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V\ 


XPOSITION  OF  SPIIUTUALISM; 


coixpEisi>;a 


TWO  SERIES  or  LETTERS,  A^'D  A  REVIEW  OF 
THE  "SPIRITUAL  MAGAZIXE/'  Xo.  20. 


AS    PCBIISHKD    IX 


THE  "STAR  AND  DIAL" 

^alitl]  lutrfltiiictioit,  Hotcs,  aiii)  J.ppcnbiv, 
BY   SCEPTIC. 


LOXUOX: 

GEORGE   MANWARIXG,  PUBLISHER, 

S,  KING  WILLIAM  STREET, 
WEST    STUAXl). 


TO 

IIEiNEY  GEORGE  ATKINSON,  ESQ., 

F.G.S.,  &c.,  &c. 

THIS 

EXPOSITION    OF  SPIEITUALISM    IS  MOST  EESPECTFULLT 

DEDICATED,    EN"   HUilBLE    ACKN'OWLEDGMEXT 

OF   ADTAS^TAGES 

DERIVED    FROM   THE    STUDY   OF   HIS 

ADMIEABLE    "  LETTEES    OS   THE    LAWS    OF    MAN's 

KATUEE    AXD    DETELOPME>'T," 

AXD    OF    HIS    GEEAT     COUETEST     IJf     IMPAETHN'G   IX- 

FOEMATIO>"    TO    THE    HfQUIEIKG   A>'D 

PHILOSOPHICAL   MFJfD, 

BY    HIS    OBLIGED   AND    OBEDIENT    SEEVANT, 

THE  COMPILER. 


iii5(;iG 


PREFACE. 

Lv  issuing  this  volume  it  lias  beea  my  sole  object 
to  place  the  phenomena  of  Spiritualism  on  their 
proper  basis  :  whether  I  have  succeeded  or  not,  I 
leave  to  a  discriminating  and  discerning  public  to 
decide.  Without  any  pretensions  to  authorship,  but 
by  the  kind  permission  of  the  Editor,  I  have  collated 
the  correspondence  and  other  articles  which  appeared 
in  the  "  Morning  Star,"  in  the  Autumn  of  1860 
and  1861,  which  correspondence  seemed  to  me  to 
have  been  brought  to  an  abrupt  and  somewhat  un- 
fortunate termination  just  when  the  question  at 
issue  had  become  of  great  practical  importance,  and 
was  producing  a  corresponding  interest  in  the  minds 
of  scientific  and  thinking  men.  With  the  view, 
then,  not  of  exhausting  a  subject,  which  is  in  itself 
inexhaustible,  nor  of  altogether  setting  the  matter 
at  rest,  but  of  placing  the  whole  question  of  Spirit- 
ualism on  a  rational  and  scientific  plane,  (to  adopt 
the  language  of  Mr.  William  Ilowitt,  who  has  done 
me  the  distinguished  honour  to  revise  his  own 
spirited  and  highly  interesting  letters),  in  furtherance 
of  which,  I  have  availed  myself  of  the  opinions  of 
the  talented  Author  of  "  The  Philosophy  of  Ne- 
cessity," together  with  numerous  extracts  from  the 
well-known  works  of  other  distinguished  wi-iters,  all 


Vni  PREFACE. 

duly  acknowledged  and  bearing  upon  the  subject, 
which,  though  too  diffuse  for  the  columns  of  a  daily 
paper,  I  considered  essential  to  the  thorough  investi- 
gation of  the  attested  phenomena,  and  without  which 
no  inquiry  could  either  profitably  or  satisfactorily 
terminate. 

This,  then,  is  my  apology  for  again  introducing 
the  subject  upon  the  public  in  the  present  form ; 
and  having  given  both  the  affirmative  and  negative 
opinions  of  the  various  correspondents,  I  opine  I 
need  not  offer  any  further  justification  either  of  the 
book  or  its  title ;  honestly  believing  it  to  be,  as  it 
announces  itself,  an  Exposition  op  Spiritualism. 
The  notes  appended  to  several  of  the  letters  are 
either  explanatory  of  expressions  in  previous  letters 
objected  to  by  correspondents,  or  in  continuation 
of  the  argument  which  was  closed  just  when  it 
jarred  with  religious  views  very  generally  maintained 
— and  which,  therefore,  necessarily  failed  to  find  ex- 
pression, though  we  look  in  vain  for  the  Chris- 
tianising and  pacific  influence  of  Spiritualism  upon 
the  millions  in  America,  of  whom  Mr.  Howitt,  Mr, 
B.  Coleman,  and  others  speak  or  write.  Nothing 
further  remains  to  be  said  than  that  my  sincere  ac- 
knowledgments are  due  to  others  for  the  important 
assistance  rendered  in  the  interests  of  the  work 
during  its  progress  through  the  press. 

January  17tL,  1862. 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction   ...... 

Notice  of  the  Article  "  Seeing  is   Believing,"  ia 
BlackwooiVs  Macjazine.    "  Star  and  Dial." 


PAGE 
1 


21 


FIEST  SERIES. 


1.  Howitt,  William  . 

.      22 

2.  Buckland,  James  N. 

31 

3.  Faber 

32 

•1.  Robins,  William   . 

36 

5.  Lex 

39 

0.  Bird,  John  James  . 

41 

7.  Coleman,  Benjamin 

48 

Editor's  IS'ote 

56 

8.  A  Barrister 

57 

9.  Senex 

58 

10.  A  Trover  of  the  whole  Trutli 

59 

11.  A.  S.  L.     . 

GO 

CONTENTS. 


12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 

17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 


24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 
31. 
32. 
33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 
38, 
39. 
40. 
41. 


Braden,  A.  S. 
Sceptic 
W.  S.        . 

A  Lady      . 
M.  D. 

Mitchell,  Alfred  M. 
Americanus 
B.  A.  Cantabrigiensis 
Bennett,  J. 
Plummer,  John     • 
Howitt,  William  (2nd) 
Collyer,  Robert  H.,  M.D 
Editor's  Note. 
Note  by  Sceptic 
One  who  has  tried  the  Spirits 

Smith,  William     . 

Gully,  J.  M.,  M.D. 

Harper,  H.  E.  A. 

Learn 

Wyer,  N.  W. 

Wilkinson,  W.  M. 

Burroughs,  Caiman 

Bridges,  Matthew 

Hoppey,  James     . 

Williams,  John,  Catholic  Priest 

Kidd,  Charles,  M.D. 

Harper,  W.  E.  A.  (2nd) 

Howitt,  William  (3rd) 

Collyer,  Eobert  H.,  M.D.  (2nd) 

Crosland,  Newton. 

Snow,  W.  Parker. 

An  Israelite 


CONTEXTS. 


42.  Adams,  W.  Bridges  .  .  .  . 

Editor's  Note  (Conclusion  of  tlie  discussion) 
Letter  by  Chas.  Bray,  Esq. 
Elucidation  of  Clairvoyance,  extracted  from  J. 
W.  Haddock's  "  Somnolism  and  Psycheism  " 


PACE 

174 
176 
177 

191 


SECOND  SEEIES. 

Review  of  the  Spiritual  Magazine,  No.  20, 
Star  and  Dial" 


1S9 


K3vur   uiiu  juiu^o 

1.  Coleman,  W.  T 

.          1.VV 

.     209 

2.  Bostwick,  A.  W.  . 

.     214 

3.  Jones,  John           .             .             .             . 

.    220 

4.  W.  P.  K 

.    222 

5.  Sceptic      .             .            .            .             , 

.    226 

6.  Jones,  John  (2nd) 

.    228 

7.  Adams,  W.  A 

.     233 

8.  Earkas,  T.  P.        . 

.     236 

9.  Coleman,  Benjamin 

.     240 

10.  WUks,  T.  . 

.    241 

11.  J.  A.  L.      . 

.     244 

12.  Sceptic  (2nd) 

.     247 

13.  Buckland,  James  M. 

.    252 

li.  Jones,  John  (3rd) . 

.    253 

Note  by  Sceptic. 

.     256 

15.  Another  Sceptic    . 

,     257 

IG.  Dendy,  Walter  Cooper     . 

.     257 

17.  A  Critic     .            .            .            , 

.     261 

Note  by  Sceptic 

.     265 

18.  Barkas,  T.  P.  (2nd) 

.     266 

Note  by  Sceptic 

.     269 

19.  A  Spiritualist 

.     270 

Notes  by  Sceptic 

.     277 

XU                                                CONTENTS. 

NO.                                                                                                                                                                       PAfiE 

20.  Watchful  .             .             .            .            .             .278 

Notes  by  Sceptic 

21.  Sceptic  (3rd) 

22.  Jones,  Jobn  (4th) 

.     279 
.    280 

.    287 

Notes  by  Sceptic 
Editor's  Note 

.     289 
.    291 

23.  Barkas,  T.  P.  (3rd) 

.     292 

24.  S.  . 

.     293 

25.  L.  . 

.    294 

Notes  by  Sceptic 
26.  Morrison,  E.  J.     . 

.    298 
.    298 

Notes  by  Sceptic 
Appendix  and  Notes 

.     303 

.    306 

ERRATA. 


Page  22,  in  motto  from  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  read  "  confute 
tlieir  jHcredulity." 

Page  25,  speaking  of  Mr.  Hume's  visits  to  Lord  Lynd- 
hurst,  omit  "  on  one  occasion  for  a  whole  fort- 
night." 

Page  29,  for  "Enthyphon,"  read  "  Enthyphron." 

Page  81,  for  "  thunder  of  the  Eoyal  Society,"  read  "  blun- 
der, &c." 

Page  146,  in  motto  from  Sir  "Walter  Scott,  instead  of 
"  comprehension  of  the  public,"  read  "  of  the 
sceptic." 

Page  148,  for  "act  of  puration,"  read  "  act  of  formation." 

Page  151,  for  "  attribute  to  a  score,  &c.,''  read  "  attribute 
them,  Sic." 


AN 

EXPOSITION  OF  SPIEITUALIS3I. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Hitherto  Spiritual  life  has  been  supposed  not  to 
be  cognizable  by  the  senses,  but  wholly  a  question 
of  belief.  Modern  spiritualists,  however,  seeni 
desirous  to  prove  that  supposition  to  be  a  fallacy, 
believing  they  have  evidence  to  the  contrary.  On 
the  other  hand,  those  who  hold  life  and  mind,  apart 
from  organized  matter,  to  be  an  utter  impossibility, 
deny  the  correctness  of  their  assumptions.  In  this 
article  I  shall  combat  the  spiritualistic  notions 
affirmed  in  the  following  correspondence,  which,  I 
much  regret,  was  brought  to  a  somewhat  abrupt 
termination  in  the  columns  of  the  "  Star  and  Dial,'"' 
in  August  last,  the  reason  for  which  was,  it  a;)pears, 
the  voluminous  and  discursive  nature  of  the  cor- 
respondence.    P'ide  Editor's  paragraph. 

In  man  we  behold  a  sentient  being,  inspiring  the 
surrounding  atmosphere,  the  no  less  vitalizing;  blood 
coursing  through  his  system,  whii*'  dl  the  functions 


y  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

of  life,  both  voluntary  and  involuntary,  are  duly 
performed.  Again,  we  behold  him  motionless,  void 
of  intelligence,  respiration  arrested,  the  blood  stag- 
nant, a  cold  and  lifeless  object — we  perceive  that  he 
is  dead.  Yet,  in  spite  of  our  senses,  with  the  loved 
object  before  onr  eyes — sad  evidence  of  death  ! — we 
are  told  this  being  lives.  We  may  here  ask  the 
question  in  sober  earnestness,  whether  "  Seeing  is 
believing  ?"  That  which  we  recognized  as  the  livmg 
man  is  but  too  surely  dead.  We  behold  another  in- 
telligent creature,  inhaling  the  same  atmosphere,  the 
vitalizing  fluid  circulating  through  its  veins ;  it  per- 
forms all  the  functions  of  life,  and  exhibits  evidence 
of  mental  phenomena,  such  as  memory,  reflection, 
judgment,  though  a  being  of  an  inferior  order— to 
wit,  some  favourite  animal.  We  look  again,  and 
behold  it  is  dead.  We  have  the  same  evidence  of 
intelligence,  life,  and  death,  as  in  the  case  of  our 
fellow  man.  Again  the  question  rises  to  our  lips, 
whether  "Seeing  is  believing?"  We  can  perceive 
no  difference  in  the  facts  of  dissolution  ;  in  either 
case,  the  body,  unless  cared  for,  becomes  a  loath- 
some mass  of  corruption.  Why  then  should  we 
believe  in  the  continued  existence  of  the  spirit  of 
the  one  and  not  in  that  of  the  other  creature? 
A  mere  tyro  in  philosophy,  I  ask  with  the  sim- 
phcity  of  the  child,  on  the  death  of  a  favourite 
pony,  "  Where  is  that  gone  that  made  poor  Kitty 
live?"*  — why  the    subtle    spirit     that    can    take 

"     *  VideEcdes.in.l8,'ld,  20,21. 


INTRODUCTIOX.  <d 

cognizance  of  the  senses,  and  direct  and  control  the 
voluntary  and  involuntary  motions  of  life  in  the. 
lower  animal  should  be  extinct,  and  the  same  spirit 
in  man  should  continue  to  exist  ?  The  body  and 
the  Hfe  constitute  the  being  we  recognize,  whether  it 
be  the  dog  or  the  horse,  why  not  the  being  man  ? 
"Why  should  the  body  and  the  spirit  be  separate 
entities  in  the  one  case  and  not  in  the  other  ?  When 
any  other  animal  than  man  dies,  no  one  imagines 
it  exists  in  another  sphere;  neither  have  sense- 
impressions  hitherto  given  us  any  real  experience  of 
the  existence  of  man  out  of  the  body.  If  it  be 
said,  "True,  the  man  is  dead,  but  his  spirit  is  an 
immortal  being;"  I  answer,  then,  in  that  case,  it 
is  something  else,  and  its  identity  is  at  an  end ! 
"When  we  lose  consciousness  of  personality,  it  is 
much  the  same  as  if  we  ivere  not,  either  as  regards 
a  former  or  a  future  state  of  existence. 

In  support  of  the  existing  afirinity  between  brutes 
and  man,  we  quote  the  following  from  a  paper  by 
Horace  Moule,  on  the  Science  of  Language. 

"  The  claims  of  brutes  may  be  stated  very  strongly 
indeed.  Brutes  can  sec,  hear,  taste,  smell,  and  feel ; 
they  have,  that  is  to  say,  five  senses,  just  like  our- 
selves, neither  more  nor  less.  Brutes  have  sensations 
of  pleasure  and  pain ;  they  have  memory,  for  they 
remember  their  masters  and  their  homes ;  they  are 
able  to  compare  and  to  distinguish,  and  they  have  a 
will  of  their  own.  Brutes  also  show  signs  of  shame 
and  pride,  of  love  and  hatred,  as  any  one  knows 


4  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

perfectly  well  who  lias  had  anything  to  do  with 
horses  or  dogs.  We  are,  in  short,  forced  to  admit 
that  brutes  have  sensation,  perception,  memory,  will, 
and  intellect,  in  a  certain  low  degree.  We  are  now 
told,  moreoverj  that  the  anatomical  distinction 
between  man  and  the  brutes  may  be  reduced  to  a 
single  fold  in  the  brain,  a  single  angle  of  the  skull. 
^'^Tiere,  then,  is  the  line  of  demarcation,  if,  indeed, 
after  all  these  admissions,  there  is  any  line  yet  to  be 
fomid  ?  It  is  fearlessly  asserted  that  the  one  great 
barrier  between  the  brute  and  man  is  Language. 
This  is  the  Rubicon  which  no  brute  has  ever  yet 
been  able  to  pass.  This  is  the  charter  which  proves 
man  to  be  something  higher  than  a  more  favoured 
beast,  something  generically  different  from  an  un- 
usually accomplished  ape."  To  this  it  may  be 
replied,  that,  doubtless,  animals  have  a  language  of 
their  own,  though  they  may  not  converse  either  in 
French  or  English,  Greek  or  Latin,  even  though 
there  be  such  a  thing  as  dog-latin. 

A  French  horse  accustomed  to  the  word  allons, 
would  not  at  first,  without  the  aid  of  the  whip, 
comprehend  the  English  irapulsives  gee,  and  come 
hither,  whoy ;  but  it  is  evident,  by  culture,  both  horses 
and  dogs  can  be  taught  to  associate  ideas  of  things 
and  actions  with  sounds.  Because  we  do  not  under- 
stand their  language,  it  is  no  reason  that  they 
cannot  communicate  with  each  other ;  on  the  con- 
trary, we  have  ample  evidence  that  all  social  animals 
do  so  communicate.  Of  this  we  have  many  instances, 
especially  amongst  birds  and  beasts ;  neither  must 


INTRODUCTION.  O 

we  exclude  the  social  habits  of  the  insect  tribe,  as  in 
the  ant  and  bee. 

"  It  must  not  be  overlooked,  that  though  the 
psychologists  have  agreed  in  neglecting  the  intellec- 
tual and  moral  faculties  of  brutes,  which  have  been 
happily  left  to  the  naturalists,  they  have  occasioned 
great  mischief  by  their  obscure  and  indefinite  dis- 
tinction between  intelligence  and  instinct,  thus 
setting  up  a  division  between  human  and  animal 
nature  which  has  had  too  much  efTect  even  upon 
zoologists  to  this  day.  The  only  meaning  that  can 
be  attributed  to  the  word  instinct,  is  any  spontaneous 
impulse  in  a  determinate  direction,  independently  of 
any  foreign  influence.  In  this  primitive  sense,  the  term 
evidently  applies  to  the  proper  and  direct  activity  of 
any  faculty  whatever,  intellectual  as  well  as  aflFective ; 
and  it  therefore  does  not  conflict  with  the  term 
intelligence  in  any  way,  as  we  so  often  see  when 
we  speak  of  those  who,  without  any  education,  ma- 
nifest a  marked  talent  for  music,  painting,  mathe- 
matics, &c. 

"In  this  way  there  is  instinct,  or  rather,  there  are 
instincts  in  man,  as  much  or  more  than  in  brutes. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  describe  intelligence  as  the 
aptitude  to  modify  conduct  in  conformity  to  the 
circumstances  of  each  case — which,  in  fact,  is  the 
main  practical  attribute  of  reason,  in  its  proper 
sense — it  is  more  evident  than  before  that  there  is 
no  other  essential  ditfercnce  between  humanity  and 
animality  than  tliat  of  the  degree  of  development 
admitted  by  a  faculty  which  is,  by  its  nature,  common 


6  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

to  all  animal  life,  and  without  which  it  could  not 
even  be  conceived  to  exist.  Thus  the  famous 
scholastic  definition  of  man  as  a  reasonable  animal 
offers  a  real  no-meaning,  since  no  animals,  especially 
in  the  higher  parts  of  the  zoological  scale,  could 
live  without  being,  to  a  certain  extent,  reasonable,  in 
])roportion  to  the  complexity  of  its  organism. 
Though  the  moral  nature  of  animals  has  been  but 
little  and  very  imperfectly  explored,  we  can  yet 
])erceive,  without  possibility  of  mistake,  among  those 
that  live  with  us  and  that  are  familiar  with  us — 
judging  of  them  by  the  same  means  of  observation 
that  we  should  employ  about  men  whose  language 
and  ways  were  previously  unknown  to  us — that  they 
not  only  apply  their  intelligence  to  the  satisfaction 
of  their  organic  wants,  much  as  men  do,  aiding 
themselves  also  with  some  sort  of  language ;  but 
that  they  are,  in  like  manner,  susceptible  of  a  kind 
of  w'ants  more  disinterested,  inasmuch  as  they 
consist  in  a  need  to  exercise  their  faculties  for  the 
mere  pleasure  of  the  exercise."  (When  the  dog 
recognizes  its  name  and  its  master's  voice,  or  whistle, 
it  has  no  misgivings  as  to  the  individuality,  or 
personal  identity,  either  of  itself  or  its  master.) 

"  An  attentive  examination  of  the  facts,  therefore, 
discredits  the  perversion  of  the  word  instinct,  when 
it  is  used  to  signify  the  fatality  under  which  animals 
are  impelled  to  the  mechanical  performance  of  acts 
uniformly  determinate,  without  any  possible  modifi- 
cation from  corresponding  circumstances,  and  neither 
requiring  nor   allowing  any  education,  properly  so 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

called." —  The  Positive  Philosophy  of  Auguste  Comte. 
By  Harriet  Martineau. 

The  five  senses  operate  much  in  the  same  manner 
in  all  animals.  Man  requires  no  more  refined  or 
subtle  spirit  to  enable  him  to  perceive  than  the  dog, 
and  the  dog  requires  no  less  subtle  spirit;  the  manner 
of  perception  is  the  same,  the  sole  diflference  is  in 
the  organization.  Ignorance  of  this  fact,  coupled 
with  an  arrogant  conceit  that  he  possesses  a  higher 
spiritual  nature,  is  the  foundation  of  man's  supersti- 
tion, ^lan  is  probably  the  only  superstitious 
animal  in  creation,  and,  while  false  notions  of  mind, 
soul,  or  spirit,  are  inculcated  and  indoctrinated  by 
theologians,  it  ever  will  be  so.  ^Yhether  these  be 
truths  or  not,  they  are  as  manifest  to  some  minds 
as  any  of  the  phenomena  termed  spiritual  can 
possibly  be  to  the  spiritualist.  If  they  are  not 
truths,  let  them  be  utterly  exterminated,  and  I  for 
one  will,  with  heart  and  soul,  wish  Spiritualism  God 
speed. 

We  cannot  dissociate  cause  and  effect.  Wherever 
we  perceive  effects  we  know  there  must  be  a  cause, 
although  it  be  invisible ;  experience  assures  us  of 
this  fact,  and  like  experience  also  assures  us  that 
cause  must  be  material,  because  we  have  no  know- 
ledge of  anythiug  apart  from,  or  independent  of 
matter : — we  can  form  no  conception  of,  nor  can  we 
define  nothing ;  as  soon  as  we  attempt  to  do  so  we 
make  something  of  it.  Thus  we  deny  the  assumption 
that  mechanical  phenomena  can  be  produced  wholly 
without  mechanical  or  muscular  agency — to  pinch. 


8  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

for  instance,  reqxiires  the  application  of  parts  with  a 
purchase  or  fulcrum,  to  the  part  pinched,  as  with  the 
finger  and  thumb,  and  whatever  the  instrument  or 
contrivance  be,  it  must  be  material.  We  deny  the 
possibility  of  a  purely  mechanical  act,  such  as  a 
l^inch,  by  purely  spiritual  hands.  If  science,  toge- 
ther with  our  senses,  is  to  be  ignored,  of  what  use  is 
either  knowledge  or  existence  ?  Far  better  that  we 
had  never  been  born. 

The  predilection  shown  by  the  spirits  (?)  for  the 
guitar  and  the  accordion  in  particular,  is  very  signi- 
ficant ;  how  is  it  they  never  exhibit  their  musical 
powers  on  the  pianoforte  ?  an  instrument  to  be  found 
in  almost  every  home  of  any  pretensions — and  with 
which  we  should  have  thought  them  to  have  been  far 
more  familiar  when  in  the  flesh.  When  we  behold 
the  keys  of  the  piano  manipulated  upon,  and  hear 
music  cleverly  executed  by  spirit  hands  visible  or 
invisible,  possibly  our  scepticism  may  waver :  until 
then  we  fear  we  shall  remain  sceptical,  or  in  that 
state  of  mental  darkness  so  much  compassionated  by 
Mr.  Howitt  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  T.  P.  Barkas,  published 
in  the  "British  Controversialist,"  Aug.  1861. 

Before  I  am  open  to  conviction  I  must  be  sure  I 
am  not  the  subject  of  deception  either  through  the 
abnormal  condition  of  others  or  that  of  myself.  I 
believe  that  either  in  the  notes  annexed  to  the  letters 
of  several  correspondents  of  the  "  Star,^^  or  in  the 
matter  contained  in  the  Appendix,  I  have  shown 
that  phenomena  parallel  to  the  whole  of  the  manifes- 
tations recorded  may  be  induced  without  the  aid  of 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

disembodied  spirits.  Ecstacy  is  admitted  by  all  pbysi- 
ologists  to  be  a  departure  from  the  normal  state,  and 
so  far  it  is  disease ;  we  have  yet  to  learn  that  man 
exalts  his  nature  by  prostrating  his  reason  at  the  feet 
of  visionists,  male  or  female.  It  is  no  use  beating 
about  the  bush,  the  facts  I  have  mentioned  are  in- 
volved in  the  question,  and  must  be  ventilated ;  the 
present  phase  of  spiritualism  is  the  offshoot  of  the 
older  spiritualism,  and  they  must  exist  or  fall  together. 
I  am  one  of  plain  speech ;  but  this  is  a  subject 
that  needs  not  the  flowers  of  rhetoric,  nor  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  poet,  nor  much  classic  lore ;  I  have 
therefore  purposely  abstained  from  attempting  aiy 
reply  to  Mr.  Hovvitt,  contenting  myself  with  stating 
that  which  perhaps  is  needless,  but  of  which,  never- 
theless, I  am  sensible  that  "  I  am  no  orator  as  Brutus 
is."  Yet  am  I  fully  sensible  of  the  importance  and 
magnitude  of  the  question,  "Is  it  true?''  For  if 
shown  to  be  false,  it  involves  the  downfall  of  super- 
naturalism;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  it  can  be  made 
manifest  that  man  has  an  immortal  soul,  what  more 
weighty  subject  can  engage  our  attention  ?  although 
I  must  observe  that  the  demonstrations  hitherto 
made,  are  not  such  as  to  give  us  any  very  exalted 
ideas  of  the  transcendent  knowledge  of  the  life  be- 
yond the  grave.  As  nothing  can  be  put  in  com- 
parison with  life,  unless  it  be  our  belief  in 
truth  and  justice;  so  nothing  can  equal  the  value 
of  an  immortal  soul  ;  therefore  all  honour  is 
due  to  Mr.  Ilowitt  for  the  propagation  of  his  faith, 
while  equal  honour  is  due  to  those  who  as  faithfully 


10  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

promulgate  that  which  they  as  sincerely  believe. 
Supposing  for  one  minute  the  possibility  of  the  spirits 
of  our  departed  friends  being  in  close  proximity  to 
our  persons,  we  have  no  means  of  identifying  them 
in  the  absence  of  a  medium,  and  it  is  somewhat 
singular  they  never  perform  the  impish  tricks  of 
which  we  read  but  in  the  presence  of  a  medium,  who 
seems  absolutely  essential  to  the  exhibition  of  their 
powers. 

Christ  himself,  after  his  resurrection,  appeared  in 
the  body  to  his  disciples  ;  and  when  "  they  were  tei*- 
rified,  supposing  they  had  seen  a  spirit,  he  said  unto 
them,  why  are  ye  troubled  ?  behold  my  hands  and 
my  feet,  that  it  is  I  myself ;  handle  me  and  see,  for 
a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see  me  have. 
And  he  showed  them  his  hands  and  his  feet,  and 
while  they  believed  not  for  joy,  and  wondered,  he 
said  unto  them  have  ye  any  meat  ?  and  they  gave 
him  a  piece  of  broiled  fish,  and  of  an  honey-comb, 
and  he  took  it  and  did  eat  before  them.^'  Luke  xxiv. 
36—43. 

Thus  the  founder  of  Christianity  confounds  the 
affirmations  of  the  spiritualists,  who  assert  that  mus- 
cular and  mechanical  phenomena  can  be  produced 
(without  the  aid  of  bone  and  muscle  or  other  mecha- 
nical contrivances),  such  as  pinching  and  grasping 
legs,  {calves,  rather,  I  should  have  said,  but  from  re- 
spect for  the  honoured  names  of  those  who  are  said 
to  bear  testimony  to  the  facts,  I  forbear),  by  "  invisi- 
ble beings  possessing  the  attributes  of  intelligence 
affection,  and    volition,  tkemselves  claiming  to  be 


INTRODUCTION.  1 1 

human,  and  giving  rational  grounds  for  belief  in  the 
truth  of  their  claims."  Much  of  the  phenomena  de- 
tailed are  of  such  a  puerile  nature  as  to  give  us  no 
very  exalted  notions  of  the  spirits'  intelligence — to 
wit,  pulling  skirts,  and  pinching  legs,  under  tables, 
savours  more  of  the  indelicate  than  the  sublime. 
We  do  not  ignore  the  "spiritual  element/'  if  by  that 
is  meant  the  forces  of  nature ;  but  we  do  most  em- 
phatically deny  that  the  witnessed  phenomena  are  the 
vagaries  of  disembodied  intelligences.  Herein  lies 
the  fallacy  of  ]\Iodern  Spiritualism — that  mind  can 
exist  apart  from,  and  yet  perform  the  functions  of 
organized  matter.  These  visitors  neither  speak  nor 
eat — physical  operations  far  too  gross  for  their  spiritual 
nature ;  though  they  can  exhibit  feats  of  superhuman 
strength,  such  as  dashing  "  iron  bound,  lunatic-de- 
fying tables"  to  fragments,  &c.,  evidently  the  organs 
neither  of  speech  nor  deglutition  are  wanting  in  those 
who  afSrm  these  things  ;  whatever  the  spirits  lack  in 
that  respect,  they  assuredly  possess  the  latter  faculty 
to  perfection.  By  the  bye,  we  have  heard  of  the 
spirits  being  present  at  dinner  tables  laden  with  wines 
and  dessert,  but  we  have  no  remembrance  of  their 
having  been  invited  to  partake  of  anything  :  could 
the  indignity  thus  offered  them,  occasion  the  subse- 
quent thrusting  awayand  demolishing  of  said  tables  ?* 
A  propos  of  dessert,  we  will  e'en  give  these  gentle- 
men another  nut  or  two  to  crack.  >  Having  quoted 
from  the  New  Testament,  it  is  only  reasonable  that 

*  Doubtless  tbe  hand  that  could  offer  a  glass  of  water 
could  take  a  gloss  of  wiae ! 


12  AN    EXPOSITION    OP    SPIRITUALISM. 

Ave  should  quote  the  Old.  And  we  will  cite  Job  as 
an  authority  on  the  subject,  whose  experience  of  the 
evil  one^s  existence  was  scarcely  as  agreeable,  or  so 
great  a  gain,  as  it  would  seem  to  be  to  Mr.  Howitt^ 
"  As  the  waters  fail  from  the  sea,  and  the  flood  de- 
cayeth  and  drieth  up  ;  so  man  lieth  down,  and  riseth 
not ;  till  the  heavens  be  no  more  they  shall  not 
awake,  nor  be  raised  out  of  their  sleep."  Job  xiv. 
11,  12.  Also  what  saith  the  Preacher?  "Then 
shall  the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was.  And  the 
spirit  shall  return  unto  God  who  gave  it."  Again, 
"  For  the  living  know  that  they  shall  die,  but  the 
dead  know  not  anything."  Eccles.  xii.  7  ;  ix.  5.  One 
other  such  quotation,  and  we  say  quantum  sufficit. 
"  His  breath  goeth  forth,  he  returneth  to  his  earth, 
in  that  very  day  his  thoughts  perish."  Psalm  cxlvi.  4. 
We  know  not  what  the  Spiritualists  will  make  of 
this,  they  will  carp  at  it,  we  have  no  doubt — but  it  is 
Holy  Writ — and  we  know  on  whose  side  the  truths 
range.  Even  Mr.  Andrew  Leighton,  who  attempts  to 
pooh-pooh  the  admirably  written  and  very  logical  article 
of  Mr.  Charles  Bray,  extracted,  by  permission,  from 
the  August  No.  of  the  "  British  Controversialist j'^ 
admits  that  the  spiritual  agency  is  invisible  to  all 
but  clairvoyant  and  natural  seers.  Knowing  the 
hyper-excited  state  of  the  brain  in  these  cases,  this 
fact  of  itself  ought  to  exclude  the  belief  in  the  reve- 
lations coming  from  any  other  source  than  the  sub- 
ject or  medium's  own  mind  or  that  of  persons,  either 
absent  or  present,  with  whom  he  or  she  is  bi'ought 
by  means  of  some  material  object  en  rapport. 


IXTRODLCTION.  13 

I   extract   the   following    from  "  Somnolism  and 
Psycheism,"  (by  Joseph  W.  Haddock,  M.D.,  1851), 
and  bearing  upon  the  argument  contained  in  this 
paper: — ''In  ordinaiy  vision,  the   mind  does    not 
directly  behold  the  outward  visible  object ;  but  it  has 
2>  perception  of  that  object  as  existing  in  the  imagin- 
ation.    By  imagination  is  not  here  meant  mere  fancy, 
as  is  sometimes  done  when  the  term  is  used,  but  the 
image.forming  faculty,  or  the  general  power  of  the 
sensorium  to  form   images  within  itself,  of  objects 
that  are  without  itself.     Imagination  is,  therefore, 
considered  as  a  true  and  proper  faculty  of  the  psyche, 
or  animal  mind,  and  thence,   as   a  distinct  mode  of 
sensation  above  the  ordinary  senses  of  the  body,  and 
to   which  they  are  subservient.     For  it  is  by  the 
outward  senses,  which  depend  on  nervous  influence, 
and  their  connection  with  this  image-forming  faculty, 
that  mind    and  matter  are    brought   into   mutual 
relationship  and  connection.     Whether,  therefore,  it 
is  by  ordinaiy  sight,  by  cerebral  lucidity,  or  by  the 
suggestions  of  another's  mind,  that  the  ideas  of  the 
objects  are  transmitted  to  the  sensorium,  they  are 
alike  subjects  of  the  image- forming  faculty  ivhen  there, 
and,  as  subjective  perceptioiis,  they  are  equally  real." 
The  observation  already  made,  that  animals  have  no 
other  mode  of  perception,  will  at  once  strike  the 
reader — we  shall  see  by  what  a  gross  perversion  of 
terms  our  author  tries  to  wriggle  out  of  the  dilemma. 
He  says,  "  It  will  form  no  objection  to  our  general 
statements  of  the  spiritual  nature  of  man,  th.-it  brutes 
possess  an  image-forming  faculty,  and  hence,  it  may 


14  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

be  concluded,  something  analagous  to  the  human 
animus.  There  is  little  doubt  but  that  all  animals 
possess  something  of  the  nature  of  a  soul,  and  that 
hence  they  have  their  peculiar  psychological  develop- 
ment. But  they  want  the  Pneuma — the  purely 
spiritual  and  rational  essence,  which  gives  man  his 
essential  character,  and  by  which  he  is  enabled  to 
contemplate  his  Maker,  and  from  which  he  derives 
his  title  to  immortality.  This,  however,  is  not  a 
subject  for  discussion  in  these  pages,  and  the  writer 
would  only  further  remark,  that  he  was  not  a  little 
surprised  to  find  one  of  our  best  and  most  popular 
physiologists  using  the  terms  of  the  apostle,  and  yet 
in  a  sense  just  opposite  to  that  of  the  inspired  writer ; 
for  he  attributes  to  animals  the  possession  of  a  pneu- 
ma, and  to  man  the  supposed  higher  faculty  of  the 
psyche, — thus  exactly  reversing  the  apostle's  state- 
ments.^' 

A  more  glaring  instance  of  the  blinding  influence 
of  preconceived  opinions  on  men^s  judgment  than 
this,  can  scarcely  be  conceived.  While  giving 
to  brutes  an  image-forming  faculty,  psychical  or 
mental  phenomenon,  he  denies  them  the  possession 
of  the  pneuma,  which  is,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
the  animal  spirit  or  soul — the  breath  of  life.  Or  are 
we  henceforth  to  extract  an  additional  entity  from 
the  animal  organism,  besides  those  of  spirit,  soul, 
and  body — Spiritus,  et  anima,  et  corpus  ?  Thus,  it 
is  our  author  that  reverses  the  order  of  things  to  suit 
his  own  notions  of  man's  immortality,  founded  on  a 
forced  and  erroneous  construction  of  the  7th  verse 


IXTRODUCTIOX.  15 

of  the  2nd  chapter  of  the  book  of  Genesis.  And 
thus  it  is  that  all  experience,  all  nature,  and  science, 
is  set  at  nought,  and  man's  reason  led  captive  to 
mere  dogma  and  blind  faith.  He,  forsooth,  thinks 
brute  creatures  "have  something  of  a  soul !"  Such  is 
not  the  language  of  the  inspired  Psalmist,  who  says 
— "  Thou  hidest  thj'  face,  they  are  troubled :  thou 
takest  away  their  breath,  they  die,  and  return  to 
their  dust.  Thou  sendest  forth  thy  spirit,  they  are 
created :  and  thou  renewest  the  face  of  the  earth." 
Psalm  civ.  29,  30. 

1  conclude  with  the  remark  that  views  derogatory 
to  the  creature  are  no  less  so  to  Plim  "  in  whose 
hand  is  the  soul  of  every  living  thing,  and  the  breath 
of  all  mankind."     Job  xii.  10. 

We  have  an  admirable  illustration  of  the  sagacity 
e\inced  by  the  feathered  tribe,  in  the  follov.iug  anec- 
dote of  the  thievish,  or,  in  modern  language,  hleptu- 
inaniacal  propensities  of  the  crow. 

"  The  crows  are  the  flying  thieves  of  the  place  ; 
and  no  article,  however  unpromising  its  quality,  can 
with  safety  be  left  unguarded  in  any  apartment  acces- 
sible to  them.  They  despoil  ladies'  work-baskets, 
open  paper  parcels  to  ascertain  their  contents,  will 
undo  the  knot  of  a  napkin  if  it  enclose  anything  eat- 
able, and  have  been  known  to  remove  a  peg  which 
fastened  the  lid  of  a  basket,  in  order  to  plunder  the 
provender  therein.  The  following  ruse  seems  almost 
beyond  corvine  craft  : — One  of  these  ingenious  ma- 
rauders, after  vainly  attitudinising  in  front  of  a 
chained  watch-dog  that   was  lazily  gnawing  a  bone, 


IG  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

and  after  fruitlessly  endeavouring  to  divert  his  atten- 
tion by  dancing  before  him,  with  head  awry  and  eye 
askance,  at  length  flew  away  for  a  moment,  and  re- 
turned bringing  a  companion  which  perched  itself 
on  a  branch  a  few  yards  in  the  rear.  The  crowds 
grimaces  were  now  actively  renewed,  but  with  no 
better  success,  till  its  confederate,  poising  itself  on  its 
wings,  descended  with  the  utmost  velocity,  striking 
the  dog  upon  the  spine  with  all  the  force  of  its  strong 
beak.  The  ruse  was  successful ;  the  dog  started 
with  surprise  and  pain,  but  not  quickly  enough  to 
seize  his  assailant,  whilst  the  bone  he  had  been  gnaw- 
ing was  snatched  away  by  the  first  crow  the  instant 
his  head  was  turned.  Two  well- authenticated  in- 
stances of  the  recurrence  of  this  device  came  within 
my  knowledge  at  Colombo,  and  attest  the  sagacity 
and  powers  of  communication  and  combination  pos- 
sessed by  these  astute  and  courageous  tJirds.^' — Tea- 
nani's  Ceylon. 

"  As  for  the  study  of  animals,  its  use  has  been 
vitiated  by  the  old  notions  of  the  difference  between 
instinct  and  intelligence.  Humanity  and  animality 
ought  reciprocally  to  cast  light  upon  each  other.  If 
the  whole  set  of  faculties  constitutes  the  complement 
of  animal  life,  it  must  surely  be  that  all  that  are 
fundamental  must  be  common  to  all  the  superior 
animals,  in  some  degree  or  other :  and  differences  of 
intensity  are  enough  to  account  for  existing  diversi- 
ties;— the  association  of  the  faculties  being  taken 
into  the  account,  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other, 
the  improvement  of  man  in  society  being  set  aside. 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

If  there  are  sluj  faculties  wliicli  belong  to  man  ex- 
clusively, they  can  only  be  such  as  correspond  to  the 
highest  intellectual  aptitudes  ;  and  this  much  may 
appear  doubtful  if  we  compare,  in  an  unprejudiced 
waj^j  the  actions  of  the  highest  mammifers  with  those 
of  the  least  developed  savages. 

"  It  seems  to  be  more  rational  to  suppose  that  the 
power  of  observation  and  even  of  combination  exists 
in  animals,  though  in  an  immeasurably  inferior 
degree ; — the  want  of  exercise,  resulting  chiefly  from 
their  state  of  isolation,  tending  to  benumb  and  even 
starve  the  organs.  The  extreme  imperfection  of 
phrenological  science  is  manifest  in  the  pride  with 
which  man,  from  the  height  of  his  supremacy,  judges 
of  animals  as  a  despot  judges  of  his  subjects;  that 
is,  in  the  mass,  without  perceiving  any  inequality 
in  them  worth  noticing.  It  is  not  less  certain  that, 
surveying  the  whole  animal  hierarchy,  the  principal 
orders  of  this  hierarchy  sometimes  differ  more  from 
each  other  in  intellectual  and  moral  respects  than  the 
highest  of  them  vary  from  the  human  type.  The 
rational  study  of  the  mind  and  the  ways  of  animals 
has  yet  to  be  instituted, — nothing  having  been  done 
but  in  the  way  of  preparation.  It  promises  an 
ample  harvest  of  important  discovery  directly  appli- 
cable to  the  advancement  of  the  study  of  man,  if  only 
the  naturalists  will  disregard  the  declamation  of  theo- 
logians and  metaphysicians  about  the  pretended  de- 
gradation of  human  nature,  while  they  are,  on  the 
contrary,  rectifying  the  fundamental  notions  of  it  by 
establishing,  rigorously  and    finully,  the  profound 


18  AN    EXPOSITION    OV   SPIRITUALISM. 

differences  which  positively  separate  us  from  the 
animals  nearest  to  us  in  the  scale."  — -  Cumte''i 
Positive  Philosophy. 

Much  also,  that  is  both  interesting  and  instructive 
will  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  Instinct,  in  Darwin's 
"  Origin  of  Species." 

Professor  Huxley  states,  *^  The  roots^,  as  it  were, 
of  the  great  faculties  which  distinguish  man^  and 
confer  on  him  his  immense  superiority  over  all  other 
created  beings,  are  traceable  far  dow'n  into  the  animal 
world.  No  one  who  has  at  all  carefully  observed 
the  faculties  of  animals  can  doubt  that  they  possess 
in  many  eases  a  distinct  power  of  reasoning,  and  of 
observing  the  connexion  between  cause  and  effect." 
With  the  mass  of  evidence  before  us  of  the  existence 
of  mind  and  soul  in  the  whole  animal  world,  I  in- 
quire wherein  consists  Man's  sole  claim  to  immor- 
tality ? 


LETTEES  ON  SPIRITUALISM. 


PIBST    SERIES. 


riEST    SEEIES. 


A   AVORD   WITH   "BLACKWOOD,"   AND 
OTHERS,  ON  SPIRITUALISM. 

Blackwood's  Magazine  has  a  paper  entitled  "Seeing 
is  Believing,"  devoted  to  the  discussion  of  the  phe- 
nomena which  are  known  by  the  name  of  "  spiritual 
manifestations,"  to  w^hich  so  large  a  share  of  atten- 
tion has  been  attracted  by  a  recent  article  in  the 
Comhill  Magazine.  The  writer  is  evidently  too 
strongly  animated  by  hostile  prejudices  to  be  quali- 
fied for  the  treatment  of  a  question  which  should  be 
examined  in  a  calm  philosophical  spirit.  Much  of 
Ills  reasoning  is  extremely  weak,  and  the  entire  con- 
tribution is  characterised  by  transparent  special 
])leading.  The  topic  is  one  which  cannot  be  too 
thoroughly  ventilated ;  but  essays  pervaded  by  a 
vehement  spirit  of  partisanship  are  not  likely  to 
bring  us  much  nearer  to  the  truth. — tilar  and  DiaL 


22  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 


"  Quel  Dieu  est  assez  Dieu  pour  proteger  ce  qui  n'est 
autre  que  la  pensee  de  Dieu  meme?" — Michelet. 

"  Those  that  to  confute  their  credulity  desire  to  see  ap- 
paritions, shall,  questionless,  never  behold  any.  The  devil 
hath  them  already  in  a  heresy  as  capital  as  witchcraft,  and 
to  appear  to  them,  were  but  to  convert  them." — Sie 
Thomas  Beowne's  "Eeligio  Medici." 

Sir, — Allow  me  to  say  a  few  plain  words,  and  to 
advance  a  few  plain  facts  on  the  subject  of  spirit- 
ualism. In  doing  this  I  shall  not  seek  the  protec- 
tion of  the  anonymous,  for  the  assertion  of  truth 
needs  no  disguise.  Let  those  who  attack  spiritualism 
have  the  candour  and  the  courage  to  do  the  same. 

The  English  press  is  just  now  getting  into  a  fuss 
on  this  subject.  The  article  in  the  "  Cornhill 
Magazine"  has  had  the  effect  of  a  ferret  in  a  rabbit 
warren.  It  has  roused  journalists  into  a  paroxysm  of 
terror  and  indignation.  But  these  gentlemen  would 
have  done  well  to  consider  that  this  battle  has  been 
fought  wath  all  heat  and  ability  already  by  the  press 
in  America ;  and  with  what  result — 'the  extinction 
of  spiritualism  ?  On  the  contrary ;  the  immense 
ausnieutation  of  inquiry,  the  increase  of  spiritualists, 
from  a  few  thousands  to  upwards  of  three  millions, 
from  the  publication  of  one  or  two  spiritual  journals 
to  the  ^publication  of  seventeen  journals.  Do  the 
gentlemen  of  the  press  here  hope  to  do  what  the 
'cute  Yankees  could  not  do  ?  Do  they  think  that 
Srother  Jonathan  has  not  men  as  clever,  as  learned. 


LETTER   I.  23 

or  as  logical  as  old  John  ?  and  that  he  has  not  '•  five 
hundred  good  as  these  ?" 

Sir,  I  have  jnst  now  had  "Once  a  Week"  and 
'*  Blackwood"  sent  to  me.  As  to  "  Once  a  Week," 
I  shall  only  say  that  the  anonymous  writer's  dia- 
grams are  very  amusing  and  very  useful,  because 
thousands  in  this  country  know  the  facts  of  spirit- 
ualism thoroughly,  and  are  therefore  quahfied  to 
laugh  at  the  folly  of  these  pretended  explanations. 
Let  the  writer  go  on  and  explain  in  the  same  way 
how  Mr.  Home  floated  about  the  top  of  the  room 
as  mentioned  in  the  "  Cornhill  Magazine,"  and  as 
numbers  of  persons  in  London  saw  him  do  on 
another  occasion.  There  are  plenty  of  Martin 
Korkys  still  alive.  IMartin,  in  Galileo's  time,  de- 
clared that  telescopes  were  all  very  well  for  looking 
at  things  on  earth,  but  that  they  were  delusive  when 
applied  to  the  heavens,  and  he  was  not  going  to  give 
up  his  planets  for  that  Italian  fellow.  The  Martin 
Korky  of  "  Once  a  Week"  is  quite  welcome  to  his 
planets  and  his  diagrams. 

As  for  "Blackwood,'^  as  the  main  part  of  the 
anonymous  article  again  is  wasted  on  Mr,  Dale 
Owen's  "  Footfalls  on  the  Boundaries  of  Another 
World,"  I  will  not  meddle  with  that.  Both  Mr. 
Dale  Owen  and  his  book  are  admirably  able  to  take 
care  of  themselves.  But  there  is  one  assertion  which 
I  wish  to  notice,  and  for  which  I  have  but  one  term 
— it  is  a  gross  and  notorious  untruth,  as  I  will  at 
once  show.  The  writer  confesses  that  he  has  been 
amongst  spiritualists  as    an  impostor,  and  5'et  he 


■24  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

expects  the  public  to  believe  him  as  a  true  man.  He 
says : — "  If  the  believers  of  spiritualism  were  really 
anxious  to  have  their  hypotheses  investigated,  ac- 
cording to  strict  scientific  methods,  there  would  soon 
cease  to  be  much  difference  of  opinion.  Unhappily, 
while  they  all  claim  the  right  of  scientific  inquiry, 
invoke  scientific  freedom,  and  scatter  scientific  for- 
mulae over  their  statements,  they  all  7-esisi  and  evade 
scientific  enquiry.^' 

The  italics  ai-e  the  writer's  own.  I  shall  not  follow 
him  into  the  courtesy  of  his  charges  of  "  scoundrel- 
ism"  and  "  imposture,"  but  simply  ask,  what  are 
the  facts  ? 

In  the  earliest  days  of  modern  spiritualism  in  this 
country,  Sir  David  Brewster  and  Lord  Brougham 
expressed  a  desire  to  witness  and  examine  the  spiritual 
phenomena,  as  developed  through  Mr.  Home.  Was 
their  desire  resisted  or  evaded  by  Mr.  Home  ?  Quite 
the  contrary.  J\Ir.  Home  had  two  meetings  with 
these  learned  and  scientific  men,  at  one  of  which, 
jMrs.  TroUope  was  present,  and  was  thoroughly  con- 
vinced of  the  bond  fide  truth  of  what  she  saw.  Dr. 
Maitland,  F.R.S.,  and  F.S.A.,  a  distinguished  clergy- 
man of  the  Church  of  England,  and  a  well-known 
author  of  a  capital  little  book,  styled  "Superstition 
and  Science,"  says : — ''  I  have  now  before  me  a 
newspaper  containing  a  letter  from  Sir  David  Brewster 
to  Benjamin  Coleman,  Esq.,  and  dated  so  recently  as 
October  9,  1855,  in  which  he  says,  'At  Mr.  Cox's 
house,  Mr.  Home,  Mr.  Cox,  Lord  Brougham,  and 
myself,  sat  down  to  a  small  table,  Mr.    Home  having 


LETTER    I.  liO 

previously  requested  us  to  examine  if  there  was  any 
machinery  about  his  person :  an  examination,  how- 
ever, which  we  declined  to  make.  When  all  our 
hands  were  upon  the  table^  noises  were  heard — rap- 
pings  in  abundance  :  and  finally,  when  we  rose  up, 
the  table  actually  rose,  as  it  appeared  to  me,  fi-om 
the  ground.  This  result  I  do  not  pretend  to  ex- 
plain.^ " 

Now,  sir,  I  have  nothing  further  to  do  with  this 
fact,  on  this  occasion,  than  to  say  that  it  is  in  direct 
contradiction  to  the  assertion  of  the  writer  in  "  Black- 
wood,'^ "  that  they  all  resist  and  evade  scientific  in- 
quiry." "What  is  more,  it  is  well  known  that  it  has 
been  the  practice  of  Mr.  Home,  on  all  occasions,  to 
accept  any  invitation  by  gentlemen  and  Christians 
to  display  the  phenomena  which  come  through  him. 
He  has  exhibited  scores  of  times  before  the  Emperor 
of  France,  and  in  presence  of  any  scientific  men  that 
the  Emperor  has  chosen  to  name.  Mr.  Home  has 
done  the  same  at  almost  every  court  and  capital  in 
Europe,  and  possesses  the  most  unequivocal  testi- 
monials to  the  reality  of  his  demonstrations  from 
numerous  crowned  and  learned  heads.  If  there  be 
one  thing  more  than  another  conspicuous  in  Mr. 
Home,  it  is  his  readiness  to  meet  and  oblige  all 
respectable  inquirers.  During  his  late  sojourn  in 
London,  he  has  repeatedly  visited  — on  one  occasion 
for  a  whole  fortnight — Lord  Lyndhurst,  and  has 
been  the  medium,  at  his  lordship's  house,  of  most 
striking  phenomena,  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  that 
great  lawyer  and  his  family.      Now,  surely,  Lord 


26  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

Lyndhurst  is  a  tigUy  scientific  man,  in  the  science 
especially  essential  to  such  inquiries,  that  of  shrewdly 
examining  and  taking  evidence  of  facts.  Mr.  Home 
has  displayed  similar  phenomena  in  the  houses  of 
literary,  artistic,  parliamentary,  and  scientific  people  - 
in  London  during  the  whole  last  season. 

Mr.  Faraday,  we  all  know,  wished  to  see  table- 
turning,  and  he  propounded  a  theory  to  account  for 
it.  But  his  theory  of  involuntary  muscular  action 
in  the  persons  who  put  their  hands  on  the  table,  was 
immediately  stultified  by  the  tables  rising  up  far  out 
of  the  reach  of  all  hands.  Mr.  Faraday,  I  know, 
bas  since  been  repeatedly  invited  by  a  scientific  friend 
of  his  to  witness  those  more  decided  demonstrations. 
But  a  burnt  child  dreads  the  fire,  and  Mr.  Faraday 
so  dreadfully  burnt  his  fingers  by  deciding  in  a 
hurry,  that  he  has  steadily  persisted  in  refusing  to 
go  near  tables  that  rise  up  to  the  ceilings  of  lofty 
rooms. 

Dr.  Ashburner  is  a  highly  scientific  man,  the 
translator  of  "Reichenbach."  He  desired  to  examine 
these  phenomena ;  he  found  no  resistance  nor  eva- 
sion I  he  saw  them  repeatedly,  became  convinced  of 
their  reality,  and,  with  a  noble  daring,  rare  in  this 
age,  publicly  avowed  his  conviction ;  and  I  could 
give  you  numerous  instances  of  scientific  men  who 
huve  wished  to  examine  them,  and  are  believers ;  but 
they,  like  the  correspondents  of  "Blackwood,"  and 
nearly  all  the  correspondents  of  the  journals,  have 
their  prudential  reasons  for  preferring  the  anonymous. 

There  is  one  instance  of  this  most  remarkable,    A 


LETTER    I.  27 

distinguished  physician  and  editor  of  one  of  our 
scientific  journals,  has  for  several  years  made  a  stout 
fight  against  spiritualism.  He  went  to  ]\Ir.  William 
Wilkinson,  solicitor,  of  44,  Lincoln's-inn-fields,  and 
said,  "  You  talk  in  the  *  Spiritual  Magazine*  wonder- 
ful things  :  I  challenge  you  to  let  me  see  them." 
Mr.  Wilkinson  accepted  the  challenge,  and  took  Mr. 
Squire,  a  well-knowTi  American  medium,  with  him 
to  this  gentleman^s  house.  The  learned  doctor  invited 
a  learned  Cantab  and  secretary  to  a  scientific  society 
to  meet  them.  They  spent  a  whole  day,  and  parts 
of  two  other  days,  with  these  gentlemen,  allowing 
thera  to  make  every  examination  that  they  pleased. 
In  the  course  of  this  visit,  many  astonishing  things 
were  done ;  a  heavy  table  was  flung  from  one  end  of 
a  room  to  another.  A  table  constructed  scientifically, 
to  defy  the  efforts  of  the  most  raging  lunatics,  and 
which  had  defied  them,  was,  at  the  particular  desire 
of  the  doctor,  though  it  was  strongly  clamped  and 
bound  with  an  iron  rim,  torn  to  fragments.  All  this 
the  doctor,  thoroughly  convinced,  as  well  as  his 
friend,  declared  that  he  would  publish  in  the  "  Athen- 
eeum"  and  the  "  Lancet"  with  his  name ;  but  he  was 
advised,  from  obvious  motives  of  prudence  to  himself, 
by  Mr.  AVilkinson,  not  to  do  it.  However,  he  drew 
up  the  exact  account,  had  it  verified  by  his  friend, 
and  sent  it  to  the  "  Spiritual  Magazine,"  where  it 
appears  in  the  number  for  April  of  this  year. 

This,  I  think,  is  pretty  v.ell  in  England  ;  what  in 
America  ?  I  could,  did  space  allow,  give  you  volumi- 
nows  proofs  of  the  utter  falsehood  of  the  assertion  of 


28  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

the  writer  in  ''  Blackwood/'  I  will  content  myself 
with  two  remarkable  refutations.  Professor  Hare, 
one  of  the  most  scientific  men  and  greatest  electri- 
cians of  the  age,  called  the  Faraday  of  ximerica,  de- 
sired to  witness  and  examine,  in  the  terms  of  the 
"  Blackwood"  writer,  "  according  to  strict  scientific 
methods,"  these  phenomena.  He  met  with  no  resist- 
ance or  evasion  whatever.  All  circles  threw  them- 
selves open  to  his  research.  He  pursued  this  enquiry 
thoroughly,  and  so  far  from  finding  these  phenomena 
the  wretched  product  of  machinery,  trickery,  or  even 
clever  legerdemain,  he  finally  acknowledged  their 
unearthly  origin,  and  published  boldly  his  conviction. 
In  this  conviction  he  lived  and  died. 

Judge  Edmunds,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
American  judges,  so  famed  for  his  professional  acu- 
men, that,  contrary  to  the  custom  of  England,  he 
has  retired  from  the  bench,  and  returned  to  the  bar, 
where  his  countrymen  assure  me  his  practice  is  worth 
j65,000  a-year ;  also  desired  to  examine  thoroughly 
these  extraordinary  phenomena,  "according  to  the 
strictest"  legal  method.  The  result  was  the  same 
All  circles  were  thrown  open  to  him,  and  so  far  from 
discovering  a  cheat  or  a  fallacy,  he  discovered  a  great 
truth,  and,  like  a  brave,  honest  man,  continues  to 
proclaim  it,  by  word,  and  pen,  and  press. 

These,  sir,  I  think,  will  be  admitted  "  according  to 
strict  scientific  method,"  to  be  a  complete  refutation 
of  the  statements  of  Blackwood  and  Co. ;  and,  in  con- 
clusion, I  will  beg  to  remind  these  gentlemen  of  the 
press,  that  the  very  same  things  which  they  now 


LETTER    I.  29 

assert  of  spiritualism,  were  said  of  Christianity,  for 
above  one  hundred  years  after  its  appearance ;  ay, 
far  worse  things.  The  Christians  were  held  by  the 
Greek  and  Latin  illustrissimi,  not  only  as  the  grossest 
impostors,  but  as  the  most  vile  and  degraded  of  men. 
The  practices  attributed  to  them  were  too  revolting 
for  modern  language.  Christianity  was  the  "  super- 
stitio  prava"  of  Pliny  the  younger  ;  the  "  exitiabilis 
superstitio'^  of  Tacitus :  the  Christians  were  the 
"homines  per  flagitiis  invisos"  of  that  historian. 
Every  classical  reader  can  lay  his  hand  on  these  state- 
ments. 

These  are  the  calumnies  which  truth  has,  in  every 
age,  to  endure.  Take  the  very  highest  philosophical 
authority  of  Greece — Plato.  He  makes  Socrates,  in 
Euthjqihon,  say  : — "  And  we  too,  when  I  say  any- 
thing in  the  public  assembly  concerning  divine  things, 
and  predict  to  them  what  is  going  to  happen,  they 
ridicule  me  as  mad :  and  although  nothing  that  I 
ever  have  predicted  has  not  turned  out  to  be  true, 
yet  they  envy  all  such  men  as  we  arc.  However,  we 
ought  not  to  heed  them,  but  pursue  our  own  course." 

How  precisely  identical  are  the  truth,  and  the  ene- 
mies of  the  truth,  in  every  age  of  the  world  !  Sir,  I 
am  a  man  who  all  my  life  has  hated  humbug,  and 
has,  at  whatever  cost,  dared  to  expose  it  without 
hiding  my  head  under  the  anonymous.  In  my  early 
years  I  had  my  blow  at  priestcraft.  I  am  not  one 
of  those  who  think  it  wise  to  jeer  at  what  I  do  not 
take  the  trouble  to  examine.  Some  years  ago  I 
heard  some  very  wonderful  things  of  gold-finding  in 


80  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

Australia.  I  determined  to  go  and  examine  how  far 
these  fine  stories  were  true.  I  did  not  think  the 
way  to  come  at  the  truth  was  to  shy  an  article  at  it 
from  a  journal  without  going  near  it.  I  got  a  real 
spade,  and  dug  in  real  earth,  and  I  and  my  sons 
found  one  of  the  finest  gold  fields  in  Victoria — Nine 
Mile  Creek — in  consequence  of  which,  my  son  is  at 
this  moment  heading  a  Government  expedition  of 
discovery  in  that  colony.  I  got  as  much  gold  with 
my  own  hands  as  would  have  knocked  any  man  down 
who  should  have  said  it  was  imaginary.  Well,  1  am 
just  as  sure  of  the  facts  of  spiritualism  as  I  am  of 
those  of  gold-finding.  If  I  were  to  go  to  Lord 
Campbell  and  tell  him  that  I  knew  more  about  the 
business  of  the  Court  of  Chancery  than  he  did,  he 
would  laugh  at  me;  and  if  Lord  Campbell  came  to 
me  and  said  that  he  knew  more  about  the  phenomena 
of  spiritualism  than  I  do,  after  years  of  examination, 
I  should  laugh  at  him ;  and  we  should  both  laugh 
on  the  same  good  grounds  at  the  other  talking  of 
things  that  he  had  not  thoroughly  sifted,  to  a  man 
who  had. 

I  have  sifted  these  things  for  five  years.  I  have  wit- 
nessed nearly  all  the  varieties  of  extraordinary  things 
seen  in  this  country,  and  often  in  private  houses  of 
the  highest  character,  where  no  professional  medium 
was  present.  The  facts  of  spiritualism  are,  therefore, 
to  me,  common-places,  and  as  positive  as  a  stone  wall. 
Let  the  opponents,  instead  of  blustering  and  talking 
the  sheerest  nonsense,  sift  these  things  for  five  years, 
and  then  they  may  cavil  if  they  please.     The  writer 


LETTER   II.  31 

in  "  Blackwood''  thinks  spiritualism  "  the  disgrace 
of  the  age ;"  I,  on  the  contrary,  think  the  disgrace 
of  the  age  is  the  want  of  faith  in  peoples'  own  senses, 
and  the  want  of  courage  to  make  use  of  them. 

Of  the  higher  and  more  sacred  teachings  of  spirit- 
uahsm,  and  its  numerous  phases,  for  this  movement 
of  tables  is  but  one,  and  one  of  the  least,  I  could  say 
much,  but  I  confine  myself  here  to  the  refutation  of 
a  most  transparent  calumny. — Yours,  &c., 

William  Howitt. 


II. 

Sir, — I  have  read  ^Mr.  Wm.  Howitt's  letter,  which 
appeared  in  your  number  of  this  date,  with  consider- 
able interest,  and  I  beg  to  ask  ]\Ir.  Howitt,  through 
the  same  medium,  if  much  unbelief  would  not  be 
staggered  or  entirely  removed  by  some  practical  and 
really  serviceable  experiment  ?  For  instance,  might 
not  some  information  be  obtained,  to  be  privately 
communicated  to  j\Ir.  Slack,  of  Bath,  who  has  so 
assiduously  devoted  himself  in  the  fearful  and  mys- 
terious case  of  the  Road  child-murder,  by  which  he 
might  be  assisted  to  prosecute  further  investigations  ? 
I  do  not  mean  that  any  magistrate  would  commit,  or 
any  jury  convict,  on  the  unsupported  evidence  of 
spiritualism  ;  but,  in  such  a  case  as  this,  surely  some 
table  might  be  persuaded  to  furnish  a  clue  for  trans- 
mission to  him,  by  which  the  mystery  should  be 
unravelled,  and  the  act  be  brought  legally  home  by 


33  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

customaxy  evidence  to  the  criminal  or  criminals. 
This,  if  done,  would  make  more  converts  to  Mr. 
Hewitt's  views  (spite  of  "  Blackwood"  and  others) 
than  any  results,  in  themselves  perfectly  useless,  and 
prove  that  there  is  a  reality  about  the  professed  com- 
munications which  may  be  turned  to  the  good  purposes 
of  deterring  from,  or  detecting  crime. 

I  am,  yours  obediently, 
Reading,  Oct.  6.  Jas.  N.  Buckland. 


III. 


SPIRIT-RAPPING.— THE  COCK-LANE 
GHOST. 

Sir, — An  apology  is  due  from  me  for  this  attempt 
to  intrude  on  your  valuable  space,  by  a  few  remarks 
on  the  subject  of  spiritualism,  in  the  hope  of  their 
being  of  some  slight  interest,  though  from  the  pen  of  a 
novice  in  supernatural  mysteries.  I  had  heard  little 
of  the  facts  or  doctrines  of  spiritualism  until  enlight- 
ened by  that  talented  Icgerdemainist,  Anderson,  to 
wit,  who  not  only  arrogated  to  himself  the  title  of 
"  Wizard  of  the  North,"  but  claimed  to  have,  by 
means  of  his  very  clever  electrical  rapping  machine, 
cured  thousands  of  what  he  termed  "  this  delusion." 
I  must  own  I  stared  in  my  ignorance  at  hearing  of 
myriads,  where  I  had  only  expected  scores.  The 
Cock-lane  ghost  I  had  read  of ;  it  is  noticed  in  grave 


LETTER    III,  33 

histoiy  as  an  instance  of  successful  trickery,  imposing 
on  the  aristocratic  circles  of  London,  and  even  on  the 
credulity  of  the  great  Dr.  Johnson  himself.  The 
ghost  was  then,  as  now,  invisible,  indicating  its  pre- 
sence and  intelligence  by  the  usual  significant  knocks. 
It  is  added,  that  the  imposture  was  found  out  to  be 
the  contrivance  of  a  woman. 

What  would  that  chronicler  say  now  ?  The  direct 
communion  with  spirits  seems  held  by  a  multitude 
to  be  not  only  within  possibilitj^,  but  actually  achieved, 
and  achievable  at  will.  I  am  only  a  sceptical  spec- 
tator, yet  as  such  I  witnessed  on  two  occasions  some 
facts  which  I  would  willingly  learn  the  explanation 
of  on  natural  princij)les.  They  occurred  at  my  own 
house,  and  were  incidentally  and  involuntarily  origi- 
nated by  myself,  at  that  period  a  sincei*e  unbeliever. 
A  small  party  was  assembled  after  tea  on  a  plot  of 
green  sward  in  my  garden,  sitting,  standing,  reclin- 
ing, walking,  talking,  as  it  happened.  Relaxing 
manly  gravity,  I  Avas  endeavouring  to  amuse  the 
younger  part  of  the  company  by  some  boyish  juggling 
feats  with  two  hats,  &c.,  when  a  young  lady,  not  an 
adept,  if  I  recollect  right,  proposed  an  attempt  at 
hat-turning,  and  seizing  one  accordingly,  she  was 
joined  by  another  lady,  a  believer,  and  kneeling 
together  on  the  grass,  witli  the  hat  on  a  hassock 
between  them,  they  grasped  its  rim,  according  to  art, 
and  awaited  the  result.  No  movement  followed, 
however,  beyond  that  produced  by  several  of  the 
others  playfully  pitching  into  it  wine-glasses,  fruit, 
&;c.,  with  an  occasional  tuft  of  grass.     With  the  view 

D 


o4  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SflRlTUALlSM. 

of  aiding  the  tardy  or  reluctant  spirit,  and  easing  the 
two  sorceressea,  I  brought  out  a  little  table,  hitherto 
guiltless  of  all  turning,  save  now  and  then  an  innocent, 
if  not  harmless  overturn,  and  the  hat  was  transferred 
to  it.     Still  it  gave  no  sign ;  general  patience  was 
ebbing  fast,  when  it  was  proposed  to  try  the  table. 
The  proposal  was  approved  by  acclamation,  and  all 
present  surrounded  and  placed  hands  or  fingers  on 
the  table,  giggling  for  the  most  part  as  they  joined 
in  this  novel  round  game.      I  should  add  that  a 
summer  twilight  was  setting  in.     After  a  moderate 
lapse  of  time,  a  slight  but  unequivocal  movement  of 
the  table  occurred.     The  mirth  of  all,  save  one  lady;, 
instantly  subsided.     I  looked  under  the  table,  not  a 
foot  was  near  it.     Our  lady  medium,  then,  in  the 
most  polite  terms,  requested  "the  spirit"  to  signify, 
by  three  knocks,  if  willing  to  answer  our  questions 
—three  deliberate  gentle   uprisings,  and  as  many 
gentle,  yet  audible,  footfalls  ensued.     All  were  silent, 
I  felt  impressed  ;  so  did  the  others  evidently,  except 
the  laughing  lady,  who  still  indulged  in  her  mirth. 
My  age   was   asked  (I  am   said  to  bear  my  years 
lightly) ;  a  concatenation   of  knocks    followed    five 
times  as  long,  if  not  as  tedious,  as  the  longest  moan- 
ing of  the  "  Big  Ben"  family — with  a  very  little  tap 
for  the  fraction  of  a  year,  thus  giving  me  the  full 
measure.     I  could  not  gainsay  the  account,  and  the 
rest  took  its  accuracy  on  credit  without  the  produc 
tion  of  my  baptismal  certificate,  which  is  strictly  in 
accordance.     The  laugher's  age  was  demanded.    No 
response  followed.     It  was  then  requested  to  give 


LETTER    III.  35 

two  blows  if  refusing  to  communicate  tlie  required 
information  ;  they  followed  sharply,  together  with  a 
hasty  movement  towards  her,  as  if  the  table  tried  to 
push  her  away ;  other  questions  and  answers  followed, 
till  increasing  darkness  put  an  end  to  the  exhibition 
— the  table  thrice  bowing,  not  ungracefully,  to  those 
around.  A  robust  young  unbelieving  friend  assured 
me,  that  on  his  holding  the  table  firmly  down,  when 
about  to  answer,  it  commenced  a  lateral  movement 
which  caused  him  then  to  desist. 

I  must  add  that  I  never  witnessed  anything  of  the 
sort  before,  and  but  once  since,  when  my  impression 
decidedly  was  that  trickery  had  been  used.  The 
answers  were  then  absurd  and  inaccurate.  An  al- 
phabet was  used,  the  spirit  selecting  the  letters  for  its 
answers.  These  were  disgracefully  spelt.  Example : — - 

Question  :  Will  you  tell  me  Mr.  B.'s  age,  &c.  ? 

Answer  :  Somebody  has  lost  a  black  dog. 

Question  :  Who  ? 

Answer :  Find  out. 

The  spirit  or  fiend  also  declared  its  angry  mten- 
tions,  thus  :  "  I  will  give  you  sutch  a  poak." 

You  may  judge  of  the  effect  on  me  of  such  a 
manifestation ;  it  repelled  me  back  into  the  regions 
of  incredulity. 

Could  I  produce  these  effects  in  solitude  and  alone 
I  might  believe.     But  1  would  not   acquire  laith  at 
the  risk  of  having  the  constant  companionship  of  a 
disembodied  spirit  of  equivocal  character. 

1  enclose  my  card,  and  again  apologisint;,  am  your 
humble  servant,  ^AiiEK. 

Oct.  G. 


36  AN    EXPOSITION    OP    SPIRITUALISM. 

IV. 

THE  SYSTEM  OF  SPIRITUALISM. 

Sir, — The  publication  of  William  Howitt's  letter 
on  the  subject  of  "  Spiritualism/'  in  the  Star,  may, 
I  presume,  be  taken  as  an  invitation  to  discuss  that 
subject  in  your  widely-extended  journal ;  and  should 
you  deem  this  letter,  from  amongst  the  many  you 
will  receive,  worthy  of  a  place  after  that  of  the  great 
historian  of  priestcraft,  you  have  my  full  permission, 
not  only  to  publish  my  name,  but  my  address  also ; 
although  I  do  not  think  either  will  in  any  way  add 
to  the  value  of  the  remarks  which  I  may  make. 
Indeed,  I  am  one  of  those  who  consider  that  rational 
arguments  ought  to  be  weighed  in  the  same  scale, 
whether  they  proceed  from  the  palace  or  the  cottage 
— whether  they  are  delivered  by  the  philosopher  or 
the  peasant.  When  facts  have  to  be  detailed,  we, 
undoubtedly,  wish  to  know  that  they  are  related  by 
a  truth-teller ;  but  the  arguments  and  remarks  of  a 
story-teller  should  not  be  cast  away  on  account  of 
the  source  from  whence  they  come. 

When  a  number  of  facts  are  related  by  persons 
who  cannot  be  suspected  of  a  wish  either  to  deceive 
themselves  or  others,  the  general  rule  is  to  believe 
that  such  facts  really  were  observed  by  the  narrators. 
The  observer  may  account  for  the  phenomena  which 
he  has  seen  and  heard  in  one  way  ;  the  listener  may 
account  for  them  in  another.     And  it  is  in  this  differ- 


LETTER  IV.  37 

ence  of  opinion  that  we  frequently  see  the  greatest 
acrimony  of  controversy. 

If  tables  turn,  or  fly  up  to  the  ceiling — if  hands 
appear — if  voices  are  heard — if  legs  are  pinched — or, 
I  imagine,  if  brimstone  was  smelled  or  tasted,  there 
would  be,  if  there  was  no  obvious  cause  for  any  one, 
or  all,  of  these  phenomena,  several  very  different 
modes  of  explaining  the  possible  or  probable  cause. 

Such  phenomena  as  those  I  have  just  referred  to, 
except  the  smell  and  taste  of  brimstone,  which  I  have 
not  yet  heard  of,  are  accounted  for  by  the  spiritualists, 
through  the  presence,  or  active  agency  of  some  spirit ; 
while  others  account  for  them  in  a  material  manner, 
and  even  suppose  it  possible  that  some  undiscover- 
able  trick  may  have  been  employed  to  impress  the 
senses. 

In  any  examination  of  this  subject  which  is  really 
deserving  the  name  of  philosophical,  we  must,  how- 
ever, admit  the  possibility  of  the  senses  being  im- 
pressed with  the  image  of  things  when  the  things 
themselves  are  absent.  But  the  metaphysician  can 
discover  in  the  living  being  itself,  in  its  immaterial 
portion,  a  sufficient  cause  for  the  phenomenon. 

What  are  the  ghosts  of  our  sleep  ?  What  are  those 
ghosts  seen,  in  the  apparently  waking  moments,  by 
some  ?  Not  necessarily  the  spirits  of  the  absent  j 
for  the  individual  mind  has  within  itself  the  power 
to  create  images;  and  in  the  unconscious  moments 
either  of  sleep,  or  that  which  is  called  wake,  images 
do  so  impress  themselves  on  our  senses  that  the 
senses  are  obliged  to  believe  in  their  existence.     It 


38  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

is  only  when  the  reason  gives  to  these  images  an 
erroneous  source  that  there  is  danger  to  fear. 

1  have  made  no  "  attack"  upon  spirits,  unless  this 
metaphysical  mode  of  accounting  for  them  should  be 
considered  so.  And  as  to  "  the  system  of  spiritual- 
ism," I  have  no  power  of  attacking  it,  for  I  have 
not  been  let  into  the  secret  of  the  system ;  but  I 
have  a  firm  impression,  after  a  somewhat  careful 
thought  on  all  the  manifestations  which  I  have  heard 
and  read  of,  that  this  "  system"  is  an  endeavour  to 
demonstrate  that  which  the  majority  of  thinking 
men  deem  to  be  undemonstrable — viz.,  the  separate 
and  individual  existence  of  spirits  apart  from  organ- 
ization. 

j\Iy  only  apology  for  saying  these  few  words  in 
behalf  of  that  which  I  conscientiously  believe  to  be 
the  only  rational  explanation  of  spiritualism,  must  be 
that  I  have  been  studying  anatomy  and  physiology 
for  nearly  thirty  years  ;  and  for  the  last  eighteen  or 
twenty  years,  have  paid  some  attention  to  the  science 
of  metaphysics.  These  qualifications  may  not  enable 
me  to  remove  the  convictions  of  your  truly  able 
correspondent ;  but  they  may  serve  to  show  that 
both  body  and  spirit  have  received  some  attention 
from  yours  obediently, 

William  Robins. 

49,  Oxford  Terrace,  W.,  Oct.  6. 


LETTER  V. 


39 


Sir, — I  read  in  your  impression  of  Saturday  a 
letter  written  by  a  gentleman  whose  name  has  be- 
come a  household  word  amongst  us,  and  published 
with  the  intention  of  rebuking  and  controverting  the 
writers  in  Blackwood  and  Once  a  JVeek,  who  have 
lately  ventilated  their  opinions  on  the  subject  of 
spiritual  manifestations,  as  exhibited  spontaneously, 
or  through  the  agency  of  a  modern  medium. 

It  does  seem  strange  that,  at  this  time,  we  should 
still  be  halting  between  two  opinions  on  this  vexed 
question,  and  that  what  one  authority  asserts  to  be 
a  truth  too  absolute  to  admit  of  doubt,  another,  equally 
worthy  of  credence,  as  stoutly  maintains  to  be  a 
falsehood  and  palpable  deceit. 

]\Ir.  Howitt  says  it  would  be  well  to  remember 
that  the  battle  between  the  pro  and  anti-spiritualists 
has  already  been  fought  with  all  heat  and  ability  by 
the  press  in  America,  and  asks  if  we  can  hope  to  do 
that  which  the  'cute  Yankees  found  to  be  impossible  ? 
To  my  mind,  the  question  of  'cuteness  has  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  the  matter,  and  it  would  be 
quite  as  absurd  to  admit  as  established  fact  that 
which  our  'cuteness  is  unable  to  prove  to  be  an  im- 
position, as  to  swallow,  without  reflection,  the  mar- 
vellous stories  of  the  modern  wonder-workers.  The 
(jucstion  is,  in  fact,  too  grave  a  one  to  rest  for  au 
answer  on  the  detection  or  non-detection  of  any 
trick,  or  series  of  tricks,  and  conviction  of  the  truth 


40  AN  ixrosiTioN  or  siiritcalism. 

cr  falsehood  of  it  must,  I  am  persujidcd,  come  from 
within, 

A  wide  field  is  opened  up  before  us  when  we  come 
to  consider  this  matter  of  spiritual  manifestations, 
bordered  on  one  side  by  the  sublime,  and  on  the 
other  by  the  ridiculous.  '*  Then  shall  the  dust  return 
to  the  earth,  as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  shall  return  unto 
God  who  gave  it/'  said  the  old  Jewish  preacher  when 
he  spoke  of  the  dissolution  of  soul  and  body,  but  not 
so  says  your  modern  spiritualist.  The  body  may 
return  to  mother  earth  and  resolve  itself  into  its 
constituent  atom,  but  the  spirit  shall  wander  about 
my  drawing-room,  shall  rap  out  upon  my  table 
answers  to  my  questions,  shall  scratch  upon  a  slate, 
play  a  fantasia  upon  an  accordion  or  piano,  clasp  the 
ancles  of  my  friends,  or  play  fifty  other  pranks  which 
only  the  shade  of  a  mountebank  could  be  suspected 
of  knowing  how  to  perform.  Is  this  fact,  or  is  it 
not  ?  If  it  is,  our  forefathers  did  not  hang,  burn, 
and  drown  old  women  for  nothing,  after  all,  and  the 
tales  of  ghosts  and  banshee,  which  were  wont  to 
send  me  into  paroxysms  of  childish  fear,  are  likely 
to  be  true  as  the  Gospel. 

One  might  well  be  excused  for  asking  what  pur- 
pose all  this  can  serve  ;  surely  there  can  be  no  high 
teaching  in  a  dancing  table,  and  no  hidden  m.eanin^ 
in  a  squeezing  of  one's  legs ;  at  least,  if  there  is  either 
teaching  or  meaning,  I  have  not  heard  that  any  oue 
has  discovered  it. 

It  is  a  high  thought,  truly,  this— that  if  I  die  to- 
morrow, I  may  next  evening  help  to  break  a  lunatic- 


LETTER   VI.  41 

defying  table^  or  carry  Mr.  Home,  in  a  horizontal 
position,  up  to  the  ceiling;  or,  perhaps,  as  another 
ill-conditioned  spirit  is  said  to  have  done  at  Stockwell, 
bring  utter  ruin  on  some  old  lady's  crockery. 

Internal  conviction,  then,  and  a  feeling  that  the 
spirits  of  the  mighty  dead  are  not  intended  to  amuse 
or  terrify  an  evening  party,  or  afford  satisfaction  to  a 
scientific  reuniun,  com]:)th  me  altogether  to  reject  the 
modern  theory  of  spiritualism,  though  should  its 
votaries  be  at  last  divided  into  deceivers  and  deceived, 
I  should  (giving  j\ir.  Howitt  credit  for  as  honest  a 
conviction  as  my  own)  never  think  of  classing  him 
with  the  former. — T  am,  sir,  yours,  &c. 

Hornsey,  Oct.  8.  Lex, 


VI. 

SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATIONS. 

Sir, — A  large  section  of  the  people  will  award  its 
thanks  to  the  Star  for  opening  its  columns  for  the 
ventilation  of  this  curiously  interesting  subject. 

With  your  permission,  and  for  the  convenience  of 
those  who  arc  strangers  to  tiie  subject,  or  who  have 
been  content  to  remain  satisfied  with  the  exposition 
of  it  as  furnished  by  the  Wizard  of  the  North,  I 
send  you  extracts  from  some  very  remarkable  letters, 
and  will  conclude  with  a  short  account  of  my  own 
experience. 


42  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

Extract  from  Sir  David  Brewster's  letter  to  Ben- 
jamin Coleman,  Esq. : — 

"  At  Mr.  Cos's  house,  Mr.  Home,  Mr.  Cox,  Lord 
Broutrham  and  myself,  sat  down  to  a  small  table,  Mr. 
Home  liavring  previously  requested  us  to  examine  if 
tliere  was  any  machinery  about  his  person,  an  exami- 
nation, however,  which  we  declined  to  make.  When 
all  our  hands  were  upon  the  table,  noises  were  heard, 
rappings  in  abundance,  and  finally,  when  we  rose  up, 
the  table  actually  rose,  as  appeared  to  me,  from  the 
f^round.  The  result  I  do  not  pretend  to  explain  ;  but 
rather  than  believe  that  spirits  made  the  noise,  I  will  con- 
jecture that  the  raps  were  produced  either  by  Mr.  Home's 
toes,  which,  as  will  be  seen,  were  active  on  another  occa- 
sion, or,  as  Dr.  Schiff  has  shown,  'by  the  repeated  dis- 
placement of  the  tendon  of  the  peroneus  longus  muscle  in 
the  sheath  in  which  it  slides  behind  the  external  malleolus  ;' 
and  rather  than  believe  that  spirits  raised  the  table,  I  will 
conjecture  that  it  was  done  by  the  agency  of  Mr.  Home's 
feet,  which  were  always  below  it.  It  is  not  true,  as  stated 
by  you,  that  a  large  dinner  table  was  moved  about  at  Mr. 
Cox's  in  the  most  extraordinary  manner." 

Sir  David  likewise  stated  that  the  table  was  co- 
vered with  copious  drapery,  beneath  which  nobody- 
was  allowed  to  look.  After  disposing  of,  in  a  some- 
what flippant  manner,  the  other  facts,  he  concludes 
by  remarking  : — 

"  I  ofi'er  these  facts  for  the  spiritual  instruction  of  your- 
self and  Mr.  Cox,  and  for  the  information  of  the  public. 
Mr.  Faraday  had  the  merit  of  driving  the  spirits  from 
above  the  table  to  a  more  suitable  place  below  it.  I  hope 
I  have  done  something  to  extricate  them  from  a  locality 
which  has  hitherto  been  the  lair  of  a  more  jovial  race.'' 


LETTER    VI. 


43 


The  following  are  extracts  from  a  letter  written 
by  Mrs.  Trollope,  the  authoress  (dated  Florence),  to 
a  gentleman  residing  near  London,  at  whose  house 
she  witnessed  the  phenomena  in  the  presence  of  Sir 
David  Brewster : — 

"  I  declare  that  at  your  house,  on  an  evening  subsequent 
to  Sir  David  Brewster's  meeting  w^th  Mr.  Home,  at  Cox's 
Hotel,  in  the  presence  of  Sir  David,  of  myself,  and  of 
other  persons,  a  large  and  very  heavy  dining-table  was 
moved  about  in  a  most  extraordinary  manner;  that  Sir 
David  was  urged  botli  by  Mr.  Home  and  yourself  to 
look  under  the  cloth  and  under  the  table  ;  that  he  did  look 
under  it,  and  that  while  he  was  so  looking  the  table  was 
much  moved  ;  and  that  while  he  was  looking,  and  while  the 
table  was  moving  he  avowed  that  he  saw  the  movement." 
"  I  should  not,  my  dear  sir,  do  all  that  duty,  I  think,  re- 
quires of  me  in  this  case,,  were  I  to  conclude  without 
stating  very  solemnly,  that,  after  very  many  opportunities 
of  witnessing  and  investigating  the  phenomena  caused  by 
or  happening  through  Mr.  Home,  I  am  whoUy  convinced 
that,  be  what  may  tlieir  origin,  and  cause,  and  nature, 
they  are  not  produced  by  any  fraud,  machinery,  juggling, 
illusion,  or  trickery." 

Another  writer  observes  : — 

"  Sucli  evidence  has  been  produced  as  would  give  judg- 
ment in  favour  of  spiritual  mauifestatious  in  our  courts  of 
"Westminster." 

Another,  under  the  signature  of  "A  True  Be- 
liever," writes : — 

"  The  Great  "Wizard  of  the  North  makes  raps  and  raises 
tables  by  an  agent  which  cannot  be  concealed.  jThe 
humble  medium,  who  is  neither  wizard  nor  conjuror, 
makes  raps,  raises  tables,  and   plays  accordions  by  an 


44  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

agent  wliich  cannot  be  discovered.     How  is  this  ?   -will  Sir 
D.  Brewster  or  any  of  your  correspondents  explain  ?" 

Extract  from  a  letter  signed  "  Veritas  :" — 
"  I  am  one  of  those  who  have  seen  a  heavy  table  lifted 
bodily  from  the  floor,  and  poised  mid  air,  and  I  have  seen 
various  articles  carried  both  above  and  below  the  table. 
I  have  seen  the  accordion  played  whilst  held  in  a  position 
impossible  to  be  acted  on  by  ordinai-y  means.  I  have 
held  it  myself,  apart  from  anyone,  suspended  in  one  hand, 
•with  the  keys  nearly  touching  the  ground,  and  whilst  so 
held  the  particular  air  I  asked  for  was  played  throughout 
in  the  most  perfect  and  beautiful  manner.  1  have  had 
intelligent  communications  of  a  family  nature  made  to  me, 
of  which  I  was  not  previously  aware,  but  which  were 
subsequently  verified.  Let  those  who  say  these  things 
are  done  by  machinery,  or  by  any  other  than  by  spiritual 
agency,  prove  it  and  expose  the  imposture." 

The  following  is  from  the  pen  of  one  who  signs 
himself  "Rusticus."  The  entire  letter  is  lengthy; — 

"  As  far  as  I  have  read  the  history  of 'the  manifesta- 
tions,' as  occurring  in  America,  nothing  more  effectually 
contributed  to  their  diffusion  than  reducing  the  argument 
to  the  alternative  of  believing  in  the  truth  of  tlie  facts,  on 
the  one  hand,  or  on  the  other,  in  the  sudden  impostures 
of  men  hitherto  known  to  be  honest ;  for,  certainly,  hus- 
bands  and  wives,  sous  and  daughters,  brothers  and  sisters, 
were  more  likely  to  believe  a  strange  event  to  be  super- 
natural than  that  they  had  become  to  each  other  from 
affectionate  friends,  a  set  of  mutual  unprincipled  liars. 

"  It  may  be  that  the  Boman  Catholic  Church  has  been 
too  credulous  in  matters  of  this  kind  ;  it  may  be  tliat  the 
Protestant  Church  has  been  too  incredulous.  Even  the 
existence  of  those  inferior  order  of  spirits  who  are  said  to 
indulge  in  musical  performances  upon  various  instruments, 


LETTER    VI.  45 

in  jocular  remarks,  or  familiar  colloquies,  is  fully  acknow- 
ledged in  the  Church  of  Eome  ;  the}^  take  their  place  iu 
their  own  proper  scale  of  spiritual  existence  ;  while  those 
whom  Protestants  would  scoiF  and  scout,  the  Eoman 
Catholic  Church  would  treat  with  solemn  prayers  and 
exorcisms,  thus  acknowledgiui^f  the  truth  of  that  which  a 
Protestant  public  might  be  likely  to  regard  as  a  barefaced 
imposture.  The  time,  however,  seems  to  have  come  when 
all  these  questions  must  be  reconsidered,  without  any  bias, 
whether  scientific,  pliilosophical,  or  religious." 

Extract  from  a  letter  signed  "  E.  C." 

"  The  last  occasion  when  I  saw  Mr.  Home,  the  company 
were  at  supper,  and  the  raps  were  heard  in  several  places 
on  the  table,  and  frequently,  but  faintly  repeated,  before 
much  attention  was  paid  them.  They  sounded  on  the 
table  close  to  my  own  platter,  and  at  the  moment  I  men- 
tioned the  circumstance  to  Mr.  Home,  who  sat  opposite 
to  me  enjoying  some  nicely  baked  rice,  a  rap  was  forcibly 
made  under  my  foot,  so  distinct  and  palpable  that  I  knew 
it  struck  exactly  under  my  heel.  There  was  too  much 
hilarity  at  the  table  to  enter  into  conversation,  but  a  few 
questions  were  asked  by  one  or  two  persons,  and  proper 
answers  returned.  After  a  short  interval,  two  or  three 
louder  raps  were  heard,  as  if  by  a  diflferent  hand,  imme- 
diately recognized  by  a  lady  present,  as  the  token  of  her 
In-otlier  who  perished  at  sea.  As  she  mentioned  this  cir- 
cumstance, the  table  began  to  move  with  that  peculiar 
labouring  motion  of  a  vessel  when  it  struggles  through  the 
troubled  waters.  I  should  say  it  was  impossible  for  any 
human  hand  or  machinerj'  to  produce  such  an  effect.  The 
table  literally  groaned  and  creaked,  and  in  a  few  moments 
rose  a  little  from  the  floor,  and  rocked  like  a  ship,  even  the 
slush  of  the  water  along  the  sides  of  the  vessel  was  imi- 
tated, and  as  this  peculiar  noise  passed  along  by  my  own 
chair,  and  down  by  my  aide  of  the  table,  I  am   couflduut 


46  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

it  was  not  produced  by  Mr.  Home  or  any  confederate. 
He  could  have  had  no  confederates  except  one  of  the 
lamily,  all  of  whom  I  had  known  too  long  and  intimately 
to  lay  them  open  to  suspicion."  "  There  is  something 
unmistakably  peculiar  in  every  sound  and  motion,  and  in 
many  cases  such  a  feeling  of  a  spiritual  presence,  that  it 
leaves  the  mind  perfectly  satisfied." 

I  proceed  to  give  you  an  extract  from  a  letter, 
published  by  myself,  in  February,  1856 : 

"  In  May  last,  being  at  the  house  of  a  gentleman  of 
distinction,  I  met  there  an  English  lady,  a  visitor,  whom 
I  discovered  to  be  what  is  usually  termed  a  medium.  I 
sat  down  with  her  to  a  large  library  table,  on  which  we 
placed  our  hands.  She  inquired  if  the  spirits  were  in 
attendance,  and  was  answered  by  three  very  distinct  taps 
that  appeared  to  proceed  from  the  centre  of  the  table. 
She  then  put  several  questions,  to  which  she  received  in- 
telligent answers  by  means  of  the  raps,  and  by  the  help  of 
an  alphabet  and  pencil.  I  asked  the  name  of  the  spirit  in 
attendance,  and  received  for  answer,  '  Afilick.'  I  desired 
to  know  where  a  deceased  relative  had  died  a  few  months 
previous.  The  reply  was  '  Devonport.'  As  none  in  the 
room  but  myself  knew  this,  I  was  certainly  surprised. 
The  position  of  this  lady  places  her  beyond  the  suspicion 
of  any  contrivance  to  deceive.  About  a  fortnight  after 
this,  I  met  Mr.  Home  at  the  same  house  in  the  country. 
Mr.  Home  had  only  just  then  arrived  from  America.  In 
the  evening,  Mr.  Home  proposed  that  himself,  I,  and  a 
gentleman  present,  should  go  upstairs  in  the  dark.  We 
did  so,  and  stationed  ourselves  in  a  tapestried  chamber. 
We  stood  and  joined  hands,  remaining  some  time  in  si- 
lence ;  at  length,  on  being  questioned  by  Mr.  Home,  '  the 
spii-its'  made  us  aware  of  their  presence  by  very  loud  raps 
and  thumps  all  about  the  room,  on  the  furniture,  oaken 
ceiling,  and  floor.     We  moved  into  the  state  drawing- 


LETTER   VI.  47 

room,  our  hands  joined,  and  standing  ;  tliere  these  extraor- 
dinary noises  were  more  remarkable  and  more  manifest. 
Scratcliing  on  the  furniture,  raps  and  thumps  on  the  tables 
and  ceiling,  sounds  as  of  many  feet,  which  gradually  ap- 
proached us  until  we  were  literally  encompassed  with  these 
tramping  sounds.  Mr.  Home  received  a  blow  on  the 
shoulder,  and  my  companion  on  the  thigh.  We  adjourned 
to  the  library,  this  time  in  the  light,  and  numberins  seren  ; 
two  of  the  party,  ladies,  sat  down  to  a  large  and  heavy 
round  table.  Placing  our  hands  on  it,  we  heard  loud  rapa 
from  all  parts  of  this  table,  and  from  the  oaken  book-cases. 
"We  spelt  out  that  '  they  did  not  come  to  hold  conversa- 
tion, but  to  make  manifestations,'  and  they  asked  that 
'  we  would  investigate  with  fairness  and  candour.'  I  de- 
sired to  know  if  they  would  give  us  some  music.  Eeply  : 
'  Yes."  One  of  the  ladies  brought  a  guitar,  and  placed  it 
under  the  table  ;  as  the  table  was  large,  it  was  easily  seen  ; 
jjresently  the  strings  were  faintly  agitated,  the  sounds 
became  gradually  louder,  and  a  tune  was  fairly  played  out 
by  invisible  means.  I  observed  the  instrument  to  move 
twice,  but  I  am  sure  no  one  touched  it.  After  this,  the 
heavy  table  at  which  we  were  sitting  gradually  rose  from 
the  floor,  our  hands  resting  upon  it ;  it  rose  at  least  six 
inches,  and  remained  in  a  state  of  suspension  some  time, 
then  tipped  backwards  and  forwards ;  this  was  succeeded 
by  a  vibration  in  the  table,  that  was  communicated  to  our 
bodies  and  the  chairs  upon  which  we  were  sitting,  as  if 
some  powerful  fluid  were  escaping.  The  sensation  as  of 
the  grasp  of  a  hand  was  felt  on  the  knee  of  two  of  the 
party  successively,  followed  by  very  loud  raps  from 
the  table.  A  little  before  twelve  o'clock  we  removed  to  a 
room  upstairs,  and  took  our  scats  at  a  large  square  table ; 
here  we  heard  loud  raps  on  the  table  and  from  some  parts 
of  the  room.  The  lady  to  wlioin  I  have  before  alluded 
was  sitting  next  to  me,  and  wc  were  both  of  us,  with  the 
chairs  on  which  we  were  sitting,  forced  violently  from  the 


48  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

table  nearly  to  the  end  of  the  room,"  and  then  drawn 
round.  I  tried  to  resist,  but  without  success  ;  the  table 
followed  us,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  circle  behind.  Our 
host,  who  is  a  learned  and  accomplished  gentleman, 
watched  the  phenomena  with  a  jealous  eye,  and  he  has 
since  tested  Mr.  Home,  and  is  satisfied  that  there  could 
have  been  no  ti-ickery.  He  leaves  it  for  science  to  ex- 
plain." 

Having  read  Mr.  Howitt's  letter  in  your  impres- 
sion of  the  6th,  I  considered  it  my  duty  to  forward 
you  these  particulars. 

I  am,  sir,  yours,  &c., 

John  James  Bird. 


VII. 

Sir, — In  the  first  number  of  the  "Spu-Itual  Maga- 
zine," I  gave,  at  the  request  of  the  editor  and  several 
friends,  a  short  history  of  my  personal  experiences  in 
the  investigation  of  the  phenomena — which,  after 
hearing  mucli,  and  after  reading  almost  everything 
that  had  been  published  for  and  against — /  call 
spiritual.  Emboldened  by  the  example  of  William 
Howitt,  and  by  your  wise  determination  to  open 
your  columns  to  a  fair  discussion  of  the  subject,  I 
desire  to  lay  before  your  readers  the  result  of  my 
experiences,  and  I  must  necessarily  repeat  statements 


LETTER  vir.  49 

•nhich  are  familiar  to  my  friends  but  are  not  known 
to  the  public  at  large,  and  which  will  have  for  their 
verification  whatever  value  may  attach  to  my  name. 

At  the  outset  permit  me  to  say  that  I  am  not 
learned  in  the  laws  of  physics,  nor  can  I  lay  claim 
to  any  scientific  acquii*ements ;  but  on  this  account 
I  hope  it  is  not  presumptuous  to  say  that  I  think  I 
am  even  a  better  authority  for  a  plain  matter  of  fact 
than  the  Brewsters,  Faradays,  and  the  lesser  lumi- 
naries who  lead  public  opinion,  simply  because  I 
have  no  public  reputation  to  support,  no  false  theories 
to  recant,  no  deep-rooted  prejudices,  nor  hitherto 
wise  dogmas  to  imlcarn.  I  am  simply  a  plain, 
practical  observer,  and  1  speak  of  facts,  brought 
home  to  the  evidence  of  my  senses,  which  no  learned 
theories  nor  subtle  reasoning  can  set  aside ;  whether 
the  establishment  of  the  facts  shall  lead  in  the  main 
to  good  or  evil  it  is  not  my  province  to  decide.  With 
that  view  of  the  question  I  have  nothing  to  do. 
Every  serious  inquirer  will  be  guided  by  the  result 
of  his  own  convictions  ;  and  for  my  own  part,  whilst 
claiming  credit  only  for  the  perfect  truthfulness  of 
my  narrations,  I  am  ready  aud  most  willing  to  pay 
respect  and  deference  to  the  religious  scruples  of 
those  who  would  discourage  investigation,  because  in 
their  opinion  these  manifestations  are  anti-Christ, 
the  agency  of  the  devil,  and  therefore,  as  they 
think,  ought  to  be  avoided  by  Christian  men  and 
women. 

It  is  for  men  like  the  writers  in  the  several  serials, 
who  have  recently  taken  up  this  important  subject 

£ 


50  AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SPIRITUALISM. 

for  the  purposes  of  ridicule,  that  I  have  no  respect 
whatever ;  men  who  can  only  see  in  it  trickery  and 
delusion,  and  who  support  their  statements  by 
transparent  falsehoods  and  calumny. 

Up  to  the  period  of  my  first  introduction  to  Mr. 
Home,  six  years  since,  who  was  then  staying  with  a 
neighbour  of  mine,  I  had  no  more  knowledge  of 
"spirit-rapping"  than  I  had  gleaned  from  the  pe- 
rusal of  extracts  taken  from  the  American  papers, 
and  which  I  treated  as  most  of  your  readers  will,  no 
doubt,  be  still  inclined  to  do — with  indifference,  if 
not  with  a  smile  of  incredulity.  The  thing  to  my 
untutored  mind  was  simply  "  impossible,"  and, 
therefore,  not  worthy  of  furtlier  consideration. 
"  Table  moving"  had  been  explained  by  Faraday, 
and  satisfied  in  my  ignorance  of  the  folly  of  attri- 
buting the  phenomena  to  any  other  than  natural 
agencies,  I  did  not  trouble  myself  to  seek  for  tes- 
timony, though  it  was  manifold  and  irrefvitable. 

Invited  by  ray  neighbour  to  join  his  family  circle, 
we  sat,  a  party  of  twelve  persons,  around  a  large 
dinner  table  in  the  full  light  of  lamps  and  candles. 
I  there  heard  for  the  first  time  the  "rapping" 
sounds  on  the  table,  on  the  floor,  on  the  wall  behind 
me,  and  on  the  keys  of  the  piano  in  a  distant  part 
of  the  room,  entirely  out  of  the  reach  of  all  present. 
I  had,  in  common  with  others  of  the  party,  a 
message  given  to  me,  purporting  to  be  from  a  de- 
ceased relative,  which,  at  the  time,  I  was  unable  to 
attest,  but  which  was  verified  by  subsequent  inquiry. 
Then,  by  no  visible  or  human  agency,  an  accordion 


LETTER    VII.  51 

was  brought  from  a  distant  part  of  the  room,  and 
placed  in  my  hand  by  being  thrust  up  between  me 
and  the  table  ;  taking  hold  of  the  blank  end  of  the 
instrument,  as  1  was  requested  to  do,  and  supporting 
my  arm  on  my  knee,  I  asked  the  spirit  to  play  for 
me  "  Angels  ever  bright  and  fair,"  which  to  my 
astonishment  was  done  in  the  most  perfect  and 
beautiful  manner  possible.  The  strong  pull,  as  if 
by  a  human  hand,  necessary,  in  a  large  instrument, 
to  produce  the  sounds,  made  it  difficult  to  hold,  and 
it  was  evident  that  fingers  must  have  also  manipu- 
lated the  keys  to  bring  out  the  air. 

Now  here  was  a  fact  which  no  theory  could 
destroy,  and  which  no  rational  explanation  based 
either  upon  "  odic-force,"  "electricity,^'  "involun- 
tary muscular  agency,"  nor  any  other  scientific  so- 
lution would  meet ;  and  I  was  compelled  to  admit, 
since  no  better  explanation  could  be  given,  that 
these  phenomena  were  indeed  effected  by  super- 
mundane agencies,  and  I  am  happy  to  say  I  have 
always  been  bold  enough  on  all  suitable  occasions  to 
proclaim  the  fact  and  submit  to  the  consequences, 
which,  however,  have  not  been  very  harmful  hitherto, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  my  open  advocacy  has  led  to 
most  valuable  friendships  and  to  many  interesting 
acquaintances,  and,  what  is  of  much  greater  im- 
portance, my  testimonies,  in  the  first  instance,  and  the 
opportunities  frojn  my  intimacy  with  Mr.  Home, 
Mr.  Squire,  and  several  "  mediums"  in  private  life, 
have  enabled  me  to  facilitate  inquiry,  and  have  thus 
been  the  means  of  converting  many  from  rank  infi- 

E  2 


52  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

delity  to  a  full  and  openly- avowed  recognition  of  a 
life  hereafter. 

Among  other  extraordinary  facts  which  followed 
immediately  after  my  first  seance,  I  saw,  in  the  pre- 
sence  of   Mr.    Home,    a   large-sized  drawing-room 
table  rise  gradually  from  the  floor,  ascending  steadily 
to  the  ceiling,  out  of  the  reach  of  all  present  but 
myself,  and    descending  as   steadily  until  it  came 
again  to  the  floor  with  no  more  force  than  if  it  had 
been  a  feather's  weight.     Following  up  the  subject, 
after  the  departure  of  Mr.  Home  for  the  Continent, 
where  it  is  known  he  was  received  by  most  of  the 
crowned  heads  of  Europe,  as  recorded  in  that  very 
excellent  journal,  the  Spiritual  Magazine,   I  have 
since  seen  almost  evez'y  phase  of  "  spiritual  manifes- 
tations," some  of  them  transcending  in  their  mar- 
vellous character  even  those  of  which  I  have  spoken ; 
and,  in    support  of  the  writer   of  "  Stranger   than 
Fiction,"   published  in  the    Cornhill  Magazine   of 
.  August  last,  which  has  created  so  much  excitemer  t, 
I  here  assert  that  I  have  seen  all  the  phenomena  of 
which  he  speaks,  and  much  more  ;  and  on  one  occa- 
sion, where  a  party  sat  down  to  a  table  without  any 
known  "medium"  being  present,  two  of  them — 
father  and  daughter — proved  to  be  mediums,  with  a 
power  at  once  so  fully  developed,  that  after  obtaining 
a  variety  of  messages  of  a  very  remarkable  character, 
the  table,  when  the  whole  party  had  left  it,  moved 
about  most  actively  for  an  hour  v/ithout  any  one 
being  near  it. 

As  Mr.  Howitt,  in  his  very  masterly  letter  in  your 


LETTER    VIT.  53 

paper  of  the  Gth  hist.,  has  incidentallj'  mentioned 
my  name  in  connection  with  Sir  David  Brewster's, 
it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  your  readers  to  learn 
something  of  the  cause  of  that  learned  gentleman's 
having  written  to  me,  and  I  venture  to  think  the 
circumstances  do  in  no  way  redound  to  his  candour 
or  to  his  professional  acumen.  After  I  had  wit- 
nessed the  phenomena  first  spoken  of  by  me,  I  was 
informed  by  jMr.  ^Yllliam  Cox,  of  Jermyn  Street, 
that  Lord  Brougham  and  Sir  David  Brewster  had, 
by  his  invitation,  met  Mr.  Home  at  his  house,  and 
that  some  of  the  most  striking  manifestations  in 
broad  daylight  had  taken  place  in  their  presence,  at 
which  they  had  expressed  their  great  astonishment, 
and  their  desire  to  investigate  still  further,  and  as  I 
had  read  an  article  recently  written  by  Sir  David,  in 
one  of  the  northern  magazines,  against  spirit  mani- 
festations, I  determined  to  compare  notes  with  him, 
and  in  company  with  a  gentleman  at  whose  house 
]\Ir.  Home  was  then  staying,  I  called  on  Sir  David, 
and  found  him  quite  disposed  to  talk  upon  the  sub- 
ject, and  most  anxious  to  see  more  of  it.  He  said 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  that  the  phenomena  was 
not  the  result  of  trick  or  delusion,  but  he  was  not 
prepared  to  admit  the  spiritual  source,  as  that  was 
the  last  thiug  he  would  give  in  to.  He  was  invited 
to  fix  his  own  time  to  renew  his  investigation,  and 
on  the  following  day  he  went  to  my  friend's  house, 
and  there  met  Mrs.  Trollope  and  her  son  Thomas, 
who  were  on  a  visit,  staying  for  several  days  under 
the   same   roof  with   Mr.   Home,    and   witnessing 


54  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

hourly,  as  I  know,  manifestations  of  the  most  re- 
markable character.  At  this  seance  Sir  David 
witnessed  a  great  variety  of  phenomena,  and  was  to 
all  appearance  most  seriously  impressed.  He 
walked  about  the  garden  afterwards,  talking  over  the 
subject  with  Mr.  Trollope,  and  left  the  party  with 
the  conviction  on  their  minds  that,  if  he  were  not 
bold  enough  to  recant  his  errors,  he  at  least  would 
never  venture  to  assail  spiritualism  again. 

Mr.  Home,  pleased  with  the  success  he  met  with, 
wrote  to  his  friends  in  America  saying  that  Sir 
David  Brewster,  Sir  Lytton  Bulwer  (who  had  also 
fully  investigated  the  subject),  and  others,  were  con- 
verted. 

An  extract  from  Mr.  Home's  letter  was  inserted 
in  one  of  the  American  spiritual  papers,  and  copied 
in  the  London  Mornin(j  Advertiser,  which,  meeting 
the  eye  of  Sir  David,  he  not  only  wrote  to  deny,  but 
he  condemned  the  whole  exhibition  as  a  farce,  and 
was  restrained,  he  said,  from  saying  all  he  desired  "  in 
deference  to  the  feelings  of  the  talented  lady  who 
was  present." 

This  letter  aroused  the  indignation  of  all  who  had 
heard  Sir  David's  previous  opinions.  I  wrote  to 
him,  and  very  stinging  letters  followed  from  Mr. 
Cox  and  Mr.  Trollope.  I  asked  him  to  be  good 
enough  to  let  us  know  how  much  he  admitted,  and 
how  much  he  denied  ?  In  his  reply  he  made  the 
remarkable  statement  quoted  by  Mr.  Howitt,  and 
which,  for  the  instruction  of  those  who  have  recently 
adduced  Sir  David  as  an  authority  against  the  facts, 


LETTEH   VII.  OO 

I  may  as  well  repeat.  He  said  :  "  At  Mr.  Cox's 
house,  Mr.  Home,  Mr.  Cox,  Lord  Brougham,  and 
myself,  sat  down  to  a  small  table,  Mr.  Home  having 
previously  requested  us  to  examine  if  there  was  any 
machinery  about  his  person,  an  examination,  how- 
ever, which  we  declined  to  make.  When  all  our 
hands  were  upon  the  table,  noises  w^ere  heard,  rap- 
pings  in  abundance ;  and  finally,  when  we  rose  up, 
the  table  actually  appeared  to  rise  from  the  ground. 
This  result  I  do  not  attempt  to  explain." 

I  asked  Sir  David  what  he  meant  by  saying  "  the 
table  actually  appeared  to  rise  from  the  ground  ?" 
It  was  a  question  of  fact,  did  it  rise  ? 

The  Rev.  Doctor  Maitland,  in  commenting  upon 
Sir  David's  extraordinary  letter,  says,  "  Here  is  a 
philosopher  who  does  not  know  whether  a  table 
under  his  own  nose  does  or  does  not  rise  from  the 
ground,  and  it  is  upon  men  so  avowedly  incompetent 
that  we  are  asked  to  pin  our  faith  in  matters  of 
physical  science,"  &c. 

Surely,  after  this.  Sir  David  Brewster's  authority 
against  spirit  manifestations  can  never  again  be  seri- 
ously quoted ;  but  if  any  one  should  be  so  disposed,  let 
him  inquire  what  are  Sir  David's  real  opinions  now. 
I  am  not  prepared  to  assert  that  Sir  David  admits 
the  spiritual  agency  of  these  phenomena,  since  that 
"  is  the  last  thing  he  would  give  in  to  ;"  but  I  speak 
advisedly  when  1  say  that  his  opinions  on  this  sub- 
ject have  undergone  a  material  change  since  the 
date  of  that  letter  ;  and  if  he  is  now  satisfied  of  the 
reality  of  the  phenomena,  as  I  have  good  reason  to 


56  AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SPIRITUALISM. 

believe  be  is,  why,  may  I  ask,  does  be  not  in  a 
manly  manner,  in  the  cause  of  truth,  boldly  pro- 
claim it  to  the  world,  and,  with  the  opportunities 
which  are  open  to  him  of  further  investigation,  help 
to  place  this  much-vexed  and  most  stupendous  ques- 
tion on  its  proper  plane  ? 

Your  readers  are  no  doubt  aware  that,  during  the 
last  six  months,  many  hundreds  of  persons  in  all 
ranks  of  society,  in  London,  have  witnessed  the 
phenomena  under  circumstances  that  admit  of  no 
doubt  whatever  of  their  reality,  and  I  know  more 
than  one  of  high  professional  repute,  who  were 
present  at  the  seances  which  Mr.  Thackeray's  "  friend 
of  twenty-five  years'  standing"  has  so  graphically 
described,  and  who  speak  in  private  of  what  they 
saw,  heard,  and  felt. 

Their  testimony  ought  to  be  forthcoming  publicly 
in  support  of  the  facts.  Let  us  first  establish  be- 
yond a  doubt  that  these  things,  of  which  so  many 
speak,  marvellous  and  astounding  as  they  may 
appear,  are  not  delusions.  If  they  are,  there  is  an 
end  of  the  matter.  If  they  are  facts,  they  are  too 
significant  and  too  important  to  be  lightly  pushed 
aside.  When  we  have  established  that  point,  the  cui 
bono  so  eagerly  demanded  can,  I  am  sure,  be  most 
satisfactorily  answered. — I  am,  sir,  yours,  &c., 

Benjamin  Coleman. 

48,  Pembridge-villas,  Bayswater,  Oct.  II. 

[In  admitting  this  and  other  letters  on  the  same 
side  of  the  question,  we  must  not  be  understood  to 


LETTER   Vtll.  57 

express  any  opinion  of  our  own.  We  feel  bound, 
however,  to  state  our  knowledge  of  Mr.  Coleman's 
high  character,  and  our  connction  that  his  state- 
ments may  be  implicitly  relied  upon. — Ed.  S/a;'.] 


YIIL 

Sir, — In  Mr.  Howitt's  letter,  which  appeared  in 
your  columns  a  few  days  ago,  he  refers  to  Mr.  Home 
as  a  medium  upon  whose  bona  fides  he  placed  im- 
plicit reliance.  Xow,  sir,  there  is  a  report  about 
Mr.  Home  very  current,  which,  if  true,  would  go 
far  to  shake  the  confidence  (even  of  the  most  credu- 
lous) in  Mr.  Home's  spiritual  accomplishments  ;  and 
if  untrue,  should  be  at  once  contradicted.  That 
report  is  this,  that  after  several  interviews  with 
Louis  Napoleon,  the  Emperor  proposed  that  Robert 
Houdin  should  be  present  at  the  next  seance — a 
proposal  which  jMr.  Home  declined. 

Now,  sir,  if  this  be  true,  I  see  no  satisfactory  ex- 
planation of  Mr.  Home's  refusal — except  this — that 
he  feared  to  submit  himself  to  those  tests  which  a 
professor  of  the  "Science  of  Legerdemain"  would 
apply  to  expose  the  tricks  of  legerdemain.  If  the 
"  manifestations"  were  beyond  the  region  of  that 
art,  why  object  to  the  presence  of  one  acquainted 
with  it,  rather  than  to  that  of  any  indifferent  person  ? 
It  cannot  be  answered,  because  it  would  be  an  insult 


58  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

to  the  spirits,  inasmuch  as  it  would  have  been  time 
enough  for  Mons.  Houdin  to  have  withdrawn  when 
the  spirits  had  in  the  usual  manner  displayed  their 
resentment.  Will  Mr,  Howitt  do  some  gentlemen  in 
the  Temple,  who  are  really  desirous  of  investigating 
the  truth,  the  honour  of  mentioning  the  name  of  some 
trustworthy  medium,  or  afford  them  some  other 
method  of  forming  an  opinion  one  way  or  the  other 
on  a  solid  foundation  ? — I  enclose  my  card,  and  am, 
sir,  your  obedient  servant. 


A  Barkister. 


Temple,  Oct.  ]1. 


IX. 

Sir, — Spiritualism  is  either  a  gross  deception,  or 
there  does  exist  some  positive  communication  be- 
tween the  beings  of  the  other  (and  I  trust  the 
better)  world  and  those  of  this  transitory  sphere. 

Does  Mr.  Howitt  expect  to  find  Christians  ready 
to  believe  in  such  communication,  when  evidenced 
by  the  turning  of  tables,  and  the  rapping  in  reply 
to  questions,  frequently  of  a  frivolous  nature  ?  Far 
be  it  from  me  to  deny  that  the  Great  Unseen  can, 
and  may  at  any  time,  will  to  communicate  with"  his 
creatures  by  means  that  may  be  seen  as  well  as 
heard  and  felt;  but  I  must  see  something  super- 
human in  the  object,  as  well  as  in  the  act,  before  I 


LETTER    X.  59 

can  acknowledge  agencj^,  divine  or  devilish — before  I 
can  believe  in  the  interposition  of  spirits,  good  or 
bad.  When  spiritualists  can  show,  from  their  inter- 
course with  the  other  world,  deeds  and  objects 
worthy  of  such  a  source,  they  may  find  the  present 
unbelieving  generation  more  ready  to  examine  their 
pretensions,  but  as  long  as  they  descend  to  the 
moving  and  rapping  of  tables,  they  will  not  find 
Christians  very  ready  to  believe  in  the  divine,  or 
even  spiritual,  origin  of  their  associations. — I  am, 
sir,  yours  faithfully,  Senex. 

Brixton,  Oct.  9. 


X. 

Sir, — In  Mr.  Howitt's  letter  on  spiritualism,  in 
your  Satui'day's  paper,  he  mentions  Professor  Hare, 
of  America,  as  having,  after  profound  investigation, 
become  convinced  of  the  "  unearthly  origin "  of  the 
spiritual  manifestations.  Now,  it  is  in  America  a 
well-known  fact,  that  soon  after  Professor  Hare  de- 
voted his  attention  to  these  subjects  he  went  out  of 
his  mind,  was  confined  in  a  lunatic  asylum,  and 
died  mad.  Mr.  Howitt  is  doubtless  unaware  of  this 
fact,  or  he  would  not  attach  much  value  to  Professor 
Hare's  testimony. 

A  Lover  or  the  Whole  Truth. 

October  10. 


60  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 


XI. 

Sir, — The  discussion  now  going  on  in  your 
columns  respecting  "spiritualism"  cannot  but  prove 
interesting,  so,  trusting  that  you  will  find  room  for 
them,  I  send  the  following  few  remarks  : — In  table- 
turning  I  am  (from  experience)  a  firm  believer,  but 
my  belief  is,  that  the  revolution  is  unquestionably 
caused  by  involuntary  action  of  the  muscles  of  the 
actuators.  When,  however,  not  mere  rotation,  but 
tilting,  and  even  elevation  of  the  table  result,  the 
cause  must  be  different.  Here  I  cannot  help  re- 
marking that  the  activity  of  tables  has  been  pro- 
gi-essive  ;  at  first  they  did  respect  the  laws  of  gravity, 
and  merely  ran  about  on  their  feet ;  next  they  took 
to  rather  more  violent  exercise,  and  commenced  kick- 
ing ;  finally,  giving  way  to  their  emotions,  they  rise 
bodily  from  the  ground,  or  even  emulating  the 
suicidal  vagaries  of  certain  star  fishes,  break  them- 
selves to  pieces,  and  this  in  despite  of  iron  bands — 
truly  wonderful !  Does  not  this  look  suspiciously 
like  an  exemplification  of  "  practice  makes  perfect  ?" 

Why,  too,  is  Mr.  Home  such  an  especial  favourite 
with  the  spirits  that  they  positively  "  chair"  him 
like  the  successful  candidate  at  an  election  ?  It 
seems,  though,  that  the  spirits  are  getting  shy,  and 
so  afraid  that  anybody  should  see  as  well  as  hear 
them,  that  they  require  the  candles  put  out  before 
elevating  theii'  medium.     This  carrying  business  is 


LETTER   XI.  61 

the  largest  and  most  trying  mouthful  to  swallow,  for 
if  spirits  are  the  active  agents  in  this  case,  surely 
they  are  (or  might  be  if  they  pleased)  quite  as  invi- 
sible as  when  engaged  in  merely  knocking  a  table 
or  lifting  it  up,  and,  therefore,  the  darkening  of  the 
room  appears  rather  superfluous.  Perhaps  Mr. 
Home  is  so  much  heavier  than  a  table  that  they  are 
obliged  to  use  fleshy  cushions  to  protect  their  spiri- 
tual shoulders  from  the  hard  edges  of  the  chair.  I 
will  not  allude  to  the  musical  tastes  of  these  invisible 
gentry  further  than  to  suggest  that  if  the  "  me- 
dium" were  to  supply  them  with  a  full  brass  baud, 
instead  of  the  mere  accordion,  they  might,  perhaps, 
give  us  poor  mortals  some  strains  of  spiritual  music, 
perhaps  even  a  few  bars  of  that  which  I\Iilton  men- 
tions. In  conclusion,  I  promise  that,  if  Mr.  Home 
will  kindly  send  some  disembodied  postman  to  rap 
out  the  letters  of  my  name  with  my  own  door- 
knocker (which  I  humbly  submit  is  a  more  con- 
venient instrument  than  a  loo-table),  I  will  become 
a  disciple  of  his,  and  sign  my  recantation  in  the 
next  Murninr/  Star,  with  my  name  in  full,  instead 
of  subscribing  only  my  initials, 

A.  S.  L. 


62  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 


XII. 

Sir, — I  am  old-fashioned  enough  to  believe  not 
only  in  a  real  personal  devil,  but  that  there  are 
legions  of  demons.  I  see  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
if  men  in  the  nineteenth  century  wish  to  hold  inter- 
course with  them,  such  a  desire  may  be  gratified. 
Witohcraft  and  demon-possession  were  universally 
credited  before  Christ's  advent.  Sacred  historians, 
as  well  as  profane,  cite  numerous  instances.  Spirit- 
ualism, if  it  means  anything,  means  devilism.  Since 
the  apostolic  period  this  manifestation  has  been  re- 
stricted. We  may  seek  it,  but  it  cannot  exhibit 
itself  to  «s  without  our  consent.  I  say — do  not 
open  the  door  to  admit  an  influence  which  you  may 
not  control. 

All  these  exhibitions  have  been  made  within  four 
walls  and  with  a  consenting  auditory. 

Mr.  Howitt  says  a  man  floated  in  the  air.  Very 
likely;  I  do  not  dispute  the  fact.  Let  him  float 
over  London,  and  show  himself  to  men  who  have  not 
tried  to  unlock  the  gates  of  Hades,  and  then  I  will 
give  up  my  theory  that  it  is  one  of  the  deeds  of 
darkness,  to  be  frowned  upon  and  reprobated  by  the 
wise  and  pure. 

I  am,  yours,  &c., 

A.  S.  Brauen. 

13,  High  Street,  Islington, 
Oct.  10. 


LETTER    XIII. 


XIII. 


63 


SiR^ — In  common  with  your  correspondents  on 
the  subject  of  spiritualism,  I  beg  a  small  space  in 
your  columns,  to  call  attention  to  one  point  in  re- 
lation to  which  I  have  not  seen  any  observations 
other  than  those  of  Mr.  Wm.  Robins,  in  the  Star 
of  the  10th  inst.,  viz.,  mental  impressions. 

It  is  a  fact  well  known  to  all  acquainted  with 
what  are  termed  electro-psychological  or  electro- 
biological  phenomena,  that  the  senses,  under  certain 
conditions,  may  be  impressed  with  the  image  of 
things  not  present,  such  as  a  bird,  a  rabbit,  or  a 
snake,  for  instance ;  the  sensitives  or  subjects,  ge- 
uerallv,  being  in  a  state  known  to  mesmerists  as  the 
sleepwaking-state.  But  is  it  not  just  possible  that, 
under  the  excitement  attending  the  investigation,  the 
investigators  themselves  may,  from  the  very  nature 
of  the  phenomena,  readily  become  subject  to  the 
control,  probably,  of  the  most  facile  and  powerful  ope- 
rator that  has  hitherto  exercised  this  influence  on 
the  minds  of  men  ?  Mr.  Home,  for  aught  we  know 
to  the  contrary,  may  be  a  most  skilful  and  powerful 
biologist  and  ventriloquist ;  he  may,  by  a  peculiarly 
abnormal  existence,  possess  great  muscular  and  vital 
power  or  magnetic  force,  irrespective  of  any  extra- 
neous agency,  so  much  so,  as  to  be  able  to  over- 
power the  imaginations  of  his  audience.  That  they 
do  not  really  see  or  feel  the  unearthly  hand  of  which 
we  read,  I  am   tolerably  well  convinced ;  but  that. 


64 


AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 


by  some  artistic  means,  their  senses  may  be  im- 
pressed with  various  imaginary  objects,  so  that  they 
cannot  but  beheve  in  their  actual  presence,  I 
have  ample  personal  experience,  as  everyone  must 
have  who  has  practised  the  above  illusion.  Mr. 
Robins  very  naively  says: — "The  metaphysicians 
can  discover  in  the  living  being  itself  in  its  imma- 
terial portion  (by  which  I  presume  he  means  the 
mind),  a  sufficient  cause  for  the  phenomenon."  He 
further  says  : — "  What  are  the  ghosts  of  our  sleep  ? 
What  are  those  ghosts  seen  in  the  apparently  waking 
moments  by  some  ?  Not  necessarily  the  spirits  of 
the  absent.  The  individual  mind  has  within  itself 
the  power  to  create  images."  Everyone  who  reflects 
upon  this  statement  must  be  satisfied  of  its  truth. 
I  firmly  believe  animal  magnetism,  coupled  with  cre- 
dencive  induction,  by  some  means  or  other,  as  yet 
only  known  to  a  few,  will  be  found  to  be  the  nicdi'im 
of  Mr.  Homers  astonishing  feats  and  unrivalled 
success.  This  will  perhaps  scarcely  account  for  all 
the  phenomena  of  table  turunig,  lifting,  &c.,  of 
which  we  hear  and  read,  but  neither  will  spiritualism, 
I  am  certain.  Perhaps  Mr.  Home  himself  will 
inform  your  readers,  if  the  embodied  spirit  will  not 
raise  a  man  into  the  air,  and  enable  him  to  float 
over  the  heads  of  his  fellow  men,  how  many  disem- 
bodied spirits  it  requires  to  accomplish  the  feat  ? 
I  have  frequently  expeiienced  the  sensation  in  my 
dreams,  but  never  have  I  had  actual  experience  of 
the  fact  when  wide  awake. 

October  11.  Sceptic. 


LETTER    XIV.  65 


XIV. 

Sir, — "Will  you  allow  me  to  dispose  of  your  three 
correspondents,  "  Senex,"  "  A  Lover  of  the  Whole 
Truth,"  and  "A.  S.  L.V 

I  would  ask  the  first,  if  he  has  ever  read  some- 
thing to  this  effect — "  God  has  chosen  foolish  things 
to  confound  the  wise ;"  and  if  he  has,  whether  he 
does  not  consider  it  unphilosophical  to  reject  mani- 
festations, because  they  do  not  come  up  to  his  idea 
of  what  they  should  be  ! 

To  the  second,  I  will  give  a  little  more  of  the 

article  he  loves.     Dean  Swift  and  Dr.  B both 

died  mad,  but  no  one  has  ever  dared  to  say  they  had 
not  previously  great  powers  of  reasoning.  There- 
fore, I\Ir.  Howitt  would  not  be  justified  in  repudi- 
ating Professor  Hare's  opinions. 

To  the  last  I  beg  to  say  it  is  the  opinion  of  sincere 
spiritualists,  that  the  manifestations  are  intended  to 
bring  conviction  to  the  minds  of  doubters  and  un- 
believers in  a  future  state,  and  not  for  the  mere 
purpose  of  spelling  his  name. 

Bayswatcr.  W.  S. 


66  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 


XV. 

SiE, — Seeing  the  question  of  spirit-rapping,  &c., 
is  being  discussed  in  your  paper,  I  should  be  glad 
if  any  person  acquainted  with  the  subject  will  inform 
me  that  in  raising  a  spirit  of  any  person,  the  same 
can  be  made  to  appear  at  several  different  places  at 
one  and  the  same  time — for  instance,  I  have  read  in 
the  American  papers  advertisements  by  certain  cele- 
brated adepts,  offering  to  bring  up  the  spirit  of 
Washington  or  Napoleon,  and  other  public  characters 
who  were  in  particular  request,  and  must  have  been 
operated  upon  by  many  persons  in  different  parts  of 
the  earth  at  the  same  time.  I  have  not  heard  this 
question  asked,  or  seen  it  touched  upon.  I  should 
really  like  to  know  what  account  is  given  of  it  by 
those  who  profess  to  understand  the  thing.  It 
would  be  a  good  thing  if  one  of  these  mediums 
would  call  up  the  spirit  of  young  Kent,  to  learn  who 
murdered  him.  I  have  seen  what  is  called  electro- 
biology,  and  I  think  this  and  spirit-rapping  to  be 
the  same  thing.  I  cannot  understand  the  difference 
between  the  table  vising  and  various  phenomena 
seen  by  persons  operated  upon  in  the  system  of 
electro-biology.  In  the  latter  the  operator  or  me- 
dium— I  can  see  no  difference  between  the  two 
charactci's — can  make  those  under  their  influence 
believe  anything.  At  one  time  they  are  persuaded 
it  rains,  when  they  fly  for  shelter ;   then  that  they 


LEfTER   XVI.  67 

Rre  being  charged  by  an  enemy,  the  house  on  fire, 
that  each  had  a  child  to  nurse,  that  beautiful  music 
was  being  plaj'ed,  that  a  tiger  was  running  at  them, 
that  they  were  being  shipwrecked ;  in  all  these 
cases,  and  many  others  similar,  I  have  seen  the 
persons  act  as  if  they  believed  they  were  in  the  cir- 
cumstances so  named  ;  in  fact,  they  really  believed 
it  as  much  as  any  one  ever  believed  the  table  turned, 
or  that  an  accordion  was  playing.  How  are  we  to 
know  that  persons  v/ho  say  that  they  have  seen 
these  spiritual  manifestations  are  not  labouring  under 
the  same  delusion  as  I  have  seen  in  the  above-named- 
cases  of  electro-biology?—!  am,  yours,  Szc, 
October  12.  A  Lady. 


X\I. 

Sir, — I  have  a  fev;  remarks  to  make  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  I  hope  you  may  deem  them  worthy  of 
insertion. 

I  know  personally  some  of  the  persons  who  up- 
hold the  so-called  spiritualism.  1  do  not  doubt 
their  honour  or  veracity,  but  1  think  they  arc  either 
deluded  or  sclf-deluders. 

There  is  a  natural  repugnance  on  the  part  of  the 
dwellers  in  flesh  to  the  disembodied ;  that  is  to  say, 
we  all  naturally  shrink  from  ghostly  visitants.  Kow 
the  three  millions  or  more  (of  Mr.  Ilowitt)  in  the 

r  '.I 


68  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

United  States,  and  the  three  thousand  or  more  in 
Europe,  who  profess  conimunion  with  spiritual 
agents  and  agencies,  exhibit  no  such  shrinking. 

They  take  this  unnatural  comuiunion  as  coolly  as 
they  take  their  breakfast. 

Take  another  remark.  Of  what  use  to  anybody 
are  these  manifestations  ?  Why,  if  there  is  spiritual 
intelligence  that  can  aid  us,  should  there  be  undis- 
covered murderers  in  Great  Britain  ? 

If  there  is  to  be  no  war  in  Europe  between  the 
Great  Powers,  why  should  our  war  taxation  be  so 
immense  ? 

Except  for  the  amusement  of  children  in  intellect, 
of  what  use,  1  ask  again,  are  these  manifesta- 
tions ? 

Poets,  statesmen,  and  philosopliers  have,  accord- 
ing to  the  assertion  of  these  spiritualists,  given 
poems,  opinions,  and  sentences.  What  person  of 
decent  education  could  have  so  utterly  disgraced  our 
language  ? 

I  think  the  subject,  as  it  is  presented  to  us,  may 
e  concluded  under  two  propositions. 

I.  The  pretended  spiritual  manifestations  are 
ilse,  and  in  that    case  no  honest    person  should 

sanction  tlaem. 

II.  They  are  really  made,  and  in  that  case  they 
are  probttbiy  evil,  and  so  no  Christian  should  sanc- 
tion them.  It  must  be  remembered  that  many  of 
the  pretended  spirits  are  reported  to  have  confessed 
themselves  to  be  false,  lying  spirits. 

^  Mr.  Harris,  and  other  spiritualists,  ba^e  warup' 


LETTER   XVII.  69 

their  readers  and  hearers  of  the  evil  character  of 
these  pretended  spiritual  manifestations. 

To  those  who  are  reverent  students  of  Holy  Writ 
I  may  just  say  that  they  know  we  are  taught  that 
in  the  "  latter  day"  signs  and  wonders  are  to  be 
wrought  (by  permission,  of  course)  by  evil  agents. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  dilate  on  this  subject,  but 
simply  to  call  the  attention  of  the  thoughtful  of  our 
fellow-citizens  to  the  two  propositions  1  have  stated. 

Some  years  ago  some  folks  met  together  every 
night  to  "raise  the  spirit"  of  the  First  Napoleon. 
This  attempt  at  necromancy  was  practised  in  London. 
— Your  obedient  servant,  3.1.  D. 


XVII. 

Sir, — Notwithstanding  the  belief  I  have  in  Mr. 
Hewitt's  honour  and  integrity,  I  do  not  believe  in  this 
new  "  spiritualism,"  as  it  is  called,  and  permit  me  to 
give  two  reasons  for  duing  so  : — firstly,  because  I 
never  yet  received  a  sensible  answer  to  a  plain  ques- 
tion ;  secondly,  because  hitherto  I  have  been  a  match 
for  the  spirits,  and  prevented  their  rapping.  1  will 
give  you  a  public  case  :  About  three  years  ago  a 
gentleman  delivered  an  address  on  the  subject,  with 
practical  illustrations,  at  St.  Martin's  Hall,  which 
I  attended.  After  witnessing  a  great  deal  of  rap- 
ping, I  ascended  the  platform,  and  asked  the  spirit 


/U  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

some  questions,  when,  to  my  surprise,  the  medium 
informed  me  that  the  spirits  would  not  answ^er  my 
questions,  or  have  anything  to  do  with  me  ;  to  which 
I  replied,  "  that  the  spirits  were  very  uncivil,  and 
that  I  would  stop  their  rappings,"  which  remark 
was  received  with  derision  on  the  platform,  and  with 
applause  among  the  audience.  I  instantly  seized  a 
table  in  motion  and  stopped  it,  and  held  it  quite 
still  nearly  twenty  minutes,  in  spite  of  the  medium 
and  friends,  and  all  the  "  spirits"  they  could  muster, 
although  I  was  told  that  I  stood  in  great  peril,  that 
the  table  might  rise  up  and  dash  me  off  the  plat- 
form, &c.,  which  only  served  to  amuse  me.  The 
end  of  it  was  that  the  medium  apologised  to  the 
audience  for  the  failure,  and  spoke  of  my  great 
muscular  strength  as  being  the  cause,  which  seemed 
to  me  very  absurd. 

In  conclusion,  sir,  permit  me  to  say  that  I  do 
not  consider  private  drawing-rooms,  with  closed  cur- 
tains, lights  put  out,  are  proper  places  to  test  this 
question.  Let  Mr.  Home  engage  some  public  place 
and  exhibit  himself  "floating  round  the  ceiling;" 
for,  if  he  can  do  so  in  a  drawing-room  surely  he 
can  in  St.  James's  Hall,  or  some  other  such  place ; 
and,  leaving  at  home  the  frisky  mahogany,  let  him 
demonstrate  to  us  some  means  by  which  we  can  use 
this  mysterious  power  for  some  useful  purpose,  such 
as  the  raising  of  heavy  goods,  blocks  of  stone, 
butchers'  blocks,  &c.  By  so  doing  he  will  gain 
more  adherents  than  by  all  the  letters  in  the 
world. 


LETTER    XVIII.  71 

Apologizing  for  thus  troubling  you,  I  am,  sir, 
yours  respectfully, 

Alfred  M.  Mitchell. 
25,  Skinner  Street,  Euston  Road. 


XVIII. 

Sir, — "A  Lover  of  the  Whole  Truth,"  whose 
communication  appeared  in  yesterday  morning's 
issue  of  the  Star,  asserts  that  Dr.  Hare  went  out 
of  his  mind,  was  confined  in  a  lunatic  asylum,  and 
died  mad,  and  draws  his  conclusion  from  this,  that 
his  testimony  is  valueless.  So  one  might  infer  from 
these  facts.  But  the  truth  is  that  Dr.  Hare  did  not 
become  insane,  was  not  confined  in  an  insane 
asylum,  and  did  not  die  mad.  His  mind  was  never 
clearer,  never  gave  better  evidences  of  its  strength 
and  vigour  during  the  whole  of  his  long  and  useful 
life,  than  it  did  after  he  became  a  convert  to  spirit- 
ualism. Like  many  other  delvers  in  the  mines  of 
pure  science,  he  was  for  many  years  a  disbeliever  in 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  looked  upon  the 
truths  recorded  in  the  Bible  as  so  many  fables,  and 
constructed  several  kinds  of  expensive  and  ingenious 
contrivances  to  prove  spiritualism  a  delusion ;  but 
the  tables  literally  turned  against  him,  and,  through 
the  agency  of  his  own  experiments,  he  was  forced  to 
confess  that  he  had  made  a  grand  mistake.     I  saw  a 


72  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

letter  which  he  addressed  to  Mr.  Charles  Par- 
tridge, of  New  York,  a  short  time  before  he  died, 
and  no  language  could  be  freer  from  the  colour  of 
lunacy. 

Some  of  your  correspondents — opposers  of  the 
spiritual  phenomena — suppose  that  investigations  are 
usually  conducted  in  the  dark.  So  far  as  my  own 
experience  is  concerned,  this  is  an  error.  I  have,  I 
may  say  with  safety,  sat  in  circles  more  than  two 
hundred  times  ;  I  have  seen  chairs  occupied  by  sub- 
stantial flesh  and  blood  glide  over  the  carpet  without 
visible  aid ;  I  have  seen  a  table  walk  rapidly  the 
length  of  a  drawing-room  and  return,  repeating  the 
exercise  several  times  with  no  apparent  assistance, 
except  one  finger  of  a  child  lightly  resting  upon  it. 
I  have  seen  another  table  elevated  in  the  air,  freed 
from  the  floor,  and  moved  several  feet  across  a  room, 
and  that  repeatedly,  without  even  so  much  as  the 
contact  of  a  child^s  finger  ;  I  have  felt  a  hand  take 
hold  of  my  own,  and  press  for  some  minutes  upon 
my  knee,  when  all  visible  in  the  room  had  their 
hands  upon  the  table ;  and  I  have  heard  bells  rung, 
and  musical  instruments  played  upon,  all  in  the 
clear  light  of  day,  or  with  gas  or  candles  burning 
as  brightly  as  usual.  In  my  own  experience,  while 
investigating  these  phenomena,  dark  circles  have 
been  the  rare  exception.  I  do  not  now  call  to  mind 
more  than  three  or  four  occasions  when  the  lights 
were  ordered  to  be  put  out.  I  could  mention  several 
instances  in  which  the  benevolent  tendency  of  these 
manifestations  is  unmistakeable,  but  I  will  not  at 


LETTER   XIX.  73 

present  intrude  further  upon    the  space   given  to 
them  in  your  valuable  journal. — Yours  truly, 
Oct.  13.  Americanus. 


XIX. 

Sir, — Mr.  Howitt  and  others  have  been  favouring 
you  with  their  views  on  spiritualism.  Without  enter- 
ing into  the  question  as  to  whether  the  various  phe- 
nomena we  read  of  be  instigant  Diubolo  or  Dei  per- 
missu,  I  shall  simply  relate  two  facts — one  witnessed 
by  myself,  the  other  related  to  me  as  having  occurred 
at  the  house  of  a  gentleman  in  Leicestershire.  I 
myself  witnessed  a  table  tell  the  ages  of  a  gentleman, 
his  wife,  and  three  children ;  and  I  know  from  an 
eye-witness  that  a  table  walked  up  and  down  the 
stairs  of  a  gentleman's  house.  It  is  also  a  curious 
fact  that  TertuUian,  speaking  of  the  errors  of  his 
time,  refers  to  table-turning;  his  exact  words  I 
cannot  quote,  not  having  his  "Apologia^'  by  my 
side,  but  it  is  something  about  verteri  tabulas.  Per- 
haps one  of  your  correspondents  would  give  us  the 
quotation.  Enclosing  my  card,  I  am,  sir,  yours 
faithfully,  B.  A.,  Cantabrigiensis. 

Manchester. 


74  AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SPIRITUALISM. 


XX. 

Sir, — Since  you  have  so  liberally  opened  your 
columns  to  the  discussion  of  this  very  interesting 
subject,  may  I  ask  the  favour  of  your  inserting  the 
following  ? 

Spirit  rapping,  and  spiritual  manifestations,  are 
now  the  subject  of  serious  inquiry.  Many  are  ready 
to  accept  them  as  the  true  emanations  from  disem- 
bodied spirits.  Others  are  sceptical  and  are  un- 
believers ;  but  among  all  the  various  defenders  and 
disclaimers  who  have  come  before  the  public  in  your 
columns,  I  have  not  yet  met  with  any  one  who  calmly 
and  dispassionately  views  the  subject  as  one  requir- 
ing deliberate  and  unbiassed  investigation. 

Let  us  have  an  opportunity  of  investigating  the 
subject  fairly,  openly,  and  candidly,  and  we  shall 
soon  have  a  decided  verdict  either  in  favour  or  against 
spiritualism. 

I  have  witnessed  only  a  few  instances  of  spiritual- 
ism, but  I  have  seen  and  heard  the  usual  manifesta- 
tions :  tables  turning,  tables  rising,  accordion  play- 
ing, candle  snuffing,  rapping,  &c. ;  and  I  must 
confess  I  have  witnessed  them  with  so  much  astonish- 
ment, that  I  am  desirous  to  see  the  matter  fully 
tested  by  proper  persons,  so  as  to  complete  the 
partial  conviction  already  made  upon  my  mind. 

There  are,  however,  some  remarkable  matters  in 
connection  with  the  operations  which  I  would  call 


LETTER    XX. 


attention  to  ;  and  I  trust  the  objections  I  name  may 
be  well  explained  away  to  the  universal  satisfaction 
of  all.     In  the  first  place^  I  have  noticed  that  all 
the  circles  have  been  formed  round  tables,  and  that 
all  persons  present  were  requested  to  sit  round  the 
same,  of  course  the  medium  being  always  among  the 
number.     I  have  observed  that  the  feet  of  the  me- 
dium, as  well  as  the  others  of  the  circle,  are  always 
under  the  table  during  the  process  of  knocking.  And 
it  is  incumbent  (as  is  alleged)  that  the  hands  of  all 
present  should  rest  on  the  table.     Now,  sir,  in  this 
position,  I  submit,  all  the  feet  being  under  the  table, 
any  experienced  person  (especially  if  assisted  by  a 
second,  as  may  be  the  case  with  some  circles  where 
there  are  twe  mediums   present)    could  cause  the 
\dbrations  by  the  movement  of  the  feet  under  the 
table,  and  even  raise  the  table  from  the  ground, 
whilst  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  the  persons  seated 
round  to  detect  the  movement.     To  obviate  this  part, 
I  suggest  that  a  circle  be  formed  of  some  few  per- 
sons, whilst  others  shall  remain  out  of  the  circle  in 
such  a  position  as  to  be  enabled  to  see  the  feet  of  all 
those  sitting  at  the  table  :  if  then  the  table  shall  rise, 
&c.,  I  will  admit  there  is  something  more"  than  my 
philosophy  dreams  of ;"  if,  however,  this  test  is  re- 
fused, then  the  public  may  fairly  set  down  the  whole 
as  an  arrant  imposture,  and  treat  it  accordingly. 

I  further  suggest  that  it  is  quite  possible,  with  the 
knees  under  the  table,  to  make  raps  with  the  toes  and 
heels  of  shoes,  or  of  boots,  varying  in  sound,  accord- 
ing to  the  material  the  blow  was  given  with,     i  have 


7Q         'an  exposition  of  spiritualism. 

tried  this,  and  with  cork,  wood,  iron,  and  lead,  so 
placed  on  the  heel  of  the  boot  as  to  be  acted  upon 
when  struck  against  the  floor,  I  have  made  raps 
which  have  been  distinctly  different,  and  which 
seemed  to  come  from  different  parts  of  the  room. 

I  would  suggest  that  any  well-known  medium  shall 
meet  a  certain  number  of  gentlemen  inquirers  in  a 
place  not  to  be  named  until  the  moment  of  investi- 
gation, where  the  usual  manifestations  shall  take 
place,  and  let  the  shoes  of  all  be  examined,  &c. 

This  would  obviate  anything  like  collusion  or  com- 
plicity, and  a  favourable  report  under  such  circum- 
stances would  do  more  for  the  advance  of  the  cause 
than  seven  years^  argument. — I  am,  sir,  yours  re- 
spectfully, J.  Bennett. 

4,  St.  Ann's  Gardens,  Tavistock. 


XXI. 

Sir, — Perhaps  you  will  allow  me  to  offer  a  few 
remarks  in  reply  to  the  letters  of  Mr.  William  Howitt 
and  Mr.  Bird,  which  recently  appeared  in  your 
columns.  I  quite  agree  with  you  in  your  criticism 
of  the  article  in  Blackwood,  for  it  is  worse  than  use- 
less to  oppose  with  mere  banter,  ridicule,  or  party 
feeling  such  a  movement  as  the  present,  which  is 
exercising  so  deep  and  powerful  an  influence  over 
a  large  section  of  the  people  of  this  country. 


LETTER   XX I.  11 

I  have  every  possible  respect  for  Mr.  Howitt,  whose 
talented  writings  have  beguiled  the  tedium  of 
many  a  long  weary  hour  in  my  early  life  ;  and,  there- 
fore, it  is  with  feelings  of  the  sincerest  regret  that 
I  find  myself  constrained  to  oppose  w'hat  I  believe  to 
be  his  mistaken  doctrines  on  the  subject  of  spirits. 
It  is  true  that  there  are  many  things  far  beyond  our 
mortal  comprehension,  and  that  with  all  our  vaunted 
progress  in  science  and  learning,  we  know  but  little 
of  the  nature  of  our  being,  whence  cometh  the  spirit 
of  life,  or  what  form  it  assumes  when  our  earthly 
body  is  given  up  to  corruption  and  decay.  These 
are  secrets  which  we  may  never  know",  and  which 
have  baffled  for  centuries  the  curiosity  and  research 
of  mankind,  and  have  originated  those  ideas  of  the 
supernatural  on  which  are  based  such  doctrines  as 
those  propounded  by  Swedenborg  and  his  followers* 
Few,  however,  deny  that  there  are  many  strange, 
mysterious,  and  subtle  influences  surrounding  us, 
and  by  their  ofttimes  invisible  and  unaccountable 
agencies,  controlling  our  actions,  and  shaping  our 
desires ;  nor  will  they  refuse  to  admit  that  the  all- 
merciful  Creator  may,  in  his  far-seeing  wisdom,  per- 
mit disembodied  spirits  to  wander  unseen  and  unfelt, 
through  this  material  world ;  but  the  vei;y  fact  of 
our  belief  in  these  things  causes  us  to  doubt  the 
truth  and  genuineness  of  the  exhibitions  of  Mr. 
Home  and  other  celebrated  mediums.  If  the  spirits 
evoked  by  the  asserted  influence  of  such  mediums 
possess  the  power  to  lift  and  smash  heavy  tables,  to 
raise  elderly  gentlemen  up  in  their  chairs,  to  support 


78  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

Mr.  Home  in  the  air,  to  pinch  and  poke  people's 
legs,  to  pluck  flowers,  pull  coat  tails,  and  the  hke, 
surely  they  could  be  enabled  to  make  their  presence 
knov/n  or  felt  by  methods  somewhat  more  dignified 
in  their  character.  I  am  no  juggler  myself,  and 
therefore  T  do  not  profess  to  accuse  or  detect  jugglery 
in  others ;  but  I  must  state  that,  after  a  calm  and 
deliberate  enquiry  into  these  things,  I  can  arrive  at 
but  one  conclusion,  which  is,  that  the  effects  known 
as  "spirit  rappings"  have  their  origin  in  self-decep- 
tion and  imposture  !  In  doing  so,  I  admit  that  it  is 
impossible  on  my  part  to  pretend  to  be  able  to  offer 
any  explanation  of  the  mode  whereby  the  sounds  and 
movements  are  produced,  or  to  endorse  the  state- 
ments printed  in  "  Once  a  Week,"  "  All  the  Year 
Round,"  "  Blackwood,"  &c. ;  but  these  facts  do  not 
in  the  least  invalidate  my  conclusions. 

In  ancient  times  the  discovery  of  the  art  of  ven- 
triloquism gave  its  professors  an  immense  influence 
over  the  minds  of  their  fellow-men,  who  were  led  to 
believe  that  the  ventriloquists  were  enabled  to  hold 
familiar  intercourse  with  unseen  spirits,  and  even  the 
most  sceptical  must  have  felt  somewhat  shaken  in 
their  convictions,  when  they  found  that  they  could 
not  explain  the  supposed  phenomenon  by  any  of  the 
scientific  laws  then  known.  No  machinery  was  used, 
and  nO  confederates  were  employed,  hence  the  chances 
of  detection  were  lessened;  but  although  the  art 
remained  unknown  to  the  generality  of  men,  the 
pretended  intercourse  with  spirits  was  not  the  less 
an  imposture.     As  it  was  then,  so  it  is  now ;  and  I 


LETTER   XXI.  79 

feel  convinced  that  the  day  will  arrive  when  many  a 
mind  will  experience  regret  at  having  yielded  credence 
to  a  system  which  is  utterly  irreconcilable  with  reli- 
gion, science,  or  common  sense.  I  am  not  surprised 
at  Mr.  Howitt's  energetic  defence  of  the  doctrines 
which  have  taken  such  a  strong  hold  of  his  imagin- 
ation,  for  I  believe  liim  to  be  trathful  and  sincere, 
but  mistaken.  All  the  force  of  Luther's  cha- 
lacter  did  not  restrain  him  from  giving  credence 
to  the  most  absurd  fables  respecting  the  existence  of 
devils  and  spirits,  and  sm-ely  we  may  excuse  the 
same  failing  in  Mr.  Howitt. 

The  mere  number  of  believers  professing  a  creed, 
is  no  proof  of  the  soundness  of  that  particular  doc- 
trine ;  on  the  contrary,  any  history  of  popular  delu- 
sions will  show  that  the  larger  the  number  of  dupes, 
the  greater  will  be  the  chances  of  def;eptiou. 

Why  shoilld  I  be  called  on  to  believe  that  those 
who  once  held  me  in  their  fond  and  loving  embraces 
— whose  eyes  beamed  with  pleasure  as  they  gazed 
into  mine,  and  who  would  have  done  all  in  their 
power  to  render  life  a  joy  and  lasting  happiness  to 
me,  but  whom  the  cold,  icy  hands  of  death  have  reft 
from  the  land  of  the  living,  should  make  their  pre- 
sence known  unto  me  by  pinching  my  legs,  or  by 
plagiarising  the  exhibition  of  the  "  learned  pig  ?" 

If  their  spirits  be  permitted  to  hold  intercourse 
with  us,  might  I  not  reasonably  be  expected  to  be- 
lieve that  they  would  enfold  my  form  in  their  invisible 
and  almost  impalpable  arms,  or  feel  their  shadowy 
kisses  on  my  lips,  or  their  soft  feathery  touch  on  my 


80  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

brow  ?  Something  like  this  would  be  more  reason- 
able than  jingling  bells  or  pulling  accordions  under 
a  table. 

Again,  if  the  supposed  spirits  have  the  powers 
attributed  to  them,  how  is  it  that  those  powers  can 
only  be  exercised  in  darkened  rooms  ?  Why  cannot 
they  bear  Mr.  Home  up  to  the  ceiling  of  an  apart- 
ment in  the  broad  glare  of  day,  as  well  as  by  night  ? 

We  all  know  the  effect  of  darkness  and  fear  upon 
the  human  imagination,  and  how  the  slightest  illusion 
may  be  exaggerated  and  distorted,  and  therefore  it 
cannot  be  surprising  that  I  should  be  so  sceptical  of 
a  system  which  requires  the  aid  of  darkened  chambers 
to  be  successfully  carried  on. 

When  tables  are  lifted  up  in  broad  daylight,  no 
human  being  near  them ;  when  persons  sitting  en- 
tirely aloof  from  others  feel  pinches,  &c.,  in  the  legs 
and  other  parts  of  the  body ;  when  Mr.  Home  floats 
about  the  room  in  the  honest  open  light  of  day ;  and 
when  all  the  present  seeming  phenomena  are  pro- 
duced by  agencies  which  can  be  proved  not  to  be  of 
human  origin — then  I  may  be  induced  to  change 
my  opinion,  but  not  till  then. — Yours,  &c. 

John  Plummer. 

Kettering,  Oct.  11. 


LETTER   XXII.  81 


XXII. 


Sir, — As  I  see  your  correspondents  on  the  subject 
of  spiritualism  repeatedly  appeal  to  me  for  an  answer 
to  their  suggestions  and  assertions,  allow  me,  once 
for  all,  to  remind  them  of  the  plain  statement  in  my 
letter  of  the  6th,  that  it  was  necessary,  before  persons 
entered  into  discussions  on  this  great  topic,  that  they 
should  take  the  ordinary  means  of  practically  ac- 
quainting themselves  with  the  facts  of  it.  I  stated 
that  I  had  carefully  sifted  the  subject  for  the  last 
five  years,  and  I  advised  them  to  do  the  same.  If 
they  would  follow  this  simple  course,  there  would 
soon  be  no  need  of  discussion  at  all.  Without  such 
practical,  and;  in  the  first  place,  elementary  inquiry, 
all  discussion  is  futile,  and  a  mere  fighting  with 
shadows.  If  a  new  comet  were  to  appear,  or  a  new 
eclipse  were  announced,  would  your  readers  send  you 
a  great  number  of  letters  to  express  their  doubts 
whether  such  things  were  really  in  the  heavens,  or 
would  they,  like  men  of  sense,  go  out  and  judge  for 
themselves  ?  There  is,  or  was,  an  Australian  animal 
in  the  Zoological  Gardens  called  a  wombat.  Is'ow, 
I  put  it  to  your  intellectual  acrobats  whether  it  would 
be  very  rational  to  deny  the  existence  of  the  wombat 
without  going  to  judge  for  themselves  ?  Really  these 
gentlemen  must  excuse  me  saying  that  they  are  all 
beginning  at  the  wrong  end — putting  the  cart  before 
the  horse — repeating  the  thunder  of  the  lloyal  Society 

G 


83  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

in  regard  to  Charles  the  Second^s  question  about  the 
relative  weight  of  the  water  in  the  vase  with  the  fish 
in  it,  or  the  fish  out  of  it.  Neither  spiritualism  nor 
any  other  science  or  mystery  will  ever  be  learned  by 
beginning  to  talk  before  beginning  to  study.  What 
would  Professor  de  Morgan  say  to  your  correspon- 
dentsj  if  they  presented  themselves  at  his  class,  and 
proposed,  not  to  study  mathematics,  but  to  instruct 
him  in  them,  before  they  had  even  taken  the  trouble 
to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  simplest  elements  of 
arithmetic  ?  Yet  your  correspondents  have  actually 
got  upon  the  "  Pons  Asinorum"  without  even  open- 
ing Euclid. 

All  this  discussion  is  empty,  useless,  absurd,  and 
in  the  highest  degree  beside  the  mark,  because  it 
precedes  instead  of  following  practical  inquiry.  If 
gentlemen  think  that  spiritualism  is  a  mere  phantas- 
magoria— a  thing  without  shape,  or  substance,  or 
beginning  or  end ;  not  based  upon  clear  and  eternal 
principles,  it  is  not  worth  their  troubling  themselves 
about.  "  It  will  die  of  itself,  if  they^ll  let  it  alone.^' 
But,  if  it  be  a  thing  based  on  as  express  and  operative 
laws  as  the  universe  itself,  which  it  is,  the  only 
rational  proceeding  is  to  study  those  laws  m  reverence 
and  patience  before  beginning  to  argue  upon  them. 
Solomon  made  a  very  pertinent  remark  on  this  head 
some  thousands  of  years  ago,  in  a  book  which  1  hope 
your  correspondents  read,  and  which  is  brimful  of 
spiritualism  from  end  to  end — "  He  that  answereth 
a  matter  before  he  heareth  it,  it  is  folly  and  shame 
to  him/' — Proverbs. 


LETTER   XXII.  83 

One  writer,  assuming  the  honourable  title  of  "Se- 
iiex,"  has  actually,  like  thousands  of  others,  suffered 
spiritualism  in  its  modern  development  to  pass  its 
tirst  deceuniary,  and  to  have  made  its  millions  of 
converts,  without  knowing  that  table-moving  and 
table-rapping  are  only  one  out  of  numerous  of  its 
phases,  and,  indeed,  but  its  most  elementary  phases. 
Every  spiritualist  knows  that,  in  drawing,  in  painting, 
in  writing,  in  music,  in  preaching,  in  commuuication 
of  poetry  of  the  noblest  character,  and  in  still  higher 
and  more  surprising  phenomena,  spiritualism  is 
operating  throughout  society.  They  who  have  ar- 
lived  at  these  care  little  for  any  mere  physical  mani- 
festations whatever,  1  have  seen  pencils  laid  down 
in  the  centre  of  rooms,  on  paper,  and  there  write 
u])on  it.  The  Baron  Guldenstubbe,  in  Paris,  prc;- 
fesses  to  have  upwards  of  a  thousand  specimens  of 
direct  spirit-writmg,  some  of  which  have  been  ob- 
tained by  persons  going  into  the  first  stationer's  shop 
they  came  to,  buying  a  packet  of  note-paper,  putting 
their  seal  upon  it,  and  never  letting  it  pass  out  of 
their  hands  till  they  laid  it  down  at  a  distance  from 
themselves  and  the  baron  in  open  light  and  sight. 
Baron  Guldenstubbe  has  published  a  book  upon  this 
subject,  and  given  facsimiles  of  some  of  these  corn', 
munications.  I  have  seen  musical  instruments  play 
far  from  anyone's  hands ;  I  have  seen  ponderous 
dining-tables  rise  into  the  air,  and  move  themselves 
to  different  parts  of  a  room,  all  in  full  light ;  but  1 
regard  these,  so  far  as  1  am  concerned,  as  verv  gross 
and  outward.     Yet,  it  is  through  these  elements  that 

G  2 


84  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

people  who  are  outward  themselves,  and  far  removed 
from  that  spirit  of  faith  which  should  have  been  in 
the  world  after  nearly  nineteen  centuries  of  the 
preaching  of  Christianity  must  pass.  And,  for  this 
reason,  I  regard  the  request  of  "  A  Barrister"  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  some  trustworthy  mediums,  as 
the  most  rational  proposition  yet  advanced  in  this 
discussion. 

And  yet,  is  not  such  a  demand  surprising  ?  Has 
not  the  barrister  heard  ever  and  anon  of  Mr.  Home, 
and  Mr.  Squire,  and  Mrs.  Marshall  ?  And  has  he 
not  seen  their  trustworthiness  over  and  over  attested 
by  gentlemen  of  character  and  veracity  ?  Must  we  not 
answer  him  as  the  blind  man  who  had  just  received 
his  sight  answered  the  Jews — "  I  have  told  you  once 
already,  and  you  would  not  believe."  Yet,  as  he 
appeals  to  me,  I  can  only  say  that  I  regard  these 
mediums  as  all  trustworthy ;  and  I  could  name 
numbers  of  mediums  in  private  life,  did  the  customs 
of  society  permit,  and  I  may  add,  wei-e  it  quite  pru- 
dent to  do  so.  For  I  think  all  must  allow,  that  after 
the  conduct  of  the  press,  after  the  example  of 
"Blackwood,"  charging  honourable  spiritualists  with 
"  scoundrelism"  and  "imposture;"  after  conduct 
which  many  of  us  have  seen  in  private  circles,  by 
those  calling  themselves  gentlemen,  families  of  re- 
spectable status  and  refined  habits,  may  well  hesitate 
to  open  their  doors  to  inquirers,  except  under  special 
introduction.  This  is  certainly  a  barrier  to  free  in- 
quiry, raised  not  by  spiritualists,  but  by  their  taunters 
and  opponents.     Still  I  aver,  whether  "  A  Barrister" 


LETTER    XXII.  85 

knows  this  or  not,  mediumsliip  aud  spiritualism  are 
surrounding  him  in  and  through  the  whole  mass  of 
society.     There  are  thousands  of  families  who,  m 
their  own  quiet  circles,  and  in  a   spirit  of  reverence 
and  thankfulness,  are  sitting  down  in  the  evening  to 
their  table  as  to  a  family  altar,  and   there  learning 
daily  that  the  oracles  of  God,  which  have  in  all  ages 
spoken  to  the  patriarchs,  the  prophets,  the  apostles, 
the  fathers,  the  saints,  have  no  more  ceased  than  the 
sun  to  shine,  and  the  earth  to  yield  its  harvests. 
For  my  own  part,  spiritualism  has  been  to  me,  to  my 
whole  family,  and  to  a  wide  circle  of  relatives  and 
friends,  through  whom  it  has  radiated,  tlie  most  sub- 
stantial blessing  of  existence.     Before  its  luminous 
facts,  knitting  up  the  present  with  the   sacred  past, 
binding  up  the  life  of  to-day  with  the  spiritual  life 
of  the  great-souled  and  great-hearted  in  all  ages  and 
all  quarters  of  the  w^orld ;  of  Plato  with  Moses,  of 
Zoroaster  with  Bacon,  every  doubt,  nay,  every  un- 
certainty of  Divine  revelation,  and  of  the  immortality 
of  man,  has  fled  as  the  shades   of  night  before  the 
morning.     Do  men  still  ask  the  cui  bono  of  spiritual- 
ism ?  Is  it  nothing  for  men — and  there  are  thousands 
of  such,  who  would  have  given  the  one-half  of  their 
souls  for  the  positive  assurance  of  the  infinite  security 
of   the   other — to   feel   the  deadly  talons  of  doubt 
loosened  from  their  spirits   by  facts  as   palpable  to 
their  senses  as  the  sight  and  touch  of  their  daily 
environments  ?    to  have  the  fiendish  whisper  of  a 
blasting  modern  Pyrrhonism   chased   lor  ever  from 
their  bosoms  ? 


86  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

Now,  with  all  possible  desire  to  see  really  earnest 
people  seize  hold  on  these  advantages,  I  can  merely 
bid  them  follow  the  direction  of  our  Savioui* — 
"  Seek,  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be 
opened  unto  you." 

But  people  say  with  "  A  Barrister,"  "  What  shall 
we  seek  V  I  reply  with  Sir  Christopher  Wren  from 
his  urn,  "  Si  quEeres  monumeutum,  circumspice." 
There  is  no  absolute  need  for  great  and  popular 
mediums.  Spiritualists  have  no  monopoly  of  this 
great  agent ;  it  is  a  principle  of  the  universe,  as 
much  the  heritage  of  all  mankind  as  the  im- 
ponderable and  invisible  agent  of  the  telegraphic 
wire  or  of  the  galvanic  battery.  Spiritualism,  like 
electricity  and  magnetism,  lies  all  around  us  and 
within  us.  The  earth,  the  air,  the  vital  frame,  and 
the  soul  of  man  are  all  permeated  by  it — all  satu- 
rated with  it.  It  needs  only  evoking  to  perform  its 
marvels,  and  like  the  angel  before  Manoah,  "  to  do 
wonderously" — to  bring  its  solemn  messages,  not 
from  the  ends  of  the  earth  merely,  but  from  the 
innermost  depths  of  Heaven. 

But  where  shall  we  begin  ?  it  maybe  asked.  Just 
where  I  myself,  and  where  millions  of  people  have 
begun,  by  sitting  down  with  your  families  and 
friends,  in  patience  and  in  reverence,  in  pure  faith 
and  sincere  prayer,  desirmg  that  the  wonders  and 
the  teaching  of  this  great  gift  of  God  may  be  opened 
up  to  you — opened,  not  for  mere  curiosity,  far  less 
for  any  selfish  or  worldly  end.  Whoever  approaches 
the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  to-day,  with  unhallowed 


LETTER    XXII.  87 

hands,  will  suffer,  more  or  less,  as  Uzza  suffered  in 
the  days  of  David.  We  have  all  our  faculties  for 
all  worldly  purposes,  and  if  we  attempt  to  desecrate 
the  teaching  of  spirits  by  applying  it  to  mere  secular 
and  sensuous  ends,  we  degrade  this  divine  power 
into  necromancy  and  sorcery.  Let  those  who  say  it 
is  of  the  devil,  take  care  that  they  do  not  unite  the 
devil  with  it.  Let  those  who  approach  it  remember 
that  there  is  no  half  thing  which  has  life  in  all  cre- 
ation. Spiritualism  is  as  God  has  made  it,  and  as 
He  has  made  the  world  and  the  human  soul ;  it  has 
its  two  sides,  its  night  and  its  day  ;  its  dark  and  its 
luminous  hemispheres.  "Woe  to  those  who  seek  to 
turn  this  night  into  day,  this  day  into  night ;  to 
confound  the  sacred  limits  of  nature ;  to  pollute  the 
Holy  place  with  the  sacrifice  of  devils  !  To  the  pure 
all  things  are  pure ;  to  the  impure  all  will  become 
impure  ;  for  like  inevitably  attracts  its  counterpart. 
Where  a  door  is  opened  to  the  angels  of  God,  the 
emissaries  of  the  devil  will  assuredly  thrust  them- 
selves in,  if  possible.  The  devil  did  not  fear  to 
confront  the  Divine  Majesty,  to  stalk  into  the  very 
presence  of  Christ,  and  tempt  him  in  all  impudence. 
What  I  say,  therefore,  to  all  who  wish  to  learn 
spiritualism  practically,  and  not  to  waste  their  time 
in  words  without  knowledge,  is,  to  form  circles 
amongst  themselves,  as  millions  before  them  have 
done.  At  the  same  time  I  solemnly  warn  them  of 
the  dangers  as  well  as  of  the  benefits.  Whoever 
expects  to  walk  through  London  and  not  to  be  el- 
bowed by  thieves  and  prostitutes  is  just  as  simple, 


88  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

and  no  more,  than  the  man  who  expects  to  traverse 
the  spirit-thronged  highways  of  pneumatologj  with- 
out, like  Banyan's  Pilgrim,  encountering  Apollyoia 
and  his  snares.  But  there  is  a  sure  bulwark  and 
talisman  against  all  these — it  is  the  Cross,  and  an 
humble  but  fii*m  trust  in  that  Cross.  Whoever  do«s. 
not  enter  into  this  inquiry  in  that  trust,  and  witb 
the  clean  heart  and  hands  of  a  man  seeking  the 
truth  for  itself,  had  better  serve  God,  as  Milton  says 
he  may — 

"  They  also  serve,  who  only  stand  and  wait." 

Amongst  a  number  of  assertions  founded  in  mere 
empty  rumour,  there  have  been  two  advanced  in  the 
Stat'j  which  I  would  passingly  notice.  One  is  that 
of  "  A  Barrister/'  regarding  Mr.  Home's  declining 
to  meet  Robert  Houdin  at  the  Tuileries,  Whether 
he  did  or  not,  Mr.  Home  may  perhaps  inform  us ; 
but  of  this  I  am  sure,  from  what  I  have  seen  of 
Mr.  Home,  that  he  no  more  would  fear  to  meet 
Houdin,  or  any  master  of  legerdemain,  or  any  real 
sorcerer,  than  Moses  did  to  encounter  Jannes  and 
Jambres  before  Pharaoh.  The  other  is  the  assertion 
of  "A  Lover  of  the  Whole.  Truth,"  who  states 
that  "  in  America  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  Pro- 
fessor Hare,  after  embracing  spiritualism,  went  mad, 
was  sent  into  a  lunatic  asylum,  and  died  mad." 
He  kindly  supposes  that  I  am  not  aware  of  this  fact. 
I  certainly  am  not.  I  have  heard  a  great  deal  about 
Mr.   Hare    and    his    life,   both    from    friends    and 


LETTER    XXII.  '  89 

enemies,  but.  never  heard  "of  this  well-known  fact." 
Hare,  like  many  other  spiritualists,  both  in  America 
and  in  this  country,  was  declared  to  be  mad  because 
he  was  a  spiritualist.  To  satisfy  myself,  and  I  trust 
others  too,  on  this  head,  I  yesterday  put  these  ques- 
tions to  two  different  Americans,  perfectly  acquainted 
with  American  affairs  : — "  Was  Professor  Hare  ever 
confined  in  a  lunatic  asylum  ?"  "  Never."  "  Did  he 
die  mad  ?"  "  Certainly  not."  They  added,  "  Had 
such  been  the  case,  it  would  have  been  too  good 
a  thing  for  the  anti-spiritualists  not  to  have  been 
trumpeted  throughout  the  whole  world."  What 
next  ? 

Having  made  these  plain  statements,  I  must,  once 
for  all,  say,  that  I  am  a  very  busy  man,  and  cannot 
undertake  to  answer  all  the  appeals  and  challenges 
which  may  be  made  to  me  :  for  the  simple  reacion 
that  they  are  unnecessary.  There  is  a  great  tribunal 
open  to  all  men  on  this  question — that  which  I  re- 
sorted to  myself — practical  examination.  The  means 
are  in  everyone's  hand,  let  them  employ  them  as  so 
many  thousands  have  done.  I  satisfied  myself  on 
all  these  points  before  I  saw  a  single  public  medium. 
If  people  wish  to  inform  themselves,  let  them  read 
the  S/iirihml  Magazine  ,  which  they  can  procure  at 
Pitman's,  in  the  Row,  for  Gd.  every  mouth.  H" 
they  read  that  in  a  proper  spirit,  they  will  not  long 
be  ignorant.  I  have  just  sent  to  the  editor  an  ar- 
ticle, entitled  "An  Apology  for  Faith  in  the  Nine- 
teenth Century,"  which,  if  they  did  me  the  honour 
to  read  it,  would  show  that  what  they  are,  many  of 


90  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

them,  imagining  to  be  n.  new  delusion  is  a  truth  as 
old  and  as  inextinguishable  as  the  earth. — Yours, 
&c.  William  Howitt. 


XXIIl. 

"  Non  sine  lumine." 


Sir, — Philosophical  belief  or  disbelief  is  a  con- 
dition of  mind  entirely  beyond  the  will  or  control. 
Our  convictions  are  the  result  of  evidence  received. 
It  is  impossible  to  close  the  senses  after  they  have 
been  once  impressed  with  palpable  physical  pheno- 
mena. The  first  stage  of  intellectual  existence  is 
marked  by  the  total  occupation  of  the  senses  with 
the  detached  phenomena  of  isolated  objects,  the 
rapid  succession  of  novel  impressions,  the  delight 
of  childhood  in  the  ever-changing  scenes  of  the 
great  phenomena  of  nature ;  and  it  is  only  when 
this  delirium  of  the  senses  has  been  calmed  and 
satisfied,  that  reflection  is  awakened  by  the  multiform 
relation  of  surrounding  objects.  Now  it  is  that 
differences  and  similarities,  antecedents  and  se- 
quences, arresting  attention,  furnish  new  materials 
to  the  newly-born  intellect.  Things  are  classified, 
arranged,  and  order  established — new  phenomena 
are  observed — new  comparisons  instituted — new  re- 
lations discovered,  until  the  superstructure  of  science, 


LETTER    XXIII.  '  91 

with  all  its  imposing  grandeur  and  accurate  propor- 
tions, stands  forth  revealed — a  mighty  truth. 

"Man,  the  servant  and  interpreter  of  nature,  un- 
derstands and  reduces  to  practice  just  so  much  as 
he  has  experienced  of  nature's  laws  ;  more  he  can 
neither  know  nor  achieve.^' 

What  is  the  law  of  nature  ?  On  this  subject  there 
is  a  general  error,  which  even  exists  among  men  of 
science.  A  conventional  theory  is  surely  no  "  law 
of  nature,"  nor  is  it  an  original  principle  established 
by  the  fiat  of  Omnipotence.  He  who  has  the  te- 
merity or  hardihood  to  examine  its  validity  is  charged 
with  questioning  the  order  of  nature  itself.  It  was 
for  this  crime  that  Roger  Bacon  was  excommunicated 
by  the  Pope,  and  imprisoned  ten  years,  accused  of 
dealing  with  the  devil. 

At  that  same  period,  the  thirteenth  century,  pro- 
fessors in  some  of  the  universities  were  bound  by  an 
oath  to  teach  the  dogmas  advocated  by  Aristotle. 

Even  in  this  vaunted  age  of  electric  telegraphs 
and  railroads,  the  same  intolerant  unphilosophical 
spirit  is  manifest,  not  content  to  be  as  children  in 
the  search  after  truth.  Some  men  assume  the  at- 
tribute of  gods,  and  dictate  how,  when,  and  where, 
she  shall  present  herself !  Until  "  the  conditions" 
essential  to  produce  results  are  known,  how  can  we 
expect  to  witness  phenomena,  when  the  very  first 
condition  of  success  is  absent  ? 

If  it  requires  a  certain  frame  of  mind,  calm,  dis- 
passionate, free  from  bias,  in  order  to  arrive  at 
correct  mental  deductions  in  the  ordinary  vocations 


92  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

of  existence,  liow  much  more  requisite  in  the  humble 
desire  to  have  revealed  new  truths,  "  apparently,"  in 
contradiction  to  our  preconceived  ideas  of  what  con- 
stitutes a  law  of  nature,  where  the  most  learned  in 
science  are  only  on  the  verge  of  knowledge,  as  to 
the  great  principles  which  regulate  and  govern  the 
universe. 

It  is  now  some  twenty  years  since  I  first  made  the 
discovery,  that  persons  could  be  influenced  in  the 
"  wakmg  condition,"  so  that  false  impressions  could 
be  produced  on  the  mind.  I  extract  from  a  work 
published  by  me  in  1843  : — 

"  Mental  hallucination  can  at  any  time  be  pro- 
duced on  persons  in  the  waking  state,  who  are  re- 
cipients to  the  agency.  I  have  made  persons, 
when  perfectly  awake,  to  believe  themselves 
to  be  partaking  of  a  good  dinner :  they  would 
in  their  own  minds  be  filling  their  plates  from  empty 
dishes.  I  could  successively  change  the  nature  of 
their  food  ;  making  potatoes  turn  into  apple  dump- 
lings, a  turkey  into  a  leg  of  mutton,  water  into 
brandy,  sugar  into  aloes — a  piece  of  wood  into  candy. 
In  one  instance,  I  took  four  persons,  pressed  their 
thumbs  ;  they  all  immediately  commenced  reeling  as 
if  intoxicated ;  I  then  restored  them  in  an  instant  ; 
would  obliterate  from  their  memory  the  occurrence 
which  had  just  transpired,  and  again  bring  it  back 
vividly  to  their  recollection — cause  them  to  scream 
with  agony  on  placing  a  piece  of  money  in  their 
hands — they  (imaginatively)  feeling  all  the  torture 
as  if  hot  metal  had  been  placed  upon  their  skin.     I 


LETTER    XXIII.  93 

made  two  persons,  at  the  same  time,  believe  them- 
selves to  be  bottles  of  ginger  beer  ;  they  distinctly 
heard  the  fermentation  within,  and  desired  me,  with 
all  earnestness,  not  to  pull  out  the  cork,  for  that 
would  kill  them.  I  made  a  man  fancy  himself  a 
general  oflBcer,  a  locomotive,  &c.  In  fact,  I  know 
not  a  single  condition  of  mind  but  what  may  be 
brought  about  by  the  mind  of  the  operator." 

This  state  was  subsequently,  absurdly  enough, 
denominated  "electro-biology."  Being  the  original 
discoverer,  and  knowing  the  conditions  essential  to 
produce  this  state  of  brain,  I  can  conscientiously 
declare  that  the  "  spiritual  manifestations" — as  re- 
cently witnessed,  heard,  and  felt  by  myself — have 
nothing  in  common,  or  even  analogous  to  that  of 
"  induced  mental  hallucination." 

Until  yesterday,  I  had  endeavoured  to  explain  all 
mental  phenomena  as  material  physiological  states 
of  the  nervous  system.  I  do  not  condescend,  nor 
would  I  degrade  myself,  to  answer  that  class  of  men 
whose  only  weapon  is  to  scoff,  ridicule,  or  resort  to 
low  jeers,  ribaldry,  or  abuse. 

The  arrogant  and  self- conceited  continually  ask 
this  most  stupid  of  all  questions — 

"If  they  do  this,  why  do  they  not  do  that?" 
This  is  begging  the  whole  question.  We  must,  if 
we  do  not  wish  to  remain  in  ignorance,  receive  truth 
as  she  presents  herself,  and  not  dictate  terms  and 
conditions. 

If  these,  the  conditions  of  success,  were  known, 
uniform  results  would  be  obtained ;  there  could  be 


94)  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

110  sucli  thing  as  failure  as  long  as  the  requisite  con- 
ditions were  observed.  If,  as  we  are  aware,  it  is 
essential  to  the  successful  exhibition  of  any  phe- 
nomena connected  with  chemistry,  or  any  other  de- 
partment of  science,  to  observe  certain  conditions, 
otherwise  no  satisfactory  results  follow,  then  how 
much  more  necessary  must  it  be  not  to  disturb  or  do 
anything  calculated  to  destroy  the  mental  condition 
of  the  "  medium  V 

Let  the  most  sceptical  give  to  what  he  suspects  to 
be  fraud,  deceptive  trick,  full  play;  error  will  soon 
expose  itself  if  left  alone ;  but  truth,  on  the  con- 
trary, will  manifest  itself  so  powerfully,  even  at 
moments  the  least  expected,  as  to  leave  a  lasting  im- 
pression on  the  mind. 

Yesterday  (now  not  yet  twenty- four  hours  have 
elapsed  since)  I  had  tangible,  positive  proof  that 
effects  have  been  produced  which,  according  to  pre- 
conceived opinions,  are  incompatible  with  any  known 
laws.  What  I  am  about  to  relate  I  cannot  expect 
to  be  received  without  incredulity,  for,  had  any 
person  yesterday  morning  told  nie  what  I  now  know 
to  be  a  realit}^,  I  should  not  have  received  his  narra- 
tion as  a  fact ;  therefore,  I  can  afford  to  be  charitable. 
All  I  ask  is,  that  others  shall  investigate  for  them- 
selves with  an  honest  desire  to  obtain  truth. 

I  was  accompanied  by  a  lady  to  the  house  of  the 
"  medium,"  where  we  found  a  party  of  four  ladies 
and  one  gentleman  sitting  round  a  table  about  three 
feet  in  diameter.  On  our  entrance,  all  being  entire 
strangerS;  and  not  being-  expected,  we  asked  per- 


LETTER    XXIII.  95 

missiou  to  form  part  of  the  circle,  which,  after  some 
hesitation,  wa3  granted,  "  the  spirits"  having  been 
consulted  as  to  the  advisability  of  our  being  allowed 
to  participate,  which  was  affirmatively  replied  to.  I 
would  here  state  that,  prior  to  our  arrival,  no  mani- 
festation of  a  marked  character  had  been  elicited. 
After  some  few  minutes  a  young  lady,  whose  scep- 
ticism had  induced  her  friends  to  cause  her  to  wit- 
ness these  things,  said,  "  I  feel  some  one  pulling  my 
dress."  I  looked  at  her  with  great  surprise,  and  I 
said,  "Are  you  in  earnest?"  when  she  jumped  up, 
screaming  out,  and  answered,  "  Yes,  something  took 
hold  of  my  leg."  The  lady  who  accompanied  me, 
who  is  not  in  the  least  degree  imaginative,  said, 
"  Some  one  is  pulling  my  dress.^'  The  "  medium," 
whose  hands  were  on  the  table — every  part  distinctly 
visible — said,  "  Will  the  spirits  raise  the  table  V 
Judge  of  my  surprise  when  the  table  raised  up  some 
two  feet  above  the  iloor,  and  swinging  full  twenty 
seconds  without  support  from  any  person  present, 
and  this  by  some  invisible  agency.  I  paused  when 
the  medium  said,  "  Will  the  spirits  take  the  table  to 
the  door  ?" — a  distance  of  some  twelve  feet.  The 
reader  will  imagine  my  utter  surprise  when  the  table 
jumped  some  two  feet  high,  and  three  feet  at  a  time, 
until  the  door  was  gained  in  four  efforts,  when  there 
it  leaped  up  and  made  a  blow  at  the  door  with  great 
violence ;  this  was  repeated  twice. 

The  table  being  returned  to  the  same  place  from 
where  it  started,  we  all  sat  round,  and  placed  our 
hands  on   it  asain.     The  t'cntleman   took  down  a 


96  AN    EXPOSITION    OP    SPIRITUALISM. 

guitar,  gave  it  to  the  young  lady  lirst  referred  to ; 
she  placed  one  hand  on  the  table,  the  other  on  the 
end  of  the  instrument,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  keys, 
not  touching  any  of  the  strings,  the  whole  body  of 
the  guitar  being  under  the  table.  To  me  it  was 
wonderful,  for  the  strings  were  played  on,  and  the 
unknown  fingers  ran  across  it,  producing  sounds  as 
loud  as  I  ever  heard  with  a  guitar,  though  no  tune 
was  executed.  I  then  whistled  the  "  Sailor's  horn- 
pipe," when  the  table  commenced  dancing  to  the 
same  tune  in  accurate  time.  When  I  whistled 
"  Yankee  Doodle,"  the  tune  was  responded  to  by 
loud  raps.  It  was  now  that,  for  the  first  time,  I 
felt  something  or  some  one  pulling  and  jerking  at 
the  bottom  of  the  left  leg  of  my  trousers ;  instanta- 
neously I  looked  down,  but  saw  nothing  ;  remember, 
at  this  time  every  hand  was  on  the  table.  I  then 
felt  a  severe  pinch  of  the  left  leg — felt  an  apparently 
palpable  hand  and  fingers  grasping  the  calf  of  my 
leg  forciV)ly,  and  this  continued  for  some  minutes, 
when  1  had  to  cry  out  from  the  pinches  received.  'I 
then  said,  "Pinch  me  so  as  to  leave  a  mark." 

I  then  experienced  as  violent  a  pinch  as  it  was 
possible  to  make ;  I  felt  all  the  consequent  pain, 
but  on  going  to  the  window,  for  it  was  five  p.m., 
there,  sure  enough,  the  mark  existed  fresh  made, 
and  is  now  quite  discoloured,  showing  the  indenta- 
tion of  the  thumb  and  two  fingers.  Of  course  all 
present  came  forward  to  see  it.  I  have  shown  it  to 
several  persons  at  my  house  last  night  and  this 
raornius:. 


LETTER    XXIII. 


97 


I  could  occupy  many  columns  with  a  detailed 
account  of  what  was  presented  in  the  short  space  of 
one  hour  and  a  half,  and  on  some  future  occasion 
will  avail  myself  of  your  liberality  in  so  doing.  I 
have  purposely  abstained  from  recording  all  the 
phenomena  which  wei'e  presented,  as  they  referred 
to  private  matters,  the  relation  of  which  would  not 
he  interesting  to  the  public,  though  convincing  to 
myself.  In  conclusion,  allow  me  to  remark  that  if 
these  "  spiritual  manifestations"  demand  the  obedi- 
ence of  certain  conditions  of  mind  to  ensure  their 
presence,  it  is  most  unphilosophical  and  unwise  for 
persons  to  expect  the  presentation  of  phenomena 
when  their  own  violent  antagonism  thwarts  the  very 
object  they  have  in  view.  I  am  particularly  im- 
pressed with  this  fact,  in  consequence  of  having 
devoted  my  life  to  the  investigation  of  subjects  of  a 
kindred  nature,  when  disturbing  influences  have 
rendered  every  effort  to  obtain  satisfactory  results 
abortive. 

I  will  promise  a  faithful  account  of  the  "  mani- 
festations," from  time  to  time,  as  I  have  now  com- 
menced the  investigation,  without  fear  of  going  to 
wherever  the  truth  may  lead  me. 
Yours  respectfully, 

Robert  II.  Collver,  M.D. 

Beta  House,  8,  Alpha  Road, 
St.  John's  Wood,  Oct.  13. 

[Dr.  Collycr  is  too  well  known  to  render  necessary 
any  guarantee  of  ours  for  tlic  good  faith  with  which 

u 


98  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

the  extraordinary  statements  contained  in  his  letter 
are  made.  In  order  to  convince  us  of  the  truth  of 
one  of  his  assertions,  Dr.  Collyer  exhibited  to  us  the 
bruise  made  upon  his  leg.  We  feel  bound  to  say  at 
the  same  time  that  we  still  remain  incredulous,  and 
venture  to  submit  to  him  the  conjecture  that  he  has 
been  the  subject  of  a  mental  hallucination  similar  to 
those  which  he  describes  himself  to  have  produced  in 
other  persons  some  years  ago.  We  may  here  state 
that  we  have  a  perfect  deluge  of  letters  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  that  henceforth  we  shall  only  be  able  to 
give  insertion  to  such  as  are  short,  contain  some- 
thing quite  new,  and  are  guaranteed  by  the  per- 
mission to  publish  the  name  of  the  writer.  —  Ed. 
Star.]^ 

*  I  can  endorse  Mr.  Grimes'  views  (author  of  "  Phreno- 
Philosopliy  of  Mesmerism")  on  the  subject  of  "  credencive 
induction."  He  says,  "  It  has  long  been  known  that  very 
susceptible  subjects  may  be  deluded  and  willed  into  almost 
any  state  of  mind ;  but  it  has  not  before  been  known  that 
it  requires  less  susceptibility  to  perform  these  experiments 
than  any  other.  It  has  not  been  known  that  it  is  on  this 
principle  that  most  of  the  successful  experiments  in  Neuro- 
logy, Pathetism,  and  Hypnotism,  also  the  so-called  Electro- 
Biology,  and  Electro-Psychology  are  performed."  What 
is  induction  but  an  induced  state  of  entire  passivity  or 
abstraction  from  continued  watching,  in  which  the  mind 
becomes  lost  in  vacuity,  and  is  unable  to  resist  the  slightest 
impression  ?  An  assertion  is  all-powerful,  and  as  the  ope- 
rator gains  ascendancy  over  his  subject,  a  mere  whisper, 
or  the  unexpressed  will  is  sufficient  to  influence  the  patients 
in  the  most  extraordinary  manner.  Thus  "It  is  a  fact, 
capable  of  being  easily  demonstrated,  that  nearly  all  sub- 
jects can  be  made  to  believe  anything,  or  to  assume  any 


LETTER    XXIII.  99 

character,  or  to  conform  to  the  wishes,  expressed  or  im- 
phed,  of  the  operator ;  and  this  can  be  done  when  they 
are  affected  in  the  least  degree,  while  they  are  wide  awakej 
and  appear  to  know  what  they  are  about."  This  is  in 
entire  accordance  with  Dr.  CoUyer's  own  experience,  and 
it  does  appear  extraordinary  to  me  that  he  cannot  imagine 
Mr.  Home  or  others  having  an  influence  over  him  under 
somewhat  similar  circumstances.  Thought  reading  is  no 
new  thing,  and  much  of  that  which  is  marvellous  may 
be  explained  by  it.  "If  the  organ  of  wonder  be  large,'' 
says  Mr.  Grimes,  "  and  especially  if,  what  he  terms,  the 
conforming  socials  are  much  developed,  and  the  governing 
socials  are  small,  there  is  a  tendency  to  the  most  un- 
bounded credulity,  and  a  total  want  of  independent  judg- 
ment. In  this  case  a  large  intellect  does  not  prevent 
credulity,  but  ratlier  searches  for  arguments  to  fortify  it ; 
for  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  intellect  is  the  mere 
servant  of  the  larger  impulsives  ;  the  intellect  does  not 
control  the  propellers,  it  only  directs  them  to  the  objects 
which  they  desire." — [Note  hy  Compiler.'] 


If  'I 


100  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 


XXIV. 

Sir, — Perhaps  you  will  allow  me  to  add  my  ex- 
periences on  this  subject  to  those  of  your  numerous 
correspondents.  At  the  same  time,  allow  me  to 
express  my  regret  that  none  of  those  gentlemen 
whose  names  liave  been  repeatedly  mentioned,  such 
as  Sir  Lytton  Bulwer,  Sir  D.  Brewster,  Mr.  Bell, 
&c.,  have  had  the  courage  either  to  contradict  or  to 
express  their  concurrence  in  the  opinions  attributed 
to  them  by  your  believing  and  unbelieving  cor- 
respondents. 

I  will  only  relate  the  result  of  one  evening's  trial. 
The  "operators"  were  my  sister,  a  Cambridge  friend, 
and  myself.  The  table  was  a  small  chess  table,  with 
spiral  pillar  to  support  it;  it  rested  on  three  carved 
claw  feet.  The  first  question  asked  was  the  age  of 
a  friend,  which  no  one  in  the  room  except  the  gen- 
tleman himself  knew.  A  correct  answer — twenty- 
three — was  received.  The  age  of  my  brother  was 
also  correctly  told.  Encouraged  by  these  successes, 
we  asked  if  it  was  acquainted  with  the  Rev.  Mr. 

M ,  the  respected  clergyman  of  the  parish  in 

which  the  experiments  were  being  made.  The  an- 
swer was,  "Yes,  I  know  him  very  well.''  "Is  he 
married?"  "No."  (We  knew  this  to  be  false.) 
"Are  you  sure  of  that?"  "Yes,  Wolfdog."  It 
then  commenced  rolling  about  in  the  manner  which 
your  other  correspondents   have  described,  and  it 


LETTER   XXIV.  101 

was  some  time  before  we  could  resume  tlie  conversa- 
tion. We  then  asked,  ''By  what  agency  do  you 
tell  us  these  things?"  Tlie  strange  reply  was, 
"Dei^il.'^  The  answer  was  several  times  repeated. 
No  cross-examination  could  induce  it  to  alter  the 
middle  letter.  A  painful  occuri-ence  was  the  imme- 
diate result :  the  lady,  who  was  before  an  avowed 
sceptic,  was  so  overcome  that  she  had  to  be  removed 
from  the  table,  and  she  is  still  very  nervous  if  the 
subject  is  mentioned  in  her  presence. 

It  would  only  be  tedious  for  me  to  go  through  the 
many  other  questions  given,  and  answers  received, 
of  which  I  was  an  auditor,  and  at  which  I  assisted. 
I  need  hardly  say  I  am  not  aware  of  any  of  our 
party  being  "  media."  The  subject  was  taken  up  as 
an  amusement  more  than  anythmg  else. 

I  will  only  trouble  you  with  one  more  circum- 
stance, which,  occurring  as  it  did  close  upon  the 
last-mentioned  one,  was  very  remarkable. 

I  have  in  my  possession  a  curious  plaster  cast 
taken  from  a  figure  in  Lincoln  Cathedral,  with  which' 
many  of  your  readers  are  no  doubt  acquainted.  It 
is  said  (with  what  truth  I  know  not)  to  represent 
his  sable  eminence.  One  of  the  company  fetched 
this  grotesque  figure  from  an  adjoining  apartment- 
The  immediate  result  was,  that  the  table,  which  had 
hitherto  been  comparatively  tranquil,  seemed  as 
though  its  "  feelings  v.'cre  too  many  for  it ;"  at  all 
events,  it  was  greatly  "  moved"  at  its  appearance, 
signifying  its  displeasure  by  violent  plungings  and 
kickings  of  an  unusually  turbulent  nature.     On  in- 


10.2  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

quiry  in  the  usual  manner  the  table  refused  any 
more  communication  until  the  offensive  piece  of 
plaster  was  removed. 

I  can  only  leave  these  extraordinary  manifestations 
for  others  to  explain  if  they  can.  Of  the  facts  it  is 
impossible  I  can  be  deceived.  They  are  too  remark- 
able to  be  treated  in  the  flippant  manner  of  some 
writers  on  the  subject,  who,  I  fear,  are  among  those 
"  who  would  not  be  persuaded  though  one  rose  fi'om 
the  dead." 

Sir,  I  have  seen  hats,  chairs,  tables,  &c.,  move 
about  the  room  in  the  most  extraordinary  fashion  '• 
it  was,  indeed,  but  last  week  that  my  hat  and  that 
of  a  friend,  temporarily  residing  with  me,  were,  in 
this  way,  hung  up  on  the  pegs,  in  the  hall,  which  are 
regularly  assigned  to  them. 

Allow  me,  in  conclusion,  to  add  my  thanks  to 
those  of  the  previous  writers  in  your  columns,  to 
you  for  opening  your  paper  for  a  discussion  of  these 
questions,  which,  it  appears,  no  other  London  paper 
has  the  manliness  to  do.  This  is  one  of  the  advan- 
tages of  a  cheap  and  independent  press. 

Enclosing  my  name  and  address,  not  for  publica- 
tion, but  as  a  guarantee  of  good  faith,  I  have  the 
honour  to  subscribe  myself,  sir,  with  much  respect, 
your  obedient  servant. 

One  who  has  tried  the  Spirits. 

City  Club,  Oct.  15. 

P.S. — It  appears  to  me  that  the  absurdity  of  an- 
swers received  is  no  proof  of  trickery,  but  an  indirect 


LETTER    XXV.  103 

one  to  their  correctness,  as,  if  any  one  wished  to 
deceive  his  friends,  a  plausible  reply  would  at  least 
be  given. 


XXV. 

Sir, — On  the  day  Mr.  Howitt's  interesting  com- 
munication appeared  in  your  columns  a  friend  of 
mine  handed  me  a  letter,  which  he  had  received 
from  the  curate  of  Montgomery  chureh,  in  answer 
to  some  inquiries  he  had  addressed  to  the  rector  of 
that  parish.  As  this  reverend  gentleman's  letter 
seems  to  be  an  indirect  corroboration  of  the  "  system 
of  spiritualism"  so  ably  defended  by  Mr.  Howitt, 
it  and  the  subsequent  remarks  are  at  your  service, 
should  you  deem  them  worthy  a  place  in  this  dis- 
cussion. The  letter  explains  itself,  of  which  the 
following  is  a  copy  : — 

"  Montgomery,  Sept.  11. 
"  Sir, — I  am  sorry  I  have  not  been  able  to  write  to  you 
sooner,  owing  to  the  rector's  absence,  but  I  have  at  length 
opened  his  letter.  The  man  whose  grave  you  speak  of 
was  executed  here  in  the  year  1821,  for  highway  robbery 
with  violence.  He  acknowledged  the  robbery  but  denied 
the  violence,  which  made  his  offence  capital,  and  at  his 
trial  he  prayed  that  the  grass  may  not  grow  upon  his  grave 
for  one  generation,  at  least,  in  proof  of  his  innocence  of 
the  violence  for  which  he  waa  hanged.     There  is  now  a 


lOi  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

portion  of  ground  about  six  feet  long,  and  about  four 
inches  wide,  over  his  grave,  quite  bare,  although  the  grass 
grows  all  around  quite  luxuriantly.  The  bare  part  was 
luuch  wider  some  years  ago,  but  has  gradually  been  be- 
coming narrower.  Not  only  have  grass  seeds  been  sown 
on  it,  but  it  has  been  turfed  over,  and  even  that  has  died 
away. 

"  Our  late  clerk,  who  held  the  office  for  more  than  forty 
years,  told  me  that  the  weather  on  the  day  of  execution 
was  remarkably  fine,  and  the  sky  cloudless,  but  a  violent 
thunderstorm  came  on  very  suddenly  and  dispersed  the 
spectators.  There  were  two  witnesses  upon  whose  testi- 
mony the  man  was  condemned,  and  of  these,  I  am  told, 
that  one  was  killed  at  a  lime  rock,  and  that  the  other  died 
away,  appearing  to  waste  gradually. 

"  An  interesting  little  pamphlet  has  been  written  upon 
this  subject  by  the  late  Mr.  Mostyn  Pryce,  and  if  I  can 
procure  a  copy  I  will  send  it  you,  and  shall  be  happy  to 
answer  any  further  questions. — Believe  me,  youi's  very 
truly, 

•'J.  Lloyd  Jones,  Curate  of  Montgomery." 

If  the  phenomena  adduced  by  Mr.  Hewitt  and 
the  advocates  of  spiritualism  be  accepted  as  evidence 
of  some  invisible  and  supernatural  agency  under  the 
control  and  volition  of  certain  mediums,  I  certainly 
think  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt  the  extraordinary 
and  unnatural  occurrences  referred  to  in  Mr.  Jones's 
letter.  Previously  to  such  a  conclusion,  however,  we 
ought  to  be  sure  that  what  there  is  of  reality  and 
fact  about  these  exhibitions  and  traditions  cannot  be 
explained  upon  natural  grounds  alone  ;  otherwise 
we  open  the  flood-gates  of  history  for  the  imagina- 
tion to  revel  upon  much  that  is  ignored  at  the  pre- 


LETTER   XXV.  105 

sent  day  by  all  our  scientific  teachers.  The  testi- 
mony of  the  witnesses  named  by  Mr.  Howitt,  ]\Ii'. 
Bird,  and  Mr.  Coleman  is  sufficient  to  challenge  a 
searching  investigation.  If  this  be  accorded  I  am 
strongly  impressed  with  the  belief  that  what 
Riechenbach  calls  the  "  Od-force,"  i.e.  animal 
magnetism,  the  "nervous  influence"of  other  writers, 
will  be  found  to  unravel  all  that  at  present  transcends 
our  comprehension  in  this  system  of  spiritualism. 
There  is  much,  I  confess,  adduced  that  seems  in- 
comprehensible upon  ordinary  scientific  grounds — if 
the  testimony  of  the  witnesses  is  to  be  relied  upon — 
such  as  a  table  constructed  so  as  to  defy  the  efforts 
of  raging  lunatics,  iron-bound  and  strongly  clamped, 
being  torn  to  fragments ;  music  discoursed  by  some 
unseen  power,  from  accordions  and  guitars,  &c. 
Assuming  these  to  be  proven  facts,  I  would  not  ne- 
cessarily conclude  they  are  caused  by  what  are  termed 
disembodied  spirits.  Natural  causes  alone  have 
hitherto  accounted  for  all  that  was  considered  above 
or  beyond  nature  by  our  forefathers.  As  in  the  past, 
we  have  every  reason  to  believe  it  will  be  with  the 
present  and  the  future. 

Somewhere  about  the  year  1843  there  lectured  in 
the  Manchester  Mechanics^  Institution  a  gentleman 
(named  Hawes,  I  think),  from  Greenwich,  upon 
"  Animal  Magnetism."  This  gentleman  brought 
with  him  a  subject  named  "  Jack,''  who  appeared  to 
be  about  18  or  19  years  of  age,  to  prove  demon- 
strably the  truth  of  clairvoyance,  i.e.,  that  what  we 
term   matter  was  no  impediment  to   the  vision  of 


106  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

persons  in  such  a  mesmeric  condition.  The  lecture 
hall  was  crowded,  a  large  number  of  medical  gentle- 
men being  present.  Previously  to  introducing  Jack, 
the  lecturer  informed  us  he  had  operated  upon  him 
at  his  hotel,  from  the  difficulty  he  experienced  of 
inducing  the  clairvoyant  state  in  him  before  a  pro- 
miscuous audience.  After  his  introduction,  the  lec- 
turer requested  some  medical  gentleman  to  step 
forward  and  bandage  Jack's  eyes  with  court  plaister, 
strictly  stipulating,  however,  that  the  plaister  was 
not  to  cover  that  portion  of  the  forehead  termed  by 
phrenologists  "individuality.''  This  was  done  by 
Mr.  Williamson, surgeon — now  Professor  Williamson, 
of  Owen's  College.  During  the  time  he  was  doing 
so,  the  late  Dr.  Dunn,  who  was  sitting  on  one  of 
the  front  seats,  cried  out,  "  1  beg  to  direct  attention 
to  a  quivering  of  Jack's  eyelids,  whether  it  be 
voluntary  or  involuntary  I  will  not  now  say."  This 
remark  was  received  with  manifest  signs  of  disap- 
probation by  the  audience.  Dr.  Dunn  being  a  great 
sceptic  of  mesmerism,  hypnotism,  phrenology,  &c., 
and  at  previous  lectures  had  frequently  given  public 
expression  to  his  scepticism.  When  Mr.  Williamson 
had  concluded,  some  other  medical  gentleman  was 
requested  to  cover  Jack's  eyes  with  w^hite  plaister, 
to  make  doubly  sure  there  was  no  imposition.  This 
being  accomplished,  a  third  was  directed  to  cover 
the  whole  with  a  folded  silk  handkerchief.  Could 
precautions  have  been  more  carefully  taken  for  pre- 
venting imposture  ?  Most  certainly  the  audience  in 
general  thought  not.     Here  were  three  medical  men* 


LETTER    XXV.  107 

well  known  in  scientific  circles  in  IMancbester,  in  the 
presence  of  great  numbers  of  their  medical  brethren 
and  fellow-townsmen,  testifying  that,  in  the  ordinary 
condition  of  life,  it  was  impossible  for  any  person  to 
have  visual  cognisance  of  external  objects.  The  au- 
dience were  now  requested  to  test  the  powers  of 
"  Jack's"  vision.  This  they  did  in  a  multiplicity  of 
ways,  some  holding  watches,  others  keys,  and  some 
uncommon  articles  they  happened  to  have  in  their 
possession  at  the  time,  all  of  which  were  accurately 
described,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  owner  of  each 
article,  and  the  audience  generally.  Never  was  an 
exhibition  more  successful.  The  only  perceptible 
difference  between  the  vision  of  Jack  and  that  of 
common  mortals  was,  that  while  they  looked  direct 
at  the  objects  they  wished  to  see,  Jack  always  bent 
his  head  towards  the  object,  like  one  of  the  Ru- 
minantia  when  about  to  make  use  of  its  horns.  Few 
left  that  hall  unconvinced  of  the  reality  of  clair- 
voyance. 

A  short  time  elapsed,  and  public  placards  an- 
nounced that  Dr.  Dunn  would  lecture  in  the  theatre 
of  the  Manchester  Athenaeum,  upon  mesmerism, 
with  more  particular  reference  to  Jack's  performance 
at  the  Mechanics'  Institute.  The  theatre  was 
crowded.  As  before,  a  large  body  of  medical  men 
were  present,  as  well  as  our  lecturer  and  his  boy 
Jack  from  Greenwich.  After  explaining,  upon  na- 
tural grounds,  many  of  the  wonderful  phenomena 
exhibited  by  itinerating  lecturers  upon  mesmerism — 
such  as  their  professed  power  of  suspending  at  will 


108  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

the  circulation  of  the  blood,  raising  and  lowering  at 
will  the  temperature  of  the  body,  he  at  length  ex- 
plained the  apparently  wonderful  manifestations  of 
the  clairvoyant  Jack.  The  first  of  these,  I  may  just 
observe,  he  showed  us  could  be  accomplished  by  any 
person  pressing  the  inner  side  of  the  arm  against  the 
walls  of  the  thorax  in  such  a  way  as  to  arrest  the 
circulation  of  the  blood  in  the  brachial  artery,  which 
runs  down  the  inner  side  of  the  arm  and  supplies 
the  radial  arteries  at  the  wrists.  Of  course,  if  the 
blood  is  arrested  above,  it  cannot  pulsate  below. 
The  other  he  illustrated  by  placing  the  globe  of  a 
thermometer  in  his  mouth.  When  this  was  in  close 
contact  with  the  cheek  and  tongue  it  indicated  the 
natural  heat  of  the  body.  When  he  wished  it  to 
indicate  a  lower  temperature  he  simply  inspired  a 
current  of  air,  and  removed  it  from  its  former 
position. 

Previous  to  giving  an  exposition  of  Jack's  perform^ 
ances,  he  read  an  account  of  the  same  as  related  in 
the  Manchester  Guardian,  which  was  agreed  to  be 
a  veiy  correct  report,  and  explained  that,  although 
he  was  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  imposition  of  the 
assumed  clairvoyance  of  Jack,  yet  that  he  had  never 
gone  through  the  ordeal  he  was  about  to  submit  to 
that  evening,  and  might  possibly  fail  in  his  endea- 
vour. Whatever  was  done  on  his  part,  was  without 
fraud  and  trickery,  and  he  had  every  confidence  he 
would  succeed. 

He  then  requested  the  medical  gentlemen  who 
had  bound  up  Jack's  eyes,  to  perform  the  same  offices 


LETTER    XXV.  109 

for  him,  i\Ir.  Williamson  covering  his  eyes  with  court 
plaister,  and  the  other  gentlemen  with  white  plaister 
and  the  silk  handkerchief.  When  all  was  pronounced 
analogous  to  Jack's  condition,  watches  and  sundry- 
articles  were  presented  for  Dr.  Dunnes  inspection. 
Bending  his  head,  a  la  Jack,  he,  after  a  little  time, 
accurately  described  whatever  was  put  before  him. 
In  explanation  of  how  this  was  accomplished,  he  said 
the  quivering  of  the  ej-elids,  to  which  he  had  directed 
attention  when  Jack's  eyes  were  being  bandaged, 
prevented  the  court  plaister  from  adhering,  as  was 
intended.  Of  course,  the  white  plaister  put  upon 
the  loosened  court  plaister  added  nothin<i-  to  the  sisht 
difficulties ;  neither  did  the  silk  handkerchief.  The 
restriction  with  regard  to  the  organ  of  individuality, 
enabled  him,  by  contracting  the  muscles  of  his  fore- 
head, and  adapting  his  eyes  for  that  object,  to  see 
from  the  inner  corners  of  each  eye  whatever  he  de- 
sired. The  refutation  was  complete,  and  Jack  was 
stamped  at  once  as  an  impostor. 

These,  sir,  and  kindred  exposures  are  sufficient  to 
make  thoughtful  men  pause  ere  they  conclude  the 
phenomena  witnessed  at  these  seances,  through  the 
agency  of  "  mediums,"  are  of  supernatural  origin. 
There  is  much  to  distrust  in  these  exhibitions.  It 
seems  to  me  a  remarkable  circumstance  that  "  the 
spirits'*  never  talk  by  verbal  utterances.  If  they 
have  the  power  to  pinch  people's  legs,  and  splinter 
iron-rimmed  and  clamped  tables,  surely  they  have 
the  power  to  speak,  like  the  Ghost  in  Hamlet,  in 
their  own   mother-tongue.      The  "  spirits"  of   our 


110 


AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 


forefathers  used  to  talk  audibly,  and  surely  the  race 
has  not  degenerated.  The  statement  made  by  "  A 
Barristei*^'  that  Mr.  Home  refused  to  perform  before 
Mr.  Houdin,  and  that  of  Mr.  Mitchell,  who  asserts 
that  he  stopped  the  manifestations  at  a  public  exhi- 
bition at  St.  Martin's  Hall,  are  sufficient  to  create 
and  sustain  the  belief  that  there  is  some  sleight-of- 
hand  work  in  these  seances.  And  when  we  know 
that  electro-biologists,  in  public,  make  our  friends  to 
forget  their  own  names,  believe  that  water  is  brandy, 
that  their  clothes  are  on  fire,  and  a  thousand  other 
illusions,  it  is  but  common  prudence  to  demand  that 
every  care  be  taken  that  we  are  not  imposed  upon 
by  any  clever  art  in  legerdemain  or  the  development 
of  any  psychological  phenomena. 

Yours  respectfully, 

William  Smith. 
Mumps,  Oldham,  Oct.  13. 


XXVL 

Sir, — In  Mr.  Coleman's  letter  of  the  11th  inst.; 
he  gives  his  opinion  that  the  gentlemen  who  were 
present  at  the  meetings  recorded  in  the  "  Cornhill 
Magazine,^'  under  the  head  of  "  Stranger  than  Fic- 
tion," should  confirm  or  confute  the  statements  made 
in  that  article.     I  was  one  of  the  persons  present  at 


LETTER   XXVI.  Ill 

the  evening  meeting.  The  other  gentlemen  were  a 
solicitor  in  extensive  practice,  and  two  well-known 
writers  of  solid  instructive  works — not  wi'iters  of  fic- 
tion— who,  by-the-bye,  appear  to  be  so  used  to  invent- 
ing that  they  cannot  believe  that  any  one  can  possibly 
be  employed  in  stating  facts.  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  joke  about  "  fools  of  fashion"  does  not  apply  to 
the  gentlemen  alluded  to,  but  that  we  were  all 
workers  in  callings  in  which  matters  of  fact,  and  not 
of  fancy,  especially  come  under  observation.  Further, 
it  may  be  useful  for  some  persons  to  know  that  we 
were  neither  asleep,  nor  intoxicated,  nor  even  excited. 
We  were  complete  masters  of  our  senses ;  and  I  sub- 
mit that  their  evidence  is  worth  a  thousand  conjec- 
tures and  explanations  made  by  those  who  were  not 
present.  Scores  of  times  I  have  been  much  more 
agitated  and  excited  in  investigating  a  patient's  case, 
than  I  was  in  observing  what  occurred  at  the  evening 
meeting  in  question. 

With  this  state  of  senses  at  the  time,  and  revolv- 
ing the  occurrences  in  my  mind  again  and  again, 
since  that  time,  I  can  state  with  the  greatest  positive- 
ness  that  the  record  made  in  the  article  "  Stranger 
than  Fiction,"  is,  in  every  particular,  correct ;  that 
the  phenomena  therein  related,  actually  took  place 
in  the  evening  meeting;  and,  moreover,  that  no 
trick,  machinery,  sleight-of-hand,  or  other  artistic 
contrivance  produced  what  we  heard  and  beheld.  I 
am  quite  as  convinced  of  this  last  as  I  am  of  the 
facts  themselves. 

Only  consider  that  here  is  a  man,  between  ten  and 


112  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

eleven  stone  in  weight,  jfloating  about  the  room  for 
many  minutes — in  the  tomb-like  silence  which  pre- 
vailed, broken  only  by  his  voice  coming  from  different 
quarters  of  the  room,  according  to  his  then  position 
— is  it  probable,  is  it  possible,  that  any  machinery 
could  be  devised — not  to  speak  of  its  being  set  up 
and  previously  made  ready  in  a  room  which  was 
fixed  upon  as  the  place  of  meeting  only  five  minutes 
before  we  entered  it — capable  of  carrying  such  a 
weight  about  without  the  slightest  sound  of  any 
description  ?  Or  suppose,  as  has  been  suggested, 
that  he  bestrode  an  inflated  balloon,  could  a  balloon 
have  been  introduced  inflated  large  enough  to  hold 
in  mid-air  such  a  weight  ?  Or  could  it  have  been 
inflated  with  hydrogen  gas  without  being  detected 
by  ears,  eyes,  or  nose  ? 

It  seems  to  me  a  much  stronger  sign  of  credulity  to 
believe  either  of  these  suggestions,  with  our  present 
knowledge,  than  to  adopt  the  wildest  statements  or 
dreams  of  what  is  called  spiritualism.  Let  it  be 
remembered,  moreover,  that  the  room  was,  for  a 
good  part  of  the  evening,  in  a  blaze  of  light,  in  which 
no  balloon  or  other  machine  sufficient  for  the  sup- 
posed purpose  could  be  iuti'oduced ;  or,  if  already 
introduced,  could  remain  unobserved  ;  and  that,  even 
when  the  room  was  comparatively  darkened,  light 
streamed  through  the  window  from  a  distant  gas- 
lamp  outside,  between  which  gas-lamp  and  our  eyes 
Mr.  Home's  form  passed,  so  that  we  distinctly  per- 
ceived his  trunk  and  limbs ;  and  most  assuredly  there 
was  no  balloon  near  him,  nor  any  machinery  attached 


LETTER   XXVI.  118 

to  him.  His  foot  once  touclied  my  head  when  he 
was  floating  above. 

Then  the  accordion  music,  I  distinctly  saw  the 
instrument  moving,  and  heard  it  playing  when  held 
only  at  one  end,  again  and  again.  I  held  it  myself 
for  a  short  time,  and  had  good  reason  to  know  that 
it  was  vehemently  pulled  at  the  other  end,  and  not 
by  Mr.  Home's  toes,  as  has  been  wisely  surmised, 
unless  that  gentleman  has  legs  three  yards  long, 
with  toes  at  the  end  of  them  quite  as  marvellous  as 
any  legion  of  spirits.  For,  be  it  stated,  that  such 
music  as  we  heard  was  no  ordinary  strain  ;  it  was 
grand  at  times,  at  others  pathetic,  at  others  distant 
and  long-drawn,  to  a  degree  which  no  one  can  ima- 
gine who  has  not  heard  it.  I  have  heard  Blagrove 
repeatedly,  but  it  is  no  libel  on  that  master  of  the 
instrument  to  say  that  he  never  did  produce  such 
exquisite  distant  and  echo  notes  as  those  which  de- 
lighted our  ears.  The  instrument  played,  too,  at 
distant  parts  of  the  room,  many  yards  away  from 
Mr.  Home,  and  from  all  of  us.  I  believe  I  am 
stating  a  fact  when  I  say  that  not  one  person  in  that 
room  could  play  the  accordion  at  all.  Mr.  Home 
cannot  play  a  note  upon  it. 

To  one  whose  external  senses  have  witnessed  these 
things,  it  is  hard  to  increase  the  insufficiency  of  those 
attempted  explanations  which  assert  the  use  of  tricks 
and  machinery.  As  I  said  before,  it  requires  much 
more  credulity  to  believe  such  explanations  than  to 
swallow  all  the  ghost  stories  that  ever  were  related. 
1  may  add  that  the  writer  in  the  "  Cornhill  ]\laga-' 

I 


114  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

zine^'  omitted  to  mention  several  curious  phenomena 
which  were  witnessed  that  evening.  Here  is  one  of 
them.  A  distinguished  litterateur,  who  was  present, 
asked  the  supposed  spirit  of  his  father,  whether  he 
would  play  his  favourite  ballad  for  us,  and,  address- 
ing us,  he  added — "  The  accordion  was  not  invented 
at  the  time  of  my  father's  death,  so  I  cannot  con- 
ceive how  it  will  be  effected ;  but  if  his  favourite  air 
is  not  played,  I  pledge  myself  to  tell  you  so." 
Almost  immediately  the  flute  notes  of  the  accordion 
(which  was  upon  the  floor)  played  through  "  Ye 
banks  and  braes  of  bonnie  Doon,"  which  the 
gentleman  alluded  to  assured  us  was  his  fathei'^s 
favourite  air,  whilst  the  flute  was  his  father's  favour- 
ite instrument.  He  then  asked  for  another  favour- 
ite of  his  father's,  "which  was  not  Scotch,"  and 
'*  The  last  rose  of  summer"  was  played  in  the  same 
notes.  This,  the  gentleman  told  us,  was  the  air  to 
which  he  had  alluded. 

I  have  thus  borne  testimony  to  the  truthfulness  of 
the  facts  related  by  the  writer  in  the  "  Cornhill 
Magazine,"  whom  I  recognize  as  having  been  my 
neighbour  during  the  meeting.  And  I  have  endea- 
voured to  show  that,  as  regards  the  principal  and 
most  wonderful  phenomena,  there  could  have  been 
no  contrivance  by  trick  or  machinery  adequate  to 
produce  or  account  for  their  existence.  How  then, 
were  they  produced  ?  I  know  not ;  and  I  believe 
that  we  are  very,  very  far  from  having  accumulated 
facts  enough  upon  which  to  frame  any  laws,  or  build 
any  theory  regarding  the  agent  at  work  in  their 


LETTER   XXVI.  115 

production.  Intelligent  phenomena,  such  as  the 
music  played  at  request,  point  to  intelligent  agents  ; 
and  spiritual  beings  that  have  quitted  fleshly  bodies 
may  be  at  work.  I,  for  one,  wish  that  it  were 
proved  to  be  so ;  for  a  more  solemn  discoveiy  than 
that  of  a  means  of  communication  between  embodied 
and  disembodied  sentient  beings  cannot  be  imagined. 
It  giddies  the  brain  to  think  of  the  possible  result 
of  such  a  discovery.  But,  whilst  I  obstinately  stand 
up  for  the  integrity  of  my  senses  during  my  obser- 
vation of  the  wonders  above  related,  my  inner  senses 
cannot  but  observe  many  gaps  that  must  be  filled  up 
before  the  bridge  between  the  spiritual  body's  lite 
here  in  the  flesh,  and  its  life  elsewhere  out  of  the 
flesh,  can  be  finished.  Meantime  the  ■*facts  must  be 
patiently  and  honestly  accumulated,  and  enthusiasm 
must  be  banished  from  the  minds  of  the  inquirers. 
And,  as  regards  the  denials,  and  abuse,  and  jests  of 
the  non-inquirers,  let  it  be  remembered  that  scurri- 
lity and  laughter  never  discovered  or  disproved  any- 
thing whatever  in  the  world's  history. 

Respecting  the  purely  physical  phenomena,  such 
as  the  raising  of  weights,  whether  of  human  bodies 
or  tables,  it  may  be  that  we  are  on  the  verge  of  dis- 
covering some  physical  force  hitherto  undreamedof: 
who  shall  say  that  we  know  all  the  powers  of  nature? 
Here,  too,  dispassionate  inquiry  must  go  on,  regard- 
less of  the  noise  outside ;  regardless,  too,  of  the 
ignorant  and  malicious  prejudice  which  would  blast 
the  reputation  of  those  who  inquire  in  a  direction 
oppoiiLe  to  that  prejudice. 

1   2 


116         AN  exposi'tiOxM  of  spiritualism. 

Inquirers,  unlike  routine  people,  mast  be  prepared 
to  rough  it  among  their  fellow-creatures.  And  I 
suppose  that  I,  for  having  asserted  that  I  have  five 
senses  as  yet  unimpaired,  and  for  having  testified  to 
what  the  majority  disbelieve,  shall  come  in  for  my 
share  of  pity  or  abuse.  Let  it  be  so,  if  it  helps  on  a 
truthful  search, — I  am,  sir,  yours  faithfully, 

Malvern.  Oct.  14.  J.  M.  Gully,  M.D. 


XXVII. 

Sir, — Great  surprise  is  expressed  that  such  a  man 
as  Mr.  Howitt  should,  by  an  open  avowal  of  his 
belief  in  table-rapping  and  other  ludicrous  impositions 
of  spiritualism,  risk  his  hitherto  well-deserved  repu- 
tation as  a  writer  and  instructor  of  the  people ;  and 
with  Dr.  Gall  we  might  exclaim,  "  Is  he  a  fool  or  an 
impostor  ?  or  is  there  a  particular  organization  which 
imposes  in  this  form  on  the  human  understanding  V 
It  would  be  but  Christian  charity  to  give  Mr.  Howitt 
and  all  those  that  think  with  him  the  benefit  of  the 
latter  proposition.  Fools  they  cannot  be,  for  such 
persons  are  deficient  in  their  intellectual  faculties, 
and  could  not,,  therefore,,  be  deep  thinkers ;  impostors 
they  cannot  be,  because  they  gain  nothing  by  their 
adherence  to  their  new  belief;  on  the  contrary, 
risking  their  worldly  prospects  thereby.  Therefore, 
being  neither  fools  nor  impostors,  we  come   to  the 


LETTER    XXVII.  117 

conclusion  that  their  own  understanding  imposes 
upon  them,  and  through  them  such  portion  of  the 
world  as  may  be  similarly  organised,  for  Sir  Walter 
Scott  observes,  "  No  man  ever  succeeded  in  imposing 
himself  on  the  public  as  a  supernatural  personage, 
who  was  not  to  a  certain  degree  the  dupe  of  his  own 
imposture."  What,  then,  is  the  moving  cause  of 
this  imposition  ?  Hitherto  the  world,  when  disturbed 
by  these  fantasies  of  the  brain,  gape  on,  shnig  their 
shoulders,  and,  sagely  expressing  their  bchef  that 
the  upper  stories  are  cracked,  pass  on  their  way, 
trusting  to  time  to  show  the  utter  absurdity  of  the 
doctrine  or  teaching  thus  attempted  to  be  imposed 
upon  them.  It  never  strikes  them  that  for  such 
things  to  happen  so  continuously  in  the  w^orld's 
history,  there  must  be  a  natural  cause — a  something 
that  impels  men  thus  to  sacrifice  their  reputation 
for  the  sake  of  a  crotchet,  a  myth,  a  dream,  and  there 
must  be  a  "  natural  cause  "  to  induce  thousands  to 
look  up  to  such  men  as  their  leaders  and  advisers. 
That  there  is  such  a  natural  cause  I  will  endeavour 
to  prove,  and  trust  thereby  to  warn  my  fellow-men 
to  beware  of  false  teachers. 

Tasso,  the  Italian  poet,  firmly  believed  that  he 
had  a  "  familiar  spirit,"  with  whom  he  held,  in  the 
presence  of  visitors,  conversations.  Manso,  Marquis 
of  Villa,  was  present  upon  one  occasion,  and  thus 
describes  what  took  ])lace  :  —  "In  the  meantime, 
Tasso  began  to  converse  with  this  mysterious  being. 
I  saw  and  heard  himself  alone.  Sometimes  he 
questioned  —  sometimL's   answered,  and    from   his 


118  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

answers  I  gathered  the  sense  of  what  he  had  heard. 
The  subject  of  his  discourse  was  so  elevated,  and 
the  expressions  so  subUme,  that  I  felt  myself  in  a 
kind  of  ecstacy."  In  fact,  had  he  lived  in  the 
present  age,  what  a  "  medium ''  Tasso  would  have 
made  ! 

Swedenbourg  was  a  spiritualist,  and  yet  his  bio- 
graphers describe  him  as  a  man  of  unquestionable 
sincerity.  Dr.  J.  Stilling  was  a  doctor  in  medicine, 
moralist,  journalist,  divine,  therefore  an  intellectual 
man ;  yet  a  firm  believer  in  apparitions,  upon  which 
subject  he  wrote  a  book.  Cromwell  may  also  be  in- 
cluded in  the  spiritualist  list,  along  with  Shakspeare, 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  Kepler,  Newton,  Davy,  Dr.  Samuel 
Johnson,  and  other  great  men  of  the  bygone  ages — 
all  men  of  leai'ning  and  great  repute  in  their  dif- 
ferent walks  of  science,  and  yet  inclined  to  the 
belief  in  supernatural  agency.  How  was  this  ?  He 
would  be  a  bold  man  in  the  present  day  who  should 
assert  they  were  either  fools  or  impostors.  Surely 
there  must  have  been  a  "  natural  cause  "  for  such 
"spiritual"  ejQFect.  Observe  the  populations  of  the 
earth  :  in  every  portion  of  its  inhabited  surface  spi- 
ritualists are  to  be  found,  who  can  be  amused  with 
fictions,  tales  of  wonder,  and  miraculous  occurrences ; 
in  every  passing  event  they  find  some  extraordinary 
circumstance,  some  "  special  providence,"  as  many 
describe  it.  "  How  many  thousands  are  disposed 
to  believe  in  dreams,  sorcery,  magic,  astrology,  in 
the  mystic  influence  of  spirits  and  angels,  in  the 
power  of  the  devil,  in  second  sight,  and  in  miracles 


LETTER  XXVII.  119 

and  incompreliensible  representations  of  all  sorts," 
inquires  a  departed  philosopher.  Why  should  all 
this  be,  and  yet  men  refuse  to  acknowledge  the 
cause,  and  thereby  endeavour  to  modify  or  keep  the 
effect  within  a  safe  compass  !  I  now  begin  to  tread 
upon  dangerous  ground,  and  yet  truth  must  be  as- 
serted, when  men's  minds  are  apt  to  be  led  astray 
into  the  paths  of  superstition  by  those  who  should 
show  them  the  realms  of  light.  The  fact  is,  God 
has  provided  us  with  a  particular  faculty,  called  by 
phrenologists  the  "  organ  of  wonder,"  and  it  is 
more  or  less  active  in  individuals  and  entire  nations. 
The  great  men  I  have  named  were  more  or  less 
under  its  influence  for  good  purposes.  When  this 
sentiment  is  not  in  excess,  it  assists  the  promulgation 
of  religious  truth,  and  is  essential  to  faith  and  re- 
fined religion.  Legislators  of  antiquity  made  fre- 
quent  use  of  it  to  bend  their  fellow-men  to  con- 
formity with  their  laws.  By  using  the  name  of 
angels  or  of  supernatural  beings,  or  the  name  of  the 
Most  High,  they  were,  by  the  universality  of  this 
faculty,  enabled  to  do  as  they  listed  with  the  peoples 
over  whom  their  superior  intellect  raised  them  as 
rulers,  and  in  numerous  cases,  to  their  honour  be  it 
spoken,  they  used  this  power  to  elevate  mankind. 
But  when  this  sentiment  of  wonder  is  in  excess,  the 
results  are  most  lamentable,  and  parties  in  whom  it 
is  largely  developed  may  really  be  said  to  be  affected 
with  a  species  of  msanity  ;  and  under  such  influence 
Joe  Smith  the  Mormon,  Irving,  Mahomet,  &c.,  and 
many  of  the  spiritualist  leaders  of  the  present  day. 


120  AN    EXPOSITION    OV   SPIRITUALISM. 

may  be  considered  to  have  been  and  to  be.  The 
misfortuue  we  have  to  guard  against  is,  that  when 
the  faculty  or  sentiment  of  wonder  is  largely  de- 
veloped in  such  persons  as  above-named,  whose  object 
is  in  many  cases  the  desire  to  be  "  known  to  the 
world,"  to  be  '^  talked  about,"  the  impression  then 
excited  is  mistaken  by  the  ignorant  masses  as  direct 
communication  from  heaven,  and  however  absurd, 
or  wild,  or  wicked  the  theory  broached  may  be,  im- 
phcit  credence  is  given  to  it,  and  reason  is  blind- 
folded. Hence  it  is  that  table-rapping,  table-mov- 
ing, dancing,  or  by  whatever  name  it  is  called  by  its 
friends,  finds  no  difficulty  in  drawing  after  it  a  crowd 
of  admirers,  consisting  of  those  who  love  the  mar- 
vellous— of  those  too  lazy  to  form  a  judgment  of 
their  own — and,  finally,  of  the  richer  classes,  whose 
lazy  mode  of  life  has  enervated  both  body  and  mind, 
making  them  willing  votaries  to  be  led  by  the  ears 
for  the  sake  of  a  new  sensation. — Hoping  you  will 
kindly  find  space  for  the  insertion  of  this,  I  am,  sir, 
your  obedient  servant,  W.  E.  A.  Harper. 

17,  Liverpool  Terrace,  Islington,  Oct.  15. 


XXVIII. 


Sir, — The  discussion  going  on  in  your  columns 
respecting  "spiritual  manifestations  and  table-turn- 
ing," will  be  incomplete  if  the  phenomena  of  this 


LETTER   XXIX.  121 

description  which  present  themselves  in  China  and 
Japan  attract  no  attention.  I  find  that  Dr.  Mac- 
gowan,  in  his  lectures,  so  popular  among  the  edu- 
cated classes  of  the  country,  adverts  to  these  points. 
In  yesterday's  moraing  lecture  (12th  inst.),  de- 
livered in  this  town,  he  treated  the  subject  in 
a  general  manner ;  but  his  paper  on  spiritual  mani- 
festations and  table-turning  in  China,  pubhshed  some 
years  ago  in  that  country,  and  republished  in  one  of 
Chambers's  works,  describes  the  practices  in  detail. 
Those  of  your  readers  who  are  in  search  of  infor- 
mation corroborative  of  the  pretensions  of  spiritual- 
ists, will  discover  nothing  in  Dr.  Macgowan's  writings 
or  lectures  very  satisfactory  :  he  regards  the  whole 
affair  as  an  illusion.  In  the  matter  of  table-turning, 
he  says  that,  in  this,  as  in  many  other  things,  the 
Chinese  go  by  contraries,  the  table  performing  its 
gyrations  with  its  legs  pointed  towards  the  ceiling. 
— Yours,  &c.  Leam. 

Leamington,  Oct.  13. 


XXIX. 

Sir, — On  Wednesday  last  Jane  Wilson  was 
brought  to  the  Warueford  Hospital,  Leamington,  as 
an  in-patient.  She  was  very  ill  with  diseased  kid- 
neys, but  in  no  immediate  peril  of  life.  She  was 
accompanied  as  far  as  the  Leamington  station  by  her 


122  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

brother,  and  parted  with  him  there.  On  Thursday 
evening,  the  11th  October,  she  went  to  the  closet, 
but  soon  returned  in  the  extremest  terror,  and 
trembhng  all  over.  She  declared  she  saw  her 
brother  lying  dead  in  the  closet.  From  that  time 
she  became  worse,  and  died  last  Saturday,  13th. 
Meanwhile,  on  Friday  12th,  tidings  reached  the  hos- 
}3ital  that  her  brother  had  met  with  his  death  by 
hanging ;  but,  owing  to  her  weakness,  the  news  was 
kept  from  her,  and  she  died  without  any  confirma- 
tion of  her  apprehension. — Yours  respectfully, 

N.  W.  Wyer. 
Bute  House,  Leamington,  15th,  10th. 

P.S. — My  authority  for  the  above  statement  is 
my  brother,  0.  F.  Wyer,  who  is  house-surgeon  to 
the  hospital.  He  was  writing  the  register  of  her 
death  when  he  told  me  of  this  curious  case. 


XXX. 

Sir, — "  Cantabrigiensis'^  asks  for  the  quotation 
from  the  Apology  of  Tertullian.  It  is  not  exactly  as 
he  supposes,  the  words  vert  ere  tahulas  not  occurring 
in  it.  But  in  the  twenty-third  chapter  of  the  Ter- 
tulliani  Apologeticus,  are  the  words  "  Si  et  somnia 
immittunt  habentes  semel  invitatorum  angelorum  et 
demonum  assistentum  sibi  potestatem,  per  quos  et 
caprse  et  mensse  divinare  consueverunt."     They  are 


LETTER    XXX.  123 

thus  rendered  in  the  translation  of  the  Rev.  Temple 
Chevalier  : — "  If  they  inspire  dreams,  too,  by  having 
the  powerful  assistance  of  the  angels  and  demons 
once  invited  to  attend  them,  by  whose  means  even 
kids  and  tables  have  been  made  the  instruments  of 
divination."  A  little  further  on  in  the  same  chapter 
occur  the  following  words  : — "  Let  any  one  who  is 
confessedly  under  the  influence  of  demoniacal  pos- 
session be  brought  out  here  before  your  tribunal. 
If  the  spirit  be  commanded  by  any  Christian  to 
speak,  he  shall  as  truly  confess  himself  to  be  a 
demon,  as  in  other  places  he  falsely  professes  him- 
self to  be  a  God.  If  they  do  not  confess  themselves 
to  be  demons,  not  daring  to  lie  to  a  Christian,  then 
shed  the  blood  of  that  most  impudent  Christian 
upon  the  spot.  "SMiat  can  be  plainer  than  such  an 
appeal  to  facts  ?" 

In  your  paper  of  Friday  last,  "  A  Barrister"  writes  : 
— "  That  after  several  interviews  with  Louis  Napo- 
leon, the  Emperor  proposed  that  Robert  Houdin 
should  be  present  at  the  next  seance — a  proposal 
which  Mr.  Home  declined."  As  you  have  opened 
your  columns  to  a  serious  discussion  of  this  interest- 
ing subject,  it  becomes  a  duty  to  set  right  some  of 
the  errors  into  which  inquirers  fall,  and  having  the 
pleasure  of  calling  Mr.  Home  my  friend,  I  wrote  to 
him  at  Paris  to  know  if  there  were  any  truth  in  this 
statement.  I  find  that  there  is  none.  So  many 
falsehoods  have  been  circulated  about  IMr.  Home 
that  he  has  made  a  rule  of  never  refuting  any  of 
them.     Had,  however,  the  statement  been  true,  it 


124  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

would  notj  in  my  opinion,  have  gone  for  much,  for  I 
can  conceive  other  explanations  of  Mr.  Home's  I'e- 
fusal  than  that  of  conscious  imposture.  Is  it  certain 
that  a  conjuror  is  as  proper  a  person  as  a  bishop  to 
investigate  spiritual  phenomena  ?  According  to  the 
etiquette  of  courts,  an  Emperor's  request  is  a  com- 
mand, and  I  should  think  that  Napoleon  would  not 
have  brooked  a  refusal.  I  believe,  further,  that  he 
has  too  much  sense  to  make  such  a  proposal. 

However,  still  further  to  satisfy  "  A  Barrister,"  I 
can  tell  him  that  M.  Canti,  a  conjurer,  almost  as 
well  known  in  Paris  as  M.  Houdin,  was  present  one 
evening  with  about  thirty  persons,  in  the  apartments 
of  H.I. H.  Prince  Napoleon,  and  that  he  was  acci- 
dentally chosen  with  seven  others  by  Mr.  Home  to 
witness  the  phenomena  occurring  in  his  presence. 
M.  Canti  informed  the  Prince  "  that  he  could  in  no 
way  account  for  them  on  the  principles  of  his  pro- 
fession," and  he  published  a  letter  to  that  effect. 

I  see  that  Mr.  Howitt  and  others  have  disposed  of 
the  erroneous  statement  as  to  Professor  Hare,  made 
by  ''A  Lover  of  the  Whole  Truth." 

If  any  of  your  readers  are  on  sufficiently  intimate 
terms  with  the  Queen  of  Holland,  the  Emperor  of 
Russia,  or  the  King  of  Bavaria,  I  can  affirm,  with 
truth,  that  they  will  each  testify  to  the  phenomena 
which  have  repeatedly  occurred  in  their  presence 
through  Mr.  Home.  Prince  Adalbert  of  Bavaria  is 
himself  a  medium ;  so  is  Prince  Luigi,  the  uncle  of 
the  King  of  Naples. 

I  have  myself  seen  nearly  all  the  phenomena  de- 


LETTER    XXXI.  125 

scribed  in  the  "  Comhill  Magazine/'  and  those  de- 
scribed by  Dr.  Blank  in  the  April  number  of  the 
"  Spiritual  Magazine." — Your  obedient  servant, 

W.  M.  Wilkinson. 
Hampstead.  Oct.  17. 


XXXI. 


Sir, — As  I  expected,  IMr.  William  Howitt's  letter 
has  called  forth  many  replies,  and,  with  your  permis- 
sion, I  will  tell  you  why  1  cannot  agree  with  him.  Let 
me  first,  however,  brush  away  one  fallacy  which  all 
modern  prophets  are  fond  of  advancing  in  favour  of 
their  own  pretensions.  I  have  seen  it  so  often  put 
forward  that  it  ceases  to  have  any  influence.  The 
Spiritualists  tell  us  that  "  the  very  same  things 
which  they  (the  unbelievers)  now  assert  of  Spiritual- 
ism were  once  said  of  Christianity.",  It  is  very  pos- 
sible that  if  Christ  were  to  appear  upon  earth  in 
this  year  18G0  —  I  speak  with  all  reverence — He 
and  His  followers  would  be  treated  as  impostors, 
madmen,  cheats,  and  what  not  ?  But  just  look  at 
the  difference.  Christ  had  a  new  doctrine  to  im- 
])art ;  the  spiritualists  confessedly  have  none.  He 
raised  the  dead,  cured  the  sick,  healed  the  paralytic, 
fed  thousands,  gave  sight  to  the  blind;  Mr.  Home 
(or  the  spirits  at  his  call)  inake  tables  dance,  play 
accordions  without  hands,  throw  furniture  about 
rooms,  and  do  a  number  of  things  th-dt p7-iind  facie  are 


1.26  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

merely  ridiculous,  and  I  dou't  know  that  even  the 
demonstration  that  they  were  done  by  spiritual  means 
would  render  them  otherwise.  In  the  Christian 
miracles  there  was  a  direct  and  palpable  appeal  to 
common  sense.  Can  we  fancy  an  apostle  arguing 
thus: — '^I  come  to  preach  a  new  gospel,  to  recon- 
cile man  with  God,  and  my  credentials  are,  that  in  a 
darkened  room  you  shall  see  me  floating  above  you 
in  the  air,  that  bells  shall  ring,  and  notes  be  written 
without  hands  V  I  need  not  go  further  to  show 
that  there  is  no  parallel  between  the  unbelief  of  the 
Jew  and  the  incredulity  of  persons  like  myself,  who 
think  that  the  bearers  of  a  revelation  from  Heaven 
should  have  other  credentials  than  childish  tricks 
that  may  be  imitated  and  are  often  surpassed  by  a 
clever  conjurer. 

In  your  paper  of  the  10th,  Mr.  John  James  Bird 
gives  us  some  very  wonderful  "  experiences^' — a  bad 
evidence — for  any  quack  doctor  can  bring  as  many 
to  vouch  for  the  miraculous  powers  of  his  pills  and 
lotions.  Bat,  accepting  these  so-called  facts,  as  for 
argument  sake  1  am  willing  to  do,  I  ask,  what  do 
they  prove  ?  I  see  tables  dancing  without  the  (ap- 
parent) aid  of  human  hands ;  I  hear  bells  ringing 
and  accordions  playing  in  the  air.  I  can  see  no 
material  cause  for  these  things,  and  am  I  therefore 
to  believe  in  an  immaterial  cause  ? — that  spirits,  and 
not  mortals,  are  at  work  ?  Is  it  logical,  because  I 
cannot  see  or  discover  :iay  other  cause  for  a  table's 
jumping,  to  conclude  that  spirits  are  moving  it  ? 
What  do  I  know  of  spirits  ?     They  are  invisible,  I 


LETTER   XXXI.  127 

am  told,  aud  yet  have  power  to  move  heavy  fur- 
niture and  pinch  women  in  the  leg.  I  shall  be  told 
that  heat,  galvanism,  electi-icity,  are  invisible  yet 
real  powers ;  but  I  see  no  analogy  between  these 
and  the  spirit  of  Washington,  which  comes  into  a 
room  and  plays  me  impish  tricks.  The  soul  or  the 
mind  of  man  acts  through  and  is  only  known  by 
that  action  through  the  organs  of  the  body,  and 
much  as  I  am  inclined  to  believe  in  an  intermediate 
state  between  death  and  judgment,  I  must  be  ex- 
cused if  I  refuse  to  accept  the  spiritualistic  carnival 
described  by  Mr.  Bird  as  a  fact.  I  would  much 
rather  believe  in  the  purgatory  of  Romanism. 

I  think,  then,  my  friend  William  Howitt  is  too 
rapid  in  his  conclusions  when  he  brings  in  a  spirit 
world  to  account  for  phenomena  that  may  be  ac- 
counted for  in  a  more  logical  manner.  Any  hypo- 
thesis that  will  apparently  account  for  certain  phe- 
nomena is  not  necessarily  the  true  hypothesis.  It 
must  work  in  with  others,  be  consistent  with  analogy, 
and  so  forth.  The  "spiritual"  hypothesis  breaks 
down  in  many  places.  The  spirits  never  appear  but 
in  the  presence  of  certain  persons,  in  private  rooms 
which  are  sometimes  darkened  :  they  never  do  ought 
but  foolish  things,  never  bring  us  any  "  gospel' 
M  inch  we  did  not  know  before,  and  manifest  a  very 
singular  taste  for  furniture.  The  development  of  the 
mania  (if  I  may  be  allowed  the  word)  is  rather 
remarkable.  First,  .ve  had  raps,  then  the  tables 
turned  round,  then  they  began  to  tilt  up;  now  they 
either  float  in  the  air  or  suicidally  dash  themselves 


128 


AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 


to  pieces.  In  all  this  I  see  what  more  resembles  the 
I)rogTess  of  legerdemain  than  the  action  of  the 
spirits  of  our  departed  friends.  I  need  not  say  that 
I  do  not  ascribe  these  upholstery  frealcs  to  Satanic 
influence,  for  there  is  to  my  mind  no  more  evidence 
of  the  one  than  of  the  other. 

It  has  been  said  that  one  failure  cannot  tell  against 
a  thousand  successes  j  but  if  the  power  employed  be 
supernatural,  surely  a  single  failure  must  be  fatal  to 
its  universality  of  power  and  knowledge.  Spirits 
are  invoked  to  furnish  certain  information  :  part  of 
it  is  true  and  part  false.  How  are  we  to  distinguish, 
and  what  is  the  nature  of  the  spiritual  power  that 
thus  deceives  us  ?  I  quote  a  case  which  came  to  my 
knowledge  last  week,  and  for  which   I  am  prepared 

to  give  my  proofs.     Mr.  A ,  a   spiritualist  and 

worker  with  the  plancheite,  called  at  a  newspaper- 
office  the  other  day  and  asked  for  the  names  of  the 
fine  arts  and  theatrical  critics.  He  was  asked  why 
he  desired  to  know  their  names  ?  He  replied  that 
a  spirit,  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  plan- 
chette,  had,  in  answer  to  his  inquiries,  written  down 
the  name  of  the  editor  (whom  he  knew)  and  of  the 
two  contributors,  and  he  wished  to  know  if  they 
were  correct.  The  editor's  name  was  rightly  given  : 
the  other  two  were  entirely  wrong.  Now,  if  the 
spirit  knew  the  editor,  how  was  it  he  did  not  know 
the  contributors,  both  well-known  men,  and  one  of 
them  connected  with  the  office  for  many  years  ? 
The  fact  is,  that  the  planchette,  guided  unconsciously 
by  Mr.  A- ""s  hand,  wrote  what  he  wanted  it  to 


LETTER   XXXI.  129 

write,  and  could  not  write  what   he  did  not  know. 
Either  the  spirit  was  a  very  bungling  one — I  do  not 

remember  what  name  he  answered  to — or  Mr.  A 

is  self-deceived.     One  thing  is  plain  :  it  knew  what 
the  medium  knew,  and  no  more. 

I  do  not  feel  justified  in  using  the  terais  imposi- 
tion and  fraud,  although  these  are  cases  which  seem 
to  merit  such  stigmas.  I  would  put  the  "  profes- 
sors" in  the  same  rank  as  M.  Houdin  or  Wiljalba 
Frikell ;  but  the  amateurs  are,  I  think,  the  victims 
of  self-deception,  not  even  excluding  Mr.  B.  Cole- 
man. With  him  and  with  William  Howitt  I  cor- 
dially agree  that  the  whole  matter  desei'ves  investi- 
gation ;  but  we  must  be  allowed  to  cross-examine 
the  witnesses  and  to  see  the  miracles  j^erformcd  in 
open  day.  The  adepts  must  be  prepared  to  submit 
to  the  test  of  some  crucial  experiment,  and  not 
excuse  themselves,  as  I  understand  they  are  per- 
petually doing,  because  the  objects  will  not  appear 
or  exert  their  power  while  there  are  in6dels  in  the 
room. — Yours  obediently, 

Calman  Burroughs. 

3,  Truro  Street,  Haverstock  Hill. 

r.S. — Since  writing  the  above  I  have  seen  Wil- 
liam Howitt's  second  letter,  which  adds  little  to  his 
iirst,  beyond  the  re-asseveration  of  his  own  firm  belief 
in  spiritualism.  He  says  the  "  iaws''  of  spiritualism 
are  as  sure  as  the  universe  :  where  am  I  to  find 
tlicsc  "laws,''  as  spiritualists  give  us  unlv  "facts?" 
These  I    accept,  the    former  1    dispute,   as    being 


]30  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

illogical  deductions.  I  study  my  "Euclid"  and 
ask  what  it  proves.  Are  these  "  oracles"  all  of 
God,  seeing  that  Mr.  HoM^tt  allows  the  possibility 
of  Satanic  interference  ?  When  he  and  Dr.  CoUyer 
speak  of  the  good  faith,  &c.  of  the  mediums,  are  we 
to  forget  the  good  faith  of  Irving  and  the  miracles 
he  wrought,  and  the  unknown  tongues  spoken  by 
persons  of  unimpeachable  character  in  his  congre- 
gation ?  The  history  of  the  human  mind  is  full  of 
these  "pious  frauds."  Men  begin  by  deceiving 
themselves  and  end  by  deceiving  others.  Amongst 
women  there  is  a  notorious  inclination  to  play  tricks 
— it  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a  disease,  and  the 
more  the  men  approach  the  mental  nature  of  wo- 
men, the  more  easily  do  they  become  deceivers  and 
deceived. 


XXXII. 

Sir,, — One  of  your  learned  coi-respondents  has 
alluded  to  an  expression  of  Tertullian  with  respect 
to  what  he  terms  table-turning.  The  most  interest- 
ing vestige  of  this  curious  mode  of  incantation  which 
has  come  down  to  us  from  antiquity,  is  that  men- 
tioned by  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  towards  the  latter 
end  of  the  fourth  century,  under  the  Emperor  Valeris. 
The  twenty-four  letters  of  the  alphabet  were  arranged 
round  a  magic  tripod  or  table,  in  the  centre  of  which 
was  balanced  a  moveable  ring,  which,  under  spiritual 


LETTEK   XXXII.  131 

influences  (as  was,  of  course,  supposed),  pointed  in 
certain  directions,  so  as  to  spell  out  particular  names 
or  words ;  and  the  persons  implicated  in  the  great 
conspiracy  of  Antioch  thus  ventured  to  pi-edict  that 
the  next  emperor's  name  would  begin  with  the  four 
letters  Th-e-o-d  — a  premonition  singularly  fulfilled, 
by  the  accession  of  Theodosius  the  Great. — Amm. 
Marcell.  Histor.,  lib.  xxix.,  cap.  1,  pp.  552-3  :  Paris 
edit.,  1681. 

Interested  as  I  am,  with,  I  suppose,  ten  thousand 
others,  in  the  investigation  of  spiritualism,  simply  as 
an  honest  inquirer  after  truth,  and  only  desirous  of 
keeping  the  windows  of  my  mind  open  in  all  direc- 
tions for  its  reception,  at  whatever  labour,  and  at 
whatever  cost,  I  beg  to  tender  you  my  most  grateful 
thanks  for  the  generous  and  impartial  manner  in 
which  you  have  offered  your  valuable  columns  to 
both  sides  of  a  subject  which  can  only  fail  to  be  pro- 
foundedly  interesting  to  the  fool,  the  infidel,  or  the 
scoffer.  I  have  not  been  able  to  come  to  any  satis- 
factory conclusion  myself,  and  am  therefore  only  an 
observer  at  present  in  the  sense  of  wishing  to  be 
always  a  learner.  But  if  it  would  not  be  thought 
presumptuous,  I  would  just  add,  that  the  phenomena 
of  biology  seems  sufficient  to  explain  a  good  deal, 
although  by  no  means  all,  of  what  has  been  written. 
The  famous  Friar  Bunguy,  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
could  cover  the  wall  of  a  room  ajjparently  wdth  fruit, 
through  simply  acquiring  a  biological  influence  over 
the  spectators.  Some  of  the  exhibitions  made  to 
Lord  Macartacy,  in  China,  by  the  jugglers  there, 

K.  2 


132  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

may  be  accouuted  for,  I  think,  in  the  same  way. 
What  the  lookers-on  behold,  ceases  under  such  cir- 
cumstances to  be  objective;  in  other  words,  they 
become  subject  for  the  time  to  impressions  analogous 
to  those  of  somnambulism,  without,  however,  actually 
falling  asleep. — I  beg  to  remain,  sir,  your  obedient 
servant,  Matthew  Bridges. 

Chester-hill,  Stroud,  Gloucestershire,  Oct.  16. 


XXXIII. 

Sir, — Your  amiable  correspondent,  William 
Howitt,  urges  the  doubters  of  spiritual  manifesta- 
tions to  inquire  and  judge  for  themselves.  Sir,  if 
you  will  allow  me  space,  I  will  give  your  readers  the 
result  of  ray  investigations.  A  friend,  whom  I  had 
known  for  years,  requested  me  to  pay  a  visit, 
in  company  with  him,  to  a  celebrated  medium,  one 
that  Mr.  Howitt  believes  to  be  above  suspicion,  and 
endowed  with  the  power  of  producing  extraordinary 
results.  I  accepted  the  invitation,  and  promised  I 
would  form  my  opinion  from  the  result  of  the  mani- 
festations produced  at  this  meeting.  I,  accompanied 
by  my  spiritual  friend,  and  another  who  was  sceptical 
as  to  the  new  faith,  arrived  at  a  house  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Red  Lion  Square.  We  were  shown  by 
my  conductor  upstairs  to  a  second-floor  front  room. 
Ttie  apartment  v/as  lai-ge,  and   dimly  lighted  by  a 


LETTER    XXXIII.  133 

single  eandle.  Seated  at  a  round  table  were  an 
elderly  lady,  an  old  gentleman  of  respectable  appear- 
ance, and  a  younger  one,  a  friend  of  bis  Tbe  table 
was  a  common  old  circular  tea  table,  supported  by  a 
single  pillar  and  three  claws,  one  of  which  was  shorter 
than  the  others,  and  consequently  gave  a  sloping 
inclination  to  the  top  of  the  table.  We  were  after- 
wards informed  that  the  shortness  of  the  claw  resulted 
from  a  piece  having  been  broken  off  by  the  spirits, 
who  had  served  the  table  the  same  way  more  than 
once.  After  some  general  conversation  on  the  sub- 
ject, the  party  were  requested  to  form  a  circle  round 
the  table,  with  their  hands  placed  on  the  top.  I  was 
requested  not  to  join,  as  also  was  my  sceptical  friend, 
who  provided  himself  with  pencil  and  paper  to  take 
down  the  spiritual  communications.  I  followed  bis 
example,  in  case  of  any  dispute  about  the  words.  At 
this  period  a  young  woman  entered  from  the  adjoin- 
ing room,  and  took  her  seat  at  the  table,  placing  her 
hands  on  it  like  the  rest,  and  I  then  discovered  that 
this  young  lady  was  the  medium ;  there  were  now 
sitting  round  the  table,  with  their  hands  on  it,  the 
elderly  female  (who  was  the  mistress  of  the  house), 
the  young  lady  medium,  the  old  gentleman,  the 
young  one,  and  occasionally  my  spiritual  friend. 
The  medium  having  asked  if  spirits  were  present, 
and  received  an  answer  in  the  affirmative,  by  the 
table  being  tilted  twice  or  three  times,  the  old  gentle- 
man was  requested  to  put  a  question,  when  he  asked 
the  spirit  to  sj)c]l  his  name,  and  the  young  man,  his 
friend,  was  a.'iked  to  point  out  the  letters  on    an 


lB4r.         AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITDALTSM. 

alphabet  pasted  on  cardboard,  the  table  tilting  when 
the  letters  were  pointed  out.  After  a  great  deal  of 
going  back,  various  mistakes,  and  substitutions  of 
one  letter  for  another,  the  table  signified  that  the 
whole  of  the  name  was  spelt ;  on  referring  to  my  notes 
I  found  the  following  as  the  result  (Jememea).  The 
gentleman  said  it  was  neither  his  Christian  nor  sur- 
name, his  Christian  name  being  Jeremiah, upon  which 
the  elderly  female  said  it  was  evident  that  the  spirits 
were  ti-ying  to  spell  it.  The  table  now  went  on  to 
spell  his  surname,  and  on  putting  the  letters  tilted 
out  together,  produced  (Amike),  which  the  old  gentle- 
man declared  had  no  resemblance  whatever  to  his 
name.  This  was' voted  at  once  a  failure.  I  was 
now  asked  to  put  a  mental  question,  which  I  declined 
to  do,  but  produced  two  sealed  envelopes  which  I 
had  numbered  severally  1  and  2,  and  requested  that 
the  spirits  would  answer  the  question  contained  in 
the  envelope  marked  No.  1,  the  answer  to  be  taken 
down  both  by  my  spiritual  and  sceptical  friends. 
The  table,  after  some  considerable  fencing,  proposed 
to  read  my  question  instead  of  answering  it.  I 
agreed  to  this,  but  took  good  care  the  envelope 
should  not  be  put  out  of  my  sight.  I  was  then 
requested  to  point  out  the  letters  of  the  alphabet, 
which  I  objected  to ;  but  the  table,  on  being  con- 
sulted by  the  medium,  would  answer  no  one  but  me. 
I  then  took  especial  care  to  time  myself  in  pointing 
out  the  letter,  so  that  no  particular  emphasis  should 
be  made  on  one  letter  more  than  another.  After  a 
great  deal  of  trying  back  again,  and  questions  asked 


LETTER    XXXIII.  135 

if  the  spirits  did  not  mean  some  otliei*  letter  than 
the  one  the  table  tilted  at,  it  was  indicated  that 
the  whole  question  was  read,  and  on  putting  the 
letters  together,  the  following  sentence  was  made  : 
— "  By  them  all,  you  wil  soon  be  con  in  the  next 
world  j"  which  my  spiritual  friend  interpreted  as — 
"  By  them  all,  you  will  soon  be  converted  in  the 
next  world."  I  then  opened  the  envelope,  and  read 
the  question  it  contained,  which  was,  "  Where  is  my 
deceased  son  buried  ?"  The  medium  and  company 
present  admitted  it  was  a  failure,  and  said  they  were 
unfortunate  that  evening.  The  medium  then  pro- 
posed to  bring  up  the  spirit  of  my  son,  which  1  at 
once  declined.  During  the  time  the  words  were 
being  tilted  out  (for  there  was  no  rapping),  every 
attempt  was  made  on  the  part  of  the  table,  spirit,  or 
medium,  to  draw  attention  from  the  matter  in  hand, 
by  raising  the  table  several  inches  from  the  floor,  to 
the  great  astonishment  of  the  old  gentleman,  the  de- 
light of  my  spiritual  friend,  and  disgust  of  myself. 
There  were  several  persons  with  their  hands  on  the 
table  and  their  feet  beneath  it,  and  I  really  attributed 
the  lifting  motion  to  material  aid  rather  than  spiritual 
endeavour.  I  was  determined  not  to  be  juggled, 
and  rated  the  table  for  not  behaving  itself  in  a  more 
seemly  manner  and  finishing  its  task.  The  old 
gentleman,  admitting  the  utter  fuilui'e  of  the  answers, 
asked  me  if  1  could  account  for  the  rising  of  the 
tabk',  wlicn  my  sceptical  friend  replied  that  it  was 
done  by  one  of  the  ladies,  nmch  to  their  horror. 
They  inmicdiatcly  challenged  him  to  do  it,  which  he 


13G 


AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 


readily  undertook,  and  placing  his  hands  on  the  top 
of  the  table,  and  his  foot  at  the  base  of  the  pillar, 
between  the  claws,  raised  the  table  easily.  Of  course; 
they  denied  they  had  adopted  any  such  means,  but 
they  failed  to  convince  me  of  the  truth  of  their  asser- 
tion. I  preferred  the  rational  material  explanation 
to  the  spiritual  one.  The  old  gentleman  then  told 
me  that  he  had  seen  that  table  go  about  the  room 
with  the  fingers  of  some  persons  scarcely  touching 
it.  I  immediately  attempted  the  same  feat,  and  re- 
quested the  company  to  observe  my  hands  and  wrists, 
not  a  muscle  or  sinew  of  which  showed  signs  of 
action,  and  yet  I  propelled  the  table  all  over  the 
room,  apparently  without  effort,  much  to  the  gentle- 
man's amazement,  who  wished  to  make  a  medium  of 
me,  which  honour  I  at  once  repudiated.  Thoroughly 
surprised  at  the  credulity  and  superstition  of  the 
believers,  I  left  the  house,  astonished  indeed  that 
men,  apparently  in  their  senses,  should  be  so  easily 
imposed  upon,  and  be  ready  to  assist  in  imposing  on 
others.  In  conclusion,  I  challenge  all  the  mediums, 
Mr.  Home  included,  to  answer  six  questions  which  I 
will  enclose  in  sealed  envelopes.  Till  they  can  do 
this,  I  do  not  think  the  wonderful  statements  made 
worth  consideration. — I  remain,  sir,  yours,  &c. 

James  Hoppey. 
18,  Gresse  Street,  Tottenham  Court  Road, 


LETTER    XXXIV.  137 


XXXIV. 

Sir, — To  me  it  is  a  matter  of  astonishment,  that 
in  England  and  the  United  States — nations  which 
pride  themselves  on  the  study  and  knowledge  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures — there  should  be  so  many  persons 
who  do  not  see  that  to  consult  the  dead,  to  seek  the 
truth  from  the  dead,  to  evoke  departed  spirits  with 
a  view  to  obtain  a  sensible  manifestation  of  their 
presence,  and  a  sensible  response  to  questions  pro- 
posed, or  even  to  intend  and  to  attempt  to  do  this, 
though  without  any  visible  result,  is  a  very  grievous 
sin.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  sin  of  necromancy.  The 
word  itself,  as  every  Greek  scholar  at  once  sees,  ex- 
presses exactly  the  very  thing  which  is  now  disguised 
under  the  name  of  spiritualism,  and  which  is  now 
gaining  so  awful  an  extension.  Now,  is  there  any 
sin  more  severely  denounced  and  punished  in  the 
sacred  writings  than  this  sin  of  necromancy  ?  Let 
us  see : — 

"  Neither  let  there  be  found  among  you  any  one 

that    consulteth  soothsayers,  or  ob- 

serveth  dreams  and  omens,  neither  let  there  be  any 
wizard. 

"  No  charmer,  nor  any  one  that  consulteth  py- 
thonic  spirits,  or  fortune-tellers,  or  that  sceketh  the 
truth  from  the  dead. 

"  For  the  Lord  abhorreth  all  these  things,  and  for 
these  abominations  he  will  destroy  them  at  thy 
coming." — Deuteronomy,  xviii.  10,  11,  12. 


138  AN    EXPOSITION    OP    SPIRITUALISM. 

I  quote  the  Douay  version.  The  Anglican  runs 
thus  :  "  Or  that  useth  divination,  or  an  observer  of 
times,  or  an  enchanter,  or  a  witch,  or  a  charmer,  or 
a  consulter  with  famiUar  spirits,  or  a  wizard,  or  a 
necromancer.  For  all  that  do  these  things  are  an 
abomination  unto  the  Lord  ;  and  because  of  these 
abominations  the  Lord  thy  God  doth  drive  them  out 
from  before  thee."  The  Vulgate  expresses  the  sin 
thus — "  aut  qui  quserat  a  mortuis  veritatem."  The 
Septuagint — "interrogating  the  dead.^' 

So  much  for  the  denunciation ;  now  for  an  instance 
of  the  punishment.  Saul  was  condemned  for  the 
crowning  sin  of  consulting  the  witch  of  Endor — in 
modern  parlance,  a  medium ;  and  for  desiring  to 
evoke,  through  that  medium,  the  departed  spirit  of 
Samuel ;  thus  violating  the  law  which  he  himself,  in 
the  former  part  of  his  reign,  had  rigorously  enforced, 
of  "  cutting  off  those  that  have  familiar  spirits  and 
the  wizards  out  of  the  land.'^  I  leave  aside  the 
disputed  point  whether  it  was  really  the  spirit  of 
Samuel  which  by  Divine  permission  appeared,  or 
otherwise.  The  fact  of  Saul  applying  to  a  "  me- 
dium" to  communicate  with  the  dead  was  his  crime. 
The  Scripture  expressly  says  so  :  — 

"  So  Saul  died  for  his  iniquities,  because  he  trans- 
gressed the  commandment  of  the  Lord  which  he 
had  commanded,  and  kept  it  not;  and  moreover  con- 
sulted also  a  witch. 

"  And  trusted  not  in  the  Lord  :  therefore  he  slew 
him,  and  transferred  his  kingdom  to  David,  the  son 


LETTER   XXXIV. 


139 


of    Issai."  —  1    Paralipomenon    (Anglican   version 

'^  Chronicles'^.  ^-  13. 

The  Anglican  version  has  : — "  So  Saul  died  .  .  . 

also  for  asking  counsel  of  one  that  had  a 

familiar  spirit  to  inquire  of  it,  and  inquired  not  of 
the  Lord ;  therefore  he  slew  him." 

What  else  then  are  we  to  deduce  from  this  testi- 
mony of  Holy  Writ  but  the  sinfulness  of  necromancy, 
and  "  of  interro2:atin2:  the  dead  V  And  what  are 
we  to  think  of  the  multitude  of  strange  facts — for 
one  cannot  but  admit  that  some  are  facts,  and  not 
tricks  of  legerdemain— which  seem  to  give  evidence 
of  the  presence  of  the  departed  spirits  ?  Are  they 
really  the  acts  and  communications  of  the  souls 
evoked  ?  Not  a  bit  of  it.  The  departed  spirits  are 
in  the  hands  of  God  ;  either  for  beatitude  or  punish- 
ment ;  and  not  at  the  beck  of  presumptuous  man. 
It  is  all  the  work  of  Satan  and  his  angels — the 
"  spirits  of  wickedness  in  the  high  places" — "  the 
rulers  of  the  world  of  this  darkness" — of  the 
" business  that  walkcth  about  in  the  dark" — "the 
invasion  and  the  noon-day  devil."  It  is  the  work  of 
those  fallen  angels  who  are  constantly  occupied,  by 
Divine  permission,  for  our  trial,  in  deluding,  deceiv- 
ing, and  tempting  mankind.  In  short,  I  say  it 
boldly  as  a  Christian  priest,  it  is  diabolism.  Many, 
likewise,  arc  the  internal  evidences  of  its  diabolic 
origin  ;  such,  for  instance,  as  the  ridiculous  character 
of  the  manifestations — rapping  and  dancing  of 
tables,  &c.  Is  this  a  Divine  or  spiritual,  or  even  a 
serious  mode  of  giving  or  receiving  a  message  from 


liO  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

llic  awful  world  of  the  future  ?  Then,  again,  the 
practical  denial  of  hell ;  for,  as  far  as  I  have  read  of 
these  manifestations,  all  departed  spirits  are  more  or 
less  happy.  The  spirits  of  men  whose  morals  have 
been  very  questionable,  and  whose  lives  have  been 
anything  but  Christian,  perhaps  not  even  their  be- 
lief, are  all  supposed  to  be  at  liberty  to  come  and 
have  a  chat  vt'ith  any  medium  who  gives  them  an 
invitation ,  Very  different  was  the  rich  glutton  ; 
"  he  died  and  was  buried  in  hell.'^  He  was  neither 
permitted  himself  to  come,  nor  was  Abraham  allowed 
to  send  Lazarus  to  his  ''five  brethren,  lest  they  also 
come  into  this  place  of  torment." — Luke  xvi.  28. 
But  these  modern  necromancers  say,  "  Nous  avons 
change  tout  cela.^' 

John  Williams,  Catholic  Priest. 
Arno's  Court  Reformatory,  Bristol,  Oct.  16. 


XXXV. 


"The  mind  of  man  is  like  an  enchanted  glass,  full  of 
superstitions  and  imposture,  if  it  be  not  delivered  from 
them." — LoED  Bacon. 

Sir, — I  do  not  think  the  "spiritual  manifestations" 
have  made  much  way  into  the  region  of  facts  since 
we  discussed  them,  several  months  ago,  before ;  and 
all  sensible  people  had  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that 
what  is  true  in  them,  possibly  the  larger  portion,  is 


LETTER   XXXV.  141 

the  result  of  subjective  impressions  on  the  con- 
sciousness, and  what  is  factitious  and  fictitious  is  no 
more  worthy  of  serious  notice  than  the  feats  of 
Houdin,  or  of  the  acrobats  one  is  pained  to  see 
occasionally  on  the  top  of  poles  in  various  parts  of 
London.  There  is  a  fluukeyism  all  through  the 
present  discussion  at  one  side  that  is  very  unpleasant. 
What  Mr.  Home,  or  Mr.  Canti,  or  the  Man  in  the 
Moon  said  to  his  Imperial  Highness  the  Prince  Na- 
poleon or  the  Grand  Turk  must  be  a  natural  law  ; 
as,  also,  that  Prince  Adalbert  of  Bavaria  has  settled 
it  all,  as,  like  the  lady  at  Red  Lion  Square,  he  is  a 
medium  of  undoubted  virtue.  Mr.  Home  evidently 
understands  electro-biology,  and  mixes  it  up  clum- 
sily with  Houdinism,  and  men  like  my  esteemed 
friend,  Mr.  Howitt,  are  unable  to  perceive  (from  want 
of  medical  education)  where  one  comes  in  to  the  aid 
of  the  other.  Anybody  with  a  thimble-full  of 
chloroform,  and  one-tenth  of  his  Houdinisin,  might 
do  all  that  he  (Mr.  Home)  says.  Anyone  a  perfect 
master  of  mesmerism  or  electro-biology  would  suc- 
ceed without  the  chloroform.  Allied  to  this  flun- 
keyism  is  the  table- talk  of  peculiar,  quaint  -men, 
who  mystify  thentselves  and  others,  as  your  corre- 
spondent at  Malvern,  about  the  laws  of  spiritualism, 
Baconian  inductions,  and  sesquipedalian  pedantry  of 
that  kind.  What  laws  do  the  acrobats  in  the  streets 
off  the  Strand  bother  themselves  about  ?  Yet  they 
do  as  marvellous  things  as  Home  or  Houdin.  If  we 
could  remove  out  of  the  present  debate  this  omnc- 
ignotum-pro-magnifico  grandeur,   spiritualistic  laws 


143  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

and  mystification,  which    is   most   desirable,  there 
would  be  still  a  great  deal  of  a  most  interesting 
nature  to  discuss.     There  is  not  a  dozen  men  in 
London,  however,  like  Mr.   Lewes,  of  the   Cornhill 
Magazine,  Dr.  Carpenter,  Mr.   Faraday,  Dr.  Brown 
Sequard,  Sir  B.  Brodie,  who  thoroughly  understand 
the  nervous  system  and  the  principles  of  subjective 
and   objective    consciousness;     consequently,    such 
shallow  unscientific  triflers  as  those  in  Punch  and 
Once  a  Week  merely  put  the  cart  before  the  horse  ; 
they  excite  idle  curiosity,  and  are  the  best  means  of 
spreading  "  Houdinism."      The  article  in  "  Black- 
wood" is  better,  but  one  can  see  it  is  violently  one- 
sided, but  admits  it  is  puzzled.     To  remain  neuter 
in  such  controversies,  as  your  paper  does,  as  admir- 
ably observed  by  Locke,  is  the  proper  condition  of 
the  understanding.     If  there  be  a  natural  fact  or 
truth  in  question  it  will  vindicate  itself.     I  think, 
too,  be  it  said  with  reverence,  we  might    get  rid  of 
Tertullian,  Sir  David  Brewster,  Lord  Brougham,  and 
Deuteronomy,  in  the  discussion.     It   is  highly  pro- 
bable that  you  could  get  three  or  four  baronets  or 
lords  to  sit  round  a  table,  and  before  fifteen  minutes 
have  them  mesmerised  by  staring  at  any  single  thing 
on  the  table.      They  need   only  hold  their  breath, 
keep  up  a  fixed  stare,  and  be  told  to  fix  their  mind 
on  what  is  well  known  in  medical  works  as  a  "  pro- 
minent idea."     That  idea  would  be  that  a  certain 
spirit  would  appear.      Forthwith  the  spirit  would 
appear  and  float  about,  but  whether  a  subjective  or 
objective  vision,  as  I  explained  it  to  Mr.  Howitt,  not 


LETTER   XXXVI.  143 

one  of  these  puzzled  non-medical  baronets  or  Ter- 
tuUianists  could  tell.  Such  persons  once  partially 
mesmerised  would  be  unaware  of  it  themselves,  and 
you  might  play  any  tune  on  an  accordion  to  them 
exactly  as  to  a  somnambulist.  They  would  hear  it, 
but  could  not  see  it. — Yours, 

Charles  Kidd,  M.D, 
Sackville  Street,  W.,  Oct.  19. 


XXXVI. 


Sir, — Thanking  you  for  the  insertion  of  my  letter 
in  your  this  day's  impression,  I  think  you  must 
agree  with  me,  after  perusal  of  Mr.  J.  M.  Gully's, 
M,D.,  communication,  that  that  portion  of  my  letter 
not  published  should  have  been  allowed  to  appear. 

Mr.  Gully  writes  : — "  We  were  complete  masters 
of  our  senses,"  in  proof  of  which  he  proceeds  to 
inform  us  that  at  one  of  the  spiritual  meetings  he 
was  witness  to  the  sight  of  "a  man  between  ten  and 
eleven  stone  in  weight  floating  about  the  room  for 
many  minutes!"  and  indignantly  denies  the  sugges- 
tion that  mechanical  or  other  means  were  applied  to 
effect  this  deception ;  and  yet,  a  few  paragraphs 
further  on,  he  states  "  that  even  when  the  room  was 
comparatively  darkened,  light  streamed  through  the 
window  from  a  distant  gas-lamp  outside,  between 
which  gas-lamp  and  our  eyes  Mr.  Home's  form 
passed,   so  that  we  distinctly  perceived  his  trunk. 


144  A\    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

and  limbs,   &c.     His  foot  once  touched  my  head 
when  he  was  floating  above." 

So  then  the  mystery  is  solved.  For  what  purpose 
was  the  room  "  comparatively  darkened/'  it  having 
previously  been  in  a  blaze  of  light  ?  If  Mr.  Home 
could  really  float  round  a  room  suspended  in  mid- 
air, why  not  do  so  in  a  "  blaze  of  hght,'^  so  that  his 
admirers  could  have  seen  his  gracious  countenance 
smiling  benignantly  down  upon  their  up-turned 
faces  ?  Why  only  let  them  see  "  his  trunk  and 
limbs  ?"  They  only  saw  the  "  trunk  and  limbs" 
because  the  head  was  vainly  trying  to  make  its  way 
through  the  ceiling,  by  the  natural  affinity  of  hy- 
drogen to  escape  upwards.  Here  we  have  a  gentle- 
man "  complete  master  of  his  senses,"  in  a  "  darkened 
room,"  actually  mistaking  a  balloon  figure  of  a  man, 
inflated  with  gas,  for  the  ten  or  eleven  stone  weight 
]\Ir.  Home,  in  propria  persona.  Many  years  since 
the  gamins  of  this  metropolis  were  highly  delighted 
by  the  sight  of  such  a  figure  floating  over  the 
house-tops,  having  ascended  from  one  of  the  public 
gardens  on  the  occasion  of  a  fete  the  reverse  of 
spiritual.  Gentlemen  of  the  jurjr,  after  the  evidence 
given  by  the  preceding  witness,  it  would  appear 
needless  to  carry  the  case  further ;  he  has  been  im- 
posed upon  by  the  substitution  of  an  inflated  figure 
of  a  man  to  represent  solid  flesh  and  blood.  The 
verdict  was — "  We  find  that  the  deponent  has  been 
imposed  upon  by  the  undue  development  of  a  par- 
ticular organization  commonly  called  the  '  organ  of 
wonder/  or  '  love  of  the  marvellous.'  " 


LETTER   XXXVI.  145 

As  to  the  "  accordion  trick/'  although  no  one  in 
the  room  could  play  it,  yet  some  one  outside  the 
room  could ;  and  a  certain  proof  of  this  is  supplied 
by  his  own  words  in  describing  the  music,  "  It  \va-^, 
at  others  distant  and  long-drawn,"  "  the  instrument 
played,  too,  at  distant  parts  of  the  room  many  yards 
away,"  &c. ;  in  fact,  just  as  would  be  produced  by  a 
performer  playing  the  instrument  while  walking  up 
and    down  a  room  underneath  that  in  which  the 
"nervous"  gentlemen  were  being  mesmerised.     Did 
this  occur  in   a  "comparatively-darkened"   room? 
As  to  the    gentleman  whose    deceased    father  was 
partial  to  the  tunes  of  "  Ye  banks  and  braes,"  and 
"  The  last  rose  of  summer,^'  it  is  wonderful  how  he 
could  keep  his  countenance  during  the  performance. 
Perhaps  in  the  "  comparatively-darkened  room"  the 
merry  twinkle   of  his  eye  was  not  observ^ed.     The 
scene  must  have  been  rich.     Would  that  I  had  been 
there  to  have  noted  the  expression  on  the  faces  of 
the  actors  and  audience  who  "  were  complete  masters 
of  their  senses  !" 

I  perfectly  coincide  with  Dr.  Gully,  that  we  may 
be,  and  probably  are,  on  the  point  of  making  many 
wonderful  discoveries ;  but  of  this  be  assured  that, 
"  From  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous  there  is  but  one 
step"  down  which  the  gentlemen  who  supposed 
themselves  "  complete  masters  of  their  senses"  have 
fallen. — I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  E.  A.  llAunui. 
17,  Liverpool  Terrace,  Islington,  Oct.  17. 

L 


146  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 


XXXVII. 

'-  "We  talk  of  a  credulous  vulgar  without  always  recol- 
lecting that  there  is  a  vulgar  in  credulity  which  in  hi;- 
torical  matters,  as  well  as  in  those  of  religion,  finds  it 
easier  to  doubt  than  to  examine,  and  endeavours  to  as- 
sume the  credit  of  an  esfrit  fort,  by  denying  whatever 
happens  to  be  beyond  the  very  limited  comprehension  of 
the  public." — Sib  Waltee  Scott.  Introduction  to  "Fair 
Maid  of  Perth." 

Sir, — Your  correspondents   are   upon    such  full 
cry  against   the   poor   spiritualists,    who,    notwith- 
standing, do  not  stand  in  any  awe  of  them,  that  I  fear 
they  are  in  too  headlong  a  chase  to  pause,  and  just 
look  at  one  another.     They  could  not  readily  see  a 
more  diverting  spectacle,  nor  how  completely  they  are 
verifying  the  old  adage,  "  Give  a  man  enough  rope," 
&c.    Now,  spiritualism  can  be  but  one  thing,  but  your 
"  musical  pack'^  have  made  it  out  already  to  be  a 
dozen  different  things.     With  one,  it  is  nothing  at 
all;  with  a  second,  it  is  the — devil ;  with  a  third,  it 
is  Reichenbach's  od-force,  and  a  very  odd  force  it 
must  be,  if  it  be  half  the  things  they  say  it  is  ;  with 
a  fourth,  it  is  only  the  result  of  the  organ  of  wonder ; 
with  a  fifth,  it  is  nothing  wonderful  at  all ;  with  a 
sixth,  it  can  smash  tables  and  carry  human  bodies 
of  upwards  of  a  hundred  weight  all  round  the  ceiling 
of  a  room  ;  with  a  sixth,  it  cannot  even  lift  a  chair 
or  a  stool,  but  requires  human  legs  and  feet  to  do 


LETTER   XXXVII.  147 

it;  with  a  seventh,  it  gives  surprising  messages; 
and  with  an  eighth,  it  cannot  even  stammer  out 
"  Jeremiah  ;"  with  a  ninth,  it  is  all  the  imagination ; 
and  in  the  tenth,  it  is  all  the  toe-joints,  and  the 
peroneus  longus;  an  eleventh  says,  it  has  no  laws ; 
and  a  twelfth,  that  it  has  no  facts ;  a  thirteenth, 
attributes  it  to  trickery ;  and  a  fourteenth,  to  fami- 
liar spirits  that  peep  and  mutter,  and  are  forbidden 
by  the  Scriptures. 

Can  spiritualism  be  all  these,  or  the  half  of  them  ? 
If  so,  the  organ  of  wonder  may  well  be  excited  in 
its  Islington  advocate,  and  he  must  be  converted  by 
it  into  another 

"  Katerfelto  with  his  Lair  on  end 
At  Ilia  own  wonders,  wondering." 

Sir,  I  gave  you  a  little  warning  of  what  would 
happen  if  you  admitted  to  the  discussion  men  who 
were  utterly  ignorant  of  the  subject.  Until  this 
discussion  is  disencumbered  of  the  class  so  happily 
styled  by  the  Americans  "  Know-Nothings,''  it  is 
impossible  to  ehcit  the  simple  truth.  For  my  part, 
I  shall  pass  all  the  crowd  of  Know- Nothings,  guessers, 
supposers,  and  assumcrs,  without  ceremony ;  and  as 
they  have,  happily,  buried  themselves  under  whole 
waggon-loads  of  verbiage,  without  one  real  fact 
amongst  a  dozen  of  them,  the  most  charitable  thing 
is — there  to  let  them  lie. 

Such  men  as  Mr.  Wilkinson,  Mr.  Coleman,  Dr. 
Gtilly,  and  Dr.  Coflyer,  speak  from  observation,  and 
no  mere  imaginations  can  answer  their  actualities. 


148  AN    EXPOSITION    OP    SPIRITUALISM. 

There  are  others  who  have  seen  a  little,  though  this 
is  sometimes  but  a  mere  potsherd  at  the  door  of 
spiritualism.  Those  deserve  their  share  of  notice. 
Such  is  Mr.  Hoppey,  who  has  been  to  a  medium, 
whom,  he  says,  I  deem  trust-worthy,  and  could  not 
get  "  Jeremiah^'  stammered  out  by  the  alphabet.  I 
am  sorry  for  him  :  he  was  unfortunate.  I  myself 
have  been  to  public  meetings,  and  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  have  seen  embryo  orators  able  to 
stammer  out  quite  as  little ;  but  that  did  not  abate 
my  faith  in  the  existence  of  such  speakers  as  Bright 
or  Gladstone;  and  I  would  venture,  from  what  I 
have  seen,  in  hundreds  of  instances,  to  suggest  to 
Mr.  Hoppey  whether  he  might  not  have  himself  to 
thank  for  his  disappointment.  If  he  or  any  of  his 
comrades  were  in  a  cavilling  spix'it,  not  candidly 
desirous  to  see  what  would  come,  we  are  pretty  cer- 
tain of  what  he  got.  There  are  laws,  as  every  one 
knows  who  knows  anything  of  sjiiritualism,  which 
regulate  all  these  phenomena,  as  everything  in  the 
universe  is  regulated.  Those  who  will  violate  these 
conditions  must  not  complain  of  disappointment. 
Our  Saviour  could  not  perform  many  miracles  at 
Nazareth  because  of  unbelief.  I  have  seen  plenty 
of  seances  rendered  abortive  by  such  ignorant  con- 
duct. Let  jMr.  Hoppey  go  to  a  glass  furnace  and 
pass  a  cold  air  over  the  metal,  when  in  the  act  of 
puration  into  some  vessel,  and  see  what  the  conse- 
quence will  be.  If  he  have  seen  one  failure,  thou- 
sands have  seen  the  most  splendid  successes.  Will 
Mr.  Hoppey's  abortion  annihilate  all  that  thousands 


LETTER    XXXVII.  149 

and  tens  of  tliousauds  have  seen  ?  Let  him  not 
beheve  it. 

I  will  now  giv^e  him  a  simple  fact,  occurring  at 
my  own  table.  A  distinguished  physician,  living 
upwards  of  a  hundred  miles  from  London,  who  had 
witnessed  some  few  demonstrations,  and  was  desirous 
further  to  test  spiritualism,  entered  my  room  unex- 
pectedly. I  expressed  my  surprise  to  see  him  there. 
He  said,  "  I  have  run  up  to  towni  on  most  pressing 
business ;  I  have  not  an  hour  to  spare,  but  I  would 
like  to  ask  a  question  through  your  little  table."  We 
sat  down.  There  was  immediate  evidence  of  spirit 
presence.  "  Can  I  put  my  question,"  asked  the 
doctor,  "  mentally,  so  that  I  myself  only  shall  know 
it  ?"  "  By  all  means,''  I  replied.  He  was  silent 
for  a  moment,  and  then  said,  "  I  have  put  my  ques- 
tion." Immediately  was  read  out  through  the  al- 
phabet, "  Jesus  Christ  has  taken  little  David  to  his 
rest." 

On  learning  this,  the  physician  stai-ted  up  in  much 
agitation,  exclaiming,  "  God  forbid  ! — No,  truly  !  no, 
that  cannot  be  true!"  I  said,  "Of  that  I  can,  of  course, 
saynothingjknowing  nothingof  what  youhavcasked.'^ 
He  then  said  again,  "  Good  God  !  I  have  been  attend- 
ing a  little  patient  whom  I  would  give  anything  to 
save.  His  death  would  break  his  ])arcnts'  hearts, 
and  blast  a  thousand  hopes !  But  there  was  a 
favourable  turn  in  his  complaint ;  I  had  business  of 
the  most  vital  importance  in  town  ;  I  thought  I 
might  run  uj)  for  a  few  hours,  and  now  this  answer 
Bays  he  is  dead."     "  Whether  that  be  so,"  X  ol>- 


150  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

served,  "  you  can  quickly  learn  from  the  iron  tele- 
graph ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  find  this 
spiritual  telegram  quite  correct."  He  pressed  my 
hand  in  silence,  took  the  railway,  homeward,  in  haste, 
and  found,  on  his  arrival,  that  the  child  had  died  an 
hour  or  two  before  he  put  his  question  at  my  table. 
That  is  but  one  out  of  millions — I  may  say  mil- 
lions— of  facts  equally  extraordinary  and  equally 
truthful.  Will  Mr.  Hoppey's  laughing  at  the  me- 
diums set  aside  that  one  fact  ?  And  what  is  the 
use  of  talking  of  od-force  or  organs  of  wonder,  in 
the  face  of  such  daily  facts?  A  word  about  od- 
force.  This  is  the  forlorn  hope  of  those  who,  after 
blustering  about  the  non-reality  of  spiritualism,  when 
they  see  more,  and  feel  the  ground  of  their  unbelief 
slipping  from  under  them,  clung  to,  as  the  last  twig, 
the  last  straw,  of  physicism  left  them ;  the  Jonas 
gourd  that,  springing  up  in  a  single  night  for  them 
to  cower  under,  is  sure  to  be  smitten  to  the  earth  by 
the  first  glow  of  morniug.  Od,  or  odalic  force,  is, 
as  I  read  Reichenbach,  a  simple,  imponderable  ele- 
ment, or  igneous  atmosphere,  as  the  name  in  Greek 
imports,  which,  like  electricity  and  magnetism,  per- 
forms certain  essential  functions  in  that  organism  by 
which  matter  is  made  co-operative  with  mind.  But 
Reichenbach  nowhere  pretends  that  this  fire  is  any- 
thing more  than  a  blind  element.  Spiritualism  is — 
an  intelligence.  In  all  communications  through 
the  table,  this  intelligence  displays  itself  as  forcibly^ 
as  palpably,  as  ratiocinatively,  as  the  soul  in  the 
human  body.      It  has   its  will   as  positive   as   the 


LETTER   XSXVII.  151 

human  will.  It  tells  things  which  no  one  present 
knows,  as  it  told  the  physician  his  secret  request. 
It  brings  messages  from  the  dead,  so  full  of  the 
stamps  and  tests  of  truth,  that  a  man  would,  indeed, 
be  mad  not  to  beheve  them.  These  intelHgences 
everywhere — over  mighty  continents  and  amongst 
multitudinous  peoples,  operating  at  the  same  mo- 
ment— declare  themselves  eveiywhere  to  be  spirits. 
What  right  have  we,  or  has  anyone,  to  disbelieve 
them  ?  What  right  have  we  or  anyone  to  set  them 
aside,  thus  speaking  from  day  to  day  and  from  year 
to  year  with  one  persistent  voice,  and  to  enthrone 
odforce,  or  automatic  action,  or  any  other  blind  and 
dumb  force,  in  their  places  ?  If  they  tell  us  the 
truth,  as  they  have  done  in  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  of  cases,  shall  we  not  rather  believe  them 
than  the  miscellaneous  and  mutually-conflicting  mob 
of  Know-Nothings,  who  show  themselves  so  utterly 
ignorant  of  what  these  intelligences  are  that  they 
attribute  to  a  score  of  vague  causes  ?  When  the 
clamour  of  know-nothingism  has  barked  itself  out, 
and  "  the  still  small  voice'^  of  reflection  is  again 
heard,  these  divine  intelligences  will  yet  be  standing 
their  ground,  and  give  ample  proofs  of  their  verity 
to  those  who  seek  in  earnest. 

Dr.  Gully  is  one  of  those  who  deserve  respectful 
attention.  He  admits  the  facts  from  personal  ob- 
servation, but  he  thinks  that  there  requires  yet  many 
links  of  the  chain  to  be  added  before  we  can  pro- 
nounce upon  the  causes.  That  is  true  of  Dr.  Gully's 
present  position  on  the  spiritual  plane.     When  Iw 


152  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

advances  he  will  find  that  all  these  links  have  lonij 
been  affixed  to  the  chain  by  innumerable  experisn.ents-. 
Spiritualists,  well  advanced,  do  not  involve  them- 
selves in  the  labyrinth  of  guesses  and  speculations. 
They  make  a  short  cut  to  the  facts.  They  see  spirits. 
They  do  not  need  to  ask  the  cause  of  this  or  that : 
there  stand  the  causes  palpably  before  them.  Ex- 
travagant as  this  may  seem  to  the  gross  and  outward 
who  have,  perhaps,  burst  from  the  chrysalis  state  of 
know-nothingism,  but  are  yet  only  on  the  steps  of 
the  portico  of  truth,  I  and  hundreds  know  persons 
who  all  their  lives  have  seen  and  conversed  with 
spirits  as  they  do  with  men.  They  give  the  most  in- 
controvertible proofs  of  it.  One  of  these  is  the  lady 
who  saw  the  apparition  at  Ramhurst,  in  Kent,  and  de- 
tailed to  Mr.  Dale  Owen  the  names  of  these  spirits, 
the  day  and  year  of  the  male  spirit^s  death,  as  given  by 
him,  before  any  one  in  the  parish  or  neighbourhood 
knew  that  any  one  of  that  name  had  ever  lived  there. 
Mr.  Owen  went  down;  by  much  labour  (see  his  ''Foot- 
falls") discovered  all  that  had  been  related  by  the 
spirits,  and  to  his  astonishment  discovered  in  the 
j)apers  in  the  British  Museum,  connected  with  this 
family,  the  date  given  by  the  spirit,  of  his  death, 
veiified  to  the  day.  Another  is  the  lady  on  whose 
evidence,  also  related  in  Mr.  Owen's  book,  com- 
bined with  the  evidence  of  another  person  unknown 
to  her  and  far  away,  yet  equally  derived  from  a 
ghost,  the  War  Office  had  to  correct  the  return  of 

Captain  W 's  death. 

These  are  hard  nuts  for  this  material  as:e  to  crack. 


LETTER    XSXVII.  153 

but  they  ave  immovable  facts.  And,  now,  the  Ca- 
thohc  priest,  Mr.  John  WiUiams,  comes  to  the  rescue. 
He  does  not  think  spiritualism  is  od-force,  or  any 
such  blind,  deaf,  and  dumb  thing :  he  boldly  pro- 
claims it  to  be  the  devil.  I  thank  you,  reverend 
sir;  you  have  at  once  bridged  over  Dr.  Gully's 
chasm,  and  landed  us  face  to  face  with  a  spirit, 
though  it  be  a  devil.  As  I  had  occasion  to  say  once 
before  on  this  subject,  that  is  a  great  advance— a 
real  substantial  gain.  Grant  us  a  devil,  and  you 
grant  us  the  whole  question.  You  admit,  at  least, 
that  it  is  spiritualism,  though  of  a  dusky  hue.  How 
many  thousands,  philosophized  out  of  all  faith  in 
Christ — men  believing  themselves  wise,  who  have 
gone  back  to  materialism — in  other  words,  to  some- 
thing more  dark  than  paganism,  would  rejoice  if 
they  could  have  proof  of  a  devil  !  Oh  !  to  them 
what  comfort  in  a  devil  !  for,  if  they  found  a  devil, 
they  would  know  that  God  and  his  angels  were  not 
far  off,  as  sure  as  there  must  be  a  sun  before  there 
can  be  a  shadow. 

But  why  should  the  Catholic  priests  take  all  the 
good  angels  to  themselves,  and  give  us  all  the  devils  ? 
The  Catholic  Church  has  been  believing  in  spiritual- 
ism, from  the  first  hour  of  its  existence  till  this  mo- 
ment. Open  its  many  and  ponderous  volumes  of 
the  "  Lives  of  the  Saints" — there  is  not  a  page  in 
them  which  is  not  crammed  with  saintly  miracles. 
Spirits  descend  to  others  as  well  as  St.  Cecilia,  and 
whisper  science  to  them,  and  support  them  in  trying 
emergencies.      The  saints  walk  on  water,    quench 


154  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

fires,  raise  the  dead — do  many  wonderful  things. 
What !  and  when  we  acknowledge  this  power,  and 
declare  that  we  participate  in  its  benefactions,  shall 
they  treat  us  rudely  and  say,  "  Stand  off,  heretics  ! 
ours  are  angels,  yours  are  devils  ?"  It  would  be 
hard  to  persuade  us  that  those  saintly  inspirations 
which,  through  Dominic,  and  Loyola,  and  others, 
preached  fire  and  annihilation  to  Protestants — which, 
under  that  precious  Ferdinand  II.,  exterminated  a 
whole  nation  in  Bohemia,  came  from  God  or  his 
angels  !  Let  us  not  reproach  each  other  ;  let  us  to 
our  own  Master  be  content  to  stand  or  fall. 

But  Mr.  Williams  quotes  a  great  deal  from  the 
Scriptures — (see  his  letter  of  the  15th) — to  show  us 
that  all  communications  with  the  spirits  of  the  dead 
were  forbidden  to  the  Jews,  and  made  death  by  the 
law.  We  grant  him  every  word  of  it.  There  is 
nothing  more  notorious  than  that  the  Jews,  ever 
given  to  idolatry  and  necromancy,  were  forbidden 
this  intercourse ;  there  is  nothing  so  notorious  as 
that  Christ  himself  restored  this  intercourse,  and 
abrogated  this  law  of  Moses,  as  he  abrogated  many 
other  Jev/ish  institutions.  Oh,  Mr.  Williams  !  "art 
thou  a  master  in  Israel,  and  knowest  not  these 
things  V  Hear,  then :  it  is  not  the  first  time  that  I 
have  had  to  demolish  this  flimsy  sophism.  And 
let  the  reader  especially  note  this,  for  it  is  the  most 
remarkable  case  in  the  Sacred  history,  because  it 
demonstrates,  and  no  doubt  was  planned  by  our 
Saviour,  to  demonstrate,  the  express  abnegation  of 
the  Mosaic  law  regarding  the  spirits  of  the  dead. 


LETTER   XXXVII.  155 

Christ  abrogated  this  law  by  himself,  seeking  the 
spirit  of  Moses,  the  very  promulgator  of  that  law, 
and  leading  his  disciples  to  do  the  same.  Christ 
conducted  his  disciples,  Peter,  James,"  and  John,  up 
mto  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  and  introduced 
them  to  ]\Ioses  and  Elias,  both  spirits  of  the  dead. 
Christ  might  have  summoned  Moses  to  appear  before 
him  ;  but  no :  as  if  the  case  were  carefully  studied, 
this  law  against  "  seeking  to  the  dead"  was  to  be 
abolished.  He  goes  to,  seeks  to  the  spirit  of  the 
great  dead,  to  Moses,  the  very  man  who  prohibited 
such  an  act  by  the  law  in  question,  and  there  on  the 
Mount,  broke  the  law  before  his  face  !  Nay,  more, 
by  his  example,  he  taught  his  disciples,  the  future 
proclairaers  of  his  new  law  to  the  world,  to  do  the 
same.  It  must  be  confessed  that  there  is  no  such 
complete,  pointed,  and  striking  abrogation  of  a  law 
in  any  history,  sacred  or  profane.  The  Lord  of  Life, 
who  was  about  to  become  the  prince  of  spirits  of  the 
dead,  broke  this  law,  and  in  no  other  presence  than 
in  that  of  the  promulgator  of  that  law,  who  had  long 
been  a  spirit  of  the  dead,  and  again  in  the  presence 
of  those  selected  by  Christ  to  teach  this  great  act  to 
posterity.  And  the  disciples  found  it  so  good  for 
them,  that  they  desired  to  build  tabernacles,  and  re- 
main with  those  illustrious  dead.  Let  Mr.  Williams 
stand  up  face  to  face  with  this  fact,  and  in  a  manly 
spirit  confess  that  it  is  a  stone  of  testimony  rooted 
in  the  eternal  ground  of  tlie  Gospel. 

A  new  order  of  things  was  established  by  Chris- 
tianity :  our  departed  friends  were  allowed  to  come 


156  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

to  US,  and  to  minister  to  us  of  God's  spirit  and  the 
Divine  favour.  In  proof  of  this,  at  the  Crucifixion, 
the  spirits  of  the  dead  arose  and  went  into  the  city, 
and  appeared  to  many.  And  to  show  that  they  are 
spirits  of  the  dead,  who  come  as  those  witnesses  to 
whom  the  Cathohc  Church  has  dedicated  a  particular 
day  as  the  Festival  of  all  Angel  Guardians,  we  have 
St.  John,  in  the  Apocalypse,  declaring  that  such  was 
the  spirit  who  showed  him  those  glorious  visions  in 
Patmos  : — '^  And  when  I  had  heard  and  seen,  I  fell 
down  to  worship  before  the  feet  of  the  angel  which 
shewed  me  these  things.  Then  saith  he  unto  me 
See  thou  do  it  not :  for  I  am  thy  fellow  servant, 
and  of  thy  brethren  the  prophets.^'  —  Rev.  xxii. 
8  and  9.  And  mark,  here,  there  is  no  escape  from 
this  ;  the  last  essential  words,  showing  that  the  angel 
had  been  a  man  and  a  prophet,  are  most  literally 
translated  from  the  original.  We  claim,  therefore, 
as  much  as  the  Catholics,  the  mediumship  of  good 
angels.  We  ask  with  St.  Paul,  "Are  they  not  all 
ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to  minister  for  them  who 
shall  be  heirs  of  salvation  ?"  We  appeal  to  Christ's 
own  test  of  the  nature  of  those  ministrants.  "  By 
their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  What  are  these 
fruits  ?  Not  the  persecution  of  other  churches, 
not  bigotry  and  hardness  towards  one  another ;  not 
saying  to  our  neighbour,  as  the  Jews  said  to 
Christ,  "Thou  hast  a  devil;''  but  doing  that 
which  all  churches  and  all  mere  arguments  have 
failed  to  do,  convincing  and  converting  to  Christi- 
anity numbers  of  athcistSj  deists,  materialists,  and 


LETTER   XXXVII.  157 

indifferents  by  the  foolishness  of  these  despised 
phenomena. 

Lord  Bacon,  in  his  time,  had  well  considered  this 
subject  of  investigations  of  this  nature.  In  his 
"  Essay  on  the  Advancement  of  Learning,"  he  ob- 
serves : — 

"  It  is  otherwise  (that  is,  not  dangerous)  as  to  the 
nature  of  spirits  and  angels ;  this  being  neither  un- 
searchable or  forbid,  but  in  a  great  part  level  to  the 
human  mind  on  account  of  their  affinity.  We  are 
indeed  forbid  in  Scripture  to  worship  angels,  or  to 
entertain  fantastical  opinions  of  them,  so  as  to  exalt 
them  above  the  degree  of  creatures,  or  to  think  of 
them  higher  than  we  have  reason  ;  but  the  sober  in- 
quiry about  them  which  either  ascends  to  a  know- 
ledge of  their  nature  by  the  scale  of  corporeal  beings, 
or  views  them  in  the  mind  as  in  a  glass,  is  by  no 
means  forbid.  The  same  is  to  be  understood  of 
revolted  or  unclean  spirits ;  conversation  with  them, 
or  using  their  assistance,  is  unlawful,  and  much  more 
in  any  manner  to  worship  or  adore  them  ;  but  the 
contemplation  and  knowledge  of  their  nature,  power, 
and  illusions  appear  from  Scripture,  reason,  and  ex- 
perience to  be  no  small  part  of  spiritual  wisdom. 
Thus  says  the  Apostle: — ^' Stratafjeinatum  ejus  noa 
itjiiari  sumus."  And  thus  it  is  as  lawful,  in  natural 
theology,  to  investigate  the  nature  of  evil  spirits,  as 
the  nature  of  poisons  in  physics,  or  the  nature  of 
vice  in  morality," 

Sir,  I  mu.st  apologise  for  tlie  length  of  this  letter, 
but,  as  I  am  one  against    a   host,   I   cauiiot   notice 


158  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

everything  in  a  few  lines.  Having,  however,  slain 
another  hecatomb,  I  will  just  lay  myself  down,  draw 
up  my  legs  a  little,  and — wait  for  more. — Yours,  &c., 

William  Howitt. 


XXXVIII. 


SiE, — The  question  which  naturally  suggests  it- 
self to  the  mind — on  mature  reflection — after  having 
witnessed,  heard,  and  felt  the  spiritual  manifesta- 
tion, is  this — Was  there  even  the  remotest  chance  of 
having  been  deceived  ?  I  have  critically  and  severely 
examined  the  subject  in  this  point  of  view ;  and,  to 
make  assurance  doubly  sure,  have  attended  since,  on 
no  less  than  four  occasions,  at  different  houses,  and 
under  circumstances  which  would  render  it  incon- 
ceivably more  difficult  to  explain  away,  by  any  sup- 
posed deception,  than  to  admit  the  truth,  with  all 
its  apparent  incongruities. 

It  has  been  naively  remarked  that  I  was  the  victim 
of  my  own  discovery — "  induced  mental  hallucina- 
tion.'" I  must,  therefore,  in  justice  to  myself,  state 
that  my  conviction  has  not  been  a  sudden  one,  for  it 
is  now  over  eight  years  since  I  first  saw  the  first 
table-turning  in  San  Francisco,  California,  by  Dr. 
Young  of  that  city.  I  attributed  the  "  tapping"  of 
the  table  to  involuntary  muscular  action,   and  the 


LETTER   XXXVIII.  159 

supposed  conversation  I  had  with  the  spirit  of  Dr. 
Franklin  I  explained  as  the  reflex  of  the  operator's 
mind.  Though  I  witnessed  this  on  several  occasions, 
it  made  no  serious  impression,  and  was  soon  dis- 
missed from  my  thoughts. 

Being  in  New  York,  in   1853,  several  gentlemen 
at  the  hotel  and  myself  called  at  the  house  of  a 
medium — Mrs.  Cohen — who  received  us  without  any 
formality,   when  we    all  were  desired   to   take  our 
seats  round  a  large  table.     On  this  occasion  no  at- 
tempt was  made  to  produce  any  physical  manifesta- 
tions.    We  heard  a  very  small  tapping,  as  if  pro- 
ceeding from  the  under  surface  of  the  table — very 
much  like  that  produced  by  striking  with  the  end  of 
a  pencil-case.     Each  one  took  his  turn  to  have  com- 
munion with  some  supposed  departed  friend.     My 
turn  came  about  the  fourth,  when  I  mentally  desired 
that  a  friend  of  mine,  who  had  died  in  Sacramento, 
California,  in  1852,  should  appear.     The  alphabet 
being  on  the  table,  I  was   desired  to  point  to  each 
letter,  when  his  name  was  correctly  spelled.     I  then 
said,  "  Dr.  Yearly,  what  did  you  give  me  in   Cali- 
fornia V     The  word  "  pillow"   was  given,  also  the 
word  "  pipe."     This  was  correct ;  all  present  declared 
that  the  responses  were  equally  so  in  each  individual 
case.     I  was  impressed   with   the  coincidence,  but 
ascribed  the  phenomena  as  a   wonderful  example  of 
"  thought  reading." 

My  friend  Mr.  Coleman  met  me  in  the  city  of 
London  some  four  or  five  years  since,  and  nar- 
rated  some  of   his  experiences   in  sj)irituul    mani- 


tnO  AN    EXPOSITION   OP   SPlRtfUALlSM. 

festations.  I  smiled  at  his  credulity ;  all  he  said 
appeared  to  me  as  simply  preposterous  —  though 
I  h:  d  the  most  implicit  confidence  in  his  integrity, 
and  that  he  would  be  the  last  man  to  relate  that  which 
he  did  not  believe  to  be  true. 

I  have  written  and  lectured  on  the  modes  of  pro- 
ducing the  feats  of  the  Egyptian  magicians,  the 
fakirs  of  India,  and  know  how  most  of  the  wonderful 
tricks  are  performed  by  noted  conjurers ;  therefore, 
allow  me  to  state  that  no  man  is  less  liable  to  be  im- 
posed upon  than  myself. 

I  remember,  some  two  years  since,  seeing  in  Paris 
an  automatic  exhibition  of  an  extraordinary  character. 
One  figure,  that  of  a  child,  was  made  to  raise  itself 
up  in  the  cradle,  move  its  eyes  and  arms,  and  open 
its  mouth  and  cry,  "  Mama,  mama."  There  was  a 
duck  which  plunged  its  head  into  the  water,  swam 
about  and  opened  its  bill,  and  made  the  sound  of 
"  quack,  quack."  So  with  a  sheep.  Had  any  of 
these  figures  been  placed  in  their  natural  accustomed 
localities  without  any  intimation  that  they  were  me- 
chanical contrivances,  no  ordinaiy  superficial  ob- 
server but  would  have  declared  he  had  seen  a  real 
child,  a  living  duck,  or  a  sheep — they  were  really 
fine  imitations — but  this  does  not  follow  that  there 
are  no  children,  no  ducks,  or  sheep.  Yet  this  line 
of  argument  is  attempted  to  be  used,  that  because 
some  adroit  acts  of  legerdemain  evade  ordinary 
detection  these  spiritual  manifestations  are  decep- 
tions. The  real  diamond  exists,  though  imitations 
are  so  fine  that  it  requires  a  close  examination   to 


LETTER  SSSVIII.  161 

distinguish  the  true  from  the  false.  A  forgery  or 
imitation  pre-supposes  a  real  genuine  coin. 

Since  my  last  communication,  I  have  witnessed 
these  manifestations  over  and  over  again,  under  such 
circumstances  that  trickery  would  have  been  impos- 
sible— that  is,  supposing  the  phenomena  explainable 
on  any  such  grounds.  I  have  myself  held  with  one 
hand  an  accordion  by  the  valve  end,  my  feet  against 
those  of  the  medium — her  hands  and  my  other 
hand  on  the  table — the  keys  of  the  instrument  being 
downwards.  I  cannot  perform  in  the  least  on  any 
musical  instrument,  but  the  most  beautiful  plaintive 
air  was  played  that  I  ever  heard  in  my  life — the 
notes  brought  forth  were  of  the  most  silvery,  atten- 
uated character,  then  the  deep  bass,  executed  in  a 
style  rarely  if  ever  excelled  !  I  felt  the  pulling  and 
pushing  up  of  the  instrument  as  distinctly  as  I  know 
of  any  other  fact ;  besides,  it  was  done  in  the  pre- 
sence of  some  dozen  persons,  in  the  house  of  a 
clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  this  was 
the  first  time  that  any  such  things  had  been  done 
there.  As  to  preparation  or  contrivance,  this  was 
entirely  out  of  the  question,  for  I  had  pre-arranged 
some  of  the  experiments,  if  I  may  use  that  word, 
prior  to  my  arrival,  unknown  to  any  one  save  my- 
self. 

A  curious  and  quite  unexpected  circumstance  oc- 
curred at  a  meeting  on  Tuesday  evening,  at  the 
house  of  a  gentleman  in  St.  James's  Street,  Picca- 
dilly. The  glasses  on  the  sideboard,  away  from 
persons  several  feet,   all   were  struck  and    jingled 

M 


163  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

together.  At  the  request  of  persons  present,  they 
also  responded  intelligently  to  several  questions  put ; 
besides,  very  loud  knocks  on  the  wall  were  made,  at 
an  elevation  of  at  least  nine  feet. 

A  gentleman  present  asked  the  spirits  to  put  three 
shillings  into  a  tumbler,  which  was  placed  under  the 
centre  of  a  very  large  loo  table,  at  least  live  feet  in  dia- 
meter. After  a  few  minutes  we  all  heard  one  of  the 
shillings  dropped  into  the  glass,  then  the  other,  and 
after  four  or  five  minutes,  the  third.  I  took  the 
glass  from  under  the  table  with  the  three  shillings 
in  it ;  this  being  replaced,  the  spirits  were  requested 
to  shake  the  tumbler  with  the  money  in  it,  while  a 
gentleman  played  on  the  piano ;  it  was  done  in  tune 
to  the  music. 

"  Can  such  things  be, 
And  overcome  us  lilie  a  summer's  cloud. 
Without  our  special  wonder  ?" 

The  communications,  so  far  as  my  experience  goes, 
were  unexceptional,  and  worthy  of  respect.  I  give 
two,  purporting  to  be  sent  to  me  by  the  spirit  of  a 
beloved  relative  : — 

"  All  sinners  will  see  the  salvation  of  mankind 
through  the  instrumentality  of  us — the  spirits.^' 

Next — "Be  calm  and  collected,  and  all  things 
will  work  together  for  good. — R.  M.^' 

As  to  the  cause  or  philosophy  of  these  manifes- 
tations, I  have  no  doubt  it  will  be  revealed^  when 
we  have  collected  and  observed  the  facts,  under  va- 
rious conditions;  as  I  mentioned  in  my  last  letter. 


LETTER   XXXVIII.  163 

No  question  but  that  violent  antagonism  destroys  or 
disarranges  the  nervous  state  essential  to  success,  it 
beiug  imperatively  requisite  to  produce  marked  re- 
sults, and  also  that  the  most  favourable  mental 
atmosphere  must  be  present. 

"What  would  be  thought  of  a  person  who  expected 
to  have  the  various  beautiful  phenomena  of  electricity 
and  electro-magnetism  exhibited  when  the  delicate 
apparatus  necessary  had  been  broken  by  a  clownish 
sceptic,  who  demanded  that  these  experiments  should 
be  performed  independent  of  the  conditions  ?  Of 
course  failure  would  follow  :  but  the  professor  would 
not,  therefore,  be  called  an  impostor.  Still,  how 
often  has  it  happened  that  the  absence  of  some  con- 
dition has  prevented  the  anticipated  phenomena  in 
our  colleges  and  universities  ? 

Impostors,  charlatans,  necromancers,  have  existed 
in  all  ages  of  the  world,  but  from  that  circumstance 
we  do  not  reject  the  discoveries  of  Euclid,  Archi- 
medes, Newton,  Franklin,  Galileo,  Harvey,  Jenner, 
though  they  had  to  contend  against  the  obtuse  dis- 
position which  marks  the  introduction  of  any  dis- 
covery. 

Had  Sir  Isaac  Newton  announced  to  the  world, 
when  he  first  saw  the  falling  of  an  apple,  that  that 
simple  fact  was  connected  with  the  laws  which  govern 
the  universe,  he  might  have  been  asked,  "  What 
use  are  these  investigations  V — also,  when  he  an- 
nounced that  the  diamond  was  a  combustible  sub- 
stance, because  it  refracted  light — though  above  a 
century  elapsed  before  his  inductive  reasoning  was 


J64i  AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SPIRITUALISM. 

verified  by  tlie  agency  of  the  hydro-oxygen  blow- 
pipe. Every  one  is  aware  that  nearly  half  a  million 
was  expended  in  the  construction  and  laying  an 
electric  cable  across  the  Atlantic.  Messages  were 
exchanged  between  her  Majesty  and  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  though  thousands  of  miles  inter- 
vened. The  conditions  of  success  then  existed;  but 
subsequently,  from  a  want  of  these  conditions,  no 
result  followed,  it  became  a  failure.  No  one  accuses 
all  concerned  in  this  enterprise  of  being  impostors 
and  dupes  in  consequence  of  this  failure.  Had  any 
one  only  twenty  years  since  announced  the  possibility 
of  such  an  achievement,  would  he  not  have  been 
denounced  as  a  madman  or  a  fool?  Yes;  the  very 
notion  of  conveying  ideas  in  a  few  moments  under  the 
ocean  to  America,  and  holding  intercourse,  is,  a  priori, 
more  absurd  than  anything  that  may  be  said  of  the 
spiritual  manifestations. 

In  the  meantime,  your  numerous  correspondents 
require — demand  that  the  development  of  a  new 
truth  to  man,  should  come,  like  Minerva,  from  the 
liead  of  Jupiter,  full-grown  and  armoured  with  all 
the  perfected  conditions,  laws,  and  circumstances  for 
its  perfect  and  uniform  manifestations !  'Tis  true 
the  great  volume  of  Nature  is  open  to  all,  but  few 
are  vouchsafed  to  interpret  the  great  truths  therein 
contained. 

There  is,  truly,  one  undulation  only  from  the  sub- 
lime to  the  ridiculous.  Those  whose  writings  indi- 
cate a  preference  for  ^the  latter  course  are  merely 


LETTER    XXXIX.  165 

reflecting  the  impotence  of  their  own  powers,  which 
they  have  no  right  to  impose  on  the  world. 

Any  man  of  the  very  lowest  order  of  brain  can 
torture  the  most  splendid  truth  of  science  into  a 
jest  to  make  the  unthinking  laugh.  It  is  only  by 
constant  application  and  the  collection  of  facts  under 
a  great  variety  of  circumstances,  that  the  most  fa- 
vourable conditions  to  produce  the  spiritual  mani- 
festations will  be  ascertained.  Then,  and  not  till 
then,  will  results  be  produced,  before  which  every- 
thing yet  attempted  will  pale  by  its  comparative 
insignilicance.     More  anon. — Yours  truly, 

ROBEIIT   H.   COLLYER,  M.D. 

Beta  House,  8,  Alpha  Road,  St.  John's  Wood, 
October  19. 


XXXIX. 

Sir, — I  am  rather  amused  with  the  contents  of  a 
letter,  signed  "  James  Iloppey,"  in  your  impression 
of  yesterday. 

Certainly  if  the  credibility  of  spiritualism  de- 
pended upon  such  a  poor  and  feeble  investigation  as 
that  which  your  correspondent  has  described,  it 
would  have  little  chance  of  making  converts  of  sen- 
sible people.  If  I  had  never  seen  anything  more 
satisfactory  than  what  was  exhibited  in  IMr.  Iloppcy's 
presence,  1,  for  one,  would  never  have  become  a  be- 


166  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

liever;  but  as,  during  a  very  minute  and  laborious 
investigation,  now  extending  over  a  period  of  more 
than  six  years,  I  witnessed  all,  or  nearly  all,  the 
manifestations  naiTated  in  the  Cornhill  Magazine 
and  the  Spiritual  Magazine,  I  was  compelled,  in 
spite  of  my  prejudices  and  scepticism,  to  accept 
spiritualism  as  a  great  fact. 

I  would  recommend  your  correspondents  to  learn 
a  little  modesty  and  moderation  in  the  expression  of 
their  opinions.  I  did  not  venture  to  say  in  public 
w'hat  I  thought  of  spiritualism  until  after  I  had 
studied  the  subject  practically  and  patiently  for 
eighteen  months.  Wretched  phenomena,  like  those 
described  by  Mr.  Hoppey,  came  under  my  notice 
almost  daily.  I  will  make  the  sceptic  a  present  of 
them,  and  also  of  all  the  other  manifestations  that 
can  possibly  be  explained  away.  The  great  and 
overwhelming  phenomena  will  still  remain  to  de- 
monstrate the  truth  of  spiritualism.  These,  how- 
ever, appear  only  on  special  occasions,  and  under 
conditions  which  are  rarely  complete. — I  remain,  sir, 
your  obedient  servant, 

Newton  Crosland. 


XL. 

Sir, — As  the  above  subject  is  now  attracting 
some  attention,  the  following  facts  may,  perhaps, 
prove  interesting  to  a  few  persons. 


LETTER   XL.  167 

You  are  aware  that  T  have  long  been  deeply- 
interested  in  the  Arctic  question.  Now,  the  first 
time  that  question  came  strongly  before  me,  was  at 
the  end  of  1849,  w^hile  I  was  in  the  United  States. 
Owing  to  other  occupations  engrossing  my  mind,  I 
had  previously  paid  but  little  attention  to  the  subject. 
But  on  the  return  of  Sir  J.  C.  Ross's  unsuccessful 
relief  expedition,  my  thoughts  reverted  to  our  unfor- 
tunate fellow-countrymen  and  their  sad  fate.  It 
struck  me  then,  as  it  has  always  since  done,  that 
there  was  more  in  the  whole  matter  than  met  the 
public  eye,  or  that  men  who  were  not  deep  thinkers 
and  close  observers,  could  conceive.  In  my  life  I 
had  witnessed  too  many  instances  of  remarkable 
coincidences,  and  singular  results,  to  doubt,  even  had 
I  otherwise  been  a  sceptic,  the  mysterious  working 
— as  we  must  yet  call  such  working — of  divine 
power.  Consequently,  I  felt,  as  I  have  all  along 
felt,  that  we  in  this  land  who  profess  a  faith  in  what 
God  teaches  us  in  various  ways,  had,  in  the  matter 
of  the  Franklin  business,  set  at  naught  His  teaching, 
and,  in  a  manner,  mocked  Him.  Instead  of  the 
real,  the  practical,  the  sincere,  we  were  agaiu  at  work 
upon  the  old  system  of  subservience  to  the  great, 
the  ])owerful,  or  the  wealthy. 

I  did  not  then  know  anything  of  l)r.  King's  ad- 
mirable plans ;  but  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  relief 
of  the  Franklin  expedition  would  become  another 
Jessou  to  us,  even  as  God  himself  so  often  says  that 
''not  by  the  great  or  the  mighty"  shall  many  things 
of  a  peculiar  nature  be  accomplished. 


168  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITTJALISM. 

I  need  not  point  out  how  literally  this  has  been 
proved  in  the  Arctic  business.  The  simple  fact  is 
clear.  Had  Dr.  King's  offers  been  accepted,  as  they 
ought,  undoubtedly  this  lost  expedition  would  have 
been  saved,  and  the  country  not  have  had  to  pay  the 
million  of  money  so  uselessly  wasted. 

But,  reverting  to  myself,  I,  thinking  of  the  missing 
ones,  almost  instantly,  as  it  were,  had  them  all  before 
me,  exactly  as  we  now  know  them  to  have  been. 
The  locality  where  they  could  be  found ;  their  route 
thither ;  and  their  after-wanderings  were  so  strongly 
pictured  to  my  eye,  that,  almost  without  preparation, 
I  sent  a  plan  of  search,  based  upon  geographical 
science  and  reasoning,  which  I  felt  would  save  the 
struggling  remnant  then  existing.  That  plan  is 
patent  to  the  whole  world ;  and,  whatever  may  be 
said  of  it  or  its  author  and  his  ideas,  there  it  is,  and 
here  I  openly  state  the  fact  upon  which  it  was  pro- 
duced. In  the  Parliamentary  Arctic  Blue  Book  for 
1850,  at  the  latter  end,  will  be  found  my  letter  to 
Lady  Franklin,  and  any  examiner  may  soon  find 
how  correct  it  was. 

But,  yet  more.  In  three  days  after  a  notice  I 
received  to  join  an  expedition  in  England,  I  was  on 
my  way  thither,  still  deeply  impressed  with  what  had 
'io  strongly  come  before  my  fancy. 

In  June,  1850,  we  sailed  from  Aberdeen  for  the 
locality  I  was  so  anxious  to  search.  The  night  prior 
to  our  departure,  a  lady,  well-known  to  public  fame, 
called  me  to  her  i-oom,  and  communicated  what  to 
me  then  appeared  even  more  extraordinary  than  my 


LETTER  XL.  169 

own  waking  dream  on  the  subject.  She  requested 
me  to  put  down  in  my  note-book  the  particulars  she 
gave  me.  I  did  so.  They  are  here  before  me,  as 
written  that  very  night.  They  can  be  proved  by  the 
note-book  still  being  entire,  with  consecutive  leaves 
having  many  memoranda  relating  to  our  fitting  out. 

The  purport  of  those  particulars  is  as  follows  : — 

A  person  had  informed  this  lady  that  the  lost  ex- 
pedition would  be  found  in  a  direction  south  of  a 
passage  of  water  with  the  initials  B.  S.  (Barrow 
Straits).  One  ship  had  no  men  in  it.  Two  vessels 
looking  for  the  Franklin  crews  were  going  the  wi'ong 
way  (probably  the  Enterprise  and  Investigator,  then 
bound  for  Behring  Straits).  Other  information 
could  be  gathered  from  the  initials  E.  T.  (Erebus 
and  Terror),  S.  J.  F.  (Sir  John  Franklin),  N.  F.  and 
Victory,  G.  W.  and  Victoria,  and  from  an  outline  of 
the  whole  locality  which  was  furnished,  and  of  which 
I  hold  a  facsimile. 

Such  was  the  strange  information  given  to  me  the 
night  before  I  sailed.  How  far  it  has  been  singularly 
verified  everyone  conversant  with  Arctic  matters  can 
tell.  The  Erebus  and  Terror  were  south  of  Barrow's 
Straits,  and  not  north,  as  most  persons  strongly  be- 
lieved. They  were  in  Victoria  Channel,  and  at  Point 
Victory  a  record  giving  information  couceruiug  them 
had  been  deposited. 

Respecting  the  other  initials,  I  can  give  no  idea.  I 
but  relate  the  lacts  as  they  occurred   in   1850,  and 
refer  to  what  we  now  know  in  18G0. 
^   But,  yet  more.     In  August  of  the  same  year  in 


170  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

which  we  sailed^  we  w^ere  not  far  from  the  locality 
here  referred  to.  Only  about  250  miles  divided  ns 
from  the  place  I  had  so  strongly  before  my  eyes. 
Unfortunately,  it  was  determined  to  turn  back.  I 
entreated  permission  to  go  on  with  some  volunteers 
who  came  forward  from  the  crew  in  a  boat.  My 
request  was  refused,  and  as  I  was  only  second  in 
command,  I  had  to  yield.  But  I  saw  then,  as  I 
have  seen  ever  since,  the  sad  story  of  the  hapless 
ones  in  that  neighbourhood,  where  we  now  know  that 
even  at  that  time,  when  we  were  so  near,  some  might 
have  been  saved. 

In  the  account  of  that  voyage,  which  I  published 
on  our  return,  the  particulars  1  have  just  referred  to 
will  be  found ;  and  in  many  parts  of  the  book  allu- 
sions are  made  which  bear  out  what  I  am  saying. 
It  was  no  idle  thought  which  I  uttered  when,  as  can 
be  read,  I  stated  that,  "  I  see  in  fancy  some  hundred 
or  more  human  beings,  stretching  out  their  arms  to 
us,  that  we  might  snatch  them  from  their  misery/' 
Neither  is  it  a  mere  whim,  or  interested  feeling  alone, 
that  has  kept  me,  and  still  keeps  me,  ui'ging  for  re- 
newed search. 

In  1853,  a  gentleman  at  Sydney  tried  an  experi- 
ment upon  me,  by  what,  even  now,  I  do  not  under- 
stand. I  was  informed  that  mesmeric  influence  had 
been  used,  and  that  I  had  stated  some  particulars 
about  the  Franklin  expedition,  which  I  have  long 
ago  forgotten,  except  that  the  chief  himself  and  some 
of  his  officers  had  died,  but  several  still  survived. 

The  same  as  to  my  present  feelings  on  the  subject. 


LETTER  XL.  171 

No  one  can  accuse  me  of  not  going  into  figures  and 
facts ;  for,  in  my  late  pamphlet  on  the  last  Polar  ex- 
pedition, I  have  given  pages  of  hard,  solid,  eai'thly 
matter,  leaving  entirely  aside  the  constant  "  fancy'' 
in  my  brain.  Nevertheless,  if  I  do  get  up  there 
again,  search  will  be  made  in  certain  places  which 
that  "  fancy"  has  ever  pointed  out. 

I  could  give  some  other  singular  instances,  had  I 
permission  to  use  names  and  particulars ;  and  I  might 
have  referred  to  the  desn*e  I  have  expressed  of  re- 
maining for  a  time  amongst  the  Boothian  Esquimaux. 
This  desire  not  only  applies  to  the  last  expedition, 
but  to  science.  The  magnetic  pole  and  the  magnetic 
cun-ents  are  mysteries  which,  to  some  minds,  cannot 
be  other  than  deeply  attractive. 

Veiy  possibly  what  I  here  write  may  serve  to  do 
me  more  harm.  But  these  remarks  of  mine  will 
explain  to  many  who  know  me  how  it  is  I  have  so 
often  been  misunderstood.  A  "  dreamer,"  a  "  vision- 
ary," are  terms  frequently  applied  to  me.  But  what 
are  dreamers  and  visionaries  ?  1  could  name  one  or 
two  men  of  note  with  whom  I  have  been  closely 
acquainted  who  were  greater  "  dreamers"  than  ever 
I  could  be,  and  who  made  their  "  dreams"  and 
"visions"  of  benefit  to  their  fellow-men.  "A 
dreamer,"  a  "  visionary  I"  Bah  !  The  noblest  intel- 
lects in  the  universe  require  to  "  dream" — to  have 
"  visions" — to  sleep  and  be  abstracted  from  the  v/orld 
in  which  they  live,  ere  they  can  see  any  of  those 
brillianttruthsjOr  imbibe  those  god-like  beauties  of  the 
mind  for  which  their  names  afterwards  become  noted. 


172  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

No ;  a  mau  is  not  a  di'eamer  or  a  visionary,  in  the 
bad  construction  of  the  term,  who,  by  practical  tests, 
brings  his  "dreams"  and  "visions"  to  some  real 
and  tangible  good.  But  it  is  he  who  by  dreams  and 
visions  of  a  disordered  fancy,  or  of  a  base  mind, 
starts  ideas  as  facts,  without  daring  to  apply  those 
tests  of  science  and  experience  which  God  has  given 
us  to  gradually  learn  and  know  His  partly-hidden 
mysteries  !  Thus,  then,  let  no  one  despise  or  slight- 
ingly reject  the  strange  things  that  are  occasionally 
unfolded  to  us.  We  may  not  always  know  the  why 
or  the  wherefore,  but  he  who  observantly  traverses 
the  broad  earth — afar  off  or  near — will  often  see 
many  things  far  beyond  his  present  comprehension, 
and  seeing  them,  he  cannot  help  exclaiming  with 
one  of  old — "  Marvellous  are  thy  works,  0  Lord, 
and  that  ray  soul  knoweth  right  well.''^ 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  Parker  Snow. 
Home  Cottage,  St.  John's  Hill, 
near  Wandsworth,  Oct.  17. 


XLI. 


Sir, — As  Mr.  Howitt,  in  his  letter  on  "  Spiritual- 
ism'' in  your  impression  of  to-day,  has  thought  fit 
to  go  out  of  his  way  to  speak  ill  of  the  Jews,  perhaps 


LETTER   XLI.  173 

you  will  allow  me,  as  one  of  them,  to  say  a  few  words 
in  return  through  the  same  "  medium." 

He  says,  "  There  is  nothing  more  notorious  than 
that  the  Jews,  ever  given  to  idolatry  and  necromancy, 
were  forbidden  this  intercourse." 

Now,  infinite  wisdom  having  made  so  great  a  mis- 
take as  to  choose  for  a  ''  nation  of  priests"  such  a 
wicked  lot,  I  hope  I  may  not  be  thought  presump- 
tuous in  suggesting  that  Mr.  Howitt  himself  may 
have  made  a  slight  error. 

If  he  will  be  so  good  as  to  turn  to  Deuteronomy, 
xviii.,  9 — 14,  he  will  find,  that  instead  of  the  Jews 
being  specially  perverse  in  this  direction,  they  were 
cautioned  against  following  in  the  wake  of  the  other 
nations,  who  were  addicted  to  this,  perhaps  worst  of 
all  abominations,  and  were  told  that  in  consequence 
of  their  doing  so  they  were  driven  out  from  before 
us,  and  dispossessed  of  their  land. 

Mr.  Howitt  argues  as  if  it  were  wrong  for  Jews, 
and  Jews  only,  to  communicate  with  familiar  spirits, 
but  if  so,  why  did  God  punish  the  other  nations  for 
doing  so  ? 

As  regards  such  absurdities  as  that  spirits  that 
pinch  your  legs  under  the  table  are  not  familiar 
spirits,  and  that  those  are  "  angels,"  who  they  admit 
tell  lies,  all  I  can  say  is,  such  is  not  the  Jewish  idea 
of  what  angels  arc,  and  if  I  am  not  very  much  mis- 
taken, it  is  not  the  Chiistian  one  either. 

He  then  says  the  founder  of  your  faith  abrogated 
this  law  against  spiritualism ;  now,  although  this  ia 


174  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

no  business  of  mine,  it  is  such  a  "flimsy  sophism" 
that  I  am  tempted  to  tear  it  to  shreds ;  for  if  Mr. 
Howitt  beheves  him  to  be,  as  he  says,  the  prince  of 
spirits,  surely  the  fact  of  his  conversing  with  spirits 
would  constitute  no  argument  in  favour  of  his  doing 
the  same. 

In  conclusion,  allow  me  to  express  my  surprise 
and  regret  that  he  considers  being  face  to  face  with 
Satan  a  substantial  gain ;  that  he  entertains  the  idea 
of  converting  the  fountain  of  evil  into  the  fountain 
of  faith ;  and  allow  me  to  tell  him,  that  notwithstand- 
ing we  are  so  prone  to  abominations,  our  comfort  is 
not  in  the  Devil,  neither  do  we  require  a  proof  of 
his  existence  to  convince  us  of  the  existence  of  God. 
— I  am,  sir,  one  who  is  proud  to  subscribe  himself, 

Oct.  20.  An  Israelite. 


XLII. 

Sir, — I  find  by  Mr.  Howitt's  letter,  in  your 
number  of  October  20,  that  he  possesses  "  a  little 
table"  of  extraordinary  virtue,  in  which  spirits  re- 
side, or  which  serves  as  a  terminus  to  some  Jacob's 
ladder,  passing  through  Mr.  Howitt^s  roof  or  walls, 
by  a  "  discontinuous"  opening,  analogous  to  the 
wounds  inflicted  on  heathen  gods  by  Homeric  heroes, 
or  Satan  w^hen  the  "griding  sword  with  discon- 
tinuous wound  passed  through  him." 


LETTER   XLII.  175 

"With  this  "  little  table"— modus  operandi  not  men- 
tioued — a  physician  obtained  a  "  spiritual  telegram" 
concerning  the  death  of  a  child  one  hundred  miles 
off. 

I  in  no  \ray  impugn  Mr.  Howitt's  fact,  but  take 
it  for  granted — in  argument. 

But  as  to  the  cui  bono.  If  spirituality  be  a  mira- 
cle, why  use  a  miracle  to  demonstrate  by  "  spiritual 
telegraph"  what  could  have  been  ascertained  by 
material  telegraph  with  little  more  expenditure  of 
time  ?  Surely  if  this  thing  be  holy,  it  is  applying 
holy  things  to  the  mere  uses  of  a  post-office. 

But  there  is  a  purpose  to  which  this  "  little  table'^ 
might  be  most  usefully  and  lawfully  applied.  A 
child  died  at  Road  under  a  murderer's  hands.  No 
earthly  means  have  been  found  avaihng  to  discover 
this  murderer,  and  the  thoughts  of  a  whole  nation 
are  turned  to  the  discovery. 

Here,  then,  is  an  employment  for  Mr.  Howitt's 
"  little  table,"  of  a  most  legitimate  kind,  doing  two 
important  things — first,  delivering  up  to  justice  a 
cruel  murderer;  and,  secondly,  establishing  beyond 
doubt,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  men,  the  truth  and 
utility  of  the  modern  society  of  spiritualists. 

I  have  no  prejudice  either  as  to  belief  or  disbelief. 
But  belief  must  conic  in  one  of  two  ways,  either  by 
instructive  perception  or  by  logical  evidence.  If  my 
mind  be  obtuse,  and  there  be  no  link  between  it  and 
the  spirits  of  Mr.  Howitt's  tabic,  it  is  clear  that  I 
must  remain  in  a  state  of  darkness.  If  the  "little 
table"  discovers  the  Road  murdcrcf;  it  ought  hence- 


176  AN    EXPOSITION   OF   SPIHITUALISM. 

forth  to  be  regarded  as  an  ark  of  the  spirits,  and  not 
remain  the  private  property  of  ^Ir.  Howitt.  Like 
Miss  Rosa  Dartle,  I  merely  ask  for  information,  and 
remain,  sii',  yours  faithfully, 

W.  Bridges  Adams. 

Hampstead,  Oct.  23. 

fWe  have  received  such  a  flood  of  correspondence 
on  this  subject,  that,  in  sheer  self-defence,  we  are 
compelled  to  close  the  discussion.  This  letter  is 
inserted  because  it  gives  expression  to  a  suggestion 
which  has  been  made  to  us  by  a  score  at  least  of  our 
correspondents. — Ed.  Star  and  Dial.'] 


LETTER  or  CHARLES  BRAY,  ESQ. 

FEOM:  the  "  BEITISH  COXTEOTEESIALIST,"  AUG.  1861. 


Considering  the  testimony  now  in  favour  of  what 
has  been  called  spiritualism,  I  think  the  subject  de- 
serves serious  consideration.  To  treat  it  philoso- 
phically, it  will  be  desirable  to  examine  briefly  the 
grounds  of  our  knowledge,  and  our  means  of  know- 
ing. It  will  be  necessary  also  to  know,  what  is  the 
natural  condition  of  the  mind,  as  distinguished  from 
the  preter-natural  and  super-natural.  Unless  wc 
know  this  we  cannot  correctly  draw  the  line  between 
the  subjective  and  the  objective — between  what  has 
its  source  entirely  within  ourselves,  and  what  we 
think  has  an  external  reality. 

First,  then,  it  is  certain  that  we  have  no  faculties 
that  give  us  any  knowledge  of  things  in  themselves, 
that  is,  of  their  nature  or  essence  ;  we  can  know 
nothing  but  phenomena,  their  co-existences  and  suc- 

N 


178  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

cessions.  As  Lord  Bacon  said,  it  is  with  "the  order 
of  nature^'  only  that  we  have  to  do.  The  world  is 
governed  by  "  forces,"  but  forces  of  which  we  really 
know  nothing ;  we  only  hide  our  ignorance  under 
the  high-sounding  names  of  attraction,  repulsion, 
chemical,  electrical,  vital,  &c.  Thus,  when  we  say 
a  thing  takes  place  by  the  force  of  attraction,  we 
think  we  have  explained  it,  but  we  have  merely 
named  a  certain  group  of  phenomena  occurring  in 
a  certain  order.  We  know  nothing  of  attraction  in 
itself,  it  is  only  known  to  us  in  its  effects :  no  scru- 
•tiny  enables  us  to  lift  the  veil  and  look  beyond. 
This  is  very  generally  admitted  as  applied  to  what 
are  called  physical  forces,  but  less  so  as  applied  to 
mind ;  but  mind  is  only  known  to  us  by  what  it 
does — that  is,  by  its  manifestations, — and  we  define 
it  by  the  appearances  it  puts  forth.  Mind  is  only 
known  to  us  in  the  cerebral  causes  of  mental  states, 
and  in  the  effect  as  shown  in  bodily  conditions ; 
disembodied  spirit,  or  mind  unconnected  with,  organi- 
zation, is  without  the  range  of  our  experience :  we 
have  no  means  of  knowing,  then,  whether  such  a 
thing  exists  or  not. 

An  ordinary  observer  believes  in  an  external  world 
because  he  says  he  feels  it,  he  sees  it ;  but  what  does 
he  see  ?  A  minute,  inverted  image,  lies,  unknown 
to  consciousness,  on  the  back  of  the  eye;  this, 
through  the  nerves,  produces  an  action  on  the  brain, 
giving  ideas,  vivid  in  proportion  as  certain  parts  of 
the  brain  are  large  and  perfect.  Thus  a  seen  reality 
turns  out  to  be  a  mere  conception  of  the  mind.  The 


NEGATIVE    ARGUMENT.  179 

objects  of  knowledge,  therefore,  are  ideas ;  not  things 
as  is  commonly  supposed.  Ideas  are  not  pui-ely 
subjective  or  formed  within  ourselves.  Something 
without  ourselves,  which  we  call  matter,  or  the 
object,  but  of  the  uatm'e  or  essence  of  which  we 
know  nothing,  acts  upon  the  sense,  and  the  sense 
upon  the  intellectual  faculty, through  the  medium  of 
the  brain.  Ideas  are  thus  compounded  equally  of 
the  object,  the  sense,  and  the  intellect;  and  we 
cannot  resolve  an  idea  so  compounded  into  its  ele- 
ments, for" it  has  been  well  observed,  "It  is  God's 
synthesis,  and  man  cannot  undo  it."  All  arguments, 
therefore,  based  upon  the  essential  diiference  between 
mind  and  matter,  must  fall  to  the  ground ;  and  when 
we  speak  of  one  as  temporary  and  perishable,  and 
the  other  as  necessarily  imperishable  and  immortal, 
we  speak  of  that  of  which  we  know  nothing. 

The  distinctions  that  we  make  between  organic 
and  inorganic,  between  that  which  feels  and  that 
which  docs  not  feel,  between  matter  and  mind,  are 
very  necessary  and  convenient  for  using  the  know- 
ledge we  really  possess,  provided  we  go  no  further. 
Then  of  matter  I  would  remind  the  reader  that  Sir 
John  Herschel  tells  us,  that  among  all  the  possible  com- 
binations of  the  fifty  or  sixty  elements  which  che- 
mistry points  to  as  existing  on  this  earth,  it  is  likely, 
nay,  almost  certain,  that  some  have  never  been 
formed  ;  that  some  elements,  in  sonu;  proj)Orti()ns, 
and  under  some  circumstances,  have  never  yet  been 
})!aced  in  relation  with  each  other :  also,  there  is 
nothing,  however  solid;  which  is  not  cnpuble  of  taking 

N   2 


180  AN    EXPOSITION    01'    SPIRITUALISM. 

the  invisible,  imponderable,  gaseous,  or  aeriform 
shape.  It  becomes  us,  therefore,  to  be  very  modest 
in  defining  the  exact  provinces  of  what  we  call 
matter,  and  vi^e  are  certainly  not  in  a  position  to 
dogmatize  about  "  spiritual"  manifestations.  With 
respect  to  mind,  the  science  may  also  be  said  to  be 
in  its  infancy.  We  scarcely  know  what  belongs  to 
its  normal  state,  and  we  have  glimpses  only  of  its 
abnormal  conditions.  It  is  with  the  consideration 
of  -the  abnormal  states  of  mind,  however,  that  we 
have  principally  to  do,  to  enable  us  to  form  a  pro- 
bable estimate  of  how  much  is  merely  subjective  in 
the  phenomena  of  spirit-rapping.  Mesmerism  cer- 
tainly must  be  reckoned  among  the  preternatural 
states  of  mind.  After  long  discussion  on  the  sub- 
ject, most  physiologists  are  now  prepared  to  admit 
as  much  as  Dr.  Carpenter,  viz.,  1st.  A  state  of  com- 
plete insensibility,  during  which  severe  surgical 
operations  may  be  performed  without  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  patient.  2nd.  Artificial  somnambulism, 
with  manifestation  of  the  ordinary  power  of  mind, 
but  with  no  recollection,  in  the  waking  state,  of  what 
has  passed.  3rd.  Exaltation  of  the  senses  during 
such  somnambulism,  so  that  the  somnambule  per- 
ceives what  in  his  natural  condition  he  could  not. 
4th.  Action  during  such  somnambulism  on  the  mus- 
cular apparatus,  so  as  to  produce,  for  example,  arti- 
ficial catalepsy :  and  5th.  Curative  effects.  Dr. 
Carpenter,  however,  has  not  yet  seen  sufficient  evi- 
dence for  belief  in  the  higher  phenomena  of  clair- 
voyance. 


NEGATIVE    ARGUMENT.  181 

The  power  of  reading  the  thoughts  of  others  seems 
to  be  amongst  the  best  attested  of  these  phenomena. 
The  nervous  system  is,  however,  believed  by  many 
to  be,  as  the  Germans  express  it,  an  identity  and  a 
totaUty,  by  which  we  become  all-knowing  and  in- 
telligent as  far  as  regards  all  that  has  yet  been 
known  by  mankind.  The  well-attested  case  of 
Davis,  the  American  Ploughkeepsie  Seer,  is  supposed 
to  illustrate  this.   (See  his  Works.) 

The  automatic  powers  of  the  mind,  as  described 
by  Hartley,  and  as  illustrated  by  Faraday  in  table- 
turning,  are  normal  powers,  although  unobserved  by 
the  majority. 

Under  the  influence  of  somnambulism,  of  sleep- 
waking  or  sleep-walking,  people  are  said  to  read  and 
write  with  their  eyes  shut,  and  in  the  dark,  and  to 
do  other  wonderful  things.  This  is  accounted  for 
on  the  supposition  that  one  sense,  under  particular 
circumstances,  may  be  so  excited,  and  become  so 
exalted,  as  to  supply  the  place  of  another.  Thus 
Dr.  Carpenter,  sj)eaking  of  what  Mi*.  Braid  calls 
hypnotism,  says: — "The  exaltation  of  the  muscular 
sense,  by  which  various  actions,  that  ordinarily 
require  the  guidance  of  vision,  are  directed  inde- 
pendently of  it,  is  a  phenomenon  common  to  the 
mesmeric,  with  various  other  forms  of  artificial  as 
well  as  natural  somnambulism.'^ 

He  has  repeatedly  seen,  he  says,  Mr.  Braid's  hyp- 
notized subjects  write  with  the  most  perfect  regu- 
larity, wlicn  an  opacpie  screen  wai<  interposed  between 
their  eyes  and  the  paper,  the  lines  being  equidistant 


182  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

and  parallel ;  and  it  is  not  uncommon  for  the  writer 
to  carry  back  his  pencil  or  pen  to  dot  an  i,  or  to 
cross  a  t,  or  make  some  other  correction  in  a  letter 
or  word.  Mr.  B.  had  one  patient^  who  would  thus 
go  back  and  correct  with  accuracy  the  writing  on 
the  whole  sheet  of  note  paper ;  but  if  the  paper  was 
moved  from  the  position  it  had  previously  occupied 
on  the  table,  all  the  corrections  were  on  the  wrong 
points  of  the  paper  as  regards  the  actval  place  of 
the  writing,  though  on  the  right  points  as  regarded 
its  previous  place.  Sometimes,  however,  he  would 
take  a  fresh  departure,  by  feeling  for  the  upper  left- 
hand  comer  of  the  paper;  and  all  his  corrections 
were  then  made  in  their  proper  positions,  notwith- 
standing the  displacement  of  the  paper. 

The  phenomena  classed  under  the  head  of  electro- 
biology,  by  which  the  will  of  one  person  appears  to 
become  completely  under  the  control  of  another,  are 
very  wonderful. 

The  powers  of  sympathy  are  also  much  greater 
than  are  usually  supposed.  "True  sympathy," 
says  Mr.  Combe,  "  arises  from  the  natural  language 
of  any  active  feeling  exciting  the  same  feeling  in 
another,  antecedently  to  any  knowledge  of  what  excited 
it  in  the  person  principally  concerned ;  and  this  is 
sufficient  to  account  for  the  origin  of  panics  in 
battles  and  in  mobs,  and  for  the  electric  rapidity  with 
which  passions  of  every  kind  pervade  and  agitate 
the  minds  of  assembled  multitudes.'" 

Again,  the  mind  is  connected  with  the  brain  as 
intimately  as  each  sense  with  its  organ ;  and  if  the 


NEGATIVE    ARGUMENT.  i"j 

seuse  when  exalted  displays  abnormal  phenomena, 
not  less  so  do  the  organs  of  the  brain  when  either 
very  large  or  unduly  excited.     Thus  I  have  known 
an  idiotic  boy  calculate  the  number  of  pounds  in  a 
million  farthings  much  quicker  than   another  on  a 
slate,    and   we   are   most   of  us   familiar  with   the 
extraordinary  power  of  some  other   people  in  this 
respect.     "What  the  powers  of  the  other  organs  are 
under  excitement,  or  when  of  similarly  unusual  size, 
is  not  yet  correctly  known,   but  no  doubt  they  are 
equally  wonderful ;   the  organ  of  locality,   for  in- 
stance, in  dogs  and  cats,  who  find  their  way  home 
over  hundreds  of  miles  of  strange  country !  There 
is  nothing    more    wonderful  among    the   supposed 
powers  of  clairvoyants  than  those  exercised  by  the 
carrier  pigeon.     No  doubt  these  are  the  result  of 
organization — of  a  peculiar  modification  of  the  organ 
of  locality,  it  is  said ;  and  it  is  possible,  at  least,  if 
not  probable,  that  some  men  may  possess  rudimen- 
tary organs,  sufficiently  large,  when  exalted  by  mes- 
merism or  otherwise,  to  give  all  the  powers  that  are 
said — we  must  admit,  on  good  authority — to  pertain 
to  clairvoyants.      But  of  course  this  at  present  is 
mere  hypothesis.     Now,  it  becomes  us  to  be  very 
modest  in  speaking  of   what  such  men  as  Robert 
Chambers  are  said  to  have  investigated  and  to  be- 
lieve ;  but  in  taking  into  consideration  the  question 
before  us,  as  to  the   genuineness   of  the   so-called 
spiritual  manifestations,  the  abnormal  conditions  of 
mind  I  have  mentioned  must  not  be  lost  sight  of. 
In  fact,  the  subject  can  only  be  fully  and   projjcrly 


184  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

investigated  by  those  who  are  familiar  with  it, 
and  the  principal  object  of  my  communication 
is  to  point  this  out.  1  have  little  light  to  throw 
upon  the  extraordinary  "  spiritual"  phenomena  said 
to  have  been  observed  by  others ;  what  I  have  seen 
myself  is  certainly  principally  on  the  negative  side. 

The  prevalence  of  the  belief  is  undoubtedly  evi- 
dence of  something  to  believe  in  ;  but  what  ?  The 
faith  has  about  kept  pace  with  that  in  Joe  Smith 
and  Mormonism. 

The  believers  affirm  the  existence  of  a  "  spirit 
world :"  now  there  is  no  natural  evidence  for  the 
existence  of  mind  unconnected  with  organization. 

The  Hindoos  and  Greeks — the  Pythagoreans  at 
least,  believed  in  the  transmigration  of  souls ;  that 
is,  that,  according  to  our  deserts,  our  souls  are  con- 
signed to  the  bodies  of  animals,  more  or  less  high  in 
the  order  of  creation;  but  no  such  low  place  was  assign- 
ed to  any  poor  soul  as  that  to  whicli  modern  spiritual- 
ists put  their  progenitors.  We  are  very  naturally, 
therefore,  opposed  to  the  belief  that  the  spirits  of  our 
ancestors,  and  of  the  great  and  good  of  the  earth, 
can  have  been  so  lamentably  degraded.  But  even 
supposing  all  to  have  taken  place  as  related  by  spirit- 
ualists, it  is  far  from  proving  the  assumptions  based 
upon  it,  and  a  belief  in  the  phenomena  is  a  very 
different  thing  to  believing  in  the  supposititious  cause. 
For  instance,  as  the  spirits  more  often  tell  lies  than 
the  truth,  what  evidence  is  there  that  they  are  spirits 
at  all,  much  less  the  respected  spirits  of  our  ances- 
tors ?  In  this  case,  we  must  at  least  brino*  in  a  verdict 


NEGATIVE    ARGUMENT.  185 

of  "  Not  Proven."  Knowing  what  we  may  suppose 
to  be  known  only  by  our  ancestors,  is  not  sufficient 
proof,  considering  that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to 
ascertain  how  they  came  by  their  knowledge.  Again, 
as  to  the  reality  of  the  phenomena,  the  question  will 
force  itself  upon  us,  why  do  such  thmgs  only  take 
place  before  certain  people,  and  under  circumstances 
favourable  to  deception  ?  If  the  spirits  can  carry 
Mr.  Home  about,  and  show  their  hands,  and  play 
accordions,  and  their  object  is  to  convert  the  scoffer 
and  the  sceptic,  why  do  they  not  do  it  in  open  day- 
light, before  all  the  world  ? 

Few  are  sufficiently  aware  of  the  power  of  sym- 
pathy, to  make  us  feel  as  others  do,  and  believe  wc 
see  what  they  do.  Although  I  am,  from  cultivation, 
"  hard  of  belief,"  this  feeling  of  sympathy  has,  on 
one  or  two  occasions,  been  almost  overpowering  iu 
my  own  case.  There  is  a  natural  dread  of  spirits, 
and  their  supposed  presence  in  a  dimly-lighted  room 
puts  us  into  a  state  to  be  easily  imposed  on ;  and 
this  feeling  is  very  much  increased  by  the  position 
in  which  people  ordinarily  place  themselves,  which 
is  favourable  for  the  transmission  of  sympathy,  as 
described  by  Combe.  My  experience  with  Mrs. 
Marshall  and  niece  seems  very  much  to  accord  with 
that  related  by  Mr.Novra  in  your  last  number,*  and 
was  then  given  at  the  time  in  the  Coventry  Herald. 
When  I  arrived  at  Mrs.  Marshall's,  there  were  about 
a  dozen  people  in  the  room,  in  some  confusion,  the 
spirits  being  contumacious  and  refusing  to  act,  ex- 
*  British  Coulrovcrsialist,  July,  1801. 


186  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

cept  in  requesting  two  sceptical  gentlemen  to  leave 
the  room^  who,  when  I  arrived,  were  standing  outside 
the  door.  It  was  now  determined  to  divide  the 
parties,  there  being  too  many  for  scientific  observa- 
tion, and  the  six  to  whom  I  belonged,  stayed ;  the 
others  were  to  come  another  night.  We  were  then 
three  ladies,  three  gentlemen,  and  the  two  mediums, 
who  also  were  ladies — Mrs.  M.  and  niece.  The 
party  all  sat  round  a  small,  very  light,  round 
table,  the  mediums  together.  I  wished  to  remain 
out  of  the  circle  for  better  observation,  but  was  not 
allowed.  I  therefore  pushed  in  next,  and  very  close 
to  the  aunt  medium.  I  placed  only  one  leg  under 
the  table,  the  other  partly  across  the  front  of  her 
chair,  so  that  I  could  feel  what  she  was  doing  with 
her  legs.  The  spirits  were  almost  immediately  asked 
what  we  were  to  do  with  our  legs — were  we  to  put 
them  out  under  the  table  ?  The  reply  was,  Yes.  One 
tap  meaning  no,  three  yes.  I  refused,  however,  to 
comply,  and  my  leg  received  a  tremendous  wrench  ; 
by  whom  or  how  given  I  cannot  say.  I  still  kept  it 
where  it  was,  however,  and  there  were  several  gentle 
twitches  at  my  trousers,  as  if  by  two  feet  trying  to  pull 
it  out.  "When  we  sat  down,  the  table  always  turned — 
as  it  seemed  to  me,  by  the  pushing  of  the  elder 
medium's  hands — till  one  of  its  three  legs  got  oppo- 
site the  leg  of  the  younger  medium,  when  it  tipped 
and  performed  other  tricks.  The  table  also  raised 
itself  under  our  hands,  and  was  supported,  or  sup- 
ported itself,  for  at  least  half  a  minute.  It  was  sug- 
gested then  that  we  should  all  stand  up,  which  we 


NEGATIVE    ARGUMENT.  187 

did,  and  the  table  floated  away  at  least  half  a  yard 
from  the  mediums,  and  went  down  easil)^,  and  not 
as  if  any  support  had  been  suddenly  withdrawn  from 
it.  I  have  not  the  least  idea  how  this  was  done. 
The  table  also  danced  to  tunes  played  by  the  elder 
medium's  son  !  but  this  appeared  to  me  to  be  done 
by  the  niece's  foot.  In  both  cases,  when  I  put  my 
hands  upon  the  table,  and  bore  downward,  it  came 
to  an  immediate  stand,  and  refused  to  rise  or  dance 
any  more. 

AVe  then  went  to  prophesying,  and  my  Christian 
name  was  asked,  the  spirit  replying  by  aid  of  the 
alphabet.  Alfred  was  rapped  out;  but  this,  like 
every  other  answer  through  the  same  means,  was 
wrong.  I  then  asked  who  it  was  pulling  at  my  leg 
under  the  table.  The  answer  was,  "  Me,"  meaning 
the  spii'it ;  I  then  asked  if  the  spirit  would  shake 
hands  with  me  under  the  table.  The  answer  was 
three  taps,  that  is,  yes.  I  put  my  hand  under  with 
some  fear  and  trembling,  thinking  that,  as  the  spirit 
had  made  so  free  with  my  leg,  it  might  also  take  my 
hand,  and  mentally  resolved  to  hold  him  fast,  and 
learn,  if  possible,  the  difference  between  matter  and 
spirit.  But  the  hand  of  the  spirit  refused  to  clasp 
mine.  Another  gentleman  made  the  same  request, 
with  the  same  result.  By  the  aid  of  an  apparatus 
and  the  younger  medium's  hand,  the  spirit  also  wrote 
some  sentences :  I  forget  what  they  were,  but  they 
were  the  merest  truisms,  having  no  possible  relation 
to  anybody  or  anything  present.  The  spirit  refused 
to  write  with  any  but  the  medium's  hand. 


188  AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SPIRITUALISM. 

Nothing  satisfactory  in  any  way  was  elicited.  The 
elder  medium  tried  to  soften  the  spirits  into  better 
behaviour, — "  Will  the  de-ar  spirits  tell  this  or  do 
that  ?"  &c, ;  but  they  remained  decidedly  contuma- 
cious. There  was  ho  lack,  however,  of  marvellous 
tales  of  what  they  had  done  on  previous  occasions, 
at  one  of  which,  one  of  the  ladies  of  our  party 
had  been  present.  For  instance,  she  affirmed 
that  she  had  written  on  a  bit  of  paper  asking  the 
spirit  to  raise  the  table  and  put  out  the  light,  stand- 
ing on  another  table  with  it,  and  it  had  done  so. 

By  this  time  the  respect  and  awe  which  we  all 
naturally  feel  in  the  presence  of  spirits,  had  somewhat 
abated,  at  least,  with  the  men,  and  we  ventured  upon 
one  or  two  irreverent  jokes.  I  observed  the  eye  of 
the  younger  medium  upon  las,  all  the  evening,  watch- 
ing the  extent  of  our  faith  or  credulity ;  and  "  good 
night"  was  now  rapped  out,  and  we  heard  the  spirit 
depart,  the  rapping  gradually  becoming  fainter  and 
lainter,  after  which  no  response  was  vouchsafed  to 
us,  and  we  were  told  the  seance  was  at  an  end,  and 
it  was  hoped  we  might  be  more  fortunate  another 
time. 

I  must  say  that,  notwithstanding  the  respectable 
people  with  whom  the  spirits,  or  rappings,  or  tables 
may  be  said  to  have  held  communion,  what  I  saw 
appeared  to  me  to  be  a  barefaced  and  ignorant  im- 
posture. But  I  never  was  fortunate  in  seeing  mar- 
vels. 

The  rising  of  the  table  was  the  only  thing  that 
seemed  to  me  unaccountable,  for  it  floated  away  from 


NEGATIVE    ARGUMENT.  189 

the  mediums,  and  I  thought  I  could  see  distinctly 
under  it.  But  what  are  we  to  believe  ?  that  is  the 
question.  Spirits  are  said  to  have  appeared  before, 
almost  from  the  beginning  of  time,  in  the  shape  of 
ghosts  ;  but  these  took  a  personal  form.  It  is  true 
that,  for  decency's  sake,  the  ghosts  of  their  clothes 
always  appeared  along  with  them.  But  the  cause  of 
these  apparitions  is  no  longer  a  mystery  to  the 
cerebral  physiologist,  and  arises  from  the  involuntary 
excitement  of  the  intellectual  organs,  of  which  number- 
less illustrations  are  to  be  found  in  the  Phrenological 
Journal.  The  kind  of  appearance  varies  according  to 
the  number  of  organs  brought  into  activity  :  dis- 
eased action,  for  instance,  of  Form  and  Size,  produc- 
ing, as  described  by  a  patient,  '  whitish  '  or  grey,  and 
transparent,  cobwebby  objects.  A  ghost  club,  how- 
ever, formed  in  Cambridge,  in  1851,  believed  in  the 
objective  reality  of  ghosts.  I  must  confess  that  my 
difficulty  lies  in  the  testimony, — in  the  long  list  of 
respectable  believers  ;  not  in  the  three  million,  or  iu 
Judge  Edmonds,  of  America,  whose  whole  list  of 
deductions  are  the  purest  assumptions :  but  one  such 
name  as  Robert  Chambers  has  more  weight  thau  all 
these  put  together.  If  it  were  not  for  a  ievv  such 
names  as  his,  I  should  find  no  difficulty  in  knowing 
what  to  believe,  and  I  should  say  sympathy  and 
humbug  accounted  for  it  all.  But  what  have  Messrs. 
Chambers,  Hall,  Ilowitt,  Bell,  8cc.  seen,  that  we  have 
not  ?  Surely  they  must  have  seen  somethiiig  more 
than  tlie  very  questionable  exhibition  described  by 
"  spiritualists"  generally.     May   not  the    abnormal 


190  AN    EXPOSITION    OP    SPIRITUALISM. 

states  of  miud  we  have  described  have  been  more 
or  less  mixed  with  their  experiences,  and  they  have 
mistaken  the  preternatural  for  the  supernatural  ? 
Have  mesmerism,  clairvoyance,  thought-reading,  and 
other  possible  conditions  of  mind  been  mixed  with 
their  evidences,  and  enabled  them  to  swallow  the 
immense  amount  of  unrealities  that  other  investiga- 
tors have  felt  and  observed  ?  I  have  seen  nothing 
and  heard  nothing  as  yet  to  induce  me  to  believe  the 
"  manifestations"  either  "  spiritua?'  or  altogether 
"  genuine ;"  or  that  wdl  enable  me  to  suppose  for  a 
moment  that  we  have  been  put  in  communication 
with  the  inhabitants  of  any  other  "  spiritual  world" 
than  our  own.  Will  T.  P.  B.,  or  any  one  else,  kindly 
take  me  in  hand  ?  I  will  go  a  great  way  to  see  cre- 
dible evidence,  and  although  I  admit  I  am  a  little 
prejudiced  in  favour  of  the  result  of  twenty-five  years' 
investigations,  I  think  I  have  a  mind  clearly  open  to 
the  truth,  which  I  put  in  importance  above  all 
earthly  things.  Chaules  Bray. 


191 


IJLUCIDATION  OF  CLAIRVOYANCE. 

As  a  fitting  commentary  upon  this  series,  and  to 
show  the  extent  to  which  clairvoyance  may  be  as- 
sumed to  account  for  the  alleged  communion  with 
the  spirits  of  the  departed,  I  append  the  following  : 
— "A  true  clairvoyant  may  be  defined  to  be  one 
who,  by  the  opening  of  the  internal  consciousness,  or 
spiritual  sight,  whether  induced  by  any  operation, 
or  occurring  spontaneously,  has,  while  in  that  state 
of  inner  consciousness,  and  according  to  the  degree 
of  its  development,  a  sensational  perception  of  the 
objects  of  the  inner,  or  spirit-world.  Where  this 
development  does  not  exist,  the  state  is  simply  that 
of  natural  clairvoyance,  or  cerebral  lucidity.  Some 
subjects  appear  to  possess  the  faculty  of  spiritual 
clairvoyance;  others,  that  of  lucidity;  while  some 
few  individuals  have  exhibited  both  faculties.  If 
the  attention  of  a  true  clairvoyant  is  directed  to  any 
distant  individual,  and  the  rapport,  or  connection 
between  them,  made  stronger  by  using  the  hair  or 
writing  of  the  individual  sought,  or  something  else 
dentified  in  some  measure  with  his  mind  or  body, 
as  the  connecting  medium,  there  are  two  ways  in  which 
the  parties  may  become;  mentally  present  with  each 
other.     Firstly,  the  clau'voyant  comes  by  the  rapport 


192  AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SPIRITUALISM. 

with  the  man,  into  connection  with  the  associated 
spirit ;  and  then,  from  the  reflection  of  memory,  and 
from   what   may   be   called   the  living   phantasma- 
goria of  the  spirit-world,  the  man  and  his  affairs,  and 
perceptions,  and  recollections,  are  laid  open  to  the 
clairvoyant's  inner  vision.     And  as,  from  the  prox- 
imity of  the  spirit-world  to  the  mind,  the  associated 
spirit  will  be  equally  near,  whether  the  man  be  in 
the  next  street,  or  in  another  hemisphere,  the  dis- 
tance of  the  object  sought  will  make  no  difference  to 
clairvoyant  inquiry.     Secondly,  as  man,  even  in  this 
mortal  life,  is  internally  a  true  spiritual   organism, 
and  as  such,  is,  as  we  have  observed,  a  subject  of  the 
laws  of  the  spirit-world,  the  spirits  of  all  men,  as 
denizens  of  the  spirit-world,  may  be  equally  near  to 
each  other,  according  to  their  respective  states,  no 
matter  how  far  apart  their  natural  bodies   may  be ; 
and  the  clairvoyant  in  whom  the  proper  state  is  in- 
duced, may  come   into    sensational   correspondence 
with  the  spirit  of   the  man,  and  thence  with  his 
natural  organism  and   memory,  wherever  he   may 
bodily  be  present ;  yet,  still,  it  is  probable  that  tha 
direct  connection  is  mediately  effected  by  the  asso- 
ciated spirits.     Which  of  these  two  modes  of  connec- 
tion is  the  more  common  one,  appears  to  the  writer, 
after  much  experience,  difficult  to  determine.     So 
complete  a  counterpart  of  the  man,  and  the  scenery 
by  which  he  is  sun-ounded,  appears  to  be  afforded 
by  the  associated  spirits,  and  the  surrounding  objec- 
tive appearances,  that   the    clairvoyant,  having   no 
means  of  comparison,  owing  to  the  closure  of  the 


ELUCIDATION    OF    CLAIRVOYANCE.  193 

external  sensoriiim,  may  mistake  the  associated  spirit 
for,  and  take  it  to  be,  the  real  man.  But  the  gene- 
ral vividness  of  the  perception,  and  the  constant  and 
frequently  unexpected  description  of  natural  objects, 
rather  inclines  the  writer  to  conclude,  that  the  con- 
nection is  direct,  and  that  the  wliole  man,  both  as  to 
spirit  and  body,  is  thus  brought  before  the  inner 
vision.  But  the  admission  of  these  psychological 
causes  does  not  preclude  the  possibility  of  there  being 
some  subtile,  material,  elementary  connection,  be- 
tween the  nervous  system  of  the  clairvoyants  and 
that  of  the  distant  individual ;  souiething  analogous, 
probably,  to  the  odylic  force  of  Reichenbach :  and 
this  connection  may  be  induced  by  the  action  of 
the  mind  of  the  clain'oyant  on  the  mind  of  the  dis- 
tant party,  by  which,  as  from  an  electric  battery,  a 
current  may  be  set  in  motion,  analogous  to  the  cur- 
rents passing  along  the  telegraphic  wues  ;  but  having 
this  essential  difference,  that  there  is  only  a  sensa- 
tional perception  at  one  end  of  the  communication. 
This,  then,  appears  to  be  the  simple,  rational,  yet 
deeply  interesting  solution  of  the  psychological  cause 
of  the  certain  facts  of  distant  clairvoyance.  There 
remains  to  be  considered  the  psychology  of  what  is 
called  CEREBRAL  LUCiniTY ;  that  is,  the  power  of  dis- 
tinguishing natural  objects  by  an  interior  percep- 
tion, independent  of  the  usual  visual  organs,  and 
even  where  oj)aque  substances  intervene.  Hoiv  the 
impression  of  outward  objects  is  conveyed  to  the 
sensorium,  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  problems  con- 
nected with  our  inquiry  :  the  fact  that  such  is  the 

o 


191'  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

case,  cannot  be  doubted  bj'  any  one  who  has  had 
sufficient  opportunity  carefully  to  examine  the  sub- 
ject. The  difficulty  arises  from  the  clairvoyant  being 
unable  to  analyse  the  mode  of  vision^  and  point  out 
its  mode  of  operation,  and  the  impossibility  of  an 
individual  in  the  normal  state,  sensationally  realizing 
the  feelings  or  perceptions  of  a  clairvoyant. 

"  One  of  the  revealments  of  the  higher  stages  of 
clairvoyance,  or  independent  internal  sight,  is  the 
knowledge,  that  an  efBuvium  or  atmosphere  sur- 
rounds the  mental  organism,  or  spiritual  body  of 
every  individual.  Following  the  general  law  of 
nature,  this  sphere  possesses  the  peculiar  qualities 
of  the  organism  from  which  it  emanates.  And  hence 
arises  the  repugnance  which  is  felt  to  the  society  of 
some  persons,  and  the  pleasure  which  is  experienced 
lu  the  company  of  others,  and  to  it  are  referable  all 
the  remarkable  instances  of  Sympathy  and  Anti- 
pathy, so  frequently  observed.  In  these  ordinary 
cases,  the  active  cause  is  latent  or  hidden  3  but  in 
the  higher  mesmeric,  or  rather  psychic  state,  it  often 
becomes  sufficiently  obvious,  even  to  our  physical 
senses  :  for  we  may  here  see,  that  similar  to  terres- 
trial magnetism,  there  is  an  actual  blending  of 
spheres.  The  magnet  induces  its  quality  or  state 
on  the  iron,  so  that  it  becomes  magnetical ;  and  the 
operator  induces  his  sphere  on  his  patient  or  subject, 
so  that  the  subject  becomes,  as  it  were,  one  body 
with  himself, — the  egoism  or  self-consciousness  of  the 
one,  being  blended  with  the  egoism  or  self- conscious- 
ness of  the  other. 


ELUCIDATION  OF  CLAIRVOYANCE.      195 

"  Here  then  is  the  psychological  cause  for  the  phy- 
siological condition  of  the  subject.  The  change  of 
state  induced  on  the  animus  of  the  subject,  whether 
by  the  manifestations  of  an  operator,  or  spontane- 
ously, is  the  primary  cause  of  the  change  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  cerebrum  ;  the  collapse  of  the  cerebrum 
closes  the  external  consciousness,  while  the  union  of 
the  spheres  emanating  from  the  animus  of  both 
operator  and  subject,  causes  the  latter  to  perceive, 
as  in  himself,  what  really  is  felt  in  the  active  cere- 
brum of  the  former.  And  this  change  of  state 
affords,  I  beUeve,  the  true  psychological  solution  of 
the  whole  appai-ent  mystery  of  Phantasy,  and  many 
other  curious  mesmeric,  otherwise  spiritual  pheno- 
mena. As  regards  phreno-mesmerism,  the  arousing 
into  activity  one  particular  organ  of  the  brain,  with- 
out the  guidance,  control,  or  balancing  powers  of 
the  other  organs  or  faculties,  is  a  sufficient  reason 
for  the  incongruous  effects  we  see  displayed."* 

Although  this  article  favours  spiritualism,  I  give 
it  for  what  it  is  worth  j  believing,  at  the  same  time, 
that  it  goes  to  show  how  large  a  portion  of  the  fore- 
going phenomena,  termed  spiritual  manifestations, 
are  due  to  clain'oyance  in  connection  with  animal 
magnetism  or  mesmerism. 

*  "  Somnolism  and  Psychcism,"  by  J.  W.  Haddock,  M.D. 


LETTERS  ON  SPIEITUALISM. 


SECOND    SEEIES. 


SECOND    SEEIES. 


MODERN  SPIRITUALISM. 

"  The  Spiritual  Magazine.''     No.  2il     August. 

Tfie  periodical  which  is  now  before  us  is  the  organ 
of  a  decidedly  unpopular  cause.  "■  Spiritual  Mani- 
festations," as  they  are  termed,  are  regarded  by  the 
majority  with  incredulity  ;  by  some  they  are  de- 
nounced as  the  fruits  of  deliberate  imposture.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  very  large  body  of  believers,  not 
only  allege  that  they  constantly  occur  under  given 
conditions,  but  also  hold  that  tliey  are  to  be  ascribed 
to  the  operation  of  a  purely  spiritual  agency.  In 
the  investigation  of  the  subject,  these  two  points  may 
be  conveniently  kept  apart.  The  genuineness  of 
the  phenomena  must  be  established  before  any  ne- 
cessity can  arise  for  endeavouring  to  assign  to  them 
a  cause.     We  are  quite  aware  that  there  are   many 


200  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIIIITUALISM. 

who  will  treat  with  contempt  the  suggestion  that  the 
matter  is  worthy  of  serious  inquiry.  The  human 
mind  has  an  unhappy  tendency  to  ridicule  all  that 
it  cannot  comprehend.  The  egotism  which  sets  up 
its  own  finite  comprehension  as  the  test  of  possi- 
bility, rejects  with  scorn  everything  alien  to  its  ex- 
perience or  antagonistic  to  its  pre-conceived  ideas. 
It  can  scarcely  be  necessary  to  urge  that  such  a 
mode  of  dealing  with  alleged  facts  is  not  only  grossly 
uaphilosophical,  but  would^  if  generally  adopted, 
prove  a  positive  barrier  to  the  elucidation  of  im- 
jiortant  truths.  As  the  world  has  grown  in  age, 
new  wonders  have  been  constantly  crowding  into 
view — so  marvellous  as  to  excite  incredulity  on  their 
first  discovery,  bat  now  become  so  familiar  through 
habit  as  to  awaken  no  surprise.  Candid  and  im- 
partial research  can  alone  distinguish  realities  from 
illusions,  and  discriminate  between  genuine  phe- 
nomena and  the  effects  of  fraud.  Of  course,  a 
marvel  apparently  irreconcileable  with  known  natural 
laws,  and  vouched  for  only  by  a  single  individual,  is 
not  to  be  held  entitled  to  such  serious  treatment. 
But  when  a  very  large  number  of  independent  and 
respectable  witnesses  testify  that  they  have  repeatedly 
seen  phenomena  wonderful  in  their  character,  iden- 
tical in  their  nature,  and  occurring  always  under 
certain  fixed  conditions,  it  is  obviously  our  duty  to 
sift  their  evidence,  in  order  that  we  may  either  crush 
an  imposture,  dispel  a  delusion,  or  establish  a  new 
and  possibly  most  important  truth. 

This  is  the  position  which   the  controversy  with 


THE    SPIRITUAL    MAGAZINE. 


201 


regard  to  spii-itualism  has  unquestionably  assumed. 
In  England  and  in  America,  thousands  of  men  and 
women,  esteemed  for  their  piety,  their  intellectual 
ability,  and  their  social  worth,   aver   that  they  have 
been  eye-witnesses,  not  once  but  repeatedly,  of  very 
strange  manifestations,   which  can  scarcely   be  ac- 
counted for  by  the  operation  of  any  known  natural 
agency.     They  tell  us  that  they  have  seen  heavy 
tables  lifted  up  a  foot  or  more  from  the  ground  and 
held  for  some  moments  suspended  in  the  air ;  men 
raised  from  their  chairs  and  floated  across  the  ceiling 
of  the  apartment ;  accordions  and  guitars,  held  in 
the  hand,  played  upon  by  unseen    fingers ;    bells 
carried  about  a  room  and  rung  at  intervals  by  an 
invisible  power,  and  passed  from  hand  to  hand  of 
the  quiescent  circle;  intelligible  sentences   written 
upon  slates  and  slips  of  paper  placed  beyond  the 
reach  of  any  present ;  luminous  hands  appearing  in 
the  air,  lifting  articles  from  the  floor  and  placing 
them  upon  the  table ;  and  a  host  of  other  marvels, 
to  all  appearance  equally  beyond  the  grasp  of  or- 
dinary credulity.     These  things  are  said  to  have  been 
witnessed,  not  by  one  individual  at  a  time,  but  by  a 
dozen  or  more,  all  of  whom  aver  that  they  saw  the 
same  things  at  the  same  moment.     They  arc  alleged 
to  have  taken  place,  rarely  in  the  dark,  occasionally 
in  semi-obscurity,  but  in  the  greater  number  of  in- 
stances ill  fully  lighted  rooms.     Other  phases  of  the 
manifestations  are  reported  of  a  different  but  equally 
striking   character.       The   present    number  of    the 
Spiritual  Mar/a;:ine  contains   the  second  of  a  very 


202  AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SPIRITUALISM. 

interesting  series  of  papers  on  '^  Spiritualism  in 
America/'  by  Mr.  Benjamin  Coleman,  which  era- 
bodies  some  eminently  curious  details.  In  the 
United  States  the  belief  in  spiritualism  has  taken 
root  very  deeply — its  adherents  are  numbered  by 
hundreds  of  thousands,  and  a  large  number  of 
periodicals  exist  devoted  specially  to  its  advocacy. 
If  the  statements  of  Mr.  Coleman  are  to  be  believed 
— and  he  is  a  gentleman  whose  word  would  be  un- 
hesitatingly taken  on  any  ordinary  matter — the 
phenomena  are  there  developed  even  more  remark- 
ably than  elsewhere.  He  tells  us,  for  example,  of  a 
drawing  medium,  who  has  the  power  of  sketching 
perfect  portraits  of  deceased  persons  whom  he  never 
saw,  and  with  regard  to  whose  personal  appearance 
he  had  no  means  of  forming  any  idea.  He  relates 
his  visit  to  another  medium,  to  whom  he  was  per- 
sonally unknown,  who,  in  answer  to  his  mental 
question,  wrote  a  communication  to  him  from  his 
step-son,  sometime  deceased,  signing  it  with  the 
young  man^s  full  name,  and  adding  his  own  residence 
in  Loudon  ;  and  he  states  that  he  listened  to  some 
speaking  mediums,  persons  in  their  ordinary  state 
wholly  illiterate,  who,  under  what  was  asserted  to  be 
spiritual  influence,  spoke  in  public,  for  more  than  an 
hour  at  a  time,  with  veiy  remarkable  eloquence  and 
intellectual  power.  He  recounts  an  instance,  which 
he  declares  was  certified  to  him  on  excellent  au- 
thority, in  which  a  communication  was  received 
through  a  medium,  leading  to  the  discovery  of  a 
lost  document  essential  to  the   success   of  an  im- 


THE    SPIRITUAL    MAGAZINE.  203 

portant  lawsuit ;  and  lie  recites  an  example  of  an 
opinion  obtained  by  the  same  means,  which  brought 
to  light  a  new  point,  and  put  a  stop  to  a  harassing 
litigation.  But  setting  aside  all  that  he  gives  on 
the  authority  of  others,  his  narrative  of  his  own 
personal  experience  is  strange  enough  to  satiate  the 
most  ravenous  appetite  for  the  marvellous.  At  one 
seance^  for  example,  at  Boston,  he  states  that  a  guitar 
was  carried  rapidly  about  the  room  above  the  heads 
of  those  present,  a  melody  being  accurately  played 
upon  it  as  it  moved  through  the  air — that  bells  were 
similarly  floated  about,  ringing  all  the  while — that 
the  medium,  in  her  arm-chair,  was  lifted  on  to  the 
centre  of  the  table,  from  which  position  he  himself 
removed  her — that  his  own  name  was  pronounced  in 
a  loud  voice  through  a  horn — and  that,  when  he 
complained  of  the  heat  of  the  room,  a  fan  was  taken 
from  a  drawer  and  waved  before  him,  and  a  tumbler 
of  water  was  raised  and  placed  to  his  lips. 

All  this  is  no  doubt  passing  strange,  and  those 
who  have  never  with  their  own  eyes  seen  anything 
of  the  sort  may  be  well  excused  for  shaking  their 
heads  in  doubt.  It  is  true  that  the  striking  singu- 
larity of  some  of  the  phenomena  reported  induces 
us  sometimes  to  forget,  that  if  we  concede  the  pos- 
sibility of  one  of  them,  we  may  without  much  diffi- 
culty  admit  that  of  all.  Grant  that  a  power  exists 
which  can  raise  a  heavy  table  from  the  ground  and 
hold  it  suspended  in  the  air,  it  is  clear  that  the  same 
agency  may  just  as  easily  lift  a  man  from  his  chair, 
carry  a  bell,  wave  a  fan,  or  play  upon  a  guitar.    The 


204  AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SPIRITUALISM. 

simple  rapping  upon  the  table,  if  not  fraudulently 
produced,  is  intrinsically,  though  not  apparently, 
quite  as  marvellous  as  any  of  the  most  elaborate 
manifestations.  But  these  physical  effects  are  by 
far  the  least  interesting  of  those  which  the  spirit- 
ualists allege  to  be  of  every-day  occurrence  in  their 
circles.  They  complain,  indeed,  that  the  use  of  the 
phrases  "  Spirit-rapping"  and  "  table-turning'*  has 
tended  to  give  the  general  public  a  very  low  and  in- 
adequate idea  of  the  scope  and  object  of  this  class 
of  phenomena.  According  to  their  doctrine,  these 
strange  freaks,  which  are  played  with  material  objects, 
are  designed  solely  to  arrest  attention,  and  to  con- 
vince the  sceptical  that  unseen  agencies  are  present, 
capable  of  holding  communion  with  mortals ;  and 
this  end  having  been  attained,  the  real  purpose 
of  that  which  they  regard  as  a  beneficent  dispensa- 
tion acquires  its  needful  scope  and  comes  into  full 
play.  This  purpose  they  hold  to  be  the  communica- 
tion from  departed  beings  to  their  surviving  relatives 
of  messages  of  solace,  of  warning,  of  encourage- 
ment, and  of  counsel, — conveyed  occasionally  by 
audible  voices,  but  much  more  frequently  in  an  al- 
phabetic form.  They  appear  to  believe — and  we  are 
of  course  merely  stating  their  theory,  without  ex- 
pressing any  opinion  as  to  its  claims  to  adoption 
— that  the  ultimate  end  of  these  "  spiritual  manifes- 
tations" is  the  advancement  towards  moral  and 
religious  perfection  of  the  living  through  the  loving 
ministrations  of  the  dead — the  proximate  end  being 
the  counteraction  of  materialistic  tendencies  by  the 


THE    SPIRITUAL    MAGAZINE.  205 

exhibition  of  cogent  proofs  of  the  reality  of  spiritual 
existence.  Mr.  Coleman's  paper  contains  a  few  of 
the  messages  thus  sent,  aad  a  host  of  examples  of 
them  are  found  cited  in  other  publications.  It  is 
only  fair  to  say  that  they  are  uniformly  admirable  in 
tone,  and  pervaded  by  genuine  piety  and  sound 
morality.  The  literaiy  merit  of  certain  communi- 
cations which  have  been  dictated  in  the  United 
States,  purporting  to  come  from  eminent  intellectual 
celebrities  of  past  times,  is  certainly  infinitesimal. 
But  it  ;is  nevertheless  true  that  credible  witnesses 
assert  that  these  were  spelt  out  in  their  presence,  as 
they  stand,  by  raps  given  at  the  various  letters  as 
the  alphabet  was  called  over,  and  their  evidence  to 
this  is  the  only  point  with  which,  in  the  present 
stage  of  the  inquiry,  wc  have  to  deal. 

If  the  extraordinary  narratives,  of  which  we  have 
thus  summarised  a  few  of  the  most  salient  points, 
were  vouched  for  only  by  men  utterly  unknown,  or 
of  dubious  credulity,  they  might  scarcely  be  deemed 
worthy  of  serious  attention.  Even  then  we  could 
scarcely  avoid  the  reflection  that  the  idea  which 
constitutes  the  postulate  of  the  spiritualists,  so  far 
from  being  novel,  has  had  adherents  in  every  age 
and  every  nation.  The  belief  in  the  possi- 
bility of  intercourse  between  spirits  and  mortals 
has  found  a  place  in  almost  every  religious  creed 
ever  held  by  man,  and  pagan  traditions  and  biblical 
records  alike  bear  witness  to  supernatural  communion. 
Nor  can  we  entirely  exclude  the  thought  that  these 
phenomena,  if  sufficiently  attested  to  be  accepted  as 


206  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

real,  would  cast  much  light  on  many  incidents  in 
past  secular  history  which  stand  greatly  in  need  of 
some  rational  elucidation,  in  place  of  the  wholesale 
rejection  of  a  mass  of  evidence  which  has  hitherto 
been  our  desperate  expedient.  But  are  they  so 
attested  ?  That  is  the  first  point  to  be  settled. 
The  principal  witnesses  are  literary  men  of  note, 
merchants,  lawyers,  physicians,  and  divines ;  minis- 
ters of  divers  sects,  men  and  women  of  unble- 
mished repute,  artists,  poets,  and  statesmen.  Of 
minor  witnesses  the  name  is  legion,  but  we  have  no 
personal  knowledge  of  their  claims  to  our  belief. 
This  much  we  know,  that  in  America  and  in  our 
own  country  there  are  many  whose  sanity  no  one 
doubts,  whose  general  veracity  no  one  would  impeach, 
who  aver  that  they  have  seen  these  strange  things 
with  their  own  eyes.  It  remains  for  us  to  say 
whether  we  will  take  their  word. 

If  we  stamp  all  those  who  declare  that  they  have 
witnessed  these  so-called  "  Spiritual  Manifestations" 
as  liars,  of  course  the  inquiry  will  be  at  an  end.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  we  are  willing  to  believe  that,  in 
the  narratives  which  they  have  given  us,  they  have 
honestly  recorded  the  impressions  produced  upon 
their  eyes  and  ears,  we  shall  n^st  have  to  consider  to 
what  causes  these  phenomena  may  fairly  be  ascribed. 
Four  hypotheses  have  been  put  forward  :  fraud,  self- 
delusion,  the  operation  of  some  hitherto  undiscovered 
natural  law,  and  spiritual  agency.  The  idea  of  fraud, 
as  a  general  explanation  of  the  manifestations,  may, 
we  think,  be  fairly  discarded.     Imposture  there  may 


THE    SPIRITUAL    MAGAZINE.  207 

have  been  in  cases  where  money  was  to  be  gained ; 
but  seeing  that  many  of  the  most  striking  manifes- 
tations testified  to,  took  place  in  private  houses,  where 
no  paid  medium  was  present — this  being  especially 
true  of  the  intellectual  communications  purporting 
to  come  from  departed  relatives — it  is  difficult  to 
believe  that  those  who  formed  the  circle  could  have 
been  fools  enough  to  practise  a  deliberate  cheat  upon 
themselves  for  no  object  whatever,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  blasphemy  against  the  holiest  affections  which 
was  involved  in  simulating  a  message  from  a  deceased 
parent,  wife,  or  child.  It  is  not  easy  to  understand 
what  invisible  mechanism  would  take  a  man  out  ff 
his  chair,  float  him  round  the  ceiling,  and  then  re- 
place him  in  his  seat ;  and  that  must  be  a  very 
knowing  apparatus  for  the  production  of  raps  which 
would  spell  out  to  an  unknown  foreigner  the  name 
of  his  step.son,  who  had  been  some  years  in  the  grave. 
But  in  purely  private  circles — -the  vast  majority  of 
those  which  are  held — fraud  is  clearly  out  of  the 
question.  If  self-delusion  be  the  chosen  explanation, 
then  we  ought  to  have  it  explained  how  it  happens 
that  the  same  delusion  operates  u|)on  a  dozen  or 
more  persons  at  the  same  time  ;  or,  to  take  a  stronger 
case,  how  Mr.  Coleman  and  his  companions  all  fan- 
cied that  they  saw  the  medium  in  her  arm-chair 
placed  upon  the  table,  and  he  imagined  he  lifted  her 
off,  while  they  only  thought  they  saw  him  do  it.  If 
th(;  operation  of  an  unknov/n  natural  law  be  the 
solution  adopted,  it  must  be  one  law  capable  of  pro- 
ducing all  the  phenomena  recorded,  for  they  appear 


208  AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SPIRITUALISM. 

to  present  themselves  in  very  indiscriminate  Order 
at  various  seances.     It  is  a  current,  but  very  grave 
error,  to  suppose  that  the  most  starthng  of  these 
physical  manifestations  are  opposed  to  known  natural 
laws.     It  is  generally  said,  for  example,  that  the 
lifting  of  a  table  from  the  ground — one  of  the  com- 
Diouest  of  the  alleged  phenomena — is  opposed  to  the 
laws  of  gravitation.     Clearly  it  is  not,  if  an  unseen 
force  be  applied  to  it,  powerful  enough  to  counteract 
its  attraction.     An   unseen  force   is   no  novelty  in 
nature.     Life  is  unseen — electricity  is  unseen — heat 
is  unseen,  until,  by  igniting  matter,  it  gives  birth  to 
:^ame.     But  this  force  must  be  one  capable  of  ac- 
counting for  all  the  effects.     It  will  not  do  to  say 
that  this  phenomena  results  from  hysteria,  that  from 
magnetism,  the  other  from  thought-reading,  a  fourth 
from  the  od-force,  whatever  that  may  be.     If  the 
spiritual  theory  be  resorted  to,  a  vital  point  arises. 
Is  it  a  good  or  an   evil  agency  ?    The  advocates  of 
the  Satanic  theory  have  this  great   stumbling-block 
to  get  over,  that  the  advice  given  in  the  messages 
communicated  is  said  to  be  universally  good,  the 
sentiments  moral,  and  the  doctrine  piously  Christian  ; 
and  it  can  scarcely  be  supposed  that  the  Author  of 
Evil  would  labour  for  his  own  discomfiture.     There 
may  be  a  mixture  of  good  and  evil  agencies ;  then 
we  ought  to  discover  how  we  are  to  discriminate 
between   the  two.      For   ourselves,  we   express  no 
opinion  on  the  subject ;  all  we  wish  is  to  see  the 
matter  fairly  investigated,  with  a  total  absence  of 
that  spirit  of  ridicule  which  is  always  offensive  and 


LETTER    I.  209 

proves  nothing,  and  which  is  in  the  present  case 
especially  out  of  place.  With  the  consideration  of 
"  Cui  bono"  we  have  nothing  whatever  to  do.  The 
first  question  to  be  solved  is,  "  Is  it  true  or  is  it 
not  V  The  second,  "  Whence  is  it  V  If  the  first 
be  answered  in  the  affirmative,  then,  even  should  the 
second  remain  without  reply,  we  may  tranquilly  leave 
the  rest  to  the  good  providence  of  God. — Star  and 
Dial 


I.  ^ 

Sir, — The  entii-e  absence  of  that  levity  which  so 
many  afiect  when  they  touch  on  spiritual  themes, 
must  commend  your  review  of  this  subject  to  all 
thoughtful  readers.  Like  all  earnest  inquirers,  the 
reviewer  has  evidently  satisfied  himself  that  the  phe- 
nomena alleged  by  spiritualists  are  real ;  he  sets  aside 
"  fraud  and  self-delusion^^  as  inadmissible  explana- 
tions of  these  facts,  and  very  properly  draws  our 
attention  to  two  other  solutions  which  really  do  de- 
serve serious  consideration.  These  two  are, —  1st, 
"  Some  undiscovered  natural  law,^^  and  2nd,  "  Spirit- 
ual agency ;"  3rd,  and  lastly,  the  reviewer  touches 
the  most  important  point  of  all — viz.,  the  moral  and 
religious  bearing  of  the  whole  question. 

On  each  of  these  points  I  beg  your  permission  to 
offer  a  few  remarks,  and  I  ho])C,  from  the  candour 
which  marks  the  whole  tenor  of  the  review,  that  the 

p 


210  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITXTALISM. 

writer  of  it  will  aiford  rue  a  fair  consideration — es- 
pecially as  I  have  no  theory  of  my  own  to  offer — but 
shall  adduce  only  authenticated  facts. 

1st.  As  to  the  supposed  "  undiscovered  natural 
law/'  I  would  say  that  it  has  in  all  times  (even  in 
the  most  remote  ages)  been  known  to  the  more  en- 
lightened few  (though  ignored  by  the  many)  that 
there  is  '^  a  spirit  in  man/'  as  saith  also  the  Scrip- 
ture^ and  that  by  this  spirit  man  could  and  did  com- 
municate both  with  God^  who  "  is  spirit/'  and  with 
other  (created)  spirits — dwelling  either  within  or 
beyond  the  bounds  of  this  visible  world.  If  this 
"  natural  law"  then  be  resolved  into  a  faculty,  or 
element  of  man's  nature,  and  if,  as  I  believe,  this  be 
its  more  correct  designation,  it  will  be  seen  at  once 
that  this  supposition,  so  far  from  superseding  the 
other,  namely,  "  spiritual  agency,"  or  from  being 
opposed  to  it,  necessarily  implies  its  existence. 

This  view  I  do  not  offer  as  my  opinion,  for  as  such 
it  would  be  worth  nothing ;  but  I  state  it  as  a  fact 
that  in  all  ages,  in  all  nations,  such  a  faculty  has 
been  recognised,  and  in  this  assertion  I  think  the 
learned  will  justify  me.  Moreover,  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, no  less  than  the  New,  amply  confirms  it. 

This  truth  appears,  indeed,  like  one  hitherto 
"undiscovered"  and  now  newly  brought  to  light, 
because  it  had  been,  during  the  last  two  or  three 
centuries,  displaced  by  modern  scepticism  (falsely 
called  philosophy),  driven  into  dark  corners  out  of 
popular  view,  and  scarcely  existing  among  the  learned 
and  judicious  few ;  now,  again,  in  our  own  day,  it  is 


LETTER  I.  211 

beginning  to  challenge  the  belief  of  both  orders^  and 
to  compel,  by  undeniable  facts,  the  attention  of  the 
people,  no  less  than  that  of  their  guides  and  teachers. 
If  spiritual  agency  be  admitted,  we  come  to  the 
solemn  question — How  is  the  good  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  bad  ?  How  is  our  safety  to  be  ensured  ?  I 
will  suppose  this  question  put  to  professed  Christians, 
and  then  we  are  at  once  reminded  that  Scripture 
speaks  much  of  "  evil  spirits"  as  well  as  of  good — 
speaks  of  "  trying  the  spirits  whether  they  be  of 
God;"  and,  lastly,  recognises,  as  a  special  gift  of 
God's  Holy  Spirit,  the  gift  of  "  discerning"  spirits. 
What  is  the  obvious  inference,  if  not  that  man's 
wisdom  does  not  suffice  for  this  trial,  and  that  our 
only  safety  lies  in  having  God's  ordinance  for  our 
help  ?  Let  it  be  remembered  also  that  God's  gifts 
to  His  Church  have  a  mutual  connection  and  de- 
pendence, and,  like  the  organs  and  functions  of  the 
human  body,  cannot  act  separately,  and  then  we  must 
feel  that,  to  enable  us  to  eschew  the  evil  and  retain 
the  good,  we  require  the  endowments  with  which 
God  has  enriched  His  Church  in  their  entirety  and 
completeness.  Now  all  this,  I  am  aware,  may  seem 
to  many  not  only  mere  opinion,  but  worse  than 
doubtful.  It  is,  however,  a  fact  that  all  means  of 
discernment  short  of  that  I  have  just  described,  have 
been  found  unavailing.  Those  who  have  rehed  on 
their  own  individual  powers  of  discrimination  have 
been  too  often  deceived  to  their  hurt.  If  any  doubt 
this,  I  would  refer  them  to  certain  facta  recorded  by 
Mr.  T.  L.   lluriis  in  his  various  worli.^,  es])'jcia!ly 

p  11 


212  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

that  entitled  "  Modern  Spiritualism."  Without 
agreeing  with  Mr.  Harris  in  all  his  theological  views, 
I  appeal  to  his  testimony  on  matters  of  fact,  and 
I  am  sure  all  who  are  acquainted  with  the  subject 
will  bear  me  out  in  the  assertion  that  no  man  has 
had  greater  personal  experience,  or  more  extensive 
means  of  observation  relating  to  this  matter,  than 
Mr.  Harris. 

And  now,  as  to  the  last  and  chief  point.  Your 
reviewer  states  that  "  the  advice  given  in  the  mes- 
sages communicated"  (by  the  spiritual  media)  "is 
said  to  be  universally  good — the  sentiments  moral, 
and  the  doctrine  piously  Christian."  Now  this  is  a 
question  of  fact,  and  I  venture  to  hope  that  your 
reviewer  will  see  that  he  has  mistaken  the  facts  of 
the  case  on  this  point.  Certainly,  Mr.  Harris — and 
very  many  other  enlightened  and  pious  men — have 
said  the  exact  contrary. 

In  proof,  I  will  adduce  only  one  or  two  quotations 
out  of  many  which  might  be  cited.  Mr.  Harris  says 
that  some  of  the  "  received  spiritual  teachings"  are 
as  follows  : — "  That  sin  is  an  impossible  chimera" 
— that  Christ,  "  our  Redeemer,  is  not  in  any  sense  a 
Saviour  of  the  soul  from  sin,  death,  and  hell" — 
"that  He  never  ascended  glorified  to  Heaven" — 
"  that  He  never  made  atonement  for  sin" — "  that 
He  never  communicated  the  Holy  Ghost" — that 
"  there  can  be  no  regeneration  because  there  is  no 
degeneration."  "  This,"  says  Mr.  Harris,  "  I  quote 
from  the  writings  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  spiritual 
Kedia."     So  much  for   doctrine ;    and   now  as  to 


LETTER    I.  213 

morals.  "  Spirits  declare/'  says  Mr.  Harris,  "  that 
where  two  are  legally  conjoined,  and  the  wandering 
inclinations  of  either  rove  to  another  object,  the  new 
attraction  becomes  the  lawful  husband,  or  the  lawful 
wife.  Now,  as  a  man  of  honour,"  says  Mr.  Harris, 
"  I  pledge  myself  that  through  mediumistic  channels, 
all  these  things  are  taught  as  emanating  from  the 
spirits ;  and  worse  is  taught,  if  possible,  to  those  who 
penetrate  the  inner  circles,"  &c. 

I  have  before  me  a  critique  "  On  the  Spiritualism" 
(a  work  of  500  pages)  "of  Judge  Edmonds, Dr.  Dexter, 
and  the  ex-Governor  Tallmadge."  The  pamphlet 
which  analyses  their  writings  is  anonymous;  but 
the  writer  is  known  to  me  as  a  correspondent.  I 
believe  him  to  be  a  learned  and  conscientious  man, 
and  his  verdict  is  nearly  similar  to  that  of  INIr.  Harris 
— above  stated.  But  let  your  Christian  readers 
judge  for  themselves  whether  the  sentiments  above 
quoted  are  "  good,"  "  moral,"  and  "  piously  Chris- 
tian." As  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  "  said"  that  they  are 
quite  the  reverse.  At  least,  we  may  conclude  that 
in  this  affair  of  spiritualism  we  have  no  child's  play, 
but  a  serious  struggle  between  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness and  light,  and  that  we  arc  no  further  safe  than 
as  we  put  on  the  "  armour,"  and  submit  ourselves 
to  the  ordinances  which  God  has  provided.  Nor  is 
this  a  question  between  sect  and  sect  of  Christians, 
but  between  Christ  and  Anti-Christ. — I  am,  sir, 
your  obedient  servant, 

W.  T.  Coleman. 

33,  Blomficld  Road  W.,  August  8. 


214  AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SPIRITUALISM. 

P.S. — It  was  not  my  object  to  say  anything  of  the 
purely  physical  phenomena — such  as  the  moving  of 
heavy  bodies,  the  action  on  musical  instruments,  &c., 
but  I  beg  leave  to  observe  that,  in  all  ages,  sound  phi- 
losophy has  taught  us  to  refer  the  origin  of  all  motion 
to  spirit.  We  prove,  every  time  by  an  act  of  the 
will  we  move  a  limb,  that  spirit  moves  matter.  It 
has  also  been  known,  from  ancient  times,  that  the 
spirit  in  a  living  man,  or  other  spirits  acting  through 
him,  can,  under  certain  conditions,  exert  this  motive 
power  without  the  palpable  intervention  of  the  body, 
2.  e.,  matter  maybe  so  moved  without  being  touched. 
This  is  the  foundation  of  ancient  magic.  The  "powers 
of  the  world  to  come,"  with  which  the  Christian 
may  be  even  now  endowed,  are  entirely  distinguished, 
from  this  "  curious  art"  by  their  moral  aspect,  appli- 
cation, and,  above  all,  by  their  origin,  which  is 
heavenly. 


II. 

Sir, — I  am  somewhat  surprised  that  the  liberal 
offer  contained  in  your  excellent  review  of  the  Spi- 
ritual Magazine  has  not  been  more  generously  re- 
sponded to  by  the  disciples  of  the  spiritualistic  faith. 
I  have  carefully  examined  the  columns  of  the  Star  and 
Dial,  since  Monday  morning,  with  the  hope  of  seeing 
something  from  Mr.   Howitt,  Mr.   Benjamin  Cole- 


LETTER    II.  215 

niaiij  ^Ir.  "Wilkinson,  or  some  other  able  and  well- 
known  witness  to  the  reality  of  the  manifestations, 
but  have  thus  far  been  disappointed. 

It  was  mj'^  good  fortune  to  be  introduced,  at  a  very 
early  day,  to  that  branch  of  the  subject  popularly 
known  as  the  "  rappings."  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
knowing  the  Fox  family,  with  whom  the  "  rappings'' 
in  America  originated.  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
knowing  to  what  trying  ordeals  they  were  subjected 
by  an  incredulous  pubhc,  and  also  of  knowing  that 
every  test  applied  to  detect  fraud  or  imposture  re- 
sulted in  a  complete  victory  to  the  "mediums." 
During  the  past  twelve  years,  I  have  witnessed  nearly 
all  the  various  phases  of  the  manifestations,  from 
table-turning  and  bell-ringing  to  trance-speaking  and 
impressional  mediumship,  and  am  prepared  to  testify 
that  much  the  larger  proportion  of  that  which  has 
been  communicated  to  me,  or  in  my  presence,  has 
been  not  only  of  a  highly  moral  character,  but  has 
been  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity. If  the  proper  tests  were  applied  at  the 
beginning  of  a  stance,  the  revelations  have  invariably 
been  of  the  most  beautiful  and  exalted  nature. 

The  "physical  manifestations,"  such  as  lifting 
ponderous  bodies,  ringing  bells,  and  playing  upon 
musical  instruments,  are  undoubtedly,  as  you  state, 
"  designed  to  arrest  attention,  and  to  convince  the 
sceptical  that  unseen  agencies  arc  present,  capable  of 
holding  communion  with  mortals."  That  they  have 
a  very  important  significance  cannot  but  be  acknow- 
ledged when  it  is  known  that  many  people  who  had 


216  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

spent  nearly  half  a  lifetime  under  the  blight  and 
darkness  of  atheism,  have  been  brought  by  their 
instrumentality  to  a  knowledge  of  the  soul's  immortal 
existence.  The  fact  of  an  intelligent  invisible  agency 
once  established,  it  does  not  take  a  long  time  to 
comprehend  its  nature. 

No  doubt  many  people  in  this  metropolis  fancy 
that  the"excitement  has  died  out,  that  it  was  only  a 
"  nine  days'  wonder/'  got  up  to  please  the  credu- 
lous, and  must  eventually  be  replaced  by  some  other 
marvel.  Such,  however,  is  not  the  case.  There  has 
never  been  a  more  earnest  desire  to  investigate  this 
all-important  subject  than  there  is  at  the  present 
time.  Seances,  private  and  public,  are  held  weekly 
in  various  pai-ts  of  London,  and  the  manifestations 
are  constantly  increasing  in  interest.  In  company 
with  some  friends,  I  attended  a  circle  on  Wednesday 
evening,  in  Rahere  Street,  St.  Luke's.  There  were 
several  mediums  present,  but  two  ladies  were  selected 
by  the  spirits  for  the  manifestations — Miss  Dixon 
and  Madame  Besson. 

After  the  circle  had  been  opened  by  prayer  (and 
among  the  true  believers  seances  are  seldom  held 
without  this  devout  beginning),  Madame  Besson  sat 
down  to  a  small  round  centre  table  alone.  She  placed 
her  hand  upon  the  top  of  it,  whenit  immediately  began 
to  tip  and  glide  about  the  floor.  Pretty  soon,  her 
jacket  was  taken  hold  of  by  some  unseen  influence, 
and  so  firmly  fastened  to  the  bottom  of  the  table, 
that  a  small  piece  was  torn  off  in  removing  it.  Shortly 
after,  she   was  entranced,  and  began  to  make  the 


LETTER    II.  217 

motions  which  are  gone  through  by  a  shoemaker  in 
closing  up  a  shoe  or  boot — pricking  the  hole  with 
the  awl,  and  afterwards  drawing  out  the  wax-end. 
She  then  turned  to  an  elderly  woman,  who  sat  upon 
a  couch  near  by,  and  told  her  that  her  husband's 
spirit  was  the  influence ;  that  he  had  been  a  shoe- 
maker, and  had  made  a  pair  of  shoes  for  her  (his 
wife)  not  long  before  he  died.  This  was  acknow- 
ledged to  be  entirely  correct.  Passing  into  a  deeper 
trance,  l\Iadame  Besson  went  through  with  the  death 
scene  of  the  shoemaker,  being  affected  precisely  (as 
was  stated  by  the  wife)  as  he  had  been  in  his  last 
moments.  She  then  arose,  still  entranced  by  the 
spirit,  and  addressed  the  widow,  telling  her  of  his 
(the  husband's)  bright  home  in  the  spirit  world,  and 
of  the  constant  guardianship  which  he  exercised  over 
her,  and  would  continue  to  exercise  until  they  were 
again  united.  The  language  was  such  as  might  be 
used  by  the  most  pious  and  devoted  teacher  of  reli- 
gious truth.  In  this  connection,  it  may  be  as  well 
to  add  that  IMadame  Besson  had  never  before  met 
the  woman  whom  she  addressed,  she  (the  woman) 
having  arrived  in  town  from  the  country  on  the  same 
afternoon.  This  influence  leaving  the  medium, 
another  spirit  took  possession,  and  delivered  a  short 
and  efiective  address,  when  all  the  members  of  the 
circle  (except  Madame  Besson)  were  ordered  to  join 
hands,  and  the  gas  to  be  turned  off.  Madame  Besson 
was  directed  to  keep  her  seat  at  the  little  table.  Al- 
together, the  cirelc  was  comj)osed  of  seventeen,  in- 
cluding the  mediums.     There  was  about  an  equal 


218  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

number  of  the  two  sexes.  Soon  after  turning  off 
the  gas,  spirit-forms  began  to  make  themselves  visible 
to  Miss  Dixon,  Madame  Besson,  and  the  other  me- 
diums, and  every  person  present  was  repeatedly 
touched  by  spiiit  hands,  in  some  instances  five  or 
six,  and  those  who  were  sitting  at  the  extreme  sides 
of  the  room,  some  of  them  not  less  than  twelve  or 
fourteen  feet  apart,  were  touched  at  the  same  time.  I 
had  my  face  repeatedly  patted,  and  my  whiskers  play- 
fully pulled  by  a  spirit  hand,  and  although  I  sat  as 
close  to  the  wall  as  possible,  my  chair  touching  it,  a 
hand  grasped  firmly  hold  of  my  shoulder  from  be- 
hind. Then  there  were  loud  clappings  in  the  air, 
from  the  ceiling,  and  sounds  in  various  parts  of  the 
room  like  the  tinkling  of  Turkish  bells.  These 
sounds  were  heard  almost  simultaneously  in  every 
corner  of  the  room,  coming  in  the  midst  of  what  was 
otherwise  perfect  silence.  Some  present  saw  the 
operations  of  the  spirits,  as  well  as  heard  and  felt 
them,  but  all  were  thoroughly  convinced  of  their 
existence  through  the  medium  of  two  organs. 

If  it  be  asserted  that  the  medium  sitting  at  the 
table  made  use  of  her  hands  in  touching  the  others, 
it  may  well  be  answered  that  it  would  be  impossible 
for  her  to  be  present  at  both  sides  of  the  room  at  the 
same  moment.  Again,  the  stillness  was  such  during 
the  greater  portion  of  the  evening,  that  a  person 
could  not  move  without  being  at  once  detected ;  and 
besides,  several  times,  while  being  taken  hold  of,  I 
had  my  foot  so  far  ©utstretcbed  as  to  prevent  any 


LETTER    II.  219 

phj'sical  being  from  approaching  near  enough  to 
touch  my  face  without  encountering  my  feet. 

This  was  not  done  because  I  doubted  the  sincerity 
of  any  one  present,  but  that  my  testimony  might  be 
of  more  value.  Again,  my  shoulder  was  grasped 
from  behind,  and  there  was  not  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
of  space  between  my  chair  and  the  wall. ,  And,  still 
further,  the  raps  on  the  table,  and  the  bells  in  the  air, 
were  heard  in  a  distant  part  of  the  room  at  precisely 
the  same  moment  that  several  persons  were  being  taken 
hold  of  by  spirit  hands.  Much  else  occurred  of  an 
equally  startling  and  interesting  nature,  all  of  which 
can  be  testified  to  by  sixteen  credible  witnesses  ;  but 
I  will  not  intrude  upon  your  columns  farther  than 
simply  to  say  that  I  have  had  spirit  hands  take  firm 
hold  of  me  in  broad  light. 

I  have  given  the  foregoing  sketch  of  a  single  ex- 
perience with  the  physical  manifestations,  because 
I  believe  that  to  the  novice  they  are  the  most  inte- 
resting. 

Once  more  assurhig  your  readers  that  much  the 
greater  proportion  of  these  manifestations  are  of  a 
purely  moral  and  religious  nature,  I  will  close  by 
signing  myself,  yours  truly, 

A.    W.    BOSTWICK. 

Exeter  Change,  Strand,  August  9. 


2.20  AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SriRITUALISM. 


III. 


Sir, — Your  two  questions,  "  Is  it  true  ?"  and 
"  Whence  is  it  ?"  strike  at  the  root  of  the  tree  of 
spirituahstic  phenomena,  however  varied  the  shape 
of  the  branches  and  the  hues  of  the  flowers.  Six 
years'  testing  at  several  hundred  sittings,  during 
leisure  hours  in  the  quiet  of  home  life,  has  placed 
me  in  a  better  position  for  arriving  at  an  accurate 
opinion  than  the  man  who  has  never  been  at  a 
sitting,  or  only  at  one  or  two ;  but  I  pass  these 
questions  for  the  present,  and  lay  hold  of  Mr.  W. 
T.  Coleman's  letter,  as  it  may  frighten  away  a  class 
of  persons  who  are  afraid  of  testing  the  phenomena, 
for  fear  the  "  devil"  is  the  producer  of  them.  I 
therefore  state,  that  at  the  sittings  I  have  attended 
I  have  never  heard  a  sound,  nor  seen  a  sight,  an- 
tagonistic to  purity ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  I  have 
been  advised  to  prayer,  to  Bible  reading,  to  repose  in 
Christ — duties  I  had  grossly  neglected.  To  the 
Christian  who  believes  the  truth  that  an  unseen  devil 
tempted  the  pure  Christ  forty  days,  and  that  the 
devil  still  tempts  men,  it  cannot  be  a  matter  of  sur- 
prise that  devils  may  come  and  attempt  to  deceive 
in  a  church  or  at  a  sitting ;  but,  if  so,  they  must 
also  believe  that  an  angel  came  and  strengthened 
Jesus  in  the  Garden  during  his  agony,  and  that  as 
"  angels  minister,''  they  can  and  do  minister  at  a 
church,  social  gathering,  or  a  sitting  formed  expressly 
for  the  purpose  of  proving  by  signs  and  wonders 


LETTER    III.  221 

that  devils  and  angels  are  still  in  and  round  human 
beings.  I  have  found  the  most  energetic  inquirers 
into  the  subject  of  spirit-power  to  be  those  persons 
who  had  no  faith  in  either  a  "  devi?'  or  an  "angel ;" 
but  by  means  of  the  proofs  given,  rugged  and  un- 
couth though  some  think  them,  they  have  "  changed 
their  minds,"  and  several  I  know  are  now  "  Church 
members," — a  species  of  "devilism^^  much  to  be 
desired.  I  would  frankly  state,  that  I  was  rapidly 
imbibing  Materialism,  and  that  belief  was  acting 
in  my  actions.  When  I  heard  of  the  spirit-power 
manifestations  I  felt  that  if  true  they  would  hew  in 
pieces  the  Upas  tree  of  Materialism.  I  sought  and 
found ;  and  not  that  only,  but  the  Bible  was  ordered 
to  be  put  on  the  table,  and  a  medium,  with  closed 
eyes  and  averted  head,  was  acted  upon  by  an  unseen 
power — as  the  Quakers  were  said  to  be  in  olden 
times — and  with  agitated  hand  was  made  to  turn 
over  the  leaves ;  his  finger  then  stiffened,  and  pointed 
to  the  open  page  and  verse,  "  Heard  a  voice  saying, 
this  is  my  beloved  Son."  Again  the  agitation, 
turning  of  leaves,  and  the  finger  pointed  to  "  I  am 
come  that  ye  might  have  life,"  and  so  on,  to  a 
number  of  passages.  In  every  instance,  the  finger 
rested  on  a  verse  which  contained  the  principle  that 
Christ  was  the  Son  of  God. 

I  advise  every  one  who  is  going  to  a  circle,  to  go 
with  a  cheerful,  thankful  heart,  avoid  fun  and  frolic, 
otherwise  your  grieved  angel  friends  may  stand  afar 
off,  while  you  are  fooled  to  the  top  of  your  bent  by 
a  class  oi'  unseen  beings,  whose  absence  is  more  to 


222  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

be  desired  than  their  presence.  With  your  permis- 
sion I  will  send  an  answer  of  "  facts''  to  your  ques- 
tion, "  Is  it  true?'' 

John  Jones. 
15,  Basinghall  Street,  E.  C,  August  9. 


IV. 

Sir, — I  should  be  glad  if  these  remarks,  suggested 
by  Mr.  Coleman's  letter  in  your  impression  of  Friday, 
might  find  a  place  in  your  paper. 

In  Mr.  Coleman's  letter,  two  points  are  alluded  to 
which  are  said  to  be  connected,  if  not  to  be  the 
motive  causes  of  many  of  the  results  we  have  lately 
heard  of  under  the  name  of  Spiritualism. 

The  third  point  alluded  to  is  not  a  cause,  but 
rather  a  caution. 

And  so  to  turn  our  attention  to  the  two  first  points 
noticed — the  solution,  as  they  are  said  to  be,  of  the 
sundry  spiritual  phenomena  that  have  come  before 
our  notice. 

1.  "  Some  undiscovered  natural  law."  Mr.  Cole- 
man says  he  is  going  to  offer  no  theory  of  his  own, 
but  is  about  to  deal  solely  with  fact,  which  it  is  to 
be  regretted  is  a  determination  he  permits  himself 
to  depart  from. 


LETTER    IV.  223 

Assuredly  his  first  statement  is  a  fact.     There  is 
a  spirit  in  man.     No  Christian  would  deny  this  fact;, 
for  he  has  sure  proof  of  it  when  he  reads  that  God 
said,  "  I  will  breathe  into  him  (man)  of  my   spirit/' 
It  is  also  a  fact  that  now  and  then  strange  insights 
into  that  other  life,  and  a  conversation  with  beings 
not  of  this  world,  were  granted  by  God's  special  grace 
to  peculiar  men — as  in  the  well-knovt^n  case  of  Saul, 
which  is  a  sufficient  instance.     And  it  is  quite  true, 
again,  that  God  made  himself  sensibly  heard  by  cer- 
tain men,  speaking  so  that  their  ears  received  im- 
pressions  of   sound  ;  and  in  such  a  manner   that 
these  men  could  again  return  answer.     Solomon  and 
Samuel  are  sufficient  to  mention,  out  of  several  in- 
stances  related  in  the  long  course  of  history  em- 
braced by  Biole  narrative. 

But  it  by  BO  means  follows,  nor  is  it  a  fact,  that 
this  power,  once  or  twice  granted  to  men,  is  a 
"  faculty"  or  "  law  of  human  nature.^'  It  is  rather, 
taking  the  word  "  facidty'^  in  its  strict  sense,  not  a 
faculty,  but  an  accident  of  human  nature.  The 
expression  "law,"  or  "faculty  of  man's  nature," 
indicates  a  power  in  every  one,  if  they  so  choose  to 
act  in  their  direction  of  that  power,  to  use  the 
faculty.  Hearing  and  seeing  arc  faculties  !  All  men 
not  accidentally  maimed  can  hear  and  see  at  will. 

And  if  faculty  be  the  right  expression  to  give  to 
the  supposed  power,  I,  and  all  other  men,  not  hin- 
dered by  acciderital  (or  perhaps  immoral)  check — 
but  this  last  is  not  clear — could  thus  at  will  coni- 
uiuiiicatc  with  other   spirits,  and  possibly   with  the 


224  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

very  Spirit  of  God,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  call  the 
sense  of  hearing  into  play. 

We  all  know  (I  make  a  small  digression  to  avoid 
any  risk  of  being  mis-rendered)  that  there  is  a  spirit 
in  us,  which  God  has  given,  which  works  rightly  or 
wrongly  in  us,  as  we,  using  or  rejecting  His  help, 
act — by  which  spirit  we  communicate  with  Kim,  in 
prayer  and  in  other  such  ways,  the  sense  of  hearing 
in  no  way  .being  essential.  "We  do  not  hear  God's 
spirit  talking. to  us,  but  we  feel  its  impulse;  nor  do 
we  know,  save  by  experience,  if  our  prayers  are  re- 
ceived or  answered. 

And  I  imagine  it  is  begging  the  question  when 
Mr.  Coleman  says  that  this  spirit  in  man,  mentioned 
in  the  Scriptures,  and  the  spiritual  agencies  which 
gave  rise  to  his  letter,  are  the  same. 

Then  to  resume :  As  I  cannot  communicate  with 
other  spirits,  nor  can  one  or  another  person  of  my 
acquaintance  do  so,  how  can  this  power  be  a  faculty 
of  man's  nature  ?  INIy  will  is  strong  on  the  subject. 
I  have  often  tried  whether,  by  any  means,  I  could  hear 
the  words  or  know  the  thoughts  of  absent  or  dead 
friends.  My  endeavours  have  always  been  unsuc- 
cessful ;  so  also  have  been  those  of  others  of  whom 
I  have  inquired. 

Surely  there  is  no  faculty  of  man's  nature  in  the 
case. 

In  the  quotation,  "  Try  the  spirits,"  which  Mr. 
Coleman  mentions,  he  again  appears  to  me  to  take 
for  granted  that  which  has  to  be  proved.  St.  John 
says,   "  Try  the  spirits  whether    they  be  of    God, 


LETTER    IV.  22S 

because  many  false  prophets  have  Fgone  into  the 
world.-"  It  was  not  the  spirits — it  was  the  prophets 
moved  by  the  Spirit  in  them,  that  communicated  to 
men  ;  and  by  what  the  prophets  said,  "  by  their 
fruits"  were  their  spirits  to  be  known  and  tried.  In 
neither  case  mentioned  by  Mr.  Coleman  does  the 
Bible  bear  out  his  argument ;  nor  does  it  bear  testi- 
mony to  spiritual  agency  of  the  kind  alluded  to  in 
his  letter. 

As  to  the  second  point,  "  Spiritual  agency."  Here 
we  have  no  proof  offered  us  by  Mr.  Coleman.  He 
only  says,  "If  spiritual  agency  be  admitted."  Why 
should  I  admit  it  ?  It  is  not  proved.  I  must  re- 
peat, that,  by  spiritual  agency,  I  mean  that  which 
has  lately  come  before  the  world,  when  we  hear  of 
answers  audibly  made  to  questions  put,  and  what 
appears  to  me  to  come  under  another  head,  and  to 
belong  to  another  class  of  inquiry — tables  moving, 
instruments  sounding,  &c. 

To  notice  another  point  in  Mr.  Coleman's  letter. 

Wc,  of  course,  prove  an  exertion  of  will  whenever 
we  move  a  muscle;  but  has  it  been  known  as  a 
truth,  from  ancient  times,  that  the  exercise  of  the  will 
can  effect  the  inertia  of  matter  without  an  instru- 
mental agent  ?  Has  it  again  been  satisfactorily 
proved  in  ancient  times  that  matter  can  be  moved 
by  the  power  of  will  without  the  influence  of  touch  ? 

And  if  it  has,  why  may  it  not  also  be  proved  in 
modern  times,  and  why  is  it  not  so  proved  ?  For  I 
may  say  I  am  one  of  modern  time ;  modern  ])roo('s 
suit  modern  times.     1  am  not  content  with  ancient 


226  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

proofs.     (While  at  the  same  time  let  me  ask,  where 
are  the  ancient  proofs  ?) 

If  these  ancient  proofs  exist,  and  were  worth 
anything,  they  would  to  some  extent  be  proofs  now. 
Why  should  we  not  have  them  to  begin  with  ? 

It  is  said,  at  the  end  of  Mr.  Coleman's  letter,  that 
this  "curious  art"  is  not  heavenly.  How,  then, can 
the  spirit  concerned  in  it  have  been  put  into  human 
nature  by  God  ?  As  Mr.  Coleman  says  in  the  com- 
mencement of  his  letter — "  That  spirit  God  breathes 
into  man  is  of  Heaven,  till  we  suffer  the  Devil  to 
work  upon  it  and  expel  it." 

I  have  thus,  in  ill-arranged,  words  endeavoured  to 
show  that  this  spiritual  agency  is  not  a  faculty,  and 
that  the  Bible  does  not  bear  out  Mr.  Coleman's 
argument  in  those  points  whence  he  appeals  to  it. 
I  would,  at  another  time,  be  glad  to  add  more,  if  the 
kindness  of  the  editor  permits  the  insertion  of  these 
words. 

W.  P.  K. 


V. 

Sir, — In  common  with  your  several  correspondents, 
I  much  admire  the  candid  and  impartial  notice  of 
the  Spiritual  Magazine  which  appeared  in  your  im- 
pression of  the  5th  instant,  and  while  taking  ex- 
ception to  one  statement  therein  made,  am  happy  to 
be  able  to  bear  testimony,   as  a  constant  reader,  to 


LETTER   V.  227 

such  impartiality  being  one  of  the  characteristics  of 
your  journal.  In  the  course  of  your  remarks  on 
the  so-termed  "  spiritual  manifestations,"  you  observe, 
"  It  will  not  do  to  say  that  this  phenomena  results 
from  hysteria,  that  from  magnetism,  the  other  from 
thought-reading,  a  fourth  from  the  odic  force,  what- 
ever that  may  be."  Now,  with  deference  to  the 
reviewer's  opinion,  I  beg  to  submit  that  it  is  pre- 
cisely by  looking  at  the  phenomena  as  the  result  of 
these  or  similar  influences,  and  testing  them  by  such 
views,  that  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  question  can 
be  arrived  at.  How  otherwise  explain  the  case  of 
the  shoemaker's  wife,  as  detailed  in  the  letter  of  Mr. 
A.  W.  Bostwick,  than  as  a  clear  case  of  thought- 
reading  ?  The  party  assemble  under  the  impression 
that  they  are  going  to  hold  communion  with  the 
spirits  of  the  departed,  the  proceedings  are  com- 
menced with  prayer,  by  which  means  they  are  brought 
into  a  subdued  state  of  mind,  and  prepared  for  the 
reception  of  the  marvellous.  Now  to  whom,  under 
the  circumstances,  were  the  widow's  thoughts  likely 
to  revert  but  to  her  deceased  husband  ?  Madame 
Besson,  being  entranced,  went  through  with  the 
death  scene  of  the  shoemaker,  being  affected  pre- 
cisely (as  was  stated  by  the  wife)  as  he  was  in  his 
last  moments.  Just  so,  and  as  every  clever  thought- 
reader  would  do.  Sir,  the  conditions  observed  are 
not  very  unlike  those  required  at  ordinary  mesmeric 
stances,  and  tlie  result  is  quite  in  keeping  with  the 
experience  of  those  who  have  witneRsed  what  are 
usually  termed  clairvoyant  stances.     I   am    prone  to 

Q  2 


S28  AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SPIRITUALIS3I. 

believe  that  people  biologise  themselves  in  all  these 
cases.  I  do  not  dispute  their  being  under  the  im- 
pression that  they  hear,  see,  and  feel  all  that  they 
detail,  but,  in  like  manner,  do  all  who  have  been 
biologised.  Should  this  opinion  or  belief  of  mine 
be  incorrect,  I  would  respectfully  submit,  that  it  is 
at  least  more  dignified  than  to  imagine  that  the 
spirits  of  the  departed  should  occupy  themselves  in 
the  frivolous  amusements  of  "  patting  poor  mortals' 
faces,  and  playfully  pulling  their  whiskers."  Again, 
as  to  hysteria,  how  comes  it  that  most  of  the  me- 
diums are  females,  who  are  naturally  subject  to  this 
affection  ?  The  magnetic  force,  and  odic  light,  doubt- 
less, will  account  for  much  of  the  phenomena  which 
110  spirit  hands  will  explain. — I  am,  &c. 

Sceptic. 


VI. 

Sir, — "  Is  it  true  ?"  is  a  natural  question.  My 
answer  is — Yes ;  because  my  ears  have  heard,  my 
eyes  have  seen,  and  my  hands  have  felt,  at  my  own 
home,  and  at  the  homes  of  my  personal  friends.  I 
have  enjoyed  my  few  leisure  hours  during  the  last  six 
years,  in  sitting  several  hundred  times  in  "circle" 
in  different  parts  of  London,  to  witness  manifesta- 
tions of  spirit  power  on  substances  animate  and  iti 


LETTER   VI.  229 

animate.  Except  about  ten  sittings  with  paid  me- 
diums, all  have  been  in  the  privacy  of  domestic  life. 
Take  this  incident,  out  of  many.  I  asked  that  an 
ordinary  parlour  table  be  lifted  off  two  of  its  feet ; 
at  once  it  rose  to  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees,  and 
undulated  in  that  position,  I  asked  that  it  be  mo- 
tionless— the  movements  ceased.  Every  movement 
I  suggested  was  made ;  it  moved  like  a  thing  of  life 
— no  one's  hands  or  feet  were  near  that  table.  The 
room  was  carpeted.  None  but  witnesses  can  realise 
the  uniqueness  of  spirit  manifestations  as  a  whole  ; 
for,  unfortunately,  in  giving  some  idea  of  what  was 
witnessed,  the  incidental  prefixes  and  affixes  are 
omitted,  and  merely  some  leading  fact  given ;  and 
thus  an  impression  of  the  apparent  foolishness  of 
the  manifestation  of  spirit  wisdom  is  created  in  the 
mind  of  the  reader.  I  npw  turn  to  some  of  those 
leading  incidents,  with  this  observation,  that  if  I 
place  a  bell,  a  pencil,  an  accordion,  or  other  article 
on  a  table,  and  earnestly  ask  that  the  proof  of  the 
existence  of  unseen  intelligent  agency  be  given  to 
me,  by  moving  those  substances  in  a  way  I  suggest, 
or  in  any  way  prefer, — it  would  be  absurd  for  me  to 
turn  round  and  sneer  at,  or  deny  the  existence  of  the 
power  that  pnxluccd  the  phenomena ;  and  on  my 
head  be  the  alleged  foolishness  of  the  phenomena,  if 
the  beneficent  power  who  moved  them  so  stooped  to 
my  lack  of  sense,  to  overcome  my  want  of  faith  in  a 
future  life. 

MoviNos. — I  have  seen  heavy  loo  tables  tilt  about 
like  light  ones.     I  have  frequently  seen  them  rise 


230  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

one,  two,  three,  and  in  one  instance  four  feet  off  the 
ground,  being  one  foot  above  my  outstretched  hands, 
no  human  being  touching  it,  then  gently  descending 
like  a  feather.  I  have  seen  a  chair  move  along  a 
large  drawing-room  floor,  pass  in  front  of  one  of  the 
sitters,  and  take  a  vacant  space  in  front  of  the  table  ; 
afterwards,  I  saw  the  chair  lifted  up  till  the  seat  was 
level  with  the  table.  I  have  seen  a  couch  within  six 
inches  of  me  start  off  to  about  two  feet  from  me, 
having  on  it  a  friend  of  mine  who  was  lying  his 
whole  length  on  it.  I  have  three  times  seen  that 
person,  while  a  few  inches  from  me,  rise  up  in  the 
air.  In  one  instance  I  held  his  hands,  and  when  I 
loosed  my  grip  he  floated  upwards,  and  over  to  the 
other  side  of  the  room.  I  and  several  of  my  friends 
having  seen  these  facts,  with  us  the  question  does 
not  arise.  Is  it  true  ? 

Sounds. — I  have  an  accordion,  so  have  friends  of 
mine  ;  we  know  where  we  bought  the  instruments, 
and  they  are  of  the  usual  kind.  Often  and  often 
have  I  seen  those  instruments,  held  by  one  hand  only, 
at  the  opposite  end  to  the  keys,  pulled  by  an  unseen 
power  at  the  other ;  and  the  keys  moved,  and  sweet 
strains  of  music  played.  I  have  mentally  asked  that 
a  certain  air  should  be  played,  and  my  mental  wish 
has  been  granted.  I  have  heard  music  so  sweet,  so 
ethereal,  so  supernatural,  breathing  out  of  the  in- 
struments, that  I  have  wept.  On  the  12th  of  June 
last,  an  accordion  played  in  my  hand,  and  the  force 
at  the  other  end  was  so  great  that  I  had  to  press  the 
side  of  the  instrument  against  the  edge  of  the  table. 


LETTER   VI.  231 

as  my  hand  was  too  weak  to  contend  with  the  force 
in  action  at  the  key  end.  I  have  heard  sounds,  as 
if  in  the  table,  on  the  table,  and  round  the  chairs  on 
which  we  were  sitting.  I  have  heard  sounds  as  of  the 
moaning  of  the  wind,  the  seething  of  the  sea.  I 
have  heard  sweet  sounds  of  various  tones.  Having 
with  my  fi*iends  heard  these  things  in  our  own  houses, 
we  have  not  to  inquire.  Is  it  true  ? 

Touch. — I  and  my  companions  have  been  dozens 
of  times  touched  and  grasped  by  unseen  power ;  the 
sensations  were  at  times  as  if  a  firm  hand  laid  hold 
of  me,  at  others  as  if  a  gentle  pressure  touched 
and  glided  away.  The  last  time  was  in  June,  186J . 
While  six  of  my  friends  were  seated  with  me  round 
a  large  loo  table,  and  the  hands  of  all  were  lightly 
placed  upon  it,  I  felt  a  pressure  on  my  thigh.  I  at 
once  put  my  hand  down,  and  it  was  kindly  patted 
as  if  by  warm  fingers.  Mentally  wishing  that  the 
spirit  would  shake  hands  with  me,  I  placed  one  end 
of  my  pocket-handkerchief  over  my  hand,  but,  in- 
stead of  shaking  hands,  I  felt  the  power  gently 
pulling  or  playing  with  the  handkerchief;  and  on 
feeling  a  small  lump  of  something  placed  in  the 
palm  of  my  hand,  I  looked  and  found  that  a  knot 
had  been  tied  on  the  handkerchief;  the  loose  part 
did  not  exceed  four  inches.  As  1  have  the  hand- 
kerchief with  tlic  knot  on  it,  I  have  no  need  of 
asking  myself,  Is  it  true? 

Ghosts. — While  sitting,  several  of  the  sitters  have 
seen  the  apparitional  or  soul-form  of  the  producers 
o[  the  phenomena.  1  have  not,  but  at  the  instant  they 


2;33  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

have  witnessed  the  entrance  of  those  to  me  invisible 
beings,  I  have  felt  a  sensible  change  in  the  air  of 
the  room — sometimes  like  a  cold  current  floating 
past  me — sometimes  a  warm  aura  seemed  to  press  on 
me.  I  have  twice  seen  an  ethereal  hand  rise  between 
the  dress  and  the  lace  fall  of  a  lady  whose  hands 
were  on  the  table.  It  was  a  female  hand,  long  and 
taper.  It  was  about  twelve  inches  from  me.  The 
lady  never  had  been  at  a  sitting  before,  but  tears  of 
joy  were  trickling  down  her  cheeks  when  she  saw  it ; 
why,  her  soul  knows.  I  and  those  who  have  seen 
these  sights  have  not  to  ask,  respecting  angels  ap- 
pearing to  our  Saviour,  the  prophets,  and  the  apostles. 
Is  it  true  ? 

Voices. — I  and  others  have  heard  voices,  no  one 
near.  On  one  occasion  I  heard  a  prediction,  that  a 
certain  event  would  happen  on  a  particular  date  on 
the  following  month — on  that  day,  the  event  took 
place.  When,  therefore,  I  read  biographic,  classic, 
and  scriptural  histories  of  prophecies,  said  to  be  heard 
by  voice,  I  am  disposed  to  believe,  and  not  trouble 
myself  with  the  question,  Is  it  true  ? 

I  could  go  on  and  tell  of  visions — trances — cures 
— warnings  of  evil — directions  for  good — given  at 
these  sittings  while  I  was  present,  and  these  facts, 
which  joking  at  us  cannot  eradicate  from  our  me- 
mories, enable  us,  with  a  right  good  heart  and  will, 
to  say,  that  we  are  ready  to  attest  with  our  signa- 
tures, and  if  need  require,  by  our  oaths,  before  any 
legal  tribunal,  that  it  is  true  ! 

It  is  right  to  say  that  the  pressure   of  business 


LETTER    VII.  233 

engagements  in  this  beautiful  world  of  God's  wis- 
dom has  for  the  last  two  years  prevented  me  attend- 
ing many  circles,  but  the  past  evidences  I  have 
had  of  spirit-life  after  death  are  to  me,  who  have 
suffered  the  loss  of  wife  and  five  children,  a  very  joy. 

John  Jones. 

15  Basinghall  Street,  E.G. 

P.S. — If  space  be  allowed,  I  will,  in  a  day  or  two, 
answer  the  second  question  you  put — "Whence  is  it  ? 


VII. 

Sir, — A  letter  appears  in  your  impression  of 
Friday,  to  which  I  beg  you  will  allow  me  to  reply. 
It  is  on  "Modern  Spiritualism,"  by  Mr.  W.  T. 
Goleman,  who,  it  may  be  well  to  state,  avows  himself 
a  firm  believer  in  "  spiritual  manifestations,''  and  in 
the  remarks  he  ventures  upon  the  question,  exposes 
his  consummate  credulity  when  he  disparages  our 
"  scepticism,"  and  pities  us,  no  doubt,  because  we  are 
not  80  imbecile  as  to  sit  in  darkened  rooms,  got  up 
for  the  occasion,  until  the  weak-nerved  owner  of  the 
palpitating  heart  is  almost  ready  to  mistake  its 
throbbings  for  the  "knocking"  of  a  polite  spiritual 
visitor  "  at  the  door." 

"\)'el],  Mr.  W.  T.  Goleman  believes  that,  by  this 
agency,  tables  have  been  uiovcd  and  knocked,  and 


234  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

dulcet  harmouies  evolved  from  harp  and  lute,  until 
the  ambitious  minstrel,  caring  not  vainly  to  compete 
with  talent  invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  feverishly  re- 
signs his  cunning  fingers  to  repose,  and  vows  at- 
tentive ear  !  Such  things  are  done ;  yea,  more ! 
We  are  told  what  really  is  beyond  the  power  of  man 
to  know,  and  so  cannot  dispute ;  and  what  we  could 
not  "know,"  because  we  know  it  is  false.  Well,  the 
phenomenon,  he  says,  is  to  be  explained  in  this  way. 
''  Even  in  the  most  remote  ages  it  was  known  to  the 
enlightened  few  that  there  is  a  spirit  in  man,  as  also 
saith  the  Scripture,  which  can  communicate  with 
God  and  created  spirits."  This  "  natural  law,"  as 
he  calls  it,  "  must,  if  resolved  into  a  faculty  or  ele- 
ment of  man's  nature,  imply  the  existence  of  spi- 
ritual agency.  In  all  ages,  such  a  faculty  has  been 
recognized — moreover,  the  Old  Testament  no  less 
than  the  New  confirms  it/'  I  may  say  that  the 
New  Testament  does  not  mention  it  at  all,  so  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  the  Old  cannot  do  less.  "  There  is 
a  spirit  in  man,  saith  the  Scriptures,"  saith  Mr.  W. 
T.  Coleman.  He  might  better  have  said  an  "  im- 
mortal soul,"  which,  while  a  close  prisoner  in  this 
house  of  clay,  he  knows  can  never  see  the  spirits  he 
suspects  to  exist,  because  the  material  eye  is  between 
them  and  his  spirit,  so  that  he  can  neither  regard 
the  shadowless  figure,  nor  hear  the  noiseless  march, 
neither  can  we  "  communicate"  with  them,  but  only 
with  the  Great  Spirit,  and  that  not  by  knocks  or 
raps,  but  in  sincerity  and  in  truth.  It  savours  not 
of  a   truth-seeking  spirit,  to   debase  Holy  Writ  by 


LETTER    VII. 


235 


decking  an  untenable  argument  with  "  Thus  saith 
the  Scriptures  ;"  nay,  rather  but^the  Scriptures  teach 
that  God  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  places  spake 
by  the  mouth  of  holy  men,  but  in  these  latter  days 
has  consummated  all  by  the  gift  of  the  presence  of 
his  Son.  We  need  no  other  communication  from 
the  invisible  world  than  we  have  here,  and  more 
no  man  can  know.  But  would  you  review  the  past  ? 
— it  is  indelibly  seared  on  the  page  of  history.  The 
future  ? — seek  not  the  counsel  of  spirits  ;  the  holy 
angels,  even,  do  not  know  their  Father's  omniscient 
will.  The  present  ?— "  To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  His 
voice,  harden  not  your  hearts.'^ 

Let  us  seek  to  become  wiser  and  better  men.  By 
heeding  the  unprofitable  loquacity  of  those  who 
proless  to  raise  spirits  (but  would  be  more  terrified 
than  the  Witch  of  Endor  if  they  saw  one),  we  de- 
range our  nervous  system  till  we  cannot  accumulate 
riches  on  earth,  and  by  carking  anxiety  divest  our 
thoughts  from  laying  up  lasting  treasure  where 
thieves  break  not  through  and  steal. 

In  fine,  I  ask  for  proof  of  the  existence  in  man's 
nature  of  the  element  of  wliich  he  speaks.  I  deny 
in  lulo  that  he  can  show  it  in  any  living  man. 

And,  as  to  spirit  acting  on  matter,  I  ask  him  if 
he  ever  saw  matter  move,  unless  by  natural  or  me- 
chanical ag('ncy  ?  Did  he  ever  see  a  door  unlocked 
and  opened  witliout  mechanical  agency,  or  by  any. 
thing  that  he  could  fairly  attribute  to  spiritual 
agency  ?  Or  have  we  heard  as  much  as  we  ever 
shall  of  the  doings  of  these  spirits,  and  arc  they 


236  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM^ 

about  to  retire  in  disgust  ?  Let  them  :  they  should 
have  come  boldly  from  under  the  table — they  could 
then  have  eluded  our  grasp ;  but,  methinks,  if  seated 
at  a  table,  and  I  felt  my  foot  embraced  by  a  so- 
called  spirit,  a  lightning-like  motion  would  give 
voice  to  these  dumb  knockers,  and  by  it  we  could 
make  a  shrewd  calculation  as  to  their  age  at  time  of 
death,  their  country,  and  their  sex. — Yours  truly, 

W.  A.  Adams. 
17,  Cheapside. 


VIII. 

Sir, — Eight  years  of  close  and  careful  investiga- 
tion into  the  phenomena  of  modern  spiritualism  has, 
in  my  case,  resulted  in  the  conviction,  that  the  vast 
majority  of  the  manifestations  are  genuine,  and  done 
without  trick,  contrivance,  or  collusion,  and  that  many 
of  the  wonderful  phenomena  developed  at  spiritual 
seances  are  produced  by  invisible  spiritual  intelli- 
gences, and  are  not  the  result  of  any  hidden  and 
merely  natural  law.  The  question  opened  up  for 
consideration  in  the  pages  of  the  Sta?'  is  not  so 
much  "  Do  the  phenomena  occur  V  That  seems  to 
be  admitted.  Indeed,  unless  it  be  admitted,  we  are 
forced  to   the   conclusion   that   the   testimonies,  to 


LETTER    VIII.  237 

matters  of  fact,  and  things  seen,  heard,  and  felt,  of 
tens  of  thousands  of  disinterested,  intelligent,  and 
hitherto  unimpeachable  witnesses,  are  utterly  value- 
less, and  that  the  witnesses  have  either  become  im- 
postors, are  self-deceived,  or  have  been  made  the  dupes 
of  designing  persons.  There  are  many  reasons 
for  believmg  none  of  these  inferences  to  be  true ; — 
1.  For  persons  who  have  been  witnesses  are,  many 
of  them,  well  skilled  in  a  knowledge  of  all  the  natu- 
ral sciences,  while  those  who  are  the  mediums  are 
often  illiterate  and  unlearned.  2.  Although  tens  of 
thousands  of  persons,  in  England  and  America,  have 
had  the  phenomena  produced  in  their  presence,  no 
single  instance,  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  of  the 
discovery  of  any  trick,  has  yet  been  estabhshed,  3. 
The  testimonies  are  to  matters  of  fact  seen  under 
eveiy  variety  of  circumstances,  appealing  to  all  the 
senses,  and  testified  to  by  all  who  have  been  present 
at  the  seances  where  they  took  place.  4.  Although 
the  occurrences  transj)ire  at  places  widely  apart, 
sometimes  originating  quite  suddenly,"  and  in  the 
])resence  of  persons  who  have  never  seen  similar 
phenomena,  yet  the  descriptions  of  the  transactions 
which  take  place  are  substantially  the  same  in  all 
instances,  o.  It  is  not  conceivable  that  tens  of 
thousands  of  mediums  could  produce  these  things 
by  arts  of  deception,  and  yet  never  in  one  case  con- 
fess, make  known,  and  expose  the  jugglery.  So 
hopeless  is  the  case  of  the  adherents  of  the  theory, 
that  the  modern  spiritual  phenomena  an;  the  results 
«}f  trick,  that  this  view  of  the  subject  lias  bscn  given. 


S38  AN    EXPOSITION    OP   SPIRITUALISM. 

over  to  those,  and  to  those  only,  who  never  have 
examined  the  question,  and  who  write  from  preju- 
dice rather  than  from  knowledge  and  investigation. 
If,  then,  the  phenomena  occur,  how  are  they  pro- 
duced ?     There  are  seven  theories  : — 

1.  That  they  are  produced  by  spirits  or  disem- 
bodied human  beings,  some  bad  and  some  good. 

2.  Ditto  ditto,  together  with  automatic  cerebral 
action  of  the  mediums. 

3.  That  they  are  produced  by  spirits,  by  auto- 
matic cerebral  action,  and  by  the  influence  of  power- 
ful magnetisers. 

4.  That  they  are  produced  by  powerful  embodied 
human  beings  acting  mesmerically ;  by  the  voluntary 
and  involuntary  action  of  the  cerebral,  spinal,  and 
sympathetic  nerve  centres  of  mediums,  acting 
through  the  medium  of  and  using  an  imponderable 
and  all-pervading  fluid,  designated  by  Reichenbach 
"  Odyle.'^ 

5.  That  theyare  partly  automatic,  partly  voluntary, 
partly  mesmeric,  partly  the  result  of  known  and 
unknown  natural  laws,  but  mostly  produced  by 
invisible  intelligent  agents,  inhabitants  of  the  super- 
mundane or  spiritual  world  or  worlds. 

6.  That  they  are  produced  by  known  and  unknown 
natural  laws,  without  the  interposition  of  disem- 
bodied spirits. 

7.  (And,  lastly,  by  those  who  know  little  or  no- 
thing about  the  matter),  that  the  phenomena  are  the 
result  of  trick  or  mechanical  contrivance. 

To  theory  No  5,  after  serious  investigation  and 


LETTER   VIII.  239 

in  spite  of  the  influence  and  opposition  of  friends 
and  well-wishers,  I  have  been  compelled  to  give  my 
adhesion.  As  to  the  character  of  the  teachings,  the 
conclusion  at  which  I  have  arrived  is  this  :  that  no 
teachings  received  from  either  embodied  or  disem- 
bodied spirits  are  infallible  and  worthy  of  unques- 
tioning assent ;  and  that  we  ought  to  try  the  teach- 
ings of  disembodied  as  well  as  embodied  beings, 
and  only  receive  such  as  are  supported  by  corrobo- 
rative evidence,  and  agree  with  our  moral  sense  and 
our  highest  conceptions  of  natural  and  spiritual 
truth.  Many  of  the  teachings  derived  through 
modem  spiritual  mediums  are  questionable — some 
are  positively  bad — but  the  larger  proportion  incul- 
cate excellent  moral  and  spiritual  truths.  An 
epitome  of  the  arguments  adduced  in  opposition  to 
the  views  held  by  those  who  believe  in  the  spiri- 
tuality of  modern  mysterious  phenomena  will  be 
found  in  the  August  number  of  the  "  British  Con. 
troversalist,"  and  a  reply  to  those  arguments  will 
appear  in  the  September  number  of  the  same 
periodical.^! 

I  would  rather  be  in  a  minority  of  one  with  truth, 
than  in  a  majority  of  all  the  world  with  error. 
Allow  mc  to  thank  you  for  your  fair  and  manly 
criticism  of  a  despised,  unpopular,  but  nevertheless 
tamest,  intelligent,  and  truthful  belief. — I  am,  yours 
truly,  T.  P.  Bakkas. 

Newcastle-on-Tyne,  August  1^. 


240  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

IX. 

Sir, — Your  correspondent,  Mr.  Bostwick,  has  ex- 
pressed his  surprise  that  neither  Mr.  Howitt,  Mr. 
Wilkinson,  nor  myself,  have  taken  advantage  of  the 
reopening  of  your  columns  to  a  discussion  of  the  very 
important  subject  of  modern  spiritualism.  I  write, 
therefore,  to  say  that  ray  friends  are  away  from  town 
on  their  summer  tour,  and  I  am  saying  all  I  have  to 
say  at  present  in  the  pages  of  the  Spiritual  Magazine. 

The  tone  of  your  review  of  my  notes  on  American 
Spiritualism  is  so  extremely  fair  and  temperate,  that 
I  have  nothing  to  complain  of  or  to  combat.  Your 
correspondent,  Dr.  J.  W.  Coleman,  who  is  entitled 
to  every  respect  for  the  conscientious  scruples  he  has 
on  the  religious  bearing  of  this  subject,  will  no  doubt 
be  answered  by  others  more  competent  than  myself. 
I  would  only  take  this  opportunity  of  saying  that  Dr. 
Coleman  is  not  related  to  me,  and  only  agrees  with 
me  on  this  subject  so  far  as  to  acknowledge  his  be- 
lief in  the  reality  of  the  phenomena  which  so  many 
unthinking  persons  are  disposed  to  vituperate.  As 
the  doctor  is  called  by  some  of  your  correspondents 
"  Mr."  Coleman,  he  may  wish,  as  I  do,  that  no  mis- 
take may  occur  as  to  the  identity  of  our  sentiments. 
Permit  me  to  say,  that  I  will  show  the  evidence  in 
my  possession,  of  some  of  the  extraordinary  facts 
witnessed  by  me  during  my  recent  visit  to  America, 
to  any  serious  investigator.' — I  am,  sir,  your  obedient 
servant,  Benjamin  Coleman. 

48,  Pembridge  Villas,  Bayswater,  Aug.  13. 


LETTER   X.  241 


X. 

Sir, — Allow  me  a  word  or  two  on  this  matter  of 
Spiritualism.  We  know  there  can  be  no  effect  with- 
out a  commensurate  cause,  for  it  is  certain  and  plain 
that  nothing  can  do  nothing.  Well,  I  have,  with 
other  friends,  seen  a  table  raised  from  the  lioor  with- 
out any  human,  or  what  is  called  physical,  power 
underneath  to  raise  it.  I  have  seen  an  accordion, 
when  held  bottom  upwards,  playing  as  it  were  of 
itself,  and  heard  it  give  forth  sweet  strains  of  music. 
Now,  the  force,  or  power,  or  agent,  was  clearly  there, 
though  unseen  ;  nor  does  it  seem  to  me  of  conse- 
quence whether  that  force  be  called  electric,  mag- 
netic, or  od,  for  that  force,  or  power,  or  agent,  was 
as  plainly  directed  by  an  intelligence  possessing 
thought  and  feeling,  which  thought  and  feeling,  with 
a  motive  and  a  purpose,  was  indicated  in  the  music ; 
therefore  the  question  is  still  reiterated,  and  still 
arrests  us — What  and  whence  is  this  intelligence  ? 
Does  electricity  feel  and  think  ?  Is  there  any  such 
thing  as  feeling,  thinking,  loving,  or  hating,  apart 
from  individual,  intelligent  existence  ? 

The  only  conclusion  1  can  possibly  come  to  (and 
that,  with  many,  many  others)  is  that  it  was  (to  us) 
an  unseen  being  acting  by  (to  our  physical  eyes)  an 
unseen  agency.  It  seems  to  mc,  if  we  cannot  thus 
b'jlicvc  our  eyes  and  our  ears — our  rational  faculties 
and  physical  senses — we  must  be  blanks,  and  believe 

u 


243  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

in  nothing.  But  besides  these  physical  phenomena, 
I  have  several  friends  who  say  they  can  see  these 
spiritual  visitors,  as  separate  individual  existences, 
when  they  operate  in  these  manifestations.  This 
cannot  be  all  fancy,  because  they  cannot  imagine  it 
at  their  wills,  and  still  stranger  would  it  be  to  ima- 
gine facts  not  previously  known.  And  it  cannot  be 
all  disease,  because  they  give  every  evidence  of  mental, 
moral,  and  physical  health. 

I  test  it  thus — "  You,  the  seer,  say  you  see  a  spirit 
form  with  us,  trying  to  make  its  presence  known  to 
us — to  prove  you  see  it,  describe  its  appearance,  tell 
its  name  or  age,  and  how  long  since  departed,"  &c. 
This  has  been  done,  as  I  know.  Facts  of  personal 
history  have  been  told  before,  unknown  to  the  seer  or 
medium. 

Again,  other  friends  pass  into  a  trance  or  sleep  ; 
unseen  power  entrances  them,  and  they  speak  as  from 
unseen  individuals,  from  those  whom  we  usually 
talk  of  as  dead  and  gone — the  burden  of  their  mes- 
sage usually  is  that  they  come  to  claim  our  love  and 
reunite  with  us  in  friendship  ;  that  they  are  still 
interested  in  us,  and  watch  over  us — part  of  the 
"  great  crowd  of  witnesses,"  "  God's  ministering 
spirits,"  as  ^twere  his  eyes  and  ears — brought  more 
manifestly  to  us.  You  can  ask  questions  of  them, 
and  they  will  give  you  their  credentials. 

Some  of  your  correspondents  say,  "  It  is  contrary 
to  nature's  laws  :''  I  say  facts  cannot  be  contrary  to 
natural  laws — and  these  are  facts.  But  another  says, 
"Oh,   it's   clairvoyance—thought  reading."      Very 


LETTER   X. 


243 


well,  if  it  is,  it  is  admitting  that  a  spirit  in  a  material 
body  may  see  a  spirit  in  another  material  body — i.  e. 
that  mind  can  read  mind. 

Another  says — "  Oh,  they  were  biologised."  Very 
well ;  who  biologised  or  magnetised  them  ?  Who  did 
the  facts  ?  They  could  not  imagine  them,  and  by 
their  fancy  make  the  physical  manifestations.  No, 
sir;  many  have  tried  all  these  explanations,  but 
cannot  rest  on  them.  This  may  account  for  one  fact, 
that  for  another ;  but  nothing  (it  seems  to  me)  can 
cover  the  whole  facts,  but  spirit,  individual  interven- 
tion, by  God's  permission,  and  according  to  a  law. 

But  then  comes  a  most  important  point.  Are  there 
nothing  but  bad,  evil,  and  devilish  spirits  that  walk 
the  earth  both  when  we  sleep  and  when  we  wake  ? 
Some  honest  clergymen  are  afraid  of  this,  and  have 
preached  accordingly — that  they  are  not  human 
spirits  at  all,  but  demons.  But,  methinks,  it  is  bor- 
dering on  blasphemy  to  say  that  God  has  given  all 
power  to  evil,  and  none  to  good  spirits.  We  know, 
in  all  seriousness,  there  is  enough  of  evil — spiritual^ 
moral,  and  physical — but  is  there  no  good  left  ?  The 
olden  Jews  believed  in  nothing  but  evil,  for  they  said 
Christ  "  cast  out  devils  by  Beelzebub,  the  prnice  of 
devils,"  but  we  know  better.  Good  is  good  all  the 
world  over;  and  if  the  foolishness  of  preaching 
manifestations  lead  me  to  nobler  and  higher  thoughts 
of  God,  to  deeper  prayer  to  him,  to  a  fuller  de- 
pendence on  his  ])iovidential  government,  and  to  a 
clearer  understandmg  of  the  Bible  testimony  ;  if  it 
baa  made  my  prospects  brighter,  and   exj)l;iincd  the 

K  i 


244  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

great  enigma ;  if  it  has  made  me  and  many  others 
happier,  and  I  beheve  wiser  and  better — then  if  it  be 
of  the  devil^  all  I  can  say  is,  God  speed  the  aevil, 
for  he  must  have  become  a  reformed  character. — 
Yours,  &c.,  T.  WiLKs. 

Worcester. 


XI. 

Sir, — Allow  me  to  thank  you  very  sincerely  for 
your  renewal  of  the  discussion  on  Spiritual  Manifes- 
tations in  the  current  numbers  of  the  Star  and  Dial. 
I  was  greatly  disappointed  by  its  abrupt  termination 
in  the  autumn  of  last  year,  and  am  of  course  gratified 
to  a  corresponding  degree  by  its  resumption  in  your 
pages  now.  Last  winter  it  operated  on  me,  and 
many  others,  like  a  charm.  I  shall  not  soon  forget 
the  eager  looks  and  wrapt  attention  of  the  fireside 
circle  to  which  I  read  the  paper  on  each  succeeding 
evening,  and  the  animated  conversation  that  followed 
upon  subjects  the  most  sublime  and  mysterious.  The 
carking  cares  and  dull  projects  relating  to  earthly 
matters  were  then  put  on  one  side,  and  the  higher 
topics  of  mind  and  spirit  took  their  place,  surely  not 
without  benefit  to  the  conversers.  I  anticipate  dur- 
ing the  coming  season  a  renewal  of  these  high  plea- 
sures, and  I  think  in  this  way  much  good  may  be 


LETTER   XI.  245 

done,  for  mauy  who  have  a  distaste  for  direct  reU- 
gious  conversation  may  be  by  this  raeanSj  and  doubt- 
less have  been,  allured  through  this  singular  and  in- 
resting  subject  to  reflect  upon  the  nature  of  spirits 
in  general,  and  their  own  souls  and  destinies  in 
particular. 

And  here,  sir,  allow  me  to  put  the  question — -May 
not  these  novel  manifestations  (granting  them  genu- 
ine)  be  now  singularly  opportune,  as  furnishing  a 
check  to  the  material  tendencies  of  this  dull,  plod- 
ding, mechanical  age?    May  they  not  be  just  what 
are  required  to  draw  the  mind  away  from  those  earthly 
subjects  which  are  at  the  present  day  so  all-engross- 
ing ?    Utilitarianism  is  the  characteristic  featui-e  of 
this  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  it  requires 
something  unique  and  startling  in  order  to  arouse 
the  minds  of  people  in  general ;  to  call  off  the  atten- 
tion of  the  tradesman  from  his  ledger;  of  the  work- 
ing man  from  his  avocation  ;  of  the  aristocrat  from 
his  fashionable  pursuits ;  of  the  lady  from  her  crino- 
line ;  of  the  gay  youth  from  his  betting-book ;  and 
even  of  the  religious  from  that  dull,  apathetic,  me- 
chanical way  in  which  their  customary  devotions  are 
too  commonly  performed.     We  had,  sir,  well  nigh 
lost  sight  of  the  realities  of  another  state  of  being,  in 
consequence  of  being  absorbed  in  this  ;  and,  in  mv 
opinion,  the  mysterious  phenomena  now  so  general 
are  meant  as  a  counteracting  force,  in  order  that  we 
may  better  realise  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come. 
This,  1  think,  furnishes  a  reply  to  the  "  Cui  bono  ?" 
so  often  put.     The  mind  of  man  instinctively  yearns 


246  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

for  some  token  of  a  spirit  world,  some  signal  to 
beckon  him 

"  Into  the  land  of  tlie  great  departed, 
Into  the  silent  land." 

The  highest  intellects  that  have  ever  appeared 
among  us  seem  to  have  lived  in  the  past  and  the 
future,  the  distant  and  the  ideal,  and  to  have  cherished 
those  Divine  musings,  those  "  thoughts  that  wander 
through  eternity,"  which  speculate  upon  and  antici- 
pate a  future  state ;  and  can  any  one  say  that  it  is 
not  the  will  of  the  Most  High  that  in  the  latter  ages 
of  the  world  this  state  should  not  be  revealed  more 
fully  ?  Indeed,  as  time  rolls  on,  something  of  this 
sort  seems  to  be  required.  Every  day  we  are  growing 
more  z-emote  from  the  era  of  miracles,  and  although 
this  fact  does  not  retract  from  the  value  of  their  evi- 
dence viewed  philosophically,  yet  it  does  from  its 
recognition  and  effect.  I  submit,  then,  that  the 
phenomena  may  be  of  use  in  removing  the  doubts  of 
the  honest  sceptic,  of  furnishing  growing  testimony 
to  the  truths  of  religion,  of  humbling  the  pride  of 
the  scoffing  rationalist,  and  of  teaching  us  all  the 
great  truth,  that  there  are  more  things  in  heaven  and 
earth  than  are  dreamt  of  in  the  philosophy  of  the 
worldly  wise. 

I  cannot,  sir,  close  these  fev/  rambling  observa- 
tions without  expressing  my  surprise  at  what  has 
been  so  dogmatically  and  positively  asserted  by  some 
of  your  correspondents,  namely,  that  matter  cannot 
be  operated  upon  but  by  mechanical  agency,  when 


LETTER    xir.  247 

scarcely  a  minute  passes  without  ray  lifting  my 
hand  to  my  head  by  an  effort  of  the  will.  The 
muscles,  tendons,  &c.,  of  my  limbs  act  at  onee  in 
obedienee  to  this  mental  impulse,  in  some  mystenous 
manner,  and  therefore  it  cannot  be  physically  im- 
possible for  the  will  to  act  upon  matter  generally,  as 
shown  by  Spiritual  Manifestations. — I  am,  sir,  yours 
very  truly,  J.  A.  L. 

Kettering,  August  14. 


XIL 

Sir, — I  thank  you  for  publishing  my  letter  of 
the  12th,  particularly  for  having  adopted  the  incog- 
nito, which,  with  your  kind  permission,  I  will 
continue,  as  it  is  a  literal  designation,  being  a 
thorough-going  sceptic  in  the  matter  of  these  "  Spi- 
ritual Manifestations. '*  Sir,  the  thanks  not  only  of 
your  coiTcspondents,  but  the  public  generally,  are 
due  to  you  for  the  liberal  manner  with  which  you 
have  re-opened  your  columns  to  the  discussion  of 
this  subject.  A  question  of  more  vital  importance 
cannot  possibly  occupy  them  if  true — and  if  not, 
the  sooner  it  be  exploded  the  better,  through  the 
agency  of  open  controversy  in  your  enlightened 
journal.  Having  avowed  myself  a  thorough  sceptic, 
1  am  prepared  to  do  battle  with  the  spiritualists,  and 
may  probably  ijicur  some  derision  when  I   state  the 


248  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

fact  that  I  have  never  been  present  at  a  spiritual 
seance.  But  I  am  emboldened  to  say  that^  had  I 
witnessed  all  that  has  been  written  concerning  these 
manifestations,  and  all  that  has  been  witnessed  even 
by  yom"  ingenuous  correspondent,  John  Jones,  I 
should  still  disbelieve  my  senses  when  in  opposition 
to  my  reason.  Setting  aside  the  awe  which  attaches 
to  these  mysterious  proceedings,  from  their  supposed 
connection  with  the  spirit  world,  I  would  ask,  is 
there  anything  more  extraordinary  in  the  phenomena 
detailed  by  Mr.  John  Jones  than  the  thousand  and 
one  marvels  performed  by  M.  Frikel  and  his  con- 
temporaries, in  the  art  of  legerdemain,  that  we 
should  forego  our  reason  and  be  cajoled  by  our  de- 
luded senses  ?  Not  that  I  would  be  misunderstood 
to  pronounce  the  whole  phenomena  as  caused  by 
sleight  of  hand.  I  would  rather  ascribe  them  to  ec- 
stacy  and  magnetism,which,  although  apparently  bor- 
dering on  the  spiritual,  are  entirely  physical  in  their 
nature.  Dr.  Ashburner,  iu  his  translation  of  "  Reich- 
enbach's  Researches,"  in  a  note  on  light,  says,  "  To 
apply  the  term  spiritual  to  the  class  of  phenomena 
under  discussion  is  to  remove  them  from  the  domain 
of  physics  into  the  region  of  the  absence  of  ideas. 
The  instant  the  human  mind  loses  the  idea  of  matter, 
it  wanders  in  a  haze  in  which  clear  consciousness  is 
no  longer  present — it  approaches,  in  a  degree,  the 
state  to  which  narcotics  reduce  the  perceptive  facul- 
ties, and  which,  carried  to  its  extreme  limits,  proceeds 
to  fatuity  and  unconsciousness.'-*  Again,  "There 
are  organs  of  the  brain,  which,  when  over- stimulated. 


LETTER    XII.  249 

leave  the  individual  a  victim  of  ecstacy.  The  imagi- 
nation, said  to  be  a  mental  faculty,  but,  in  reality, 
the  result  of  a  combination  of  the  actions  of  several 
organs,  if  indulged  in  without  regulation  and  very 
strict  control  by  the  intellectual  powers,  may  lead  to 
an  ecstacy  as  incompatible  with  rational  conviction 
as  the  open-mouthed  fatuous  wonderment  of  the 
idiot  is  with  the  higher,  calm,  reasoning  power  of 
the  philosopher.  Could  man  be  brought  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  numerous  fallacies,  the  reiterated 
falsehoods,  which  have  I'csulted  from  his  imagination 
hanng  conquered  his  reasoning  faculties,  are  the 
causes  of  all  the  evils  surrounding  him,  how  ready 
would  he  be  to  abandon  his  errors  ?  Alas  !  When 
is  man  to  be  enlightened  to  this  extent  ?" 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  discuss  the  quality  of 
the  spirits,  whether  good  or  bad,  nor  the  merits  of 
their  teachings.  I  am  content  to  leave  that  matter 
to  the  spiritualists  to  settle  amongst  themselves ; 
neither  do  I  wish  to  invade  that  territory  which  I 
should  have  thought  men  calling  themselves  Chris- 
tians would  not  have  dared  to  approach  with  levity — 
viz..  Holy  Writ.  But  as  spiritualists  propose  to  re- 
claim materialists  by  these  means,  and  thereby  attempt 
to  justify  their  unhallowed  orgies,  I  cannot  forbear 
referring  them  to  the  parable  of  the  Rich  Man  and 
Lazarus,  and,  quoting  their  Lord  and  IMastei-'s  words, 
"If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither 
will  they  be  persuaded,  though  one  rose  from  the 
dead."  This  must  be  the  dawning  of  a  new  dispen- 
sation,  if    these    spirit   comrauiiications  arc  to  be 


250         AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

permitted  and  inaugurated  a.d.  1861.  I  am  in- 
duced to  forward  the  enclosed  extracts  from  "Grimes's 
Etherology,  and  Phreuo-philosophy  of  Mesmerism,'' 
in  support  of  my  position  : — 

"  The  belief  of  many  excellent  persons  in  the 
communion  of  mesmerised  subjects  with  the  spirits 
of  the  departed  dead,  is  undoubtedly  a  delusion  into 
which  they  have  been  led  by  their  own  credulity* 
and  the  peculiar  condition  and  superstition  of  the 
subject.  When  a  subject  is  under  Etheropathic 
(mesmeric)  influence,  to  a  certain  extent  he  can  be 
easily  made  to  believe  that  he  sees  or  hears  the  su- 
pernatural inhabitants  of  Heaven  or  Hell.  He  can 
be  inspired,  and  generally  is,  with  the  notions  of  the 
operator,  especially  if  he  is  clairvoyant  enough  to 
perceive  the  state  of  the  operator's  mind.  Under 
these  cii'cumstances,  if  the  subject  is  questioned,  he 
will  sometimes  surprise,  delight,  or  horrify  the  ope- 
rator by  merely  echoing  back  to  him  his  own  su- 
perstitions. I  am  acquainted  with  a  most  respect- 
able gentleman  who  was  a  universalist,  who  became 
converted  to  a  belief  in  the  existence  of  perdition  by 
a  subject  who  described  to  him  the  exact  appearance 
of  hie  mother  and  several  other  dear  relatives  who 
were  dead,  and  who  had  never  in  life  been  seen  by 
the  subject.  It  did  not  occur  to  the  credulous  gen" 
tleman  that  his  own  mind  vja»  like  a  mirror  to  the 
mind  of  the  subject,  and  that  his  own  thoughts  re- 
flected the  images  of  departed  friends,  but  he  really 
supposed  that  by  clairvoyance  the  subject  actually 
looked  into  the  eternal  world,  and  from  its  countless 


LETTER    XII.  251 

myriads  selected  his  relatives,  and  described  them 
with  perfect  accuracy.  He  therefore  proceeded  to 
question  the  subject  as  to  what  his  mother  said,  and 
whether  she  had  any  communications  to  make  to 
him.  He  was  informed  by  the  subject  in  reply, 
that  his  mother  was  in  heaven,  and  was  desirous  to 
warn  her  son  of  his  errors,  and  to  assure  him  of 
his  imminent  danger  of  falling  into  eternal  perdition. 
Overwhelmed  with  awe,  and  terrified  with  these  so- 
lemn revelations,  he  sunk  on  his  knees,  and  in  an 
agony  of  conviction  surrendered  his  former  faith, 
and  from  that  day  to  this  has  acted  consistently 
with  the  resolves  of  reformation  which  he  then  made. 
There  is  at  this  moment  a  large  number  of  very 
respectable  persons  m  this  state,  who  sincerely  be- 
lieve in  the  reality  of  communion  with  spirits  by 
means  of  Etheropathy  (mesmerism).  To  ridicule 
it  will  only  make  their  belief  stronger  by  exciting 
the  principle  of  stubborn  opposition ;  but  I  think 
they  will  become  convinced  of  their  error  when  they 
find  that  subjects  can  be  made  to  believe  or  to  see 
anything  which  whim  or  caprice  may  suggest,  pro- 
vided they  have  not  been  previously  committed  for 
or  against  it.  Many  persons  have  become  convinced 
of  the  existence  of  sui)ernatural  spirits,  from  the 
(supposed)  evidence  afforded  by  Mesmerism,  from 
the  supposition  that  it  proved  the  existence  of  spirits, 
and  was  therefore  favourable  to  religious  belief. 
The  truth,  however,  is,  tliat  neither  Mesmerism  nor 
Etheropathy  (nor  table-turning)  sheds  any  light  what- 
ever on  this  subject,  it  leaves  it  where  it  finds  it." 


253  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

I  beg  especially  to  recommend  the  above  to  the 
notice  of  Mr.  John  Jones  and  others  of  like  expe- 
rience, and  remain  yours,  &c.,  Sceptic. 

August  15. 


XIII.     . 

SiRj — None  of  your  correspondents  on  Spiritual 
Manifestations  appear  to  have  seen,  heard,  or  felt 
any  of  them,  unless  it  be  in  a  room  or  dwelling- 
house.  Can  any  of  them  produce  any  witnesses  to 
them  in  the  centre  of  a  field  ?  If  not,  they  ought 
to  say  why  not. 

They  refer  to  the  Old  Testament  in  support  of 
their  theory,  but  they  forget  that  the  garden,  the 
road,  the  field,  and  the  doorway  were  more  frequent 
localities  of  such  manifestations  than  the  interior  of 
any  building.  Of  course,  a  table,  &c.,  could  be 
raised  from  the  middle  of  a  field  (if  raised  at  all  by 
spirits)  to  an  indefinite  height,  and  it  would  add 
thereby  to  the  present  number  of  beUevers. 
Your  obedient  servant, 

Jas.  M.  Buckland. 

South  Place,  Reading,  Aug.  14. 


LETTER    XIV.  253 


XIV. 

Sir, — The  question  "  Whence  is  it  ?"  is  speedily 
answered  if  the  querist  is  a  Christian.  I  have  only 
to  point  him  to  two  great  events  in  Christ's  hfe — 
His  temptation  by  the  Devil,  and  His  support  in 
agony  by  an  angel — and  we  have  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  two  invisible  persons  of  opposite  morals 
acting  upon  the  one  individual.  I  say  persons,  be- 
cause, though  invisible  to  the  majority  of  mortals, 
because  of  the  opaqueness  of  most  human  eyes,  yet 
by  many  whose  eyes  and  bodily  structure  are  sensi- 
tive, those  apparitional  forms  are  seen.  We  have  no 
announcement  from  Matthew  to  Revelation,  of  any 
physical  convulsion  in  the  human  organisation,  or 
of  a  change  in  God's  mode  of  acting  on,  with,  or  for 
man  ;  and  the  declaration  that  signs  and  wondei-s 
have  ceased  is  the  ignorant  assertion  of  ignorant 
men,  and  diametrically  opposed  to  the  last  words  of 
Christ — "  These  signs  shall  follow  them  that  be- 
lieve ;  in  my  name  shall  they  cast  out  devils,  heal 
the  sick,"  &c. — and  diametrically  opposed  to  bio- 
graphical history,  classic  and  theological,  from  the 
days  of  the  Apostles  down  to  August,  18G1. 

Froin  those  who  are  not  Christians,  the  question 
of  "  Whence  is  it  ?''  is  natural  and  fair.  And  my 
answer  is,  that  the  phenomena  of  inanimate  sub- 
stances moving  without  visible  touch  arises  from  the 
invisible  power  of  invisible  intelligent  beings  in  the 
air  around  us,  and  that  these  beings  have  form  and 


254  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITDALISM. 

substance  as  surely  as  the  unseen  air  has,  which 
sometimes  is  so  strong,  so  powerful,  as  to  tear  up 
an  oak  tree  by  the  roots,  and  lift  a  farmer's  waggon 
off  the  ground  and  toss  it  over  the  wall  into  the 
next  field.  And  I  see  no  reason  why  the  unseen 
gases  which  make  air  and  water,  and  produce  the 
vegetables  which  make  the  seen  body  of  man,  may 
not  produce  substances  unseen  by  us  to  feed  unseen 
beings.  Let  us  reduce  this  idea  to  demonstration. 
First,  by  remembering  that  all  fragrances  from  fruits, 
petals,  &c.,  ascend  upwards — they  must  have  form 
and  substance,  or  there  could  be  no  fragrance.  Se- 
condly, the  facts  called  spiritual  phenomena  are 
acknowledged  ;  the  question  is  therefore  narrowed  to 
— Are  they  produced  by  an  unknown  natural  law, 
or  by  unseen  intellects  possessing  physical  power  ? 
My  answer  is,  that  six  years'  experience  of  no  or- 
dinary kind  has  settled  the  answer  as  "  Yes,''  to 
the  second  question.  Because  when  seated  in  a 
room  with  others  round-  a  table  we  cannot  produce 
any  phenomena ;  but  when  we  ask  that  a  named 
solid  substance  be  moved,  it  is  done.  When  we 
ask  for  music — say  some  of  our  favourite  Irish  or 
Scotch  melodies — it  is  given  with  a  pathos  exceed- 
ing what  we  have  listened  to  when  produced  by 
musicians.  We  are  at  once  compelled  to  yield  to 
the  conviction  that  angels  still  minister ;  and  when 
that  conviction  is  buttressed  by  communications  re- 
specting dates,  ages,  names,  and  reference  to  inci- 
dents unknown  to  those  present,  but  afterwards 
found  to  be  true,  we  have  no  leverage  for  the  asser- 


LETTER   XIV.  U,00 

tion  that    "  Spirit  Manifestations  are  produced   by 
an  unknown  natural  law/' 

These  phenomena  take  place  only  in  the  company 
of  persons  called  seers,  prophets,  or  mediums — but 
those  persons  have  of  themselves  no  more  power 
than  the  barometer.     The  machine  is  there,  but  the 
storm  wind  comes  and  goes  as  it  wills,  without  the 
power  of  the  barometer  or  of  man   to  prevent ;  so 
the  spirit  comes  and  goes  when  it  will,  without  the 
power  of  the  medium  or  of  the  sitters.      Whence  it 
Is  uiay  also  be  inferred  from  the  following  fact,  given 
to  me  by   one  of  the  leadnig  officials  belonging  to 
the  corporation  of   London  : — "  Having  heard  that 
'fire' had  descended  on    several  of  the    great  Irish 
assemblies  during   the  revivals,   I,  when  in  Ireland, 
made  inquiry,  and  conversed  with  those  who  had 
witnessed  it  :    that  during  the  open   air  meetings, 
when  some  600  to  1000  persons  were  present,  a  kind 
of  cloud  of  fire  approached  in  the  air,   hovered  and 
dipped    over     the     people,    rose    and   floated    on 
some    distance,    again    hovered    and     dipped    over 
that    which    afterwards    was  found    to  be  another 
revival   meeting,    and  so  it  continued.     The    light 
was    bright — vci-y    bright — and   was   seen    by    all, 
producing  in  all  awe."     Whence  was  it  ?    Ask  those 
who  had  the  guidance  of  the  chariots  of  fire  which 
were  used  for  Elijah,  or  the  producer  of  those  tongues 
of  fire  which  were  seen  resting  on  the   Christians  in 
Jerusalem  some  1,800  years  ago.     Therefore  I  judge 
that  nnseevi  intelligent  beings,  good  and  bad,  are  the 
producers   of   spiritualistic    phcuouiena ;    and    that 


256  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

assertion,  verified  by  hundreds  of  persons  well  known 
in  divinity,  law,  physic,  and  commerce,  is  the  answer 
to  the  question,  "  Whence  is  it  V 

John  Jones. 
15,  Basinghall  Street,  E.G.,  August  12. 

P.S.  In  answer  to  "  Sceptic,"  I  state  that  to  pro- 
duce spiritualistic  phenomena  I  went  through  a  series 
of  experiments.  I  have  tried  electricity,  odic  force, 
magnetic  force,  arrangement  of  mediums,  and  will, 
without  success ;  but  when  I  gave  up  and  mentally 
acknowledged  myself  foiled,  the  manifestations  com- 
menced, and  accordions  have  played,  and  tables  have 
been  raised  off  the  carpeted  floor,  &c. — rather  tough 
work  for  even  imagination  to  place  to  the  credit  of 
"  thought-reading." 

J.J. 

It  requires  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  admit  a 
modification  of  magnetic  force  which  affects  the  brain  and 
its  organs,  producing  consciousuess  and  clairvoyance  in  a 
subject  who  is,  hj  the  process  of  magnetic  induction, 
brought  into  communication  with  it. 

We  may  well  question,  supposing,  for  the  purpose  of 
argument,  the  possibility  of  the  existence  of  disembodied 
spirits,  why  they  should  exhibit  powers  superior  to  those 
of  the  embodied  state  ;  thus  rendering  the  wondrous  me- 
chanism of  the  body  a  useless  appendage.  Surely  it  were 
an  injustice  to  involve  spiritual  beings  in  a  tabernacle  of 
clay  for  the  mere  purpose  of  foiling  their  aspirations  and 
clogging  their  faculties  with  organs  of  perception,  without 
which  they  could  the  better  perceive.^ 


LETTER   XVI.  257 


XV. 


Sir, — Thousands  of  readers  will  thank  you  for 
re-opening  this  question,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
through  your  means  a  great  fact  or  a  great  fallacy  will 
be  established,  for  no  question  can  possibly  be  of 
greater  importance. 

Allow  me  to  suggest  that  it  will  probably  help  the 
solution  if  "  Sceptic"  will  allow  his  senses  to  try  the 
test,  for  it  is  very  unlikely  that  Dr.  Ashburner's 
paragraph  wQl  apply  to  him,  and  if  he  can  be  in- 
duced to  be  an  eye-witness,  and  his  reason  and  his 
senses  act  in  accord,  the  result  will  be  looked  for 
with  great  interest. 

Seeing  the  high  respectability  and  standing  of 
many  of  the  numerous  supporters  of  the  cause, 
surely  it  is  time  to  drop  the  Frikell  or  Houdin  argu- 
ment, and  we  have  certainly  as  many  instances  of 
the  obstinacy  of  reason  as  of  the  delusions  of  sense. 
— ^-I  am,  sir,  yours  respectfully, 

Another  Sceptic. 

Brixton  Hill,  August  16. 


XVI. 

Sin, — I  am  willing  to  believe  that  all  your  writers 
on  bpiritualibm  may  be  sincerely  aiming  at  the  clu- 


258  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

cidation  of  trutli,  but  so  long  as  the  controversy  is 
between  two  diametrically  opposing  parties,  pro- 
f^^lytes  and  sceptics,  truth  is  in  imminent  danger  of 
being  swamped  during  the  struggle  for  victory.  If 
the  question  be  not  discussed  in  the  dispassionate 
spirit  of  true  philosophy,  the  hope  of  enlightenment 
is  at  once  defeated.  So  was  it  during  late  discus- 
sions, the  first  of  which  I  presumed  to  open  with 
Mr.  Carpenter,  at  St.  James's  Hall.  My  objections 
were  received  by  him  with  becoming  com-tesy  ;  but 
directly  he  permitted  himself  to  be  addressed  by 
those  who  substituted  ridicule  for  argument,  without 
an  atom  of  reasoning,  there  was  an  end  to  all  hope 
of  elucidation. 

The  proselytes  of  spiritualism  are  too  often  con- 
tent to  blazon  their  unexplained  facts,  and  I  for  one 
have  never  presumed  to  deny  them ;  the  bigoted 
sceptic  is  content  with  hooting  down  these  facts,  and 
laughing  to  scorn  the  affirmations  of  honourable 
men,  whose  extreme  credulity  has  exposed  them  to 
his  shafts,  and  has  done  more  harm  to  their  cause 
than  even  the  rancour  of  their  enemy. 

As  I  must  censure  the  dijQPuseness  of  your  corres- 
pondents, I  will  study  to  be  brief.  The  belief  that 
the  spirits  of  those  we  love  are  ever  around  us,  is 
the  deepest  consolation  for  the  devout  Christian  in 
bereavement.  This  spiritualism  may  yet  be  proved, 
even  shorn  of  the  imputation  of  illusion.  It  may 
be  that  the  demon  of  Socrates,  and  the  friendly 
spirit  of  Tasso  were  real  entities,  but  I  believe  that 
tiie  popular  manifestations  of  the  day,  psychical  and 


LETTER   XVI.  259 

physical,  that  unhappily  savour  more  of  caprice  than 
holiness,  may  be  referred  to  Nature's  known  laws, 
and  that  it  is  only  the  intensity,  that  shrouds  in 
mystery  ideas  and  actions  and  forces  at  once  clear 
and  simple. 

It  is  no  more  profanation  to  analyse  these  phe- 
nomena of  mind  and  matter  than  to  discuss  the 
theory  of  the  rainbow,  or  the  lightning,  or  the  comet, 
for  it  would  lead  us  at  once  through  Nature  up  to 
Nature's  God.  The  laws  which  we  cite  in  elucida- 
tion are  those  the  great  Creator  himself  has  made. 
The  mysteries  of  the  mind,  and  the  wonders  of 
science  are  equally  bewildering ;  the  projectility 
of  ideas,  and  the  transit  of  the  electric  telegraph 
equally  astounding.  Receiving,  therefore,  every 
assertion  as  a  fact,  I  will  not  presume  to  assert, 
but  content  myself  with  the  form  of  proposition,  for 
the  question  is  yet  merely  in  abeyance.  It  may  be 
granted  that  mind  is  projectile,  for  what  is  thought, 
dream,  or  vision,  but  the  visit  of  an  intellectual 
element  to  another  sphere  ?  The  intensihj  of  these 
phenomena,  under  hyperexcited  action  of  the  brain 
and  the  concentration  of  nervous  power,  with  the 
superadded  influence  of  memory  and  association, 
and  especially  of  electro-biology  and  mesmerism,  or 
the  odyle  force  of  Reichenbach,  constitutes  those 
displays  that  have  been  somewhat  irreverently  termed 
preternatural.  It  is  this  concentration  of  nervous 
force  that  explains  at  once  the  mystery  of  ckirvov- 
ancc,  dentcr.scopia,  glamouric,  and  prophetic  cestacy. 
It  is  only   a  question  of  degree,  and  not  of  kind. 

s  2 


260  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

As  thought  and  memory  are  thus  unconsciously 
centred  in  one  idea,  the  faculties  also  may  be  exalted 
by  this  concentration.  By  the  deprivation  of  other 
organs  of  the  body,  one  organ  or  faculty  may  be 
so  intensified,  that  fluency  of  speech — perfection 
of  melody-mental  vision — may  be  raised  to  such  a 
lofty  pitch  as  to  astonish  even  those  who  can  explain 
them. 

The  projectile  power  of  volition  or  the  will  is  dis- 
played even  in  the  lifting  of  a  finger ;  the  concen- 
tration of  this  volition  may  explain  the  whole  phe- 
nomena of  table.moving,  nay,  even  the  body-lifting 
of  Mr.  Home. 

Reflect  on  the  wondrous  shocks  of  the  silurus  and 
the  torpedo ;  the  accumulation  of  their  natural  elec- 
tricity is  equally  perilous  and  fatal  as  the  high- 
charged  electric  jar.  Even  pathology  may  adduce 
facts  in  illustration.  A  fragile  girl  of  fifteen  is  the 
subject  of  hysterical  convulsion,  and  during  this 
■unconscious  spasm  she  will  require  perhaps  six  strong 
men  to  hold  her.  When  her  nervous  electricity  is 
expended  or  again  diffused,  she  may  be  almost 
knocked  down  by  a  feather.  These  natural  condi- 
tions, like  the  electric  charge,  require  a  lapse  of  time 
for  concentration  ;  just  as  the  table-movers  must  sit 
ibr  a  time  in  solemn  conclave  ere  the  spiritual  gyra- 
tions are  effected.  When  we  compare  these  electric 
actions,  and,  I  might  add,  the  dance  of  the  middle 
ages,  &c.  &c.,  with  the  power  of  a  magnet  in  lifting 
a  bar  of  iron,  may  not  the  animal  electricity,  a  cen- 
triiugal  force,  become  so  intense  as   even  to  lift  Mr. 


LETTER    XVII.  261 

Home   to   the  ceiling  ?     It  is  ouly  a  question    of 
degree. 

I  may  thus  seem  to  be  straining  a  point,  but  I  do 
not  advance  a  theory  in  these  propositions.  As  the 
ultra  spiritualist  is  seeking  for  fresh  causes,  I  would 
thus  remind  him,  without  presumption,  of  those 
established  laws  of  the  Creator  displayed,  in  less 
degree,  every  hour  before  us.  You  see  that,  in  these 
brief  comments,  I  waive  the  subjects  of  collusion  and 
delusion.  I  do  not  challenge  the  truthfulness  of 
seances  or  affirmations,  but  I  do  challenge  the  ra- 
tionale of  those  who  blindly  jump  at  a  conclusion, 
and  vaunt  their  dogmas  without  reasoning  on  the 
facts  before  them,  and  form  a  supernatural  theory  in 
the  face  of  established  laws.  But  the  clear  solution 
can  only  be  arrived  at  by  dispassionate  discussion. 
The  devout  spiritualist  should  meet  in  open  arena 
the  physiologist,  the  divine,  and  the  chemist;  thus 
only  shall  we  elucidate  the  beautiful  and  wondrous 
phenomena  of  the  Creator's  world,  and  thus  only 
may  we  transfer  this  sublime  subject  to  the  arena  of 
scientific  discussion. 

Walter  Cooper  Dendy. 

London,  August. 


XVII. 

Sir, — Those  who  believe  that  the  periodical  press 
is  one  of  the  most  powerful  instruments  for  teaching 
either  truth  or  error,  must  rejoice  to  find  a  journal 


262  AN    EXPOSITION    OV   SPIRITUALISM. 

which  admits  a  view  of  more  than  one  side  of  a 
question;  where^  without  being  obliged  dogmatically 
to  answer  the  question  which  has  been  propounded, 
we  may  have  our  say  without  fear  of  being  sen- 
tenced to  the  rack  for  not  answering  "Yes,"  or  of 
being  ordered  oflF  to  everlasting  fire  and  brimstone 
for  daring  to  say  "  No  ;"  or,  as  a  merciful  alternative, 
passed  over  to  penitential  purgatory,  for  objecting 
to  the  nature  of  the  question  or  the  mode  of  putting 
it;  and  giving,  instead  of  a  point  blank  answer, 
some  reason  for  the  truth  that  is  in  us. 

The  discussion  on  "  Modern  Spiritualism^^  which 
has  been  revived  in  your  pages  by  a  review  of  a 
periodical  said  to  be  "  the  organ  of  a  decidedly  un- 
popular cause,"  is,  up  to  the  present  time,  of  a  some- 
what one-sided  character,  although  two  great  canons 
of  this  creed  are  on  their  travels,  and  a  third  tells 
us  he  is  occupied  in  his  appropriate  place.  It  is 
true  that  "  Sceptic"  has  brought  his  great  gun  to 
bear  on  "  Mr.  John  Jones,"  but  most  of  the  talk 
has  fallen  to  Mr.  Jones  and  his  fellow  believers. 

Do  quiet,  rational  men,  think  it  Quixotism  to 
enter  the  lists  against  the  champions  of  this  system  ? 
Or  do  they  fear  to  use  the  only  weapon  which  can 
secure  a  victory  ? 

When  the  advocates  of  a  system  assume  a  position 
as  the  basis  of  action  which  is  common  to  themselves 
and  others,  he  who  dares  to  attack  that  basis  must 
expect  to  meet  the  opposition,  not  only  of  those 
whose  system  he  would  overthrow,  but  of  all  those 
whose  root  springs  from  the  same  postulate.     Hence 


LETTER   XVII.  263 

the  disadvantages  of  an  attack  that  is  for  ever  to 
demolish  the  system  and  scatter  all  its  parts  to  chaos. 
And  yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  assumption  of 
a  position  as  the  basis  of  a  system  or  a  belief  is  often 
the  origin  of  all  the  error  or  all  the  truth  which  is 
subsequently  raised  to  form  the  superstructure — a 
superstructure  which  we  are  permitted  to  admire  or 
condemn,  swallow  at  a  gulp,  or  criticise  in  detail, 
but  the  base  of  which  we  must  not  touch. 

And  yet,  to  criticise  properly  "  modern  spirit- 
ualism" we  must  get  beneath  the  dancing  tables,  the 
musical  accordions,  and  all  the  other  sights  and 
sounds  which  go  to  make  up  the  group  of  phenomena 
called  "  spiritual  manifestations." 

The  basis  of  "  modem  spiritualism,"  like  the  basis 
of  that  spurious  "ancient  spiritualism"  which  tells 
us  of  the  Witch  of  Endor  and  her  tricks — its  very 
foundation,  its  very  life,  springs  out  of,  and  is  created 
by,  the  assumption  that  individual  human  spirits 
exist  separate  and  apart  from  the  nerves  and  arte- 
ries, bones  and  muscles,  which  form  the  material 
portion  of  a  human  being. 

The  postulate  of  "  modern  spiritualism"  is  not  the 
basis  of  the  true  ancient  spiritualism — that  which 
runs  through  the  main  pages  of  Holy  Writ — viz., 
that  the  body  is  resolved  into  its  original  elements, 
and  that  the  spirit  returns  to  God  who  gave  it. 

And  yet,  he  who  dared  to  attack  the  basis  of 
"  modern  spiritualism,"  would  have  to  defy  more  than 
"  the  thunders  of  the  Vatican."  All  the  spiritual 
churches,  of  whatever  sect,  would  combine  to  cry 
him  down  to  the  best  of  their  ability ;  and  all  they 


264  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

lacked  in  the  power  of  speech  would  be  lent  thcra 
by  the  poets  of  that  ponderous  school  who  see  no 
poetry  in  every-day  life,  and  who  are  too  weighty  to 
imagine  for  the  future  of  our  race  the  infinite  good- 
ness and  gloiy  which  matter  and  mind,  combined, 
will  produce  for  the  happiness  of  man. 
Y  And  where  is  the  reason — where  is  the  utility — 
where  is  the  truth  in  lumping  together  a  lot  of  phe- 
nomena, and  presenting  them  to  the  rational  being 
to  examine,  as  a  proof  of  the  truth  of  an  assumption 
— a  postulate  of  reason  ? 

Every  phenomenon  which  every  spiritualist  ever 
saw  may  be,  to  the  seer,  a  fact ;  but  every  rational 
being  will,  and  must,  account  for  that  phenomenon 
compounded  of  cause  and  efi'ect — in  his  or  her  own 
way.  Moreover,  is  it  not  a  fact  that  no  phenomenon, 
nor  any  number  of  phenomena,  can  prove  the  ex- 
istence of  spirit  ? 

The  proof  of  the  existence  of  matter  in  all  its 
forms — phenomena — is  of  its  kind.  The  proof  of 
the  existence  of  spirit  in  all  its  forms — noumena — is 
of  its  kind.  The  two  are  totally  distinct,  and  must 
be  so,  so  long  as  reasonable  men  assume  the  existence 
of  these  two  entities  as  the  sum  and  substance  of 
the  Universe. 

Should  you  honour  these  remarks  with  a  place  in 
your  pages,  I  hope  that  no  readers  of  them  v/ill 
imagine  that  they  are  reading  dogmas ;  for  I  freely 
grant  that  which  I  as  firmly  demand — the  rational 
examination  of  all  that  is  written  :  and  as  you  were 
80  good  as  to  publish  some  former  thoughts  of  mine 
on  this  subject,  to  which  both  my  name  and  address 


LETTER    XVIII. 


;63 


were  added,  I  hops  you  will  kindly  permit  these  to 
appear  as  from  yours  obediently,  A  Critic. 

I  regard  the  Pneumatology  of  the  Bible  as  affording  no 
evidence  whatever  favorable  to  the  supposition  that  we  are 
capable  of  holding  communication  with  the  spirits  of  the 
departed.  In  Genesis,  I  read,  that  ''  The  Lord  God  formed 
man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his 
nostrils  the  breath  of  life  ;  and  man  became  a  living  soul." 
Also,  that  He  brought  "  a  flood  of  waters  upon  the  earth 
to  destroy  all  flesh,"  both  man  and  beast,  "  all  in  whose 
nostrils  was  the  breath  of  life."  Tlie  spirit  (Pneuma) 
here  spoken  of,  is  evidently  the  animal  life  or  soul,  i.  e., 
breath — wind— derived  from  the  surrounding  atmosphere,* 
which  common-sense  meaning  has  been  grossly  perverted 
by  the  spiritualists  in  all  ages ;  against  whose  teaching  I 
would  warn  my  readers  in  the  language  of  Isaiah;  "  Cease 
ye  from  man,  whose  breath  is  in  his  nostrils  ;  for  wherein 
is  he  to  be  accounted  of?"  c.  ii.,  v.  22. 


XVIII. 

Sir, — To  introduce  new  truths  that  are  to  super- 
sede old  errors  has  always  been  a  somewhat  pro- 
longed and  tedious  operation.  I  have  no  hope  that 
the  introduction  of  spiritualism,  in  the  place  of  the 
Sadducceism  and  materialism  of  the  present  age,  will 
prove  any  exception  to  the  almost  universal  rule. 

It  will  be  admitted  that  the  majority  of  educated 
people  deny  the  ])robubility,  or  even  the  possibility, 
of  direct  and  palpable  interference  on  the  part  of 
disembodied  agents,  in  the  affairs  of  this  mundane 
sphere.  Such  interference  is  not  acknowledged,  and 
even  the  extraordinary  events  and  spiritual  intcr- 

*  Vide  Ezekiel,  xxxvii.,  1 — 11. 


^68  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

positions  described  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
receive  but  a  partial  and  timid  recognition. 

Your  correspondent  who  signs  himself  "  Sceptic" 
acknowledges  the  importance  of  the  investigation, 
and  does  not  desire  to  be  charged  with  ascribing  the 
whole  of  the  phenomena  to  sleight  of   hand,  but 
would  rather  ascribe  them  to  ecstacy  and  magnetism. 
I   have   investigated   magnetic  and  mesmeric  phe- 
nomena for  upwards  of  twenty  years,  and  spirit- 
ualism for  upwards  of  eight  years,  and  have  arrived, 
after  rigid  opposition,  as  the  only  satisfactory  solu- 
tion of  the  question,  to  the  conclusion  that  mes- 
merism, biology,  mechanical  contrivance,  and  optical, 
auditory,  and  tactile  illusion  will  not  account  for  one- 
tenth  part  of  the  phenomena  I  have  seen   produced, 
nor  one-twentieth  part  of  what  I  have  seen  or  heard 
described   as   having   been    witnessed    by    others. 
"  Sceptic"  will  admit  that  I  give  mesmerism  a  wide 
latitude  when  I  say  that  magnetisers  have  the  power 
of  producing,  with  more  or  less  certainty,  the  fol- 
lowing eiFects.     They  can  render  rigid  any  of  the 
muscles  of  their  patients,  whether  voluntary  or  in- 
voluntary.     For  example,  they    can  catalypse  the 
muscles  of  the  arm,  or  retard  or  accelerate  the  action 
of  the  heart.     They  can  render  inoperative,  or  entirely 
change,  the  normal  characteristics  of  the  five  senses 
of  their  subjects.     In  other  woi-ds,  they  can  render 
their  patients  bhnd,  deaf,  dumb,  incapable  of  smell, 
taste,  or  feeling ;     or,  they  can    produce    spectres, 
which  are  entirely  subjective,  making  those  under 
their  influence  believe  that  a  table  is  a  race-horse ; 
that  they  are  hearing  beautiful  music  when  no  music 


LETTER  XVIII.  267 

is  being  played ;  that  they  are  partaking  of  the  most 
delightful  viands  when  they  are  not  eating  anything 
whatever;  that  they  are  enjoying  the  most  delightful 
scents  when  surrounded  by  the  most  obnoxious 
odours ;  that  articles  which  are  in  reality  cold  are 
intensely  hot ;  and  those  that  are  really  hot  are 
very  cold.  Mesmeric  subjects  are  subject  to  every 
conceivable  delusion.  Mcsmerisers  have  also  the 
power  to  control  susceptible  subjects,  without  their 
being  conscious  of  any  influeuce  being  exerted,  and 
that,  too,  at  great  distances.  Mesmerisers  have  the 
power  of  placing  their  subjects  en  rapport  with 
themselves,  so  that  whatever  is  done  to  the  operator 
shall  be  felt  by  the  patient,  and  whatever  is  thought 
by  the  operator  shall  be  read  by  the  patient. 

Another  remarkable  phase  of  mesmeric  phenomena 
is,  that  the  mesmeric  subject  when  perfectly  awake, 
is  entirely  under  the  will  of  the  operator,  and  does 
whatever  the  operator  wills  him  to  do,  without  a  word 
being  spoken,  a  sign  made,  or  the  mesmeriser  and 
subject  seeing  each  other.  ^lesmerisers  have  also 
the  power  of  rendering  their  subjects  clairvoyant. 
Ill  the  first  stage  the  subjects  have  the  power  of 
reading  the  mind  of  the  operator;  next,  of  readmg 
the  minds  of  those  with  whom  they  are  placed  en 
rapport  by  the  magnetiser;  and,  finally,  the  power 
of  describing  what  is  being  done  in  distant  places, 
when  neither  the  operator,  nor  any  one  in  his  locality, 
has  any  knowledge  of  the  place  to  which  the  atten- 
tion of  the  clairvoyant  is  directed.  With  the  ex- 
ception  of  the  last,  or  independent  clairvoyance,  I 
have  personal  knowledge   of  facts  which  illustrate 


268  AN    EXPOSITION    OP    SPIRITUALISM. 

the  whole  of  the  above  statements,  and  the  testimony 
of  well-accredited  persons  makes  clairvoyance  a  fact 
as  certain  as  the  electric  telegraph.  It  will  be  seen 
that  from  this  stand-point  I  was  not  likely  to  give 
ready  credence  to  the  interference  of  super-mundane 
agents,  when  I  knew  so  many  things  apparently 
supernatural  could  be  accomplished  by  merely  mun- 
dane agencies.  And  such  was  the  case  ;  I  witnessed 
phenomena,  received  the  testimonies  of  friends,  read 
almost  every  work  that  was  written  on  the  subject, 
and  could  not  bring  myself  thoroughly  to  believe  in 
the  super-mundane  nature  of  the  manifestations  until 
I  had  personal  evidence  of  the  highest  phenomena, 
and  could  not  resist  the  conclusion,  unless  I  took 
this  position,  that  no  amount  of  evidence  can  possibly 
prove  direct  and  manifest  intercourse  between  the 
inhabitants  of  the  natural  and  spiritual  worlds. 

"  Sceptic"  will  acknowledge  that  all  persons  are 
not  equally  susceptible  to  mesmeric  influence ;  that 
some  persons  are  very  difficult  to  impress ;  and  that 
the  proportion  of  very  susceptible  people  is  not  more 
than  ten  per  cent,  of  the  whole  population.  If  this 
be  conceded,  the  difficulty  of  accounting  for  all  per- 
sons who  go  to  spiritual  seances,  coming  under  the 
spell  of  a  raagnetiser.,  and  that,  too,  immediately  on 
their  entering  the  room,  is  almost  insuperable. 
Speaking  of  myself,  I  have  submitted  to  the  mani- 
pulations of  the  following  eminent  and  powerful 
mesmerists— Mr.  S.  T.  Hall,  Dr.  Darling,  Captain 
Hudson,  Mr.  Oliver,  Mr.  N.  Morgan,  Mr.  Chad, 
wick,  &c.,  &c., — and  although  I  yielded  myself  up  to 
their  influence,  I  have  never  felt  the  slightest  mes- 


LETTER    XVIII.  269 

meric  effect  produced  upon  me,  and  am  therefore 
not  at  all  a  likely  person  to  be  mesmerically  affected 
during  a  spiritual  seance.  Mesmerism  covers  a  mere 
fraction  of  the  ground,  and  "  Sceptic  "  and  others 
Avill  have  to  seek  for  some  other  cause  or  causes  to 
support  an  unsupportable  hypothesis,  or  do  what 
would  be  much  more  philosophical  and  to  their 
credit — investigate  the  question  fully  before  giving 
another  opinion. — I  am,  yours  respectfully, 

T.  P.  Barkas. 
49,  Granger  Street,  Newcastle-on-Tyue. 

Thanks  are  due  to  Mr.  T.  P.  Barkas  for  the  corrobora- 
tive evidence  he  furnishes  that  mesmerism  and  clairvoy- 
ance are  sufficient  to  produce  much  of  the  plienomena 
termed  spiritual.  It  would,  however,  have  been  more  sa- 
tisfactory had  he  as  candidly  informed  us  of  the  nature  of 
the  "  personal  evidence,  of  the  highest  phenomena,"  which 
Le  could  not  withstand,  in  spite  of  his  large  experience  of 
the  powers  of  mesmerism.  Admitting  the  full  force  of 
the  argument  as  to  the  diffi^culty  of  accounting  for  the 
fact  that  the  majority*  of  persons  attending  the  seanecs 
appear  to  be  similarly,  if  not  equally,  affected,  still  it  is 
no  less  a  fact  that  the  revelations  come  through  an  ecstatic 
mcdiufn,  and  as  the  viBitors  or  sitters,  composing  the  circles, 
are  content  to  receive  those  revelations  as  communications 
from  the  spirit  world,  I  think  that  circumstance  is  alono 
Buflicient  to  account  for  all  those  complying  with  tiie  re- 
quired conditions,  coming  under  the  inllueuco  not  only  of 
the  medium,  but  also  that  of  their  own  organs  of  creden- 
civenesa,  commonly  called  wonder  or  marvellousness.  I 
believe  no  amount  of  evidence  can  possibly  exist  which 
can  prove  direct  and  manifest  intercourse  between  the 
inhabitants  of  the  natural  and  spiritual^  worid.s,  inasmucli 

•  That  all  do  not,  at  all  times,  I  believe  is  not  maintained. 


270  AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SPIRITUALISM. 

as  I  do  not  believe  in  tbe  existence  of  disembodied  intel- 
ligent spirits ;  when  a  man  or  other  animal  is  dead,  he  is 
dead.  The  union  of  the  body  and  the  life  constitute  the 
living  being  or  soul.  The  hfe  being  a  constituent  of  the  body- 
can  no  more  have  an  individual  existence  apart  from  it,  than 
the  body  can  continue  to  exist  vrithout  the  life ;  no  more 
than  the  maa:netic  povrer  of  the  magnet  can  have  a  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  individuality.  Magnetised  iron  becomes 
a  magnet ;  when  it  loses  its  magnetism,  it  is  dead  or  inert. 
The  force  is  dispersed,  and  its  whereabouts,  if  existent,  is 
not  cognisable  to  mortal  ken — being  resolved  in  the  uni- 
versal medium. 


XIX. 

Sir, — The  correspondence  upon  this  important 
and  interesting  subject  has  now  assumed  formidable 
proportions,  and  did  I  not  think  that  it  is  incumbent 
upon  those  who  have  paid  attention  to  the  question 
to  report  the  results  they  may  have  arrived  at,  I 
should  probably  be  disinclined  to  add  to  the  series  of 
letters  provoked  by  your  impartial  review  of  the  5th 
of  August.  However,  as  nearly  eight  years  have 
elapsed  since  my  own  enquiries  into  the  subject  began, 
and  as  it  has  constantly  occupied  my  mind  since, 
while  my  opportunities  for  investigation  have  been 
very  favourable,  it  may  be  profitable  for  me  to  say  a 
few  words  upon  the  entire  subject,  and  to  state  what 
I  consider  to  be  the  position  in  which  it  is  desirable 
that  "  spiritualism"  should  be  placed,  in  order  that 
an  impartial  decision  shall  be  attained  as  to  its  verity 
or  unverity. 

I  will,  if  you  will  permit  me,  first  state  the  manner 


LETTER   XIX.  271 

in  which  I  became  acquainted  with  "  spiritualism ;" 
then  offer  my  results  for  consideration,  and  lastly 
touch  upon  the  views  which  I  have  been  personally 
led  to  entertain  in  respect  of  the  reality  of  the  phe- 
nomena. 

In  the  autumn  of  1858  I  purchased  and  read  the 
work  of  Judge  Edmonds  and  Dr.  Dexter,  containing 
presumed  communications  from  the  disembodied 
intelligences  of  Swedenborg  (always  spelt  Sweeden- 
borg  in  that  volume)  and  Bacon.  At  the  time  I 
read  the  book  my  knowledge  of  Swedenborg  and  his 
writings  was  homoeopathic,  being  limited  to  Emer- 
son's essay  on  him  in  "  Representative  j\Ien  ;"  con- 
sequently I  had  no  power  of  judging  the  probability 
of  the  communications  really  emanating  from  the 
Swedish  philosopher.  A  close  study  of  his  writings, 
together  with  numerous  facts  which  have  come  under 
my  notice  since,  has  led  me  to  the  conviction  that 
the  "  spirit"  Swedenborg  and  the  theologian  of  the 
last  century  are  not  identical.  One  reason  for  this 
conviction  is  to  be  found  in  the  doctrine  of  progress 
proclaimed  by  the  "  spirit"  Swedenborg,  who  must, 
from  the  nature  of  his  present  teachings,  have  been 
far  beneath  the  seer  of  Sweden  in  mental  calibre 
while  on  the  earth.  Another  reason  may  be  drawn 
from  the  doctrine  of  the  philosopher,  that  man  on 
earth,  by  his  deeds,  thoughts,  and  tcndeucy,  creates 
for  himself  a  heaven  or  hell  analogous  to  those  deeds 
and  thoughts.  We  are,  I  think,  forced  to  admit 
this,  or  to  admit  that  it  is  possible  for  spirits — viz., 
disembodied  intelligences — to  go  mad  after  leaving 


272  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

this  world.  Now  all  our  innate  convictions  tend  to 
the  conclusion  that  derangement  is  mortal  and  tem- 
porary, leaving  the  mental  constitution  untouched 
after  decease.  Hence  "  Sweedenborg"  and  "  Sweden- 
borg"  do  not  seem  likely  to  be  the  same. 

With  Bacon  the  case  is  almost  identical,  but  as 
the  topics  discussed  by  the  spirit  Bacon  are  dissimilar 
to  those  treated  in  the  writings  we  possess  of  the 
mortal  Bacon,  it  is  more  difficult  to  decide.  Yet  I 
think  we  may  safely  assume  that  the  Lord  Chancellor 
— whose  memory  Mr.  Hepworth  Dixon  has  so  nobly 
rescued  from  contumely — is  not  identical  with  the 
spirit  Bacon, 

However,  when  I  had  read  the  book,  the  matter 
assumed  to  me  this  position.  The  judge  and  the 
doctor — men  of  integrity  and  honesty — have  fear- 
lessly published  this  volume,  and  the  marvels  con- 
tained in  the  introduction  (similar  to  those  we  have 
heard  so  much  about  since),  rest  upon  their  testimony. 
They  may  have  happened,  but,  I  argued,  is  it  not  too 
soon  to  ascribe  these  things  to  supernatural  or  extra- 
material  agencies  !  I  am  not  going  to  appeal  to  the 
history  of  hallucination,  but  I  will  rather  ask,  whe- 
ther some  unnoticed  faculty  of  man  has  not  now  first 
come  into  play  ?  I  ended  my  perusal  of  the  book, 
not  with  a  denial  of  the  circumstances  narrated,  but 
with  an  opinion  that  they  were  not  assigned  to  their 
right  origin,  and  that  undl  mental  philosophers  had 
consid.;red  in  all  its  bearings  this  new  series  of  phe- 
nomena, v;"e  need  not  necessarily,  or  more  than 
temporarily,  attribute  the  effects  to  ultra-mundane 
intellisrcnccs. 


LETTER   XIX.  27S 

My  experiments  in  1854  and  1855  were  so  barren 
of  result,  although  conducted  with  perseverance,  and 
with  integrity  on  the  part  of  my  fellow-students  and 
myself,  that  I  was  almost  disposed  to  abandon  the 
question  as,  perhaps,  unworthy  of  study,  but  at  any 
rate  not  advanced  enough  for  consideration. 

I  have  elsewhere  ("  Spiritual  Magazine,"  vol.  i.  p. 
283-4)  narrated  the  particulars  of  three  singular 
apparitions  to  myself — apparitions  unexpected  and 
important  in  their  results  to  me.  I  have  also  endea- 
voured, from  the  early  part  of  1856  to  this  present 
time,  August,  18G1,  to  reproduce,  by  the  faculty  of 
imagination,  the  apparition  in  question,  but  without 
effect.  Never  have  I  been  able  to  reproduce,  in  the 
remotest  degree,  cither  in  dreams  involuntarily,  or 
while  awake  by  an  effort  of  will,  the  form  of  the  de- 
ceased friend,  who  spontaneously  fulfilled  his  promise 
of  appearing  to  me.  I  am,  therefore,  compelled  to 
acknowledge  that  these  apparitions  were  not  produced 
by  myself  mediately  or  immediately,  and  in  this  con- 
viction I  am  strengthened  by  the  testimony  of  thou- 
sands in  all  ages  of  the  world's  known  history.  Tiiat 
spirits,  therefore,  can  appear  under  certain  circum- 
stances, was  the  result  which  1  came  to  in  the  early 
part  of  185G. 

To  proceed.  In  that  year  I  became  greatly  more 
interested,  in  consequence  of  the  apparitions,  in  tlic 
question  of  spiritual  manifestations,  then  making 
slow  lieadway  against  public  opinion  —  I  had  almost 
written  ])ublic  vindictivcncss.     I  became  ac(juainted 


274  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

with  a  gentleman  who^  to  my  astonishment,  had  been 
pursuing  the  study  regularly,  and  with  few  inter- 
ruptions, for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He  liberally 
placed  his  results  before  me — he  explained  his  method 
of  procedure — he  invited  me  to  witness  the  manifes- 
tations at  his  house — to  ask  my  own  questions,  pre- 
viously and  carefully  prepared,  and  freely  to  criticise 
the  results  obtained. 

Of  this  permission  I  availed  myself,  and  your 
readers  will  probably  be  interested  in  knowing  what 
passed. 

The  medium  in  the  case  was  a  young  lady  of 
average  education — more  given  to  the  art  of 
cookery  and  preserving,  than  skilful  in  metaphysics, 
religious  discussion,  or  scientific  inquiry.  The  gen- 
tleman who  conducted  the  investigation  was  careful 
in  the  extreme  to  register  every  circumstance  which 
took  place,  and  the  mode  of  communication  was 
this : — 

At  page  466  of  the  translation  of  Baron  Reichen- 
bach's  "  Odic  Experiments,"  edited  by  Dr.  Ashbur- 
ner,  in  a  note,  you  will  find  that  in  some  persons,  in 
the  proportion  of  about  one  in  a  thousand,  a  curious 
faculty  is  found,  viz.,  that  on  their  inspecting  a  glass 
or  round  vessel  of  water,  or  a  round  or  oblong  piece 
of  rock  crystal  or  glass,  such  object  becomes  to  them 
clouded,  and  the  images  of  little  figures  and  places 
present  themselves  to  the  eye.  These  sometimes  are 
the  likenesses  of  individuals  who  can  be  recognised  j 
sometimes  scenes  well  known  to  the  seer ;  sometimes, 
and  most  frequently,  scenes  distinct  indeed,  but  un- 


LETTER   XIX.  275 

known  and  not  to  be  identified  by  the  seer,  and  lastly, 
scenes  of  an  unearthly  and  spiritual  character. 

Nou'  this  faculty  of  vision,  whether  spiritual  iu 
reality  or  not,  was  possessed  by  the  young  lady,  some 
seventeen  years  of  age  at  the  time,  whom  I  mentioned 
above.     Instead  of  a  glass  of  water,  or  a  crystal, 
however,  a  large  silvered  looking-glass  was  used,  and 
as  this  hung  against  the  wall,  the  young  lady,  look- 
ing into  it,  described  visions  and  read  olf  sentences 
without  hesitation  or  tautology,  of  intellectual  supe- 
riority to  the  tone  of  her  conversation  when  away 
from  the   mirror.      There  was  nothing    apparently 
mesmeric  in  this,  inasmuch  as  she  was  in  her  normal 
condition,  and  able  to  turn  from  the  mirror  and  speak 
upon  any  other  subject  during  the  sitting,  which,  on 
an  average,  lasted  an  hour  and   a  half.     The  light 
being  too  much  for  her  eyes,  as  it  streamed  towards 
her  from  the  mirror  (though  invisible  to  all  others 
present),  she  wore  a  pair  of  smoked  spectacles  during 
her  inspection.     In   this   manner  answers  were  de- 
livered, distant  places  seen,  and  even  books  dictated 
through  the  young  lady^s  eyes.     The  words  appeared 
on  a  species  of  cloud  ;  or,  in  the  case  of  a  book,  the 
])age  of  the  book  lay  open   like  any  other  volume 
before  her,  and  she  read  it  ofl'.     In  this  manner  up- 
wards of  twenty  closely-written  quarto  volumes  have 
been  produced  within  a  few  years,  and  the  experiment 
only  came  to  an  end  in  consequence  of  the  young 
lady's  death,  in  1858.* 

*  This  ia  moat  unmistakable  clairvoyance,  abnormal 
cerebration,  and  quite  another  tliinf;  to  superuaturaJism, 
or  what  is  underbtood as  "  Spiritualism."— Vide  Appendix. 


276  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

In  the  same  manner  I  have  once,  and  once  only, 
been  able  to  see  in  a  crystal  written  words  and  sen- 
tences which  were  recorded  immediately;  and  that 
it  cannot  be  imagination  is  proved  from  the  fact  that 
I  have  never,  although  having  the  liveliest  wish  to 
see,  been  able  again  to  have  any  vision,  except  some- 
thing so  vague  as  to  be  quite  indistinct  and  useless. 

By  the  use  of  this  mode  of  communication  with 
what  I  cannot  but  call  "spirits,"  I  have  received 
some  seven  or  eight  quarto  volumes  since  1856  until 
now.  The  contents  of  the  volumes  are  chiefly  meta- 
physical and  religious,  and  in  all  cases  support  the 
purest  and  most  liberal  Christianity. 

I  am  afraid  of  trespassing  too  much  upon  your 
space,  or  I  would  pi-oceed  to  narrate  other  things 
which  I  have  seen  ;  but,  I  would  rather  leave  that 
until  another  time,  merely  now  concluding  by  a  few 
observations  of  a  general  nature. 

As  to  this  mirror-seeing — many  persons  would 
deny  the  fact  ab  oriyine,  others  set  it  down  as  an 
optical  delusion,  and  a  very  few  would  consider  it 
worthy  of  scientific  investigation.  If  the  appear- 
ances are  themselves  true,  I  would  beg  scientific  men 
not  to  pass  them  by ;  but  to  study  their  nature, 
that  the  reason  for  them  may  be  made  plain.  If 
the  faculty  exist  at  all,  it  must  exist  in  consequence 
of  some  scientific  law ;  if  it  be  a  hallucination,  it  is 
equally  worthy  of  study,  as  furnishing,  perchance, 
some  key  to  the  hidden  mysteries  of  cerebral  disorder 
and  incipient  insanity. 

Of   these    spiritual  manifestations  altogether,   it 


LETTER    XIX.  277 

may  be  said,  that,  whatever  their  nature,  they  should 
be  investigated,  ia  order  that  the  public  generally 
may  be  instructed,  and  the  reason  elicited  why  they 
appear  amongst  us  accepted  alike  by  the  educated 
and  scientifically  inductive  mind  and  the  intu- 
itive perception  of  the  less  well- instructed  classes 
of  our  population. 

In  another  letter,  I  would  bring  forward  other 
methods  of  presumed  intercommunication;  but  in 
this  I  have  specially  drawn  attention  to  the  faculty 
of  vision,  inasmuch  as  it  seems  nearer  the  domain 
of  optical  science  than  other  modes  of  spirit  mani- 
festations. 

I  care  not  whether  the  ultimate  end  of  the  discus- 
sion prove  the  "Spiritualists"  right  or  wrong,  so 
long  as  we  can  ascertain  truth.  I  cannot  but,  for 
lack  of  evidence  to  the  contrar\^— »from  the  want  of 
any  adequate  scientific  solution — declare  my  sincere 
conviction  that  the  phenomena  are  spiritual.  If  any 
other  explanation  be  possible,  I  am  ready  to  receive 
it.  My  common  sense,  without  the  aid  of  spirit- 
ualism, assures  me  that  the  immortality  of  the  soul 
is  a  necessity ;  but  it  also  tells  me  that  until  some 
better  destroyers  arc  fouud  for  spiritualism  than  ridi- 
cule and  contempt,  I  must  remain,  sir,  yours  obedi- 
ently,* 

A  Spiuitualist. 


•  Until  the  soul  is  proved  to  be  an  entity,  that  is,  liaving 
an  independent  existeneo,  I  cannot  admit  tlie  /icccsxil//  of 
its  iuimortaUty,  by  whicli  I  understand  an  intelligent  sense. 


278  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

or  consciousness,  of  individual,  personal  existence.  If  the 
soul  is  material,  it  doubtless  will  continue  to  exist  in 
some  form  or  other,  but  not  necessarily  have  intelligence, 
or  a  sense  of  individuality.  If  it  is  immaterial,  there  is 
evident 'y  an  end  of  the  matter.  Not  matter  and  nothing 
are  synouymovis  terms. 


XX. 

Sir, — Your  correspondent  "  Sceptic"  has  certainly 
given  u^  some  strange  contradictions  in  his  letter  of 
the  15th.  First  he  says, — "  I  would  ask,  is  there 
anything  more  extraordinary  in  the  phenomena  de- 
tailed by  Mr.  John  Jones  than  the  thousand  and 
one  marvels  performed  by  M.  Frikell  and  his  con- 
temporaries in  the  art  of  legerdemain ;"  and  further 
on  he  writes, — "  Not  that  I  would  be  misunderstood 
to  ])ronounce  the  whole  phenomena  as  caused  by 
sleight  of  hand."  So  that  first  it  is  no  more  than 
M.  Frikell  can  do  by  sleight  of  hand,  and  then  it  is 
something  different.  Again  be  tells  us:  "But  I 
am  emboldened  to  say  that,  had  I  witnessed  all 
that  has  been  written  concerning  these  manifesta- 
tions, and  all  that  has  been  witnessed  even  by  your 
ingenuous  correspondent  John  Jones,  I  should  still 
disbelieve  my  senses  when  in  opposition  to  my  rea- 
son." So  that  we  must  first  ascertain  what  "  Scep- 
tic's" "reason"  would  lead  him  to  believe,  and  that 


LETTER    XX.  279 

will  be  the  limit  to  which  we  must  go.  I  think  I 
need  not  remark  on  the  absurdity  of  such  reasoning 
as  this  : — If  we  see  a  table  go  up  to  the  ceiling,  we 
are  not  to  believe  it  is  there,  because  reason  has  not 
yet  been  able  to  tell  us  how  it  got  there. 

I  have  a  strong  conviction  in  my  own  mind  from 
whence  comes  this  power,  and  I  think  the  Word  of 
God  warns  us  that  because  men  "  received  not  the 
love  of  the  truth  that  they  might  be  saved,"  "  strong 
delusion"  should  be  given  them  "  that  they  should 
believe  a  lie/'— 2nd  Thess.  ii.  9,  10,  11.  It  may 
not  be  palatable ;  nevertheless,  it  is  God's  word ;  and 
that  which  I  think  will  alone  put  an  end  to  it  is  when 
"  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with 
his  mighty  angels  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance 
on  them  that  know  not  God  and  that  obey  not  the 
Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."— Yours  truly. 

Watchful. 

Exception  has  been  taken  to  the  remark  that  liad  I 
witnessed  all  that  has  been  written  concerning  the  mani- 
festations, that  "  I  should  still  disbelieve  my  senses  when  in 
opposition  to  my  reason."  I  would  explain,  that  as  my 
reason  tells  me  there  can  be  no  individual  spiritual  exist- 
ence, independent  and  apart  from  the  material  form, 
(which  together  constitute  the  living  being)  that  on  per- 
ceiving the  phenomena  I  should  nevertheless  disbelieve 
that  they  were  the  eOects  of  supernatural  agency  or  dis- 
embodied spirits.  In  other  words,  although  my  senses 
might  perceive  whatever  should  bo  presented  to  thein, 
still  my  reason  would  not  succumh  to  the  impressions 
made  on  tlietn.  So  that  being  of  those  who  have  not  ac- 
cepted the  "  strong  delusiuus,"  I  am  not  of  those  who  have 
"believed  a  lie." 


280  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

"  Watcliful"  charges  me  Tvitli  strange  contradictions  in 
my  letter  of  the  15th.  I  certainly  ask  "  is  there  anything 
more  extraordinary  in  these  phenomena  than  the  thousand 
and  one  marvels  performed  by  M.  Frikell  ?"  bat  "I  no- 
Avhere  say,  "  that  it  is  no  more  than  M.  Frikell  can  do," 
therefore  there  is  no  inconsistency  in  my  subsequently  say- 
ing "  that  I  have  no  desire  to  be  misunderstood  as  pro- 
nouncing the  whole  to  be  sleight  of  hand."  I  should  not 
have  noticed  so  pitiful  a  charge,  but  that  it  is  a  glaring  in- 
stance of  "  Watchful's"  own  want  of  veracity,  and  total 
inability  to  form  correct  inferences,  fully  bearing  out  the 
arguments  of  the  writer  in  Blackwood.  The  inference 
intended  was,  that  there  is  nothing  wonderful  or  extraor- 
dinary in  people  being  deceived  with  their  eyes  wide 
open,  even  though  the  deception  should  consist  in  their 
own  false  inferences. 


XXI. 

SiK, — After  mucb  beating  about  the  bush,  we 
have  at  length  stumbled  upon  a  trail  which  it  may- 
be well  to  follow.  Your  corespondent,  Mr.  T.  Wilks, 
truly  says,  "  We  know  there  can  be  no  effect  with- 
out a  cause,  for  it  is  certain  and  plain  that  nothing 
can  do  nothing/'^  Here  we  are  in  perfect  accord. 
Will  he  and  his  co-spirituahsts  be  content  to  make 
this  their  stand-point  ?,  The  phenomena  of  spiritual 
manifestations  not  having  been  witnessed  by  myself, 
have  been  questioned,  not  denied.  T  think,  as  the 
discussion  proceeds,  the  distance  between  spiritu- 
alists and  materialists,  so  called,  will  be  considerably 


LETTER    XXI.  281 

lessened  if  not  entirely  bridged  over.  I  do  not  assert 
that  it  is  impossible  for  a  table  to  rise  and  be  sus- 
pended in  mid  air ;  but  I  deny  that  the  cause  can 
be  other  than  physical,  let  it  be  what  it  may.  I  do 
not  say  mechanical  force.  From  what  we  know  of 
forces,  whether  electric,  odic,  or  magnetic,  or  any 
other,  let  the  Spiritualist  define  them  as  he  may, 
they  are  still  physical.  Thought,  the  most  subtle 
phenomenon  known  to  man,  is  purely  physical.  Ad- 
mitted that  the  force  which  raises  the  table  is  there 
and  unseen,  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  the 
mind  or  intelligence  directing  it  should  be  that  of  a 
disembodied  being.  Why  not  that  of  some  one  pre- 
sent, even  though  it  be  the  medium,  possessing  both 
thought  and  feeling,  a  motive  and  a  purpose  ? 

Thought  is  as  subtile,  if  not  powerful,  as  electri- 
city ;  the  effects  are  witnessed,  the  cause  is  unseen. 
We  do  not  see  people  think,  but  we  may  and  can 
divine  their  thoughts.  It  is  curious  that  a  spiritual- 
ist should  ask  the  question, — "  Is  there  any  such 
thing  as  feeling,  thinking,  loving,  or  hating,  apart 
from  individual  intelligent  existence?"  That  is  a 
question,  I  boldly  reiterate,  and  as  boldly  meet  with 
the  rejoinder,  Show  me  the  monstrosity  and  I  will 
forego  the  accumulated  experience  of  ages,  my  reason 
and  my  belief  in  truth — and  become  a  worshipper  at 
the  shrine  of  spiritualism.  As  suggested  in  my 
last  letter,  it  is  no  unusual  thing  for  our  eyes  to  be 
deceived  by  the  facile  manipulations  of  the  professors 
of  sleight  of  hand.  Wc  know  and  admit  the  decej)- 
tion    with    perfect    equanimity    on    such    occasions. 


28.2  AN    EXPOSITION    OP    SPIRITUALISM. 

How  often  have  our  ears  been  sported  with  by  the 
ventriloquist.  But  knowing  the  cause,  we  do  not 
ascribe  the  effect  to  supernatural  agency,  whatever 
our  forefathers  may  have  done  in  ignorance  of  the 
natural  laws  which  produce  these  phenomena.  The 
whole  senses  may  be  entranced  by  the  mesmerists, 
those  of  touch,  taste,  and  smell,  in  addition  to  those 
of  hearing  and  seeing;  but  we  may  still  reason  on 
these  things  without  becoming  perfect  blanks  and 
believing  in  nothing,  which  belief,  by  the  bye,  if 
such  be  possible,  attaches  rather  to  the  spiritualist 
than  the  materialist.  Will  any  of  your  correspon- 
dents explain  their  notions  of  spirit  ?  I  know  full 
well  when  they  attempt  to  define  they  must  come 
over  to  us,  and  make  substance  of  it,  pr  take  refuge 
in  an  incorporeal  intelligent  being,  sans  parts,  sans 
organs,  sans  everything,  which  is  a  nonentity — naught 
but  the  "  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision.'' 

The  magnetic  or  odic  force,  as  shown  by  Reichen- 
bach,  is  visible  to  certain  sensitives ;  therefore,  we 
have  an  explanation  of  the  apparitions  said  to' have 
been  seen,  the  mediums,  or  certain  of  the  sitters, 
doubtless  being  the  subjects.  A  luminous  emana- 
tion or  aura  proceeding  from  an  entranced  or  ecstatic 
person  under  the  erijoined  conditions  and  surround- 
ings, a  previous  belief  in  the  possibility  of  commu- 
nicating with  the  spirits  of  the  departed,  the  anxious 
and  almost  breathless  watchings,  the  passive  state  of 
abstraction  thereby  induced,  the  mind  being  reduced 
to  an  almost  infinitesimal  point,  may  well  suffice  to 
overcome  the  reason,  and  lead  to  a  belief  in  the  pre- 


LETTER   XXI.  383 

sence  of  supernatural  visitors.  I  maintain  clairvoy- 
ance or  thought-reading,  and  prevision, all  well-known 
phenomena,  will  do  the  rest,  and  withstand  the  tests 
applied  by  Mr.  T.  Wilks,  and  explain  the  facts  of 
personal  histoiy  said  to  have  been  related,  which  may 
or  may  not  have  been  previously  known  to  any  one 
present.  I  do  not  dispute  the  facts,  but  I  deny  the 
premises.  I  am  not  one  to  limit  nature's  laws.  Mind, 
in  a  material  body,  and  we  have  no  evidence  of  its 
existence  in  any  other,  neither  can  we  have,  may  and 
does  act  on  mind  in  another  body — in  other  words, 
mind  can  react  on  mind.  But  mind  is  the  result  of 
a  natural  law  ;  we  only  perceive  mind  in  nature,  and 
being  in,  of,  and  a  part  of  nature,  we  cannot  go  be- 
yond it.  When  we  go  beyond  ourselves  we  are  be- 
side ourselves.  "Where  have  we  any  real  experience 
of  intelligence  without  a  brain  ?  1  know  the  answer, 
but  it  resolves  itself  into  nothing  more  real  than  a 
myth  or  conceit  of  the  imagination.  When  I  say 
people  biologise  themselves,  I  mean  that  by  precon- 
ceived opinions  they  can  induce  a  state  of  suscepti- 
bility, whereby  the  most  extravagant  impressions 
cannot  be  resisted,  as  is  well  known  to  the  mesmerist 
and  biologist.  There  is  no  more  powerful  mesmerist 
than  the  imagination  ;  and  because  your  correspon- 
dents cannot  satisfactorily  account  for  the  phenomena 
witnessed,  they  jmnp  the  (bfKfulty,  and  ascribe  them 
to  unseen  supernatural  beings,  as  superstitious — i.  c, 
ignorant  man  lias  done  in  all  ages ;  for  what  is 
superstition  but  the.  measure  of  our  ignorance  V  Sir, 
1  have  felt  it  incumbent   upon   me,  after  the  space 


284  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

you  have  allowed  me  to  occupy  in  your  journal,  to 
prove  the  possibility  of  the  so-called  spiritual  mani- 
festations being  produced  by  natural  laws ;  and  I 
think,  so  far  as  I  have  shown  parallel  phenomena  can 
be  induced  by  man  acting  upon  the  credulity  of  his 
fellow  man,  I  have  succeeded.  With  regard  to  the 
lifting  of  tables  and  chairs,  and  men  floating  about 
in  mid-air,  and  all  such  appearances  as  seem  to  re- 
quire mechanical  contrivance,  I  can  only  say  that  I 
have  had  no  experience  of  the  kind  beyond  dreaming 
that  I  have  been  gliding  through  the  air,  sometimes 
in  an  apartment,  at  other  times  over  trees  and 
hedges,  and  plantations  of  shrubs,  and  knowing  what 
the  uncontrolled  imagination  does  picture  to  itself  in 
dreams,  and  what  men,  women,  and  youth  of  both 
sexes  have  been  made  to  fancy  they  behold  when 
thought  to  be  in  their  natural  state  and  wide  awake, 
I  am  inclined  still  to  think  the  spirit  circles  are  the 
subjects  of  their  own  credulity — vulijo,  monomaniacs 
— at  least,  for  the  time  being.  Doubtless  the  whole 
effects  are  subject  to  the  control  of  universal  law, 
but  I  see  no  occasion  for  explaining  phenomena  so 
varied  by  any  one  law.  Mr.  J.  Jones  admits  that 
he  cannot  produce  the  manifestations.  He  is  only  a 
seer,  and  somewhat  of  a  prophet,  I  suppose.  Again, 
it  is  admitted  that  mediums  are  necessary,  and  that 
they  are  entranced — that  is,  in  a  state  of  ecstacy. 
Therefore,  it  is  necessary,  perhaps,  in  order  to  answer 
the  question,  "  Whence  is  it  V  that  their  peculiar 
temperaments  and  idiosyncracies  should  be  ascer- 
tained.   However,  let  not  Mr.  J,  Jones  lay  the  flatter- 


LETTER    XXI.  285 

ing  unction  to  Lis  soul  that  because  he  cannot  ex- 
plain it  by  natural  laws  it  cannot  be  explained.  I 
think  we  have  made  some  progress  towards  an  elu- 
cidation of  the  mystery.  If  otherwise,  it  does  not 
make  his  extra-mundane  theory  correct.  With 
respect  to  the  religious  aspirations  of  "  J.  A.  h.,"  I 
have  nothing  to  saj-,  though  I  believe  he  may  find 
his  answer  in  this  letter.  Conjointly  with  him,  I 
much  regretted  the  abrupt  termination  to  the  con- 
troversy last  autumn,  and  sincerely  hope  the  pre- 
sent may  lead  to  more  satisfactory  results.  Sir,  I 
have  no  desire  to  shock  the  feelings  of  your  readers, 
but  I  cannot  help  incidentally  alluding  to  Mr.  J. 
Jones's  garbled  quotation  which  he  is  pleased  to  give 
of  the  last  words  of  Christ.  I  can  understand  his 
suppression  of  a  portion  of  the  passage,  and  with 
permission,  will  supply  the  omission,  and  I  challenge 
Mr.  Jones  to  abide  by  that  test  as  a  proof  of  his  own 
sincerity  and  truthfulness  of  belief:  "  And  these 
signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe;  in  my  name 
shall  they  cast  out  devils  ;  they  shall  speak  with  new 
tongues ;  they  shall  take  up  serpents ;  and  if  they 
drink  any  deadly  thing  it  shall  not  hurt  them  ;  they 
shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick  and  they  shall  recover." 
Now,  if  Mr.  J.  Jones  (signs  and  wonders  not  having 
ceased)  will  diiiik  any  deadly  potion  that  I  may  mix, 
^lithout  providing  himself  with  a  better  antidote  than 
spiritual  dcjx'iulencc,  I  will  at  onc(;  become  his  dis- 
ciple and  a  believer  in  modern  spiritualism. 

As  regards  inanimate  substances  moving  without 


28G  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

visible  touch,  does  the  iron  attracted  by  the  magnet 
require  an  intelhgent  being  to  direct  it  ?  Yet  it  is 
influenced  by  an  invisible  power.  The  current  of 
electricity  towards  the  pole  is  the  sole  directing  power 
which  points  the  needle  of  the  compass  to  the  north. 
I  am  at  least  justified  in  assuming  this,  as  it  is  an 
admitted  truism  in  philosophy,  as  already  remarked 
by  your  correspondent,  that  it  is  not  desirable  to 
multiply  causes. 

When  Columbus  astonished  his  dehghted  audi- 
tory by  making  an  egg  stand  on  end  by  flattening 
its  base  with  a  rap  on  the  table,  he  was  considered  a 
perfect  Solon ;  but  in  these  reflective  times,  with  a 
better  insight  into  the  law  of  equilibrium,  it  is  a 
parlour  pastime  with  the  youth  of  our  land  to  set  an 
egg  on  end  by  simply  shaking  it  to  mix  the  albumen 
and   yolk,  and  gently  balance  with  a   steady  hand. 
Behold,  then,  the  wide-world  wonderful  phenome- 
non !     Yet  it  is  the  same  egg,  and  the  same  law  in 
action  :  the  conditions  alone  are  altered.     It   were 
impossible  to  balance  the  egg  in  its  natural  state. 
Does  this  point  a  moral  ? 

We  need  not  to  be  reminded  of  the  influence  of 
the  elements  nor  of  their  power,  which  is  patent  to 
all  mankind.  We  have  no  knowledge,  nor  can  we 
form  any  rational  idea,  of  life  other  than  as  we  behold 
it  in  the  living  object ;  neither  can  there  be  life 
without  circulation,  nor  circulation  without  a  system, 
nor  functions  without  organs.  These  are  not  postu- 
lates, but  self-evident  facts  which  cannot  be  disproved; 


i 


LETTER    XXII.  287 

therefore  the  materiahst  will  not  surrender  his  faith 
in  nature  at  the  bidding  of  the  spiritualist.  The 
will  can  alone  act  through  living  organisms.  AVe 
require  a  nervous  systeax  for  the  exercise  of  will. 
The  dog  wills  ere  it  moves  a  muscle  or  exerts  a 
limb  ;  and  this  will,  though  of  the  nature  of  spirit 
so  far  as  it  is  a  subtle  force,  is  the  physical  result  of 
impressions  from  without.  The  spiritualists  are 
strong  with  their  modern  facts ;  let  them  combat 
these  facts,  which  are  plain,  demonstrable,  and  as 
old  as  the  hills. — Truly  yours. 

Sceptic. 


XXII. 


Sib, — Mr.  Barkas  tells  us  of  the  extraordinary 
eflfects  which  have  been  produced  by  mesmerism  and 
the  will  of  one  man  on  another.  How  can  these 
statements  be  true  ?  Reason  is  against  them,  because 
if  they  did  not  touch  one  another  how  could  a  man's 
arm  be  made  rigid  without  splinters  or  other  solid 
substance  'i  How  could  one  man  will  another  man 
to  think  water  brandy,  and  ice  red-hot  coal  ?  It  is 
prt'postcrou.s,  and  C(jntrary  to  reason.  Besides,  the 
council  of  physicians  have  exercised  their  jjowers  of 
mind,  and  their  reason  has  been  made  manifest  by 
the  ])nblic  olticial  declaraliuu  that  mesmeric  action 
and  biology  arc  fictions — "  a  delusion  and  a  snare ;" 


288  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

and  so  thought  I,  till  I,  some  fifteen  years  ago,  put 
myself  in  a  position  to  judge  for  myself,  by  turning 
to  be  an  amateur  mesmeriser  and  biologist,  and  pro- 
ducing all  the  phenomena  related  by  Mr.  Barkas,  so 
that  the  principle  is  solved  that  the  will  of  one  man 
can,  without  sight  or  voice,  act  upon  another  person. 
And  to  me  it  appears  that  the  discussion  on  spiritual- 
ism will  open  men's  eyes  to  the  existence  of  natural 
phenomena  connected  with  man's  own  natural  powers, 
and  of  true  science  or  knowledge  of  the  powers  of 
the  being  called  Man. 

I  have  endeavoured  to  show  these  powers,  in  my 
book  on  the  "  Natural  and  Supernatural,"  published 
last  January  by  Bailliere,  of  Regent  Street.     I  need 
not  therefore  now  consume  space,  but  point  out  the 
unseen  reason  for  the  phenomena — namely,  the  ex- 
istence  and  emission   of  chemical  heat   from    any 
human  being ;  that  issues  and  radiates  like  heat  from 
a  coal  fire,  and  is  felt  more  or  less  intensely  by  all 
persons  when  ill  or  weakly.     This  may  be  proved  by 
any  father,  sister,  or  brother,  by  asking  them  to  ex- 
tend the  open  hand,  then  pass  the  points  of  your 
fingers  slowly  at  the  distance  of  an  inch  from  the  wrist 
to  the  point  of  the  long  finger.  Do  this  for  four  or  five 
times,  and  the  person  whose  hand  is  open  will  feel  a 
hot  or  cold  current  passing  along  the  hand,  and  the 
test  will  be  that  you,  the  operator,  will  feel  a  strange 
sensation  in  your  fingers  when  over  the  portion  of  the 
hand  where  the  person  feels  the  current  most  power- 
fully.    That  something  between  the  two  hands  is  the 
unseen  power,  which,  directed  by  an  active  mind  or 


i 


LETTER  xxir.  289 

uill,  produces  the  extraordinary  phenomena  detailed ; 
that  power  issues  from  man  under  the  same  law  that 
the  unseen  magnetism  issues  from  a  horse-shoe 
magnet,  grasps  the  needle,  and  carries  it  up  to  the 
shoe. 

As  I  said  last  week,  in  a  private  letter  to  you,  that 
I  considered  that  I  had  occupied  enough  of  the 
space  in  the  Star,  and  meant  to  withdraw,  except  to 
give  a  summing  up,  I  avoid  the  question  of  spiritual- 
ism, except  to  state  that  scieuce  has  no  greater 
advocate  for  spiritualism  than  Dr.  Ashburner,  quoted 
by  one  of  your  correspondents  as  an  antagonist. 

John  Jones. 

August  18. 

Mr.  J.  Jones's  recantation  of  his  faith  in  invisible 
intelligent  beings,  as  the  cause  of  the  phenomena,  strongly 
reminds  one  of  the  adage  "  give  a  man  rope  enough  and 
he  will  hang  himself.'"'  At  all  events,  in  the  above  letter 
he  suspends  both  the  argument  and  the  spirits.  It  is  con- 
Bohng,  after  such  an  exhibition  of  spiritual  faith,  to  find 
him  eschewing  invisible  intelligences,  and  endeavouring 
to  account  for  the  manifestations  in  a  manner  at  once  both 
natural  and  rational.  He  admits  that  it,  at  length,  '■'ajipears 
to  him  that  this  discussion  will  open  men's  ei/es  to  the  ex- 
istence of  natural  phenomena  conneeted  with  man's  own 
natural  powtrs,  and  of  true  science  or  knowledge  of  the 
powers  of  the  hcinfj  called  man."     Yo\\\  tout  cola  ! ! 

It  seems  to  me,  that  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  in  the  mind 
of  a  philosopher  who  examines  this  subject  carefully,  that 
there  is  a  peculiar  form  of  vital  force,  which  ^Ir.  Jouen  is 
pleased  to  term  chemical  heat,  and  which  has,  with  some 
propriety,  been  denominated  Animal  Magnetism,  and 
which  is  concerned  iu  producing  all  Iho  phenomena  of 

U 


290  AN    EXPOSITION    01'   SPIRITUALISM. 

animal  life,  aud  all  tlie  wonders  of  Spiritualism  and  Mes- 
nierism.  We  come  to  this  conclusion  as  the  only  one 
wliich  will  account  for  facts  whicli  we  are  not  able  to 
controvert. 

"  If  we  take  a  magnet  and  bring  it  near  to  a  piece  of  iron, 
and  make  a  number  of  passes  across  the  iron,  the  peculiar 
motions  of  the  magnet  are  communicated  to  the  iron,  so 
that  it  becomes  a  magnet  itself.  This  is  Induction.  A 
piece  of  iron  cannot  be  placed  near  a  magnet  for  any  con- 
siderable time  without  becoming  in  some  degree  inducted, 
losing  its  own  independent  action,  and  submitting  to  the 
influence  of  the  neighbouring  magnet.  Precisely  so  it  is 
with  the  inducted  subject ;  the  cases  are  nearly  as  parallel 
as  the  different  natures  of  the  two  bodies  will  admit." 

This  will  go  far  to  explain  why  nearly  all  persons  attend- 
ing the  spiritual  seances  are  similarly  influenced,  being  en 
rapport,  or  in  contact,  with  mesmerised — that  is  magnet- 
ised— persons,  they  become  subjected  to  the  general 
influence. 

^.  Dr.  Ashburner  has  no  greater  faith  in  the  existence 
of  ^/»material  beings  than  he  has  in  free-will.  Here  is  a  line : 
"  To  our  limited  ken,  all  Nature's  truths  are  material." 
Surely  this  is  comprehensive  enough!  Again — "  A  force 
which  is  a  material  a(jent,  attended  hy,  or  constituting  a 
coloured  light,  emanates  from  the  brain  of  man,  when  he 
thinks — that  his  tuill  can  direct  its  impingement — and  that 
it  is  a  motive  potver."  Moreover,  he  takes  the  Baron 
Keichenbach  to  task,  for  applying  the  term  immaterial 
essence  to  light.  So  much  for  the  Doctor's  Spiritualism  ! 
On  the  subject  of  the  cataleptic  patients  having  no  free- 
will, nor,  in  fact,  any  will  at  all,  he  says,  "  This  is  the  sub- 
ject which  is  the  key-stone  of  all  the  objections  to  the  ap- 
plication of  magnetism,  or  of  mesmerism  to  the  human 
system.  To  show  that  man  is  not  a  free  agent  is  bad 
enough,  but  to  prove  it  by  physical  facts  should  be  atro- 
cious. Tiie  instinct  of  those  who  have  large  organs  of 
cunning,  acquisitiveness,  and  self-esteem,  is  instantly  on 


AN    EXPOSITION    OF   SPIRITUALISM.  291 

the  alert,  and  forgetting  that  they  do  not  wholly  belong 
to  the  baser  animals,  they  give  way  to  the  lower  feelings 
of  their  nature." 

[We  have  received  a  vast  number  of  lettei'S  on 
this  subject,  which  are  for  various  reasons  unsuited 
for  publication.  Some  are  unconscionably  lengthy ; 
one  is  not  only  written  on  both  sides  of  the  paper, 
but  is  actually  crossed,  presenting  insuperable  diffi- 
culties to  the  printer ;  very  many  convey  only  an 
expression  of  individual  disbelief;  others  embody 
offers  to  stake  sums  of  money  on  the  result  of  ex- 
periments— a  mode  of  proceeding  which  seems  to  us 
scarcely  appropriate  in  such  an  investigation  ;  and 
not  a  few  indulge  in  very  insulting  personalities  with 
regard  to  those  who  have  written  thus  in  support  of 
the  doctrines  of  spiritualists.  Our  correspondents 
should  bear  in  mind  that  all  letters  must  be  as  brief 
as  is  compatible  with  any  exposition  of  their  views ; 
that  they  must  embody  either  the  results  of  personal 
observation  or  sober  argument,  based  uj)on  facts 
already  made  public  ;  and  that  tley  must  be  free 
from  injurious  remarks  upon  adversaries.  Prolixity, 
vagueness,  attempted  facctioiisness,  or  personality 
will  always  suffice  to  ensure  the  exclusion  of  their 
communications. — Eu.  Star  and  Di(iL\ 


293  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 


XXIII. 

SiR^ — I  suppose  we  may  go  on  defending  and 
denying  the  phenomena  of  spiritualism  until  the 
termination  of  the  American  war,  or  perhaps  Dooms- 
day, unless  some  new  mode  of  settling  the  vexed 
question  be  introduced.  Allow  me  to  suggest  to  the 
leading  spiritualists  in  London  the  propriety  of  form- 
ing a  responsible  committee  for  the  examination  of 
the  subject,  to  consist  of  three  intelhgent  believers 
and  nine  intelligent,  candid,  and  unbigotted  unbe- 
lievers, selected  from  various  professions,  and  having 
among  their  number  a  few  gentlemen  well  versed  in 
physical  and  psychological  laws. 

The  details  as  to  the  modus  operandi  may  safely 
be  left  in  the  hands  of  the  twelve  gentlemen  forming 
the  committee  of  inquiry. 

I  would  also  suggest  that  the  names  of  the  twelve 
investigators  be  published,  and  that  each  member  of 
the  committee  of  inquiry  pledge  himself  to  a  public 
avowal  of  the  conclusion  to  which  the  investigation 
has  led  him.  Without  such  open  expression  of 
opinion,  the  examination,  for  all  practical  purposes  as 
regards  the  general  pablic,  would  be  useless. — I  am, 
sir,  yours  respectfully, 

T.  P.  Barkas. 

49,  Grainger  Street,  Ncwcastle-on-Tyne. 


LETTER   XXIV.  293 


XXIV. 

Sir, — I  beg  respectfully  to  propose  to  those  who 
are  desirous  of  ascertaining  the  truth  or  fallacy  of 
the  alleged  spiritual  manifestations  which  are  at 
present  attracting  so  much  attention,  a  very  simple 
test,  to  the  application  of  which  no  really  philosophic 
mind  can,  I  think,  offer  any  objection. 

Let  a  public  stance  of  spiritualists  be  held  in  the 
oj)en  air,  and  by  daylight,  and  there  let  them,  sur- 
rounded by  competent  witnesses,  openly  demonstrate 
to  the  world  the  existence  of  those  phenomena  in 
which  they  profess  to  believe. 

This  may,  perhaps,  by  some  be  considered  as  too 
vulgar  a  test,  to  which  objection  I  reply,  that  no  un- 
prejudiced seeker  after  truth  will  shrink  from  the 
employment  of  any  means,  however  common  or 
literal,  that  will  finally  confirm  or  disprove  the  accu- 
racy of  the  subject  he  is  endeavouring  to  investigate. 
— Yours  respectfully, 

S. 

Hampstead,  Aug.  Z'i. 


294  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 


XXV. 

Sir, — You  have  had  compliments  enough  from 
both  sides  for  your  hberality  in  re-opening  your 
columns  to  the  discussion  of  the  modern  phenomena 
above-named.  I  cordially  join  in  what  has  been  said 
in  this  regard^  but  desire  now  rather  to  economise 
space  and  time,  and  so,  by  your  leave,  will  at  once 
direct  attention  to  the  branch  of  the  subject  to  which 
I  feel  myself  more  particularly  related,  from  my  ex- 
perience having  principally  lain  therein,  viz.,  that 
which  occupies  the  main  part  of  the  communication 
of  Mr.  Walter  Cooper  Dendy. 

The  admirable  spirit  in  which  Mr.  Dendy  writes 
renders  it  a  pleasure  to  enter  upon  the  discussion 
with  him,  because  one  feels  sure  that  whatsoever  is 
advanced  bearing  upon  the  points  in  dispute  will 
xeceive  fair  consideration  from  him. 

Mr.  Dendy  has  the  candour  to  admit  the  facts, 
and  to  discard  the  suppositions  of  deception  on  the 
one  hand  and  delusion  on  the  other.  Never- 
theless, even  he  is  not  short  of  attributing  "  extreme 
credulity"  to  the  "honourable  men"  who  give  their 
testimony  to  the  actuality  of  the  facts.  The  adhe- 
rents of  spiritualism  who  have  been  made  so  by  tho- 
rough and  severe  investigation — and  they  really  are 
the  main  body  of  its  literary  defenders — can  aflFord 
to  smile  at  this  imputation,  well  knowing  how  hard 
they  were  to  convince;  many  of  them  having  to 
confess  that  it  was  only  after  years  of  observation 


LETTER   XXV.  295 

and  critical  inquiry,  after  having  exhausted  all  in- 
ferior hypotheses  suggested  by  themselves  or  others, 
that  they  were  literally  forced  to  the  conclusion  (not 
the  assumption,  as  is  generally  or  recklessly  imputed 
to  them),  that  nothing  else  was  adequate  to  explain 
the  facts.  But  let  this  pass.  Mr.  Dendy  imagines 
they  have  not  considered  his  hypothesis,  and  so,  with 
excellent  temper,  albeit  in  somewhat  obscure  phrase- 
ology and  consequent  lack  of  perspicuity,  he  pro- 
pounds it  as  a  complete  solution  of  the  "  mystery.'' 
"What,  then,  is  his  hypothesis?  This:— "  Mind  is 
projectile,  for  what  are  thought,  dream,  or  vision,  but 
the  visit  of  an  intellectual  element  to  another  sphere  ? 
The  intensity  of  these  phenomena,  under  hyper- 
excited  action  of  the  brain  and  the  concentration  of 
nervous  power,  with  the  superadded  influence  of 
memory  and  association,  and  especially  of  electro - 
biology  and  mesmerism,  or  the  odyle  force  of  lleich- 
enbach,  constitute  those  displays  that  have  been 
somewhat  irreverently  termed  preternatural/'  Add 
to  this  "the  projectile  power  of  volition  or  the  will," 
and  *'the  concentration  of  this  volition  may  explain 
the  whole  phenomena  of  table-moving,  nay,  even  the 
body-lifting  of  Mr.  Home."* 

*  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  H.  G.  Atkinson  for  the  following 
explanation  of  table-tnrninf^,  which  is  (lio  best  and  most 
explicit  I  have  rnct  with,  tliouf;Ii  written  more  than  seven 
years  since.  He  says,  "  it  is  a  force,  projected  and  directed 
by  the  unconscious  sphere  of  the  mind  or  soid  ;"  and  nd- 
monisliingly  adds,  "  but  we  must  try  and  maintain  a  wise 
and  sober  course,  and  not  bo  led  away  by  appearances." 


296  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

Now,  it  is  at  once  "  granted"  that  "mind  is  pro- 
jectile." The  fact  has  been  demonstrated  many  a 
time,  as  any  one  may  learn  who  consults  the  annals 
of  mesmerism.  I  have  myself  impressed  my  thought 
upon  a  friend,  and  induced  mesmeric  sleep  and  trance 
at  distances  varying  from  a  few  feet  to  above  200 
miles.  But  how  does  the  principle  herein  involved 
explain  the  facts  in  spiritualism  assumed  to  be  re- 
lated thereto  ?  Instead  of  obtaining  through  the 
medium  an  echo  of  your  own  thought,  you  are  quite 
as  often  startled  with  thoughts  not  only  different 
from,  but  in  direct  opposition  to  your  own.  The 
same  results  arise  in  relation  to  feeling  and  volition. 
Often  the  utmost  anxiety  has  been  felt  and  expressed 
for  certain  things  to  be  granted ;  they  have  been 
resolutely  denied.  Feelings  claiming  indulgence 
have  been  rebuked  ;  opinions  at  variance  with  those 
of  both  the  medium  and  the  person  or  persons 
])resent  have  been  uttered  and  maintained.  And  as 
for  table-moving  by  concentrated  volition,  instances 
are  on  authentic  record  of  tables  being  lifted  in  spite 
of  not  only  the  concentrated  volition,  but  likewise 
the  muscular  energy  of  those  present — vide  a  re- 
markable instance  of  this  kind  detailed  in  the  ap- 
pendix to  a  volume  by  Judge  Edmonds  and  Dr. 
Dexter,  of  New  York,  in  which  a  very  solid  table  of 
cherry-tree  timber  was  raised,  with  Governor  Tail- 
Again,  in  another  letter,  Mr.  A.  writes,  "  I  have  a  capital 
medium,  and  am  making  experiments  in  table-talking. 
Here  is  a  matter  that  will  revolutionize  the  world  of 
thought." 


LETTER    XXV.  297 

madge,  of  Wisconsin,  on  the  top  of  it,  against  the 
utmost  efforts  of  the  rest  of  the  company  to  keep  it 
down.* 

VlTien  Mr.  Dendy  has  applied  his  hypothesis  to 
the  facts,  he  will  discover,  as  I  have  done  years  and 
years  ago,  how  far  short  it  falls  of  explaining  the 
"  mystery. '^  He  will  haply  also  discover  that  it  is 
not  the  spiritualists  who  "  blindly  jump  at  a  conclu- 
sion, and  vaunt  their  dogmas  without  reasoning  on 
the  facts  before  them,"  but  much  more  pretentious 
men.  In  the  meantime  I  would  beg  him  to  under- 
stand that  they  do  not  ''  form  a  supernatural  theory 
in  the  face  of  established  laws,"  or  imagine  that 
"  nature's  laws"  are  in  the  slightest  degree  violated 
by  the  influx  and  interaction  of  spiritual  forces- 
Rather  do  they  maintain  that  in  virtue  of  "  estab- 
lished laws"  disembodied  spirits  can  and  do  act  upon 
embodied  ones  and  upon  unorganized  bodies,  and 
thereby  cause  the  manifestations  under  discussion. 
This  is  their  induction  from  the  facts,  and  they  re- 
spectfully maintain  its  validity,  and  deny  tlie  adequacy 
of  any  hypothesis  which  excludes  the  operation  of 
spirits. 

One  word  in  rcj)ly  to  your  other  correspondent, 
"  Critic,"  who  also  writes  m  a  commendjible  style  of 
fair  inquiry. 

He  says — "  The  proof  of  the  existence  of  matter 

*  If  the  table  rose  to  the  ceiling  in  this  ca«e,  it  must 
liave  been  a  ratlier  ludicrous  and  somewhat  unenviablo 
position  for  the  Governor  I 


298  AN    EXPOSITION    OP    SPIRITUALISM. 

in  all  its  forms — phenomena — is  of  its  kind.  The 
proof  of  the  existence  of  spirit  in  all  its  form — nou- 
mena — is  of  its  kind/' 

Agreed.  But  at  least  some  "  phenomena,"  as 
voice  and  speech,  expression  of  countenance,  writing, 
playing  on  an  instrument — in  fine,  performing  any 
intelligent  operation  cognizable  by  any  of  the  senses 
— even  rapping  or  moving  a  table  by  design — involve 
"  noumena."  Therefore  it  is  not  "  a  fact  that  no 
phenomenon,  nor  any  number  of  phenomena,  can 
prove  the  existence  of  spirit." 

The  argument  could  be  carried  much  further,  and 
the  reverse  of  his  position  made  clear ;  but  so  able 
and  candid  a  thinker  will  do  this  for  himself.  He, 
too,  will  see  that  in  accordance  with  the  strictest 
logic,  as  well  as  in  agreement  with  indomitable  fact, 
the  position  of  the  Spiritualist  in  this  discussion  is 
not  successfully  assailable. 

I  am,  &c.    L. 

Liverpool,  Aug.  20. 

Had  "  Critic  "  stated  that  no  phenomenon,  nor  any 
number  of  phenomena,  can  prove  the  existence  of  disem- 
bodied  spirits,  his  position  would  have  been  more  unassail- 
able than  the  Spiritualists.  In  tlie  absence,  however,  of 
a  strict  definition,  his  opponent  has  apparently  an  advan- 
tage, of  whicli  he  has  not  been  slow  to  avail  himself.  But 
the  phenomena  adduced  as  involving  noumena,  are  those 
of  intelligent,  organised  beings  !  and  it  remains  to  be  shown 
that  there  can  be  such  a  thing  as  disembodied,  unorganised 
sentience,  before  like  effects  can  be  attributed  to  the  spirits 
of  the  deceased.  Materialists  do  not  deny  the  existence 
of  spirit,  but  they  dispute  its  identity  apart  from  and  in- 


LETTER   XXVI.  299 


XXVI. 

Sir, — I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  confirm  the  views 
of  your  coiTcspondent  "  A  Spiritualist/^  as  regards 
the   facility  of  proving  the  existence  of  the  spiritual 

dependent  of  matter.  To  the  question,  "  "WTiat  is  Life, 
Liglit,  Mind,  Electricity,  Magnetism,  &c.  ?"  we  reply,  tliey 
are  phenomena,  i.  e.,  conditions  of  matter.  No  one  disputes 
the  existence  or  reality  of  whatever  is.  All  the  foregoing 
phenomena  cease  with  the  dissolution  of  the  materials 
which  are  their  cause.  Nothing  exists  in  Nature  but  cause 
and  effect.  Neither  do  we  despise  the  inspired  language 
of  Scripture  :  but  we  claim  the  right  to  put  our  own  in- 
terpretation upon  it,  according  to  the  light  that  is  in  us. 
Thus,  when  it  is  written,  "  God  said,  Let  there  be  light, 
and  there  was  light,"  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  the  spirit 
of  God^;-*^  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters.  If  the 
phenomenon  of  light  was  the  first  act  of  creation,  it  will  be 
admitted  we  have  authority  for  saying  the  waters,  at  least, 
existed  prior  to  the  fiat,  "  Let  there  be  light."  We  be- 
lieve in  the  eternity  of  matter  as  the  primeval  source  of  all 
spirit.  Matter  is—i.  e  ,  itis  real,  tangible,  visible,  demon- 
strative either  of  itself  or  in  its  effects,  and  however  change- 
able, still  exists  in  some  one  or  other  of  its  forms,  even  as 
"  noumena,"  which  is  but  phenomenon.  But  effects  can 
have  no  existence  sipart  from  or  independent  of  causation, 
which  is  material,  the  body,  so  to  speak,  of  spirit.  We 
may  believe  in  Spiritual  plienomena  residling  from  any  of 
the  beforementioned  imponderable  agents,  Mhich  are  the 
real  powers  of  nature,  without  believing  in  spiritual  enti- 
ties, the  objective  charnetcr  of  ghosts,  or  disembodied  in- 
telligences, thongli,  doubtless,  we  ehall  be  accused  of 
"  Gross  MaUrial'um." 


300  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

world  by  means  of  crystals  and  such  media.  I  have, 
for  over  thirty  years,  been  in  the  habit  of  investi- 
gating the  question  by  means  of  crystals.  And  sinCe 
1849  I  have  possessed  the  celebrated  crystal,  once 
belonging  to  Lady  Blessington,  in  which  very  many 
persons,  both  children  and  adults,  have  seen  visions 
of  the  spirits  of  the  deceased,  or  of  beings  claiming 
to  be  such,  and  of  numerous  angels  and  other  beings 
of  the  spiritual  world.  These  have  "  in  all  cases 
supported  the  purest  and  most  liberal  Christianity." 
The  faculty  of  seeing  in  the  crystal  I  have  found  to 
exist  in  about  one  person  in  ten  among  adults,  and 
in  nearly  nine  in  every  ten  among  children ;  many  of 
whom  appear  to  lose  the  faculty  as  they  grow  to 
adult  age,  unless  they  practise  it  continually. 

The  most  determined  sceptics  have  been  convinced 
of  the  reality  of  the  visions,  on  many  occasions,  by 
discovering  that  they  had  themselves  the  faculty, 
much  to  their  surprise.  The  nature  of  the  visions 
seen  has  been  of  the  most  varied  character.  Among 
the  most  interesting  have  been  visions  of  Scripture 
scenes  and  events,  such  as  the  ark  floating  on  the 
waters,  the  Crucifixion,  the  New  Testament  miracles, 
feeding  the  multitude,  walking  on  the  water,  the 
Last  Supper,  &c.  I  may  add,  that  every  possible 
means  have  been  taken  by  persons  of  sceptical  mind 
to  ensure  that  there  was  no  kind  of  delusion  in  the 
matter.  And  as  a  vast  number  of  children,  and 
others  who  have  never  known  each  other,  have  wit- 
nessed the  same  beings,  or  beings  having  the  same 


LETTER    XXVI.  301 

appearance,  and  declaring  themselves  to  be  the  same 
personages,  it  does  not  seem  possible  that,  if  these 
seers  had  predetermined  to  tell  us  untruths,  they 
should  all,  or  nearly  all,  being  numbered  by  scores, 
tell  us  the  same  untruths.  All  that  has  been  seen 
in  the  crystal  during  the  last  twelve  years,  while  in 
my  hands,  has  been  perfectly  consistent,  although 
seen  by  very  numerous  persons.  The  spirits — which 
I  feel  certain  they  are — which  appear,  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  inform  us  on  all  possible  subjects  which  may 
tend  to  improve  our  morals  and  confirm  our  faith  in 
the  Christian  doctrines ;  but  they  will  say  nothing 
that  may  only  tend  to  gratify  curiosity.  As  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  future,  they  confess  that  they  have 
little  more  than  we  mortals  possess.  Yet  in  some 
cases,  they  have  informed  us  of  future  events,  on  which 
the  peace  of  mind  of  individuals  depended,  or  by  the 
l<nowledge  of  which  some  evident  benefit  might 
ensue.  The  character  they  give  of  the  class  of  spirits 
who  are  in  the  habit  of  communicating  with  mortals 
by  rapping  and  such  proceedings,  is  such  that  it  be- 
hoves all  Christian  })Cople  to  be  on  their  guard  against 
error  and  delusion  through  their  means. 

I  could  add  much  interesting  matter,  but  refrain 
from  taking  up  your  space.  I  may  do  so  at  a  future 
time.  In  the  face  of  the  thousands  of  facts  of  which 
I  am  possessed,  the  writings  of  your  correspondent 
"Sceptic"  become  vapid  and  valueless.  A  liuc  or 
two  on  his  numerous  beggings  of  the  questioJi.  He 
says  we  have  no  evidence  of  mind  in  any  other  than 


302  AN    EXPOSITION    OF    SPIRITUALISM. 

a  material  body,  "  neither  can  we  have."  *  This  I 
deny ;  for  I  have  had  abundant  evidence  of  mind  of 
the  highest  order  in  these  spiritual  beings  showing 
themselves  as  visions  in  the  crystal,  to  the  eyes  of 
children,  whose  faculties  were  very  far  below  the 
intelligence  and  information  they  displayed.  He 
says  that  there  cannot  be  life  without  circulation,  &c. 
True,  if  he  mean  animal  life ;  but  there  may  be,  and 
is;,  spiritual  existence. f 

Yours,  E..  J.  Morrison. 

*  The  mind  is  built  up,  as-  it  were,  bit  by  bit,  from  the 
experience  of  the  senses,  as  we  raise  a  house  or  other  build- 
ing ;  and  so  long  as  the  senses  remain  intact,  the  super- 
structure may  be  perfect  in  all  its  parts,  and  honourable 
to  the  builder  ;  but  no  sooner  does  the  material,  that  is, 
the  senses,  exhibit  symptoms  of  decay,  than  the  building 
becomes  impaired,  and  either  is  restored,  taken  down 
piecemeal,  or  falls  to  the  ground.  If  the  senses  continue 
unimpaired,  the  mind,  like  any  other  fabric,  will  withstand 
the  shock  of  time ;  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  Hable  to  be 
levelled  with  the  ground,  even  in  its  pride  of  strength,  by 
any  convulsion  of  natui"e,  or  other  sudden  catastrophe. 
If,  as  Lord  Brougham  says,  the  mind  does  not  age  with 
the  body,  it  most  demonstrably  deteriorates  as  the  senses 
decay,  and  must  ultimately  perish  with  the  body  to  which 
the  senses  belong. 

t  Is  there  no  dogmatism,  nor  begging  the  question, 
here,  in  the  assertion  that  "  there  is  spiritual  existence  ?" 
We  have  evidence  of  the  fact,  that  neither  animal  nor 
vegetable  life  exist  without  circulation,  the  only  life  known 
to  us.  We  have  no  experience  of  spiritual  life,  and,  I 
repeat,  "  neither  can  we  have  ;"  for  if  there  be  such,  as 
it  belongs  to  another  sphere,  or  state,  we  can  have  no  ex- 
perience of  it  in  this. 


AN    EXPOSITION    OF    Sl'IRITfALlSJl.  303 

[We  have  received  such  a  deluge  of  letters  on 
this  subject  that  we  are  compelled  to  close  the  dis- 
cussion. ]\Iany  of  the  letters  are  well  written,  but 
they  are  almost  all  too  long.  Every  writer  seems  to 
suppose  that  it  is  his  duty  to  exhaust  the  subject. 
Nor  is  it  possible  to  make  a  selection,  for  each  com- 
munication is  either  a  reply  to  some  previous  corre- 
spondent, or  opens  questions  which  would  involve 
replies,  unmanageable  in  number  and  in  length. 
Besides,  the  discussion  appears  to  be  interminable, 
except  by  the  abrupt  process  we  are  now  adopting. 
There  is  abundant  evidence  that  a  large  number  of 
persons  either  have  seen,  or  imagine  they  have  seen, 
manifestations  of  spiritual  presences.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  large  number,  not  to  say  the  overwhelming, 
majority,  of  persons  obstinately  disbelieve  their  tes- 
timony. We  do  not  see  how  the  latter  are  to  be  con- 
vinced by  any  reiteration  of  assertion.  We  ourselves 
have  not  witnessed  any  of  the  reported  phenomena ; 
nor,  were  we  to  do  so,  are  we  sure  that  we  should 
trust  the  evidences  of  our  senses.  In  pursuance  of 
our  vocation  as  journalists,  we  placed  our  readers  in 
possession  of  facts  respecting  the  progress  of  a  new 
])hase  of  belief,  and  we  must  now  leave  it  to  each 
individual  to  examine  or  not  for  himself,  as  he  sees 
fit,  into  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  the  statements 
made,  and  into  the  nature  of  the  i)henomcna  which 
are  said  to  exist. —  Editor  of  (he  Star  and  Dial.] 


APPENDIX. 


Asan  appendix  to  this  subject,  and  a  rejoinder  to  Mr.E.  I. 
Morrison's  letter,  I  extract  the  following  from  a  note  of 
Dr.  Ashbumer's,  in  his  translation  of  Baron  lieichenbach's 
IJeBearches,  pp.  466 — 7. 

"  Lately  I  have  had  opportunities  of  making  experi- 
ments relative  to  the  influence  of  odic  light  emanating 
from  water,  from  glass,  or  from  crystals,  upon  the  nervous 
systems  of  certain  sensitive  persons,  which  tend  to  illus- 
trate clairvoyance.  They  are  so  easily  repeated  that  time 
only  is  required  for  thousands  of  corroborations  of  the 
events  I  have  noticed  ;  and  although  we  have  in  England 
many  stupidities,  who,  like  the  Baron  von  lieichenbach's 
critics,  will  carp  at  facts,  which  their  maladroit  minds  will 
turn  to  ridicule  and  calumny,  the  simplicity  of  the  appa- 
ratus required  for  these  phenomena  will  speedily  ensure  a 
sufficient  number  of  verifjcations.  The  persons  who  form 
the  subjects  of  these  experiments  should  be  of  liighly  sen- 
sitive nervous  systems,  and,  as  far  as  I  have  observed, 
should  have  heads  well  developed  about  the  organs  of 
ideality,  marvel,  veneration,  and  hope;  comparison,  tunc, 
time,  and  construetivcness,  adhcttivcucHS,  philoprogeni- 
tiveness,  and  eaution ;  and  rather  the  contrary  as  respects 
amativcncss,    combaliveness,   self-catcem,    cunning,    and 

X 


306  APPENDIX. 

acquisitiveness.  A  phial  of  clear  and  colourless  glass,  capa- 
ble of  holding  eight,  ten,  twelve,  or  more  ounces  of  filtered 
water,  or  a  clear  globe  containing  a  pint-and-a-half,  or  a 
quart  of  water,  answers  the   purpose  well.     The  vessel 
should  be  completely  filled,  with  water,  clean  and  clear. 
It  should  be  mesmerised  by  some  healthy  person  with  a 
large  brain,  by  darting  the  odic  sparks  from  the  fingers 
upon  the  sm-face  of  the  water,  at  several  hundred  strokes, 
and  by  breathing  upon  it  for  some  minutes.     The  vessel 
should  be  then  closed,  so  that  no  bubbles  of  air  are  ad- 
mitted ;  and  when  properly  secured  should  be  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  sensitive  person,  who  is  to  look  contmu- 
ously  into  it,  uninterrupted  by  the  proximity  of  too  many 
persons,  whose  odic  forces  may  tend  to  spoil  the  experi- 
ment.    The  mesmeriser  of  the  water  may  be  near  ;  but  it 
is  better  that  not  more  than  one  or  two  persons  besides, 
agreeable  to  the  sensitive  person,  should  be  present.     I 
have  placed  vessels  of  water  so  prepared  in  the  hands  of 
numerous  sensitive  persons,  most  of  them  quite  unaware 
of  the  object  of  my  requesting  them  to  look  steadily  at  the 
water.     Some,  in  the  course  of  a  few  minutes,  have  seen 
beautiful  visions  of  persons  and  things  that  have  given 
them  delight.     Others  have  seen  objects  which  have  ter- 
rified them:      Some    have    described    vividly,  charming 
country  scenes,  with  elegant  companies  of  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen gaily  attired,   at  boat-races  on  a  river.     Others 
have  seen  hunting  gentlemen,  in  scarlet  uniforms,  on  fine 
horses.     Some  have  seen  funerals  and  churchyards ;  others 
sick  rcoms,  with  death's  heads  flitting   about  the  surface 
of  the  bed  of  sickness.     Some  have  truly  predicted  to  me 
the  approach  to  the  house  of  friends,  who  were  to  knock 
at  my  door  at  stated  hours.    On  one  occasion,  a  visit  from 
my  friend  Mr.  Hoffmann,  of  Mayence,  was  predicted  by 
a  person,  who   described    him    accurately  without  ever 
having  seen  him,  except  by  the  agency  of  the  crystalline 
bottle  of  water,  which  she  Lad  held  m  her  hand  for  the 


APPENDIX.  307 

first  time  in  her  life,  and  without  knowin£^  the  object  I  had 
iu  view  in  requesting  her  to  look  into  it. 

"  At  the  moment  I  had  a  conviction  that  Mr.  Hoffmann 
■was  either  at  Macclesfield  or  Liverpool ;  but  he  made  his 
appearance  in  my  room  in  ten  minutes — the  time  my  sen- 
sitive subject  had  intimated.     A  number  of  people  have 
now  repeated  such  experiments,  and  lam  told  tliat several 
persons  who  had  failed,  at  first,  in  perceiving  anything  in 
the  vessels  of  mesmerised  water,  had,  by  dint  of  patience 
and  perseverance,  after  many  repetitions  of  trials  for  half- 
an-hour  and  an  hour  at  a  time,  become  highly  clairvoy- 
ant.    The  curious  facts  that  have  excited  so  much  atten- 
tion in  relation  to  a  crystal  ball,  bought  by  Mr.  Morrison 
at  Lady  Blessington's  sale,  and  those  relating  to  the  nu- 
merous fits  of  clairvoyance  induced  in  Mrs.  Woodard,  by 
her  looking  into  an  oval  piece  of  glass,  are  analogous  to 
those  I  have  stated.     After  witnessing  very  numerous  in- 
stances of  clairvoyance,  I  can  have  no  doubt  but  that  the 
br.iin,  apt  for  the  purpose,  is  stimulated  to  the  production 
of  the  phenomena  by  some  relation  which  it  bears  to  light, 
perhaps  to  this  imponderable  matter  in  combination  with 
the  odic  force.''     Ilowthis  supports  Mr.  Morrison's  expe- 
rience of  the  exhibition  of  mind  of  the  higliest  order,  in 
what  he  is  pleased  to  term  spiritual  beings,  I  am  at  a  loss 
to  conceive.     It  appears  to  me  that  the  prolonged  fixed 
gaze  has  produced  a  state  of  exaltation  of  the  brain,  and 
the  objects  of  memory  have  become  so  intensified  as  to 
appear,  as  it  were,  visible  in  the  crystals.   Thus  the  scenes 
perceived  by  children  partake  of  the  Scripture  narratives 
with  which  their  minds  are  imbued  ;  wliilc  those  of  larger 
growth  behold  those  scenes  with  which  they  are  either 
more  immediately  familiar,  or  with  which  their  memories 
have  been  more  strongly  impressed.     Tliat  this  is  only  one 
of  the  many  phases  of  electro-biology,  or  mesmeric  induc- 
tion, there  cannot  bo  a  doul)t ;  as  for  instance,  the  fact  of  one 
in  ten  being  sensitive  among  adults,  and  nine  in  ten  among 


308  APPENDIX. 

cliildren,  it  being  well  known  that  youth  is  more  suscep- 
tible and  credulous  than  adult  age. 

What  ia  here  assumed  to  be  the  spirits  is  nothing  more 
than  intuitive,  or  clairvoyant  perception  of  the  mind  of 
some  one  present.  "  In  these,  as  in  all  other  visions,  when 
people  fancy  they  see  spirits  or  ghosts,  impressions  uncon- 
sciously evolve  embodyings  projected  on  the  vision.  Such 
ia  our  tendency  to  associate  everything  with  persons  or 
objects,  according  to  our  familiar  conception."  Why 
should  we  conclude  that  there  is  any  more  reality  in  these 
visions  than  in  the  diversified  scenes  of  landscape,  and 
other  objects,  evolved  in  the  mind  in  our  dreams  ?  Look- 
ing at  the  phenomena  in  this  light,  it  ia  easily  understood 
why  "  the  spirits  say  nothing  that  may  tend  to  gratify 
our  curiosity  as  to  a  knowledge  of  the  future,  and  confess 
that  they  have  little  more  than  we  mortals  possess."  Vide 
Job  xiv.  12;  also  Eccles.  ix.  5.  Seeing  that  these  spirits  are 
little  more  than  the  interreflection  of  our  own  minds, 
the  matter  is  clear  enough.  "  Clairvoyance  or  prophecy 
ia  no  greater  step  from  our  ordinary  condition  than  seeing 
would  be  to  a  blind  person,  who  would  say  '  I  could  only 
take  up  nature  bit  by  bit  before,  and  put  these  bita  to- 
gether, and  then  form  but  a  very  imperfect  conception  ; 
but  now  I  recognise  ail  at  once ;  the  distant,  as  well  as 
that  which  is  near.'  You  set  free  the  inner  faculties,  and 
open  '  the  eye  of  the  mind  '  to  the  outward  influences  of 
the  grosser  sense ;  and  knowledge  flows  in  unobstructed. 
You  are  as  one  who  was  blind,  but  can  now  see.  The 
new  sense  and  the  old  are  equally  intelligible,  and  both 
inerplicable.  You  cannot  explain  a  process,  where  there 
is  none.  The  imperfect  sense,  the  blind  have  a  process 
to  explain :  but  in  clear  seeing  there  is  no  process,  but  the 
fact.  That  somnambules  should  read  the  whole  influence 
from  a  person,  and  even  his  entire  history,  from  a  touch, 
or  from  a  bit  of  hair,  or  even  from  such  an  object  as  a 
piece  of  leather  touched  by  the  person ;  or  from  the  in- 


APPENDIX.  309 

fluence  hanging  about  another  individual,  tvIio  Las  been 
in  company  with,  or  otherwise  influenced  by,  the  person 
in  question, — is  the  same  class  of  phenomena.  Herewith 
we  find  the  principle  of  memory,  and  how  it  is  that  in 
such  cases  as  that  of  the  Swiss  historian,  Zschokke,  the 
history  of  a  stranger  is  brought  under  review,  just  as  if 
the  memory  of  one  person  was  transferred  to  another. — 
Here  again  we  recognize  a  basis  for  palmistry  and  future 
seeing; — facts,  of  course,  hke  all  other  facts, — medicine, 
for  instance, — affording  wide  opportunity  for  imposition, 
assumption,  and  folly."* 

"  The  path  is  difHcult,  secret,  and  beset  with  terror. 
The  ancients  called  it  ecstacy  or  absence,  a  getting  out  of 
the  bodies  to  think.  All  religious  history  contains  traces 
of  the  trance  of  saints  :  a  beatitude,  but  without  any  sign 
of  joy  ;  earnest,  solitary,  even  sad  ;  '  the  flight,'  Plotinus 
calls  it,  *  of  the  alone  to  the  alone.'  Mvterjf,  the  closing  of 
the  eyes,  whence  our  word  mystic.  The  trances  of  Socra- 
tes, Plotinus,  Porphyry,  Behmen,  Bunyan,  Fox,  Pascal, 
Guion,  Swedenborg,  will  readily  come  to  mind.  But 
what  a.<i  readily  comes  to  mind,  is  the  accompaniment  of 
disease,  "t 

"  Some  modern  fortune-tellers  have  been  supposed  to  be 
in  league  with  Satan,  on  account  not  only  of  their  success- 
ful impostures,  but  from  their  actual  performances  and 
revelations.  Some,  again,  have  a  faculty  of  talking  to  (or 
charming)  sores,  felons,  and  burns,  in  such  a  way  as  to 
take  the  soreness  out ;  they  actually  perform  this  apparent 
miracle  whenever  the  patient  is  in  any  degree  susceptible  to 
Ethoropathic  induction,  but  not  otherwise.  I  suspect  that 
some  persons  are  clairvoyant  when  asleep  and  dreaming, 
who  are  not  bo  when  awake  ;  and  that,  tlierefore,  in  their 

•  Man's  iSaturo  and  Development.   Atkinson  and  Mor- 
tineau. 
t  Emerson  on  Swedenborg. 


310  APPENDIX. 

dreams  they  perceive  tilings  wliicli  seem  like  commnmca- 
tions  from  spirits  of  another  world,  warning  tliem  of  the 
death,  or  sickness,  or  treachery  of  friends,  or  of  anything 
else  that  concerns  them  ;  that  would  account  for  the  truth- 
fulness of  some  remarkable  dreams.  The  impressions 
which  some  persons  have  had  that  they  were  to  die  at  a 
certain  time,  may  also  be  derived  from  a  species  of  clair-  , 
voyant  or  abnormal  perception,  producing  what  is  called 
presentiment  or  prevision."* 

Emmanuel  Swedenborg,  one  of  the  greatest  men  that 
ever  lived,  possessed  the  extraordinary  power  of  indepen- 
dent clairvoyance.  He  was  literally  a  "  Seer,"and  it  is  sup- 
posed that  he  obtained  much  of  his  wonderful  scientific 
knowledge  of  nature  by  the  exercise  of  this  power  ;  but 
his  supposed  communion  with  spirits  and  many  of  his 
peculiar  ideas  doubtless  originated  in  his  own  credencive 
fancy.  It  was  perfectly  natural  for  one  educated  in  the 
popular  belief  concerning  supernatural  beings,  to  imagine, 
when  he  discovered  his  wonderful  clairvoyant  perception, 
that  he  was  indebted  to  these  beings  for  his  peculiar 
advantages  over  his  fellow  men.  A  good  and  virtuous 
man,  such  as  Baron  Swedenborg,  would  imagine  that  his 
inspirations  proceeded  from  good  and  happy  spirits,  who 
kindly  and  benevolently  sympathised  with  him.  But, 
were  he  conscious  of  his  own  moral  depravity,  he  would 
be  likely  to  clothe  this  spirit— whom  his  creative  fancy 
called  "  from  the  vasty  deep"  of  superstition— with  cha- 
racters like  his  own,  selfish,  malignant,  and  revengeful."* 

These  manifestations  only  go  to  prove  that  which  has 
already  been  known  to  the  few:-- -viz:  "the  existence  of 
faculties  in  man  beyond  sense,  experience,  and  reason ; 
which  faculties  are  chiefly  called  forth  under  abnormal 
conditions,  but  are  seldom  exhibited  in  a  wholly  pure  state. 
In   tliis  state,    men    listen  to  the  voice  of   intuition, — 

*  Grimes'  Etherology. 


APPENDIX. 


311 


fancy  themselves  inspired, — are  carried  away  by  tlie  (Illu- 
sion,— and  delude  the  world  witli  tlicir  wanderings."* 

Mr.  A.  Bostwick  concludes  a  letter  in  the  September 
Number  of  the  "  Spiritual  Magazine"  thus — "At  a  late 
circle,  when  the  conditions  I  have  mentioned  were  ob- 
served, the  medium  was  magnetically  drawn  to  a  gentle- 
man seated  in  the  corner  of  the  room.  Grasping  his  hand, 
she  said  he  was  a  stranger  to  the  circle,  and  addressed 
him  reprovingly  and  cxhortingly,  upon  some  moral  failing. 
To  his  inquiry  as  to  who  was  addressing  him,  her  answer 
was,  "  Bo  satisfied,  I  am  a  Spirit,  friend,  and  brother." 
A  gentleman  present  seemed  to  know  the  person  thus  ad- 
dressed ;  and,  on  the  breaking  up  of  the  circle,  spoke  apolo- 
getically to  him,  and  said  that  mediums  sometimes  erred. 
Ilis  answer  was,  "  It  is  singular :  all  mediums  address  nie 
in  the  same  manner  and  strain.  There  is  a  foundation  of 
fact  in  what  they  all  say  to  me.  What  she  said  as  to  my 
being  a  stranger  here,  is  true.  I  was  admitted  on  using 
a  friend's  name."  I  meet  this  with  the  following  quotation 
from  Mr.  H.  G.  Atkinson,  "  Man's  Nature  and  Develop- 
ment," p.  280.  "  The  knowledge  which  mesmerism  gives 
of  the  influence  of  body  on  body  and,  consequently,  of 
mind  on  mind,  will  bring  about  a  morality  we  have  not 
dreamed  of.  And  who  shall  disguise  his  nature  and  his 
acta  when  we  cannot  be  sure,  at  any  moment,  that  we  are 
free  from  the  clairvoyant  eye  of  some  one,  who  is  observ- 
ing oiir  actions  and  most  secret  thoughts,  and  our  whole 
cliaracter  and  history  may  be  read  off  at  any  moment ! 
Few  have  the  faintest  idea  of  the  influence  these  great 
truths  will  have  upon  the  morals  of  men,  and  upon  our 
notions  generally.  Yw,  there  are,  indeed,  more  truths  iu 
heaven  and  earth  than  are  told  '  of  in  our  philosophy.'" 

I  cannot  do  belter  than  close  this  exposition  with  the 
following  extract  from  Grimes'  Etlitrology  and  Phrcno- 
philosophy  of  Mesmerism,  jip.  171,  2. 

•'  The  mode  in  which  the  or;;an3  of  the  brain  noraiaily 

♦  11.  G.  Atkiusou. 


312  APPENDIX. 

produce  consciousness,  after  they  are  impressed  by  emana- 
tions from  external  objects,  must  be  understood  in  order  to 
enable  us  to  tinderstand  Clairvoyance, 

"  They  produce  consciousness  precisely  in  the  same  way 
in  Clairvoyance  as  they  do  in  the  ordinary  normal  percep- 
tion. The  difference  between  Clairvoyant  perception  and 
common  normal  perception  is  in  the  manner  in  which  the 
Phreno-organs  are  excited  by  the  emanation  ;  or  rather  it 
depends  upon  the  different  modes  by  which  emanations 
reach  the  Phreno-organs  to  excite  them  to  action.  In 
common  perception,  the  motion  of  Etherium  is  restricted 
to  pass  in  certain  prescribed  avenues,  which  we  denomi- 
nate the  senses ;  but  in  Clairvoyance,  in  consequence  of 
the  hisulation  being  overcome,  the  emanation  passes 
directly  to  the  brain  through  the  skull,  or  through  the  feet, 
or  hands,  or  sides,  or  through  any  other  part  where  the 
insulation  is  especially  weakened.  .  , 

"  In  common  perception,  the  emanation  is  permitted  to 
reach  the  brain  only  through  certain  limited,  defined,  and 
restricted  avenues  or  senses ;  and  even  through  these 
passages,  the  pure  and  unencumbered  motions  of  Etherium 
do  not  seem  to  be  allowed  to  pass.  In  the  sense  of  taste, 
the  motion  of  Etherium  is  conveyed  to  the  external  organ 
by  a  liquid  which  dissolves  the  substance  tasted.  In  the 
sense  of  smell,  the  motions  are  conveyed  by  currents  of 
air,  which  are  adulterated  or  mingled  witli  atoms  of  the 
odorous  substance  perceived.  In  the  vibrations  of -air, 
in  the  sense  of  sight,  the  emanation  is  conveyed  or  moved 
by  currents,  pulsations,  or  rays  of  light. 

"  But  in  Clairvoyance,  the  brain  seems  to  be  excited  by 
Etherium  in  a  different  state— by  emanations  which  are 
ordinarily  excluded  by  insulation— and  which  are  intro- 
duced  in  opposition  to  the  insulating  guards.  When  this 
more  pure  emanation  is  fairly  introduced,  and  a  current 
of  it  caused  to  proceed  from  a  distant  object  to  the  sub- 
ject, it  passes  directly  through  the  skull,  or  some  other 
abnormal  passage,  and  reaches  the  organs  of  form,  co- 
lour, &c.,  and  excites  them.so  as  to  cause  them  to  produce 


APPEN^DIX.  313 

a  state  of  consciousness,  the  same  as  if  the  subject  had 
seen  the  distant  object  with  his  eyes.  I  wish  the  idea 
to  be  distinctly  understood,  that  consciousness  and  per- 
ception of  every  kind  is,  in  all  cases,  produced  by  the 
Phreno-organs  of  the  brain  ;  that  in  common  perception, 
and  in  Clairvoyance,  the  brain  operates  in  the  same 
manner.  In  both  cases  the  Phreno-organs  must  be  ex- 
cited, and  must  perform  their  functions  before  percep- 
tion can  take  place.  It  is  a  great  error  to  suppose 
that  in  Clairvoyance  a  person  can  perceive  without  his 
brain,  because  he  perceives  without  his  senses.  It  is 
absurd  to  suppose  that  a  person  perceives  color  without 
the  organ  of  color,  because  he  perceives  without  the  eyes. 
In  order,  then,  to  explain  Clairvoyance,  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  admit  that  the  Phreno-organs  of  perception  may 
be  excited  through  other  avenues  than  the  external  senses." 
But  all  this  goes  to  establish  the  truth  of  the  science  of 
Phrcno-Physiology,  and  I  doubt  not  that  many  would 
rather  that  " table-turning,"  or  the  so-called  "Spiritual 
Manifestations"  were  true,  and  that  Phrenology  was  false. 

"  Some  have  the  power,  when  looking  into  a  particular 
stone  or  piece  of  semi-transparent  glass,  to  perceive,  in  a 
Clairvoyant  manner,  which  is  well  calculated  to  excite 
astonishment  in  a  superstitious  and  ignorant  mind." 
Thus  we  have  an  explanation  of  the  most  wonderful  of 
phenomena,  that  of  Clairvoyance,  without  resorting  to  the 
aid,  interference,  or  suggestions  of  disembodied  spirits, 
either  celestial,  terrestrial,  or  diabolical. 

A  state  of  ecstacy  or  trance,  the  being  en  pneumali,  is 
a  temporary  suspension  of  the  external  senses  ;  the  mental 
faculties  being  still  active.  This  suspension  of  the  seuFCS 
being  the  result  of  reduced  vital  power,  if  too  much  pro- 
longed, would  terminate  in  the  total  extinction  of  the 
spirit  (pneuma) — in  other  words,  death  would  ensue.  Tlio 
mind  being  the  manifestation  of  the  living  organism,  i.e. 
cerebral  phenomena,  must  necessarily  perisli,  it  ceases  to 
be  manifested  on  the  dissolution  of  the  material.     "  Mind 

V 


314  APPENDIX. 

is  a  living  essence,  and^all  life  is,  from  the  very  first  con- 
ditions of  its  existence,  subject  to  change,  and  therefore 
to  death." 

No  one  can  explain,  or  attempt  a  reasonable  explanation, 
how  defective  or  diseased  physical  organs  can  affect  an 
immortal,  immaterial  spirit,  supposed  to  have  a  separate 
and  independent  existence — on  the  other  hand,  admit  the 
spirit  or  life '  to  be  the  result  of  natural  physical  forces 
existing  in  matter  (though  inert,  until  called  forth  by 
suitable  conditions),  and  the  phenomena  of  life  and  mind, 
in  all  their  phases,  at  once  become  intelligible. 

An  answer  to  Professor  Owen's  defence  of  Spiritualism, 
in  his  "  Footfalls  on  the  Boundaries  of  another  World,"  is 
supplied  in  his  own  words,  in  the  following  passage: — 
"  The  body  is  gone  :  what  continuous  links  of  identity 
remain  ?  The  mind,  the  feelings.  Transform  these,  and 
every  link  is  severed  connecting  foe  us,  a  Here  with  a 
Hereafter. 

"  It  is  not  WE,  in  any  practical  sense,  who  survive,  but 
others.  A  human  being  dies  on  eai'th ;  a  seraph  or  a 
demon  appears  in  heaven  or  in  hell." 

"  I  was  never  so  willing  to  believe  philosophy  in  any 
thing  as  this  ;  it  is  a  pure  enthusiasm,  wherewith  sacre 
truth  has  inspired  the  spirit  of  philosophy  ;  which  makes. 
I  confess,  contrary  to  its  own  proposition,  that  the  most 
calm,  composed,  and  healthful  state  of  the  soul  that  phi- 
losophy can  seat  it  in,  is  not  its  best  condition  ;  our  waking 
is  more  asleep  than  sleep  itself;  our  wisdom  less  wise  than 
folly;  our  dreams  are  worth  more  than  our  meditations, 
and  the  worst  place  we  can  take  is  in  ourselves." — Mon- 
taigne. 

THE    END. 

BILLINO,   PEINTEB,  103,    HATTON   GARDEN. 


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