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If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: A defence of modern spiritualism - -Author: Alfred Russel Wallace - -Contributor: Epes Sargent - -Release Date: December 1, 2022 [eBook #69454] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from - images generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DEFENCE OF MODERN -SPIRITUALISM *** - - - - - - A DEFENCE - OF - MODERN SPIRITUALISM. - - - BY - - ALFRED R. WALLACE, F. R. S., - - AUTHOR OF “THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO,” “EXPLORATIONS - ON THE AMAZON,” “THE THEORY OF NATURAL SELECTION,” ETC., ETC. - - - WITH A PREFACE - - BY EPES SARGENT. - - SECOND THOUSAND. - - - BOSTON: - - COLBY AND RICH, - - 9 MONTGOMERY PLACE. - - 1874. - - - - - PREFACE. - - * * * * * - - -The signs are, that both the moral and the religious systems of the -future will be greatly modified by the advance of science. They will be -more and more conformed to the facts of nature; not only to the facts -which a diligent Materialism, working in a single direction, has brought -to light, but to the transcendent facts which Modern Spiritualism has -restored and proved. The one order of facts is incomplete without the -other; and Materialism is as surely doomed to be encircled and -transfigured by the wider horizon of Spiritualism, as the Ptolemaic -system of the universe was doomed to be superseded by the Copernican. - -Unpopular facts often encounter an opposition quite as persistent as -that which follows unpopular theories; and so intelligent Spiritualists -are not disturbed by the antagonism which their facts have met with from -the Huxleys, Tyndalls, Carpenters, and Büchners of our day. All these -men, working as they are for science in their different ways, though -under the disadvantage of an ignorance of certain phenomena of vast -significance, are welcomed as fellow-laborers in the cause of truth by -Spiritualists; for the latter, relying on their facts, are confident -that genuine Science includes them all, and that every new discovery -must be in harmony with all that they hold as true. Opposition to the -phenomena, proceeding as it does from lack of knowledge, simply -indicates the magnitude and astonishing character of the facts -themselves, which could excite such incredulity in the face of such -overwhelming testimony. - -Among the men of science who have either admitted the facts, or both the -facts and the theory, of Spiritualism, are Hare, chemist; Varley, F. R. -S., electrician; Flammarion, astronomer; Crookes, F. R. S., chemist; -Hoefle, author of the “History of Chemistry;” Nichols, chemist; Fichte, -philosopher; Liais, astronomer; Hermann Goldschmidt, astronomer, and the -discoverer of fourteen planets; Von Esenbach, the greatest modern German -botanist; Huggins, F. R. S., astronomer and spectroscopist; De Morgan, -mathematician; Dille, physicist; Elliotson, Ashburner, and Gray, -physicians and surgeons. To no one eminent man of science, however, has -Spiritualism been more indebted than to Alfred Russell Wallace, F. R. -S., distinguished for his researches in natural history, paleontology, -and anthropology. His “Defence of Spiritualism,” here presented, -appeared originally in the London Fortnightly Review for May and June, -1874. Containing as it does the latest facts, no better tract for -Spiritualists to offer as an answer to their opponents has yet appeared. - -Mr. Wallace, though he arrived, simultaneously with Mr. Darwin, at -similar conclusions in regard to the origin of species, differs from him -on a most important point; for Mr. Wallace believes that “a superior -intelligence is necessary to account for man.” His acquaintance with the -phenomena of Spiritualism must always give him, in the sweep and -comprehensiveness of his anthropology, a great advantage over Mr. -Darwin. Besides his great work on the “Natural History of the Malay -Archipelago,” and an account of his “Explorations on the Amazon,” Mr. -Wallace is the author of “The Theory of Natural Selection,” and of many -valuable papers in scientific journals. Dr. Hooker, president of the -British Scientific Association, wrote, in 1868, “Of Mr. Wallace, and his -many contributions to philosophical biology, it is not easy to speak -without enthusiasm; for, putting aside their great merits, he, -throughout his many writings, with a modesty as rare as I believe it to -be in him unconscious, forgets his own unquestionable claims to the -honor of having originated, independently of Mr. Darwin, the theories -which he so ably defends.” - -The testimony of such an investigator as Mr. Wallace in behalf of the -stupendous phenomena of Spiritualism is not to be lightly put aside or -ignored. What can be said in reply to such an array of facts as he -presents? - - E. S. - - - - - A DEFENCE - OF - MODERN SPIRITUALISM. - - * * * * * - - -It is with great diffidence, but under an imperative sense of duty, that -the present writer accepts the opportunity afforded him of submitting to -his readers some general account of a widespread movement, which, though -for the most part treated with ridicule or contempt, he believes to -embody truths of the most vital importance to human progress.[1] The -subject to be treated is of such vast extent, the evidence concerning it -is so varied and so extraordinary, the prejudices that surround it are -so inveterate, that it is not possible to do it justice without entering -into considerable detail. The reader who ventures on the perusal of the -succeeding pages may, therefore, have his patience tried; but if he is -able to throw aside his preconceived ideas of what is possible and what -is impossible, and in the acceptance or rejection of the evidence -submitted to him will carefully weigh and be solely guided by the nature -of the concurrent testimony, the writer ventures to believe that he will -not find his time and patience ill bestowed. - -Footnote 1: - - The following are the more important works which have been used in the - preparation of this article: Judge Edmonds’s “Spiritual Tracts,” New - York, 1858–1860. Robert Dale Owen’s “Footfalls on the Boundary of - Another World,” Trübner & Co., 1861. E. Hardinge’s “Modern American - Spiritualism,” New York, 1870. Robert Dale Owen’s “Debatable Land - between this World and the Next,” Trübner & Co., 1871. “Report on - Spiritualism of the Committee of the London Dialectical Society,” - Longmans & Co., 1871. “Year-Book of Spiritualism,” Boston and London, - 1871. Hudson Tuttle’s “Arcana of Spiritualism,” Boston, 1871. The - Spiritual Magazine, 1861–1874. The Spiritualist Newspaper, 1872–1874. - The Medium and Daybreak, 1869–1874. - -Few men, in this busy age, have leisure to read massive volumes devoted -to special subjects. They gain much of their general knowledge, outside -the limits of their profession or of any peculiar study, by means of -periodical literature; and, as a rule, they are supplied with copious -and accurate, though general, information. Some of our best thinkers and -workers make known the results of their researches to the readers of -magazines and reviews; and it is seldom that a writer whose information -is meagre, or obtained at second-hand, is permitted to come before the -public in their pages as an authoritative teacher. But as regards the -subject we are now about to consider, this rule has not hitherto been -followed. Those who have devoted many years to an examination of its -phenomena have been, in most cases, refused a hearing; while men who -have bestowed on it no adequate attention, and are almost wholly -ignorant of the researches of others, have alone supplied the -information to which a large proportion of the public have had access. -In support of this statement it is necessary to refer, with brief -comments, to some of the more prominent articles in which the phenomena -and pretensions of Spiritualism have been recently discussed. - -At the beginning of the present year the readers of this Review were -treated to “Experiences of Spiritualism,” by a writer of no mean -ability, and of thoroughly advanced views. He assures his readers that -he “conscientiously endeavored to qualify himself for speaking on this -subject” by attending five séances, the details of several of which he -narrates; and he comes to the conclusion that mediums are by no means -ingenious deceivers, but “jugglers of the most vulgar order;” that the -“spiritualistic mind falls a victim to the most patent frauds,” and -greedily “accepts jugglery as manifestations of spirits”; and, lastly, -that the mediums are as credulous as their dupes, and fall straightway -into any trap that is laid for them. Now, on the evidence before him, -and on the assumption that no more or better evidence would have been -forthcoming had he devoted fifty instead of five evenings to the -inquiry, the conclusions of Lord Amberley are perfectly logical; but, so -far from what he witnessed being a “specimen of the kind of -manifestations by which Spiritualists are convinced,” a very little -acquaintance with the literature of the subject would have shown him -that no Spiritualist of any mark was ever convinced by any quantity of -such evidence. In an article published since Lord Amberley’s—in London -Society for February—the author, a barrister and well-known literary -man, says: - - “It was difficult for me to give in to the idea that solid objects - could be conveyed, invisibly, through closed doors, or that heavy - furniture could be moved without the interposition of hands. - Philosophers will say these things are absolutely impossible; - nevertheless, it is absolutely certain that they do occur. I have met - in the houses of private friends, as witnesses of these phenomena, - persons whose testimony would go for a good deal in a court of - justice. They have included peers, members of parliament, diplomatists - of the highest rank, judges, barristers, physicians, clergymen, - members of learned societies, chemists, engineers, journalists, and - thinkers of all sorts and degrees. They have suggested and carried - into effect tests of the most rigid and satisfactory character. The - media (all non-professional) have been searched before and after - séances. The precaution has even been taken of providing them - unexpectedly with other apparel. They have been tied; they have been - sealed; they have been secured in every cunning and dexterous manner - that ingenuity could devise, but no deception has been discovered and - no imposture brought to light. Neither was there any motive for - imposture. No fee or reward of any kind depended upon the success or - non-success of the manifestations.” - -Now here we have a nice question of probabilities. We must either -believe that Lord Amberley is almost infinitely more acute than Mr. -Dunphy and his host of eminent friends—so that after five séances (most -of them failures) he has got to the bottom of a mystery in which they, -notwithstanding their utmost endeavors, still hopelessly flounder—or, -that the noble lord’s acuteness does not surpass the combined acuteness -of all these persons; in which case their much larger experience, and -their having witnessed many things Lord Amberley has not witnessed, must -be held to have the greater weight, and to show, at all events, that all -mediums are not “jugglers of the most vulgar order.” - -In October last the New Quarterly Magazine, in its opening number, had -an article entitled “A Spiritualistic Séance;” but which proved to be an -account of certain ingenious contrivances by which some of the phenomena -usual at séances were imitated, and both Spiritualists and skeptics -deceived and confounded. This appears at first sight to be an exposure -of Spiritualism, but it is really very favorable to its pretensions; for -it goes on the assumption that the marvelous phenomena witnessed do -really occur, but are produced by various mechanical contrivances. In -this case the rooms above, below, and at the side of that in which the -séance was held had to be prepared with specially constructed machinery, -with assistants to work it. The apparatus, as described, would cost at -least £100, and would then only serve to produce a few fixed phenomena, -such as happen frequently in private houses and at the lodgings of -mediums who have not exclusive possession of any of the adjoining rooms, -or the means of obtaining expensive machinery and hired assistants. The -article bears internal evidence of being altogether a fictitious -narrative; but it helps to demonstrate, if any demonstration is -required, that the phenomena which occur under such protean forms and -varied conditions, and in private houses quite as often as at the -apartments of the mediums, are in no way produced by machinery. - -Perhaps the most prominent recent attack on Spiritualism was that in the -Quarterly Review for October, 1871, which is known to have been written -by an eminent physiologist, and did much to blind the public to the real -nature of the movement. This article, after giving a light sketch of the -reported phenomena, entered into some details as to planchette-writing -and table-lifting—facts on which no Spiritualist depends as evidence to -a third party—and then proceeded to define its standpoint as follows: - - “Our position, then, is that the so-called spiritual communications - come from _within_, not from without, the individuals who suppose - themselves to be the recipients of them; that they belong to the class - termed ‘subjective’ by physiologists and psychologists, and that the - movements by which they are expressed, whether the tilting of tables - or the writing of planchettes, are really produced by their own - muscular action exerted independently of their own wills and quite - unconsciously to themselves.” - -Several pages are then devoted to accounts of séances which, like Lord -Amberley’s, were mostly failures; and to the experiences of a Bath -clergyman who believed that the communications came from devils; and, -generally, such weak and inconclusive phenomena only are adduced as can -be easily explained by the well-worn formulæ of “unconscious -cerebration,” “expectant attention,” and “unconscious muscular action.” -A few of the more startling physical phenomena are mentioned merely to -be discredited and the judgment of the witnesses impugned; but no -attempt is made to place before the reader any information as to the -amount or the weight of the testimony to such phenomena, or to the long -series of diverse phenomena which lead up to and confirm them. Some of -the experiments of Prof. Hare and Mr. Crookes are quoted and criticised -in the spirit of assuming that these experienced physicists were -ignorant of the simplest principles of mechanics, and failed to use the -most ordinary precautions. Of the numerous and varied cases on record, -of heavy bodies being moved without direct or indirect contact by any -human being, no notice is taken, except so far as quoting Mr. C. F. -Varley’s statement, that he had seen, in broad daylight, a small table -moved ten feet, with no one near it but himself, and not touched by -him—“as an example of the manner in which minds of this limited order -are apt to become the dupes of their own imaginings.” - -This article, like the others here referred to, shows in the writer an -utter forgetfulness of the maxim, that an argument is not answered till -it is answered at its best. Amid the vast mass of recorded facts now -accumulated by Spiritualists, there is, of course, much that is weak and -inconclusive, much that is of no value as evidence, except to those who -have independent reasons for faith in them. From this undigested mass it -is the easiest thing in the world to pick out arguments that can be -refuted and facts that can be explained away; but what is that to the -purpose? It is not these that have convinced any one; but those -weightier, oft-repeated and oft-tested facts which the writers referred -to invariably ignore. - -Prof. Tyndall has also given the world (in his “Fragments of Science,” -published in 1871) some account of his attempt to investigate these -phenomena. Again, we have a minute record of a séance which was a -failure, and in which the Professor, like Lord Amberley, easily imposed -on some too credulous Spiritualists by improvising a few manifestations -of his own. The article in question is dated as far back as 1864. We may -therefore conclude that the Professor has not seen much of the subject; -nor can he have made himself acquainted with what others have seen and -carefully verified, or he would hardly have thought his communication -worthy of the place it occupies among original researches and positive -additions to human knowledge. Both its facts and its reasonings have -been well replied to by Mr. Patrick Fraser Alexander, in his little work -entitled “Spiritualism; a Narrative and a Discussion,” which we -recommend to those who care to see how a very acute yet unprejudiced -mind looks at the phenomena, and how inconclusive, even from a -scientific standpoint, are the experiences adduced by Prof. Tyndall. - -The discussion in the Pall Mall Gazette in 1868, and a considerable -private correspondence, indicates that scientific men almost invariably -assume that, in this inquiry, they should be permitted, at the very -outset, to impose conditions; and if, under such conditions, nothing -happens, they consider it a proof of imposture or delusion. But they -well know that, in all other branches of research, Nature, not they, -determines the essential conditions, without a compliance with which no -experiment will succeed. These conditions have to be learnt by a patient -questioning of Nature, and they are different for each branch of -science. How much more may they be expected to differ in an inquiry -which deals with subtle forces of the nature of which the physicist is -wholly and absolutely ignorant! To ask to be allowed to deal with these -unknown phenomena as he has hitherto dealt with known phenomena, is -practically to prejudge the question, since it assumes that both are -governed by the same laws. - -From the sketch which has now been given of the recent treatment of the -subject by popular and scientific writers, we can summarize pretty -accurately their mental attitude in regard to it. They have seen very -little of the phenomena themselves, and they cannot believe that others -have seen much more. They have encountered people who are easily -deceived by a little unexpected trickery, and they conclude that the -convictions of Spiritualists generally are founded on phenomena -produced, either consciously or unconsciously, in a similar way. They -are so firmly convinced, on _a priori_ grounds, that the more remarkable -phenomena said to happen do not really happen, that they will back their -conviction against the direct testimony of any body of men, preferring -to believe that they are all the victims of some mysterious delusion -whenever imposture is out of the question. To influence persons in this -frame of mind, it is evident that _more_ personal testimony to isolated -facts is utterly useless. They have, to use the admirable expression of -Dr. Carpenter, “no place in the existing fabric of their thought into -which such facts can be fitted.” It is necessary, therefore, to modify -the “fabric of thought” itself; and it appears to the present writer -that this can best be done by a general historic sketch of the subject, -and by showing, by separate lines of inquiry, how wide and varied is the -evidence, and how remarkably these lines converge toward one uniform -conclusion. The endeavor will be made to indicate, by typical examples -of each class of evidence and without unnecessary detail, the cumulative -force of the argument. - - - - - HISTORICAL SKETCH. - - -Modern Spiritualism dates from March, 1848; it being then that, for the -first time, intelligent communications were held with the unknown cause -of the mysterious knockings and other sounds, similar to those which had -disturbed the Mompesson and Wesley families in the seventeenth and -eighteenth centuries. This discovery was made by Miss Kate Fox, a girl -of nine years old, and the first recognized example of an extensive -class now known as mediums. It is worthy of remark that this very first -“modern spiritual manifestation” was subjected to the test of unlimited -examination by all the inhabitants of the village of Hydesville, New -York. Though all were utter skeptics, no one could discover any cause -for the noises, which continued, though with less violence, when all the -children had left the house. Nothing is more common than the remark that -it is absurd and illogical to impute noises, of which we cannot discover -the cause, to the agency of spirits. So it undoubtedly is when the -noises are merely noises; but is it so illogical when these noises turn -out to be signals, and signals which spell out a fact, which fact, -though wholly unknown to all present, turns out to be true? Yet, on this -very first occasion, twenty-six years ago, the signals declared that a -murdered man was buried in the cellar of the house; it indicated the -exact spot in the cellar under which the body lay; and upon digging -there, at a depth of six or seven feet, considerable portions of a human -skeleton were found. Yet more: the name of the murdered man was given, -and it was ascertained that such a person had visited that very house -and had disappeared five years before, and had never been heard of -since. The signals further declared that he, the murdered man, was the -signaller; and as all the witnesses had satisfied themselves that the -signals were not made by any living person or by any assignable cause, -the logical conclusion from the facts was, that it _was_ the spirit[2] -of the murdered man; although such a conclusion might be to some in the -highest degree improbable, and to others in the highest degree absurd. - -Footnote 2: - - It may be as well here to explain that the word “spirit,” which is - often considered to be so objectionable by scientific men, is used - throughout this article (or at all events in the earlier portions of - it) merely to avoid circumlocution, in the sense of the “intelligent - cause of the phenomena,” and not as implying “the spirits of the - dead,” unless so expressly stated. - -The Misses Fox now became involuntary mediums, and the family (which had -removed to the city of Rochester) were accused of imposture, and offered -to submit the children to examination by a committee of townsmen -appointed in public meeting. Three committees were successively -appointed; the last, composed of violent skeptics who had accused the -previous committees of stupidity or connivance. But all three, after -unlimited investigation, were forced to declare that the cause of the -phenomena was undiscoverable. The sounds occurred on the wall and floor -while the mediums, after being thoroughly searched by ladies, “stood on -pillows, barefooted, and with their clothes tied round their ankles.” -The last and most skeptical committee reported that, “They had heard -sounds, and failed utterly to discover their origin. They had proved -that neither machinery nor imposture had been used; and their questions, -_many of them being mental_, were answered correctly.” When we consider -that the mediums were two children under twelve years of age, and the -examiners utterly skeptical American citizens, thoroughly resolved to -detect imposture, and urged on by excited public meetings, it may -perhaps be considered that even at this early stage the question of -imposture or delusion was pretty well settled in the negative. - -In a short time persons who sat with the Misses Fox found themselves to -have similar powers in a greater or less degree; and in two or three -years the movement had spread over a large part of the United States, -developing into a variety of strange forms, encountering the most -violent skepticism and the most rancorous hostility, yet always -progressing, and making converts even among the most enlightened and -best educated classes. In 1851, some of the most intelligent men in New -York—judges, senators, doctors, lawyers, merchants, clergymen and -authors—formed themselves into a society for investigation. Judge -Edmonds was one of these; and a sketch of the kind and amount of -evidence that was required to convince him will be given further on. In -1854 a second spiritual society was formed in New York. It had the names -of four judges and two physicians among its Vice-Presidents, showing -that the movement had by this time become respectable, and that men in -high social positions were not afraid of identifying themselves with it. -A little later Professor Mapes, an eminent agricultural chemist, was led -to undertake the investigation of Spiritualism. He formed a circle of -twelve friends, most of them men of talent, and skeptics, who bound -themselves to sit together weekly, with a medium, twenty times. For the -first eighteen evenings the phenomena were so trivial and unsatisfactory -that most of the party felt disgusted at the loss of time; but the last -two sittings produced phenomena of so startling a character that the -investigation was continued by the same circle _for four years, and all -became Spiritualists_. - -By this time the movement had spread into every part of the Union, and, -notwithstanding that its adherents were abused as impostors or dupes, -that they were in several cases expelled from colleges and churches and -were confined as lunatics, and that the whole thing was “explained” over -and over again—it has continued to spread up to the present hour. The -secret of this appears to have been, that the explanations given never -applied to the phenomena continually occurring, and of which there were -numerous witnesses. A medium was raised in the air in a crowded room in -full daylight. (“Modern American Spiritualism,” p. 279.) A scientific -skeptic prepared a small portable apparatus, by which he could produce -an instantaneous illumination; and, taking it to a dark séance at which -numerous musical instruments were played, suddenly lighted up the room -while a large drum was being violently beaten, in the certain -expectation of revealing the impostor to the whole company. But what -they all saw was the drumstick itself beating the drum, with no human -being near it. It struck a few more blows, then rose into the air and -descended gently on to the shoulder of a lady. (Same work, p. 337.) At -Toronto, Canada, in a well-lighted room, an accompaniment to a song was -played on a closed and locked piano. (Same work, p. 463.) Communications -were given in raised letters on the arm of an ignorant servant girl, who -often could not read them. They sometimes appeared while she was at her -household work, and after being read by her master or mistress would -disappear. (Same work, p. 196.) Letters closed in any number of -envelopes, sealed up of even pasted together over the whole of the -written surface, were read and answered by certain mediums in whom this -special power was developed. It mattered not what language the letters -were written in; and it is upon record that letters in German, Greek, -Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, French, Welsh and Mexican, have been correctly -answered in the corresponding languages by a medium who knew none of -them. (Judge Edmonds’s “Letters on Spiritualism,” pp. 59–103, Appendix.) -Other mediums drew portraits of deceased persons whom they had never -known or heard of. Others healed diseases. But those who helped most to -spread the belief were, perhaps, the trance-speakers, who, in eloquent -and powerful language, developed the principles and the uses of -Spiritualism, answered objections, spread abroad a knowledge of the -phenomena, and thus induced skeptics to inquire into the facts; and -inquiry was almost invariably followed by conversion. Having repeatedly -listened to three of these speakers who have visited this country, I can -bear witness that they fully equal, and not unfrequently surpass our -best orators and preachers; whether in finished eloquence, in close and -logical argument, or in the readiness with which appropriate and -convincing replies are made to all objectors. They are also remarkable -for the perfect courtesy and suavity of their manner, and for the -extreme patience and gentleness with which they meet the most violent -opposition and the most unjust accusations. - -Men of the highest rank and greatest ability became convinced by these -varied phenomena. No amount of education, of legal, medical or -scientific training, was proof against the overwhelming force of the -facts, whenever these facts were systematically and perseveringly -inquired into. The number of Spiritualists in the Union is, according to -those who have the best means of judging, from eight to eleven millions. -This is the estimate of Judge Edmonds, who has had extensive -correspondence on the subject with every part of the United States. The -Hon. R. D. Owen, who has also had great opportunities of knowing the -facts, considers it to be approximately correct; and it is affirmed by -the editors of the “Year-Book of Spiritualism” for 1871. These numbers -have been held to be absurdly exaggerated by persons having less -information, especially by strangers who have made superficial inquiries -in America; but it must be remembered that the Spiritualists are to a -very limited extent an organized body, and that the mass of them make no -public profession of their belief, but still remain members of some -denominational church—circumstances that would greatly deceive an -outsider. Nevertheless, the organization is of considerable extent. -There were in America, in 1870, 20 State Associations and 105 Societies -of Spiritualists, 207 lecturers, and about the same number of public -mediums. - -In other parts of the world the movement has progressed more or less -rapidly. Several of the more celebrated American mediums have visited -this country, and not only made converts in all classes of society, but -led to the formation of private circles and the discovery of mediumistic -power in hundreds of families. There is scarcely a city or a -considerable town in Continental Europe at the present moment where -Spiritualists are not reckoned by hundreds, if not by thousands. There -are said, on good authority, to be fifty thousand avowed Spiritualists -in Paris and ten thousand in Lyons; and the numbers in England may be -roughly estimated by the fact that there are four exclusively spiritual -periodicals, one of which has a circulation of five thousand weekly. - - - - - DEDUCTIONS FROM THE PRECEDING SKETCH. - - -Before proceeding to a statement of the evidence which has convinced the -more educated and more skeptical converts, let us consider briefly the -bearing of the undoubted fact, that (to keep within bounds) many -thousands of well-informed men, belonging to all classes of society and -all professions, have, in each of the great civilized nations of the -world, acknowledged the objective reality of these phenomena; although, -almost without exception, they at first viewed them with dislike or -contempt, as impostures or delusions. There is nothing parallel to it in -the history of human thought; because there never before existed so -strong and apparently so well-founded a conviction that phenomena of -this kind never have happened and never can happen. It is often said, -that the number of adherents to a belief is no proof of its truth. This -remark justly applies to most religions whose arguments appeal to the -emotions and the intellect but not to the evidence of the senses. It is -equally just as applied to a great part of modern science. The almost -universal belief in gravitation, and in the undulatory theory of light, -does not render them in any degree more probable; because very few -indeed of the believers have tested the facts which most convincingly -demonstrate those theories, or are able to follow out the reasoning by -which they are demonstrated. It is for the most part a blind belief -accepted upon authority. But with these spiritual phenomena the case is -very different. They are to most men so new, so strange, so incredible, -so opposed to their whole habit of thought, so apparently opposed to the -pervading scientific spirit of the age, that they cannot and do not -accept them on second-hand evidence, as they do almost every other kind -of knowledge. The thousands or millions of Spiritualists, therefore, -represent to a very large extent men who have witnessed, examined, and -tested the evidence for themselves, over and over and over again, till -that which they had at first been unable to admit _could_ be true, they -have at last been compelled to acknowledge _is_ true. This accounts for -the utter failure of all the attempted “exposures” and “explanations” to -convince one solitary believer of his error. The exposers and explainers -have never got beyond those first difficulties which constitute the -_pons asinorum_ of Spiritualism, which every believer has to get over, -but at which early stage of investigation no converts are ever made. By -explaining table-turning, or table-tilting, or raps, you do not -influence a man who was never convinced by these, but who, in broad -daylight, sees objects move without contact, and behave as if guided by -intelligent beings; and who sees this in a variety of forms, in a -variety of places, and under such varied and stringent conditions, as to -make the fact to him just as real as the movement of iron to the magnet. -By explaining automatic writing (which itself convinces no one but the -writer, and not always even him), you do not affect the belief of the -man who has obtained writing when neither pencil nor paper was touched -by any one; or has seen a hand not attached to any human body take up a -pencil and write; or; as Mr. Andrew Leighton, of Liverpool, testifies, -has seen a pencil rise of itself on a table and write the words: “_And -is this world of strife to end in dust at last?_” Thus it is that there -are so few recantations or perverts in Spiritualism; so few, that it may -be truly said there are none. After much inquiry and reading I can find -no example of a man who, having acquired a good personal knowledge of -all the chief phases of the phenomena, has subsequently come to -disbelieve in their reality. If the “explanations” and “exposures” were -good for anything, or if it were an imposture to expose or a delusion to -explain, this could not be the case, because there are numbers of men -who have become convinced of the facts, but who have not accepted the -spiritual theory. These are, for the most part, in an uncomfortable and -unsettled frame of mind, and would gladly welcome an explanation which -really explained anything—but they find it not. As an eminent example of -this class, I may mention Dr. J. Lockhart Robertson, long one of the -editors of the Journal of Mental Science—a physician who, having made -mental disease his special study, would not be easily taken in by any -psychological delusions. The phenomena he witnessed fourteen years ago -were of a violent character; a very strong table being, at his own -request and in his own house, broken to pieces while he held the -medium’s hands. He afterwards himself tried to break a remaining leg of -the table, but failed to do so after exerting all his strength. Another -table was tilted over while all the party sat on it. He subsequently had -a sitting with Mr. Home, and witnessed the usual phenomena occurring -with that extraordinary medium—such as the accordion playing “most -wonderful music without any human agency,” “a shadow hand, not that of -any one present, which lifts a pencil and writes with it,” &c., &c.; and -he says that he can “no more doubt the physical manifestations of -(so-called) Spiritualism than he would any other fact—as, for example, -the fall of an apple to the ground of which his senses informed him.” -His record of these phenomena, with the confirmation by a friend who was -present, is published in the “Dialectical Society’s Report on -Spiritualism,” p. 247; and, at a meeting of Spiritualists in 1870, he -reasserted the facts, but denied their spiritual origin. To such a man -the Quarterly Reviewer’s explanations are worthless; yet it may be -safely said, that every advanced Spiritualist has seen more remarkable, -more varied, and even more inexplicable phenomena than those recorded by -Dr. Robertson, and is therefore still further out of reach of the -arguments referred to, which are indeed only calculated to convince -those who know little or nothing of the matter. - - - - - EVIDENCE OF THE FACTS. - - -The subject of the evidences of the objective phenomena of Spiritualism -is such a large one that it will be only possible here to give a few -typical examples, calculated to show how wide is their range, and how -conclusively they reach every objection that the most skeptical have -brought against them. This may perhaps be best done by giving, in the -first place, an outline of the career of two or three well-known -mediums; and, in the second, a sketch of the experiences and -investigations of a few of the more remarkable converts to Spiritualism. - -_Career of Remarkable Mediums._—Miss Kate Fox, the little girl of nine -years old, who, as already stated, was the first “medium” in the modern -sense of the term, has continued to possess the same power for -twenty-six years. At the very earliest stages of the movement, skeptic -after skeptic, committee after committee endeavored to discover “the -trick;” but if it was a trick this little girl baffled them all, and the -proverbial acuteness of the Yankee was of no avail. In 1860, when Dr. -Robert Chambers visited America, he suggested to his friend, Robert Dale -Owen, the use of a balance to test the lifting power. They accordingly, -without preärrangement with the medium, took with them a powerful -steelyard, and suspended from it a dining-table weighing one hundred and -twenty-one pounds. Then, under a bright gas-light, the feet of the two -mediums (Miss Fox and her sister) being both touched by the feet of the -gentlemen, and the hands of all present being held over but not touching -the table, it was made lighter or heavier at request, so as to weigh at -one time only sixty, at another one hundred and thirty-four pounds. This -experiment, be it remembered, was identical with one proposed by Faraday -himself as being conclusive. Mr. Owen had many sittings with Miss Fox, -for the purpose of test, and the precautions he took were extraordinary. -He sat with her alone; he frequently changed the room without notice; he -examined every article of furniture; he locked the doors and fastened -them with strips of paper privately sealed; he held both the hands of -the medium. Under these conditions various phenomena occurred, the most -remarkable being the illumination of a piece of paper (which he had -brought himself, cut of a peculiar size, and privately marked,) showing -a dark hand writing on the floor. The paper afterwards rose up on to the -table with legible writing upon it, containing a promise which was -subsequently verified. (“Debatable Land,” p. 293.) - -But Miss Fox’s powers were most remarkably shown in the séances with Mr. -Livermore, a well-known New York banker, and an entire skeptic before -commencing these experiments. These sittings were more than three -hundred in number, extending over five years. They took place in four -different houses (Mr. Livermore’s and the medium’s being both changed -during this period), under tests of the most rigid description. The -chief phenomenon was the appearance of a tangible, visible and audible -figure of Mr. Livermore’s deceased wife, sometimes accompanied by a male -figure, purporting to be Dr. Franklin. The former figure was often most -distinct and absolutely life-like. It moved various objects in the room. -It wrote messages on cards. It was sometimes formed out of a luminous -cloud, and again vanished before the eyes of the witnesses. It allowed a -portion of its dress to be cut off, which, though at first of strong and -apparently gauzy material texture, yet in a short time melted away and -became invisible. Flowers which melted away were also given. These -phenomena occurred best when Mr. L. and the medium were alone; but two -witnesses were occasionally admitted, who tested everything and -confirmed Mr. L.’s testimony. One of these was Mr. Livermore’s -physician, the other his brother-in-law; the latter previously a -skeptic. The details of these wonderful séances were published in the -Spiritual Magazine in 1862 and 1863; and the more remarkable are given -in Owen’s “Debatable Land,” from which work a good idea may be formed of -the great variety of the phenomena that occurred and the stringent -character of the tests employed. - -Miss Fox recently came to England, and here also her powers have been -tested by a competent man of science, and found to be all that has been -stated. She is now married to an English barrister, and some of the -strange phenomena which have so long accompanied her attach themselves -to her infant child, even when its mother is away, to the great alarm of -the nurse. We have here, therefore, a career of twenty-six years of -mediumship of the most varied and remarkable character; mediumship which -has been scrutinized and tested from the first hour of its manifestation -down to this day, and with one invariable result—that no imposture or -attempt at imposture has ever been discovered, and no cause ever been -suggested that will account for the phenomena except that advanced by -Spiritualists. - - -Mr. Daniel D. Home is perhaps the best known medium in the world; and -his powers have been open to examination for at least twenty years. -Nineteen years ago Sir David Brewster and Lord Brougham had a sitting -with him—sufficiently acute and eminent observers, and both, of course -thorough skeptics. In the “Home Life of Sir David Brewster,” we have, -fortunately, his own record of this sitting made _at the time_, although -six months later, in a letter to the Morning Advertiser, he made the -contradictory statement: “I saw enough to satisfy myself they could all -be produced by human hands and feet.” He says: “The table actually rose -from the ground when no hand was upon it;” and “a small hand-bell was -laid down with its mouth on the carpet, and it actually rang when -nothing could have touched it. The bell was then placed on the other -side, still upon the carpet, and it came over to me and placed itself in -my hand. It did the same to Lord Brougham.” And he adds, speaking for -both, “We could give no explanation of them, and could not conjecture -how they could be produced by any kind of mechanism.” Coming from the -author of “Letters on Natural Magic,” this is pretty good testimony. - -These and far more marvelous phenomena have been repeated from that day -to this many thousands of times, and almost always in private houses at -which Mr. Home visits. Everybody testifies to the fact that he offers -the most ample facilities for investigation; and to this I can myself -bear witness, having been invited by him to examine as closely as I -pleased an accordion, held by his one hand, keys downward, and in that -position playing very sweetly. But perhaps the best-attested and most -extraordinary phenomenon connected with Mr. Home’s mediumship is what is -called the fire-test. In a state of trance he takes a glowing coal from -the hottest part of a bright fire and carries it round the room, so that -every one may see and feel that it is a real one. This is testified by -Mr. H. D. Jencken, Lord Lindsay, Lord Adare, Miss Douglas, Mr. S. C. -Hall, and many others. But, more strange still, when in this state he -can detect the same power in other persons, or convey it to them. A lump -of red-hot coal was once placed on Mr. S. C. Hall’s head in the presence -of Lord Lindsay and four other persons. Mrs. Hall, in a communication to -the Earl of Dunraven (given in the Spiritual Magazine, 1870, p. 178), -says: - - “Mr. Hall was seated nearly opposite to where I sat; and I saw Mr. - Home, after standing about half a minute at the back of Mr. Hall’s - chair, deliberately place the lump of burning coal on his head! I have - often wondered that I was not frightened, but I was not; I had perfect - faith that he would not be injured. Some one said, ‘Is it not hot?’ - Mr. Hall answered, ‘Warm, but not hot!’ Mr. Home had moved a little - way, but returned, still in a trance; he smiled, and seemed quite - pleased, and then proceeded to draw up Mr. Hall’s white hair over the - red coal. The white hair had the appearance of silver thread over the - red coal. Mr. Home drew the hair into a sort of pyramid, the coal, - still red, showing beneath the hair.” - -When taken off the head—which it had not in the slightest degree injured -or singed the hair—others attempted to touch it, and were burnt. Lord -Lindsay and Miss Douglas have also had hot coals placed in their hands, -and they describe them as feeling rather cold than hot; though at the -same time they burn any one else, and even scorch the face of the holder -if approached too closely. The same witnesses also testify that Mr. Home -has placed red-hot coals inside his waistcoat without scorching his -clothes, and has put his face into the middle of the fire, his hair -falling into the flames, yet not being the least singed. The same power -of resisting fire can be temporarily given to inanimate objects. Mr. H. -Nisbet, of Glasgow, states (“Human Nature,” Feb., 1870) that, in his own -house, in January, 1870, Mr. Home placed a red-hot coal in the hands of -a lady and gentleman, which they only felt warm; and then placed the -same piece on a folded newspaper, burning a hole through eight layers of -paper. He then took a fresh and blazing coal and laid it on the same -newspaper, carrying it about the room for three minutes, when the paper -was found, this time, not to have been the least burnt. Lord Lindsay -further declares—and as one of the few noblemen who do real scientific -work his evidence must be of some value—that on eight occasions he has -had red-hot coals placed on his own hand by Home without injury. Mr. W. -H. Harrison (“Spiritualist,” March 15th, 1870) saw him take a large -coal, which covered the palm of his hand, and stood six or seven inches -high. As he walked about the room it threw a ruddy glow on the walls, -and when he came to the table with it, the heat was felt in the faces of -all present. The coal was thus held for five minutes. These phenomena -have now happened scores of times in the presence of scores of -witnesses. They are facts, of the reality of which there can be no -doubt; and they are altogether inexplicable by the known laws of -physiology and heat. - -The powers of Mr. Home have lately been independently tested by Serjeant -Cox and Mr. Crookes, and both these gentlemen emphatically proclaim that -he invites tests and courts examination. Serjeant Cox, in his own house, -has had a new accordion (purchased by himself that very day) play by -itself, in his own hand, while Mr. Home was playing the piano. Mr. Home -then took the accordion in his left hand, holding it with the keys -downwards while playing the piano with his right hand, “and it played -beautifully in accompaniment to the piano, for at least a quarter of an -hour.” (“What Am I?” Vol. II., p. 388.) - -As to the possibility of these things being produced by trick, if -further evidence than their mere statement be required, we have the -following by Mr. T. Adolphus Trollope, who says, “I may also mention -that Bosco, one of the greatest professors of legerdemain ever known, in -a conversation with me upon the subject, utterly scouted the idea of the -possibility of such phenomena as I saw produced by Mr. Home being -performed by any of the resources of his art.” - -Mr. Home’s life has been to a great extent a public one. He has spent -much of his time as a guest in the houses of people of rank and talent. -He numbers among his friends many who are eminent in science, art, and -literature—men certainly not inferior in perceptive or reasoning power -to those who, not having witnessed the phenomena, disbelieve in their -occurrence. For twenty years he has been exposed to the keen scrutiny -and never-ceasing suspicion of innumerable inquirers; yet no proof has -ever been given of trickery, no particle of machinery or apparatus ever -been detected. But the phenomena are so stupendous that, if impostures, -they could only be performed by machinery of the most elaborate, varied -and cumbrous nature, requiring the aid of several assistants and -confederates. The theory that they are delusions is equally untenable, -unless it is admitted that there is no possible means of distinguishing -delusion from reality. - - -The last medium to whose career I shall call attention is Mrs. Guppy -(formerly Miss Nichol), and in this case I can give some personal -testimony. I knew Miss Nichol before she had ever heard of Spiritualism, -table-rapping, or anything of the kind, and we first discovered her -powers on asking her to sit for experiment in my house. This was in -November, 1866, and for some months we had constant sittings, and I was -able to watch and test the progress of her development. I first -satisfied myself of the rising of a small table completely off the -floor, when three or four persons (including Miss N.) placed their hands -on it. I tested this by secretly attaching threads or thin strips of -paper underneath the claws, so that they must be broken if any one -attempted to raise the table with their feet, the only available means -of doing so. The table still rose a full foot off the floor in broad -daylight. In order to show this to friends with less trouble, I made a -cylinder of hoops and brown paper, in which I placed the table so as to -keep feet and dresses away from it while it rose, which it did as freely -as before. Perhaps more marvelous was the placing of Miss N. herself on -the table; for although this always happened in the dark, yet, under the -conditions to be named, deception was impossible. I will relate one -sitting of which I have notes. We sat in a friend’s house, round a -centre table, under a glass chandelier. A friend of mine, but a perfect -stranger to all the rest, sat next Miss Nichol and held both her hands. -Another person had matches ready to strike a light when required. What -occurred was as follows: First, Miss Nichol’s chair was drawn away from -under her, and she was obliged to stand up, my friend still holding both -her hands. In a minute or two more I heard a slight sound, such as might -be produced by a person placing a wine-glass on the table, and at the -same time a very slight rustling of clothes and tinkling of the glass -pendants of the chandelier. Immediately my friend said, “She is gone -from me.” A light was at once struck, and we found Miss N. quietly -seated in her chair on the centre of the table, her head just touching -the chandelier. My friend declared that Miss N. seemed to glide -noiselessly out of his hands. She was very stout and heavy, and to get -her chair on the table, to get upon it herself, in the dark, -noiselessly, and almost instantaneously, with five or six persons close -around her, appeared, and still appears to me, knowing her intimately, -to be physically impossible. - -Another very curious and beautiful phenomenon was the production of -delicate musical sounds, without any object calculated to produce them -being in the room. On one occasion a German lady, who was a perfect -stranger to Miss Nichol, and had never been at a séance before, was -present. She sang several German songs, and most delicate music, like a -fairy musical-box, accompanied her throughout. She sang four or five -different songs of her own choice, and all were so accompanied. This was -in the dark, but hands were joined all the time. - -The most remarkable feature of this lady’s mediumship is the production -of flowers and fruits in closed rooms. The first time this occurred was -at my own house at a very early stage of her development. All present -were my own friends. Miss Nichol had come early to tea, it being -mid-winter, and she had been with us in a very warm gas-lighted room -four hours before the flowers appeared. The essential fact is, that upon -a bare table in a small room closed and dark (the adjoining room and -passage being well lighted), a quantity of flowers appeared, which were -not there when we put out the gas a few minutes before. They consisted -of anemones, tulips, chrysanthemums, Chinese primroses, and several -ferns. All were absolutely fresh, as if just gathered from a -conservatory. They were covered with a fine, cold dew. Not a petal was -crumpled or broken, not the most delicate point or pinnule of the ferns -was out of place. I dried and preserved the whole, and have, attached to -them, the attestation of all present that they had no share, as far as -they knew, in bringing the flowers into the room. I believed at the -time, and still believe, that it was absolutely impossible for Miss N. -to have concealed them so long, to have kept them so perfect, and, above -all, to produce them covered throughout with a most beautiful coating of -dew, just like that which collects on the outside of a tumbler when -filled with very cold water on a hot day. - -Similar phenomena have occurred hundreds of times since, in many houses -and under various conditions. Sometimes the flowers have been in vast -quantities, heaped upon the table. Often flowers or fruits asked for are -brought. A friend of mine asked for a sunflower, and one six feet high -fell upon the table, having a large mass of earth about its roots. One -of the most striking tests was at Florence, with Mr. T. Adolphus -Trollope, Mrs. Trollope, Miss Blagden, and Colonel Harvey. The room was -searched by the gentlemen; Mrs. Guppy was undressed and redressed by -Mrs. Trollope, every article of her clothing being examined. Mr. and -Mrs. Guppy were both firmly held while at the table. In about ten -minutes all the party exclaimed that they smelt flowers, and, on -lighting a candle, both Mrs. Guppy’s and Mr. Trollope’s arms were found -covered with jonquils, which filled the room with their odor. Mr. Guppy -and Mr. Trollope both relate this in substantially the same terms. -(“Dialectical Society’s Report on Spiritualism,” pp. 277 and 372.) - -Surely these are phenomena about which there can be no mistake. What -theories have ever been proposed by our scientific teachers which even -attempt to account for them? Delusion it cannot be, for the flowers are -real and can be preserved, and imposture under the conditions described -is even less credible. If the gentlemen who came forward to enlighten -the public on the subject of “so-called spiritual manifestations” do not -know of the various classes of phenomena that have now been indicated, -and the weight of the testimony in support of them, they are palpably -unqualified for the task they have undertaken. That they do know of -them, but keep back their knowledge, while putting forward trivialities -easy to laugh at or expose, is a supposition I cannot for a moment -entertain. Before leaving this part of the subject, it is well to note -the fact of the marked individuality of each medium. They are not copies -of each other, but each one develops a characteristic set of phenomena—a -fact highly suggestive of some unconscious occult power in the -individual, and wholly opposed to the idea of either imposture or -delusion, both of which almost invariably copy preëxisting models. - -_Investigations by some Notable Skeptics._—In giving some account of how -a few of the more important converts to Spiritualism became convinced, -we are of course limited to those who have given their experiences to -the public. I will first take the case of the eminent American lawyer, -the Hon. J. W. Edmonds, commonly called Judge Edmonds; and it may be as -well to let English skeptics know what he is thought of by his -countrymen. When he first became a Spiritualist he was greatly abused; -and it was even declared that he consulted the spirits on his judicial -decisions. To defend himself, he published an “Appeal to the Public,” -giving a full account of the inquiries which resulted in his conversion. -In noticing this, the New York Evening Mirror said: “John W. Edmonds, -the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of this District, is an able -lawyer, an industrious judge and a good citizen. For the last eight -years occupying without interruption the highest judicial stations, -whatever may be his faults no one can justly accuse him of a lack of -ability, industry, honesty or fearlessness. No one can doubt his general -saneness, or can believe for a moment that the ordinary operations of -his mind are not as rapid, accurate and reliable as ever. Both by the -practitioners and suitors at his bar he is recognized as the head, in -fact and in merit, of the Supreme Court for this District.” A few years -later he published a series of letters on Spiritualism in the New York -Tribune; and in the first of these he gives a compact summary of his -mode of investigation, from which the following passages are extracted. -It must be remembered that at the time he commenced the inquiry he was -in the prime and vigor of intellectual life, being fifty-two years of -age: - - “It was in January, 1851, that I first began my investigations, and it - was not until April, 1853, that I became a firm believer in the - reality of spiritual intercourse. During twenty-three months of those - twenty-seven, I witnessed several hundred manifestations in various - forms. I kept very minute and careful records of many of them. My - practice was, whenever I attended a circle, to keep in pencil a - memorandum of all that took place, so far as I could, and, as soon as - I returned home, to write out a full account of what I had witnessed. - I did all this with as much minuteness and particularity as I had ever - kept any record of a trial before me in court. In this way, during - that period, I preserved the record of nearly two hundred interviews, - running through some one thousand six hundred pages of manuscript. I - had these interviews with many different mediums, and under an - infinite variety of circumstances. No two interviews were alike. There - was always something new, or something different from what had - previously occurred; and it very seldom happened that only the same - persons were present. The manifestations were of almost every known - form, physical or mental; sometimes only one, and sometimes both - combined. - - “I resorted to every expedient I could devise to detect imposture and - to guard against delusion. I felt in myself, and saw in others, how - exciting was the idea that we were actually communing with the dead; - and I labored to prevent any undue bias of my judgment. I was at times - critical and captious to an unreasonable extreme; and when my belief - was challenged, as it was over and over again, I refused to yield, - except to evidence that would leave no possible room for cavil. - - “I was severely exacting in my demands, and this would frequently - happen. I would go to a circle with some doubt on my mind as to the - manifestations at the previous circle, and something would happen - aimed directly at that doubt, and completely overthrowing it as it - then seemed, so that I had no longer any reason to doubt. But I would - go home and write out carefully my minutes of the evening, cogitate - over them for several days, compare them with previous records, and - finally find some loophole—some possibility that it might have been - something else than spiritual influence, and I would go to the next - circle with a new doubt, and a new set of queries. - - “I look back sometimes now, with a smile, at the ingenuity I wasted in - devising ways and means to avoid the possibility of deception. - - “It was a remarkable feature of my investigations that every - conceivable objection I could raise was, first or last, met and - answered.” - -The following extracts are from the “Appeal”: - - “I have seen a mahogany table, having a centre leg, and with a lamp - burning upon it, lifted from the floor at least a foot, in spite of - the efforts of those present, and shaken backward and forward as one - would shake a goblet in his hand, and the lamp retain its place, - though its glass pendants rang again. - - “I have known a mahogany chair thrown on its side and moved swiftly - back and forth on the floor, no one touching it, through a room where - there were at least a dozen people sitting, yet no one was touched; - and it was repeatedly stopped within a few inches of me, when it was - coming with a violence which, if not arrested, must have broken my - legs.” - -Having satisfied himself of the reality of the physical phenomena, he -came to the question of whence comes the intelligence that was so -remarkably connected with them. He says: - - “Preparatory to meeting a circle, I have sat down alone in my room, - and carefully prepared a series of questions to be propounded, and I - have been surprised to find my questions answered, and in the precise - order in which I wrote them, without my even taking my memorandum out - of my pocket, and when not a person present knew that I had prepared - questions, much less what they were. My most secret thoughts, those - which I have never uttered to mortal man or woman, have been freely - spoken to as if I had uttered them; and I have been admonished that my - every thought was known to, and could be disclosed by, the - intelligence which was thus manifesting itself. - - “Still the question occurred, ‘May not all this have been, by some - mysterious operation, the mere reflex of the mind of some one - present?’ The answer was, that facts were communicated which were - unknown then, but afterwards found to be true; like this, for - instance: when I was absent last winter in Central America, my friends - in town heard of my whereabouts and of the state of my health several - times; and on my return, by comparing their information with the - entries in my journal, it was found to be invariably correct. So - thoughts have been uttered on subjects not then in my mind and utterly - at variance with my own notions. This has often happened to me and to - others, so as fully to establish the fact that it was not our minds - that gave forth or affected the communication.” - -These few extracts sufficiently show that the writer was aware of the -possible sources of error in such an inquiry; and the details given in -the letters prove that he was constantly on his guard against them. He -himself and his daughter became mediums; so that he afterwards obtained -personal confirmation of many of the phenomena by himself alone. But all -the phenomena referred to in the letters and “Appeal” occurred to him in -the presence of others, who testified to them as well, and thus removed -the possibility that the phenomena were subjective. - -We have yet to add a notice of what will be perhaps, to many persons, -the most startling and convincing of all the Judge’s experiences. His -own daughter became a medium for speaking foreign languages of which she -was totally ignorant. He says: “She knows no language but her own, and a -little smattering of boarding-school French; yet she has spoken in nine -or ten different tongues, often for an hour at a time, with the ease and -fluency of a native. It is not unfrequent that foreigners converse with -their spirit-friends through her in their own language.” One of these -cases must be given: - - “One evening, when some twelve or fifteen persons were in my parlor, - Mr. E. D. Green, an artist of this city, was shown in, accompanied by - a gentleman whom he introduced as Mr. Evangelides, of Greece. Ere long - a spirit spoke to him through Laura, in English, and said so many - things to him that he identified him as a friend who had died at his - house a few years before, but of whom none of us had ever heard. - Occasionally, through Laura, the spirit would speak a word or a - sentence in Greek, until Mr. E. inquired if he could be understood if - he spoke Greek? The residue of the conversation for more than an hour - was, on his part, entirely in Greek, and on hers sometimes in Greek - and sometimes in English. At times Laura would not understand what was - the idea conveyed either by her or him. At other times she would - understand him, though he spoke in Greek, and herself while uttering - Greek words.” - -Several other cases are mentioned, and it is stated that this lady has -spoken Spanish, French, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Latin, Hungarian and -Indian; and other languages which were unknown to any person present. - -This is by no means an isolated case, but it is given as being on most -unexceptionable authority. A man must know whether his own daughter has -learnt, so as to speak fluently, eight languages besides her own, or -not. Those who carry on the conversation must know whether the language -is spoken or not; and in several cases—as the Latin, Spanish, and -Indian—the Judge himself understood the language. And the phenomenon is -connected with Spiritualism by the speaking being in the name of, and -purporting to come from, some deceased person, and the subject matter -being characteristic of that person. Such a case as this, which has been -published sixteen years, ought to have been noticed and explained by -those who profess to enlighten the public on the subject of -Spiritualism. - - -Our next example is one of the most recent, but at the same time one of -the most useful, converts to the truths of Spiritualism. Dr. George -Sexton, M. D., M. A., L. L. D., was for many years the coadjutor of Mr. -Bradlaugh, and one of the most earnest and energetic of the secularist -teachers. The celebrated Robert Owen first called his attention to the -subject of Spiritualism about twenty years ago. He read books, he saw a -good deal of the ordinary physical manifestations, but he always -“suspected that the mediums played tricks, and that the whole affair was -nothing but clever conjuring by means of concealed machinery.” He gave -several lectures against Spiritualism in the usual style of -non-believers, dwelling much on the absurdity and triviality of the -phenomena, and ridiculing the idea that they were the work of spirits. -Then came another old friend and fellow-secularist, Mr. Turley, who, -after investigating the subject for the purpose of exposing it, became a -firm believer. Dr. Sexton laughed at this conversion, yet it made a deep -impression on his mind. Ten years passed away, and his next important -investigation was with the Davenport brothers; and it will be well for -those who sneer at these much-abused young men to take note of the -following account of Dr. Sexton’s proceedings with them, and especially -of the fact that they cheerfully submitted to every test the doctor -suggested. He tells us (in his lecture, “How I became a Spiritualist,”) -that he visited them again and again, trying in vain to find out the -trick. Then, he says— - - “My partner—Dr. Barker—and I invited the Brothers to our houses, and, - in order to guard against anything like trickery, we requested them - not to bring any ropes, instruments, or other apparatus; all these we - ourselves had determined to supply. Moreover, as there were four of - them, viz., the two Brothers Davenport, Mr. Fay, and Dr. Ferguson, we - suspected that the two who were not tied might really do all that was - done. We therefore requested only two to come. They unhesitatingly - complied with all these requests. - - “We formed a circle, consisting entirely of members of our own - families and a few private friends, with the one bare exception of - Mrs. Fay. In the circle we all joined hands, and as Mrs. Fay sat at - one end she had one of her hands free, while I had hold of the other. - Thinking that she might be able to assist with the hand that was thus - free, I asked, as a favor, that I might be allowed to hold both her - hands—a proposition which she at once agreed to. Now, without entering - here at all into what took place, suffice it to say that we bound the - mediums with our own ropes, placed their feet upon sheets of writing - paper, and drew lines around their boots, so that if they moved their - feet it should be impossible for them to place them again in the same - position; we laid pence on their toes, sealed the ropes, and in every - way took precautions against their moving. On the occasion to which I - now refer, Mr. Bradlaugh and Mr. Charles Watts were present; and when - Mr. Fay’s coat had been taken off, the ropes still remaining on his - hands, Mr. Bradlaugh requested that his coat might be placed on Mr. - Fay, which was immediately done, the ropes still remaining fastened. - We got, on this occasion, all the phenomena that usually occurred in - the presence of these extraordinary men, particulars of which I shall - probably give on another occasion. Dr. Barker became a believer in - Spiritualism from the time that the Brothers visited at his house. I - did not see that any proof had been given that disembodied spirits had - any hand in producing the phenomena; but I was convinced that no - tricks had been played, and that, therefore, these extraordinary - physical manifestations were the result of some occult force in Nature - which I had no means of explaining in the present state of my - knowledge. All the physical phenomena that I had seen now became clear - to me; they were not accomplished by trickery, as I had formerly - supposed, but were the result of some undiscovered law of Nature, - which it was the business of the man of science to use his utmost - endeavors to discover.” - -While he was maintaining this ground, Spiritualists often asked him how -he explained the intelligence that was manifested; and he invariably -replied that he had not yet seen proofs of any intelligence other than -what might be that of the medium or of some other persons present in the -circle, adding, that as soon as he did see proofs of such intelligence -he should become a Spiritualist. In this position he stood for many -years, till he naturally believed he should never see cause to change -his opinion. He continued the inquiry, however, and in 1865 began to -hold séances at home; but it was years before any mental phenomena -occurred which were absolutely conclusive, although they were often of -so startling a nature as would have satisfied any one less skeptical. At -length, after fifteen years of enlightened skepticism—a skepticism not -founded upon ignorance, but which refused to go one step beyond what the -facts so diligently pursued absolutely demonstrated—the needful evidence -came: - - “The proofs that I did ultimately receive are, many of them, of a - character that I cannot describe minutely to a public audience, nor - indeed have I time to do so. Suffice it to say, that I got in my own - house, in the absence of all mediums other than those members of my - own family and intimate private friends in whom mediumistic powers - became developed, evidence of an irresistible character that the - communications came from deceased friends and relatives. Intelligence - was again and again displayed which could not possibly have had any - other origin than that which it professed to have. Facts were named - known to no one in the circle, and left to be verified afterwards. The - identity of the spirits communicating was proved in a hundred - different ways. Our dear departed ones made themselves palpable both - to feeling and to sight; and the doctrine of spirit-communion was - proved beyond the shadow of a doubt. I soon found myself in the - position of Dr. Fenwick in Lord Lytton’s ‘Strange Story.’ ‘Do you - believe,’ asked the female attendant of Margrave, ‘in that which you - seek?’ ‘I have no belief,’ was the answer. ‘True science has none; - true science questions all things, and takes nothing on credit. It - knows but three states of mind—denial, conviction, and the vast - interval between the two, which is not belief, but the suspension of - judgment.’ This describes exactly the phases through which my mind has - passed.” - -Since Dr. Sexton has become a Spiritualist he has been as energetic an -advocate for its truths as he had been before for the negations of -secularism. His experience and ability as a lecturer, with his long -schooling in every form of manifestation, render him one of the most -valuable promulgators of its teachings. He has also done excellent -service in exposing the pretensions of those conjurers who profess to -expose Spiritualism. This he does in the most practical way, not only by -explaining how the professed imitations of spiritual manifestations are -performed, but by actually performing them before his audience; and at -the same time pointing out the important differences between what these -people do and what occurs at good séances. Any one who wishes to -comprehend how Dr. Lynn, Messrs. Maskelyne and Cook, and Herr Dobler -perform some of their most curious feats have only to read his lecture, -entitled, “Spirit Mediums and Conjurers,” before going to witness their -entertainments. We can hardly believe that the man who does this, and -who during fifteen years of observation and experiment held out against -the spiritual theory, is one of those who, as Lord Amberley tells us, -“fall a victim to the most patent frauds, and are imposed upon by -jugglery of the most vulgar order”; or who, as viewed from Prof. -Tyndall’s high scientific standpoint, are in a frame of mind before -which science is utterly powerless—“dupes beyond the reach of proof, who -like to believe and do not like to be undeceived.” These be brave words; -but we leave our readers to judge whether they come with a very good -grace from men who have the most slender and inadequate knowledge of the -subject they are criticising, and no knowledge at all of the -long-continued and conscientious investigations of many who are included -in their wholesale animadversions. - - -Yet one more witness to these marvelous phenomena we must bring before -our readers—a trained and experienced physicist, who has experimented in -his own laboratory, and has applied tests and measurements of the most -rigid and conclusive character. When Mr. Crookes—the discoverer of the -metal thallium, and a Fellow of the Royal Society—first announced that -he was going to investigate so-called spiritual phenomena, many public -writers were all approval; for the complaint had long been that men of -science were not permitted by mediums to inquire too scrupulously into -the facts. One expressed “profound satisfaction that the subject was -about to be investigated by a man so well qualified”; another was -“gratified to learn that the matter is now receiving the attention of -cool and clear headed men of recognized position in science”; while a -third declared that “no one could doubt Mr. Crookes’s ability to conduct -the investigation with rigid philosophical impartiality.” But these -expressions were evidently insincere, and were only meant to apply in -case the result was in accordance with the writers’ notions of what it -ought to be. Of course, a “scientific investigation” would explode the -whole thing. Had not Faraday exploded table-turning? They hailed Mr. -Crookes as the Daniel come to judgment—as the prophet who would curse -their enemy, Spiritualism, by detecting imposture and illusion. But when -the judge, after a patient trial lasting several years, decided against -them, and their accepted prophet blessed the hated thing as an undoubted -truth, their tone changed; and they began to suspect the judge’s -ability, and to pick holes in the evidence on which he founded his -judgment. - -In Mr. Crookes’s latest paper, published in the Quarterly Journal of -Science for January last, we are informed that he has pursued the -inquiry for four years; and besides attending séances elsewhere, has had -the opportunity of making numerous experiments in his own house with the -two remarkable mediums already referred to, Mr. D. D. Home and Miss Kate -Fox. These experiments were almost exclusively made in the light, under -conditions of his own arranging, and with his own friends as witnesses. -Such phenomena as percussive sounds; alteration of the weight of bodies; -the rising of heavy bodies in the air without contact by any one; the -levitation of human beings; luminous appearances of various kinds; the -appearance of hands which lift small objects, yet are not the hands of -any one present; direct writing, by a luminous detached hand or by the -pencil alone; phantom forms and faces; and various mental phenomena—have -all been tested so variously and so repeatedly that Mr. Crookes is -thoroughly satisfied of their objective reality. These phenomena are -given in outline in the paper above referred to, and they will be -detailed in full in a volume now preparing. I will not, therefore, weary -my readers by repeating them here, but will remark, that these -experiments have a weight as evidence vastly greater than would be due -to them as resting on the testimony of any man of science, however -distinguished, because they are, in almost every case, confirmations of -what previous witnesses in immense numbers have testified to, in various -places, and under various conditions, during the last twenty years. In -every other experimental inquiry, without exception, confirmation of the -facts of an earlier observer is held to add so greatly to their value, -that no one treats them with the same incredulity with which he might -have received them the first time they were announced. And when the -confirmation has been repeated by three or four independent observers -under favorable conditions, and there is nothing but theory or negative -evidence against them, the facts are admitted—at least provisionally, -and until disproved by a greater weight of evidence or by discovering -the exact source of the fallacy of preceding observers. - -But here, a totally different—a most unreasonable and a most -unphilosophical—course is pursued. Each fresh observation, confirming -previous evidence, is treated as though it were now put forth for the -_first_ time; and fresh confirmation is asked of it. And when this fresh -and independent confirmation comes, yet more confirmation is asked for, -and so on without end. This is a very clever way to ignore and stifle a -new truth; but the facts of Spiritualism are ubiquitous in their -occurrence and of so indisputable a nature, as to compel conviction in -every earnest inquirer. It thus happens that although every fresh -convert requires a large proportion of the series of demonstrative facts -to be reproduced before he will give his assent to them, the number of -such converts has gone on steadily increasing for a quarter of a -century. Clergymen of all sects, literary men and lawyers, physicians in -large numbers, men of science not a few, secularists, philosophical -skeptics, pure materialists, all have become converts through the -overwhelming logic of the phenomena which Spiritualism has brought -before them. And what have we _per contra_? Neither science nor -philosophy, neither skepticism nor religion, has ever yet in this -quarter of a century made one single convert from the ranks of -Spiritualism! This being the case, and fully appreciating the amount of -candor and fairness, and knowledge of the subject, that has been -exhibited by their opponents, is it to be wondered at that a large -proportion of Spiritualists are now profoundly indifferent to the -opinion of men of science, and would not go one step out of their way to -convince them? They say, that the movement is going on quite fast -enough; that it is spreading by its own inherent force of truth, and -slowly permeating all classes of society. It has thriven in spite of -abuse and persecution, ridicule and argument, and will continue to -thrive whether endorsed by great names or not. Men of science, like all -others, are welcome to enter its ranks; but they must satisfy themselves -by their own persevering researches, not expect to have its proofs laid -before them. Their rejection of its truths is their own loss, but cannot -in the slightest degree affect the progress of Spiritualism. The attacks -and criticisms of the press are borne good-humoredly, and seldom excite -other feelings than pity for the willful ignorance and contempt for the -overwhelming presumption of their writers. Such are the sentiments that -are continually expressed by Spiritualists; and it is as well, perhaps, -that the outer world, to whom the literature of the movement is as much -unknown as the Vedas, should be made acquainted with them. - -_Investigation by the Dialectical Committee._—There are many other -investigators who ought to be noticed in any complete sketch of the -subject, but we have now only space to allude briefly to the “Report of -the Committee of the Dialectical Society.” Of this committee, consisting -of thirty-three acting members, only eight were, at the commencement, -believers in the reality of the phenomena, while not more than four -accepted the spiritual theory. During the course of the inquiry at least -twelve of the complete skeptics became convinced of the reality of many -of the physical phenomena through attending the experimental -sub-committees, and almost wholly by means of the mediumship of members -of the committee. At least three members who were previously skeptics -pursued their investigations outside the committee meetings, and in -consequence have become thorough Spiritualists. My own observation as a -member of the committee and of the largest and most active -sub-committee, enables me to state that the degree of conviction -produced in the minds of the various members was, allowing for marked -differences of character, approximately proportionate to the amount of -time and care bestowed on the investigation. This fact, which is what -occurs in all investigations into these phenomena, is a characteristic -result of the examination into any natural phenomena. The examination -into an imposture or delusion has, invariably, exactly opposite results: -those who have slender experience being deceived, while those who -perseveringly continue the inquiry inevitably find out the source of the -deception or the delusion. If this were not so, the discovery of truth -and the detection of error would be alike impossible. The result of this -inquiry on the members of the committee themselves is, therefore, of -more importance than the actual phenomena they witnessed, since these -were far less striking than many of the facts already mentioned. But -they are also of importance as confirming, by a body of intelligent and -unprejudiced men, the results obtained by previous individual inquirers. - -Before leaving this report, I must call attention to the evidence it -furnishes of the state of opinion among men of education in France. M. -Camille Flammarion, the well-known astronomer, sent a communication to -the committee which deserves special consideration. Besides declaring -his own acceptance of the objective reality of the phenomena after ten -years of investigation, he makes the following statement: - - “My learned teacher and friend, M. Babinet, of the Institute, who has - endeavored, with M. E. Liais (now Director of the Observatory of - Brazil), and several others of my colleagues of the Observatory of - Paris, to ascertain their nature and cause, is not fully convinced of - the intervention of spirits in their production; though this - hypothesis, by which alone certain categories of these phenomena would - seem to be explicable, has been adopted by many of our most esteemed - _savants_, among others by Dr. Hœffle, the learned author of the - ‘History of Chemistry,’ and the ‘General Encyclopædia’; and by the - diligent laborer in the field of astronomic discovery whose death we - have recently had to deplore, M. Hermann Goldschmidt, the discoverer - of fourteen planets.” - -It thus appears that in France, as well as in America and in this -country, men of science of no mean rank have investigated these -phenomena and have found them to be realities; while some of the most -eminent hold the spiritual theory to be the only one that will explain -them. - -This seems the proper place to notice the astounding assertion of -certain writers, that there is not “a particle of evidence” to support -the spiritual theory; that those who accept it betray “hopeless -inability to discriminate between adequate and inadequate proof of -facts”; that the theory is “formed apart from facts”; and that those who -accept it are so unable to reason as to “jump to the conclusion” that it -must be spirits that move tables, merely because they do not know how -else they can be moved. The preceding account of how converts to -Spiritualism have been made is a sufficient answer to all this ignorant -assertion. The spiritual theory, as a rule, has only been adopted as a -last resource, when all other theories have hopelessly broken down; and -when fact after fact, phenomenon after phenomenon, has presented itself, -giving direct proof that the so-called dead are still alive. The -spiritual theory is the logical outcome of the whole of the facts. Those -who deny it, in every instance with which I am acquainted, either from -ignorance or disbelief, leave half the facts out of view. Take the one -case (out of many almost equally conclusive) of Mr. Livermore, who, -during five years, on hundreds of occasions, saw, felt and heard the -movements of the figure of his dead wife in absolute, unmistakable, -living form—a form which could move objects, and which repeatedly wrote -to him in her own handwriting and her own language, on cards which -remained after the figure had disappeared; a form which was equally -visible and tangible to two friends; which appeared in his own house, in -a room absolutely secured, with the presence of only a young girl, the -medium. Had these three men “not a particle of evidence” for the -spiritual theory? Is it, in fact, possible to conceive or suggest any -more complete proof? The facts must be got rid of before you can abolish -the theory; and simple denial or disbelief does not get rid of facts -testified during a space of five years by three witnesses, all men in -responsible positions, and carrying on their affairs during the whole -period in a manner to win the respect and confidence of their -fellow-citizens.[3] - -Footnote 3: - - The objection will here inevitably be made: “These wonderful things - always happen in America. When they occur in England it will be time - enough to inquire into them.” Singularly enough, after this article - was in the press the final test was obtained, which demonstrated the - occurrence of similar phenomena in London. A short statement may, - therefore, be interesting for those who cannot digest American - evidence. For some years a young lady, Miss Florence Cook, has - exhibited remarkable mediumship, which latterly culminated in the - production of an entire female form purporting to be spiritual, and - which appeared barefooted and in white flowing robes while she lay - entranced, in dark clothing and securely bound, in a cabinet or - adjacent room. Notwithstanding that tests of an apparently conclusive - character were employed, many visitors, Spiritualists as well as - skeptics, got the impression that all was not as it should be; owing, - in part, to the resemblance of the supposed spirit to Miss Cook, and - also to the fact that the two could not be seen at the same time. Some - supposed that Miss C. was an impostor, who managed to conceal a white - robe about her (although she was often searched), and who, although - she was securely tied with tapes and sealed, was able to get out of - her bonds, dress and undress herself, and get into them again, all in - the dark, and in so complete and skillful a manner as to defy - detection. Others thought that the spirit released her, provided her - with a white dress, and sent her forth to personate a ghost. The - belief that there was something wrong led one gentleman—an ardent - Spiritualist—to seize the supposed spirit and endeavor to hold it, in - the hope that some other person would open the cabinet-door and see if - Miss Cook was really there. This was, unfortunately, not done; but the - great resemblance of the being he seized to Miss Cook, its perfect - solidity, and the vigorous struggles it made to escape from him, - convinced this gentleman that it was Miss Cook herself, although the - rest of the company, a few minutes afterwards, found her bound and - sealed just as she had been left an hour before. To determine the - question conclusively, experiments have been made within the last few - weeks by two scientific men. Mr. C. F. Varley, F. R. S., the eminent - electrician, made use of a galvanic battery and cable-testing - apparatus, and passed a current through Miss Cook’s body (by fastening - sovereigns soldered to wires to her arms). The apparatus was so - delicate that any movement whatever was instantly indicated, while it - was impossible for the young lady to dress and act as a ghost without - breaking the circuit. Yet under these conditions the spirit-form did - appear, exhibited its arms, spoke, wrote, and touched several persons; - and this happened, be it remembered, not in the medium’s own house, - but in that of a private gentleman in the West End of London. For - nearly an hour the circuit was never broken, and at the conclusion - Miss Cook was found in a deep trance. Since this remarkable experiment - Mr. William Crookes, F.R.S., has obtained, if possible, still more - satisfactory evidence. He contrived a phosphorus lamp, and, armed with - this, was allowed to go into the dark room accompanied by the spirit, - and there saw and felt Miss Cook, dressed in black velvet, lying in a - trance on the floor, while the spirit-form, in white robes, stood - close beside her. During the evening this spirit-form had been for - nearly an hour walking and talking with the company; and Mr. Crookes, - by permission, clasped the figure in his arms, and found it to be, - apparently, a real living woman, just as the skeptical gentleman had - done. Yet this figure is not that of Miss Cook, nor of any other human - being, since it appeared and disappeared in Mr. Crookes’s own house as - completely as in that of the medium herself. The full statements of - Messrs. Varley and Crookes, with a mass of interesting detail on the - subject, appeared in the “Spiritualist” newspaper in March and April - last; and they serve to show that whatever marvels occur in America - can be reproduced here, and that men of science are not precluded from - investigating these phenomena with scientific instruments and by - scientific methods. In the concluding part of this paper we shall be - able to show that another class of manifestation which originated in - America—that of the so-called spirit photographs—has been first - critically examined and completely demonstrated in our own country. - - - - - SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHS. - - -We now approach a subject which cannot be omitted in any impartial -sketch of the evidences of Spiritualism, since it is that which -furnishes perhaps the most unassailable demonstration it is possible to -obtain, of the objective reality of spiritual forms, and also of the -truthful nature of the evidence furnished by seers when they describe -figures visible to themselves alone. It has been already indicated—and -it is a fact, of which the records of Spiritualism furnish ample -proof—that different individuals possess the power of seeing such forms -and figures in very variable degrees. Thus, it often happens at a -séance, that some will see distinct lights of which they will describe -the form, appearance and position, while others see nothing at all. If -only one or two persons see the lights, the rest will naturally impute -it to their imagination; but there are cases in which only one or two of -those present are unable to see them. There are also cases in which all -see them, but in very different degrees of distinctness; yet that they -see the same objects is proved by their all agreeing as to the position -and the movement of the lights. Again, what some see as merely luminous -clouds, others will see as distinct human forms, either partial or -entire. In other cases all present see the form—whether hand, face, or -entire figure—with equal distinctness. Again, the objective reality of -these appearances is sometimes proved by their being touched, or by -their being seen to move objects—in some cases heard to speak, in others -seen to write, by several persons at one and the same time; the figure -seen or the writing produced being sometimes unmistakably recognizable -as that of some deceased friend. A volume could easily be filled with -records of this class of appearances, authenticated by place, date, and -names of witnesses; and a considerable selection is to be found in the -works of Mr. Robert Dale Owen. - -Now, at this point, an inquirer, who had not pre-judged the question, -and who did not believe his own knowledge of the universe to be so -complete as to justify him in rejecting all evidence for facts which he -had hitherto considered to be in the highest degree improbable, might -fairly say, “Your evidence for the appearance of visible, tangible, -spiritual forms, is very strong; but I should like to have them -submitted to a crucial test, which would quite settle the question of -the possibility of their being due to a coincident delusion of several -senses of several persons at the same time; and, if satisfactory, would -demonstrate their objective reality in a way nothing else can do. If -they really reflect or emit light which makes them visible to human -eyes, _they can be photographed_. Photograph them, and you will have an -unanswerable proof that your human witnesses are trustworthy.” Two years -ago we could only have replied to this very proper suggestion, that we -believed it had been done and could be again done, but that we had no -satisfactory evidence to offer. Now, however, we are in a position to -state, not only that it has been frequently done, but that the evidence -is of such a nature as to satisfy any one who will take the trouble -carefully to examine it. This evidence we will now lay before our -readers, and we venture to think they will acknowledge it to be most -remarkable. - -Before doing so it may be as well to clear away a popular misconception. -Mr. Lewes advised the Dialectical Committee to distinguish carefully -between “facts and inferences from facts.” This is especially necessary -in the case of what are called spirit photographs. The figures which -occur in these, when not produced by any human agency, may be of -“spiritual” origin, without being figures “of spirits.” There is much -evidence to show that they are, in some cases, forms produced by -invisible intelligences, but distinct from them. In other cases the -intelligence appears to clothe itself with matter capable of being -perceived by us; but even then it does not follow that the form produced -is the actual image of the spiritual form. It may be but a reproduction -of the former mortal form with its terrestrial accompaniments, _for -purposes of recognition_. - -Most persons have heard of these “ghost-pictures,” and how easily they -can be made to order by any photographer, and are therefore disposed to -think they can be of no use as evidence. But a little consideration will -show them that the means by which sham ghosts can be manufactured being -so well known to all photographers, it becomes easy to apply tests or -arrange conditions so as to prevent imposition. The following are some -of the more obvious: - -1. If a person with a knowledge of photography takes his own glass -plates, examines the camera used and all the accessories, and watches -the whole process of taking a picture, then, if any definite form -appears on the negative besides the sitter, it is a proof that some -object was present capable of reflecting or emitting the actinic rays, -although invisible to those present. 2. If an unmistakable likeness -appears of a deceased person totally unknown to the photographer. 3. If -figures appear on the negative having a definite relation to the figure -of the sitter, who chooses his own position, attitude and -accompaniments, it is a proof that invisible figures were really there. -4. If a figure appears draped in white, and partly behind the dark body -of the sitter without in the least showing through, it is a proof that -the white figure was there at the same time, because the dark parts of -the negative are transparent, and any white picture in any way -superposed would show through. 5. Even should none of these tests be -applied, yet if a medium, quite independent of the photographer, sees -and describes a figure during the sitting and an exactly corresponding -figure appears on the plate, it is a proof that such a figure was there. - -Every one of these tests have now been successfully applied in our own -country, as the following outline of the facts will show: - -The accounts of spirit-photography in several parts of the United States -caused many Spiritualists in this country to make experiments; but for a -long time without success. Mr. and Mrs. Guppy, who are both amateur -photographers, tried at their own house, and failed. In March, 1872, -they went one day to Mr. Hudson’s, a photographer living near them (not -a Spiritualist), to get some _cartes de visite_ of Mrs. Guppy. After the -sitting the idea suddenly struck Mr. Guppy that he would try for a -spirit-photograph. He sat down, told Mrs. G. to go behind the -background, and had a picture taken. There came out behind him a large, -indefinite, oval white patch, somewhat resembling the outline of a -draped figure. Mrs. Guppy, behind the background, was dressed in black. - -This is the first spirit-photograph taken in England, and it’s perhaps -more satisfactory on account of the suddenness of the impulse under -which it was taken, and the great white patch which no impostor would -have attempted to produce, and which, taken by itself, utterly spoils -the picture. A few days afterwards, Mr. and Mrs. Guppy and their little -boy went without any notice. Mrs. Guppy sat on the ground holding the -boy on a stool. Her husband stood behind looking on. The picture thus -produced is most remarkable. A tall female figure, finely draped in -white, gauzy robes, stands directly behind and above the sitters, -looking down on them and holding its open hands over their heads, as if -giving a benediction. The face is somewhat Eastern, and, with the hands, -is beautifully defined. The white robes pass behind the sitters’ dark -figures without in the least showing through. A second picture was then -taken as soon as a plate could be prepared; and it was fortunate it was -so, for it resulted in a most remarkable test. Mrs. Guppy again knelt -with the boy; but this time she did not stoop so much, and her head was -higher. The same white figure comes out equally well defined, but _it -has changed its position in a manner exactly corresponding to the slight -change of Mrs. Guppy’s position_. The hands were before on a level; now -one is raised considerably higher than the other, so as to keep it about -the same distance from Mrs. Guppy’s head as it was before. The folds of -the drapery all correspondingly differ, and the head is slightly turned. -Here, then, one of two things is absolutely certain. Either there was a -living, intelligent, but invisible being present, or Mr. and Mrs. Guppy, -the photographer, and some fourth person, planned a wicked imposture, -and have maintained it ever since. Knowing Mr. and Mrs. Guppy so well as -I do, I feel an absolute conviction that they are as incapable of an -imposture of this kind as any earnest inquirer after truth in the -department of natural science. - -The report of these pictures soon spread. Spiritualists in great numbers -came to try for similar results, with varying degrees of success; till -after a time rumor of imposture arose, and it is now firmly believed by -many, from suspicious appearances on the pictures and from other -circumstances, that a large number of shams have been produced. It is -certainly not to be wondered at if it be so. The photographer, remember, -was not a Spiritualist, and was utterly puzzled at the pictures above -described. Scores of persons came to him, and he saw that they were -satisfied if they got a second figure with themselves, and dissatisfied -if they did not. He _may_ have made arrangements by which to satisfy -everybody. One thing is clear: that if there has been imposture, it was -at once detected by Spiritualists themselves; if not, then Spiritualists -have been quick in noticing what appeared to indicate it. Those, -however, who most strongly assert imposture, allow that a large number -of genuine pictures have been taken. But, true or not, the cry of -imposture did good, since it showed the necessity for tests and for -independent confirmation of the facts. - -The test of clearly recognizable likenesses of deceased friends has -often been obtained. Mr. William Howitt, who went without previous -notice, obtained likenesses of two sons, many years dead, and of the -very existence of one of which even the friend who accompanied Mr. -Howitt was ignorant. The likenesses were instantly recognized by Mrs. -Howitt; and Mr. Howitt declares them to be “perfect and unmistakable.” -(Spiritual Magazine, Oct., 1872.) Dr. Thomson, of Clifton, obtained a -photograph of himself, accompanied by that of a lady he did not know. He -sent it to his uncle in Scotland, simply asking if he recognized a -resemblance to any of the family deceased. The reply was that it was the -likeness of Dr. Thomson’s own mother, who died at his birth; and there -being no picture of her in existence, he had no idea what she was like. -The uncle very naturally remarked, that he “could not understand how it -was done.” (Spiritual Magazine, Oct., 1873.) Many other instances of -recognition have occurred, but I will only add my personal testimony. A -few weeks back I myself went to the same photographer’s for the first -time, and obtained a most unmistakable likeness of a deceased relative. -We will now pass to a better class of evidence, the private experiments -of amateurs. - -Mr. Thomas Slater, an old-established optician in the Euston Road, and -an amateur photographer, took with him to Mr. Hudson’s a new camera of -his own manufacture and his own glasses, saw everything done, and -obtained a portrait with a second figure on it. He then began -experimenting in his own private house, and during last summer obtained -some remarkable results. The first of his successes contains two heads -by the side of a portrait of his sister. One of these heads is -unmistakably the late Lord Brougham’s; the other, much less distinct, is -recognized by Mr. Slater as that of Robert Owen, whom he knew intimately -up to the time of his death. He has since obtained several excellent -pictures of the same class. One in particular shows a female in black -and white flowing robes, standing by the side of Mr. Slater. In another -the head and bust appears, leaning over his shoulder. The faces of these -two are much alike, and other members of the family recognize them as -likenesses of Mr. Slater’s mother, who died when he was an infant. In -another a pretty child-figure, also draped, stands beside Mr. Slater’s -little boy. Now, whether these figures are correctly identified or not, -is not the essential point. The fact that _any_ figures, so clear and -unmistakably human in appearance as these, should appear on plates taken -in his own private studio by an experienced optician and amateur -photographer, who makes all his apparatus himself, and with no one -present but the members of his own family, is the real marvel. In one -case a second figure appeared on a plate with himself, taken by Mr. -Slater when he was absolutely alone—by the simple process of occupying -the sitter’s chair after uncapping the camera. He and his family being -themselves mediums, they require no extraneous assistance; and this may -perhaps be the reason why he has succeeded so well. One of the most -extraordinary pictures obtained by Mr. Slater is a full-length portrait -of his sister, in which there is no second figure, but the sitter -appears covered all over with a kind of transparent lace drapery, which -on examination is seen to be wholly made up of shaded circles of -different sizes, quite unlike any material fabric I have seen or heard -of. - -Mr. Slater has himself shown me all these pictures and explained the -conditions under which they were produced. That they are not impostures -is certain; and as the first independent confirmations of what had been -previously obtained only through professional photographers, their value -is inestimable. - -A less successful but not perhaps on that account less satisfactory -confirmation has been obtained by another amateur, who, after eighteen -months of experiment, obtained a partial success. Mr. R. Williams, M. -A., Ph. D., of Hayward’s Heath, succeeded last summer in obtaining three -photographs, each with part of a human form besides the sitter, one -having the features distinctly marked. Subsequently another was -obtained, with a well-formed figure of a man standing at the side of the -sitter, but while being developed, this figure faded away entirely. Mr. -Williams assures me (in a letter) that in these experiments there was -“no room for trick or for the production of these figures by any known -means.” - -The editor of the British Journal of Photography has made experiments at -Mr. Hudson’s studio, taking his own collodion and new plates, and doing -everything himself, yet there were “abnormal appearances” on the -pictures, although no distinct figures. - -We now come to the valuable and conclusive experiments of Mr. John -Beattie, of Clifton, a retired photographer of twenty years’ experience, -and of whom the above-mentioned editor says: “Every one who knows Mr. -Beattie will give him credit for being a thoughtful, skillful, and -intelligent photographer, one of the last men in the world to be easily -deceived, at least in matters relating to photography, and one quite -incapable of deceiving others.” - -Mr. Beattie has been assisted in his researches by Dr. Thomson, an -Edinburgh M. D., who has practiced photography, as an amateur, for -twenty-five years. They experimented at the studio of a friend, who was -not a Spiritualist (but who became a medium during the experiments), and -had the services of a tradesman—with whom they were well acquainted—as a -medium. The whole of the photographic work was done by Messrs. Beattie -and Thomson, the other two sitting at a small table. The pictures were -taken in series of three, within a few seconds of each other, and -several of these series were taken at each sitting. The figures produced -are, for the most part, not human, but variously-formed and shaded white -patches, which in successive pictures change their form, and develop, as -it were, into a more perfect or complete type. Thus, one set of five -begins with two white somewhat angular patches over the middle sitter, -and ends with a rude but unmistakable white female figure, covering the -larger part of the plate. The other three show intermediate states, -indicating a continuous change of form from the first figure to the -last. Another set (of four pictures) begins with a white vertical -cylinder over the body of the medium, and a shorter one on his head. -These change their form in the second and third, and in the last become -laterally spread out into luminous masses resembling nebulæ. Another set -of three is very curious. The first has an oblique flowing luminous -patch from the table to the ground; in the second, this has changed to a -white serpentine column, ending in a point above the medium’s head; in -the third, the column has become broader and somewhat double, with the -curve in an opposite direction, and with a head-like termination. The -change of the curvature may have some connection with a change in the -position of the sitters, which is seen to have taken place between the -second and the third of this set. There are two others, taken, like all -the preceding, in 1872, but which the medium described during the -exposure. The first, he said, was a thick white fog; and the picture -came out all shaded white, with not a trace of any of the sitters. The -other was described as a fog with a figure standing in it; and here a -white human figure is alone seen in the almost uniform foggy surface. -During the experiments made in 1873, the medium, _in every case_, -minutely and correctly described the appearances which afterwards came -out on the plate. In one there is a luminous-rayed star of large size, -with a human face faintly visible in the centre. This is the last of -three in which the star developed, and the whole were accurately -described by the medium. In another set of three, the medium first -described “a light behind him, coming from the floor.” The next, “a -light rising over another person’s arms, coming from his own boot.” The -third, “there is the same light, but now a column comes up through the -table, and it is hot to my hands.” Then he suddenly exclaimed, “What a -bright light up there! Can you not see it?” pointing to it with his -hand. All this most accurately describes the three pictures, and in the -last, the medium’s hand is seen pointing to a white patch which appears -overhead. There are other curious developments, the nature of which is -already sufficiently indicated; but one very startling single picture -must be mentioned. During the exposure one medium said he saw on the -background a black figure, the other medium saw a light figure by the -side of the black one. In the picture both these figures appear, the -light one very faintly, the black one much more distinctly, of a -gigantic size, with a massive coarse-featured face and long -hair.—(_Spiritual Magazine, January and August, 1873_; _Photographic -News, June 28th, 1872_.) - -Mr. Beattie has been so good as to send me for examination a complete -set of these most extraordinary photographs, thirty-two in number, and -has furnished me with any particulars I desired. I have described them -as correctly as I am able; and Dr. Thomson has authorized me to use his -name as confirming Mr. Beattie’s account of the conditions under which -they appeared. These experiments were not made without labor and -perseverance. Sometimes twenty consecutive pictures produced absolutely -nothing unusual. Hundreds have been taken, and more than half have been -complete failures. But the successes have been well worth the labor. -They demonstrate the fact that what a medium or sensitive sees (even -where no one else sees anything) may often have an objective existence. -They teach us that perhaps the bookseller, Nicolai, of Berlin—whose case -has been quoted _ad nauseam_ as the type of a “spectral illusion”—saw -real beings after all; and that, had photography been then discovered -and properly applied, we might now have the portraits of the invisible -men and women who crowded his room. They give us hints of a process by -which the figures seen at séances may have to be gradually formed or -developed, and enable us better to understand the statements repeatedly -made by the communicating intelligences, that it is very difficult to -produce definite, visible and tangible forms, and that it can only be -done under a rare combination of favorable conditions. - -We find, then, that three amateur photographers, working independently -in different parts of England, separately confirm the fact of -spirit-photography—already demonstrated to the satisfaction of many who -had tested it through professional photographers. The experiments of Mr. -Beattie and Dr. Thomson are alone absolutely conclusive; and, taken in -connection with those of Mr. Slater and Dr. Williams, and the test -photographs, like those of Mrs. Guppy, establish as a scientific fact -the objective existence of invisible human forms and definite invisible -actinic images. Before leaving the photographic phenomena we have to -notice two curious points in connection with them. The actinic action of -the spirit-forms is peculiar, and much more rapid than that of the light -reflected from ordinary material forms; for the figures start out the -moment the developing fluid touches them, while the figure of the sitter -appears much later. Mr. Beattie noticed this throughout his experiments, -and I was myself much struck with it when watching the development of -three pictures recently taken at Mr. Hudson’s. The second figure, though -by no means bright, always came out long before any other part of the -picture. The other singular thing is, the copious drapery in which these -forms are almost always enveloped, so as to show only just what is -necessary for recognition of the face and figure. The explanation given -of this is, that the human form is more difficult to materialize than -drapery. The conventional “white-sheeted ghost” was not then all fancy, -but had a foundation in fact—a fact, too, of deep significance, -dependent on the laws of a yet unknown chemistry. - - - - - SUMMARY OF THE MORE IMPORTANT MANIFESTATIONS, PHYSICAL AND MENTAL. - - -As we have not been able to give an account of many curious facts which -occur with the various classes of mediums, the following catalogue of -the more important and well-characterized phenomena may be useful. They -may be grouped provisionally, as, Physical, or those in which material -objects are acted on, or apparently material bodies produced; and -Mental, or those which consist in the exhibition, by the medium, of -powers or faculties not possessed in the normal state. - -The principal physical phenomena are the following: - -1. _Simple Physical Phenomena._—Producing sounds of all kinds, from a -delicate tick to blows like those of a heavy sledge-hammer. Altering the -weight of bodies. Moving bodies without human agency. Raising bodies -into the air. Conveying bodies to a distance out of and into closed -rooms. Releasing mediums from every description of bonds, even from -welded iron rings, as has happened in America. - -2. _Chemical._—Preserving from the effects of fire, as already detailed. - -3. _Direct Writing and Drawing._—Producing writing or drawing on marked -papers, placed in such positions that no human hand (or foot) can touch -them. Sometimes, visibly to the spectators, a pencil rising up and -writing or drawing apparently by itself. Some of the drawings in many -colors have been produced on marked paper in from ten to twenty seconds, -and the colors found wet. (See Mr. Coleman’s evidence in “Dialectical -Report,” p. 143, confirmed by Lord Borthwick, p. 150.) Mr. Thomas -Slater, of 136 Euston Road, is now obtaining communication in the -following manner: A bit of slate pencil an eighth of an inch long is -laid on a table; a clean slate is laid over this, in a well-lighted -room; the sound of writing is then heard, and in a few minutes a -communication of considerable length is found distinctly written. At -other times the slate is held between himself and another person, their -other hands being joined. Some of these communications are philosophical -discussions on the nature of spirit and matter, supporting the usual -Spiritual theory on this subject. - -4. _Musical Phenomena._—Musical instruments, of various kinds, played -without human agency, from a hand-bell to a closed piano. With some -mediums, and where the conditions are favorable, original musical -compositions of a very high character are produced. This occurs with Mr. -Home. - -5. _Spiritual Forms._—These are either luminous appearances, sparks, -stars, globes of light, luminous clouds, &c.; or, hands, faces, or -entire human figures, usually covered with flowing drapery, except a -portion of the face and hands. The human forms are often capable of -moving solid objects, and are both visible and tangible to all present. -In other cases they are only visible to seers, but when this is the case -it sometimes happens that the seer describes the figure as lifting a -flower or a pen, and others present see the flower or the pen apparently -move by itself. In some cases they speak distinctly; in others the voice -is heard by all, the form only seen by the medium. The flowing robes of -these forms have in some cases been examined, and pieces cut off, which -have in a short time melted away. Flowers are also brought, some of -which fade away and vanish; others are real, and can be kept -indefinitely. It must not be concluded that any of these forms are -actual spirits; they are probably only temporary forms produced by -spirits for purposes of test, or of recognition by their friends. This -is the account invariably given of them by communications obtained in -various ways; so that the objection once thought to be so crushing—that -there can be no “ghosts” of clothes, armor, or walking-sticks—ceases to -have any weight. - -6. _Spiritual Photographs._—These, as just detailed, demonstrate by a -purely physical experiment the trustworthiness of the preceding class of -observations. - -We now come to the mental phenomena, of which the following are the -chief: - -1. _Automatic Writing._—The medium writes involuntarily; often matter -which he is not thinking about, does not expect, and does not like. -Occasionally definite and correct information is given of facts of which -the medium has not, nor ever had, any knowledge. Sometimes future events -are accurately predicted. The writing takes place either by the hand or -through a planchette. Often the handwriting changes. Sometimes it is -written backwards; sometimes in languages the medium does not -understand. - -2. _Seeing, or Clairvoyance and Clairaudience._—This is of various -kinds. Some mediums see the forms of deceased persons unknown to them, -and describe their peculiarities so minutely that their friends at once -recognize them. They often hear voices, through which they obtain names, -date, and place, connected with the individuals so described. Others -read sealed letters in any language, and write appropriate answers. - -3. _Trance-Speaking._—The medium goes into a more or less unconscious -state, and then speaks, often on matters and in a style far beyond his -own capacities. Thus, Serjeant Cox—no mean judge on a matter of literary -style—says, “I have heard an uneducated bar-man, when in a state of -trance, maintain a dialogue with a party of philosophers on ‘Reason and -Foreknowledge, Will and Fate,’ and hold his own against them. I have put -to him the most difficult questions in psychology, and received answers, -always thoughtful, often full of wisdom, and invariably conveyed in -choice and elegant language. Nevertheless a quarter of an hour -afterwards, when released from the trance, he was unable to answer the -simplest query on a philosophical subject, and was even at a loss for -sufficient language to express a commonplace idea,” (“What am I?” Vol. -II., p. 242.) That this is not overstated I can myself testify, from -repeated observation of the same medium. And from other -trance-speakers—such as Mrs. Hardinge, Mrs. Tappan, and Mr. Peebles—I -have heard discourses which, for high and sustained eloquence, noble -thoughts, and high moral purpose, surpassed the best efforts of any -preacher or lecturer within my experience. - -4. _Impersonation._—This occurs during trance. The medium seems taken -possession of by another being; speaks, looks and acts the character in -a most marvelous manner; in some cases speaks foreign languages never -even heard in the normal state; as in the case of Miss Edmonds, already -given. When the influence is violent or painful, the effects are such as -have been in all ages imputed to possession by evil spirits. - -5. _Healing._—There are various forms of this. Sometimes by mere laying -on of hands, an exalted form of simple mesmeric healing. Sometimes, in -the trance state, the medium at once discovers the hidden malady, and -prescribes for it, often describing very exactly the morbid appearance -of internal organs. - -The purely mental phenomena are generally of no use as evidence to -non-Spiritualists, except in those few cases where rigid tests can be -applied; but they are so intimately connected with the physical series, -and often so interwoven with them, that no one who has sufficient -experience to satisfy him of the reality of the former, fails to see -that the latter form part of the general system, and are dependent on -the same agencies. - -With the physical series the case is very different. They form a -connected body of evidence, from the simplest to the most complex and -astounding, every single component fact of which can be and has been -repeatedly demonstrated by itself; while each gives weight and -confirmation to all the rest. They have all, or nearly all, been before -the world for twenty years; the theories and explanations of reviewers -and critics do not touch them, or in any way satisfy any sane man who -has repeatedly witnessed them; they have been tested and examined by -skeptics of every grade of incredulity, men in every way qualified to -detect imposture or to discover natural causes—trained physicists, -medical men, lawyers and men of business—but in every case the -investigators have either retired baffled, or become converts. - -There have, it is true, been some impostors who have attempted to -imitate the phenomena; but such cases are few in number, and have been -discovered by tests far less severe than those to which the genuine -phenomena have been submitted over and over again; and a large -proportion of these phenomena have never been imitated, because they are -beyond successful imitation. - -Now what do our leaders of public opinion say, when a scientific man of -proved ability again observes a large portion of the more extraordinary -phenomena, in his own house, under test conditions, and affirms their -objective reality; and this not after a hasty examination, but after -four years of research? Men “with heavy scientific appendages to their -names” refuse to examine them when invited; the eminent society of which -he is a fellow refuses to record them; and the press cries out that it -wants better witnesses than Mr. Crookes, and that such facts want -“confirmation” before they can be believed. But why more confirmation? -And when again “confirmed,” who is to confirm the confirmer? After the -whole range of the phenomena had been before the world ten years, and -had convinced skeptics by tens of thousands—skeptics, be it remembered, -of common sense and more than common acuteness, Americans of all -classes—they were _confirmed_ by the first chemist in America, Professor -Robert Hare. Two years later they were again confirmed by the elaborate -and persevering inquiries of one of the first American lawyers, Judge -Edmonds. Then by another good chemist, Professor Mapes. In France the -truth of the simpler physical phenomena was _confirmed_ by Count A. de -Gasparin, in 1854; and since then French astronomers, mathematicians and -chemists of high rank have _confirmed_ them. Professor Thury of Geneva -again _confirmed_ them, in 1855. In our own country such men as -Professor de Morgan, Dr. Lockhart Robertson, T. Adolphus Trollope, Dr. -Robert Chambers, Serjeant Cox, Mr. C. F. Yarley, as well as the -skeptical Dialectical Committee, have independently _confirmed_ large -portions of them; and lastly comes Mr. William Crookes, F.R.S., with -four years of research and unrestricted experiment with the two oldest -and most remarkable mediums in the world, and again _confirms_ almost -the whole series! But even this is not all. Through an independent set -of most competent observers we have the crucial test of photography; a -witness which cannot be deceived, which has no preconceived opinions, -which cannot register “subjective” impressions; a thoroughly scientific -witness, who is admitted into our law courts, and whose testimony is -good as against any number of recollections of what did happen or -opinions as to what ought to and must have happened. And what have the -other side brought against this overwhelming array of consistent and -unimpeachable evidence? They have merely made absurd and inadequate -suppositions, but have not disproved or explained away one weighty fact! - -My position, therefore, is, that the phenomena of Spiritualism in their -entirety do _not_ require further confirmation. They are proved quite as -well as any facts are proved in other sciences; and it is not denial or -quibbling that can disprove any of them, but only fresh facts and -accurate deductions from those facts. When the opponents of Spiritualism -can give a record of their researches approaching in duration and -completeness to those of its advocates; and when they can discover and -show in detail, either how the phenomena are produced or how the many -sane and able men here referred to have been deluded into a coincident -belief that they have witnessed them: and when they can prove the -correctness of their theory by producing a like belief in a body of -equally sane and able unbelievers—then, and not till then, will it be -necessary for Spiritualists to produce fresh confirmation of facts which -are, and always have been, sufficiently real and indisputable to satisfy -any honest and persevering inquirer. - -This being the state of the case as regards evidence and proof, we are -fully justified in taking the _facts_ of Modern Spiritualism (and with -them the spiritual theory as the only tenable one) as being fully -established. It only remains to give a brief account of the more -important uses and teachings of Spiritualism. - - - - - HISTORICAL TEACHINGS OF SPIRITUALISM. - - -The lessons which Modern Spiritualism teaches may be classed under two -heads. In the first place, we find that it gives a rational account of -various phenomena in human history which physical science has been -unable to explain, and has therefore rejected or ignored; and, in the -second, we derive from it some definite information as to man’s nature -and destiny, and, founded on this, an ethical system of great practical -efficacy. The following are some of the more important phenomena of -history and of human nature which science cannot deal with, but which -Spiritualism explains: - -1. It is no small thing that the Spiritualist finds himself able to -rehabilitate Socrates as a sane man, and his “demon” as an intelligent -spiritual being who accompanied him through life—in other words, a -guardian spirit. The non-Spiritualist is obliged to look upon one of the -greatest men in human history, not only as subject all his life to a -mental illusion, but as being so weak, foolish, or superstitious as -never to discover that it was an illusion. He is obliged to disbelieve -the fact asserted by contemporaries and by Socrates himself, that it -forewarned him truly of dangers; and to hold that this noble man, this -subtle reasoner, this religious skeptic, who was looked up to with -veneration and love by the great men who were his pupils, was imposed -upon by his own fancies, and never during a long life found out that -they were fancies, and that their supposed monitions were as often wrong -as right. It is a positive mental relief not to have to think thus of -Socrates. - -2. Spiritualism allows us to believe that the oracles of antiquity were -not all impostures; that a whole people, perhaps the most intellectually -acute who ever existed, were not all dupes. In discussing the question, -“Why the Prophetess Pythia giveth no Answers now from the Oracle in -Verse,” Plutarch tells us that when kings and states consulted the -oracle on weighty matters that might do harm if made public, the replies -were couched in enigmatical language; but when private persons asked -about their own affairs they got direct answers in the plainest terms, -so that some people even complained of their simplicity and directness, -as being unworthy of a divine origin. And he adds this positive -testimony: “Her answers, though submitted to the severest scrutiny, have -never proved false or incorrect. On the contrary, the verification of -them has filled the temple with gifts from all parts of Greece and -foreign countries.” And again, “The answer of Pythoness proceeds to the -very truth, without any diversion, circuit, fraud, or ambiguity. It has -never yet, in a single instance, been convicted of falsehood.” Would -such statements be made by such a writer, if these oracles were all the -mere guesses of impostors? The fact that they declined and ultimately -failed, is wholly in their favor: for why should imposture cease as the -world became less enlightened and more superstitious? Neither does the -fact that the priests could sometimes be bribed to give out false -oracles prove anything, against such statements as that of Plutarch and -the belief during many generations, supported by ever-recurring -experiences, of the greatest men of antiquity. That belief could only -have been formed by demonstrative facts; and Modern Spiritualism enables -us to understand the nature of those facts. - -3. Both the Old and New Testaments are full of Spiritualism, and -Spiritualists alone can read the record with an enlightened belief. The -hand that wrote upon the wall at Belshazzar’s feast, and the three men -unhurt in Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace, are for them actual facts -which they need not explain away. St. Paul’s language about “spiritual -gifts,” and “trying the spirits,” is to them intelligible language, and -the “gift of tongues” a simple fact. When Christ cast out “devils” or -evil spirits, he really did so—not merely startle a madman into -momentary quiescence; and the water changed into wine, as well as the -bread and fishes continually renewed till five thousand men were fed, -are credible as extreme manifestations of a power which is still daily -at work among us. - -4. The miracles of the saints, when well attested, come into the same -category. Those of St. Bernard, for instance, were often performed in -broad day before thousands of spectators, and were recorded by -eye-witnesses. He was himself greatly troubled by them, wondering why -this power was bestowed upon him, and fearing lest it should make him -less humble. This was not the frame of mind, nor was St. Bernard’s the -character, of a deluded enthusiast. The Spiritualist need not believe -that all this never happened; or that St. Francis d’Assisi and St. -Theresa were not raised into the air, as eye-witnesses declared they -were. - -5. Witchcraft and witchcraft trials have a new interest for the -Spiritualist. He is able to detect hundreds of curious and minute -coincidences with phenomena he has himself witnessed; he is able to -separate the _facts_ from the absurd _inferences_ which people imbued -with the frightful superstition of diabolism drew from them, and from -which false inferences all the horrors of the witchcraft mania arose. -Spiritualism, and Spiritualism alone, gives a rational explanation of -witchcraft, and determines how much of it was objective fact, how much -subjective illusion. - -6. Modern Roman Catholic miracles become intelligible facts. Spirits -whose affections and passions are strongly excited in favor of -Catholicism, produce those appearances of the Virgin and of saints which -they know will tend to increased religious fervor. The appearance itself -may be an objective reality; while it is only an inference that it is -the Virgin Mary—an inference which every intelligent Spiritualist would -repudiate as in the highest degree improbable. - -7. Second-sight, and many of the so-called superstitions of savages, may -be realities. It is well known that mediumistic power is more frequent -and more energetic in mountainous countries; and as these are generally -inhabited by the less civilized races, the beliefs that are more -prevalent there may be due to facts which are more prevalent, and be -wrongly imputed to the coincident ignorance. It is known to -Spiritualists that the pure dry air of California led to more powerful -and more startling manifestations than in any other part of the United -States. - -8. The recently-discussed question of the efficacy of prayer receives a -perfect solution by Spiritualism. Prayer may be often answered, though -not directly, by the Deity. Nor does the answer depend wholly on the -morality or the religion of the petitioner; but as men who are both -moral and religious, and are firm believers in a divine response to -prayer, will pray more frequently, more earnestly and more -disinterestedly, they will attract toward them a number of spiritual -beings who sympathize with them, and who, when the necessary mediumistic -power is present, will be able, as they are often willing, to answer the -prayer. A striking case is that of George Müller, of Bristol, who has -now for forty-four years depended wholly for his own support, and that -of his wonderful charities, on answer to prayer. His “Narrative of Some -of the Lord’s Dealings with George Müller” (6th Ed., 1860), should have -been referred to in the late discussion, since it furnishes a better -demonstration that prayer is sometimes really answered, than the -hospital experiment proposed by Sir Henry Thomson could possibly have -done. In this work we have a precise yearly statement of his receipts -and expenditures for many years. He never asked any one or allowed any -one to be asked, directly or indirectly, for a penny. No subscriptions -or collections were ever made; yet from 1830 (when he married without -any income whatever) he has lived, brought up a family, and established -institutions which have steadily increased, till now four thousand -orphan children are educated and in part supported. It has happened -hundreds of times that there has been no food in his house and no money -to buy any, or no food or milk or sugar for the children; yet he never -took a loaf or any other article on credit even for a day; and during -the thirty years over which his narrative extends, neither he nor the -hundreds of children dependent upon him for their daily food have ever -been without a regular meal! They have lived, literally, from hand to -mouth; and his one and only resource has been secret prayer. Here is a -case which has been going on in the midst of us for forty years, and is -still going on; it has been published to the world for many years, yet a -warm discussion is carried on by eminent men as to the fact of whether -prayer is or is not answered, and not one of them exhibits the least -knowledge of this most pertinent and illustrative phenomenon! The -Spiritualist explains all this as a personal influence. The perfect -simplicity, faith, boundless charity and goodness of George Müller, have -enlisted in his cause beings of a like nature; and his mediumistic -powers have enabled them to work for him by influencing others to send -him money, food, clothes, &c., all arriving, as we should say, just in -the nick of time. The numerous letters he received with these gifts, -describing the sudden and uncontrollable impulse the donors felt to send -him a certain definite sum at a certain fixed time—such being the exact -sum he was in want of and had prayed for—strikingly illustrates the -nature of the power at work. All this might be explained away, if it -were partial and discontinuous; but when it continued to supply the -daily wants of a life of unexampled charity, _for which no provision in -advance was ever made_ (for that Müller considered would show want of -trust in God), no such explanation can cover the facts. - -9. Spiritualism enables us to comprehend and find a place for that long -series of disturbances and occult phenomena of various kinds, which -occurred previous to what are termed the Modern Spiritual -Manifestations. Robert Dale Owen’s works give a rather full account of -this class of phenomena, which are most accurately recorded and -philosophically treated by him. This is not the place to refer to them -in detail; but one of them may be mentioned as showing how large an -amount of unexplained mystery there was, even in our own country, before -the world heard anything of Modern Spiritualism. In 1841, Major Edward -Moor, F. R. S., published a little book called “Bealings Bells,” giving -an account of mysterious bell-ringing in his house at Great Bealings, -Suffolk, and which continued for fifty-three days. Every attempt to -discover the cause, by himself, friends, and bell-hangers, were -fruitless; and by no efforts, however violent, could the same clamorous -and rapid ringing be produced. He wrote an account to the newspapers, -requesting information bearing on the subject, when, in addition to -certain wise suggestions—of rats or a monkey as efficient causes—he -received fourteen communications, all relating cases of mysterious bell -ringing in different parts of England, many of them lasting much longer -than Major Moor’s, and all remaining equally unexplained. One lasted -eighteen months; another was in Greenwich Hospital, where neither -clerk-of-the-works, bell-hanger, nor men of science could discover the -cause. One clergyman wrote of disturbances of a most serious kind -continued in his parsonage for _nine years_, and he was able to trace -back their existence in the same house for _sixty years_. Another case -had lasted _twenty years_, and could be traced back for a _century_. -Some of the details of these cases are most instructive. Trick is -absolutely the most incredible of all explanations. Spiritualism -furnishes the explanation by means of analogous facts occurring every -day, and forming part of the great system of phenomena which -demonstrates the spiritual theory. Major Moor’s book is very rare; but a -good abstract of it is given in Owen’s “Debatable Land,” pp. 239–258. - - - - - MORAL TEACHINGS OF SPIRITUALISM. - - -We have now to explain the Theory of Human Nature, which is the outcome -of the phenomena taken in their entirety, and is also more or less -explicitly taught by the communications which purport to come from -spirits. It may be briefly outlined as follows: - -1. Man is a duality, consisting of an organized spiritual form, evolved -coincidently with and permeating the physical body, and having -corresponding organs and developments. - -2. Death is the separation of this duality, and effects no change in the -spirit, morally or intellectually. - -3. Progressive evolution of the intellectual and moral nature is the -destiny of individuals; the knowledge, attainments and experience of -earth-life forming the basis of spirit-life. - -4. Spirits can communicate through properly-endowed mediums. They are -attracted to those they love or sympathize with, and strive to warn, -protect, and influence them for good, by mental impression when they -cannot effect any more direct communication; but, as follows from clause -(2), their communications will be fallible, and must be judged and -tested just as we do those of our fellow-men. - -The foregoing outline propositions will suggest a number of questions -and difficulties, for the answers to which readers are referred to the -works of R. D. Owen, Hudson Tuttle, Professor Hare, and the records of -Spiritualism _passim_. Here I must pass on to explain with some amount -of detail, how the theory leads to a pure system of morality with -sanctions far more powerful and effective than any which either -religious systems or philosophy have put forth. - -This part of the subject cannot perhaps be better introduced than by -referring to some remarks by Professor Huxley in a letter to the -Committee of the Dialectical Society. He says, “But supposing the -phenomena to be genuine—they do not interest me. If anybody would endow -me with the faculty of listening to the chatter of old women and curates -at the nearest cathedral town, I should decline the privilege, having -better things to do. And if the folk in the spiritual world do not talk -more wisely and sensibly than their friends report them to do, I put -them in the same category.” This passage, written with the caustic -satire in which the kind hearted Professor occasionally indulges, can -hardly mean that if it were proved that men really continued to live -after the death of the body, that fact would not interest him, merely -because some of them talked twaddle? Many scientific men deny the -spiritual source of the manifestations, on the ground that real, genuine -spirits might reasonably be expected not to indulge in the commonplace -trivialities which do undoubtedly form the staple of ordinary spiritual -communications. But surely Professor Huxley, as a naturalist and -philosopher, would not admit this to be a reasonable expectation. Does -he not hold the doctrine that there can be no effect, mental or -physical, without an adequate cause? and that mental states, faculties, -and idiosyncrasies, that are the result of gradual development and -life-long—or even ancestral—habit, cannot be suddenly changed by any -known or imaginable cause? And if (as the Professor would probably -admit) a very large majority of those who daily depart this life are -persons addicted to twaddle, persons who spend much of their time in low -or trivial pursuits, persons whose pleasures are sensual rather than -intellectual—whence is to come the transforming power which is suddenly, -at the mere throwing off the physical body, to change these into beings -able to appreciate and delight in high and intellectual pursuits? The -thing would be a miracle, the greatest of miracles, and surely Professor -Huxley is the last man to contemplate innumerable miracles as part of -the order of nature; and all for what? Merely _to save these people from -the necessary consequences of their misspent lives_. For the essential -teaching of Spiritualism is, that we are, all of us, in every act and -thought, helping to build up a “mental fabric,” which will be and -constitute ourselves, more completely after the death of the body than -it does now. Just as this fabric is well or ill built, so will our -progress and happiness be aided or retarded. Just in proportion as we -have developed our higher intellectual and moral nature, or starved it -by disuse and by giving undue prominence to those faculties which secure -us mere physical or selfish enjoyment, shall we be well or ill fitted -for the new life we enter on. The noble teaching of Herbert Spencer, -that men are best educated by being left to suffer the natural -consequences of their actions, is the teaching of Spiritualism as -regards the transition to another phase of life. There will be no -imposed rewards or punishments; but every one will suffer the natural -and inevitable consequences of a well or ill-spent life. The well-spent -life is that in which those faculties which regard our personal physical -well-being are subordinated to those which regard our social and -intellectual well-being, and the well-being of others; and that inherent -feeling—which is so universal and so difficult to account for—that these -latter constitute our higher nature, seems also to point to the -conclusion that we are intended for a condition in which the former will -be almost wholly unnecessary, and will gradually become rudimentary -through disuse, while the latter will receive a corresponding -development. - -Although, therefore, the twaddle and triviality of so many of the -communications is not one whit more interesting to sensible -Spiritualists than it is to Prof. Huxley, and is never voluntarily -listened to, yet the fact that such poor stuff is talked (supposing it -to come from spirits) is both a fact that might have been anticipated -and a lesson of deep import. We must remember, too, the character of the -séances at which these commonplace communications are received. A -miscellaneous assemblance of believers of various grades and tastes, but -mostly in search of an evening’s amusement, and of skeptics who look -upon all the others as either fools or knaves, is not likely to attract -to itself the more elevated and refined denizens of the higher spheres, -who may well be supposed to feel too much interest in their own new and -grand intellectual existence to waste their energies on either class. If -the fact is proved, that people continue to talk after they are dead -with just as little sense as when alive, but that, being in a state in -which sense, both common and uncommon, is of far greater importance to -happiness than it is here (where fools pass very comfortable lives), -they suffer the penalty of having neglected to cultivate their minds; -and being so much out of their element in a world where all pleasures -are mental, they endeavor to recall old times by gossiping with their -former associates whenever they can find the means—Prof. Huxley will not -fail to see its vast importance as an incentive to that higher education -which he is never weary of advocating. He would assuredly be interested -in anything having a really practical bearing on the present as well as -on the future condition of men; and it is evident that even these low -and despised phenomena of Spiritualism, “if true,” have this bearing, -and, combined with its higher teachings, constitute a great moral agency -which may yet regenerate the world. For the Spiritualist who, by daily -experience, gets absolute knowledge of these facts regarding the future -state—who knows that, just in proportion as he indulges in passion, or -selfishness, or the exclusive pursuit of wealth, and neglects to -cultivate the affections and the varied powers of his mind, so does he -inevitably prepare for himself misery in a world in which there are no -physical wants to be provided for, no sensual enjoyments except those -directly associated with the affections and sympathies, no occupations -but those having for their object social and intellectual progress—is -impelled toward a pure, a sympathetic, and an intellectual life by -motives far stronger than any which either religion or philosophy can -supply. He dreads to give way to passion or to falsehood, to selfishness -or to a life of luxurious physical enjoyment, because he knows that the -natural and inevitable consequences of such habits are future misery, -necessitating a long and arduous struggle in order to develop anew the -faculties, whose exercise long disuse has rendered painful to him. He -will be deterred from crime by the knowledge that its unforeseen -consequences may cause him ages of remorse; while the bad passions which -it encourages will be a perpetual torment to himself in a state of being -in which mental emotions cannot be laid aside or forgotten amid the -fierce struggles and sensual pleasures of a physical existence. It must -be remembered that these beliefs (unlike those of theology) will have a -living efficacy, because they depend on _facts_ occurring again and -again in the family circle, constantly reiterating the same truths as -the result of personal knowledge, and thus bringing home to the mind, -even of the most obtuse, the absolute reality of that future existence -in which our degree of happiness or misery will be directly dependent on -the “mental fabric” we construct by our daily thoughts and words and -actions here. - -Contrast this system of natural and inevitable reward and retribution, -dependent wholly on the proportionate development of our higher mental -and moral nature, with the arbitrary system of rewards and punishments -dependent on stated acts and beliefs only, as set forth by all dogmatic -religions, and who can fail to see that the former is in harmony with -the whole order of Nature—the latter opposed to it. Yet it is actually -said that Spiritualism is altogether either imposture or delusion, and -all its teachings but the product of “expectant attention” and -“unconscious cerebration”! If none of the long series of demonstrative -facts which have been here sketched out, existed, and its only product -were this theory of a future state, that alone would negative such a -supposition. And when it is considered that mediums of all grades, -whether intelligent or ignorant, and having communications given through -them in various direct and indirect ways, are absolutely in accord as to -the main features of this theory, what becomes of the gross misstatement -that nothing is given through mediums but what they know and believe -themselves? The mediums have, almost all, been brought up in some of the -usual Orthodox beliefs. How is it, then, that the usual Orthodox notions -of heaven are _never_ confirmed through them? - -In the scores of volumes and pamphlets of spiritual literature I have -read, I have found no statement of a spirit describing “winged angels,” -or “golden harps,” or the “throne of God”—to which the humblest orthodox -Christian thinks he will be introduced if he goes to heaven at all. -There is no more startling and radical opposition to be found between -the most diverse religious creeds, than that between the beliefs in -which the majority of mediums have been brought up and the doctrines as -to a future life that are delivered through them; there is nothing more -marvelous in the history of the human mind than the fact that, whether -in the back-woods of America or in country towns in England, ignorant -men and women having almost all been brought up in the usual sectarian -notions of heaven and hell, should, the moment they become seized by the -strange power of mediumship, give forth teachings on this subject which -are philosophical rather than religious, and which differ wholly from -what had been so deeply ingrained into their minds. And this statement -is not affected by the fact that communications purport to come from -Catholic or Protestant, Mahometan or Hindoo spirits. Because, while such -communications maintain special _dogmas_ and _doctrines_, yet they -confirm the _very facts_ which really constitute the spiritual theory, -and which in themselves contradict the theory of the sectarian spirits. -The Roman Catholic spirit, for instance, does not describe himself as -being in either the orthodox purgatory, heaven, or hell; the Evangelical -Dissenter who died in the firm conviction that he should certainly “go -to Jesus,” never describes himself as being with Christ, or as ever -having seen him, and so on throughout. Nothing is more common than for -religious people at séances to ask questions about God and Christ. In -reply they never get more than opinions, or more frequently the -statement that they, the spirits, have no more actual knowledge of those -subjects than they had while on earth. So that the facts are all -harmonious; and the very circumstance of there being sectarian spirits -bears witness in two ways to the truth of the spiritual theory—it shows -that the mind, with its ingrained beliefs, is not suddenly changed at -death; and it shows that the communications are not the reflection of -the mind of the medium, who is often of the same religion as the -communicating spirit, and, because he does not get his own ideas -confirmed, is obliged to call in the aid of “Satanic influence” to -account for the anomaly. - -The doctrine of a future state and of the proper preparation for it as -here developed, is to be found in the works of all Spiritualists, in the -utterances of all trance-speakers, in the communications through all -mediums; and this could be proved, did space permit, by copious -quotations. But it varies in form and detail in each; and just as the -historian arrives at the opinions or beliefs of any age or nation, by -collating the individual opinions of its best and most popular writers, -so do Spiritualists collate the various statements on the subject. They -know well that absolute dependence is to be placed on no individual -communications. They know that these are received by a complex physical -and mental process, both communicator and recipient influencing the -result; and they accept the teachings as to the future state of man only -so far as they are repeatedly confirmed in substance (though they may -differ in detail) by communications obtained under the most varied -circumstances, through mediums of the most different characters and -acquirements, at different times and in distant places. Fresh converts -are apt to think that, once satisfied the communications come from their -deceased friends, they may implicitly trust to them, and apply them -universally; as if the vast spiritual world was all molded to one -pattern, instead of being, as it almost certainly is, a thousand times -more varied than human society on the earth is, or ever has been. The -fact that the communications do not agree as to the condition, -occupations, pleasures, and capacities of individual spirits, so far -from being a difficulty, as has been absurdly supposed, is what ought to -have been expected; while the agreement on the essential features of -what we have stated to be the spiritual theory of a future state of -existence, is all the more striking, and tends to establish that theory -as a fundamental truth. - -The assertion so often made, that Spiritualism is the survival or -revival of old superstitions, is so utterly unfounded as to be hardly -worth notice. A science of human nature which is founded on observed -facts; which appeals only to facts and experiment; which takes no -beliefs on trust; which inculcates investigation and self-reliance as -the first duties of intelligent beings; which teaches that happiness in -a future life can be secured by cultivating and developing to the utmost -the higher faculties of our intellectual and moral nature, _and by no -other method_—is and must be the natural enemy of all superstition. -Spiritualism is an experimental science, and affords the only sure -foundation for a true philosophy and a pure religion. It abolishes the -terms “supernatural” and “miracle” by an extension of the sphere of law -and the realm of nature; and in doing so it takes up and explains -whatever is true in the superstitions and so-called miracles of all -ages. It, and it alone, is able to harmonize conflicting creeds; and it -must ultimately lead to concord among mankind in the matter of religion, -which has for so many ages been the source of unceasing discord and -incalculable evil; and it will be able to do this because it appeals to -evidence instead of faith, and substitutes facts for opinions; and is -thus able to demonstrate the source of much of the teaching that men -have so often held to be divine. - -It will thus be seen that those who can form no higher conception of the -uses of Spiritualism, “even if true,” than to detect crime or to name in -advance the winner of the Derby, not only prove their own ignorance of -the whole subject, but exhibit in a marked degree that partial mental -paralysis, the result of a century of materialistic thought, which -renders so many men unable seriously to conceive the possibility of a -natural continuation of human life after the death of the body. It will -be seen also that Spiritualism is no mere “physiological” curiosity, no -mere indication of some hitherto unknown “law of nature”; but that it is -a science of vast extent, having the widest, the most important, and the -most practical issues, and as such should enlist the sympathies alike of -moralists, philosophers and politicians, and of all who have at heart -the improvement of society and the permanent elevation of human nature. - - -In concluding this necessarily imperfect though somewhat lengthy account -of a subject about which so little is probably known to most of the -readers of the Fortnightly Review, I would earnestly beg them not to -satisfy themselves with a minute criticism of single facts, the evidence -for which, in my brief survey, may be imperfect; but to weigh carefully -the mass of evidence I have adduced, considering its wide range and -various bearings. I would ask them to look rather at the results -produced by the evidence than at the evidence itself as imperfectly -stated by me; to consider the long roll of men of ability who, -commencing the inquiry as skeptics, left it as believers, and to give -these men credit for not having overlooked, during years of patient -inquiry, difficulties which at once occur to themselves. I would ask -them to ponder well on the fact, that no earnest inquirer has ever come -to a conclusion adverse to the reality of the phenomena; and that no -Spiritualist has ever yet given them up as false. I would ask them, -finally, to dwell upon the long series of facts in human history that -Spiritualism explains, and on the noble and satisfying theory of a -future life that it unfolds. If they will do this, I feel confident that -the result I have alone aimed at will be attained; which is, to remove -the prejudices and misconceptions with which the whole subject has been -surrounded, and to incite to unbiased and persevering examination of the -facts. For the cardinal maxim of Spiritualism is, that every one must -find out the truth for himself. It makes no claim to be received on -hearsay evidence; but, on the other hand, it demands that it be not -rejected without patient, honest and fearless inquiry. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Modern Spiritualism. - - By EPES SARGENT. - - - PLANCHETTE: THE DESPAIR OF SCIENCE. - - Being a Full Account of Modern Spiritualism. - - PRICE, IN ILLUMINATED PAPER COVERS, $1; IN GREEN CLOTH, $1.25. POSTAGE, - 16C. A New Edition, just issued by ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston. - - -This volume should be properly called “A History of Modern -Spiritualism,” for it is a thorough and careful survey of the whole -subject of well-attested phenomena believed to be spiritual. - -=Prof. WM. CROOKES, F. R. S.=, of London, the celebrated chemist, whose -scientific verifications of the spiritual phenomena are now creating -such a sensation, writes, under date of April 17, 1874,— - -“_Planchette_ was the first book I read on Spiritualism, and it still -remains, in my opinion, the best work to place in the hands of the -uninitiated.” - -=GEO. WM. CURTIS=, in HARPER’S WEEKLY, says of it,— - -“It is a copious and popular but faithful summary of the phenomena and -theories. The ample knowledge and literary skill with which the subject -is treated make this volume an indispensable manual to all who are -attracted to this speculation, and it will be read with great interest -by the skeptic as well as by the believer.” - -=The Rev. Dr. BELLOWS=, in the LIBERAL CHRISTIAN, says of it,— - -“It sets forth many important considerations with regard to the -philosophy of the mind, while its historical notices of the development -of Spiritualism during the last twenty years give a more complete and -impartial view of the phenomena in question than has thus far been -presented to the public.” - -=The New York Express= says,— - -“This is certainly one of the most startling works of our sensational -age. It purports to give a duly authenticated narration of spiritual -manifestations, which are beyond the bounds of credulity by any calm -thinking reader; and yet the asserted facts are given with such an -apparent truthfulness and distinctness of detail, and the learned and -distinguished names connected with the scenes described are of such -weight, that it is impossible to deny the conviction impressed upon the -mind that either Spiritualism is one of the greatest delusions of the -age, or that it is indeed a new manifestation of supernatural power, -deserving the investigations of our theologians and teachers. The work, -from its extreme interest, will amply repay a careful perusal.” - -=The Boston Journal= says,— - -“Mr. Sargent has here collected a vast amount of information, and -whoever wishes to have an intelligent epitome of the whole history of -modern Spiritualism will find it in this volume.” - - For Sale by - COLBY AND RICH, - No. 9 Montgomery Place, Boston, Mass. - - - - - NOW READY. - - A BIOGRAPHY - - OF - - MRS. J. H. CONANT, - - The World’s Medium of the Nineteenth Century. - - A HISTORY OF HER MEDIUMSHIP - - From Childhood to the Present Time; - - BEING A NARRATIVE OF THE - - _Personal Experiences, Sharp Trials, and Liberalizing Victories achieved - in the cause of Human Reason and Spiritual Knowledge._ - - - Let the heart-stricken read it, and be comforted; - Let the earth-weary peruse it, and be glad; - Let the world’s workers explore it, and be encouraged; - Let the doubter scan its incontrovertible testimony, and be confounded; - Let the true man and woman, wherever abiding, recognize in it the - life-line of a _kindred soul_. - - COLBY AND RICH, - PUBLISHERS, - NO. 9 MONTGOMERY PLACE, - BOSTON, MASS. - - - - - FLASHES OF LIGHT - - FROM - - THE SPIRIT-LAND, - - THROUGH THE MEDIUMSHIP OF - - MRS. J. H. 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PEEBLES. - -With beauty of style, the author has given full accounts of this -celebrated writer and speaker, in all his travels; comprising facts of -varied laws of mediumship, with a FINE LIKENESS of Mr. Peebles. Single -copy, $1.50; Postage, 20 cts. - - - LOOKING BEYOND: - -A souvenir of love to the bereft of every home—welcomed with joy for its -sunny Philosophy. Single copy, 75 cts; Postage, 12 cts. - - - SOCIAL FREEDOM: - - MARRIAGE AS IT IS AND AS IT SHOULD BE. - -An analytical and beautiful treatise on the SOCIAL QUESTION, -comprehending all the main issues, and proving that the highest freedom -is compatible with the strictest virtue. Single copy, 25 cts; six -copies, $1.20; twelve copies, $2.00. - - - SPIRITUAL HARP: - - BY - - J. O. BARRETT, J. M. PEEBLES, and E. H. BAILEY. - -Popular all over the world, it is so full of beautiful words and -inspiring melodies. 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