still in his little house?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Oh yes, he feels at home there.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—He said it was made of bricks—I could make -nothing of that.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>I knew you couldn't! It's difficult to explain. -At-om-; he say something about at-om-ic principle. -They seem to be able to draw (?) certain unstable -atoms from the atmosphere and crystallise them as -they draw near certain central attraction. That isn't -quite what Feda thinks of it. Feda has seen like -something going round—a wheel—something like -electricity, some sparks dropping off the edge of the -wheel, and it goes crick, crick, and becomes like -hard; and then they falls like little raindrops into -the long thing under the wheel—Raymond calls it -the accumulator. I can't call them anything but -bricks. It's difficult to know what to call them. Wait -until you come over, and I'll show you round. And -you will say, "By Jove, so they are!" Things are -quite real here. Mind, I don't say things are as -heavy as on the earth, because they're not. And -if he hit or kicked something it wouldn't displace it -so much as on the earth, because we're lighter. I -can't tell you exactly what it is; I'm not very interested -in making bricks, but I can see plainly how -it's apparently done.</p> - -<p>He says it appears to him too, that the spirit -spheres are built round the earth plane, and seem -to revolve with it. Only, naturally, the first sphere -isn't revolving at such a rate as the third, fourth, -fifth, sixth, and seventh spheres. Greater circumference -makes it seem to revolve more rapidly. That -seems to have an actual effect on the atmospheric -conditions prevailing in any one of the spheres. Do -you see what he's getting at?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">O. J. L.</span>—Yes. He only means that the peripheral velocity -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[ 269]</a></span> -is greater for the bigger spheres, though the angular -velocity is the same.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Yes, that's just what he means. And it does -affect the different conditions, and that's why he -felt a bit careful when he was on a higher sphere, -in hanging on to the ground.</p> -</div> - -<p>[A good deal of this struck me as nonsense; as -if Feda had picked it up from some sitter. -But I went on recording what was said.]</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Such a lot of people think it's a kind of thought-world, -where you think all sort of things—that it's -all "think." But when you come over you see that -there's no thinking about it; it's <i>there</i>, and it does -impress you with reality. He does wish you would -come over. He will be as proud as a cat with something -tails—two tails, he said. Proud as a cat with -two tails showing you round the places. He says, -father will have a fine time, poking into everything, -and turning everything inside out.</p> - -<p>There's plenty flowers growing here, Miss Olive, -you will be glad to hear. But we don't cut them -here. They doesn't die and grow again; they seem -to renew themselves. Just like people, they are -there all the time renewing their spirit bodies. The -higher the sphere he went to, the lighter the bodies -seemed to be—he means the fairer, lighter in colour. -He's got an idea that the reason why people -have drawn angels with long fair hair and very fair -complexion is that they have been inspired -by somebody from very high spheres. Feda's -not fair; she's not brown, but olive coloured; her -hair is dark. All people that's any good has black -hair.</p> - -<p>Do you know that [a friend] won't be satisfied -unless he comes and has a talk through the table. -Feda doesn't mind now, 'cos she has had a talk. -So she will go now and let him talk through the -table all right.</p> - -<p>Give Feda's love to all of them, specially to -SLionel—Feda likes him.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[ 270]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p>(Mrs. Leonard now came-to, and after about ten -minutes she and M. F. A. L. sat at a small -octagonal table, which, in another five minutes, -began to tilt.)</p> - -<p>[But the subject now completely changed, and, -if reported at all, must be reported elsewhere.] -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>I may say that several times, during a Feda sitting, some -special communicator has asked for a table sitting to follow, -because he considers it more definite and more private. And -certainly some of the evidence so got has been remarkable; -as indeed it was on this occasion. But the record concerns -other people, distant friends of my wife, some of whom take -no interest in the subject whatever.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> -This shows clear and independent knowledge of the sitting -which I had held with Mrs. Clegg that same morning (see early parts of -this chapter).</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> -See record on P. <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[ 271]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XXIII</span><br /> -<span class="small">A FEW ISOLATED INCIDENTS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THERE are a number of incidents which might be -reported, some of them of characteristic quality, and -a few of them of the nature of good tests. The first -of these reported here is decidedly important. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3>I. SIMULTANEOUS SITTINGS IN LONDON -AND EDGBASTON</h3> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Special 'Honolulu' Test Episode</span></h3> - -<p>Lionel and Norah, going through London on the way -to Eastbourne, on Friday, 26 May 1916, arranged to have -a sitting with Mrs. Leonard about noon. They held one -from 11.55 to 1.30, and a portion of their record is transcribed -below.</p> - -<p>At noon it seems suddenly to have occurred to Alec -in Birmingham to try for a correspondence test; so he -motored up from his office, extracted some sisters from -the Lady Mayoress's Depot, where they were making surgical -bandages, and took them to Mariemont for a brief table -sitting. It lasted about ten minutes, between 12.10 and -12.20 p.m. And the test which he then and there suggested -was to ask Raymond to get Feda in London to say the -word "Honolulu." This task, I am told, was vigorously -accepted and acquiesced in.</p> - -<p>A record of this short sitting Alec wrote on a letter-card -to me, which I received at 7 p.m. the same evening -at Mariemont: the first I had heard of the experiment. -The postmark is "1 p.m. 26 My 16," and the card runs -thus:—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[ 272]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right">"<i>Mariemont, Friday, 26 May, 12.29 p.m.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>"Honor, Rosalynde, and Alec sitting in drawing-room -at table. Knowing Lionel and Norah having Feda sitting -in London simultaneously. Asked Raymond to give our -love to Norah and Lionel and to try and get Feda to say -Honolulu. Norah and Lionel know nothing of this, as it -was arranged by A. M. L. after 12 o'clock to-day.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left:30.4em;">"(Signed) <span class="smcap">Alec M. Lodge</span></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left:36em;"><span class="smcap">Honor G. Lodge</span></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left:36em;"><span class="smcap">Rosalynde V. Lodge</span>"</span><br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>It is endorsed on the back in pencil, "Posted at B'ham -General P.O. 12.43 p.m."; and, in ink, "Received by me -7 p.m.—O. J. L. Opened and read and filed at once."</p> - -<p>The sitters in London knew nothing of the contemporaneous -attempt; and nothing was told them, either then -or later. Noticing nothing odd in their sitting, which they -had not considered a particularly good one, they made no -report till after both had returned from Eastbourne a week -later.</p> - -<p>The notes by that time had been written out, and were -given me to read to the family. As I read, I came on a -passage near the end, and, like the few others who were -in the secret, was pleased to find that the word "Honolulu" -had been successfully got through. The subject of -music appeared to have been rather forced in by Raymond, -in order to get Feda to mention an otherwise disconnected -and meaningless word; the time when this was managed -being, I <i>estimate</i>, about 1.0 or 1.15. But of course it was -not noted as of any interest at the time.</p> - -<p>Here follow the London Notes. I will quote portions -of the sitting only, so as not to take up too much space:— -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><i>Sitting of Lionel and Norah with Mrs. Leonard in London,<br /> -Friday, 26 May 1916, beginning 11.55 a.m.</i></h3> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Extracts from Report by L. L.</span></h4> - -<p>After referring to Raymond's married sister and her -husband, Feda suddenly ejaculated:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>How is Alec?</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[ 273]</a></span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Oh, all right.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>He just wanted to know how he was, and send -his love to him. He does not always see who is at -the table; he feels some more than others.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> - -<p>He says you (to Norah) sat at the table and -Lionel.</p> - -<p>He felt you (Norah) more than any one else at -the table.</p> - -<p>[This is unlikely. He seems to be thinking that -it is Honor.]</p> - -<p>Feda feels that if you started off very easily, -you would be able to see him. Develop a normal -... [clairvoyance probably].</p> - -<p>Raymond says, go slowly, develop just with time, -go slowly. Even the table helps a little.</p> - -<p>He can really get through now in his own words. -When he is there, he now knows what he has got -through.</p> - -<p>The Indians have got through their hanky-panky. -[We thought that this meant playing with the table -in a way beyond his control.]</p> - -<p>He says that Lily is here. (Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—Where -is she?)</p> - -<p>She looks very beautiful, and has lilies; she will -help too, and give you power.</p> - -<p>Sit quietly once or twice a week, hold your -hands, the right over the left, so, for ten minutes, -then sit quiet—only patience. He could wait till -doomsday.</p> - -<p>He says, Wait and see; he is laughing!</p> - -<p>He has seen Curly (p. <a href="#Page_203">203</a>).</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Is Curly there now?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No, see her when we wants to. That's the one -that wriggles and goes ... (here Feda made a -sound like a dog panting, with her tongue out—quite -a good imitation).</p> - -<p>Raymond has met another boy like Paul, a boy -called Ralph. He likes him. There is what you -call a set. People meet there who are interested in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[ 274]</a></span> -the same things. Ralph is a very decent sort of -chap.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> - -<p>(To Norah).—You could play.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">N. M. L.</span>—Play what?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Not a game, a music.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">N. M. L.</span>—I am afraid I can't, Raymond.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>(Feda, <i>sotto voce</i>.—She can't do that.)</p> - -<p>He wanted to know whether you could play Hulu—Honolulu.</p> - -<p>Well, can't you try to? He is rolling with laughter -[meaning that he's pleased about something].</p> - -<p>He knows who he is speaking to, but he can't -give the name.</p> - -<p>[Here he seems to know that it is Norah and not -Honor.]</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">L. L.</span>—Should I tell him?</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>No.</p> - -<p>He says something about a yacht; he means a -test he sent through about a yacht. Confounded -Argonauts!<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> - -<p>He is going. Fondest love to them at Mariemont.</p> -</div> - -<p>The sitting continued for a short time longer, ending -at 1.30 p.m., but the present report may end here. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Note on the 'Honolulu' Episode by O. J. L.</span></h4> - -<p>In my judgment there were signs that the simultaneous -holding of two sittings, one with Honor and Alec in Edgbaston, -and one with Lionel and Norah in London, introduced -a little harmless confusion; there was a tendency in -London to confuse Norah with Honor, and Alec was -mentioned in London in perhaps an unnecessary way. I -do not press this, however, but I do press the 'Honolulu' -episode—</p> - -<ol class="rom"> - <li> because it establishes a reality about the home sittings,</li> - <li> because it so entirely eliminates anything of -the nature of collusion, conscious or unconscious,</li> - <li> because the whole circumstances of the test -make it an exceedingly good one.</li> -</ol> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[ 275]</a></span></p> - -<p>What it does not exclude is telepathy. In fact it may -be said to suggest telepathy. Yes, it suggests distinctly -one variety of what, I think, is often called telepathy—a -process sometimes conducted, I suspect, by an unrecognised -emissary or messenger between agent and percipient. It -was exactly like an experiment conducted for thought -transference at a distance. For at Edgbaston was a party -of three sitting round a table and thinking for a few seconds -of the word 'Honolulu'; while in London was a party -of two simultaneously sitting with a medium and -recording what was said. And in their record the word -'Honolulu' occurs. Telepathy, however—of whatever -kind—is not a normal explanation; and I venture to -say that there is no normal explanation, since in my -judgment chance is out of the question. The subject -of music was forced in by the communicator, in order -to bring in the word; it did not occur naturally; and -even if the subject of music had arisen, there was -no sort of reason for referring to that particular song. -The chief thing that the episode establishes, to my mind, -and a thing that was worth establishing, is the genuine -character of the simple domestic sittings without a medium -which are occasionally held by the family circle at -Mariemont. For it is through these chiefly that Raymond -remains as much a member of the family group -as ever. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3>II. IMPROMPTU MARIEMONT SITTING</h3> - -<p>Once at Mariemont, I am told, when M. F. A. L. and -Honor were touching it, the table moved up to a book -in which relics and reminiscences of Raymond had been -pasted, and caused it to be opened. In it, among other -things, was an enlargement of the snapshot facing page -278, showing him in an old 'Nagant' motor, which had -been passed on to him by Alec, stopping outside a certain -house in Somersetshire. He was asked what house it was, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[ 276]</a></span> -and was expected to spell the name of the friend who lived -there, but instead he spelt the name of the house. The -record by M. F. A. L., with some unimportant omissions, -is here reproduced—merely, however, as another example -of a private sitting without a medium. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h4><i>Impromptu Table Sitting at Mariemont, Tuesday, -25 April 1916</i><br /> -(<span class="smcap">Report by M. F. A. L.</span>)</h4> - -<p>I had been thinking of Raymond all day, and wanting -to thank him for what he did yesterday for [a friend]. -Honor had agreed that we might do it some time, but -when I mentioned it about 10.50 p.m., she did not want to -sit then—she thought it too late. We were then in the -library.</p> - -<p>Honor, sitting on the Chesterfield, said, "I wonder if -any table would be equally good for Raymond?"—placing -her hands on the middle-sized table of the nest of three. -It at once began to stir, and she asked me to place mine on -the other side to steady it.</p> - -<p>I asked if it was Raymond, and it decidedly said <span class="smcap">Yes</span>.</p> - -<p>I then thanked him with much feeling for what he had -done for [two separate families] lately. I told him how -much he had comforted them, and how splendidly he was -doing; that there were quite a number of people he had -helped now. We discussed a few others that needed help.</p> - -<p>Then I think we asked him if he knew what room we -were in—<span class="smcap">Yes</span>. And after knocking me a good deal, and -making a noise which seemed to please him against my -eyeglasses, he managed, by laying the table down, to get -one foot on to the Chesterfield and raise the table up on it; -and there it stayed, and rocked about for a long time -answering questions—I thought it would make a hole in -the cover.</p> - -<p>I don't quite remember how it got down, but it did, -and then edged itself up to the other larger table, which -had been given me by Alec, Noël, and Raymond, after they -had broken a basket table I used to use there—it was -brought in with a paper, "To Mother from the culprits." -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[ 277]</a></span> -(This was a year or two ago.) Well, he got it up to this -table, and fidgeted about with the foot of the smaller table -on which we had our hands, until he rested it on a ledge -and tried to raise it up. But the way he did this most -successfully was when he got the ledge of our small table -onto a corner of the other and then raised it off the ground -level. This he did several times. I took one hand off, -leaving one hand on the top, and Honor's two hands lying -on the top, <i>no part</i> of them being over the edge, and I -measured the height the legs were off the ground. The -first time it was the width of three fingers, and the next -time four fingers.</p> - -<p>Honor told him this was very clever.</p> - -<p>I then tried to press it down, but could not—a curious -feeling, like pressing on a cushion of air.</p> - -<p>He had by this time turned us right round, so that -Honor was sitting where I had been before, and I was -sitting or sometimes standing in her place. Then we were -turned round again, and he seemed to want to knock the -other table again; he went at it in a curious way. I had -with one hand to remove a glass on it which I thought -he would upset. He continued to edge against it, until -he reached a book lying on it. This he knocked with such -intention, that Honor asked him if he wanted it opened.</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">Yes.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[This was a scrap-book in which I collect anything -about him—photographs, old and new; -poems made <i>about</i> him, or sent to me in consolation; -and it has his name outside, drawn -on in large letters.—M. F. A. L.]</span></p> -</div> - -<p>So I opened it, and showed him the photograph of himself -seated in the 'Nagant.' [A motor-car which Alec had -practically given him not long before the war, and with -which he was delighted.]</p> - -<p>Honor asked if he could see it, and he said <span class="smcap">Yes</span>, and -seemed pleased.</p> - -<p>She asked if he could tell her what house it was standing -in front of, and he spelt out—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">ST. GERMINS.</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">[This was pretty good, as the name of the -Jacques's house is 'St. Germains.']</span></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[ 278]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -2em;">(Honor had forgotten the name till he began, and -expected him to say Jacques's.)</span></p> -</div> - -<p>We told him he had got it, but that his spelling wasn't -quite as good as it had been.</p> - -<p>Honor talked to him then about the 'Nagant' and the -'Gabrielle Horn,' all of which seemed to delight him.</p> - -<p>We then showed him some other photographs, and the -one of his dog, and asked him to spell its name, which he -did without mistake—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p><span class="smcap">LARRY.</span></p> -</div> - -<p>He couldn't see the little photograph of the goats, as it -was too small. But he saw himself in uniform—the one -taken by Rosalynde and enlarged—and he seemed to like -seeing that.</p> - -<p>We talked a lot to him. I asked if he remembered his -journey with me out to Italy, and the Pullman car, etc. -At this he knocked very affectionately against me.</p> - -<p>We then thought it was time for us all to go to bed. -But he said <span class="smcap">No</span>. So we went on telling him family news. -He listened with interest and appreciative knocks, and he -then tried his balancing trick again, sometimes with success, -but often failing to get the leg right. But he did it -again in the end. We tried to say good night, it being then -nearly one o'clock, but he didn't seem to want to go.</p> - -<p>We said au revoir, and told him we would see him -again soon. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3>III. EPISODE OF 'MR. JACKSON'</h3> - -<p>A striking incident is reported in one of my 'Feda' sittings—that -on 3 March 1916—shortly after the death of -our peacock, which went by the comic name of 'Mr. Jackson,' -his wives being Matilda Jackson and Janet. He was -a pet of M. F. A. L.'s, and had recently met with a tragic -end. It was decided to have him stuffed, and one of the -last things I had seen before leaving Mariemont was a -wooden pedestal on which it was proposed to put him.</p> - -<p>When I asked Feda if Raymond remembered Mr. Jackson, -he spoke of him humorously, greatly to Feda's puzzlement, -who said at last that he was mixing him up with a -bird, about whom I had previously inquired; because he -said, 'Fine bird, put him on a pedestal.'</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_313"></a> -<img src="images/i_313.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">"CURLEY" AND "VIX", CURLEY BEING THE SHAGGY ONE.<br /> -"VIX" WAS THE MOTHER OF RAYMOND'S DOG "LARRY"</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"><a id="i_317"></a> -<img src="images/i_317.png" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">RAYMOND IN HIS "NAGANT" MOTOR, 1913<br /> -OUTSIDE A FRIEND'S HOUSE IN SOMERSETSHIRE</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[ 279]</a></span></p> - -<p>If this was not telepathy from me, it seems to show a -curious knowledge of what is going on at his home, for -the bird had not been dead a week, and if he were alive -there would be no sense in saying, 'put him on a pedestal.' -Feda evidently understood it, or tried to understand it, as -meaning that some man, a Mr. Jackson, was metaphorically -put on a pedestal by the family.</p> - -<p>The fact, however, that Mr. Jackson was at once known -by Raymond to be a bird is itself evidential, for there was -nothing in the way I asked the question to make Feda or -anyone think he was not a man. Indeed, that is precisely -why she got rather bewildered. See <a href="#Page_237">Chapter XXI.</a> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3>IV. EPISODE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS</h3> - -<p>It is unnecessary to call attention to the importance of -the photograph incident, which is fully narrated in Chapter -IV; but he spoke later of another photograph, in which -he said was included his friend Case. It is mentioned near -the end of Chapter IV. That photograph we also obtained -from Gale & Polden, and it is true that Case is in it as well -as Raymond, whereas he was not in the former group; but -this one is entirely different from the other, for they are -both in a back row standing up, and in a quite open place. -If this had been sent to us at first, instead of the right -one, we should have considered the description quite -wrong. As it is, the main photograph episode constitutes -one of the best pieces of evidence that has been -given.</p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Remarks by O. J. L. in concluding Part II</span></h3> - -<p>The number of more or less convincing proofs which -we have obtained is by this time very great. Some of them -appeal more to one person, some to another; but taking -them all together every possible ground of suspicion or -doubt seems to the family to be now removed. And it is -legitimate to say, further, that partly through Raymond's -activity a certain amount of help of the same kind has been -afforded to other families. Incidentally it has been difficult -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[ 280]</a></span> -to avoid brief reference to a few early instances of this, -in that part of the record now published. For the most -part, however, these and a great number of other things -are omitted; and I ought perhaps to apologise for the quantity -which I have thought proper to include. Some home -critics think that it would have been wiser to omit a great -deal more, so as to lighten the book. But one can only act -in accordance with one's own judgment; and the book, if -it is to achieve what it aims at, cannot be a light one. So, -instead of ending it here, I propose to add a quantity of -more didactic material—expressing my own views on the -subject of Life and Death—the result of many years of -thought and many kinds of experience.</p> - -<p>Some people may prefer the details in Part II; but -others who have not the patience to read Part II may tolerate -the more general considerations adduced in Part III—the -"Life and Death" portion—which can be read without -any reference to Raymond or to Parts I and II.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> -It is noteworthy, in connexion with these remarks, that Honor -and Alec were sitting for a short time at Mariemont just about now.—O.J. L.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> -This is the first mention of a Ralph—presumably the one -whose people, not known to us personally, had had excellent table -sittings with Mrs. Leonard. See Chapter XII.—O. J. L.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> -This is too late to be of any use, but 'Yacht' appears to be the sort of answer they had wanted to 'Argonauts.'<br />—O. J. L.</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[ 281-2]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>PART THREE: LIFE AND DEATH</h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p><span style="margin-left:-0.4em">"Eternal form shall still divide</span></p> -<p>The eternal soul from all beside;</p> -<p>And I shall know him when we meet."</p> -<p class="right">Tennyson, <i>In Memoriam</i>.</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>INTRODUCTION</h3> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">IN this "Life and Death" portion a definite side is unobtrusively -taken in connexion with two outstanding -controversies; and though the treatment is purposely -simple and uncontroversial, the author is under no delusion -that every philosophical reader will agree with him. Explicit -argumentation on either side is no novelty, but this is -not the place for argument; moreover, the opposing views -have already been presented with ample clearness by skilled -disputants.</p> - -<p>Briefly then it may be said that Interactionism rather -than Epiphenomenalism or Parallelism is the side taken -in one controversy. And the non-material nature of life—the -real existence of some kind of vital essence or vivifying -principle as a controlling and guiding entity—is postulated -in another: though the author never calls it a force -or an energy.</p> - -<p>Philosophical literature teems with these topics, but -it may suffice here to call the attention of the general -reader to two or three easily readable summaries—one an -explanatory article by Mr. Gerald Balfour, in <i>The Hibbert -Journal</i> for April 1910, on the Epiphenomenon controversy, -and generally on the alternative explanations of -the connexion between Mind and Body, in the light thrown -on the subject by Telepathy and Psychical Research; while -on the vitality controversy a small book embodying a short -course of lectures by the physiologist and philosopher Dr. -J. S. Haldane under the title <i>Mechanism, Life, and Personality</i>, -or a larger book by Professor M'Dougal called -<i>Body and Mind</i>, may be recommended. On this subject -also the writings of Professor J. Arthur Thomson may be -specially mentioned.</p> - -<p>The opinions of the present author on these topics, -whatever they may be worth, are held without apology -or hesitation, because to him they appear the inevitable -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[ 284]</a></span> -consequence of facts of nature as now known or knowable. -Some of these facts are not generally accepted by scientific -men; and if the facts themselves are not admitted, naturally -any conclusion based upon them will appear ill-founded, -and the further developed structure illusory. He anticipates -that this will be said by critics.</p> - -<p>In so far as the author's manner of statement is in -terms of frank Dualism, he regards that as inevitable for -scientific purposes. He does not suppose that any form -of Dualism can be the last word about the Universe; but, -for practical purposes, mind and matter, or soul and -body, must be thought of separately, and it must be the -work of higher Philosophy to detect ultimate unity—a -unity which he feels certain cannot possibly be materialistic -in any sense intelligible to those who are at present -studying matter and energy.</p> - -<p>It may be doubted whether Materialism as a philosophy -exists any longer, in the sense of being sustained by -serious philosophers; but a few physiological writers, of -skill and industry, continue to advocate what they are -pleased to call Scientific Materialism. Properly regarded -this is a Policy, not a Philosophy, as I will explain; but -they make the mistake of regarding it as a Philosophy -comprehensive enough to give them the right of negation -as well as of affirmation. They do this in the interest of -what they feel instinctively to be the ultimate achievement, -a Monism in which mind and matter can be recognised -as aspects of some one fundamental Reality. We can -sympathise with the aim, and still feel how far from accomplishment -we are. Nothing is gained by undue haste, -and by unfounded negation much may be lost. We must -not deny any part of the Universe for the sake of a premature -unification. Simplification by exclusion or denial -is a poverty-stricken device.</p> - -<p>The strength of such workers is that they base themselves -on the experience and discoveries of the past, and, -by artificial but convenient limitation of outlook, achieve -practical results. But they are not satisfied with results -actually achieved—they forget their limitations—and, by -a gigantic system of extrapolation from what has been -done, try to infer what is going to be done; their device -being to anticipate and speak of what they hope for, as -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[ 285]</a></span> -if it were already an accomplished fact. Some of the -assumptions or blind guesses made by men of this school -are well illustrated by an exposition in <i>The Hibbert -Journal</i> for July 1916, where an able writer states the -main propositions of Scientific Materialism thus:—</p> - -<p class="p2">1. The law of universal causation;</p> - -<p class="p2">2. The principle of mechanism—<i>i.e.</i> the denial of -purpose in the universe and all notions of -absolute finalism or teleology;</p> - -<p class="p2">3. The denial that there exists any form of 'spiritual' -or 'mental' entity that cannot be expressed in terms of matter and<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">motion.</span></p> - -<p>These appear to be its three propositions, and they are -formulated by the exponent "as being of the first importance -in the representation of materialistic thought."</p> - -<p>Now proposition 1 is common property; materialistic -thought has no sort of exclusive right over it; and to -claim propositions 2 and 3 as corollaries from it is farcical. -Taking them as independent postulates—which they are—all -that need be said about proposition 2 is that a broad -denial always needs more knowledge than a specific assertion, -and it is astonishing that any sane person can -imagine himself to know enough about the Universe as a -whole to be able complacently to deny the existence of -any "purpose" in it. All he can really mean is that -scientific explanations must be framed so as to exhibit -the immediate means whereby results in nature are accomplished; -for whether, or in what sense, they are first -or simultaneously conceived in a Mind—as human undertakings -are—is a matter beyond our scientific ken. Thus -Darwinian and Mendelian attempts to explain how species -arise, and how inheritance occurs, are entirely legitimate -and scientific. For our experience is that every event -has a proximate cause which we can investigate. Of -ultimate causes we as scientific men are ignorant: they -belong to a different region of inquiry. If the word -"denial," therefore, in the above proposition is replaced -by the phrase "exclusion from practical scientific attention," -I for one have no quarrel with clause 2; for it -then becomes a mere self-denying ordinance, a convenient -limitation of scope. It represents Policy, not Philosophy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[ 286]</a></span></p> - -<p>But attention may be more usefully directed to the -extravagantly gratuitous guess involved in hypothesis 3. -As a minor point, it is not even carefully worded; for -entities which cannot be expressed in terms of matter and -motion are common enough without going outside the -domain of physics. Light, for instance, and Electricity, -have not yet proved amenable, and do not appear likely -to be amenable, to purely dynamical theory.</p> - -<p>Certain phenomena have been reduced to matter and -motion,—heat, for instance, and sound, the phenomena -of gases and liquids, and all the complexities of astronomy. -And in a famous passage Newton expressed an enthusiastic -hope that all the phenomena of physics might some -day be similarly reduced to the attractive simplicity of -the three laws of motion—inertia, acceleration, and -stress. And ever since Newton it has been the aim of -physics to explain everything in its domain in terms of -pure dynamics. The attempt has been only partially -successful: the Ether is recalcitrant. But its recalcitrance -is not like mere surly obstruction, it is of a helpful and -illuminating character, and I shall not be misleading anyone -if I cheerfully admit that in some modified and expanded -form dynamical theory in mathematical physics has proved -itself to be supreme.</p> - -<p>But does dominance of that kind give to that splendid -science—the glory of Britain and of Cambridge—the right -to make a gigantic extrapolation and sprawl over all the -rest of the Universe, throwing out tentacles even into -regions which it has definitely abstracted from its attention -or excluded from its ken? There is not a physicist -who thinks so. The only people who try to think so -are a few enthusiasts of a more speculative habit of -thought, who are annoyed with the physicists, from Lord -Kelvin downwards, for not agreeing with them. And -being unable to gather from competent authority any -specific instance in which dynamics has explained a single -fact in the region of either life or mind or consciousness -or emotion or purpose or will,—because it is known perfectly -well that dynamical jurisdiction does not extend -into those regions,—these speculators set up as authorities -on their own account, and, on the strength of their own -expectation, propound the broad and sweeping dogma -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[ 287]</a></span> -that nothing in the Universe exists which is not fully -expressible in terms of matter and motion. And then, -having accustomed themselves to the sound of some such -collocation of words, they call upon humanity to shut its -eyes to any facts of common experience which render such -an assertion ridiculous.</p> - -<p>The energy and enthusiasm of these writers, and the -good work they may be doing in their own science, render -them more or less immune from attack; but every now -and then it is necessary to say clearly that such extravagant -generalisations profane the modesty of science: -whose heritage it is to recognise the limitations of partial -knowledge, and to be always ready to gain fresh experience -and learn about the unknown. The new and unfamiliar -is the vantage ground, not of scientific dogmatism, -but of scientific inquiry. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>The expository or theoretical part of this book may at -first appear too abstract for the general reader who has -had no experience of the kind of facts already described. -Such reader may fail to see a connexion between this -more didactic portion and the illustrations or examples -which have preceded it; but if he will give sufficient -time and thought to the subject, the connexion will dawn -upon him with considerable vividness.</p> - -<p>It has always seemed to the author legitimate, and in -every way desirable, for an experimenter to interpret and -make himself responsible for an explanation or theory of -his observations, so far as he can. To record bare facts -and expect a reader of the record to arrive at the same -conclusion as that reached by one who has been immersed -in them for a long time, is to expect too strenuous an -effort, and is not a fair procedure. Such a practice, -though not unusual and sometimes even commended in -physical science, is not followed by the most famous -workers; and it has been known to retard progress for a -considerable time by loading the student with an accumulation -of undigested facts. The hypothesis on which an -observer has been working, or which he has arrived at in -the course of his investigations, may or may not be of -permanent value, but if his experience has led him to -regard it as the best solution so far attainable, and if he is -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[ 288]</a></span> -known not to be a specially obstinate or self-opinionated -person, his views for what they are worth should be set -forth for the guidance of future inquirers. If he mauls -the facts in his direction, he will be detected; but such -an accusation is a serious one, and should not be made -lightly or without opportunity for reply.</p> - -<p>The string on which beads are strung may not be -extremely durable, and in time it may give place to something -stronger, but it is better than a random heap of -beads not threaded on anything at all.</p> - -<p>The main thread linking all the facts together in the -present case is the hypothesis not only of continued or -personal psychical existence in the abstract, but a definite -inter-locking or inter-communication between two grades of -existence,—the two in which we are most immediately -interested and about which we can ascertain most,—that -of the present and that of the immediate future for each -individual; together with the added probabilities that the -actual grades of existence are far more than two, and that -the forthcoming transition, in which we cannot but be -interested even if we do not believe in it, is only one of -many of which we shall, in some barely imaginable way, -in due time become aware.</p> - -<p>The hypothesis of continued existence in another set -of conditions, and of possible communication across a -boundary, is not a gratuitous one made for the sake of -comfort and consolation, or because of a dislike to the idea -of extinction; it is a hypothesis which has been gradually -forced upon the author—as upon many other persons—by -the stringent coercion of definite experience. The -foundation of the atomic theory in Chemistry is to him no -stronger. The evidence is cumulative, and has broken -the back of all legitimate and reasonable scepticism.</p> - -<p>And if by selecting the atomic theory as an example -he has chosen one upon which supplementary and most -interesting facts have been grafted in the progress of discovery—facts -not really contradicting the old knowledge, -even when superficially appearing to do so, but adding to -it and illuminating it further, while making changes perhaps -in its manner of formulation—he has chosen such -an example of set purpose, as not unlikely to be imitated in -the present case also.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[ 289]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER I</span><br /> -<span class="small">THE MEANING OF THE TERM LIFE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="center">"Eternal process moving on."—<span class="smcap">Tennyson</span> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">THE shorter the word the more inevitable it is that -it will be used in many significations; as can be -proved by looking out almost any monosyllable in -a large dictionary. The tendency of a simple word to -have many glancing meanings—like shot silk, as Tennyson -put it—is a character of high literary value; though it -may be occasionally inconvenient for scientific purposes. -It is unlikely that we can escape an ambiguity due to this -tendency, but I wish to use the term 'life' to signify the -vivifying principle which animates matter.</p> - -<p>That the behaviour of animated matter differs from -what is often called dead matter is familiar, and is illustrated -by the description sometimes given of an uncanny -piece of mechanism—that "it behaves as if it were alive." -In the case of a jumping bean, for instance, its spasmodic -and capricious behaviour can be explained with apparent -simplicity, though with a suspicious trend towards superstition, -by the information that a live and active maggot -inhabits a cavity inside. It is thereby removed from the -bare category of physics only, though still perfectly obedient -to physical laws: it jumps in accordance with -mechanics, but neither the times nor the direction of its -jumps can be predicted.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> - -<p>We must admit that the term 'dead matter' is often -misapplied. It is used sometimes to denote merely the -constituents of the general inorganic world. But it is -inconvenient to speak of utterly inanimate things, like -stones, as 'dead,' when no idea of life was ever associated -with them, and when 'inorganic' is all that is meant. -The term 'dead' applied to a piece of matter signifies -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[ 290]</a></span> -the absence of a vivifying principle, no doubt, but it is -most properly applied to a collocation of organic matter -which has been animated.</p> - -<p>Again, when animation has ceased, the thing we -properly call dead is not the complete organism, but that -material portion which is left behind; we do not or should -not intend to make any assertion concerning the vivifying -principle which has left it,—beyond the bare fact of its -departure. We know too little about that principle to be -able to make safe general assertions. The life that is -transmitted by an acorn or other seed fruit is always -beyond our ken. We can but study its effects, and note -its presence or its absence by results.</p> - -<p>Life must be considered <i>sui generis</i>; it is not a form of -energy, nor can it be expressed in terms of something else. -Electricity is in the same predicament; it too cannot be -explained in terms of something else. This is true of all -fundamental forms of being. Magnetism may be called a -concomitant of moving electricity; ordinary matter can -perhaps be resolved into electric charges: but an electric -charge can certainly not be expressed in terms of either -matter or energy. No more can life. To show that the -living principle in a seed is not one of the forms of energy, -it is sufficient to remember that that seed can give rise to -innumerable descendants, through countless generations, -without limit. There is nothing like a constant quantity -of something to be shared, as there is in all examples of -energy: there is no conservation about it: the seed embodies -a stimulating and organising principle which -appears to well from a limitless source.</p> - -<p>But although life is not energy, any more than it is -matter, yet it directs energy and thereby controls arrangements -of matter. Through the agency of life specific -structures are composed which would not otherwise exist, -from a sea-shell to a cathedral, from a blade of grass to -an oak; and specific distributions of energy are caused, -from the luminosity of a firefly to an electric arc, from the -song of a cricket to an oratorio.</p> - -<p>Life makes use of any automatic activities, or transferences -and declensions of energy, which are either -potentially or actually occurring. In especial it makes -use of the torrent of ether tremors which reach the earth -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[ 291]</a></span> -from the sun. Every plant is doing it constantly. Admittedly -life exerts no force, it does no work, but it -makes effective the energy available for an organism which -it controls and vivifies; it determines in what direction -and when work shall be done. It is plain matter of -fact that it does this, whether we understand the method -or not,—and thus indirectly life interacts with and influences -the material world. The energy of coal is indirectly -wholly solar, but without human interference it -might remain buried in the earth, and certainly would -never propel a ship across the Atlantic. One way of -putting the matter is to say that life <i>times</i>, and <i>directs</i>. -If it runs a railway train, it runs the train not like a locomotive -but like a General Manager. It enters into battle -with a walking-stick, but guns are fired to its orders. It -may be said to aim and fire: one of its functions is to discriminate -between the wholesome and the deleterious, -between friend and foe. That is a function outside the -scope of physics.</p> - -<p>Energy controlled by life is not random energy: the -kind of self-composition or personal structure built by it -depends on the kind of life-unit which is operating, not on -the pabulum which is supplied. The same food will serve to -build a pig, a chicken, or a man. Food which is assimilable -at all takes a shape determined by the nature of the operative -organism, and indeed by the portion of the organism -actually reached by it. Unconscious constructive ability -is as active in each cell of the body as in a honeycomb; -only in a beehive we can see the operators at work. -The construction of an eye or an ear is still more astonishing. -In the inorganic world such structures would be -meaningless, for there would be nothing to respond to -their stimulus; they can only serve elementary mind and -consciousness. The brain and nerve system is an instrument -of transmutation or translation from the physical to -the mental, and <i>vice versa</i>. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Stages of Evolution</span></h3> - -<p>Steps in the progress of evolution—great stages which -have been likened by Sir James Crichton Browne to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[ 292]</a></span> -exceptional Mendelian Mutations—may be rather imaginatively -rehearsed somewhat thus:—</p> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Starting with</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>The uniform Ether of Space, we can first suppose</p> - -<p>The specialisation or organisation of specks of -ether into Electrons; followed by</p> - -<p>Associated systems of electrons, constituting atoms -of Matter; and so</p> - -<p>The whole inorganic Universe.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>Then, as a new and astonishing departure, comes—</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>The cell, or protoplasmic complex which Life can -construct and utilise for manifestation and development. -<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>And after that</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockreply5"> -<p>A brain cell, which can become the physical organ -for the rudiments of Mind. Followed by</p> - -<p>Further mental development until Consciousness -becomes possible. With subsequent</p> - -<p>Sublimation of consciousness into Ethics, Philosophy, -and Religion.</p> -</div> - -<p>We need not insist on these or any other stages for our -present purpose; yet something of the kind would seem -to have occurred, in the mysterious course of time. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[ 293]</a></span></p> - -<h3>THREE EXPLANATORY NOTES</h3> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Note A.—Mechanics of Jumping Bean</span></h4> - -<p>The biological explanation of a jumping bean is sometimes -felt to be puzzling, inasmuch as the creature is wholly enclosed; -and a man in a boat knows that he cannot propel it by movement -inside, without touching the water or something external. But -the reaction of a table can be made use of through the envelope, -and a live thing can momentarily vary its own weight-pressure -and even reverse its sign. This fact has a bearing on some -psycho-physical experiments, and hence is worthy of a moment's -attention.</p> - -<p>To weigh an animal that jumps and will not keep still is -always troublesome. It cannot alter its average weight, truly, -but it can redistribute it in time; at moments its apparent weight -may be excessive, and at other moments zero or even negative, -as during the middle of an energetic leap. Parenthetically we -may here interpolate a remark and say that what is called interference -of light (two lights producing darkness, in popular language) -is a redistribution of luminous energy in space. No light, -nor any kind of wave motion, is destroyed by interference when -two sets of waves overlap, but the energy rises to a maximum -in some places, and in other places sinks to zero. No wave energy -is consumed by interference—only rearranged. This fact is often -misstated. And probably the other statement, about the varying -apparent weight—<i>i.e.</i> pressure on the ground—of a live animal, -may be misstated too: though there is no question of energy -about that, but only of force. The force or true weight, in the -sense of the earth's attraction, is there all the time, and is constant; -but the pressure on the ground, or the force needed to counteract -the weight, is not constant. After momentary violence, as in -throwing, no support need be supplied for several seconds; and, -like the maggot inside a hollow bean, a live thing turning itself -into a projectile may even carry something else up too. It -is instructive also to consider a flying bird, and a dirigible balloon, -and to ask where the still existing weight of these things can be -found. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Note B.—Differences between a Growing Organism and a<br /> -Growing Crystal</span></h4> - -<p>The properties which differentiate living matter from any -kind of inorganic imitation may be instinctively felt, but can -hardly be formulated without expert knowledge. The differences -between a growing organism and a growing crystal are many and -various, but it must suffice here to specify the simplest and most -familiar sort of difference; and as it is convenient to take a -possibly controversial statement of this kind from the writings of a -physiologist, I quote here a passage from an article by Professor -Fraser Harris, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the current number of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[ 294]</a></span> -the quarterly magazine called <i>Science Progress</i> edited by Sir -Ronald Ross—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"Living animal bioplasm has the power of growing, that is -of assimilating matter in most cases chemically quite unlike that -of its own constitution. Now this is a remarkable power, not in -the least degree shared by non-living matter. Its very familiarity -has blinded us to its uniqueness as a chemical phenomenon. The -mere fact that a man eating beef, bird, fish, lobster, sugar, fat, and -innumerable other things can transform these into human bioplasm, -something chemically very different even from that of -them which most resembles human tissue, is one of the most -extraordinary facts in animal physiology. A crystal growing in a -solution is not only not analogous to this process, it is in the -sharpest possible contrast with it. The crystal grows only in the -sense that it increases in bulk by accretions to its exterior, and -only does that by being immersed in a solution of the same material -as its own substance. It takes up to itself only material which is -already similar to itself; this is not assimilation, it is merely -incorporation.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"The term 'growth,' strictly speaking, can be applied only -to metabolism in the immature or convalescent organism. The -healthy adult is not 'growing' in this sense; when of constant -weight he is adding neither to his stature nor his girth, and yet -he is assimilating as truly as ever he did. Put more technically: -in the adult of stationary weight, anabolism is quantitatively -equal to katabolism, whereas in the truly growing organism anabolism -is prevailing over katabolism; and reversely in the wasting -of an organism or in senile decay, katabolism is prevailing over -anabolism. The crystal in its solution offers no analogies with the -adult or the senile states—but these are of the very essence of the -life of an organism....</p> - -<p>"The fact, of course familiar to every beginner in biology, is -that the crystal is only incorporating and not excreting anything, -whereas the living matter is always excreting as well as assimilating. -This one-sided metabolism—if it can be dignified with -that term—is indeed characteristic of the crystal, but it is at -no time characteristic of the living organism. The organism, -whether truly growing or only in metabolic equilibrium, is constantly -taking up material to replace effete material, is replenishing -because it has previously displenished itself or cast off material. -The resemblance between a so-called 'growing' crystal and a growing -organism is verily of the most superficial kind."</p> - -<p>And Professor Fraser Harris concludes his article thus:—</p> - -<p>"Between the living and the non-living there is a great gulf -fixed, and no efforts of ours, however heroic, have as yet bridged -it over." -<br /> -<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Note C.</span>—<span class="smcap">Old Age</span></h4> - -<p>We know that as vitality diminishes the bodily deterioration -called old age sets in, and that a certain amount of deterioration -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span> -results in death; but it turns out, on systematic inquiry, that old -age and death are not essential to living organisms. They represent -the deterioration and wearing out of working parts, so that -the vivifying principle is hampered in its manifestation and cannot -achieve results which with a younger and healthier machine were -possible; but the parts which wear out are not the essential -bearers of the vivifying principle; they are accreted or supplementary -portions appropriate to developed individual earth life, -and it does not appear improbable that the progress of discovery -may at least postpone the deterioration that we call old age, for a -much longer time than at present. Emphasis on this distinction -between germ cell and body cell, usually associated with Weismann, -seems to have been formulated before him by Herdman of -Liverpool.</p> - -<p>Biologists teach us that the phenomenon of old age is not -evident in the case of the unicellular organisms which reproduce -by fission. The cell can be killed, but it need neither grow old nor -die. Death appears to be a prerogative of the higher organisms. -But even among these Professor Weismann adopts and defends -the view that "death is not a primary necessity, but that it has -been secondarily acquired by adaptation." The cell is not inherently -limited in its number of cell-generations. The low unicellular -organism is potentially immortal; the higher multicellular -form, with well-differentiated organs, contains the germ of -death within its <i>soma</i>. Death seems to supervene by reason of its -utility to the species: continued life of an individual after a -certain stage being comparatively useless. From the point of -view of the race the soma or main body is "a secondary appendage -of the real bearer of life—the reproductive cells." The somatic -cells probably lost their immortal qualities on this immortality -becoming useless to the species. Their mortality may have been -a mere consequence of their differentiation. "Natural death was -not introduced from absolute intrinsic necessity, inherent in the -nature of living matter," says Weismann, "but on grounds of -utility; that is from necessities which sprang up, not from the -general conditions of life, but from those special conditions which -dominate the life of multicellular organisms."</p> - -<p>It is not the germ cell itself, but the bodily accretion or appendage, -which is abandoned by life, and which accordingly dies and -decays.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> -See Explanatory Note A at end of chapter.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> -See Explanatory Note B.</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[ 296]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER II</span><br /> -<span class="small">THE MEANING OF THE TERM DEATH</span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p class="center">"And Life, still wreathing flowers for Death to wear."—<span class="smcap">Rossetti</span> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">WHATEVER Life may really be, it is to us an -abstraction: for the word is a generalised term -to signify that which is common to all animals -and plants, and which is not directly operative in the inorganic -world. To understand life we must study living -things, to see what is common to them all. An organism -is alive when it moulds matter to a characteristic form, and -utilises energy for its own purposes—the purposes especially -of growth and reproduction. A living organism, so -far as it is alive, preserves its complicated structure from -deterioration and decay.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p> - -<p>Death is the cessation of that controlling influence over -matter and energy, so that thereafter the uncontrolled activity -of physical and chemical forces supervene. Death is not -the absence of life merely, the term signifies its departure -or separation, the severance of the abstract principle from -the concrete residue. The term only truly applies to that -which has been living.</p> - -<p>Death therefore may be called a dissociation, a dissolution, -a separation of a controlling entity from a physicochemical -organism; it may be spoken of in general and -vague terms as a separation of soul and body, if the term -'soul' is reduced to its lowest denomination.</p> - -<p>Death is not extinction. Neither the soul nor the body -is extinguished or put out of existence. The body weighs -just as much as before, the only properties it loses at the -moment of death are potential properties. So also all we -can assert concerning the vital principle is that it no longer -animates that material organism: we cannot safely make -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[ 297]</a></span> -further assertion regarding it, or maintain its activity or its -inactivity without further information.</p> - -<p>When we say that a body is dead we may be speaking -accurately. When we say that a <i>person</i> is dead, we are -using an ambiguous term; we may be referring to his -discarded body, in which case we may be speaking truly -and with precision. We may be referring to his personality, -his character, to what is really himself; in which case -though we must admit that we are speaking popularly, -the term is not quite simply applicable. He has -gone, he has passed on, he has "passed through the body -and gone," as Browning says in <i>Abt Vogler</i>, but he is—I -venture to say—certainly not dead in the same sense as -the body is dead. It is his absence which allows the body -to decay, he himself need be subject to no decay nor any -destructive influence. Rather he is emancipated; he is freed -from the burden of the flesh, though with it he has also -lost those material and terrestrial potentialities which the -bodily mechanism conferred upon him; and if he can exert -himself on the earth any more, it can only be -with some difficulty and as it were by permission and -co-operation of those still here. It appears as if sometimes -and occasionally he can still stimulate into activity -suitable energetic mechanism, but his accustomed machinery -for manifestation has been lost: or rather it is still there -for a time, but it is out of action, it is dead.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless inasmuch as those who have lost their -material body have passed through the process of dissolution -or dissociative severance which we call death, it -is often customary to speak of them as dead. They are -no longer living, if by living we mean associated with a -material body of the old kind; and in that sense we need -not hesitate to speak of them collectively as 'the -dead.'</p> - -<p>We need not be afraid of the word, nor need we resent -its use or hesitate to employ it, when once we and our hearers -understand the sense in which it may rightly be employed. -If ideas associated with the term had always been -sensible and wholesome, people need have had no compunction -at all about using it. But by the populace, and by -Ecclesiastics also, the term has been so misused, and the -ideas of people have been so confused by insistent -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[ 298]</a></span> -concentration on merely physical facts, and by the necessary -but over-emphasised attention to the body left behind, -that it was natural for a time to employ other words, until -the latent ambiguity had ceased to be troublesome. -And occasionally, even now, it is well to be emphatic in -this direction, in order to indicate our disagreement -with the policy of harping on worms and graves and -epitaphs, or on the accompanying idea of a General -Resurrection, with reanimation of buried bodies. Hence -in strenuous contradiction to all this superstition comes the -use of such phrases as 'transition' or 'passing,' and the occasional -not strictly justifiable assertion that "there is no -death."</p> - -<p>For as a matter of familiar fact death there certainly -is; and to deny a fact is no assistance. No one really -means to deny a fact; those who make the statement -only want to divert thoughts from a side already too -much emphasised, and to concentrate attention on another -side. What they mean is, there is no extinction. -They definitely mean to maintain that the process called -death is a mere severence of soul and body, and that the -soul is freed rather than injured thereby. The body alone -dies and decays; but there is no extinction even for it—only -a change. For the other part there can hardly be -even a change—except a change of surroundings. It is -unlikely that character and personality are liable to sudden -revolutions or mutations. Potentially they may be different, -because of different opportunities, but actually -at the moment they are the same. Likening existence to -a curve, the curvature has changed, but there is no other -discontinuity.</p> - -<p>Death is not a word to fear, any more than birth is. -We change our state at birth, and come into the world of -air and sense and myriad existence; we change our state -at death and enter a region of—what? Of Ether, I -think, and still more myriad existence; a region in which -communion is more akin to what we here call telepathy, -and where intercourse is not conducted by the accustomed -indirect physical processes; but a region in which beauty -and knowledge are as vivid as they are here: a region in -which progress is possible, and in which "admiration, hope, -and love" are even more real and dominant. It is in this -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[ 299]</a></span> -sense that we can truly say, "The dead are not dead, but -alive." ούδέ τεθνᾷσι -θανὸντες. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3>APPENDIX ON FEELINGS WHEN DEATH IS<br /> -IMMINENT</h3> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Preliminary Statement by O. J. L.</span></h3> - -<p>A lady was brought by a friend to call on us at Mariemont -during a brief visit to Edgbaston, and I happened to have a talk -with her in the garden. I found that she had been one of the -victims of the <i>Lusitania</i>, and as she seemed very cheerful and -placid about it, I questioned her as to her feelings on the occasion. -I found her a charming person, and she entered into the matter -with surprising fulness, considering that she was a complete -stranger. Her chief anxiety seems to have been for her husband, -whom she had left either in America or the West Indies, and for -her friends generally; but on her own behalf she seems to have -felt extremely little anxiety or discomfort of any kind. She told -me she had given up hope of being saved, and was only worried -about friends mourning on her behalf and thinking that she must -have suffered a good deal, whereas, in point of fact, she was not -really suffering at all. She was young and healthy, and apparently -felt no evil results from the three hours' immersion. She -was sucked down by the ship, and when she came to the surface -again, her first feeling was one of blank surprise at the disappearance -of what had brought her across the Atlantic. The ship was -"not there."</p> - -<p>I thought her account so interesting, that after a few months -I got her address from the friend with whom she had been staying, -and wrote asking if she would write it down for me. In due -course she did so, writing from abroad, and permits me to make -use of the statement, provided I suppress her name; which accordingly -I do, quoting the document otherwise in full.</p> - -<p class="center"><i>The Document referred to</i></p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"Your letter came to me as a great pleasure and surprise. -I have always remembered the sympathy with which you listened -to me, that morning at Edgbaston, and sometimes wondered at the -amount I said, as it is not easy to give expression to feelings and -speculations which are only roused at critical moments in one's -life.</p> - -<p>"What you ask me to do is not easy, as I am only one of those -who are puzzling and groping in the dark—while you have found -so much light for yourself and have imparted it to others.</p> - -<p>"I would like, however, most sincerely to try to recall my -sensations with regard to that experience, if they would be of any -value to you.</p> - -<p>"It would be absurd to say now, that from the beginning of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[ 300]</a></span> -voyage I knew what would happen; it was not a very actual -knowledge, but I was conscious of a distinct forewarning, and the -very calmness and peace of the voyage seemed, in a way, a state of -waiting for some great event. Therefore when the ship was rent -by the explosion (it was as sudden as the firing of a pistol) I felt no -particular shock, because of that curious inner expectancy. The -only acute feeling I remember at the moment was one of anger -that such a crime could have been committed; the fighting instinct -predominated in the face of an unseen but near enemy. I -sometimes think it was partly that same instinct—the desire to -die game—that accounted for the rather grim calmness of some of -the passengers. After all—it was no ordinary shipwreck, but a -Chance of War. I put down my book and went round to the -other side of the ship where a great many passengers were gathering -round the boats; it was difficult to stand, as the <i>Lusitania</i> was -listing heavily. There seemed to be no panic whatever; I went -into my cabin, a steward very kindly helped me with a life-jacket, -and advised me to throw away my fur coat. I felt no hurry or -anxiety, and returned on deck, where I stood with some difficulty— -discussing our chances with an elderly man I just knew by sight.</p> - -<p>"It was then I think we realised what a strong instinct there -was in some of us—<i>not</i> to struggle madly for life—but to wait for -something to come to us, whether it be life or death; and not to -lose our personality and become like one of the struggling shouting -creatures who were by then swarming up from the lower decks -and made one's heart ache. I never felt for a moment that my -time to cross over had come—not until I found myself in the -water—floating farther and farther away from the scene of wreckage -and misery—in a sea as calm and vast as the sky overhead. Behind -me, the cries of those who were sinking grew fainter, the -splash of oars and the calls of those who were doing rescue work -in the lifeboats; there seemed to be no possibility of rescue for -me; so I reasoned with myself and said, 'The time <i>has</i> come—you -must believe it—the time to cross over'—but inwardly and persistently -something continued to say, 'No—not now.'</p> - -<p>"The gulls were flying overhead and I remember noticing the -beauty of the blue shadows which the sea throws up to their white -feathers: they were very happy and alive and made me feel -rather lonely; my thoughts went to my people—looking forward -to seeing me, and at that moment having tea in the garden at -—— the idea of their grief was unbearable—I had to cry a -little. Names of books went through my brain;—one specially, -called 'Where no Fear is,' seemed to express my feeling at the -time! Loneliness, yes, and sorrow on account of the grief of -others—but no Fear. It seemed very normal,—very right,—a -natural development of some kind about to take place. How can -it be otherwise, when it <i>is</i> natural? I rather wished I knew some -one on the other side, and wondered if there are friendly strangers -there who come to the rescue. I was very near the border-line -when a wandering lifeboat quietly came up behind me and two -men bent down and lifted me in. It was extraordinary how -quickly life came rushing back;—every one in the boat seemed very -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[ 301]</a></span> -self-possessed—although there was one man dead and another -losing his reason. One woman expressed a hope for a 'cup of -tea' shortly—a hope which was soon to be realised for all of us in -a Mine Sweeper from Queenstown. I have forgotten her name—but -shall always remember the kindness of her crew—specially the -Chief Officer, who saved me much danger by giving me dry clothes -and hot towels.</p> - -<p>"All this can be of very little interest to you—I have no skill -in putting things on paper;—but, you know. I am glad to have -been near the border; to have had the feeling of how very near it -is <i>always</i>—only there are so many little things always going on to -absorb one here.</p> - -<p>"Others on that day were passing through a Gate which was not -open for me—but I do not expect they were afraid when the time -came—they too probably felt that whatever they were to find -would be beautiful—only a fulfilment of some kind.... I have -reason to think that the passing from here is very painless—at -least when there is no illness. We seemed to be passing through a -stage on the road of Life."</p> -</blockquote> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> -See Note C at end of preceding chapter.</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[ 302]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER III</span><br /> -<span class="small">DEATH AND DECAY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="center">"All, that doth live, lives always!"—<span class="smcap">Edwin Arnold</span> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">CONSIDER now the happenings to the discarnate -body. In the first place, I repeat, it is undesirable -to concentrate attention on a grave. The discarnate -body must be duly attended to when done with; the safety -of the living is a paramount consideration; the living must -retain control over what is dead. Uncontrolled natural -forces are often dangerous: the only thing harmful about -a flood or a fire is the absence of control. Either the operations -must be supervised and intelligently directed, or -they must be subjected to such disabilities that they can do -no harm. But to associate continued personality with a -dead body, such as is suggested by phrases like "lay him -in the earth", or "here lies such an one," or to anticipate -any kind of physical resuscitation, is unscientific and painful. -Unfortunately the orthodox religious world at some -epochs has attached superstitious importance, not to the -decent disposal, but to the imagined future of the body. -Painful and troublesome to humanity those rites have -been. The tombs of Egypt are witness to the harassing -need felt by the living to provide their loved ones with -symbols or tokens of all that they might require in a future -state of existence,—as if material things were needed by -them any more, or as if we could provide them if they -were.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> -The simple truth is always so much saner and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[ 303]</a></span> -happier than the imaginings of men; or, as Dr. Schuster -said in his Presidential address to the British Association -at Manchester, 1915,—"The real world is far more beautiful -than any of our dreams."</p> - -<p>What is the simple truth? It can be regarded from two -points of view, the prosaic and the poetic.</p> - -<p>Prosaically we can say that the process of decay, if -regarded scientifically, is not in itself necessarily repugnant. -It may be as interesting as fermentation or any other -chemical or biological process. Putrefaction, like poison, -is hostile to higher living organisms, and hence a self-protecting -feeling of disgust has arisen round it, in the -course of evolution. An emotional feeling arises in the -mind of anyone who has to combat any process or operation -of nature,—like the violent emotions excited in an -extreme teetotaller by the word 'drink': a result of the -evil its profanation has done; for the verb itself is surely -quite harmless. Presumably a criminal associates disagreeable -anticipations with the simple word 'hanging.' -The idea of a rank weed is repulsive to a gardener, but not -to a botanist; the idea of disease is repellent to a prospective -patient, not to a doctor or bacteriologist; the -idea of dirt is objectionable to a housewife, but it is only -matter out of place; the word 'poison' conveys nothing -objectionable to a chemist. Everything removed from -the emotional arena, and transplanted into the intellectual, -becomes interesting and tractable and worthy of study. -Living organisms of every kind are good in themselves, -though when out of place and beyond control they may -be harmful. A tiger is an object of dread to an Indian -village: to a hunting party he may be keenly attractive. -In any case he is a lithe and beautiful and splendid -creature. Microscopic organisms may have troublesome -and destructive effects, but in themselves they can be -studied with interest and avidity. All living creatures -have their assuredly useful function, only it may be a -function on which we naturally shrink from dwelling when -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[ 304]</a></span> -in an emotional mood. Everything of this kind is an -affair of mood; and, properly regarded, nothing in nature -is common or unclean. That a flying albatross is a -beautiful object every one can cordially admit, but that -the crawling surface of a stagnant sea can be regarded -with friendly eyes seems an absurdity; yet there is -nothing absurd in it. It is surely the bare truth concerning -all living creatures of every grade, that "the Lord God -made them all"; and it was of creeping water-snakes that -the stricken Mariner at length, when he had learnt the -lesson, ejaculated:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>"O happy living things!</p> -<p>A spring of love gushed from my heart,</p> -<p>And I blessed them unaware."</p> -</div></div></div> - -<p>For what can be said poetically about the fate of -the beloved body, the poets themselves must be appealed -to. But that there is kinship between the body and the -earth is literal truth. Of terrestrial particles it is wholly -composed, and that they should be restored to the earth -whence they were borrowed is natural and peaceful. -Moreover, out of the same earth, and by aid of the very -same particles, other helpful forms of life may arise; -and though there may be no conscious unification or real -identity, yet it is pardonable to associate, in an imaginative -and poetic mood, the past and future forms assumed by the -particles:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p><span style="margin-left: 7em;">"Lay her i' the earth;—</span></p> -<p>And from her fair and unpolluted flesh,</p> -<p>May violets spring!"</p> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Quotations are hardly necessary to show that this idea -runs through all poetry. An ancient variety is enshrined -in the Hyacinthus and Adonis legends. From spilt blood -an inscribed lily springs, in the one tale; and the -other we may quote in Shakespeare's version (<i>Venus and -Adonis</i>):—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -0.35em;">"And in his blood that on the ground lay spilled,</span></p> -<p>A purple flower sprung up chequered with white,</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Resembling well his pale cheeks and the blood</span></p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Which in round drops upon their whiteness stood."</span></p> -</div></div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[ 305]</a></span></p> - -<p>So also Tennyson:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>"And from his ashes may be made</p> -<p>The violet of his native land."</p> -<p><span style="margin-left:10em;"><i>In Memoriam</i></span></p> -</div></div></div> - -<p>We find the same idea again, I suppose, in the eastern -original of Fitzgerald's well-known stanza:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p><span style="margin-left: -0.35em;">"And this delightful Herb whose tender Green</span></p> -<p>Fledges the River's Lip on which we lean—</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ah, lean upon it lightly! for who knows</span></p> -<p>From what once lovely Lip it springs unseen!"</p> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The soil of a garden is a veritable charnel-house of -vegetable and animal matter, and from one point of -view represents death and decay, but the coltsfoot covering -an abandoned heap of refuse, or the briar growing -amid ruin, shows that Nature only needs time to make -it all beautiful again. Let us think of the body as transmuted, -not as stored.</p> - -<p>The visible shape of the body was no accident, it -corresponded to a reality, for it was caused by the indwelling -vivifying essence; and affection entwines itself -inevitably round not only the true personality of the departed, -but round its material vehicle also—the sign and -symbol of so much beauty, so much love. Symbols -appeal to the heart of humanity, and anything cherished -and honoured becomes in itself a thing of intrinsic value, -which cannot be regarded with indifference. The old and -tattered colours of a regiment, for which men have laid -down their lives—though replaced perhaps by something -newer and more durable—cannot be relegated to -obscurity without a pang. And any sensitive or sympathetic -person, contemplating such relics hereafter, may -feel some echo of the feeling with which they were regarded, -and may become acquainted with their history -and the scenes through which they have passed. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>In such cases the kind of knowledge to be gained -from the relic, and the means by which additional information -can be acquired, are intelligible; but in other cases also -information can be attained, though by means at present -not understood. It may sound superstitious, but it is a -matter of actual experience, that some sensitives have -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[ 306]</a></span> -intuitive perception, of an unfamiliar kind, concerning -the history and personal associations of relics or fragments -or personal belongings. The faculty is called -psychometry; and it is no more intelligible, although no -less well-evidenced, than the possibly allied faculty of -dowsing or so-called water-divining. Psychometry is a -large subject on which much has already been written: -this brief mention must here suffice.</p> - -<p>It seems to me that these facts, when at length properly -understood, will throw some light on the connexion between -mind and matter; and then many another obscure -region of semi-science and semi-superstition will be illuminated. -At present in all such tracts we have to walk warily, -for the ground is uneven and insecure; and it is better, or -at least safer, for the majority to forgo the recognition -of some truth than rashly to invade a district full of -entanglements and pitfalls. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Transition</span></h3> - -<p>Longfellow's line, "There is no death; what seems so -is transition," at once suggests itself. Read literally the -first half of this sentence is obviously untrue, but in the -sense intended, and as a whole, the statement is true -enough. There is no extinction, and the change called -death is the entrance to a new condition of existence—what -may be called a new life.</p> - -<p>Yet life itself is continuous, and the conditions of the -whole of existence remain precisely as before. Circumstances -have changed for the individual, but only in the -sense that he is now aware of a different group of facts. -The change of surroundings is a subjective one. The facts -were of course there, all the time, as the stars are there in -the daytime; but they were out of our ken. Now these -come into our ken, and others fade into memory.</p> - -<p>The Universe is one, not two. Literally there is no -'other' world—except in the limited and partial sense of -other planets—the Universe is one. We exist in it continuously -all the time; sometimes conscious in one way, -sometimes conscious in another; sometimes aware of a -group of facts on one side of a partition, sometimes aware -of another group, on the other side. But the partition is -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[ 307]</a></span> -a subjective one; we are all one family all the time, so -long as the link of affection is not broken. And for those -who believe in prayer at all to cease from praying for the -welfare of their friends because they are materially inaccessible—though -perhaps spiritually more accessible -than before—is to succumb unduly to the residual evil of -past ecclesiastical abuses, and to lose an opportunity of -happy service.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> -It is rash to condemn a human custom which has prevailed -for centuries or millenniums, and it is wrong to treat it <i>de haut -en bas</i>. I would not be understood as doing so, in this brief and -inadequate reference to the contents of Egyptian tombs. Their fuller -interpretation awaits the labour of students now working at them.</p> - -<p>In the same spirit I wish to leave open the question of what possible -rational interpretation may be given to the mediæval phrase "Resurrection -of the body"; a subject on which much has been written. What I am contending -against is not the scholarly but the popular interpretation. For -further remarks on this subject see Chapter VII below.</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[ 308]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER IV</span><br /> -<span class="small">CONTINUED EXISTENCE</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Difficulty of Belief in Continued Existence</span></h3> - -<p>"Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give -up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to -whatsoever abysses Nature leads."—<span class="smcap">Huxley.</span></p> - -<p class="drop-cap">PEOPLE often feel a notable difficulty in believing -in the reality of continued existence. Very likely -it is difficult to believe or to realise existence in -what is sometimes called "the next world"; but then, -when we come to think of it, it is difficult to believe in -existence in this world too; it is difficult to believe in -existence at all. The whole problem of existence is a -puzzling one. It could by no means have been predicated -<i>a priori</i>. The whole thing is a question of experience; -that is, of evidence. We know by experience that things -actually do exist; though how they came into being, and -what they are all for, and what consequences they have, -is more than we can tell. We have no reason for asserting -that the kind we are familiar with is the only kind of -existence possible, unless we choose to assert it on the -ground that we have no experience of any other. But -that is becoming just the question at issue: have we any -evidence, either direct or indirect, for any other existence -than this? If we have, it is futile to cite in opposition to -it the difficulty of believing in the reality of such an -existence; we surely ought to be guided by facts.</p> - -<p>At this stage in the history of the human race few facts -of science are better established and more widely appreciated -than the main facts of Astronomy: a general acquaintance -with the sizes and distances, and the enormous -number, of the solar systems distributed throughout space<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[ 309]</a></span> -is prevalent. Yet to the imaginative human mind the -facts, if really grasped, are overwhelming and incredible.</p> - -<p>The sun a million times bigger than the earth; Arcturus -a hundred times bigger than the sun, and so distant -that light has taken two centuries to come, though -travelling at a rate able to carry it to New York and back -in less than the twentieth part of a second,—facts like -these are commonplaces of the nursery; but even as bare -facts they are appalling.</p> - -<p>That the earth is a speck invisible from any one of the -stars, that we are on a world which is but one among an -innumerable multitude of others, ought to make us realise -the utter triviality of any view of existence based upon -familiarity with street and train and office, ought to give -us some sense of proportion between everyday experience -and ultimate reality. Even the portentous struggle in -which Europe is engaged—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p><span style="margin-left:-1em;">"What is it all but a trouble of ants</span></p> -<p>in the gleam of a million million of suns?"</p> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Yet, for true interpretation, the infinite worth and -vital importance of each individual human soul must be -apprehended too. And that is another momentous fact, -which, so far from restricting the potentialities of existence, -by implication still further enlarges them. The -multiplicity, the many-sidedness, the magnificence, of -material existence does not dwarf the human soul; far -otherwise: it illumines and expands the stage upon which -the human drama is being played, and ought to make us -ready to perceive how far greater still may be the possibilities—nay, -the actualities—before it, in its infinite -unending progress.</p> - -<p>That we know little about such possibilities as yet, -proves nothing;—for mark how easy it would have been -to be ignorant of the existence of all the visible worlds and -myriad modes of being in space. Not until the business of -the day is over, and our great star has eclipsed itself behind -the earth, not until the serener period of night, does the -grandeur of the material universe force itself upon our -attention. And, even then, let there be but a slight -permanent thickening of our atmosphere, and we should -have had no revelation of any world other than our own.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[ 310]</a></span> -Under those conditions—so barely escaped from—how -wretchedly meagre and limited would have been our conception -of the Universe! Aye, and, unless we foolishly -imagine that our circumstances are such as to have already -given us a clue to every kind of possible existence, I -venture to say that "wretchedly meagre and limited" -must be a true description of our conception of the Universe, -even now,—even of the conception of those who -have permitted themselves, with least hesitation, to follow -whithersoever facts lead.</p> - -<p>If there be any group of scientific or historical or -literary students who advocate what they think to be a -sensible, but what I regard as a purblind, view of existence, -based upon already systematised knowledge and on unfounded -and restricting speculation as to probable boundaries -and limitations of existence,—if such students take -their own horizon to be the measure of all things,—the fact -is to be deplored. Such workers, however admirable -their industry and detailed achievements, represent a -school of thought against the fruits of which we of the -Allied Nations are in arms.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless speculation of this illegitimate and negative -kind is not unknown among us. It originates partly -in admiration for the successful labours of a bygone generation -in clearing away a quantity of clinging parasitic -growth which was obscuring the fair fabric of ascertained -truth, and partly in an innate iconoclastic enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>The success which has attended Darwinian and other -hypotheses has had a tendency to lead men—not indeed -men of Darwinian calibre, but smaller and less conscientious -men—in science as well as in history and theology, -to an over-eager confidence in probable conjecture and -inadequate attention to facts of experience. It has even -been said—I quote from a writer in the volume <i>Darwin -and Modern Science</i>, published in connexion with a -Darwin jubilee celebration at Cambridge—that "the age -of materialism was the least matter-of-fact age conceivable, -and the age of science the age which showed least -of the patient temper of enquiry." I would not go so far -as this myself, the statement savours of exaggeration, but -there is a regrettable tendency in surviving materialistic -quarters for combatants to entrench themselves in dogma<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[ 311]</a></span> -and preconceived opinion, to regard these vulnerable -shelters as sufficient protection against observed and recorded -facts, and even to employ them as strongholds -from which alien observation-posts can be shattered and -overthrown.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[ 312]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER V</span><br /> -<span class="small">PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE</span> -</h2> -</div> - -<p>"How often have men thus feared that Nature's wonders -would be degraded by being closelier looked into! How often, -again, have they learnt that the truth was higher than their imagination; -and that it is man's work, but never Nature's, which -to be magnificent must remain unknown!"—F. W. H. M., Introduction -to <i>Phantasms of the Living</i> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">OUR actual experience is strangely limited. We -cannot be actually conscious of more than a single -instant of time. The momentary flash which we call -the present, the visual image of which can be made permanent -by the snap of a camera, is all of the external -world that we directly apprehended. But our real existence -embraces far more than that. The present, alone and -isolated, would be meaningless to us; we look before and -after. Our memories are thronged with the past; our -anticipations range over the future; and it is in the past -and the future that we really live. It is so even with the -higher animals: they too order their lives by memory -and anticipation. It is under the influence of the future -that the animal world performs even the most trivial -conscious acts. We eat, we rest, we work, all with an eye -to the immediate future. The present moment is illuminated -and made significant, is controlled and dominated, -by experience of the past and by expectation of the future. -Without any idea of the future our existence would be -purely mechanical and meaningless: with too little eye to -the future—a mere living from hand to mouth—it becomes -monotonous and dull.</p> - -<p>Hence it is right that humanity, transcending merely -animal scope, should seek to answer questions concerning -its origin and destiny, and should regard with intense<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[ 313]</a></span> -interest every clue to the problems of 'whence' and -'whither.'</p> - -<p>It is no doubt possible, as always, to overstep the -happy mean, and by absorption in and premature concern -with future interests to lose the benefit and the training of -this present life. But although we may rightly decide to -live with full vigour in the present, and do our duty from -moment to moment, yet in order to be full-flavoured and -really intelligent beings—not merely with mechanical -drift following the line of least resistance—we ought to be -aware that there is a future,—a future determined to some -extent by action in the present; and it is only reasonable -that we should seek to ascertain, roughly and approximately, -what sort of future it is likely to be.</p> - -<p>Inquiry into survival, and into the kind of experience -through which we shall all certainly have to go in a few -years, is therefore eminently sane, and may be vitally -significant. It may colour all our actions, and give a -vivid meaning both to human history and to personal -experience.</p> - -<p>If death is not extinction, then on the other side of -dissolution mental activity must continue, and must be -interacting with other mental activity. For the fact of -telepathy proves that bodily organs are not absolutely -essential to communication of ideas. Mind turns out to -be able to act directly on mind, and stimulate it into -response by other than material means. Thought does not -belong to the material region: although it is able to exert -an influence on that region through mechanism provided -by vitality. Yet the means whereby it accomplishes the -feat are essentially unknown, and the fact that such interaction -is possible would be strange and surprising if we -were not too much accustomed to it. It is reasonable to -suppose that the mind can be more at home, and more -directly and more exuberantly active, where the need -for such interaction between psychical and physical—or -let us more safely and specifically say between mental -and material—no longer exists, when the restraining -influence of brain and nerve mechanism is removed, and -when some of the limitations connected with bodily location -in space are ended.</p> - -<p>Experience must be our guide. To shut the door on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[ 314]</a></span> -actual observation and experiment in this particular -region, because of preconceived ideas and obstinate prejudices, -is an attitude common enough, even among -scientific men; but it is an attitude markedly unscientific. -Certain people have decided that inquiry into the -activities of discarnate mind is futile; some few consider -it impious; many, perhaps wisely mistrusting their own -powers, shrink from entering on such an inquiry. But -if there are any facts to be ascertained, it must be the duty -of some volunteers to try to ascertain them: and for -people having any acquaintance with scientific history to -shut their eyes to facts when definitely announced, and -to forbid investigation or report concerning them on pain -of ostracism,—is to imitate a bygone theological attitude -in a spirit of unintended flattery—a flattery which from -every point of view is eccentric; and likewise to display -an extraordinary lack of humour. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">On the Possibility of Prognostication</span></h3> - -<p>I do not wish to complicate the issue at present by -introducing the idea of prognostication or prevision, for -I do not understand how anticipation of the future is -possible. It is only known to be possible by one of two -processes—</p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:3em;">(<i>a</i>) Inference—<i>i.e.</i> deduction from a wide knowledge -of the present;</span></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:3em;">(<i>b</i>) Planning—<i>i.e.</i> the carrying out of a prearranged -scheme.</span></p> - -<p>And these methods must be pressed to the utmost before -admitting any other hypothesis.</p> - -<p>As to the possibility of prevision in general, I do not -dogmatise, nor have I a theory wherewith to explain every -instance; but I keep an open mind and try to collate -and contemplate the facts.</p> - -<p>Scientific prediction is familiar enough; science is -always either historic or prophetic (as Dr. Schuster said at -Manchester in the British Association Address for 1915), -"and history is only prophecy pursued in the negative -direction." This thesis is worth illustrating:—That -Eclipses can be calculated forwards or backwards is well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[ 315]</a></span> -known. A tide-calculating machine, again, which is used -to churn out tidal detail in advance by turning a handle, -could be as easily run backwards and give past tides if -they were wanted; but always on the assumption that -no catastrophe, no unforeseen contingency, nothing outside -the limits of the data, occurs to interfere with the -placid course of phenomena. There must be no dredging -or harbour bar operations, for instance, if the tide machine -is to be depended on. Free-will is not allowed for, in -Astronomy or Physics; nor any interference by living -agents.</p> - -<p>The real truth is that, except for unforeseen contingencies, -past, present, and future are welded together in a -coherent whole; and to a mind with wider purview, to -whom perhaps hardly anything is unforeseen, there may -be possibilities of inference to an unsuspected extent. -Human character, and action based upon it, may be more -trustworthy and uncapricious than is usually supposed; -and data depending on humanity may be included in a -completer scheme of foreknowledge, without the exercise -of any compulsion. "The past," says Bertrand Russell -eloquently, "does not change or strive; like Duncan, -after life's fitful fever it sleeps well; what was eager and -grasping, what was petty and transitory, has faded away; -the things that were beautiful and eternal shine out of it -like stars in the night." My ignorance will not allow me -to attempt to compose a similar or rather a contrasting -sentence about the future. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Reference to Special Cases</span></h3> - -<blockquote> -<p>It will be observed that none of those indications or intimations -or intuitions which are referred to in a note on page 34, Part -I, if they mean anything, raise the difficult question of prevision. -In every case the impression was felt after or at the time of the -event, though before reception of the news. The only question -of possible prevision in the present instance arises in connexion -with the 'Faunus' message quoted and discussed in Part II. But -even here nothing more than kindly provision, in case anything -untoward should happen, need be definitely assumed. Moreover, -if the concurrence in time suggests prognostication, the fact that -a formidable attempt to advance the English Front at the Ypres -salient was probably in prospect in August 1915, though not -known to ordinary people in England, and not fully carried out -till well on in September, must have been within human knowledge; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[ 316]</a></span> -and so would have to be considered telepathically accessible, if that -hypothesis is considered preferable to the admission of what Tennyson -speaks of as—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p><span style="margin-left:2em;">"Such refraction of events</span></p> -<p>As often rises ere they rise."</p> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Prognostication can hardly be part of the evidence for survival. -The two things are not essential to each other; they hardly -appear to be connected. But one knows too little about the whole -thing to be sure even of this, and I decline to take the responsibility -for suppressing any of the facts. I know that Mr. Myers -used to express an opinion that certain kinds of prevision would -constitute clear and satisfactory evidence of something supernormal, -and so attract attention; though the establishment of such -a possibility might tend to suggest a kind of higher knowledge, -not far short of what might be popularly called omniscience, rather -than of merely human survival.</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[ 317]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER VI</span><br /> -<span class="small">INTERACTION OF MIND AND MATTER</span></h2> - -<p class="center">"Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus<br /> -Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet."</p> -<p><span style="margin-left:30em;"><i>Æneid</i>, vi. 726</span> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">LIFE and mind and consciousness do not belong to -the material region; whatever they are in themselves, -they are manifestly something quite distinct -from matter and energy, and yet they utilise the -material and dominate it.</p> - -<p>Matter is arranged and moved by means of energy, -but often at the behest of life and mind. Mind does not -itself exert force, nor does it enter into the scheme of -physics, and yet it indirectly brings about results which -otherwise would not have happened. It definitely causes -movements and arrangements or constructions of a purposed -character. A bird grows a feather, and a bird -builds a nest: I doubt if there is less design in the one -case than in the other. How life achieves the guidance, -how even it accomplishes the movements, is a mystery, -but that it does accomplish them is a commonplace of -observation. From the motion of a finger to the construction -of an aeroplane, there is but a succession of -steps. From the growth of a weed to the flight of an -eagle,—from a yeast granule at one end, to the human -body at the other,—the organising power of life over -matter is conspicuous.</p> - -<p>Who can doubt the supremacy of the spiritual over -the material? It is a fact which, illustrated by trivial -instances, may be pressed to the most portentous consequences.</p> - -<p>If interaction between mind and matter really occurs, -and if both are persistent and enduring entities, there is no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[ 318]</a></span> -limit to the possibilities under which such interaction may -occur—no limit which can be laid down beforehand—we -must be guided and instructed solely by experience.</p> - -<p>Whether the results produced are styled miraculous -or not, depends on our knowledge,—our knowledge of all -the powers latent in nature, and a knowledge of all the -intelligences which exist. A savage on his first encounter -with white men must have come into contact with what -to him was supernatural. A letter, a gun, even artificial -teeth, have all aroused superstition; while a telegram -must be obviously miraculous, to anyone intelligent enough -to perceive the wonder. A colony of bees, unused to the -ministrations or interference of man, might puzzle itself -over the provision made for its habitation and activities, -if it had intelligence enough to ponder the matter. So -human beings, if they are open-minded and developed -enough to contemplate all the happenings in which they -are concerned, have been led to recognise guidance; -and they have responded to the perception by the worshipful -attitude of religion. In other words, they have -essentially recognised the existence of a Power transcending -ordinary nature—a Power that may properly be -called supernatural. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Meaning of the Term Body</span></h3> - -<p>Our experience of bodies here and now is that they are -composed of material particles derived from the earth, -whether they be bodies animated by vegetable or by -animal forms of life. But I take it that the real meaning -of the term 'body' is a <i>means of manifestation</i>,—perhaps -a physical mode of manifestation adopted by something -which without such instrument or organ would be in a -different and elusive category. Why should we say that -bodies must be made of matter? Surely only because -we know of nothing else of which they could be made; -but that lack of knowledge is not very efficient as an argument. -True, if they were made of anything else they -would not be apparent to us now, with our particular -evolutionally-derived sense organs; for these only inform -us about matter and its properties. Constructions built -of Ether would have no chance of appealing to our senses, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[ 319]</a></span> -they would not be apparent to us; they would therefore -not be what we ordinarily call bodies; at any rate they -would not be material bodies. In order to become apparent -to us, a psychical or vital entity must enter the -material realm, and either clothe itself with, or temporarily -assimilate, material particles.</p> - -<p>It may be that etherial bodies do not exist; the -burden of proof rests upon those who conceive of their -possible existence; but we are bound to admit that even -if they did exist, they would make no impression on our -senses. Hence if there are any intelligences in another -order of existence interlocked with ours, and if they can -in any sense be supposed to have bodies at all, those -bodies must be made either of Ether or of something -equally intangible to us in our present condition.<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> - -<p>Yet, though intangible and elusive, we have reason to -know that Ether is substantial enough,—far more substantial -indeed than matter, which turns out to be a rare -and filmy insertion in, or modification of, the Ether of -Space; and a different set of sense organs might make -the Ether eclipse matter in availability and usefulness. -In my book <i>The Ether of Space</i> this thesis is elaborated -from a purely physical point of view.</p> - -<p>I wish, however, to make no assertion concerning the -possible psychical use of the Ether of Space. Anything -of that kind must be speculative; the only bodies we -now know of in actual fact are material bodies, and we -must be guided by facts. Yet we must not shut the door -prematurely on other possibilities; and we can remember -that inspired writers have sometimes contemplated what -they term a spiritual body. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[ 320]</a></span></p></div> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Permanence of Body</span></h3> - -<p>But why should anyone suppose a body of some kind -always necessary? Why should they assume a perpetual -sort of dualism about existence? The reason is that we -have no knowledge of any other form of animate existence; -and it may be claimed as legitimate to assume that -the association between life and matter here on the planet -has a real and vital significance, that without such an -episode of earth life we should be less than we are, -and that the relation is typical of something real and -permanent.</p> - -<p class="center"> -"Such use may lie in blood and breath."—<span class="smcap">Tennyson</span> -</p> - -<p><i>Why</i> matter should be thus useful to spirit and even -to life it is not easy to say. It may be that by the interaction -of two things better and newer results can always -be obtained than was possible for one alone. There are -analogies enough for that. Do we not find that genius -seems to require the obstruction or the aid of matter for -its full development? The artist must enjoy being able -to compel refractory material to express his meaning. -Didactic writings are apt to emphasise the obstructiveness -of matter; but that may be because its usefulness -seems self-evident. Our limbs, and senses, and bodily -faculties generally, are surely of momentous service; -microscopes and telescopes and laboratory instruments, -and machinery generally, are only extensions of them. -Tools to the man who can use them:—orchestra to the -musician, lathe or theodolite to the engineer, books and -records to the historian, even though not much more -than pen and paper is needed by the poet or the mathematician.</p> - -<p>But our bodily organs are much more than any -artificial tools can be, they are part of our very being. -The body is part of the constitution of man. We are not -spirit or soul alone,—though it is sometimes necessary to -emphasise the fact that we are soul at all,—we are in -truth soul and body together. And so I think we shall -always be; though our bodies need not always be composed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[ 321]</a></span> -of earthly particles. Matter is the accidental part: -there is an essential and more permanent part, and the -permanent part must survive.</p> - -<p>This is the strength, as I have said elsewhere and will -not now at any length repeat, of the sacramental claims -and practices of religion. Forms and customs which -appeal to the body are a legitimate part of the whole; -and while some natures derive most benefit from the -exclusively psychical and spiritual essence, others probably -do well to prevent the more sensuous and more -puzzling concomitants from falling into disuse.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> -That a great poet should have represented the meeting -between the still incarnate Æneas and his discarnate father Anchises -as a bodily disappointment, is consistent:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>"Ter conatus ibi collo dare brachia circum;</p> -<p>Ter frustra comprensa manus effugit imago,</p> -<p>Par levibus ventis, volucrique simillima somno."</p> -<p><span style="margin-left:15em;"><i>Æneid</i>, vi. 700</span> -</p> -</div></div></div> -<p> -It may be said that what is intangible ought to be invisible; but that does -not follow. The Ether is a medium for vision, not for touch. Ether and -Ether may interact, just as matter and matter interact; but interaction -between Ether and matter is peculiarly elusive.</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[ 322]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER VII</span><br /> -<span class="small">'RESURRECTION OF THE BODY'</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="center">"Never the spirit was born; the spirit shall cease to be never."<br /> -<span style="margin-left:30em;"><span class="smcap">Edwin Arnold</span></span> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">IN the whole unknown drama of the soul the episode -of bodily existence must have profound significance. -Matter cannot only be obstructive, even usefully -obstructive,—by which is meant the kind of obstruction -which stimulates to effort and trains for power, like the -hurdles in an obstacle race,—it must be auxiliary too. -Whatever may be the case with external matter, the body -itself is certainly an auxiliary, so long as it is in health and -strength; and it gives opportunity for the development of -the soul in new and unexpected ways—ways in which but -for earth life its practice would be deficient. This it is -which makes calamity of too short a life.</p> - -<p>But let us not be over-despondent about the tragedy -of the present. It may be that the concentrated training -and courageous facing of fate which in most cases must -have accompanied voluntary entry into a dangerous war, -compensates in intensity what it lacks in duration, and -that the benefit of bodily terrestrial life is not so much -lost by violent death of that kind as might at first appear. -Yet even with some such assurance, the spectacle of -thousands of youths in full vigour and joy of life having -their earthly future violently wrenched from them, amid -scenes of grim horror and nerve-wracking noise and confusion, -is one which cannot and ought not to be regarded -with equanimity. It is a bad and unnatural truncation of -an important part of each individual career, a part which -might have done much to develop faculties and enlarge -experience.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[ 323]</a></span></p> - -<p>Meanwhile, the very fact that we lament so sincerely -this dire and man-caused fate serves to illustrate the view -we inevitably take that the earth-body is not only a means -of manifestation but is a real servant of the soul,—that -flesh can in some sense help spirit as spirit can undoubtedly -help flesh,—and that while its very weaknesses are serviceable -and stimulating, its strength is exhilarating and -superb. The faculties and powers developed in the animal -kingdom during all the millions of years of evolution, and -now inherited for better for worse by man, are not to be -despised. Those therefore who are able to think that -some of the essential elements or attributes of the body -are carried forward into a higher life—quite irrespective of -the manifestly discarded material particles which never -were important to the body, for they were always in perpetual -flux as individual molecules—those, I say, who -think that the value derived and acquired through the -body survives, and becomes a permanent possession of the -soul, may well feel that they can employ the mediæval -phrase "resurrection of the body" to express their perception. -They may feel that it is a truth which needs -emphasising all the more from its lack of obviousness. -These old phrases, consecrated by long usage, and familiar -to all the saints, though their early and superficial meaning -is evidently superseded, may be found to have an inner -and spiritual significance which when once grasped should -be kept in memory, and brought before attention, and -sustained against challenge: in no case should they be -lightly or hastily discarded.</p> - -<p>It seems not altogether fanciful to trace some similarity -or analogy, between the ideas about inheritance usually -associated with the name of Weismann, and the inheritance -or conveyance of bodily attributes, or of powers -acquired through the body, into the future life of the soul.</p> - -<p>When considering whether anything, or what, is likely -to be permanent, the answer turns upon whether or not -the soul has been affected. Mere bodily accidents of -course are temporary; loss of an arm or an eye is no more -carried on as a permanent disfigurement than it is transmissible -to offspring. But, apart from accidents which -may happen to the body, there are some evil things—rendered -accessible by and definitely associated with the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[ 324]</a></span> -body—which assault and hurt the soul. And the effect -of these is transmissible, and may become permanent. -Habits which write their mark on the countenance—whether -the writing be good or bad—are not likely to take -effect on the body alone. And in this sense also future -existence may be either glorified or stained, for a time, by -persistence of bodily traits,—by this kind of "resurrection -of the body."</p> - -<p>Furthermore it is found that although bodily marks, -scars and wounds, are clearly not of soul-compelling and -permanent character, yet for purposes of identification, -and when re-entering the physical atmosphere for the -purpose of communication with friends, these temporary -marks are re-assumed; just as the general appearance at -the remembered age, and details connected with clothes -and little unessential tricks of manner, may—in some unknown -sense—be assumed too.</p> - -<p>And it is to this category that I would attribute the -curious interest still felt in old personal possessions. They -are attended to and recalled, not for what by a shopman -is called their 'value,' but because they furnish useful and -welcome evidence of identity; they are like the <i>pièces de -conviction</i> brought up at a trial, they bear silent witness -to remembered fact. And in so far as the disposal or -treatment of them by survivors is evidence of the regard -in which their late owner was held, it is unlikely that they -should have suddenly become matters of complete indifference. -Nothing human, in the sense of affecting the -human spirit, can be considered foreign to a friendly and -sympathetic soul, even though his new preoccupations and -industries and main activities are of a different order. It -appears as if, for the few moments of renewed earthly -intercourse, the newer surroundings shrink for a time into -the background. They are remembered, but not vividly. -Indeed it seems difficult to live in both worlds at once, -especially after the life-long practice here of living almost -exclusively in one. Those whose existence here was -coloured or ennobled by wider knowledge and higher aims -seem likely to have the best chance of conveying instructive -information across the boundary; though their developed -powers may be of such still higher value, that only -from a sense of duty or in a missionary spirit can they be -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[ 325]</a></span> -expected to absent them from felicity while in order to -help the brethren.</p> - -<p>Quotation of a passage from Plotinus seems here permissible:—</p> - -<p>"Souls which once were in men, when they leave the -body, need not cease from benefiting mankind. Some -indeed, in addition to other services, give occult messages -(oracular replies), thus proving by their own case that -other souls also survive" (<i>Enn.</i> <span class="smcap">IV</span>. vii. 15).</p> - -<hr class="r15" /> - -<p>As a digression of some importance, I venture to say -that claims of thoughtless and pertinacious people upon -the charitable and eminent, even here, are often excessive: -it is to be hoped that such claims become less troublesome -and less effective hereafter; but it is a hope without much -foundation. Remonstrances are useless, however, for -only the more thoughtful and those most deserving of -help are likely to attend to remonstrances. Nevertheless—useless -or not—it behoves one to make them. We are -indeed taught that in exceptional cases there may ultimately -supervene such an extraordinary elevation of soul -that no trouble is too great, and no appeal is unheard. But -still, even in the Loftiest case of all, the episode of having -passed through a human body contributes to the power of -sympathising with and aiding ordinary humanity.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[ 326]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER VIII</span><br /> -<span class="small">MIND AND BRAIN</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="center"> -"For nothing is that errs from law."—<span class="smcap">Tennyson</span> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">It is sometimes thought that memory is located in -the brain; and undoubtedly there must be some -physiological process at work in the brain when any -incident of memory is recalled and either uttered or -written. But it does not at all follow that memory itself -is located in the brain; though there must be some easier -channel, or some already prepared path, which enables -an idea to be translated from the general mental reservoir -into consciousness, with clarity and power sufficient -to stimulate the necessary nerves and muscles into a condition -adequate for reproduction.</p> - -<p>Sometimes in order to remember a thing, one writes it -in a note-book; and the memory may be said to be in the -note-book about as accurately as it may be said to be in -the brain. A physical process has put it in the note-book; -there is a physical configuration persisting there; -and when a sort of reverse physical process is repeated, it -can be got back into consciousness by simply what we -call 'looking' at the book and reading. But surely the -real memory is in the <i>mind</i> all the time, and the deposit in -the note-book is a mere detent for calling it out or for -making it easy of recovery. In order to communicate -any information we must focus attention on it; and -whether we focus attention on a part of the brain or on a -page of a note-book matters very little; the attention -itself is a mental process, not a physiological one, though -it has a physiological concomitant.</p> - -<p>This is an important matter, the keystone in fact of -our problem about the connexion between mind and -matter, and I propose to amplify its treatment further; -for this is an unavoidably controversial portion of the -book. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[ 327]</a></span></p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">The Seat of Memory</span></h3> - -<p>I am familiar with all the usual analogies drawn -between organic habit and memory on the one hand, -and the more ready repetition of physical processes -by inorganic material on the other. Imperfectly elastic -springs, for instance, which show reminiscences of previous -bendings or twistings by their subsequent unwindings; -and cogs which wear into smooth running by repetition; -are examples of this kind. A violin which by long -practice becomes more musical in tone, is another; or -a path which by being often traversed becomes easier to -the feet. A flower-bed recently altered in shape, by -being partly grassed over, is liable to exhibit its former -outline by aid of bulbs and other half-forgotten growths -which come up through the grass in the old pattern.</p> - -<p>This last is a striking example of apparent memory, -not indeed in the inorganic but in the unconscious world; -where indeed it is prevalent, for every one must recognise -the memory of animals—there can be no doubt of that. -And it would seem that a kind of race-memory must be -invoked to account for many surprising cases of instinct; -of which the building of specific birds' nests, and the -accurate pecking of a newly-hatched chicken, are among -the stock instances. No experience can be lodged in the -<i>brain</i> of the newly-hatched!</p> - -<p>That some sort of stored facility should exist in the -adult brain, is in no way surprising; and that there is some -physical or physiological concomitant of actual remembrance -is plain; but that is a very different thing from -asserting that memory itself, or any kind of consciousness, -is located in the brain; though truly without the aid of -the brain it is, as far as this planet is concerned, latent and -inaccessible.</p> - -<p>Plotinus puts the matter in an interesting but perhaps -rather too extreme form:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"As to memory, the body is an impediment ... the -unstable and fluctuating nature of the body makes for -oblivion not for memory. Body is a veritable River of -Lethe. Memory belongs to the soul" (<i>Enn.</i> <span class="smcap">IV</span>. iii. 26).</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>The actual reproduction or remembrance of a fact—the -demonstration or realisation of memory—undoubtedly -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[ 328]</a></span> -depends on brain and muscle mechanism; but memory -itself turns out to be essentially mental, and is found -to exist apart from the bodily mechanism which helped -originally to receive and store the impression. And -though without that same or some equivalent mechanism -we cannot get at it, so that it cannot be displayed to -others, yet in my experience it turns out not to be absolutely -necessary to use actually the same instrument for -its reproduction as was responsible for its deposition: -though undoubtedly to use the same is easier and helpful. -In the early Edison phonographs the same instrument had -to be used for both reception and reproduction; but now -a record can readily be transferred from one instrument -to another. This may be regarded as a rough mechanical -analogy to the telepathic or telergic process whereby a -psychic reservoir of memory can be partially tapped -through another organism.</p> - -<p>But, apart from any consideration of what may be -regarded as doubtful or uncertain, there are some facts -about the relation of brain to consciousness, which, -though universally admitted, are frequently misinterpreted. -Injure the brain, and consciousness is lost. -'Lost' is the right word—not 'destroyed.' Repair the -lesion, and consciousness may be restored, i.e. normal -manifestation of consciousness can once more occur. It -is the <i>display</i> of consciousness, in all such cases, that we -mean when we speak of the effect of brain injury; the -utilisation of bodily organs is necessary for its exhibition. -If the bodily organs do not exist, or are too damaged, no -normal manifestation is possible. That is the fact which -may be misinterpreted.</p> - -<p>In general we may say, with fair security, that no -receptivity to physical phenomena exists save through -sense-organ, nerve, and brain; nor any initiation of -physical phenomena, save through brain, nerve, and -muscle. Apart from physical phenomena consciousness -is isolated and inaccessible: we have no right to say that -it is non-existent. In ordinary usage it is not customary -or necessary to be always harping on this completer -aspect of things: it is only necessary when misunderstanding -has arisen from uniformly inaccurate, or rather -unguarded, modes of expression.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[ 329]</a></span></p> - -<p>In an excellent lecture by Dr. Mott on "The Effects of -High Explosives upon the Central Nervous System," I -find this sentence:—</p> - -<p>"It is known that a continuous supply of oxygen is -essential for consciousness."</p> - -<p>What is intended is clear enough, but analysed strictly -this assertion goes far beyond what is known. We do not -really know that oxygen, or any form of matter, has anything -to do with consciousness: all that we know, and all -that Dr. Mott really means to say, I presume, is that -without a supply of oxygen consciousness gives no physical -sign.</p> - -<p>Partial interruptions of physical manifestations of consciousness -well illustrate this: as, for instance, when speech-centres -of the brain alone are affected. If in such case we -had to depend on mouth-muscle alone we should say that -consciousness had departed, and might even think that it -was non-existent; but the arm-muscle may remain under -brain control, and by intelligent writing can show that -consciousness is there all the time, and that it is only -inhibited from one of the specially easy modes of manifestation. -In some cases the inhibition may be complete,—from -such cases we do not learn much; but when it is -only partial we learn a good deal.</p> - -<p>I quote again from Dr. Mott, omitting for brevity the -detailed description of certain surgical war-cases, under -his care, which precedes the following explanatory interjection -and summary:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"Why should these men, whose silent thoughts are -perfect, be unable to speak? They comprehend all that -is said to them unless they are deaf; but it is quite clear -that [even] in these cases their internal language is unaffected, -for they are able to express their thoughts and -judgments perfectly well by writing, even if they are deaf. -The mutism is therefore not due to an intellectual defect, -nor is it due to volitional inhibition of language in silent -thought. Hearing, the primary incitation to vocalisation -and speech, is usually unaffected, yet they are unable to -speak; they cannot even whisper, cough, whistle, or laugh -aloud. Many who are unable to speak voluntarily yet call -out in their dreams expressions they have used in trench -warfare and battle. Sometimes this is followed by return -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[ 330]</a></span> -of speech, but more often not. One man continually -shouted out in his sleep, but he did not recover voluntary -speech or power of phonation till eight months after admission -to the hospital for shell-shock."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>Very well, all this interesting experience serves among -other things to illustrate our simple but occasionally overlooked -thesis. For it is through physical phenomena that -normally we apprehend, here and now; and it is by aid of -physical phenomena that we convey to others our wishes, -our impressions, our ideas, and our memories. Dislocate -the physical from the psychical, and communication -ceases. Restore the connexion, in however imperfect a -form, and once more incipient communication may become -possible again.</p> - -<p>That is the rationale of the process of human intercourse. -Do we understand it? No. Do we understand -even how our own mind operates on our own body? No. -We know for a fact that it does.</p> - -<p>Do we understand how a mind can with difficulty and -imperfectly operate another body submitted to its temporary -guidance and control? No. Do we know for a -fact that it does? Aye, that is the question—a question -of evidence. I myself answer the question affirmatively; -not on theoretical grounds—far from that—but on a basis -of straightforward experience. Others, if they allow themselves -to take the trouble to get the experience, will come -to the same conclusion.</p> - -<p>Will they do so best by allowing their own bodies or -brains to be utilised? No, that seems not even the best, -and certainly not the only way. It may not, for the -majority of people, be a possible way. The sensitive or -medium who serves us, by putting his or her bodily -mechanism at our disposal, is not likely to be best informed -concerning the nature of the process. Mediums have -perhaps but little conscious information to give us concerning -their powers; we must learn from what they do, not -from what they say. The outside observer, the experimenter, -whose senses are alert all the time and who -continues fully conscious without special receptivity or -any peculiar power of his own, is in a better position to -note and judge what is happening,—at least from the -normal and scientific point of view. Let us be as cautious -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[ 331]</a></span> -and critical, aye and as sceptical as we like, but let us also -be patient and persevering and fair; do not let us start -with a preconceived notion of what is possible and what is -impossible in this almost unexplored universe; let us only -be willing to learn and be guided by facts, not by dogmas; -and gradually the truth will permeate our understanding -and make for itself a place in our minds as secure as in -any other branch of observational science.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[ 332]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER IX</span><br /> -<span class="small">LIFE AND CONSCIOUSNESS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">The limitation of scope which eminent Professors -of a certain school of modern science have laid -down for themselves is forcibly expressed by one -of the ablest of their champions thus:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"No sane man has ever pretended, since science became -a definite body of doctrine, that we know or ever can hope -to know or conceive the possibility of knowing whence the -mechanism has come, why it is there, whither it is going, or -what may be beyond and beside it which our senses are -incapable of appreciating. These things are not 'explained' -by science and never can be."—<span class="smcap">Sir E. Ray Lankester.</span></p> -</blockquote> - -<p>I should myself hesitate to promulgate such a markedly -<i>non-possumus</i> and <i>ignorabimus</i> statement concerning the -scope of physical science, even as narrowly and popularly -understood; but it illuminates the position taken up -by those <i>savants</i> who are commonly known as Materialists, -and explains their expressed though non-personal hostility -to other scientific men who seek to exceed the boundaries -laid down, and investigate things beyond the immediate -range of the senses.</p> - -<p>Eliminating the future tense from the statement, -however, I can agree with it. The instrument of translation -from the mental to the physical, and back from -the physical to the mental, is undoubtedly the brain, -but as to how the translation is accomplished, I venture -to say, we have not the inkling of an idea. Nevertheless, -hints which may gradually lead towards a partial understanding -of psycho-physical processes may be gained by -study of exceptional cases: for such study is often more -instructive than continued scrutiny of the merely normal.</p> - -<p>The fact of human consciousness, though it raises the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[ 333]</a></span> -problem to a high degree of conspicuousness, by no means -exhausts the difficulty; for it is one which faces us in -connexion with every form of life. The association of -life with matter, and of mind with life, are problems of -similar order, and a glimmering of understanding of the -one may be expected to throw light upon the other. But -until we know more of the method by which the simplest -and most familiar psycho-physical interaction occurs—until -we know enough to see how the gulf between -two apparently different Modes of Being is bridged—it -is safest to observe and accumulate facts, and to be -very chary of making more than the most tentative and -cautious of working hypotheses. For to frame even a -tentative hypothesis, of any helpful kind, may require -some clue which as yet we do not possess.</p> - -<p>I have been struck by the position taken by Dr. -Chalmers Mitchell in his notable small book <i>Evolution -and the War</i>, the early chapters of which, on Germany -of the past and present, I would like unreservedly to -commend to the reader. Indeed, commendation of a -friendly and non-patronising kind may well extend to the -whole book, although it must be admitted that here and -there mere exposition of Darwinism is suspended, and -difficult and debatable questions are touched upon.</p> - -<p>On these questions I would not like to be understood -as expressing a hasty opinion, either against or for the -views of the author. The points at issue between us are -more or less fine-drawn, and cannot be dealt with parenthetically; -nor do I ever propose to deal with them in a -controversial manner. The author, as a biologist of fame, -is more than entitled to such expression of his own views -as he has cared to give. I quote with admiration, not -necessarily with agreement, a few passages from the part -dealing with the relation between mind and matter, and -especially with the wide and revolutionary difference -between man and animal caused by either the evolution -or the incoming of free and conscious Choice.</p> - -<p>He will not allow, with Bergson and others, that the -roots of consciousness, in its lower grades, go deep down -into the animal, and even perhaps into the vegetable, -kingdom; he has no patience with those who associate -elementary consciousness and freedom and indeterminateness -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[ 334]</a></span> -not merely with human life but with all life, and who -detect rudiments of purpose and intelligence in the -protozoa. Nor, on the other hand, does he approve the -dogmatic teaching of the 'ultra-scientific' school, which, -being obsessed by the idea of man's animal origin, interprets -human nature solely in terms of protoplasm. He -opposes the possibility of this by saying:—</p> - -<p>"However fruitful and interesting it may be to remember -that we are rooted deep in the natal mud, our -possession of consciousness and the sense of freedom is a -vital and overmastering distinction."</p> - -<p>On the more interesting of the above-mentioned alternatives -Dr. Chalmers Mitchell expresses himself thus:—</p> - -<p>"The Bergsonian interpretation does nothing to make -consciousness and freedom more intelligible; and by -extending them from man, in whom we know them to -exist, to animals, in which their presence is at best an -inference, it not only robs them of definiteness and reality, -but it blurs the real distinction between men and animals, -and evades the most difficult problem of science and philosophy. -The facts are more truly represented by such -phraseology as that animals are instinctive, man is intelligent, -animals are irresponsible, man is responsible, -animals are automata, man is free; or if you like, that -God gave animals a beautiful body, man a rational -soul...."</p> - -<p>And soon afterwards he continues:—</p> - -<p>"Not 'envisaging itself,' not being at once actor, -spectator, and critic, 'living in the flashing moment,' not -seeing the past and the present and the future separately, -this is the highest at which we can put the consciousness -of animals, and herein lies the distinction between man -and the animals which makes the overwhelming difference.</p> - -<p>"Must we then suppose, with Russel Wallace, that -somewhere on the upward path from the tropical forests -to the groves of Paradise, a soul was interpolated from an -outside source into the gorilla-like ancestry of man? I -do not think so, although I not only admit but assert -that such a view gives a more accurate statement of fact -than does either of the fashionable doctrines that I have -discussed. I believe with Darwin, that as the body of -man has been evolved from the body of animals, so the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[ 335]</a></span> -intellectual, emotional, and moral faculties of man have -been evolved from the qualities of animals. I help myself -towards the comprehension of the process by reflecting -on two phenomena of observation [which he proceeds to -cite]. I help myself, and perchance may help others; -no more; could I speak dogmatically on what is the central -mystery of all science and all philosophy and all thought, -my words would roll with the thunder of Sinai."</p> - -<p>Let it not be supposed for a moment that this distinguished -biologist is in agreement with me on many -matters dealt with in the present book. If he were, he -would, I believe, achieve a more admirable and eloquent -work than is consistent with the technically 'apologetic' -tone which, in the present state of the scientific atmosphere, -it behoves me to take. To guard against unwelcome -misrepresentation of his views, and yet at the same time -to indicate their force, I will make one more quotation:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"Writing as a hard-shell Darwinian evolutionist, a lover of -the scalpel and microscope, and of patient, empirical observation, -as one who dislikes all forms of supernaturalism, and who -does not shrink from the implications even of the phrase that -thought is a secretion of the brain as bile is a secretion of the -liver, I assert as a biological fact that the moral law is as real -and as external to man as the starry vault. It has no secure -seat in any single man or in any single nation. It is the work -of the blood and tears of long generations of men. It is not, in -man, inborn or innate, but is enshrined in his traditions, in his -customs, in his literature and his religion. Its creation and -sustenance are the crowning glory of man, and his consciousness -of it puts him in a high place above the animal world. Men live -and die; nations rise and fall, but the struggle of individual -lives and of individual nations must be measured not by their -immediate needs, but as they tend to the debasement or perfection -of man's great achievement."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>My own view, which in such matters I only put forth -with diffidence and brevity, is more in favour of Continuity. -I do not trace so catastrophic a break between -man and animals, nor between animal and vegetable, -perhaps not even between organised and unorganised -forms of matter, as does Dr. Chalmers Mitchell.</p> - -<p>I would venture to extend the range of the term -'soul' down to a very large denominator,—to cases in -which the magnitude of the fraction becomes excessively -minute,—and tentatively admit to the possibility of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[ 336]</a></span> -survival, though not individual survival, every form of -life. As to Individuality and Personality—they can only -survive where they already exist; when they really -exist they persist; but bare survival, as an alternative to -improbable extinction, may be widespread.</p> - -<p>Matter forms an instrument, a means of manifestation, -but it need not be the only one possible. We have -utilised matter to build up this beautiful bodily mechanism, -but, when that is done with, <i>the constructive ability -remains</i>; and it can be expected to exercise its organising -powers in other than material environment. If this -hypothesis be true at all (and admittedly I am now making -hypothesis) <i>it must be true of all forms of life</i>; for what -the process of evolution has accomplished here may -be accomplished elsewhere, under conditions at present -unknown.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> -So I venture to surmise that the surroundings -of non-material existence will be far more homely and -habitual than people in general have been accustomed -to think likely.</p> - -<p>And how do I know that the visible material body of -anything is all the body, or all the existence, it possesses? -Why should not things exist also, or have etherial counterparts, -in an etherial world? Perhaps everything has -already an etherial counterpart, of which our senses tell -us the material aspect only. I do not know. Such an -idea may be quoted as an absurdity; but if the evidence -drives me in that direction, in that direction I will go, -without undue resistance. There have been those who -do not wait to be driven, but who lead; and the inspired -guidance of Plotinus in that direction may secure more -attention, and attract more disciples, when the way is -illuminated by discoverable facts.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile facts await discovery.</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>Passages from Plotinus, it may be remembered, are eloquently -translated by F. W. H. Myers, from the obscure and often ungrammatical -Greek, in <i>Human Personality</i>, vol. ii. pp. 289-291; -and readers of S.P.R. <i>Proceedings</i>, vol. xxii, pp. 108-172, -will remember the development by Mrs. Verall of the [Greek: kai autos -ouranos akumôn] motto prefixed to F. W. H. Myers's post-humously -published poem on Tennyson in <i>Fragments of Prose and Poetry</i>.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[ 337]</a></span></p> - -<p>My reference just above to teachings of Plotinus about the -kind of things to be met with in the other world, or the etherial -world, or whatever it may be called, is due to information from -Professor J. H. Muirhead that, roughly speaking, Plotinus teaches -that things there are on the same plan as things here: each thing -here having its counterpart or corresponding existence there, -though glorified and fuller of reality. Not to misrepresent this -doctrine, but to illustrate it as far as can be by a short passage, -Professor Muirhead has given me the following translation from -the <i>Enneads</i>:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"But again let us speak thus: For since we hold that -<i>this</i> universe is framed after the pattern of <i>That</i>, every living -thing must needs first be There; and since Its Being is perfect, -all must be There. Heaven then must There be a living thing nor -void of what are here called stars; indeed such things belong to -heaven. Clearly too the earth which is There is not an empty void, but -much more full of life, wherein are all creatures that are here called -land animals and plants that are rooted in life. And sea is There, -and all water in ebb and flow and in abiding life, and all creatures -that are in the water. And air is a part of the all that is There, -and creatures of the air in accordance with the nature and laws of -air. For in the Living how should living things fail? How then -can any living thing fail to be There, seeing that as each of the -great parts of nature is, so needs must be the living things that -therein are? As then Heaven is, and There exists, so are and -exist all the creatures that inhabit it; nor can these fail to be, else -would those (on earth?) not be."</p> - -<p class="right"> -<i>Enn.</i> <span class="smcap">VI.</span> vii.<br /> -</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>The reason why this strange utterance or speculation -is reproduced here is because it seems to some extent -to correspond with curious statements recorded in -another part of this book; <i>e.g.</i> in Chapter XIV, Part II.</p> - -<p>I expect that it would be misleading to suppose that -the terms used by Plotinus really signify any difference of -locality. It may be nearer the truth to suppose that when -freed from our restricting and only matter-revealing senses -we become aware of much that was and is 'here' all the -time, interfused with the existence which we knew;—forming -part indeed of the one and only complete existence, -of which our present normal knowledge is limited to a -single aspect. We might think and speak of many interpenetrating -universes, and yet recognise that ultimately -they must be all one. It is not likely that the Present -differs from what we now call the Future except in our -mode of perceiving it.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> I wish to emphasise this paragraph, as perhaps an important -one.</p> -</div> - -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[ 338]</a></span></p> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER X</span><br /> -<span class="small">ON MEANS OF COMMUNICATION</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"In scientific truth there is no finality, and there should therefore -be no dogmatism. When this is forgotten, then science will -become stagnant, and its high-priests will endeavour to strangle -new learning at its birth."—<span class="smcap">R. A. Gregory</span>, <i>Discovery</i>.</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">How does mind communicate with mind? Our -accustomed process is singularly indirect.</p> - -<p>Speech is the initiation of muscular movements, -under brain and nerve guidance, which result in the production -of atmospheric pulsations—alternate condensations -and rarefactions—which spread out in all directions -in a way that can be likened superficially to the spreading -of ripples on a pond. In themselves the aerial pulsations -have no psychical connotation, and are as purely mechanical -as are those ripples, though like the indentations -on the wax of a phonograph their sequence is cunningly -contrived; and it is in their sequence that the code lies—a -code which anyone who has struggled with a foreign -language knows is difficult to learn. Sound waves have -in some respects a still closer analogy with the etherial -pulsations generated at a wireless-telegraph sending station, -which affect all sensitive receiving instruments within -range and convey a code by their artificially induced -sequence.</p> - -<p>Hearing is reception of a small modicum of the above -aerial pulsations, by suitable mechanism which enables -them to stimulate ingeniously contrived nerve-endings, -and so at length to affect auditory centres in the brain, -and to get translated into the same kind of consciousness -as was responsible for the original utterance. -The whole is done so quickly and easily, by the perfect -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[ 339]</a></span> -physiological mechanism provided, that the indirect and -surprising nature of the process is usually overlooked; -as most things are when they have become familiar. -Wireless telegraphy is not an iota more marvellous, -but, being unfamiliar, it has aroused a sense of -wonder.</p> - -<p>Writing and Reading by aid of black marks on a piece -of paper, perceived by means of the Ether instead of the -air, and through the agency of the eye instead of the ear,—though -the symbols are ultimately to be interpreted as if -heard,—hardly need elaboration in order to exhibit their -curiously artificial and complicated indirectness: and -in their case an element of delay, even a long time-interval—perhaps -centuries—may intervene between production -and reception.</p> - -<p>Artistic representation also, such as painting or music, -though of a less articulate character, less dependent on -purely linguistic convention and less limited by nationality, -is still truly astonishing when intellectually regarded. -An arrangement of pigments designed for -the reception and modification and re-emission or -reflexion of ether-tremors, in the one case; and, in -the other, a continuous series of complicated vibrations -excited by grossly mechanical means; intervene -between the minds of painter and spectator, of composer -and auditor, or, in more general terms, between agent -and percipient,—again with possible great lapse of -time.</p> - -<p>That ideas and feelings, thus indirectly and mechanically -transmitted or stored, can affect the sensitive soul -in unmistakable fashion, is a fact of experience; but -that deposits in matter are competent to produce so -purely psychic an effect can surely only be explained in -terms of the potentialities and previous experience of the -mind or soul itself. No emotional influence can be expressed, -or rendered intelligible, in terms of matter. -Matter is an indirect medium of communication between -mind and mind. That direct telepathic intercourse -should be able to occur between mind and mind, without -all this intermediate physical mechanism, is therefore -not really surprising. It has to be proved, no doubt, -but the fact is intrinsically less puzzling than many of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[ 340]</a></span> -those other facts to which we have grown hardened by -usage.</p> - -<p>Why should telepathy be unfamiliar to us? Why -should it seem only an exceptional or occasional method -of communication? There is probably, as M. Bergson -has said, an evolutionary advantage in our present -almost exclusive limitation to mechanical and physical -methods of communication; for these are under muscular -control and can be shut off. We can isolate ourselves -from them, if not in a mechanical, then in a topographical -manner: we can go away, out of range. We -could not thus protect ourselves against insistent -telepathy. Hence probably the practical usefulness of -the inhibiting and abstracting power of the brain; -a power which in some lunatics is permanently -deficient.</p> - -<p>Physical things can reach consciousness—if at all—only -through the brain; that remains true as regards -physical things, however much we may admit telepathy -from other minds; and, conversely, only through the -brain can we operate with conscious purpose on the -material world. To any more direct mental or spiritual -intercourse we are, unless specially awakened, temporarily -dead or asleep. There is some inversion of ordinary ideas -here, for a state of trance appears to rouse or free the -dormant faculties, and to render direct intercourse more -possible. At any rate it does this for some people. -For we find here and there, a few perfectly sane -individuals, from whom, when in a rather exceptional -state, the customary brain-limitation seems to be withdrawn -or withdrawable. Their minds cease to be -isolated for a time, and are accessible to more direct -influences. Not the familiar part of their minds, not -the part accustomed to operate and to be operated -on by the habitually used portion of brain, no, but -what is called a subliminal stratum of mind, a part -only accessible perhaps to physical things through an -ordinarily unused and only subconscious portion of -the brain.</p> - -<p>The occurrence of such people, <i>i.e.</i> of people with such -exceptional and really simple faculties, could not have -been predicted or expected on a basis of everyday experience; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[ 341]</a></span> -but if evidence is forthcoming for their existence—even -although it be not quite of an ordinary character—and -if we can make examination of the subject-matter -and criticise the statements of fact which are thus receivable, -there is no sort of sense in opposing the facts -by adducing preconceived negative opinions about impossibility, -and declining to look into the evidence or -judge of the results. There were people once who would -not look at the satellites of Jupiter, lest their cherished -convictions should be disturbed. There was a mathematician -not long ago who would not see an experimental -demonstration of conical refraction, lest if it failed his -confidence in refined optical theory should be upset. -And so, strange to say, there are people to-day who deny -the fact, and condemn the investigation, of any manner of -communication outside the realm of ordinary commonplace -experience: having no ground at all for their denial -save prejudice.</p> - -<p>Well, like other little systems, they have their day and -cease to be. We need not attend to them overmuch. -If the facts of the Universe have come within our contemplation, -a certain amount of contemporary blindness, -though it may surprise, need not perplex us. The study -of the material side of things, under the limitations appropriate -thereto, has done splendid service. Only gradually -can mental scope be enlarged to take in not only all this -but more also.</p> - -<p>In so far as those who are open to the less well-defined -and more ambitious region are ignorant or unresponsive -to what has been achieved in the material realm, it is no -wonder that their asserted enlargement of scope is not -credited. It does not seem likely that a new revelation -has been vouchsafed to them, when they are so ignorant -concerning the other and already recognised kind of -Natural knowledge. They cannot indeed have attained -information through the same channels, or in the same -way. And it is this dislocation of knowledge, this difference -of atmosphere, this barely reconcilable attitude of -two diverse groups of people—though occasionally, by the -device of water-tight compartments, the same individual -has breathed both kinds of air and belonged to both -groups—it is this bifurcation of method that has retarded -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[ 342]</a></span> -mutual understanding. There are pugnacious members -of either group who try to strengthen their own position -by decrying the methods of the other; and were it not -for the occurrence from time to time of a Wallace or a -Crookes, <i>i.e.</i> of men who combine in their own persons -something of both kinds of knowledge, attained not by -different but by similar methods—all their theses being -maintained and justified on scientific grounds, and after -experimental inquiry—the chances for a reasonable and -scientific outlook into a new region, and ultimately over -the border-line into the domain of religion, would not be -encouraging. The existence of such men, however, has -given the world pause, has sometimes checked its facile -abuse, and has brought it occasionally into a reflective, -perhaps now even into a partially receptive, mood. We -need not be in any hurry, though we can hardly help -hoping for quick progress if the new knowledge can in any -way alleviate the terrible amount of sorrow in the world -at present; moreover, if a new volume is to be opened in -man's study of the Universe, it is time that the early -chapters were being perused.</p> - -<p>It may be asked, do I recommend all bereaved persons -to devote the time and attention which I have done -to getting communications and recording them? Most -certainly I do not. I am a student of the subject, and a -student often undertakes detailed labour of a special kind. -I recommend people in general to learn and realise that -their loved ones are still active and useful and interested -and happy—more alive than ever in one sense—and to -make up their minds to live a useful life till they rejoin -them.</p> - -<p>What steps should be taken to gain this peaceful -assurance must depend on the individual. Some may -get it from the consolations of religion, some from the -testimony of trusted people, while some may find it -necessary to have first-hand experience of their own -for a time. And if this experience can be attained -privately, with no outside assistance, by quiet and meditation -or by favour of occasional waking dreams, so much -the better.</p> - -<p>What people should not do, is to close their minds to -the possibility of continued existence except in some lofty -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[ 343]</a></span> -and inaccessible and essentially unsuitable condition; -they should not selfishly seek to lessen pain by discouraging -all mention, and even hiding everything likely to -remind them, of those they have lost; nor should they -give themselves over to unavailing and prostrating grief. -Now is the time for action; and it is an ill return to -those who have sacrificed all and died for the Country -if those left behind do not throw off enervating distress -and helpless lamentation, and seek to live for the -Country and for humanity, to the utmost of their -power.</p> - -<p>Any steps which are calculated to lead to this wholesome -result in any given instance are justified; and it is -not for me to offer advice as to the kind of activity most -appropriate to each individual case. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>I have suggested that the new knowledge, when -generally established and incorporated with existing -systems, will have a bearing and influence on the region -hitherto explored by other faculties, and considered to be -the domain of faith. It certainly must be so, whether the -suggested expansion of scientific scope is welcomed or not. -Certainly the conclusions to which I myself have been led -by one mode of access are not contradictory of the conclusions -which have been arrived at by those who (naturally) -seem to me the more enlightened theologians; -though I must confess that with some of the ecclesiastical -superstructure which has descended to us from a bygone -day, a psychic investigator can have but little sympathy. -Indeed he only refrains from attacking it because he -feels that, left to itself, it will be superseded by higher -and better knowledge, and will die a natural death. -There is too much wheat mingled with the tares to -render it safe for any but an ecclesiastical expert to attempt -to uproot them.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, although some of the official exponents of -Christian doctrine condemn any attempt to explore things -of this kind by secular methods; while others refrain from -countenancing any results thus obtained; there are many -who would utilise them in their teaching if they conscientiously -could, and a few who have already begun to -do so, on the strength of their own knowledge, however -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[ 344]</a></span> -derived, and in spite of the risk of offending weaker -brethren.<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> For instance, a book called <i>The Gospel of the -Hereafter</i>, by Dr. J. Paterson Smyth, of Montreal, may be brought -to the notice of anyone who, while clinging tightly to the essential -tenets of orthodox Christianity, and unwilling or unable to enter upon -a course of study, would gladly interpret eastern and mediæval phrases -in a sense not repugnant to the modern spirit.</p> -</div> -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[ 345]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XI</span><br /> -<span class="small">ON THE FACT OF SUPERNORMAL -COMMUNICATION</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>"But he, the spirit himself, may come</p> -<p>Where all the nerve of sense is numb."</p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:5em;"><span class="smcap">Tennyson</span>, <i>In Memoriam</i></span> -</p> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="drop-cap">HOWEVER it be accomplished, and whatever reception -the present-day scientific world may give -to the assertion, there are many now who know, -by first-hand experience, that communication is possible -across the boundary—if there is a boundary—between the -world apprehended by our few animal-derived senses and -the larger existence concerning which our knowledge is -still more limited.</p> - -<p>Communication is not easy, but it occurs; and -humanity has reason to be grateful to those few individuals -who, finding themselves possessed of the faculty -of mediumship, and therefore able to act as intermediaries, -allow themselves to be used for this purpose.</p> - -<p>Such means of enlarging our knowledge, and entering -into relations with things beyond animal ken, can be abused -like any other power: it can be played with by the merely -curious, or it can be exploited in a very mundane and unworthy -way in the hope of warping it into the service of -selfish ends, in the same way as old and long accessible -kinds of knowledge have too often been employed. But -it can also be used reverently and seriously, for the very -legitimate purpose of comforting the sorrowful, helping -the bereaved, and restoring some portion of the broken -link between souls united in affection but separated for a -time by an apparently impassable barrier. The barrier is -turning out to be not hopelessly obdurate after all; intercourse -between the two states is not so impossible as had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[ 346]</a></span> -been thought; something can be learnt about occurrences -from either side; and gradually it is probable that a large -amount of consistent and fairly coherent knowledge will be -accumulated.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile broken ties of affection have the first claim; -and early efforts at communication from the departed are -nearly always directed towards assuring survivors of the -fact of continued personal existence, towards helping them -to realise that changed surroundings have in no way -weakened love or destroyed memory, and urging upon -their friends with eager insistence that earthly happiness -need not be irretrievably spoiled by bereavement. For -purposes of this kind many trivial incidents are recalled, -such as are well adapted to convince intimate friends and -relatives that one particular intelligence, and no other, -must be the source from which the messages ultimately -spring, through whatever intermediaries they have to be -conveyed. And to people new to the subject such messages -are often immediately convincing.</p> - -<p>Further thought, however, raises difficulties and doubts. -The gradually recognized possibility of what may be called -normal telepathy, or unconscious mind-reading from survivors, -raises hesitation—felt most by studious and -thoughtful people—about accepting such messages as irrefragable -evidence of persistent personal existence; and to -overcome this curious and unexpected and perhaps rather -artificial difficulty, it is demanded that facts shall be given -which are unknown to anyone present, and can only subsequently -be verified. Communications of this occasional -and exceptional kind are what are called, by psychic investigators, -more specifically 'evidential': and time and -perhaps good fortune may be required for their adequate -reception and critical appreciation. For it is manifest -that most things readily talked about between two -friends, and easily reproducible in hasty conversation, will -naturally be of a nature common to both, and on subjects -well within each other's knowledge.</p> - -<p>The more recent development of an elaborate scheme -of 'cross-correspondence,' entered upon since the death of -specially experienced and critical investigators of the -S.P.R., who were familiar with all these difficulties, and -who have taken strong and most ingenious means to overcome<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[ 347]</a></span> -them, has made the proof, already very strong, now -almost crucial. The only alternative, in the best cases, is -to imagine a sort of supernormal mischievousness, so -elaborately misleading that it would have to be stigmatised -as vicious or even diabolical.</p> - -<p>In most cases complete proof of this complicated and -cold-blooded kind is neither forthcoming nor is necessary: -indeed it can hardly be appreciated or understood by -non-studious people. Effective evidence is in most cases -of a different kind, and varies with the personality concerned. -It often happens that little personal touches, -incommunicable to others in their full persuasiveness, -sooner or later break down the last vestiges of legitimate -scepticism. What goes on beyond that will depend upon -personal training and interest. With many, anything like -scientific inquiry lapses at this point, and communication -resolves itself into emotional and domestic interchange of -ordinary ideas. But in a few cases the desire to give new -information is awakened; and when there is sufficient receptivity, -and, what is very important, a competent and -suitable Medium for anything beyond commonplace messages, -instructive and general information may be forthcoming. -An explanation or description of the methods of -communication, for instance, as seen from their side; or -some information concerning the manner of life there; -and occasionally even some intelligent attempt to lessen -human difficulties about religious conceptions, and to give -larger ideas about the Universe as a whole,—all these attempts -have been made. But they always insist that their -information is but little greater than ours, and that they -are still fallible gropers after truth,—of which they keenly -feel the beauty and importance, but of which they realise -the infinitude, and their own inadequacy of mental grasp, -quite as clearly as we do here.</p> - -<p>These are what we call the 'unverifiable' communications; -for we cannot bring them to book by subsequent -terrestrial inquiry in the same way as we can test information -concerning personal or mundane affairs. Information -of the higher kind has often been received, but has seldom -been published; and it is difficult to know what value to -put upon it, or how far it is really trustworthy.</p> - -<p>I am inclined to think, however—with a growing number<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[ 348]</a></span> -of serious students of the subject—that the time is -getting ripe now for the production and discussion of -material of this technically unverifiable kind; to be scrutinised -and tested by internal consistency and inherent -probability, in the same sort of way as travellers' tales -have to be scrutinised and tested. But until humanity as -a whole has taken the initial step, and shown itself willing -to regard such communications as within the range of -possibility, it may be unwise to venture far in this more -ambitious direction.</p> - -<p>It has nevertheless been suggested, from a philosophic -point of view, that strict proof of individual survival must -in the last resort depend on examination and collation of -these 'travellers' tales,' rather than on any kind of resuscitation -of the past; because, until we know more about -memory, it is possible to conjecture, as I think Professor -Bergson does, that all the past is potentially accessible to a -super-subliminal faculty for disinterring it. And so one -might, in a sceptical mood, when confronted with records -of apparently personal reminiscence, attribute them to an -unconscious exercise of this faculty, and say with Tennyson</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p><span style="margin-left: 7em;">"I hear a wind</span></p> -<p>Of memory murmuring the past."</p> -</div></div></div> - -<p>I do not myself regard this impersonal memory as a -reasonable hypothesis, I think that the simpler view is -likely to be the truer one, so I attach importance to trivial -reminiscences and characteristic personal touches; but I -do agree that abstention from recording and publishing, -however apologetically, those other efforts has had the -effect of making ill-informed people—<i>i.e.</i> people with very -little personal experience—jump to the conclusion that all -communications are of a trivial and contemptible nature.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[ 349]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XII</span><br /> -<span class="small">ON THE CONTENTION THAT ALL PSYCHIC COMMUNICATIONS<br /> -ARE OF A TRIVIAL NATURE<br /> -AND DEAL WITH INSIGNIFICANT TOPICS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THAT such a contention as that mentioned at the -end of the preceding chapter is false is well known -to people of experience; but so long as the demand -for verification and proof of identity persists—and it will -be long indeed before they can be dispensed with—so -long are trifling reminiscences the best way to achieve the -desired end. The end in this case amply explains and -justifies the means. Hence it is that novices and critics -are naturally and properly regaled with references to -readily remembered and verifiable facts; and since these -facts, to be useful, must not be of the nature of public -news, nor anything which can be gleaned from biographical -or historical records, they usually relate to trifling family -affairs or other humorous details such as seem likely to -stay in the memory. It can freely be admitted that such -facts are only redeemed from triviality by the affectionate -recollections interlinked with them, and by the motive which -has caused them to be reproduced. For their special purpose -they may be admirable; and there is no sort of triviality -about the thing to be proven by them. The idea that a -departed friend ought to be occupied wholly and entirely -with grave matters, and ought not to remember jokes and -fun, is a gratuitous claim which has to be abandoned. -Humour does not cease with earth-life. Why should -it?</p> - -<p>It should be evident that communications concerning -deeper matters are not similarly serviceable as proof of -identity, though they may have a value and interest of -their own; but it is an interest which could not be -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[ 350]</a></span> -legitimately aroused until the first step—the recognition of veridical -intercourse—had been taken; for, as a rule, they -are essentially unverifiable. Of such communications a multitude -could be quoted; and almost at random I select a -few specimens from the automatic writings of the gentleman -and schoolmaster known to a former generation as -<i>M.A.Oxon.</i><a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> -Take this one, which happens to be printed -in a current issue of <i>Light</i> (22 April 1916), with the statement -that it occurs in one of M.A.Oxon.'s subliminally -written and private notebooks, under date 12 July 1873—many -others will be found in the selections which he himself -extracted from his own script and published in a book called -<i>Spirit Teachings</i>:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"You do not sufficiently grasp the scanty hold that religion -has upon the mass of mankind, nor the adaptability of what we -preach to the wants and cravings of men. Or perhaps it is -necessary that you be reminded of what you cannot see clearly -in your present state and among your present associations. You -cannot see, as we see, the carelessness that has crept over men as -to the future. Those who have thought over their future have -come to know that they can find out nothing about it, except, -indeed, that what man pretends to tell is foolish, contradictory, -and unsatisfying. His reasoning faculties convince him that the -Revelation of God contains very plain marks of human origin; -that it will not stand the test of sifting such as is applied to works -professedly human; and that the priestly fiction that reason is -no measure of revelation, and that it must be left on the threshold -of inquiry and give place to faith, is a cunningly planned means -of preventing man from discovering the errors and contradictions -which throng the pages of the Bible. Those who reason discover -this soon; those who do not, betake themselves to the refuge of -Faith, and become blind devotees, fanatical, irrational, and bigoted; -conformed to a groove in which they have been educated and -from which they have not broken loose simply because they -have not dared to think. It would be hard for man to devise a -means [more capable] of cramping the mind and dwarfing the -spirit's growth than this persuading of a man that he must not -think about religion. It is one which paralyses all freedom of -thought and renders it almost impossible for the soul to rise. The -spirit is condemned to a hereditary religion whether suited or not to -its wants. That which may have suited a far-off ancestor may be -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[ 351]</a></span> -quite unsuited to a struggling soul that lives in other times from -those in which such ideas had vitality. The spirit's life is so made -a question of birth and of locality. It is a question over which he -can exercise no control, whether he is Christian, Mohammedan, -or, as ye say, heathen: whether his God be the Great Spirit of -the Red Indian, or the fetish of the savage; whether his prophet -be Christ or Mahomet or Confucius; in short, whether his notion -of religion be that of East, West, North, or South; for in all -these quarters men have evolved for themselves a theology which -they teach their children to believe.</p> - -<p>"The days are coming when this geographical sectarianism will -give place before the enlightenment caused by the spread of our -revelation, for which men are far riper than you think. The time -draws nigh apace when the sublime truths of Spiritualism, rational -and noble as they are when viewed by man's standard, shall wipe -away from the face of God's earth the sectarian jealousy and theological -bitterness, the anger and ill-will, the folly and stupidity, -which have disgraced the name of religion and the worship of God; -and man shall see in a clearer light the Supreme Creator and the -spirit's eternal destiny.</p> - -<p>"We tell you, friend, that the end draws nigh; the night of -ignorance is passing fast; the shackles which priestcraft has -strung round the struggling souls shall be knocked off, and in -place of fanatical folly and ignorant speculation and superstitious -belief, ye shall have a reasonable religion and a knowledge of the -reality of the spirit-world and of the ministry of angels with you. -Ye shall know that the dead are alive indeed, living as they lived -on earth, but more truly, ministering to you with undiminished -love, animated in their perpetual intercourse with the same affection -which they had whilst yet incarned."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>Any one of these serious messages can be criticised -and commented upon with hostility and suspicion; they -are not suited to establish the first premise of the -argument for continuance of personality; and if they -were put forward as part of the proof of survival, -then perhaps the hostility would be legitimate. It -ought to be clear that they are not to be taken as oracular -utterances, or as anything vastly superior to the -capabilities of the medium through whom they come,—though -in fact they often are superior to any known -power of a given medium, and are frequently characteristic -of the departed personality, as we knew -him, who is purporting to be the Communicator: though -this remark is not applicable to the particular class of -impersonal messages here selected for quotation. Yet in -all cases they must surely be more or less sophisticated by -the channel, and by the more or less strained method of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[ 352]</a></span> -communication, and must share some of its limitations and -imperfections.</p> - -<p>However that may be, it is proper to quote them occasionally, -as here; not as specially profound utterances, but -merely in contradiction of the imaginary and false thesis -that only trivial and insignificant subjects are dealt with in -automatic writings and mediumistic utterances. For such -utterances—whatever their value or lack of value—are -manifestly conclusive against that gratuitous and ignorant -supposition. Whatever is thought of them, they are at -least conceived in a spirit of earnestness, and are characterised -by a genuine fervour that may be properly called -religious.</p> - -<p>I now quote a few more of the records published in -the book cited above,—in this case dealing with Theological -questions and puzzles in the mind of the automatic writer -himself:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"All your fancied theories about God have filtered down to -you through human channels; the embodiments of human cravings -after knowledge of Him; the creation of minds that were -undeveloped, whose wants were not your wants, whose God, or -rather whose notions about God are not yours. You try hard to -make the ideas fit in, but they will not fit, because they are the -product of divers degrees of development...."</p> - -<p>"God! Ye know Him not! One day, when the Spirit stands -within the veil which shrouds the spirit world from mortal gaze, -you shall wonder at your ignorance of Him whom you have -so foolishly imagined! He is far other than you have pictured -Him. Were He such as you have pictured Him, were He such as -you think, He would avenge on presumptuous man the insults -which he puts on his Creator. But He is other, far other than -man's poor grovelling mind can grasp, and He pities and forgives -the ignorance of the blind mortal who paints Him after a self-imagined -pattern.... When you rashly complain of us that our -teaching to you controverts that of the Old Testament, we can -but answer that it does indeed controvert that old and repulsive -view ... but that it is in fullest accord with that divinely -inspired revelation of Himself which He gave through Jesus -Christ—a revelation which man has done so much to debase, and -from which the best of the followers of Christ have so grievously -fallen away."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>And again, in answer to other doubts and questions in -the mind of the automatist as to the legitimacy of the -means of communication, and his hesitation about employing -a means which he knew was sometimes prostituted by -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[ 353]</a></span> -knaves to unworthy and frivolous or even base objects,—very -different from those served by humorous and friendly -family messages, about which no one with a spark of -human feeling has a word to say when once they have -realised their nature and object,—the writing continued -thus:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"If there be nought in what we say of God and of man's -after-life that commends itself to you, it must be that your mind -has ceased to love the grander and simpler conceptions which it -had once learned to drink in...."</p> - -<p>"Cease to be anxious about the minute questions which are -of minor moment. Dwell much on the great, the overwhelming -necessity for a clearer revealing of the Supreme; on the blank -and cheerless ignorance of God and of us which has crept over -the world: on the noble creed we teach, on the bright future we -reveal. Cease to be perplexed by thoughts of an imagined Devil. -For the honest, pure, and truthful soul there is no Devil nor -Prince of Evil such as theology has feigned.... The clouds of -sorrow and anguish of soul may gather round [such a man] and -his spirit may be saddened with the burden of sin—weighed down -with consciousness of surrounding misery and guilt, but no fabled -Devil can gain dominion over him, or prevail to drag down his -soul to hell. All the sadness of spirit, the acquaintance with -grief, the intermingling with guilt, is part of the experience, in -virtue of which his soul shall rise hereafter. The guardians are -training and fitting it by those means to progress, and jealously -protect it from the dominion of the foe.</p> - -<p>"It is only they who, by a fondness for evil, by a lack of -spiritual and excess of corporeal development, attract to themselves -the congenial spirits of the undeveloped who have left the -body but not forgotten its desires. These alone risk incursion of -evil. These by proclivity attract evil, and it dwells with them -at their invitation. They attract the lower spirits who hover -nearest Earth, and who are but too ready to rush in and mar our -plans, and ruin our work for souls. These are they of whom you -speak when you say in haste, that the result of Spiritualism is not -for good. You err, friend. Blame not us that the lower spirits -manifest for those who bid them welcome. Blame man's insensate -folly, which will choose the low and grovelling rather than -the pure and elevated. Blame his foolish laws, which daily -hurry into a life for which they are unprepared, thousands of -spirits, hampered and dragged down by a life of folly and sin, -which has been fostered by custom and fashion. Blame the ginshops, -and the madhouses, and the prisons, and the encouraged -lusts and fiendish selfishness of man. This it is which damns -legions of spirits—not, as ye fancy, in a sea of material fire, but -in the flames of perpetuated lust, condemned to burn itself out -in hopeless longing till the purged soul rises through the fire and -surmounts its dead passions. Yes, blame these and kindred -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[ 354]</a></span> -causes, if there be around undeveloped intelligences who shock -you by their deception, and annoy you by frivolity and falsehood."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>I suppose that the worst that can be said about writing -of this kind is that it consists of 'sermon-stuffe' such as -could have been presumably invented—whether consciously -or unconsciously—by the automatic writer himself. And -the fact that with some of it he tended to disagree, proves -no more than the corresponding kind of unexpected argumentation -experienced by some dreamers. (Cf. L. P. -Jacks, <i>Hibbert Journal</i>, July, 1916.) The same kind of explanation -may serve for both phenomena, but I do not know -what that explanation is.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> -The Rev. Stainton Moses (M. A. Oxon) was one of the -masters at University College School in London. He wrote automatically, -<i>i.e.</i> subconsciously, in private notebooks at a regular short -time each day for nearly twenty years, and felt that he was in touch -with helpful and informing intelligences.</p> -</div> -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[ 355]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XIII</span><br /> -<span class="small">ON THE MANNER OF COMMUNICATION</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">PERHAPS the commonest and easiest method of communication -is what is called 'automatic writing'—the -method by which the above examples were received—i.e. -writing performed through the agency of subconscious -intelligence; the writer leaving his or her hand at liberty -to write whatever comes, without attempting to control it, -and without necessarily attending at the time to what is -being written.</p> - -<p>That a novice will usually get nothing, or mere nonsense -or scribbling, in this way is obvious: the remarkable thing -is that some persons are thus able to get sense, and to tap -sources of information outside their normal range. If a -rudiment of such power exists, it is possible, though not -always desirable, to cultivate it; but care, pertinacity, and -intelligence are needed to utilise a faculty of this kind. -Unless people are well-balanced and self-critical and wholesomely -occupied, they had better leave the subject alone.</p> - -<p>In most cases of fully-developed automatism known -to me the automatist reads what comes, and makes suitable -oral replies or comments to the sentences as they appear: -so that the whole has then the effect of a straightforward -conversation of which one side is spoken and the other written—the -speaking side being usually rather silent and reserved, -the writing side free and expansive.</p> - -<p>Naturally not every person has the power of cultivating -this simple form of what is technically known as motor automatism, -one of the recognised subliminal forms of activity; -but probably more people could do it if they tried; though -for some people it would be injudicious, and for many -others hardly worth while.</p> - -<p>The intermediate mentality employed in this process -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[ 356]</a></span> -seems to be a usually submerged or dream-like stratum of -the automatist whose hand is being used. The hand is probably -worked by its usual physiological mechanism, guided -and controlled by nerve centres not in the most conscious -and ordinarily employed region of the brain. In some cases -the content or subject-matter of the writing may emanate -entirely from these nerve centres, and be of no more -value than a dream; as is frequently the case with the more -elementary automatism set in action by the use of -instruments known as 'planchette' and 'ouija,' often -employed by beginners. But when the message turns -out to be of evidential value it is presumably because -this subliminal portion of the person is in touch, -either telepathically or in some other way, with intelligences -not ordinarily accessible,—with living people at a -distance perhaps, or more often with the apparently more -accessible people who have passed on, for whom distance -in the ordinary sense seems hardly to exist, and whose links -of connexion are of a kind other than spatial. It need -hardly be said that proof of communion of this kind -is absolutely necessary, and has to be insisted on; but experience -has demonstrated that now and again sound proof -is forthcoming.</p> - -<p>Another method, and one that turns out to be still more -powerful, is for the automatist not only to take off his or -her attention from what is being transmitted through his -or her organism, but to become comprehensively unconscious -and go into a trance. In that case it appears that the -physiological mechanism is more amenable to control, and -is less sophisticated by the ordinary intelligence of the -person to whom it normally belongs; so that messages of -importance and privacy may be got through. But the messages -have to be received and attended to by another person; -for in such cases, when genuine, the entranced person -on waking up is found to be ignorant of what has been -either written or uttered. In this state, speech is as common -as writing, probably more common because less troublesome -to the recipient, <i>i.e.</i> the friend or relative to whom or -for whom messages are being thus sent. The communicating -personality during trance may be the same as the one -operating the hand without trance, and the messages may -have the same general character as those got by automatic -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[ 357]</a></span> -writing, when the consciousness is not suspended -but only in temporary and local abeyance; but in the -trance state a dramatic characterisation is usually imparted -to the proceedings, by the appearance of an entity called a -'Control,' who works the body of the automatist in the -apparent absence of its customary manager. This personality -is believed by some to be merely the subliminal -self of the entranced person, brought to the surface, or -liberated and dramatised into a sort of dream existence, -for the time. By others it is supposed to be a healthy -and manageable variety of the more or less pathological -phenomenon known to physicians and psychiatrists as cases -of dual or multiple personality. By others again it is believed -to be in reality the separate intelligence which it -claims to be.</p> - -<p>But however much can be and has been written on -this subject, and whatever different opinions may be -held, it is universally admitted that the <i>dramatic semblance</i> -of the control is undoubtedly that of a separate person,—a -person asserted to be permanently existing on the other -side, and to be occupied on that side in much the same -functions as the medium is on this. The duty of controlling -and transmitting messages seems to be laid upon such -a one—it is his special work. The dramatic character of -most of the controls is so vivid and self-consistent, that -whatever any given sitter or experimenter may feel is -the probable truth concerning their real nature, the -simplest way is to humour them by taking them at their -face value and treating them as separate and responsible -and real individuals. It is true that in the case of some -mediums, especially when overdone or tired, there are -evanescent and absurd obtrusions every now and then, which -cannot be seriously regarded. Those have to be eliminated; -and for anyone to treat them as real people would -be ludicrous; but undoubtedly the serious controls show -a character and personality and memory of their own, and -they appear to carry on as continuous an existence as -anyone else whom one only meets occasionally for conversation. -The conversation can be taken up at the point -where it left off, and all that was said appears to be remarkably -well remembered by the appropriate control; while -usually memory of it is naturally and properly repudiated -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[ 358]</a></span> -by another control, even when operating through the same -medium; and the entranced medium knows nothing of it -afterwards after having completely woke up.</p> - -<p>So clearly is the personality of the control brought -out, in the best cases, so clear also are the statements of -the communicators that the control who is kindly transmitting -their messages is a real person, that I am disposed -to accept their assertions, and to regard a control, when -not a mere mischievous and temporary impersonation, as -akin on their side to the person whom we call a medium on -ours.</p> - -<p>The process of regular communication—apart from the -exceptional more direct privilege occasionally vouchsafed -to people in extreme sorrow—thus seems to involve normally -a double medium of communication, and the -activity of several people. First there is the 'Communicator' -or originator of ideas and messages on the other -side. Then there is the 'control' who accepts and transmits -the messages by setting into operation a physical -organism lent for the occasion. Then there is the 'Medium' -or person whose normal consciousness is in abeyance -but whose physiological mechanism is being used. And -finally there is the 'Sitter'—a rather absurd name—the -recipient of the messages, who reads or hears and answers -them, and for whose benefit all this trouble is taken. In -many cases there is also present a Note-taker to record all -that is said, whether by sitters or by or through the medium; -and it is clear that the note-taker should pay special -attention to and carefully record any hints or information -either purposely or accidentally imparted by the -sitter.</p> - -<p>In scientific and more elaborately conducted cases there -is also some one present who is known as the Experimenter -in charge—a responsible and experienced person -who looks after the health and safety of the medium, who -arranges the circumstances and selects the sitters, making -provision for anonymity and other precautions, and who -frequently combines with his other functions the duties -of note-taker.</p> - -<p>In oral or voice sittings the function of the note-taker -is more laborious and more responsible than in writing -sittings; for these latter to a great extent supply their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[ 359]</a></span> -own notes. Only as the trance-writing is blindfold, <i>i.e.</i> -done with shut eyes and head averted, it is rather illegible -without practice; and so the experimenter in charge frequently -finds it necessary to assist the sitter, to whom it -is addressed, by deciphering it and reading it aloud as it -comes—rather a tiring process; at the same time jotting -down, usually on the same paper, the remarks which the -sitter makes in reply, or the questions from time to time -asked. Unless this is done the subsequent automatic record -lacks a good deal of clearness, and sometimes lacks intelligibility.</p> - -<p>For a voice-sitting the note-taker must be a rapid writer, -and if able to employ shorthand has an advantage. Sometimes -a stenographer is introduced; but the presence of a -stranger, or of any person not intimately concerned, is liable -to hamper the distinctness and fulness of a message; and -may prevent or retard the occurrence of such emotional -episodes as are from time to time almost inevitable in the -cases—alas too numerous at present—where the sitter has -been recently and violently bereaved.</p> - -<p>It is perhaps noteworthy—though it may not be interesting -or intelligible to a novice—that communicators wishing -to give private communications seldom or never object -to the presence of the actual 'medium'—<i>i.e.</i> the one on our -side. That person seems to be regarded as absent, or practically -non-existent for a time; the person whose presence -they sometimes resent at first is the 'control,' <i>i.e.</i> -the intelligence on their side who is ready to receive and -transmit their message, somewhat perhaps as an Eastern -scribe is ready to write the love-letters of illiterate persons.</p> - -<p>As to the presence of a note-taker or third person on -our side, such person is taken note of by the control, and -when anything private or possibly private is mentioned—details -of illnesses or such like—that third person is often -ordered out of the room. Sometimes the experimenter -in charge is likewise politely dispensed with, and under these -circumstances the sitting occasionally takes on a poignant -character in which note-taking by the deeply affected sitter -becomes a practical impossibility. But this experience is -comparatively rare; it must not be expected, and cannot -wisely be forced.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[ 360]</a></span></p> - -<p>Another circumstance which makes me think that the -more responsible kind of control is a real person, is that -sometimes, after gained experience, the Communicator himself -takes control, and speaks or writes in the first person, -not only as a matter of first-person-reporting, which frequently -occurs, but really in his own proper person and with -many of his old characteristics. So if one control is a real -person I see no reason against the probability of others -being real likewise. I cannot say that the tone of voice or -the handwriting is often thus reproduced—though it is, for -a few moments, by special effort sometimes; but the unusual -physiological mechanism accounts for outstanding or -residual differences. Apart from that, the peculiarities, -the attitudes, the little touches of manner, are often more -or less faithfully reproduced, although the medium may -have known nothing of the person concerned. And the -characteristic quality of the message, and the kind of subjects -dealt with, become still more marked in such cases -of actual control, than when everything has to be transmitted -through a kindly stranger control, to whom things -of a recondite or technical character may appear rather as -a meaningless collocation of words, very difficult to remember -and reproduce. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3>NOTE ON DIFFICULTY OF REMEMBERING NAMES</h3> - -<blockquote> -<p>When operating indirectly in the ordinary way through a control -and a medium, it usually appears to be remarkably difficult -to get names transmitted. Most mediums are able to convey a -name only with difficulty. Now plainly a name, especially the -proper name of a person, is a very conventional and meaningless -thing: it has very few links to connect it with other items in -memory; and hence arises the normally well-known difficulty of -recalling one. Conscious effort made to recover a name seems to -inhibit the power of doing so: the best plan is to leave it, and -let subconsciousness work. An example occurred to me the other -day, when I tried to remember the name of a prominent statesman -or ex-Prime Minister whom I had met in Australia. What -I seemed to recollect was that the name began with "D," and I -made several shots at it, which I recorded. The effort went on -at intervals for days, since I thought it would be an instructive -experiment. I know now, a month or two later, without any -effort and without looking it up, that the name was Deakin; but -what my shots at it were I do not remember. I will have the -page in the note-book looked up and reproduced here, as an -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[ 361]</a></span> -example of memory-groping, at intervals, during more than one -day. Here they are:—D. Dering, Denman, Deeming, Derriman, -Derring, Deeley, Dempster, Denting, Desman, Deering.</p> - -<p>Now I knew the name quite well, and have known it for long, -and have taken some interest in the gentleman who owns it; and -I am known by some members of my family to have done so. -Hence if I had been on 'the other side' and could only get as -far as D, it would have seemed rather absurd to anyone whose -memory for names is good. But indeed I have had times when -names very much more familiar to me than that could not on -the spur of the moment be recalled—not always even the initial -letter; though, for some reason or other, the initial letter is -certainly easier than the word.</p> - -<p>The kind of shots which I made at the name before recalling -it—which it may seem frivolous to have actually recorded—are -reminiscent of the kind of shots which are made by mediums -under control when they too are striving after a name; and it -was a perception of this analogy which caused me to jot down -my own guesses, or what, in the case of a medium, we should -impolitely call 'fishing.' I think that the name was certainly -in my memory though it would not come through my brain. The -effort is like the effort to use a muscle not often or ever used—say -the outer ear—one does not know which string to pull, so to -speak, or, more accurately, which nerve to stimulate, and the -result is a peculiarly helpless feeling, akin to stammering. In -the case of a medium, I suppose the name is often in the mind -of the communicator, but it will not come through the control. -The control sometimes describes it as being spoken or shown -but not clearly caught. The communicator often does not know -whether a medium has successfully conveyed it or not.</p> -</blockquote> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[ 362]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XIV</span><br /> -<span class="small">VARIOUS PSYCHO-PHYSICAL METHODS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"If man, then, shall attempt to sound and fathom the depths -that lie not without him, but within, analogy may surely warn -him that the first attempts of his rude <i>psychoscopes</i> to give precision -and actuality to thought will grope among 'beggarly elements'—will -be concerned with things grotesque, or trivial, or -obscure. Yet here also one handsbreadth of reality gives better -footing than all the castles of our dream; here also by beginning -with the least things we shall best learn how great things may -remain to do."—F. W. H. M., Introduction to <i>Phantasms of the -Living</i> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">I MUST not shirk a rather queer subject which yet -needs touching upon, though it bristles with theoretical -difficulties; and that is the rationale of one of -the most elementary methods of ultra-normal communication, -a method which many find practically the easiest to -begin with.</p> - -<p>It is possible to get communication of a kind, not by -holding a pencil in the fingers, but by placing the hand on -a larger piece of wood not at all adapted for writing with. -The movements are then coarser, and the code more elementary; -but in principle, when the procedure is analysed, -it is seen not to be essentially different. It may be more -akin to semaphore-arm signalling or flag-wagging; but any -device whereby mental activity can translate itself into -movements of matter will serve for subliminal as well as -for conscious action; and messages by tilting of a table, -though crude and elementary, are not really so surprising or -absurd as at first sight they seem. The tilts of a telegraphic -operator's key are still more restricted; but they serve. A -pen or pencil is an inanimate piece of matter guided by the -fingers. A planchette is a mere piece of wood, and when -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[ 363]</a></span> -touched it must be presumed to be guided by the muscles,—though -there is often an illusion, as with the twig of the -dowser, that the inanimate object is moved directly, -and not by muscular intervention. So also we may assume -that a table or other piece of furniture is tilted or -moved by regular muscular force: certainly it can only -move at the expense of the energy of the medium or of -people present. And yet in all these cases the substance of -the message may be foreign to the mind of anyone -touching the instrument, and the guidance necessary for -sense and relevance need not be exercised by their own -consciousness.</p> - -<p>When a table or similar rough instrument is employed, -the ostensible communicators say that they feel more -<i>directly</i> in touch with the sitters than when they operate -through an intermediary or 'control' on their side,—as they -appear to find it necessary to do for actual speech -or writing,—and accordingly they find themselves able to -give more private messages, and also to reproduce -names and technicalities with greater facility and precision. -The process of spelling out words in this way is a -slow one, much slower than writing, and therefore the -method labours under disadvantages, but it seems to possess -advantages which to some extent counterbalance -them.</p> - -<p>Whether it sounds credible or not, and it is certainly -surprising, I must testify that when a thing of any -mobility is controlled in this more direct way, it is able to -convey touches of emotion and phases of intonation, so to -speak, in a most successful manner. A telegraph key could -hardly do it, its range of movement is too restricted, it -operates only in a discontinuous manner, by make and -break; but a light table, under these conditions, seems no -longer inert, it behaves as if animated. For the time it is -animated—somewhat perhaps as a violin or piano is animated -by a skilled musician and schooled to his will,—and -the dramatic action thus attained is very remarkable. It -can exhibit hesitation, it can exhibit certainty; it can seek -for information, it can convey it; it can apparently ponder -before giving a reply; it can welcome a new-comer; it can -indicate joy or sorrow, fun or gravity; it can keep time -with a song as if joining in the chorus; and, most notable -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[ 364]</a></span> -of all, it can exhibit affection in an unmistakable -manner.</p> - -<p>The hand of a writing medium can do these things too; -and that the whole body of a normal person can display -these emotions is a commonplace. Yet they are all pieces -of matter, though some are more permanently animated -than others. But all are animated temporarily,—not -one of them permanently,—and there appears to be no sharp -line of demarcation. What we have to realise is that -matter in any form is able to act as agent to the -soul, and that by aid of matter various emotions as well -as intelligence can be temporarily incarnated and displayed.</p> - -<p>The extraction of elementary music from all manner -of unlikely objects—kitchen utensils, for instance—is a -known stage-performance. The utilisation of unlikely objects -for purposes of communication, though it would not -have been expected, may have to be included in the same -general category.</p> - -<p>With things made for the purpose, from a violin to the -puppets of a marionette show, we know that simple human -passions can be shown and can be roused. With things -made for quiet other purposes it turns out that the same -sort of possibility exists.</p> - -<p>Table-tilting is an old and despised form of amusement, -known to many families and often wisely discarded; but -with care and sobriety and seriousness even this can be -used as a means of communication; and the amount of -mediumistic power necessary for this elementary form of -psychic activity appears to be distinctly less than would be -required for more elaborate methods.</p> - -<p>One thing it is necessary clearly to realise and admit, -namely that in all cases when an object is moved by direct -contact of an operator's body, whether the instrument be a -pencil or a piece of wood, unconscious muscular guidance -must be allowed for; and anything that comes through of -a kind known to or suspected by the operator must be discounted. -Sometimes, however, the message comes in an -unexpected and for the moment puzzling form, and sometimes -it conveys information unknown to him. It is by -the content of the communication that its supernormal value -must be estimated.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[ 365]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> -<p>There are many obvious disadvantages about a Table Sitting, -especially in the slowness of the communications and in the fact -that the sitter has to do most of the talking; whereas when -some personality is controlling a medium, the sitters need say -very little.</p> - -<p>But, as said above, there are some communicators who object -to a control's presence, especially if they have anything private -to say; and these often prefer the table because it seems to bring -them more directly into contact with the sitter, without an intermediary. -They seem to ignore the presence of the medium on -our side, notwithstanding the fact that, at a table sitting, she is -present in her own consciousness and is aware of what goes on; -they appear to be satisfied with having dispensed with the medium -on their side. Moreover, it is in some cases found that information -can be conveyed in a briefer and more direct manner, not having -to be wrapped up in roundabout phrases, that names can be given -more easily, and direct questions answered better, through the table -than through a control.</p> - -<p>It must be remembered that under control every medium has -some peculiarities. Mrs. Leonard, for instance, is a very straightforward -and honest medium, but not a particularly strong one. -Accordingly anything like conversation and free interchange of -ideas is hardly possible, and direct questions seldom receive direct -answers, when put to the communicator through Feda.</p> - -<p>I have known mediums much more powerful in this respect, -so that free conversation with one or two specially skilled communicators -was quite possible, and interchange of ideas almost -as easy as when the communicator was in the flesh. But instances -of that kind are hardly to be expected among hard-worked professional -mediums.</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>I shall not in this volume touch upon still more puzzling -and still more directly and peculiarly physical phenomena, -such as are spoken of as 'direct voice,' 'direct writing,' and -'materialisation.' In these strange and, from one point of -view, more advanced occurrences, though lower in another -sense, inert matter appears to be operated on without the -direct intervention of physiological mechanism. And yet -such mechanism must be in the neighbourhood. I am inclined -to think that these weird phenomena, when established, -will be found to shade off into those other methods -that I have been speaking of, and that no complete theory -of either can be given until more is known about both. This -is one of the facts which causes me to be undogmatic about -the certainty that all movements, even under contact, are -initiated in the muscles. I only here hold up a warning -against premature decision. The whole subject of psycho-physical -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[ 366]</a></span> -interaction and activity requires attention in due -time and place; but the ground is now more treacherous, -the pitfalls more numerous, and the territory to many minds -comparatively unattractive. Let it wait until long-range -artillery has beaten down some of the entanglements, before -organised forces are summoned to advance.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[ 367]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XV</span><br /> -<span class="small">ATTITUDE OF THE WISE AND PRUDENT</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"The vagueness and confusion inevitable at the beginning of -a novel line of research, [are] naturally distasteful to the <i>savant</i> -accustomed to proceed by measurable increments of knowledge -from experimental bases already assured. Such an one, if he -reads this book, may feel as though he had been called away from -an ordnance survey, conducted with a competent staff and familiar -instruments, to plough slowly with inexperienced mariners through -some strange ocean where beds of entangling seaweed cumber -the trackless way. We accept the analogy; but we would remind -him that even floating weeds of novel genera may foreshow a land -unknown; and that it was not without ultimate gain to men -that the straining keels of Columbus first pressed through the -Sargasso Sea."—F. W. H. M., Introduction to <i>Phantasms of the -Living</i> -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap">IT is rather remarkable that the majority of learned -men have closed their minds to what have seemed bare -and simple facts to many people. Those who call themselves -spiritualists have an easy and simple faith; they -interpret their experiences in the most straightforward -and unsophisticated manner, and some of them -have shown unfortunately that they can be led into -credulity and error, without much difficulty, by unscrupulous -people. Nevertheless, that simple-hearted -folk are most accessible to new facts seems to be rather -accordant with history. Whenever, not by reasoning but -by direct experience, knowledge has been enlarged, or when -a revelation has come to the human race through the agency -of higher powers, it is not the wise but the simple who are -first to receive it. This cannot be used as an argument -either way; the simple may be mistaken, and may too blithely -interpret their sense-impressions in the most obvious -manner; just as on the other hand the eyes of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[ 368]</a></span> -learned may be closed to anything which appears disconnected -from their previous knowledge. For after all -it is inevitable that any really new order of things must -be so disconnected; some little time must elapse before -the weight of facts impel the learned in a new direction, -and meanwhile the unlearned may be absorbing direct experience, -and in their own fashion may be forging ahead. -It is an example of the ancient paradox propounded in -and about 1 <i>Cor.</i> i. 26; and no fault need be found with -what is natural.</p> - -<p>It behoves me to mention in particular the attitude of -men of science, of whom I may say <i>quorum pars parva fui</i>; -for in no way do I wish to dissociate myself from either -such stricture or such praise as may be appropriate to men -who have made a study of science their vocation,—not -indeed the peaks of the race, but the general body. For it -is safe to assume that we must have some qualities in common, -and that these must be among the causes which have -switched us on to a laborious and materially unremunerative -road.</p> - -<p>Michael Foster said in his Presidential Address to the -British Association at Dover:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"Men of science have no peculiar virtues, no special -powers. They are ordinary men, their characters are common, -even commonplace. Science, as Huxley said, is organised -common sense, and men of science are common men, -drilled in the ways of common sense."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>This of course, like any aphorism, does not bear pressing -unduly: and Dr. Arthur Schuster in a similar Address at -Manchester hedged it round with qualifying clauses:—</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"This saying of Huxley's has been repeated so often -that one almost wishes it were true; but unfortunately I -cannot find a definition of common sense that fits the phrase. -Sometimes the word is used as if it were identical with -uncommon sense, sometimes as if it were the same thing -as common nonsense. Often it means untrained intelligence, -and in its best aspect it is, I think, that faculty which -recognises that the obvious solution of a problem -is frequently the right one. When, for instance, I -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[ 369]</a></span> -see during a total solar eclipse red flames shooting out -from the edge of the sun, the obvious explanation is that -these are real phenomena, caused by masses of glowing -vapours ejected from the sun. And when a learned friend -tells me that all this is an optical illusion due to anomalous -refraction, I object on the ground that the explanation -violates my common sense. He replies by giving me the -reasons which have led him to his conclusions; and though -I still believe that I am right, I have to meet him with a -more substantial reply than an appeal to my own convictions. -Against a solid argument common sense has no -power, and must remain a useful but fallible guide which -both leads and misleads all classes of the community -alike."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>The sound moral of this is, not that a common-sense explanation -is likely to be the right one, or that it necessarily -has any merits if there are sound reasons to oppose to it, -but that the common sense or most obvious and superficial -explanation <i>may</i> turn out to be after all truer as well as -simpler than more recondite hypotheses which have been -substituted for it. In other words—the straightforward -explanation need not be false.</p> - -<p>Now the phenomena encountered in psychical research -have long ago suggested an explanation, in terms of other -than living human intelligences, which may be properly -called spiritistic. Every kind of alternative explanation, -including the almost equally unorthodox one of telepathy -from living people, has been tried: and these attempts have -been necessary and perfectly legitimate. If they had succeeded, -well and good; but inasmuch as in my judgment -there are phenomena which they cannot explain, and inasmuch -as some form of spiritistic hypothesis, given certain -postulates, explains practically all, I have found -myself driven back on what I may call the common-sense -explanation; or, to adopt Dr. Schuster's parable, I consider -that the red flames round the sun are what they -appear to be.</p> - -<p>To attribute capricious mechanical performance to the -action of live things, is sufficient as a proximate explanation; -as we saw in the case of the jumping bean, Chapter -I. If the existence of the live thing is otherwise unknown, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[ 370]</a></span> -the explanation may seem forced and unsatisfactory. But -if after trying other hypotheses we find that this only will -fit the case, we may return to it after all with a clear -conscience. That represents the history of my own progress -in Psychical Research. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<h3><span class="smcap">Apologia</span></h3> - -<p>Meanwhile the attitude of scientific men is perfectly -intelligible; and not unreasonable, except when they forget -their self-imposed limitations and cultivate a baseless negative -philosophy. People who study mechanism of course -find Mechanics, and if the mechanism is physiological -they find Physics and Chemistry as well; but -they are not thereby compelled to deny the existence -of everything else. They need not philosophise -at all, though they should be able to realise their -philosophical position when it is pointed out. The -business of science is to trace out the mode of -action of the laws of Chemistry and Physics, everywhere -and under all circumstances. Those laws appear to be of -universal application throughout the material Universe,—in -the most distant star as well as on the earth,—in the -animal organism as well as in inorganic matter; and -the study of their action alone has proved an ample -task.</p> - -<p>But scientific workers are sometimes thought to be -philosophising seriously when they should be understood -as really only expressing the natural scope of their special -subject. Laplace, for instance, is often misunderstood, -because, when challenged about the place of God -in his system, he said that he had no need of such a -hypothesis,—a dictum often quoted as if it were atheistical. -It is not necessarily anything of the kind. As a brief -statement it is right, though rather unconciliatory and blunt. -He was trying to explain astronomy on clear and definite -mechanical principles, and the introduction of a "finger of -God" would have been not only an unwarrantable complication -but a senseless intrusion. Not an intrusion or a complication -in the Universe, be it understood, but in Laplace's -scheme, his <i>Systéme du Monde</i>. Yet Browning's "flash -of the will that can" in <i>Abt Vogler</i>, with all that -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[ 371]</a></span> -the context implies, remains essentially and permanently -true.</p> - -<p>Theologians who admit that the Deity always works -through agents and rational means can grant to scientific -workers all that they legitimately claim in the positive -direction, and can encourage them in the detailed study -of those agents and means. If people knew more about -science, and the atmosphere in which scientific men work, -they would be better able to interpret occasional rather -rash negations; which are quite explicable in terms of the -artificial limitation of range which physical science hitherto -has wisely laid down for itself.</p> - -<p>It is a true instinct which resents the mediæval practice -of freely introducing occult and unknown causes into working -science. To attribute the rise of sap, for instance, to -a 'vital force' would be absurd, it would be giving up the -problem and stating nothing at all. Progress in science -began when spiritual and transcendental causes were -eliminated and treated as non-existent. The simplicity so -attained was congenial to the scientific type of mind; the -abstraction was eminently useful, and was justified by -results. Yet unknown causes of an immaterial and even -of a spiritual kind may in reality exist, and may influence -or produce phenomena, for all that; and it may have to -be the business of science to discover and begin to attend -to them, as soon as the ordinary solid ground-plan of Nature -has been made sufficiently secure.</p> - -<p>Some of us—whether wisely or unwisely—now want -to enlarge the recognised scope of physical science, so as -gradually to take a wider purview and include more of the -totality of things. That is what the Society for Psychical -Research was established for,—to begin extending the range -of scientific law and order, by patient exploration in a -comparatively new region. The effort has been resented, -and at first ridiculed, only because misunderstood. The -effort may be ambitious, but it is perfectly legitimate; and if -it fails it fails.</p> - -<p>But advance in new directions may be wisely slow, and -it is readily admissible that Societies devoted to long-established -branches of science are right to resist extraneous -novelties, as long as possible, and leave the study of occult -phenomena to a Society established for the purpose. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[ 372]</a></span> -Outlandish territories may in time be incorporated as States, -but they must make their claim good and become civilised -first.</p> - -<p>Yet unfamiliar causes must be introduced occasionally -into systematised knowledge, unless our scrutiny of the -Universe is already exhaustive. Unpalatable facts can be -ruled out from attention, but they cannot without investigation -be denied. Strange facts do really happen, even though -unprovided for in our sciences. Amid their orthodox relations, -they may be regarded as a nuisance. The feeling -they cause is as if capricious or mischievous live things had -been allowed to intrude into the determinate apparatus of -a physical laboratory, thereby introducing hopeless complexity -and appearing superficially to interfere with established -laws. To avoid such alien incursion a laboratory can -be locked, but the Universe can not. And if ever, under -any circumstances, we actually do encounter the interaction -of intelligences other than that of living men, we shall -sooner or later become aware of the fact, and shall ultimately -have to admit it into a more comprehensive scheme -of existence. Early attempts, like those of the present, -must be unsatisfactory and crude; especially as the evidence -is of a kind to which scientific men for the most part are -unaccustomed; so no wonder they are resentful. Still the -evidence is there, and I for one cannot ignore it. Members -of the Society for Psychical Research are aware that the -evidence already published—the carefully edited and sifted -evidence published by their own organisation—occupies -some forty volumes of <i>Journal</i> and <i>Proceedings</i>; and some -of them know that a great deal more evidence exists than -has been published, and that some of the best evidence is -not likely to be published,—not yet at any rate. It stands -to reason that, at the present stage, the best evidence -must often be of a very private and family character. -Many, however, are the persons who are acquainted with -facts in their own experience which appeal to them more -strongly than anything that has ever been published. No -records can surpass first-hand direct experience in -cogency.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless we are also aware, or ought to be, that no -one crucial episode can ever be brought forward as deciding -such a matter. That is not the way in which things -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[ 373]</a></span> -of importance are proven. Evidence is cumulative, it is -on the strength of a mass of experience that an induction -is ultimately made, and a conclusion provisionally arrived -at; though sometimes it happens that a single exceptionally -strong instance, or series of instances, may clinch it for -some individual.</p> - -<p>But indeed the evidence, in one form and another, has -been crudely before the human race from remote antiquity; -only it has been treated in ways more or less obfuscated -by superstition. The same sort of occurrences as -were known to Virgil, and to many another seer—the same -sort of experiences as are found by folk-lore students, -not only in history but in every part of the earth to-day—are -happening now in a scientific age, and sometimes under -scientific scrutiny. Hence it is that from the scientific -point of view progress is at length being made; and any -one with a real desire to know the truth need not lack evidence, -if he will first read the records with an open mind, -and then bide his time and be patient till an opportunity -for first-hand critical observation is vouchsafed him. The -opportunity may occur at any time: the readiness is all. -Really clinching evidence in such a case is never in the past; -a <i>prima facie</i> case for investigation is established by the -records, but real conviction must be attained by first-hand -experience in the present.</p> - -<p>The things to be investigated are either true or false. -If false, pertinacious inquiry will reveal their falsity. If -true, they are profoundly important. For there are no -half-truths in Nature; every smallest new departure has -portentous consequences; our eyes must open slowly, or -we should be overwhelmed. I once likened the feeling of -physical investigators in the year 1889 to that of a boy -who had long been strumming on the keyboard of a deserted -organ into which an unseen power had begun to blow a -vivifying breath.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> -That was at the beginning of the series -of revolutionary discoveries about radiation and the nature -of matter which have since resounded through the world. -And now once more the touch of a finger elicits a responsive -note, and again the boy hesitates, half delighted, half affrighted, -at the chords which it would seem he can now -summon forth almost at will.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> <i>Modern Views of Electricity</i>, p. 408 of third and -current edition.</p> -</div> -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[ 374]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XVI</span><br /> -<span class="small">OUTLOOK ON THE UNIVERSE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">WHAT then is the conclusion of the whole matter? -Or rather, what effect have these investigations -had upon my own outlook on the Universe? -The question is not so unimportant as it seems; because -if the facts are to influence others they must have influenced -myself too; and that is the only influence of which -I have first-hand knowledge. It must not be supposed -that my outlook has changed appreciably since the event -and the particular experiences related in the foregoing -pages: my conclusion has been gradually forming itself -for years, though undoubtedly it is based on experience of -the same sort of thing. But this event has strengthened -and liberated my testimony. It can now be associated with -a private experience of my own, instead of with the private -experiences of others. So long as one was dependent on evidence -connected, even indirectly connected, with the bereavement -of others, one had to be reticent and cautious and in -some cases silent. Only by special permission could any -portion of the facts be reproduced; and that permission -might in important cases be withheld. My own deductions -were the same then as they are now, but the facts are -now my own.</p> - -<p>One little point of difference, between the time before -and the time after, has however become manifest. In the -old days, if I sat with a medium, I was never told of any -serious imaginary bereavement which had befallen myself—beyond -the natural and inevitable losses from an older -generation which fall to the lot of every son of man. But -now, if I or any member of my family goes anonymously to -a genuine medium, giving not the slightest normal clue, my -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[ 375]</a></span> -son is quickly to the fore and continues his clear and convincing -series of evidences; sometimes giving testimony -of a critically selected kind, sometimes contenting -himself with friendly family chaff and reminiscences, -but always acting in a manner consistent with his -personality and memories and varying moods. If in -any case a given medium had weak power, or if there -were special difficulties encountered on a given occasion, -he is aware of the fact; and he refers to it, when there -is opportunity, through another totally disconnected -medium (cf. Chapter XXI, Part II). In every way -he has shown himself anxious to give convincing -evidence. Moreover, he wants me to speak out; and I -shall.</p> - -<p>I am as convinced of continued existence, on the other -side of death, as I am of existence here. It may be said, -you cannot be as sure as you are of sensory experience. -I say I can. A physicist is never limited to direct sensory -impressions, he has to deal with a multitude of conceptions -and things for which he has no physical organ: the dynamical -theory of heat, for instance, and of gases, the theories -of electricity, of magnetism, of chemical affinity, of cohesion, -aye and his apprehension of the Ether itself, lead him -into regions where sight and hearing and touch are impotent -as direct witnesses, where they are no longer efficient -guides. In such regions everything has to be interpreted -in terms of the insensible, the apparently unsubstantial, and -in a definite sense the imaginary. Yet these regions of -knowledge are as clear and vivid to him as are any of those -encountered in everyday occupations; indeed most commonplace -phenomena themselves require interpretation in terms -of ideas more subtle,—the apparent solidity of matter itself -demands explanation,—and the underlying non-material -entities of a physicist's conception become gradually -as real and substantial as anything he knows. As Lord -Kelvin used to say, when in a paradoxical mood, we -really know more about electricity than we know about -matter.</p> - -<p>That being so, I shall go further and say that I am -reasonably convinced of the existence of grades of being, -not only lower in the scale than man but higher also, -grades of every order of magnitude from zero to infinity. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[ 376]</a></span> -And I know by experience that among these beings are -some who care for and help and guide humanity, not disdaining -to enter even into what must seem petty details, -if by so doing they can assist souls striving on their upward -course. And further it is my faith—however humbly -it may be held—that among these lofty beings, highest -of those who concern themselves directly with -this earth of all the myriads of worlds in infinite -space, is One on whom the right instinct of Christianity -has always lavished heartfelt reverence and devotion.</p> - -<p>Those who think that the day of that Messiah is over -are strangely mistaken: it has hardly begun. In individual -souls Christianity has flourished and borne fruit, -but for the ills of the world itself it is an almost untried -panacea. It will be strange if this ghastly war fosters -and simplifies and improves a knowledge of Christ, and -aids a perception of the ineffable beauty of his life and -teaching: yet stranger things have happened; and, whatever -the Churches may do, I believe that the call of Christ -himself will be heard and attended to, by a large part of -humanity in the near future, as never yet it has been heard -or attended to on earth.</p> - -<p>My own time down here is getting short; it matters -little: but I dare not go till I have borne this testimony -to the grace and truth which emanate from that divine -Being,—the realisation of whose tender-hearted simplicity -and love for man may have been overlaid at times and -almost lost amid well-intentioned but inappropriate dogma, -but who is accessible as always to the humble and -meek.</p> - -<p>Intercommunion between the states or grades of existence -is not limited to messages from friends and relatives, -or to conversation with personalities of our own -order of magnitude,—that is only a small and verifiable -portion of the whole truth,—intercourse between the states -carries with it occasional, and sometimes unconscious, communion -with lofty souls who have gone before. The truth -of such continued influence corresponds with the highest of -the Revelations vouchsafed to humanity. This truth, when -assimilated by man, means an assurance of the reality of -prayer, and a certainty of gracious sympathy and fellowfeeling -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[ 377]</a></span> -from one who never despised the suffering, the -sinful, or the lowly; yea, it means more—it means nothing -less than the possibility some day of a glance or a word of -approval from the Eternal Christ.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[ 378]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><span class="gesperrt">CHAPTER XVII</span><br /> -<span class="small">THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF GOD</span><br /> -<span class="xsmall">A PLEA FOR SIMPLICITY<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></span></h2> - -<p class="drop-cap">INVESTIGATION is laborious and unexciting; it takes -years, and progress is slow; but in all regions of knowledge -it is the method which in the long-run has led -towards truth; it is the method by which what we feel to -be solid and substantial progress has always been made. In -many departments of human knowledge this fact is admitted—though -men of science have had to fight hard for -their method before getting it generally recognised. In -some departments it is still contested, and the arguments -of Bacon in favour of free experimental inquiry are -applicable to those subjects which are claimed as superior -to scientific test.</p> - -<p>If it be objected that not by such means is truth in -religious matters ascertained, if it be held that we must -walk by faith, not by sight, and that never by searching -will man find out any of the secrets of God, I do not care -to contest the objection, though I disagree with its negative -portion. That no amount of searching will ever enable -us to find out the Almighty to perfection is manifestly true; -that secrets may be revealed to inspired 'babes' which are -hidden from the wise and prudent is likewise certain; but -that no secret things of God can be brought to light by patient -examination and inquiry into facts is false, for you -cannot parcel out truth into that which is divine and that -which is not divine; the truths of science were as much -God's secrets as any other, and they have yielded up their -mystery to precisely the process which is called in -question.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[ 379]</a></span></p></div> - -<p>We are part of the Universe, our senses have been -evolved in and by it; it follows that they are harmonious -with it, and that the way it appeals to our senses is a true -way; though their obvious limitation entitles us to expect -from time to time fresh discoveries of surprising and fundamental -novelty, and a growing perception of tracts beyond -our ancient ken.</p> - -<p>Some critics there are, however, who, calling themselves -scientific, have made up their minds in a negative -direction and a contrary sense. These are impressed not -only with the <i>genuineness</i> of the truth afforded us through -our senses and perceptions, but with its <i>completeness</i>; they -appear to think that the main lines of research have already -been mapped out or laid down, they will not believe that -regions other than those to which they are accustomed can -be open to scientific exploration; especially they imagine -that in the so-called religious domain there can be no guides -except preconception and prejudice. Accordingly, they appear -to disbelieve that anyone can be conscientiously taking -trouble to grope his way by patient inquiry, with the aid -of such clues as are available; and in order to contradict -the results of such inquiry they fall into the habit of doing -that of which they accuse the workers,—they appeal to -sentiment and presumption. They talk freely about what -they believe, what they think unlikely, and what is impossible. -They are governed by prejudice; their minds are -made up. Doubtless they regard knowledge on certain -topics as inaccessible, so they are positive and selfsatisfied -and opinionated and quite sure. They pride -themselves on their hard-headed scepticism and robust -common sense; while the truth is that they have bound -themselves into a narrow cell by walls of sentiment, and -have thus excluded whole regions of human experience from -their purview. -<br /> -<br /> -</p> - -<p>It so happens that I have been engaged for over forty -years in mathematical and physical science, and for more -than half that period in exploration into unusual psychical -development, as opportunity arose; and I have thus been -led to certain tentative conclusions respecting permissible -ways of regarding the universe.</p> - -<p>First, I have learned to regard the universe as a concrete -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[ 380]</a></span> -and full-bodied reality, with parts accessible and intelligible -to us, all of it capable of being understood and -investigated by the human mind, not as an abstraction or -dream-like entity whose appearances are deceptive. Our -senses do not deceive us; their testimony is true as far as -it goes. I have learned to believe in Intelligibility.</p> - -<p>Next, that everything, every single thing, has many -aspects. Even such a thing as water, for instance. Water, -regarded by the chemist, is an assemblage or aggregate of -complex molecules; regarded by the meteorologist and -physiographer, it is an element of singular and vitally important -properties; every poet has treated of some aspect -of beauty exhibited by this common substance; while to -the citizen it is an ordinary need of daily life. All the -aspects together do not exhaust the subject, but each of -them is real. The properties of matter of which our senses -tell us, or enable us to inquire into in laboratories, are true -properties, real and true. They are not the whole truth, a -great deal more is known about them by men of science, but -the more complex truths do not make the simpler ones false. -Moreover, we must admit that the whole truth about the -simplest thing is assuredly beyond us; the Thing-in-itself -is related to the whole universe, and in its fulness is incomprehensible.</p> - -<p>Furthermore, I have learned that while positive assertions -on any given subject are often true, error creeps -in when simple aspects are denied in order to emphasise -the more complex, or <i>vice versa</i>. A trigonometrical sine, -for instance, may be expressed in terms of imaginary -exponentials in a way familiar to all mathematical -students; also as an infinite series of fractions with increasing -factorials in the denominators; also in a number -of other true and legitimate and useful ways; but the simple -geometrical definition, by aid of the chord of a -circle or the string of a bow, survives them all, and is true -too.</p> - -<p>So it is, I venture to say, with the concept God.</p> - -<p>It can be regarded from some absolute and transcendental -standpoint which humanity can only pretend to attain -to. It can be regarded as the highest and best idea -which the human mind has as yet been able to form. It -can be regarded as dominating and including all existence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[ 381]</a></span> -and as synonymous with all existence when that is made -sufficiently comprehensive. All these views are legitimate, -but they are not final or complete. God can also be represented -by some of the attributes of humanity, and can -be depicted as a powerful and loving Friend with whom our -spirits may commune at every hour of the day, one whose -patience and wisdom and long-suffering and beneficence are -never exhausted. He can, in fact, be regarded as displayed -to us, in such fashion as we can make use of, in -the person of an incarnate Being who came for the express -purpose of revealing to man such attributes of deity as -would otherwise have been missed.</p> - -<p>The images are not mutually exclusive, they may all be -in some sort true. None of them is complete. They are -all aspects—partly true and partly false as conceived by -any individual, but capable of being expressed so as to be, -as far as they go, true.</p> - -<p>Undoubtedly the Christian idea of God is the simple -one. Overpoweringly and appallingly simple is the notion -presented to us by the orthodox Christian Churches:—</p> - -<p>A babe born of poor parents, born in a stable among -cattle because there was no room for them in the village -inn—no room for them in the inn—what a master touch! -Revealed to shepherds. Religious people inattentive. Royalty -ignorant, or bent on massacre. A glimmering perception, -according to one noble legend, attained in the Far -East—where also similar occurrences have been narrated. -Then the child growing into a peasant youth, brought up to -a trade. At length a few years of itinerant preaching; -flashes of miraculous power and insight. And then a swift -end: set upon by the religious people; his followers overawed -and scattered, himself tried as a blasphemer, flogged, -and finally tortured to death.</p> - -<p>Simplicity most thorough and most strange! In itself it -is not unique; such occurrences seem inevitable to highest -humanity in an unregenerate world; but who, without inspiration, -would see in them a revelation of the nature of -God? The life of Buddha, the life of Joan of Arc, are not -thus regarded. Yet the Christian revelation is clear enough -and true enough if our eyes are open, and if we care to read -and accept the simple record which, whatever its historical -value, is all that has been handed down to us.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[ 382]</a></span></p> - -<p>Critics often object that there have been other attempted -Messiahs, that the ancient world was expectant of a Divine -Incarnation. True enough. But what then? We need -not be afraid of an idea because it has several times striven -to make itself appreciated. It is foolish to decline a revelation -because it has been more than once offered to -humanity. Every great revelation is likely to have been -foreshadowed in more or less imperfect forms, so as to prepare -our minds and make ready the way for complete perception -hereafter. It is probable that the human race is -quite incompetent to receive a really great idea the first -time it is offered. There must be many failures to effect -an entrance before the final success, many struggles to overcome -natural obstacles and submerge the stony products -of human stolidity. Lapse of time for preparation is required -before anything great can be permanently accomplished, -and repeated attempts are necessary; but the tide -of general progress is rising all the time. The idea is well -expressed in Clough's familiar lines:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poem width24"> -<div class="stanza"> -<p>"For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Seem here no painful inch to gain,</span></p> -<p>Far back, through creeks and inlets making,</p> -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Comes silent, flooding in, the main."</span></p> -</div></div></div> - -<p>So it was with the idea of the Messiah which was abroad -in the land, and had been for centuries, before Christ's -coming; and never has he been really recognised by more -than a few. Dare we not say that he is more truly recognised -now than in any previous age in the history of the -Church—except perhaps the very earliest? And I doubt -if we need make that exception.</p> - -<p>The idea of his Messiahship gradually dawned upon him, -and he made no mistake as to his mission:—</p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:4em;">The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's -who sent me.</span></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:4em;">As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.</span></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:4em;">The words which I say unto you I speak not of myself; -the Father which dwelleth in me, he doeth the -works.</span></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:4em;">The Father is greater than I.</span></p> - -<p>But, for all that,</p> - -<p><span style="margin-left:4em;">He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[ 383]</a></span></p> - -<p>Yes, truly, Christ was a planetary manifestation of Deity, -a revelation to the human race, the highest and simplest it -has yet had; a revelation in the only form accessible -to man, a revelation in the full-bodied form of -humanity.</p> - -<p>Little conception had they in those days of the whole -universe as we know it now. The earth was the whole -world to them, and that which revealed God to the earth -was naturally regarded as the whole Cosmic Deity. Yet -it was a truly divine Incarnation.</p> - -<p>A deity of some kind is common to every branch of the -human race. It seems to be possessed by every savage, -overawed as he necessarily is by the forces of nature. Caprice, -jealousy, openness to flattery and rewards, are likewise -parts of early theology. Then in the gods of Olympus—that -poetic conception which rose to such heights and fell -to such depths at different epochs in the ancient world—the -attributes of power and beauty were specially emphasised. -<i>Power</i> is common to all deities, and favouritism in its use -seems also a natural supposition to early tribes; but the -element of <i>Beauty</i>, as a divine attribute, we in these islands, -save for the poets, have largely lost or forgotten—to our -great detriment. In Jehovah, however, the Hebrew race -rose to a conception of divine <i>Righteousness</i> which we have -assimilated and permanently retained; and upon that foundation -Christianity was grafted. It was to a race who -had risen thus far—a race with a genius for theology—that -the Christian revelation came. It was rendered possible, -though only just possible, by the stage attained. Simple -and unknown folk were ready to receive it, or, at least, -were willing to take the first steps to learn.</p> - -<p>The power, the righteousness, and other worthy attributes -belonging to Jehovah, were known of old. The Christian -conception takes <i>them</i> for granted, and concentrates -attention on the pity, the love, the friendliness, the compassion, -the earnest desire to help mankind—attributes -which, though now and again dimly discerned by one or -another of the great seers of old, had not yet been thrown -into concrete form.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>People sometimes seek to deny such attributes as are -connoted by the word 'Personality' in the Godhead—they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[ 384]</a></span> -say it is a human conception. Certainly it is a human conception; -it is through humanity that it has been revealed. -Why seek to deny it? God transcends personality, objectors -say. By all means: transcends all our conceptions -infinitely, transcends every revelation which has ever been -vouchsafed; but the revelations are true as far as they go, -for all that.</p> - -<p>Let us not befog ourselves by attempting impossible -conceptions to such an extent that we lose the simple and -manifest reality. No conception that we can make is too -high, too good, too worthy. It is easy to imagine ourselves -mistaken, but never because ideas are too high or too good. -It were preposterous to imagine an over-lofty conception in -a creature. Reality is always found to exceed our clear -conception of it; never once in science has it permanently -fallen short. No conception is too great or too high. But -also no devout conception is too simple, too lowly, -too childlike to have an element—some grain—of -vital truth stored away, a mustard seed ready to -germinate and bud, a leaven which may permeate -the whole mass.</p> - -<p>I would apply all this to what for brevity may be called -Human Immortality. It is possible to think of that rather -simply; and, on the other hand, it is possible to confuse -ourselves with tortuous thoughts till it seems unreal and -impossible. It is part of the problem of personality and -individuality; for the question of how far these are dependent -on the bodily organism, or whether they can exist -without it, is a scientific question. It is open to research. -And yet it is connected with Christianity; for undoubtedly -the Christian idea of God involves a belief in human immortality. -If <i>per impossible</i> this latter could be authoritatively -denied, a paralysing blow would have been struck -at the Christian idea. On the other hand, if by scientific investigation -the persistence of individual memory and character -were proved, a great step in the direction of orthodox -theology would have been taken.</p> - -<p>The modern superstition about the universe is that, -being suffused with law and order, it contains nothing personal, -nothing indeterminate, nothing unforeseen; that there -is no room for the free activity of intelligent beings, that -everything is mechanically determined; so that given the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[ 385]</a></span> -velocity and acceleration and position of every atom at any -instant, the whole future could be unravelled by sufficient -mathematical power.</p> - -<p>The doctrines of Uniformity and Determinism are supposed -to be based upon experience. But experience includes -experience of the actions of human beings; and some -of them certainly appear to be of a capricious and undetermined -character. Or without considering human beings, -watch the orbits of a group of flies as they play; they are -manifestly not controlled completely by mechanical laws -as are the motions of the planets. The simplest view of -their activity is that it is self-determined, that they are flying -about at their own will, and turning when and where -they choose. The conservation of energy has nothing to say -against it. Here we see free-will in its simplest form. To -suppose anything else in such a case, to suppose that every -twist could have been predicted through all eternity, is to -introduce præternatural complexity, and is quite unnecessary.</p> - -<p>Why not assume, what is manifestly the truth, that -free-will exists and has to be reckoned with, that the universe -is not a machine subject to outside forces, but a living -organism with initiations of its own; and that the -laws which govern it, though they include mechanical and -physical and chemical laws, are not limited to those, -but involve other and higher abstractions, which may -perhaps some day be formulated, for life and mind and -spirit?</p> - -<p>If it be said that free-will can be granted to deity but -to nothing lower, inasmuch as the Deity must be aware -of all that is going to happen, I reply that you are now -making a hypothesis of a complicated kind, and going -beyond knowledge into speculation. But if still the -speculation appears reasonable, that only the Deity can -be endowed with free-will, it merely opens the question, -What shall be included in that term? If freedom is the -characteristic mark of deity, then those are justified who -have taught that every fragment of mind and will is -a contributory element in the essence of the Divine -Being.</p> - -<p>How, then, can we conceive of deity? The analogy of -the human body and its relation to the white corpuscles in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[ 386]</a></span> -its blood is instructive. Each corpuscle is a living-creature -endowed with the powers of locomotion, of assimilation, -and, under certain conditions now being inquired into, -of reproduction by fission. The health and polity of the -body are largely dependent on the activity of these phagocytes. -They are to us extremely important; they are an -essential part of our being.</p> - -<p>But now suppose one of these corpuscles endowed with -intelligence—what conception of the universe will it be able -to form? It may examine its surroundings, discourse of -the vessels through which it passes, of the adventures it -encounters; and if philosophically minded, it may speculate -on a being of which perhaps it and all its like form a part—an -immanent deity, whose constituents they are, a being -which includes them and includes all else which they know -or can imagine—a being to whose existence they contribute, -and whose purposes they serve or share. So far they could -speculate, and so far they would be right. But if they proceeded -further, and entered on negations, if they surmised -that that immanent aspect of the universe in which they -lived and moved and had their being was the sole and only -aspect, if they surmised that there was no personality, no -feeling, no locomotion, no mind, no purpose, apart from -them and their kind, they would greatly err. What -conception could they ever form of the manifold -interests and activities of man? Still less of the -universe known to man, of which he himself forms so -trivial a portion.</p> - -<p>All analogies fail at some point, but they are a help -nevertheless, and this analogy will bear pressing rather far. -We ourselves are a part of the agencies for good or evil; -we have the power to help or to hinder, to mend or to mar, -within the scope of our activity. Our help is asked for; -lowly as we are, it is really wanted, on the earth here and -now, just as much wanted as our body needs the help of -its lowly white corpuscles—to contribute to health, to attack -disease, to maintain the normal and healthy life of the organism. -We are the white corpuscles of the cosmos, we -serve and form part of an immanent Deity.</p> - -<p>Truly it is no easy service to which we are called; -something of the wisdom of the serpent must enter into -our activities; sanity and moral dignity and sound sense -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[ 387]</a></span> -must govern our proceedings; all our powers must be called -out, and there must be no sluggishness. Impulses, even -good impulses, alone are not sufficient; every faculty of -the human brain must be exerted, and we must be continually -on guard against the flabbiness of mere good -intentions.</p> - -<p>Our activity and service are thus an integral part of -the Divine Existence, which likewise includes that of all -the perceptible universe. But to suppose that this exhausts -the matter, and that the Deity has no transcendent Existence -of which we can form no idea,—to suppose that what -happens is not the result of his dominant and controlling -Personality, is to step beyond legitimate inference, and to -treat appearance as exhaustive of reality.</p> - -<p>Always mistrust negations. They commonly signify -blindness and prejudice—except when thoroughly established -and carefully formulated in the light of actual experience -or mathematical proof. And even then we -should be ready to admit the possibility of higher -generalisations which may uproot them. They are -only safe when thrown into the form of a positive -assertion.</p> - -<p>The impossibility of squaring the circle is not really a -negative proposition, except in form. It is safer and more -convincing when thrown into the positive and definite form -that the ratio of area to diameter is incommensurable. That -statement is perfectly clear and legitimate; and the illustration -may be used as a parable. A positive form should -be demanded of every comprehensive denial; and whatever -cannot be thrown into positive form, it is wise to mistrust. -Its promulgator is probably stepping out of bounds, into -the cheap and easy region of negative speculation. He is -like a rationalistic microbe denying the existence of a human -being.</p> - -<p>I have urged that the simple aspect of things is to be -considered and not despised; but, for the majority of people, -is not the tendency the other way? Are they not too -much given to suppose the Universe limited to the simplicity -of their first and everyday conception of it? The stockbroker -has his idea of the totality of things; the navvy has -his. Students of mathematical physics are liable to think -of it as a determinate assemblage of atoms and ether, with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[ 388]</a></span> -no room for spiritual entities—no room, as my brilliant -teacher, W. K. Clifford, expressed it, no room -for ghosts.</p> - -<p>Biological students are apt to think of life as a physicochemical -process of protoplasmic structure and cell organisation, -with consciousness as an epiphenomenon. They -watch the lowly stages of animal organisms, and hope to -imitate their behaviour by judicious treatment of inorganic -materials. By all means let them try; the effort -is entirely legitimate, and not unhopeful. That which has -come into being in the past may come into being under -observation in the present, and the intelligence and co-operation -of man may help. Why not? The material -vehicle would thus have been provided—in this case, -without doubt, purposely and designedly—for some incipient -phase of life. But would that in the least explain the -nature of life and mind and will, and reduce them to simple -atomic mechanism and dynamics? Not a whit. The -real nature of these things would remain an unanswered -question.</p> - -<p>During the past century progress has lain chiefly in the -domain of the mechanical and material. The progress has -been admirable, and has led to natural rejoicing and -legitimate pride. It has also led to a supposition that all -possible scientific advance lies in this same direction, or -even that all the great fundamental discoveries have now -been made! Discovery proceeds by stages, and enthusiasm -at the acquisition of a step or a landing-place obscures -for a time our perception of the flight of stairs immediately -ahead; but it is rational to take a more comprehensive -view.</p> - -<p>Part of our experience is the connexion of spirit with -matter. We are conscious of our own identity, our own -mind and purpose and will: we are also conscious of the -matter in which it is at present incarnate and manifested. -Let us use these experiences and learn from them. Incarnation -is a fact; we are not matter, yet we utilise it. -Through the mechanism of the brain we can influence the -material world; we are in it, but not of it; we transcend -it by our consciousness. The body is our machine, our -instrument, our vehicle of manifestation; and through it -we can achieve results in the material sphere. Why seek -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[ 389]</a></span> -to deny either the spiritual or the material? Both are -real, both are true. In some higher mind, perhaps, they -may be unified: meanwhile we do not possess this higher -mind. Scientific progress is made by accepting realities -and learning from them; the rest is speculation. It is not -likely that we are the only intelligent beings in the Universe. -There may be many higher grades, up to the -Divine; just as there are lower grades, down to the -amœba. Nor need all these grades of intelligence be -clothed in matter or inhabit the surface of a planet. That -is the kind of existence with which we are now familiar, -truly, and anything beyond that is for the most part supersensuous; -but our senses are confessedly limited, -and if there is any truth in the doctrine of human immortality -the existence of myriads of departed individuals -must be assumed, on what has been called "the other -side."</p> - -<p>But how are we to get evidence in favour of such an -apparently gratuitous hypothesis? Well, speaking for myself -and with full and cautious responsibility, I have to -state that as an outcome of my investigation into psychical -matters I have at length and quite gradually become convinced, -after more than thirty years of study, not only -that persistent individual existence is a fact, but that -occasional communication across the chasm—with difficulty -and under definite conditions—is possible.</p> - -<p>This is not a subject on which one comes lightly and -easily to a conclusion, nor can the evidence be explained -except to those who will give to it time and careful study; -but clearly the conclusion is either folly and self-deception, -or it is a truth of the utmost importance to humanity—and -of importance to us in connexion with our present subject. -For it is a conclusion which cannot stand alone. Mistaken -or true, it affords a foothold for a whole range of -other thoughts, other conclusions, other ideas: false and -misleading if the foothold is insecure, worthy of attention -if the foothold is sound. Let posterity judge.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile it is a subject that attracts cranks and -charlatans. Rash opinions are freely expressed on -both sides. I call upon the educated of the younger -generation to refrain from accepting assertions without -severe scrutiny, and, above all, to keep an open mind.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[ 390]</a></span></p> - -<p>If departed human beings can communicate with us, -can advise us and help us, can have any influence on our -actions,—then clearly the doors are open to a wealth -of spiritual intercourse beyond what we have yet -imagined.</p> - -<p>The region of the miraculous, it is called, and the bare -possibility of its existence has been hastily and illegitimately -denied. But so long as we do not imagine it to be -a region denuded of a law and order of its own, akin to the -law and order of the psychological realm, our denial has -no foundation. The existence of such a region may be -established by experience; its non-existence cannot be established, -for non-experience might merely mean that owing to -deficiencies of our sense organs it was beyond our ken. In -judging of what are called miracles we must be guided by -historical evidence and literary criticism. We need not -urge <i>a priori</i> objections to them on scientific grounds. They -need be no more impossible, no more lawless, than the interference -of a human being would seem to a colony of ants or -bees.</p> - -<p>The Christian idea of God certainly has involved, and -presumably always will involve, an element of the miraculous,—a -flooding of human life with influences which lie -outside it, a controlling of human destiny by higher and -beneficent agencies. By evil agencies too? Yes, the influences -are not all on one side; but the Christian faith is -that the good are the stronger. Experience has shown to -many a saint, however tormented by evil, that appeal to -the powers of good can result in ultimate victory. Let us -not reject experience on the ground of dogmatic assertion -and baseless speculation.</p> - -<p>Historical records tell us of a Divine Incarnation. We -may consider it freely on historical grounds. We are not -debarred from contemplating such a thing by anything -that science has to say to the contrary. Science does not -speak directly on the subject. If the historical evidence -is good we may credit it, just as we may credit the -hypothesis of survival if the present-day evidence is good. -It sounds too simple and popular an explanation—too much -like the kind of ideas suited to unsophisticated man and to -the infancy of the race. True; but has it not happened -often in the history of science that reality has been found -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[ 391]</a></span> -simpler than our attempted conception of it? Electricity -long ago was often treated as a fluid; and a little time ago -it was customary to jeer at the expression—legitimate in -the mouth of Benjamin Franklin, but now apparently outgrown. -And yet what else is the crowd of mobile electrons, -postulated by [not] the very latest theory, in a metal? -Surely it is in some sense a fluid, though not a material -one? The guess was not so far wrong after all. Meanwhile -we learned to treat it by mathematical devices, vector -potential, and other recondite methods. With great -veneration I speak of the mathematical physicists of -the past century. They have been almost superhuman in -power, and have attained extraordinary results, but in time -the process of discovery will enable mankind to apprehend -all these things more simply. Progress lies in -simple investigation as well as in speculation and thought -up to the limits of human power; and when things are -really understood, they are perceived to be fairly simple -after all.</p> - -<p>So it seems likely to be with a future state, or our own -permanent existence; it has been thought of and spoken -of as if it were altogether transcendental—something beyond -space and time (as it may be), something outside -and beyond all conception. But it is not necessarily so at -all; it is a question of fact; it is open to investigation. I -find part of it turning out quite reasonably simple; not -easy to grasp or express, for lack of experience and language—that -is true,—but not by any means conveying a -feeling of immediate vast difference and change. Something -much more like terrestrial existence, at least on one -aspect of it, than we had imagined. Not as a rule associated -with matter; no, but perhaps associated with ether—an -etherial body instead of a material one; certainly a -body, or mode of manifestation, of some kind. It appears -to be a state which leaves personality and character and intelligence -much where it was. No sudden jump into something -supernal, but steady and continued progress. Many -activities and interests beyond our present ken, but -with a surviving terrestrial aspect, occasionally accessible, -and showing interest in the doings of those -on earth, together with great desire to help and to -encourage all efforts for the welfare of the race. We need -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[ 392]</a></span> -not search after something so far removed from humanity -as to be unintelligible.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>So likewise with the idea of God.</p> - -<p>No matter how complex and transcendentally vast the -Reality must be, the Christian conception of God is humanly -simple. It appeals to the unlettered and ignorant; it appeals -to "babes."</p> - -<p>That is the way with the greatest things. The sun is -the centre of the solar system, a glorious object full of -mystery and unknown forces, but the sunshine is a friendly -and homely thing, which shines in at a cottage window, -touches common objects with radiance, and brings warmth -and comfort even to the cat.</p> - -<p>The sunshine is not the sun, but it is the human and -terrestrial aspect of the sun; it is that which matters in -daily life. It is independent of study and discovery; it -is given us by direct experience, and for ordinary life it -suffices.</p> - -<p>Thus would I represent the Christian conception of -God. Christ is the human and practical and workaday -aspect. Christ is the sunshine—that fraction of transcendental -Cosmic Deity which suffices for the earth. Jesus of -Nazareth is plainly a terrestrial heritage. His advent is -the glory, His reception the shame, of the human race.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Once more, then. Although there may be undue simplification -of the complex, there is also an undue complication -of the simple; it is easy to invent unnecessary problems, to -manufacture gratuitous difficulties, to lose our way in a -humanly constructed and quite undivine fog. But the -way is really simple, and when the fog lifts and the -sunshine appears, all becomes clear and we proceed -without effort on our way: the wayfaring man, though a -fool, need not err therein. The way, the truth, and the -life are all one. Reality is always simple; it is concrete -and real and expressible. Our customary view of the commonest -objects is not indeed the last word, nay, rather, -it is the first word, as to their nature; but it is a true word -as far as it goes. Analysing a liquid into a congeries of -discrete atoms does not destroy or weaken or interfere -with its property or fluidity. Analysing an atom into electrons -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[ 393]</a></span> -does not destroy the atom. Reducing matter to -electricity, or to any other etherial substratum, does not -alter the known and familiarly utilised properties of a bit -of wood or iron or glass, in the least; no, nor of a bit of -bone or feather or flesh. Study may superadd properties -imperceptible to the plain man, but the plain man's concrete -and simple view serves for ordinary purposes of daily -life.</p> - -<p>And God's view, strange to say, must be more akin to -that of the plain man than to that of the philosopher or -statistician. That is how it comes that children are near -the kingdom of heaven. It is not likely that God really -makes abstractions and "geometrises." All those higher -and elaborate modes of expression are human counters; -and the difficulties of dealing with them are human too. -Only in early stages do things require superhuman power -for their apprehension; they are easy to grasp when they -are really understood. They come out then into daily life; -they are not then matters of intellectual strain; they can -appeal to our sense of beauty; they can affect us with -emotion and love and appreciation and joy; they can enter -into poetry and music, and constitute the subject-matter of -Art of all kinds. The range of art and of enjoyment must -increase infinitely with perfect knowledge. This is the -atmosphere of God. "Where dwells enjoyment, there is -He." We are struggling upwards into that atmosphere -slowly and laboriously. The struggle is human, and for -us quite necessary, but the mountain top is serene and -pure and lovely, and its beauty is in nowise enhanced by -the efforts of the exhausted climber, as he slowly wins his -way thither.</p> - -<p>Yet the effort itself is of value. The climber, too, is part -of the scheme, and his upward trend may be growth -and gain to the whole. It adds interest, though not -beauty. Do not let us think that the universe is stagnant -and fixed and settled and dull, and that all its appearance -of "going on" is illusion and deception. I would -even venture to urge that, ever since the grant to -living creatures of free will, there must be, in some sense -or other, a real element of contingency,—that there is no -dulness about it, even to the Deity, but a constant and -aspiring Effort.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[ 394]</a></span></p> - -<p>Let us trust our experience in this also. The Universe -is a flux, it is a becoming, it is a progress. Evolution is -a reality. True and not imaginary progress is possible. -Effort is not a sham. Existence is a true adventure. There -is a real risk.</p> - -<p>There was a real risk about creation—directly it went -beyond the inert and mechanical. The granting of choice -and free will involved a risk. Thenceforward things could -go wrong. They might be kept right by main force, but -that would not be playing the game, that would not be -loyalty to the conditions.</p> - -<p>As William James says: A football team desire to get -a ball to a certain spot, but that is not all they desire; they -wish to do it under certain conditions and overcome inherent -difficulties—else might they get up in the night and put -it there.</p> - -<p>So also we may say, Good is the end and aim of the -Divine Being; but not without conditions. Not by compulsion. -Perfection as of machinery would be too dull and -low an achievement—something much higher is sought. The -creation of free creatures who, in so far as they go right, -do so because they will, not because they must,—that was -the Divine problem, and it is the highest of which we have -any conception.</p> - -<p>Yes, there was a real risk in making a human race on -this planet. Ultimate good was not guaranteed. Some parts -of the Universe must be far better than this, but some may -be worse. Some planets may comparatively fail. -The power of evil may here and there get the -upper hand: although it must ultimately lead to -suicidal destructive failure, for evil is pregnant with -calamity.</p> - -<p>This planet is surely not going to fail. Its destinies -have been more and more entrusted to us. For millions -of years it laboured, and now it has produced a human -race—a late-comer to the planet, only recently arrived, only -partly civilised as yet. But already it has produced Plato -and Newton and Shakespeare; yes, and it has been the -dwelling-place of Christ. Surely it is going to succeed, and -in good time to be the theatre of such a magnificent development -of human energy and power and joy as to compensate, -and more than compensate, for all the pain and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[ 395]</a></span> -suffering, all the blood and tears, which have gone to prepare -the way.</p> - -<p>The struggle is a real one. The effort is not confined -to humanity alone: according to the Christian conception -God has shared in it. "God so loved the world that He -gave"—we know the text. The earth's case was not hopeless; -the world was bad, but it could be redeemed; and the -redemption was worth the painful effort which then was -undergone, and which the disciples of the Cross have since -in their measure shared. Aye, that is the Christian conception; -not of a God apart from His creatures, looking on, -taking no personal interest in their behaviour, sitting aloof -only to judge them; but One who anxiously takes measures -for their betterment, takes trouble, takes pains—a pregnant -phrase, takes pains,—One who suffers when they go -wrong, One who feels painfully the miseries and wrongdoings -and sins and cruelties of the creatures whom He -has endowed with free will; One who actively enters into -the storm and the conflict; One who actually took flesh and -dwelt among us, to save us from the slough into which we -might have fallen, to show us what the beauty and dignity -of man might be.</p> - -<p>Well, it is a great idea, a great and simple idea, so -simple as to be incredible to some minds. It has been -hidden from many of the wise and prudent; it has been -revealed to babes.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>To sum up: Let us not be discouraged by simplicity. -Real things are simple. Human conceptions are not altogether -misleading. Our view of the Universe is a partial -one but is not an untrue one. Our knowledge of the conditions -of existence is not altogether false—only inadequate. -The Christian idea of God is a genuine representation of -reality.</p> - -<p>Nor let us imagine that existence hereafter, removed -from these atoms of matter which now both confuse and -manifest it, will be something so wholly remote and different -as to be unimaginable; but let us learn by the testimony -of experience—either our own or that of others—that -those who have been, still are; that they care for us -and help us; that they, too, are progressing and learning -and working and hoping; that there are grades of existence, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[ 396]</a></span> -stretching upward and upward to all eternity; and that God -Himself, through His agents and messengers, is continually -striving and working and planning, so as to bring this creation -of His through its preparatory labour and pain, and -lead it on to an existence higher and better than anything we -have ever known.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<blockquote> -<p class="footnote"><span class="smcap"><b>Footnotes</b></span></p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> -<i>Hibbert Journal</i>, July 1911.</p> -</div> -</blockquote> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[ 397]</a></span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>INDEX</h2> -</div> - -<div> -Abstraction,<a href="#Page_370">370</a>,<a href="#Page_372">372</a>,<a href="#Page_380">380</a><br /> -<br /> -<i>Abt Vogler</i>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a><br /> -<br /> -Acorn, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br /> -<br /> -Acquired characters, Inheritance of, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br /> -<br /> -Acrostic, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a><br /> -<br /> -Adonis, <a href="#Page_304">304</a><br /> -<br /> -Æneid, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a><br /> -<br /> -Aeroplane, <a href="#Page_142">142</a><br /> -<br /> -Agents, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a><br /> -<br /> -Alec, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></span><br /> -<br /> -Amœba, <a href="#Page_389">389</a><br /> -<br /> -Animation of Matter, <a href="#Page_363">363</a><br /> -<br /> -Anonymity, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br /> -<br /> -Anticipation and Reality, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a><br /> -<br /> -Argonauts, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br /> -<br /> -Army officers, <a href="#Page_53">53</a><br /> -<br /> -Arnold, Sir Edwin, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br /> -<br /> -Art, <a href="#Page_393">393</a><br /> -<br /> -Aspasia, <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br /> -<br /> -Asquith, Mr., <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br /> -<br /> -Atheism, <a href="#Page_370">370</a><br /> -<br /> -Atomic Theory, <a href="#Page_288">288</a><br /> -<br /> -Atonement, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br /> -<br /> -Attacks, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a><br /> -<br /> -Aunt Anne, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> -<br /> -Aunt Jennie, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br /> -<br /> -Australia, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br /> -<br /> -Automatic Writing, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></span><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Bacon, Lord, <a href="#Page_378">378</a><br /> -<br /> -Bailey, <a href="#Page_61">61</a><br /> -<br /> -Balfour, Rt. Hon. G. W., <a href="#Page_283">283</a><br /> -<br /> -Banks, Mitchell, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br /> -<br /> -Barbara, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a><br /> -<br /> -Barrett, Sir W. F., <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br /> -<br /> -Bayfield, Rev. M. A., <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br /> -<br /> -Beads on string, <a href="#Page_288">288</a><br /> -<br /> -Bean, Jumping, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a><br /> -<br /> -Beauty, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a><br /> -<br /> -Bedales, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br /> -<br /> -Beehive, <a href="#Page_291">291</a><br /> -<br /> -Belgian stove, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> -<br /> -Belgium, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a><br /> -<br /> -Bereavement, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br /> -<br /> -Bergson, Professor, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br /> -<br /> -Biddy, <a href="#Page_168">168</a><br /> -<br /> -Bill, Brother. See William<br /> -<br /> -Birmingham, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> -<br /> -Birthday, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> -<br /> -Boast, Captain S. T., <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a><br /> -<br /> -Body, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a><br /> -<br /> -Body and Mind, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br /> -<br /> -Books, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a><br /> -<br /> -Boy at organ, <a href="#Page_373">373</a><br /> -<br /> -Brain, Function of, <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br /> -<br /> -Bricklaying, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br /> -<br /> -Bridging the chasm, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a><br /> -<br /> -Briscoe, A. E., <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br /> -<br /> -British Warm, <a href="#Page_19">19</a><br /> -<br /> -Brittain, Mrs., <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br /> -<br /> -Brodie (B.), <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br /> -<br /> -Brothers, Two, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a><br /> -<br /> -Browne, Sir James Crichton, <a href="#Page_291">291</a><br /> -<br /> -Browning, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a><br /> -<br /> -Buddha, <a href="#Page_381">381</a><br /> -<br /> -Burial, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> -<br /> -Burial, Care taken in, <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br /> -<br /> -Burlton, Lieut., <a href="#Page_53">53</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Calamity, <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br /> -<br /> -Calendar of Photograph, <a href="#Page_115">115</a><br /> -<br /> -Cambridge, <a href="#Page_286">286</a><br /> -<br /> - -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[ 398]</a></span> - -Card, Memorial, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> -<br /> -Case, Lieut., <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br /> -<br /> -Caton, Dr., <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br /> -<br /> -Cavalry officers, <a href="#Page_54">54</a><br /> -<br /> -Change of Conditions, <a href="#Page_306">306</a><br /> -<br /> -Charlatans, <a href="#Page_389">389</a><br /> -<br /> -Chasm bridging, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a><br /> -<br /> -Château, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br /> -<br /> -Cheerfulness, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br /> -<br /> -Chemistry, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a><br /> -<br /> -Chemistry and Physics, <a href="#Page_370">370</a><br /> -<br /> -Cheves, Captain, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a><br /> -<br /> -Childhood, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> -<br /> -Christian claim, <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br /> -<br /> -Christianity, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br /> -<br /> -Christmas, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a><br /> -<br /> -Christopher Sonnenschein, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br /> -<br /> -Clairvoyance, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br /> -<br /> -Clegg, Mrs., <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br /> -<br /> -Clifford, W. K., <a href="#Page_388">388</a><br /> -<br /> -Clothes, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a><br /> -<br /> -Clough, A. H., <a href="#Page_382">382</a><br /> -<br /> -Code signalling, <a href="#Page_362">362</a><br /> -<br /> -Coleridge, <a href="#Page_304">304</a><br /> -<br /> -Columbus, <a href="#Page_367">367</a><br /> -<br /> -Coming down hill, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a><br /> -<br /> -Common-sense explanations, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a><br /> -<br /> -Communicating, Instruction in, <a href="#Page_165">165</a><br /> -<br /> -Communication, <a href="#Page_389">389</a><br /> -<br /> -Communicator, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a><br /> -<br /> -Coniston, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br /> -<br /> -Consciousness, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a><br /> -<br /> -Conservation, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br /> -<br /> -Constructive ability, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br /> -<br /> -Contingency, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br /> -<br /> -Continuity, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a><br /> -<br /> -Control, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a><br /> -<br /> -Control, Method, <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br /> -<br /> -Cooking, <a href="#Page_28">28</a><br /> -<br /> -1 Corinthians i. <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a><br /> -<br /> -Corpuscles (white), <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a><br /> -<br /> -Cotton, Colonel, <a href="#Page_53">53</a><br /> -<br /> -Covering Party, <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br /> -<br /> -Creatures, Living, <a href="#Page_304">304</a><br /> -<br /> -Crookes, Sir William, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a><br /> -<br /> -Cross, Falling, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br /> -<br /> -Cross-correspondence, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br /> -<br /> -Crystal and Organism, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br /> -<br /> -Curly, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Dallas, Miss H. A., <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br /> -<br /> -Damp, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br /> -<br /> -Darlington, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br /> -<br /> -Dartmoor, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br /> -<br /> -Darwin, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br /> -<br /> -Darwin and Mendel, <a href="#Page_285">285</a><br /> -<br /> -Dead Matter, <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br /> -<br /> -Deakin, The Hon. Mr. Alfred, <a href="#Page_360">360</a><br /> -<br /> -Death, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"> <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></span><br /> -<br /> -Decay, <a href="#Page_303">303</a><br /> -<br /> -Depression, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br /> -<br /> -Design, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a><br /> -<br /> -Determinism, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br /> -<br /> -Diary Entry, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> -<br /> -Dickebusch, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a><br /> -<br /> -Digging, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> -<br /> -Diotima, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br /> -<br /> -Direct Voice, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a><br /> -<br /> -Direct Writing, <a href="#Page_365">365</a><br /> -<br /> -Dog, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br /> -<br /> -Dogmatism, <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br /> -<br /> -Dowsing, <a href="#Page_363">363</a><br /> -<br /> -Dream, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a><br /> -<br /> -Dualism, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a><br /> -<br /> -Dug-outs, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a><br /> -<br /> -Dvinsk, <a href="#Page_130">130</a><br /> -<br /> -Dynamics, <a href="#Page_286">286</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -E. A. Episode, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a><br /> -<br /> -Ecclesiastes, <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br /> -<br /> -Eclipse, Solar, <a href="#Page_369">369</a><br /> -<br /> -Edinburgh, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br /> -<br /> -Effort, Real, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br /> -<br /> -Eggs and bacon, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br /> -<br /> -Egyptian tombs, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br /> -<br /> -Electric charge, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br /> -<br /> -Electricity, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a><br /> -<br /> -Electricity, Modern views on, <a href="#Page_373">373</a><br /> -<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[ 399]</a></span> - -Electrons, <a href="#Page_391">391</a><br /> -<br /> -Elusiveness, <a href="#Page_319">319</a><br /> -<br /> -Emotion, Conveyance of, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a><br /> -<br /> -Energy, Directed, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a><br /> -<br /> -Engineering, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br /> -<br /> -Enjoyment, <a href="#Page_393">393</a><br /> -<br /> -Enquiry, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br /> -<br /> -Enquiry, Free, <a href="#Page_378">378</a><br /> -<br /> -Enteric, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> -<br /> -Entry in Diary, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> -<br /> -Epiphenomenon, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a><br /> -<br /> -Ether, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a><br /> -<br /> -Ether of Space, The, <a href="#Page_319">319</a><br /> -<br /> -Etherial body, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br /> -<br /> -Evidence, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a><br /> -<br /> -Evil, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br /> -<br /> -Evolution <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br /> -<br /> -Exclusion, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a><br /> -<br /> -Exposure, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br /> -<br /> -Extrapolation, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Facts, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br /> -<br /> -Faith, <a href="#Page_367">367</a><br /> -<br /> -Falling Cross, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br /> -<br /> -Faunus, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /> -<br /> -Faunus message, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> -<br /> -Fear, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a><br /> -<br /> -Feda, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> -<br /> -Ferry, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /> -<br /> -Fiacre, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br /> -<br /> -Fiddler, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> -<br /> -Finding people, <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br /> -<br /> -Finger of God, <a href="#Page_370">370</a><br /> -<br /> -Fire-fly, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br /> -<br /> -Fitzgerald, <a href="#Page_305">305</a><br /> -<br /> -Fletcher, Lieut., <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></span><br /> -<br /> -Flopping about, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br /> -<br /> -Flowers, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a><br /> -<br /> -Foster, Sir Michael, <a href="#Page_368">368</a><br /> -<br /> -Franklin, Benjamin, <a href="#Page_391">391</a><br /> -<br /> -Freedom, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br /> -<br /> -Free enquiry, <a href="#Page_378">378</a><br /> -<br /> -Free-will, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a><br /> -<br /> -Future, <a href="#Page_313">313</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Gale & Polden, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br /> -<br /> -Gardener, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a><br /> -<br /> -Gas, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a><br /> -<br /> -Gow, Mr., <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br /> -<br /> -Grades of Being, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a><br /> -<br /> -Grades of Existence, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br /> -<br /> -Grandfather W., <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a><br /> -<br /> -Granny, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a><br /> -<br /> -Grave, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a><br /> -<br /> -Gray, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a><br /> -<br /> -Greece, <a href="#Page_185">185</a><br /> -<br /> -Greenbank, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> -<br /> -Gregory, R. A., <a href="#Page_338">338</a><br /> -<br /> -Grove Park, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a><br /> -<br /> -Gullane, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a><br /> -<br /> -Gunn, Marjorie, <a href="#Page_58">58</a><br /> -<br /> -Gurney, Edmund, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a><br /> -<br /> -Guy Le Breton, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Habits, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br /> -<br /> -Haldane, Dr. J. S., <a href="#Page_283">283</a><br /> -<br /> -Harborne, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> -<br /> -Harris, Professor Fraser, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a><br /> -<br /> -Hell, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a><br /> -<br /> -Helmet, German, <a href="#Page_64">64</a><br /> -<br /> -Helping, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></span><br /> -<br /> -Herdman, Professor, <a href="#Page_295">295</a><br /> -<br /> -<i>Hibbert Journal</i>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a><br /> -<br /> -Hill, Coming down, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a><br /> -<br /> -Hill, Mr. J. Arthur, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a><br /> -<br /> -Hill, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a><br /> -<br /> -Hockey, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> -<br /> -Hodgson, Dr. Richard, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> -<br /> -Holden, Mr., <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br /> -<br /> -Holt, Alfred, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br /> -<br /> -Homeliness, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br /> -<br /> -Honolulu, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br /> -<br /> -Honor, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br /> -<br /> -Hooge, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a><br /> -<br /> -Hope, Anthony, <a href="#Page_41">41</a><br /> -<br /> -Horace, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br /> -<br /> -Hospitality, <a href="#Page_53">53</a><br /> -<br /> -House-hunting, <a href="#Page_56">56</a><br /> -<br /> -Houses, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br /> -<br /> -Humour, 349<br /> -<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[ 400]</a></span> - -Humour of the life in France, <a href="#Page_56">56</a><br /> -<br /> -Hun, <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br /> -<br /> -Huxley, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a><br /> -<br /> -Hyacinthus, <a href="#Page_304">304</a><br /> -<br /> -Hypothesis, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Immanence, <a href="#Page_386">386</a><br /> -<br /> -Impersonal Memory, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br /> -<br /> -Impersonations, <a href="#Page_357">357</a><br /> -<br /> -Impossibility, <a href="#Page_387">387</a><br /> -<br /> -Impression, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a><br /> -<br /> -Incarnation, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a><br /> -<br /> -Individual Case, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br /> -<br /> -Infinitude, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br /> -<br /> -Information got from Sitters, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a><br /> -<br /> -Inheritance of acquired characters, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br /> -<br /> -Inhibition, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br /> -<br /> -Inspection by Army Corps Commander, <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> -<br /> -Inspiration, <a href="#Page_381">381</a><br /> -<br /> -Instruction in communicating, <a href="#Page_165">165</a><br /> -<br /> -Instruments, <a href="#Page_320">320</a><br /> -<br /> -Intelligibility, <a href="#Page_380">380</a><br /> -<br /> -Interaction, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a><br /> -<br /> -Intercommunion, <a href="#Page_376">376</a><br /> -<br /> -"Irish Eyes," <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> -<br /> -Italy, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Jackson, Mr., <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br /> -<br /> -James, Professor Wm., <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br /> -<br /> -J. K. Episode, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br /> -<br /> -Joan of Arc, <a href="#Page_381">381</a><br /> -<br /> -Johnsons, <a href="#Page_32">32</a><br /> -<br /> -Jumping bean, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Kelvin, Lord, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a><br /> -<br /> -Kennedy, Mrs., <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a><br /> -<br /> -Kitchener, Lord, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br /> -<br /> -Knife-rests, <a href="#Page_28">28</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Langland Bay, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /> -<br /> -Lankester, Sir E. Ray, <a href="#Page_332">332</a><br /> -<br /> -Laplace, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a><br /> -<br /> -Larry, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br /> -<br /> -Laws, Mr., <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> -<br /> -Leave, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br /> -<br /> -Lectures, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a><br /> -<br /> -Leith, Miss, <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br /> -<br /> -Leith, Professor, <a href="#Page_24">24</a><br /> -<br /> -Leonard, Mrs. Orborne, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a><br /> -<br /> -Lethe, <a href="#Page_327">327</a><br /> -<br /> -Life, <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br /> -<br /> -Life and Energy, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br /> -<br /> -Life and Matter, <a href="#Page_320">320</a><br /> -<br /> -Light, <a href="#Page_286">286</a><br /> -<br /> -Lights, Coloured, <a href="#Page_264">264</a><br /> -<br /> -Lights, "Very," <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a><br /> -<br /> -Lily, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br /> -<br /> -Limitation of Scope, <a href="#Page_341">341</a><br /> -<br /> -Linga, The, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a><br /> -<br /> -Lionel, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br /> -<br /> -Liverpool, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br /> -<br /> -Living creatures, <a href="#Page_304">304</a><br /> -<br /> -Lodge Brothers, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /> -<br /> -Lodge Fume Deposit Co., <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /> -<br /> -Longfellow, <a href="#Page_306">306</a><br /> -<br /> -Loos, <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br /> -<br /> -Lorna, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br /> -<br /> -Lusitania, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -M.A.Oxon., <a href="#Page_350">350</a><br /> -<br /> -Machine Gun, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a><br /> -<br /> -Madame Le Breton, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br /> -<br /> -Maggie Magee, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> -<br /> -Magnetism, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br /> -<br /> -Maps, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a><br /> -<br /> -Margaret, <a href="#Page_45">45</a><br /> -<br /> -Mariemont Sittings, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></span><br /> -<br /> -Mariemont, Views of, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br /> -<br /> -Materialisation, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a><br /> -<br /> -Materialism, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br /> -<br /> -Mathematical Physics, <a href="#Page_286">286</a><br /> -<br /> -Matter, Dead, <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br /> -<br /> -Matter and Life, <a href="#Page_320">320</a><br /> -<br /> -Maurice, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br /> -<br /> -Maxwell, Clerk, <a href="#Page_391">391</a><br /> -<br /> -McCreadie, Miss, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br /> -<br /> -M'Dougal, Professor, <a href="#Page_283">283</a><br /> -<br /> -Meagreness of Conceptions, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br /> -<br /> -Mechanics, <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br /> -<br /> - -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[ 401]</a></span> - -Mechanism, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a><br /> -<br /> -Medium of artist, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a><br /> -<br /> -Mediums, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a><br /> -<br /> -Memorial Card, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> -<br /> -Memorial Tablet, <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br /> -<br /> -Memory, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a><br /> -<br /> -Mendel and Darwin, <a href="#Page_285">285</a><br /> -<br /> -Menexenus, <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br /> -<br /> -Merlin, <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br /> -<br /> -Messiah, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a><br /> -<br /> -Microbe, <a href="#Page_387">387</a><br /> -<br /> -Military terms, <a href="#Page_41">41</a><br /> -<br /> -Mind and Matter, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a><br /> -<br /> -Mines, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a><br /> -<br /> -Miracles, <a href="#Page_390">390</a><br /> -<br /> -Missionary spirit, <a href="#Page_325">325</a><br /> -<br /> -Missionary zeal, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br /> -<br /> -Mitchell, Captain, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br /> -<br /> -Mitchell, Dr. Chalmers, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br /> -<br /> -M. N. W., <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br /> -<br /> -Molesworth, <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> -<br /> -Monism, <a href="#Page_284">284</a><br /> -<br /> -Moonstone, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a><br /> -<br /> -Moses, Rev. Stainton, <a href="#Page_350">350</a><br /> -<br /> -Motor, Nagant, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br /> -<br /> -Motor-buses, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br /> -<br /> -Motoring, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a><br /> -<br /> -Motors, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br /> -<br /> -Mott, Dr., <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br /> -<br /> -Mud, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br /> -<br /> -Muirhead, Dr. Alex., <a href="#Page_170">170</a><br /> -<br /> -Muirhead, Prof. J. H., <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br /> -<br /> -Music, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a><br /> -<br /> -"My Southern Maid," <a href="#Page_216">216</a><br /> -<br /> -Myers, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></span><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Nagant Motor, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br /> -<br /> -Names, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br /> -<br /> -Names, Difficulty in remembering, <a href="#Page_360">360</a><br /> -<br /> -Negations, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a><br /> -<br /> -Nerve cases, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br /> -<br /> -Newcastle, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br /> -<br /> -Newton, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br /> -<br /> -Nicknames, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> -<br /> -Noël, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br /> -<br /> -Norah, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br /> -<br /> -Norman, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br /> -<br /> -Note-book, <a href="#Page_326">326</a><br /> -<br /> -Note-taking, <a href="#Page_358">358</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -O'Brien, Sergeant, <a href="#Page_33">33</a><br /> -<br /> -Old age, <a href="#Page_295">295</a><br /> -<br /> -Olive, Miss, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a><br /> -<br /> -Oliver, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br /> -<br /> -Olives, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a><br /> -<br /> -Omniscience, <a href="#Page_316">316</a><br /> -<br /> -"Orange Girl, My," <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> -<br /> -Oratorio, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br /> -<br /> -Orderly, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a><br /> -<br /> -Organ, Boy at, <a href="#Page_373">373</a><br /> -<br /> -Organising Power. See Constructive Ability<br /> -<br /> -Organism and Crystal, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br /> -<br /> -Ouija, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br /> -<br /> -Outlook, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Paraffin, exchange for window, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> -<br /> -Partition, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br /> -<br /> -Pat, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a><br /> -<br /> -Paul Kennedy, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br /> -<br /> -Peace, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /> -<br /> -Peacock, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br /> -<br /> -Pedestal, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br /> -<br /> -Penkhull, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> -<br /> -Periscope rifle attachments, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br /> -<br /> -Personal possessions, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br /> -<br /> -Personality, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a><br /> -<br /> -Peters, Mr. A. Vout, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a><br /> -<br /> -Phagocytes, <a href="#Page_386">386</a><br /> -<br /> -Phinuit, Dr., <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br /> -<br /> -Phonograph, <a href="#Page_328">328</a><br /> -<br /> -Photograph, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br /> -<br /> -Photograph, Calendar of, <a href="#Page_115">115</a><br /> -<br /> -Photograph, Description of, <a href="#Page_110">110</a><br /> -<br /> -Physical phenomena, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br /> -<br /> -Physics and Chemistry, <a href="#Page_370">370</a><br /> -<br /> -Piddington, Mr., <a href="#Page_172">172</a><br /> -<br /> - -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[ 402]</a></span> - -Piper, Mrs., <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br /> -<br /> -Planchette, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a><br /> -<br /> -Planisphere, <a href="#Page_30">30</a><br /> -<br /> -Plato, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br /> -<br /> -Plotinus, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br /> -<br /> -Plumer, Sir Herbert, <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> -<br /> -Polchet, M., <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> -<br /> -Policy not philosophy, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a><br /> -<br /> -Poperinghe, <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> -<br /> -Prayer, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a><br /> -<br /> -Prediction. See Prevision<br /> -<br /> -Prejudice, <a href="#Page_379">379</a><br /> -<br /> -Prevision, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a><br /> -<br /> -Primus stove, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> -<br /> -Prisoners, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br /> -<br /> -Private affairs, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br /> -<br /> -Professional mediums, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br /> -<br /> -Prognostication. See Prevision<br /> -<br /> -Progress, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br /> -<br /> -Protoplasm, <a href="#Page_388">388</a><br /> -<br /> -Psychometry, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a><br /> -<br /> -Purpose, <a href="#Page_285">285</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Questions, Test, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Ralph, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br /> -<br /> -Raps, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br /> -<br /> -Rathbone, William, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> -<br /> -Rats, <a href="#Page_28">28</a><br /> -<br /> -Rawnsley, Canon, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> -<br /> -Reality and Anticipation, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a><br /> -<br /> -Record sleeps, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a><br /> -<br /> -Rector, <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br /> -<br /> -Red flames, <a href="#Page_369">369</a><br /> -<br /> -Red roses, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> -<br /> -Redfeather, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> -<br /> -Relics, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br /> -<br /> -Reninghelst, <a href="#Page_113">113</a><br /> -<br /> -Resurrection, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a><br /> -<br /> -Revelation, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a><br /> -<br /> -Reverse, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br /> -<br /> -Riding, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br /> -<br /> -Risk, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br /> -<br /> -Robbins, Miss, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> -<br /> -Rocking-horse, <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br /> -<br /> -Rods and rings, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br /> -<br /> -Room in Violet's house, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br /> -<br /> -Rosalynde, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a><br /> -<br /> -Roscoe, Lt. William, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a><br /> -<br /> -Roses, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> -<br /> -Ross, Sir Ronald, <a href="#Page_294">294</a><br /> -<br /> -Rossetti, <a href="#Page_296">296</a><br /> -<br /> -Roumania, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br /> -<br /> -Rowland, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br /> -<br /> -Russell, Bertrand, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /> -<br /> -Russia, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Sacraments, <a href="#Page_321">321</a><br /> -<br /> -Sacrifice, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a><br /> -<br /> -Salter, Captain, <a href="#Page_48">48</a><br /> -<br /> -Sandboat, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a><br /> -<br /> -Satellites of Jupiter, <a href="#Page_341">341</a><br /> -<br /> -Sausages, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br /> -<br /> -Schuster, Dr. Arthur, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a><br /> -<br /> -Science, Men of, <a href="#Page_368">368</a><br /> -<br /> -Secondary personality, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a><br /> -<br /> -Selection, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> -<br /> -Self-control, <a href="#Page_225">225</a><br /> -<br /> -Senses, <a href="#Page_380">380</a><br /> -<br /> -Serbia, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br /> -<br /> -Serenading, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> -<br /> -Serious messages, <a href="#Page_352">352</a><br /> -<br /> -Serious side, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br /> -<br /> -Servants, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a><br /> -<br /> -Shakespeare, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a><br /> -<br /> -Shell shock, <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br /> -<br /> -Shelley, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br /> -<br /> -Shelling, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br /> -<br /> -Shrapnel, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br /> -<br /> -Sighs, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a><br /> -<br /> -Simplicity, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br /> -<br /> -Sinai, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br /> -<br /> -Singing, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a><br /> -<br /> -Sitter, <a href="#Page_358">358</a><br /> -<br /> -Sitters, Information from, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a><br /> -<br /> -Slang, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br /> -<br /> -Sleeps, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a><br /> -<br /> -Small Heath, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> -<br /> -Smyth, Dr. J. Patterson, <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br /> -<br /> -Snipers, <a href="#Page_48">48</a><br /> -<br /> -Sniperscopes, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br /> -<br /> -Solidity, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a><br /> -<br /> -Songs, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a><br /> -<br /> - -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[ 403]</a></span> - -Sonnenschein, Professor, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br /> -<br /> -Sophistication, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a><br /> -<br /> -Souvenir, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br /> -<br /> -Speculation, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br /> -<br /> -Speech, <a href="#Page_338">338</a><br /> -<br /> -Spirit and Matter, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a><br /> -<br /> -<i>Spirit Teachings</i>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a><br /> -<br /> -Spiritual body, <a href="#Page_319">319</a><br /> -<br /> -S. P. R., <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a><br /> -<br /> -Stallard, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a><br /> -<br /> -Stand-to, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br /> -<br /> -Stars, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br /> -<br /> -Stead, Mr., <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /> -<br /> -St. Eloi, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a><br /> -<br /> -St. Germains, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br /> -<br /> -St. Omer, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> -<br /> -St. Paul, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a><br /> -<br /> -String, <a href="#Page_196">196</a><br /> -<br /> -String of beads, <a href="#Page_288">288</a><br /> -<br /> -Strong, Professor, <a href="#Page_94">94</a><br /> -<br /> -Suffering, <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /> -<br /> -Summerland, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a><br /> -<br /> -Superstition, <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br /> -<br /> -Supremacy of Spiritual over Material, <a href="#Page_317">317</a><br /> -<br /> -Surroundings of non-material existence, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br /> -<br /> -Survival, General, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br /> -<br /> -Survival of Man, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a><br /> -<br /> -Swinburne, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br /> -<br /> -Symbols, <a href="#Page_305">305</a><br /> -<br /> -Symposium, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Table tilting, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></span><br /> -<br /> -Tate, Harry, <a href="#Page_54">54</a><br /> -<br /> -Taylor, Captain, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br /> -<br /> -Telegram, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br /> -<br /> -Telekinesis, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br /> -<br /> -Telepathy, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /> -<br /> -Telephone operators, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> -<br /> -Telergy, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> -<br /> -Tennyson, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br /> -<br /> -Tent, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br /> -<br /> -Tent Lodge, Coniston, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br /> -<br /> -Tests, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a><br /> -<br /> -Theological attitude, <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br /> -<br /> -Theology, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br /> -<br /> -Think things wanted said, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br /> -<br /> -Thomas, Humphrey, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a><br /> -<br /> -Thompson, Mrs. Isaac, <a href="#Page_112">112</a><br /> -<br /> -Thomson, Professor J. Arthur, <a href="#Page_283">283</a><br /> -<br /> -Thought Forms, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br /> -<br /> -Tools, <a href="#Page_320">320</a><br /> -<br /> -Trance, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br /> -<br /> -Trance medium, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> -<br /> -Transcendence, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a><br /> -<br /> -Transition, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a><br /> -<br /> -Trench improvement, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br /> -<br /> -Trenches, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a><br /> -<br /> -Trivial messages, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a><br /> -<br /> -Truncation of Life, <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br /> -<br /> -Tunnel simile, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Uncle Jerry, <a href="#Page_166">166</a><br /> -<br /> -Unity, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br /> -<br /> -Unverifiable statements, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Ventris, Mr., <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a><br /> -<br /> -Verrall, Mr., <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br /> -<br /> -Versailles, <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br /> -<br /> -Violet, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br /> -<br /> -Virgil, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a><br /> -<br /> -Vital Force, <a href="#Page_371">371</a><br /> -<br /> -Voice, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Walker, Messrs. Thos. & Son, <a href="#Page_63">63</a><br /> -<br /> -Wallace, Dr. A. Russel, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a><br /> -<br /> -War, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br /> -<br /> -Warning, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a><br /> -<br /> -Way, Lieutenant, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br /> -<br /> -Weddings, <a href="#Page_58">58</a><br /> -<br /> -Weismann, Professor, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a><br /> -<br /> -Whizz-bangs, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a><br /> -<br /> -Will, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br /> -<br /> -William (see also Grandfather and Gardener), <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></span><br /> -<br /> -Window, exchange for paraffin, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> -<br /> - -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[ 404]</a></span> - -Winifred, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br /> -<br /> -Winter campaign, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /> -<br /> -Wireless telegraphy, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a><br /> -<br /> -Wolseley Motor Works, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /> -<br /> -Wood, Miss. F. A., <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> -<br /> -Woolacombe, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br /> -<br /> -Wordsworth, <a href="#Page_vi">vi</a><br /> -<br /> -Workers, <a href="#Page_291">291</a><br /> -<br /> -Wriedt, Mrs., <a href="#Page_118">118</a><br /> -<br /> -Wyatt, Lieut., <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Yacht, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br /> -<br /> -Yogi, <a href="#Page_177">177</a><br /> -<br /> -Ypres, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Zeppelins, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br /> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Raymond, or Life and Death, by Sir Oliver J. 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