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«rO
\ J
PSYCHE
TO
Mother Earth.
BY
FRANCES ROSE MACKINLEY.
ARTH, my BELOVED MOTHER !
Prone upon you I prostrate myself;
I imprint you with earnest kisses ;
With awful wonder, I love, revere,
adore you.
How beholden am I to your spirit,
That you enable me to apprehend your entity ;
You, so near, so familiar to me ;
That with my psychic vision clarified,
Looking lucidly through my physical eyes,
You empower me to recognize you ;
Presential, breathing, palpitating, living !
You, the concrete, primogenial source of life.
�PSYCHE TO MOTHER EARTH.
What delight to hear your mystic voice,
To catch with clairaudient sense the latency
Of your multisonous mobility,
Your myriad and varied tones
Reverberating musically in my ears !
What boundless satisfaction
To cognize the subjective analogies
Of your elemental language !
(I am one of your living ideographic words.)
What spontaneous delight
To be able to respond to you,
In all your diversified forms of expression,
To your repercussive intonations,
Or your mellifluous whisperings—
Mother, I understand !
flow beautiful you are, O mother !
Every day I gaze fascinated and enraptured
On your athletic, brunonian body,
Outstretched, nude and lethargic ;
Your legs, massive, plump, symmetrical ;
Your bosoms luxurious, redundant;
Your wistful, luscious face,
With pensive, languishing, hazel eyne.
Ever serenely, quiescently you repose,
Basking bewitchingly your bared charms
In the searching and amative regards
�3
PSYCHE TO MOTHER EARTH.
Of your transcendent lover, the Sun.
How resplendently your flesh glistens,
Bathed in the dazzling scintillations
Of his sensuous, magnetic presence !
The beauty of your sons and daughters
Is but a faint similitude
Of your immaculate loveliness.
How loving you are, O mother !
My present existence and daily continuance
Manifest your provident love ;
That you will take this wondrous body
You
have
lent
my
spirit,
to
your
warm
embrace,
To more intimately assimilate its particles,
What evincement of love !
That you have oft incarnated my spirit,
And with, love sent me forth from you,
And, with as great love, recalled
My material personality to your bosom,
To be fondled and afterward resent,
What supereminent proofs of love !
I have noted you, endeared mother !
In daily coition with your lover, the Sun.
I have watched his gorgeous masculinity,
K
In lustful intermutation with you ;
!........... ——---------------------
�//.
PSYCHE TO MOTHER EARTH.
Embalming you in the luminous beams
Of his effulgent thermodic halo.
How much you seemed to glory,
To exult and revel in his caress !
I glory with you in your delectation,
And in the good he imparts to you.
Without his embrace, you would perish,
Even as I, your daughter, would expire
Without the contactual suscitation of my lovers.
I have seen you also, O wanton mother!
Surfeited of your lover’s dalliance,
Antagonistic, repellant of his desire.
O I too have been satiated
With the aphrodisaic carnality
Of my Priapian paramours !
From gentle encounters with you,
And tempered orgasms in your embrace,
I have seen his passion rousing
Into glowing and rampant salacity ;
Till he impended over you exacerbated
To the very ultimity of heat.
I have seen you shrinkingly recoil,
When his vehement afilation,
Simoon-like, effumed upon you,
And his rapacious arms,
Ignifluous annulars,
Compressed you impactly
�PSYCHE TO MOTHER EARTH.
5
To his lascivient and candescent body;
Whilst into your womb he extruded
.His ebullient, geyser-jet semen.
You were feverous, chafed, wincing, aglow ;
Torrified by his scortatory passion.
I deemed that you must expire ; '
And should your vitality cease, O mother !
How could your children survive !
One day, in the sultry month of July,
As I reclined on your hot breast,
Murmuring words of condolence
To you, poor suffering mother !
We were startled
by thundering
rumblings
in the West.
Looking thitherward, I descried
Huge cumuli overtopping the horizon.
Instantaneously you exclaimed :
“ O rejoice with me, my children !
“ He comes, He, my redemptive lover,
“ He, for whom I have been sighing,
“ He, whom I now need for rescue,
“ He, who only can relieve me ! ”
Then, revealed to my wonderment,
I beheld your lover, awe-compelling,
Black, colossal, cyclopean, vast,
�6
PSYCHE TO MOTHER EARTH.
Stalking majestically in the heavens,
His terrific shadow overdarkening the skies,
And tenebrously enveloping you;
His frowning browns portentously lowering ;
His
gigantic
bulk equipendent
in
the
mid
welkin.
Inflated with generant vigor,
Dissilient with desire for you,
He fulmines thunderous lustful threats.
With foretaste of delight, O mother !
You trembled at his lecherous menaces,
And with upthrown arms,
Enrounding your retroverted head,
Anxious, impatient, eager,
You slightly disparted your thighs,
And gently upraised your abdomen,
In longing preparedness to receive him.
With thought exceeding instantaneity
His phallic lightning strokes
Reiteratedly penetrate your genetalia.
Negative, receptive mother !
As his invigorating love lymph
Emulged upon you in lavish profluence ;
Your eyes closed as in serene ectasy.
Your
countenance
exuberated
with
renewed
life,
Your quickened orbs ■ looked up lovingly,
�PSYCIIE TO MOTHER EARTH.
Every freshened pore responsively dilated,
Your lips tremulously articulated, thanks.
Love-sick, languishing, despairing,
I, your daughter, with trepid sighs,
Long for a reciprocal love mate,
Whose electric influence and embrace
.*
Will be to me, as was your savior to you,
Solace, reviviscence, ecstasy !
With wearied body, o’erspent and drooping,
Sore, wounded feet, swollen with travel,
From bootless chase of unattainableness,
I seek refuge in your maternity.
I clasp my arms around your neck.
Let me nestle my weighted head
Cosily ’twixt your lenitive mammoe !
In this delicious harborage,
Let me uninterruptedly repose ! J
Let me find there, long enduring rest ;
Till, through your kindly assuagement,
The perturbation within me is allayed !
Let me subside into sedative slumbers,
Calming to my insatiate heart;
To waken, comforted, composed, ductile,
7
�g
PSYCHE TO MOTHER EARTH.
Prompt to obey your dehortations,
Assured that to question your teachings,
Or ignore your prescient admonitions,
Must be to constantly return to you afflicted,
To abide in embroilment and inquietude !
Make me
Placid, compliant, resigned, passive,
As you are, O Infinite Parent !
Animate me with your own essentiality !
Are you thus,
Placid, compliant, resigned, passive,
Thus beatifically accordant with events ;
Since to you belongs the cognition
Of the mysterious purpose of all that is ?
O let me, thro’ your inspiration,
Attain some definite discernment
Of the subtle intent of existence ;
Some positive hint of certitude,
More than the discontinuous clairvoyance,
Whereby I glimpse scintillas of truth,
With ever intervenient periods
Of dubiety, and its consequent despondence !
Your sensuous, voluptuous breath
Respiring balmily over me,
Convulses
me with titillative tremors.
The semblance of lascivious abandon,
�PSYCHE TO MOTHER EARTH.
9
Ascendant in your mien and bearing,
Spells and ecstasizes my spirit.
The aroma of your wantonness
Materializes into living forms of beauty :
Vital, substantive, efflorescent virtues ;
Whence in turn exhales a quality
Gossamery, subtile, insinuative ;
An impalpable emication,
Invisible, but sensate to your children,
In irresistibly seductive allurements
To languor, desire, love, worship, coition.
O in this luscious magnetism—
The life incitement of your children—
Is there not revealed the aim of Being ?
O from this mystic adumbration,
Have I not apprehended the purport of ex
istence ?
Expand my soul, O mother !
To a lasciviousness akin to yours ;
That I also may give exoteric form
To the fullness of like voluptuousness,
And by a consummate shapeliness
Incite, as you do, love, worship, adoration !
Make me, as you are, bold, free, cosmopolite,
Accessible, nonchalant, unbosoming !
You, ever love environing your children,
�10
PSYCHE TO MOTHER EARTH.
Coulcl they but clairvoyantlv see you 1
Make me, as you are, communicant,
\
Outspoken, fluent, colloquial, eloquent !
Your voice, ever speaking to your children,
Could they but clairaudiently hear you !
Make me just, intrusive, assertive as you !
We,
children,
your
feel
this
fictile, plastic
force ;
This charactery, whereby you express yourself,
Acting within ourselves and about us,
To fashion the physical and metaphysical ;
But
how
few divine
in it, your immanent
presence !
Make me negative, receptive as you !
Because of these feminine attributes,
You are transcendently a divine mother.
Promiscuous, all-embracing, all-loving,
All-inclusive, universal mother !
Impress me with your catholicness,
That I may reimpress all humanity,
With such assimilative consciousness
Of the opulence and divinity of those attributes,
That your sons and daughters will all emulate
The similitude of you in me,
And with one ecumenic purpose, exclaim :
Let us strive to resemble our mother ! ”
�
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Victorian Blogging
Description
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Title
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Psyche to mother earth
Creator
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Mackinley, Frances Rose
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: 10 p. ; 19 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. A poem. Text bordered in red.
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[s.n.]
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{187-?]
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G5310
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Poetry
Spiritualism
Women's rights
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Psyche to mother earth), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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Text
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English
American
Conway Tracts
Mother Goddess
Poetry
Poetry in English
Spiritualism
Women's Rights
Women's Rights-United States
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d48127d317bd0a797673e43a2bcfe72e
PDF Text
Text
NEW TESTAMENT “MIRACLES,”
AND
MODERN “MIRACLES.”
THE COMPARATIVE AMOUNT OF EVIDENCE FOR EACH.
THE NATURE OF BOTH.
TESTIMONY OF A HUNDRED WITNESSES.
AN ESSAY,
READ BEFORE THE MIDDLE AND SENIOR CLASSES IN CAMBRIDGE
DIVINITY SCHOOL,
BY
J.
“ Ye
H. FOWLER.
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY BELA MARSH, 15 FRANKLIN STREET.
NEW YORK : PARTRIDGE & BRITTAN, 300 BROADWAY.
PHILADELPHIA : B. PEBCIVAL, 89 SOUTH SIXTH ST.
18 54.
�Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by
J. n. FOWLER,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
STEREOTYPED BY
HOBART & ROBBINS,
NEW ENGLAND Ti'rE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDERY,
BOSTON.
I
�■
�WITNESSES TO MODERN MIRACLES.
[See Testimony.]
CASE I.
No. 1.
“
“
“
“
“
“
No. 2.
“
“
No. 3.
“
“
“
“
“
No. 4.
«.
“
“
No. 5.
“
Z. P. Kibbee, M. D.
Rufus Elmer.
Nelson Elmer.
Theodore M. Smith.
George E. Haskell.
Z. Rogers.
Moses Babcock.
W. S. Courtney.
Milo A. Townsend.
William McDonald.
Mrs. John Lord.
Mrs. R. Elmer.
Mrs. S. A. Richie.
Miss Mary M. Harris.
F. C. Andreu.
Marshall Elmer.
William Bryant.
B. K. Bliss.
William Edwards.
David A. Wells.
S. F. Cheney.
Rev. Herman Snow.
case n.
No. 1. B. S. Benson.
“ W. W. Laning.
No. 2. Joseph Brydle.
CASE III.
No. 2.
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
Harvey Chase.
Marcus C. Wilcox.
Mrs. M. C. Wilcox.
Emery S. Scott.
Ellis Cook.
Benj. Ray.
Meltiah Knowlton
Daniel Knowlton.
CASE IV.
No. 1. J. F. Lanning.
No. 2. Goorge R. Raymond.
case v.
No. 1. Joseph R. Buchanan.
No. 2. J. B. Wolf.
CASE VI.
No. 1. Dr. Smith.
No. 2. Mr. Waters.
CASE VII.
No. 1.
No. 2.
No. 3.
No. 4.
No. 5.
“
"
“
No. 6.
D. W. Scott.
H. H. Hunt.
Cyrus Tyrrell.
Sarah Herron.
S. C. Hewitt.
John M. Spear.
Philander Shaw.
Seth Hunt.
Benj. A. Rhodes.
No. 7.
“
“
“
“
“
No. 8.
“
“
“
Silas Mosman.
M. S. Pease.
George Staples.
Eliza C. Leeds.
Joseph Haight.
William Dibble.
Charles C. York.
Pamelia A. Nichols.
William Nichols.
Mrs. Harriet Nelson.
CASE VIII.
No. 1. William Lloyd Garrison.
No. 2. Adin Ballou.
No. 3. William Bugbee.
CASE IX.
No. 1. Mrs. D. C. Kendall.
“ Mary E. Kendall.
No. 2. B. McFarland.
No. 3. Rev. D. F. Goddard.
No. 4. D. Hasteller.
“ A. P. Pierce.
“ II. F. Partridge.
“ Lewis Dugdale.
“ Charles C. Stillman.
No. 5. Mary H. Ide.
“ Amos Cummings.
“ George Clapp.
“ Miss Susan Bagley.
No. 6. E. P. Fowler.
“ John Gray.
“ John F. Gray, M. D.
“ S. T. Fowler.
“ F. F. Cory.
“ Mrs. Charlotte F. Wells.
“ Robert T. Shannon.
“ Daniel Minthorn.
“ Charles Partridge.
“ William J. Baner.
“ Mrs. Almira L. Fowler.
“ Mrs. S. A. Partridge.
“ Almon Roff.
“ Ward Cheney.
“ R. T. Hallock, M. D.
“ Mrs. Martha H. F. Baner.
“ J. T. Warner, M. D.
« A. G. Hull, M. D.
“ Samuel T. Fowler.
“ Prof. Bush.
case x.
No. 1. George T. Dexter, M. D.
No. 2. Judge Edmonds.
No. 3. Governor Tallmadge.
CASE XI.
A. E. Newton.
S. J. Newton.
J. H. Fowler.
�WITNESSES FOR NEW TESTAMENT MIRACLES.
Saul of Tarsus (otherwise called Paul).
’ Peter, a fisherman of G alilee.
Luke, Paul’s secretary.
Supposed to be <{ Mark, Peter’s secretary.
Matthew, a tax-gatherer of Jerusalem.
John, a fisherman of Galilee.
1*
�____________________________________________________________________________________
�PREFACE.
It has been customary among all people to divide the facts of
history into two distinct classes; namely, Natural or Profane, and
Miraculous or Sacred. In the former class they have included all
those events which they are able to explain by known principles,
or which have become so common as to excite no surprise. In
the latter they have included all those facts which are remark
ably wonderful, from the fact of their unfrequent occurrence, or of
their not being accounted for by principles already known.
Now, to show that this distinction is purely subjective, and has
no ground in the facts themselves, it is only necessary to state
that no two persons draw the line through the same points ; and
each individual is constantly changing the line of division, as his
own experience and knowledge of the powers of nature increase.
The line has been drawn through every possible point, and is
found to apply nowhere. Hence, at the present day, many have
rejected it altogether.
Scientific men reject it, not because they are able to explain all
¿he facts of history on scientific principles which they already
know; but, because they have implicit confidence in what they call
the “ immutable laws of naturef they reject all the evidence
for that class of facts which seemingly contradict, or cannot be ex
plained by, laws already known; presuming that there are no
higher laws in God’s universe. And when they have rejected one
whole class of facts, they have no need of the line of distinction.
To show the stupidity of this course, we need only refer to their
means of judging the powers of nature. They judge these powers,
or laws, by the phenomena produced. They accept the phenomena
�4
on the direct evidence of their own senses, and on the testimony
of others as to the evidence of their senses. If sufficient evidence
to establish any class of phenomena is thus presented, they at once
conclude that there are powers in nature capable of producing
such phenomena; they then name those powers, and designate the
class of phenomena by appropriate terms.
Now, sjiould they pursue this course, of testing the powers of
nature by the facts produced, to a certain extent, and then ex
clude or reject, at once, all her facts, simply on the ground of
nature’s inability to produce them, would they not act foolishly,
and most unscientifically ?
How do they know that nature is able to produce any class of
facts ? By the facts themselves. Hence, should they reject the
facts beforehand, on the ground of nature’s inability to produce
them, they would certainly be stupid. But they do this very
thing. They reject a whole class of facts which appear in all
history as well substantiated — and often better — as many other
facts which they receive with implicit confidence; facts which are
testified to, not orfly by all history, but by the most reliable wit
nesses of our own time. They reject these facts, not for the want
of testimony in their favor, but because they presume, beforehand,
that nature has no power to produce them. Thus they reverse
the true order of scientific inquiry, which is, first to substantiate
the facts; which being done, it must be taken for granted that
there is somewhere in nature a power adequate to their pro
duction.
The course pursued by religionists is generally more inconsistent
than the above. They select, out of the “ miracles ” of a past age,
such as favor their own peculiar systems of religion, and reject
all others, though those rejected rest on testimony equally
reliable with that which substantiates those received. After they
have once accepted ‘ ‘ miracles ’ ’ enough to prove to their own
minds the divine origin of their peculiar system of religion, they
then take the course of the scientifics, and deny the possibility of
similar facts occurring in their own age, however much testimony
may be produced in their favor. With them,
“ ’T is distance lends enchantment to the view.”
�Another class, among whom are nearly all the “ spiritualists ”
of the present day, take what appears to me the only truly scien
tific and religious ground ; namely, we can judge of the powers of
nature — or, rather, of the ability of Deity to operate in nature —
only by what nature does, just as we judge the powers of man
by what man does ; hence, whenever any fact or phenomenon of
nature is clearly established by reliable testimony, we arg bound
to believe that nature has performed it, and therefore has the
ability to do it, and may do it, again, under similar circumstances.
This, we say, is more scientific than either to reject the fact, or
refer it to supernatural and miraculous agency.
Hence, while we receive all the well-attested facts of the
present age, and of all past ages, we do not accept the eccle
siastical theory of 11 miracles " to account for any of them.
We say, if spirits who have left the earthly body produce
sounds, or move physical objects, or manifest themselves in any
way, they do it just as much in harmony with the principles of
nature, as they did the ordinary acts while in the earthly body.
They are no more supernatural now than while living on earth ;
and their action is no more “miraculous.” They are the same
identical beings ; though some of them probably have arisen to
higher degrees of goodness and truth, many remain on nearly the
same plane, and some may, for a time, even sink to a lower plane.
Still, we believe all will progress to higher degrees of life. We
judge of their character as we judge of persons on earth, by the
things which they do. And we deny that any man, whether in the
church or out, can judge them by any other standard. We do not
admit the high or low character of the manifestations as evidence
either for or against the spiritual theory, because we say no man
can know thé character of spirits unless he admit the possibility of
*
theii communicating. If he deny that spirits communicate, he
has no right to object on the ground of the '■'•low character'"
of the communications ; for he has no possible means of judging
what the character of spirits is. It is all assumption with him, and
assumption is worth nothing against fact. If he admit that spirits
ever have communicated, and afforded us an opportunity of judg
ing their character, then we are perfectly agreed. For we do
not. more than he, presume that everything purporting to
�6
be done by spirits is really done by them. Nor do I know of any
“spiritualist” who takes it for granted that all the communica
tions signed by “ great names ” are given by the persons whose
names they bear. Though I believe very many are still disposed
to put too much confidence in these names, especially when they
are given through their own hand, I think they are as much influ
enced to do this by their own vanity, as the spirits are induced to
assume them by the same cause.
Some mediums seem to think it a greater honor to be the
amanuenses of Matthew, or Luther, or Baeon, oi’ Franklin, or
Webster, than of one of their own humble friends: and some per
sons who ask for communications seem to think they can derive
power by being noticed by these same persons, and call for them
in preference to their dearest friends. They seldom fail to get
what they most desire ; for it appears there are spirits as ready to
deceive and play the fool, as mortals are ready to be deceived and
befool themselves.
However, we do not expect all men to be entirely free from
folly in this world, nor immediately after going to the next. We
did not at first presume that spirits, or anything else, caused the
phenomena. We, at first, denied the facts themselves, and
demanded proof • this we have received, sufficient to compel our
assent to them. Next we sought, from the character of the facts
themselves, to ascertain their cause. The same cause that produced
them always affirmed itself to be spirits. But we did not believe
this; we proved them, and, by an overwhelming amount of evidence,
became convinced that they are what they have from the first pur
ported to be.
It is a principle of philosophy, which cannot be neglected in any
truly scientific inquiry, that the cause assigned to any class
of phenomena must be adequate to the production of every
individual phenomenon in that class.
Now, it is certain that every other theory which has been
manufactured to account for these modern “spirit manifestations ”
is insufficient to account for very many of the phenomena; and
the authors of those theories are obliged to deny many facts for
which the testimony is equally good with that for the facts they
receive. The Grimes school of Mesmerists, Biologists, Psychol
�7
ogists, Humbugs and Eclipse-makers, not only deny many of the
best-attested facts, but they declare, boldly, that thousands of un
suspected men, women, children, and even infants (for there are
many such mediums), are capable of practising deceptions which
they, after an experience of twenty years in the art, cannot accom
plish. The Rogers school of Od-forces also deny the fact of an
independent directing intelligence, and many other established
facts. But they do this in such an od way, that no one can tell
what they are driving at.
The Beecher school of Devilites arc also compelled to ignore
all the good connected with the phenomena.
Lastly, Dods — [I know not whether fe has yet made a single
disciple, though he has “ known all about this matter for twenty
years ” !] •— Dods, who, as we all know, is more thorough in his in
vestigations, knows more about the subject, and states himself
more candidly and modestly, than anybody else,—even Dods
denies all these well-known facts, which his Back-Brain-Instinct
theory cannot account for.
But the Spiritual theory, which can stand all tests, is not only
adequate to account for all the phenomena, but it gathers
strength from every principle assumed in all the other theories;
from Mesmerism, Od, Back-Brain, and the Devil.
��INTRODUCTION.
From the jeering manner in which every allusion to
the subject has been repulsed, even while we have been
gravely considering the time-honored records of similar
phenomena, I am induced to apologize for making it the
subject of my present essay, and inviting your serious
attention to it for the space of a whole hour.
I assure you I would not make this attempt, had I not,
after devoting to it a considerable portion of my time for
the last four years, and having personally witnessed many
of the phenomena, become fully satisfied as to their truth
and importance.
Even this conviction would not be sufficient induce
ment for me to bring the subject before you in this
manner, were I not fully persuaded that my sense of
duty to the cause were greater than your combined re
pulsion.
Whether it be, or be not, a fit subject for the serious
consideration of a “ divinity class,” it will soon make an
irresistible demand upon every theologian and religious
teacher.
It is already claiming the attention of all classes of
people, in every part of the civilized world, as no other
subject ever did. It is making the most alarming inroads
upon all the creeds and churches of Christendom. It is
commencing a revolution in the intellectual, moral, re2
�10
ligious and social world, to which history furnishes no
parallel.
It does not depend merely upon human agency for its
success; but, spite of all opposition, it goeth where it
listeth, and people of every class, and in every place, are
compelled to hear the sound thereof, though they may
not be able to tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth.
No family circle is too private for it. The sceptical
father and prudent mother may forbid their sons and
daughters witnessing the manifestations at their neighbors’
houses, but soon the most wonderful and convincing phe
nomena appear in their own, and both father and mother
arc eager to hear “what the spirits wish to communicate
to them.” No church is too sacred for their presence.
Ministers pronounce it “the work of the devil,” and,
from the pulpit, warn their congregation against it; but,
before the sermon is ended, the well-known but unsolic
ited sound is heard in various parts of the house ; the
most faithful church-members become mediums, the
deacons are entranced, and soon minister and all become
a congregation of “spiritualists.”
Though these modern “spirit-manifestations” com
menced but five years since, and, at first, only attracted
the attention of two little girls by some slight tappings
in their presence, there are now from twenty to thirty
modes of manifestation, some of them of the most astound
ing character.
It has been stated that there are a hundred thousand
mediums, and two and a half millions of believers, in this
country alone, to say nothing of the many thousands in
Europe.
The attention of the British Parliament has been called
to it; the French Academy of Science has long been
�considering it; and a memorial, signed by thirteen thou
sand persons, has been presented to the Congress of the
United States, asking for a special committee to consider
the subject.
There are in the United States some twenty newspa
pers and periodicals principally devoted to it, and upwards
of one hundred different publications on the subject.
“It numbers among its advocates many men of the
highest standing and talent, in every profession and sphere.
Doctors, lawyers, clergymen, a Protestant bishop, pro
fessors, and a reverend president of a college, foreign
ambassadors and ex-members of the national senate.”
The rapid progress of belief in the reality of the phe
nomena does not depend so much upon the testimony of
others, however reliable, as upon the personal observation
and experience which probably every believer has had.
Thousands of living witnesses testify, on the very day of
their occurrence, that they have seen, felt and heard the
phenomena, and are compelled to believe in their reality,
spite of their obstinate prejudices against them.
There is no question about the authenticity of the tes
timony, the character and competency of those who testify,
or the time and place. The names of all the parties, and
all the circumstances of the events, are given, and the
witnesses are now before you, ready to be questioned ;
none of which things can be said of the New Testament
“ miracles.”
Besides my own living testimony, being an eye-wit
ness, I hold in my hands the direct, unequivocal and
most reliable testimony of men in your very midst, to the
number of ten to one, that events precisely similar to
those recorded in the New Testament have, within the
last five years, occurred in their presence. And I am
�12
able now, in three days, not only to bring personally before
you this superior number of witnesses, but, with your
consent, to make every one of you a witness that such
facts do really occur.
THE COMPARATIVE AMOUNT OF EVIDENCE.
The testimony which I have collected, though not a
tithe of what has come under my observation, and, in
many respects, — owing principally to the necessity for
brevity, — not so complete and convincing as much which
I have rejected, is still sufficient to establish the facts, as
far as human testimony can do it. The facts must either
be admitted, or the testimony of the human senses, how
ever multiplied, pronounced unreliable. If the latter
alternative be accepted, then, of course, it applies as well
to past ages as to the present, and the New Testament
testimony is worth nothing. So all a priori objections
to the occurrence of any fact, or class of facts, at the
present day, would apply with equal force to those of
any past age. And all arguments from the wants of
mankind, previous prophecies, and arguments of what
ever kind which have been made to render the New
Testament accounts probable, will apply with equal force
to those of the present day; so that, aside from the
amount of testimony, the ancient “miracles” have no
advantage.
Let us, then, compare the testimony in favor of each.
To facilitate this, we will classify the so-called miracles
of the New Testament in the following manner :
1st. The counteraction of the law of gravitation in the
movement of physical objects ; the rolling away the stone
at the door of the sepulchre of Christ, the opening of
the prison-doors to Peter, Christ walking on the water, etc.
�13
2d. Luminous appearances accompanying the manifest
ations of physical power, and the seeing of spirits; as in
the case of Peter’s release from prison, the transfigura
tion of Christ on the mount, the conversion of Paul on
the day of Pentecost.
3d. Spirits are seen, recognized and conversed with ;
as, Moses and Elias, Christ after his death, and others.
4th. Voices are heard as at Paul’s conversion, at the
baptism of Christ, etc.
5th. Speaking in unknown tongues.
6th. Jesus is taught to read.
7th. A remarkable healing power is exhibited.
8th. Cursing the fig-tree.
9th. Turning water into wine.
10th. Feeding a multitude on less than nothing.
11th. Raising a person from the dead.
12th. Child born with no natural father.
These twelve classes, I believe, comprise all the pre
tended miracles of the New Testament.
We will first present our testimony to facts precisely
similar to, or involving the same principles as, those of
the first seven classes, and then consider the other five
particular ones. The reader should now turn to the testi
mony, and read the cases as they are referred to.
*
2
�14
CLASS I.
We have produced, as will be seen by turning to the
testimony, in case I., twenty-three witnesses; in case II.,
two ; in case III., one ; case V., one ; case VIII., two ;
case X., eleven; making in all forty witnesses, who, in the
most unequivocal manner, testify to cases precisely simi
lar to those “miracles” of the New Testament comingunder the first class. These witnesses are many of them
well known as men of the first character and standing in
community; men who would be the least liable to be
deceived in matters of this kind. They state what they
have seen. They state the time, place and circumstances,
and then appeal to others ; and are now ready to be con
fronted upon the subject.
What, now, is the New Testament testimony ? The
writer of Matthew’s gospel says, “The angel of the Lord
(if he did not mean a spirit, what did he mean ?) descended
from heaven and rolled back the stone,” Matt. 18 : 2.
The writer of Mark (16 : 4) says, “And when they looked
they saw that the stone was rolled away.” The writer
of Luke (24: 2) says, “They found the stone rolled
away.” So, according to the two last, they did not see
the thing done. The first seems to have taken it for
granted, or, perchance, “ he got a communication,” that
a spirit did it. Now, we will suppose (even the doctors
admit its uncertainty) that Matthew — Matthew some
body— gave this testimony. Then, as the best critics
say, Paul told his secretary Luke the story, and he wrote
the second statement. And Peter (who, on one occasion,
certainly lied) told Mark somebody, and he gave the
third statement. So much for the New Testament testi
mony to this fact.
�15
The other instance, coming under class first, recorded
in the gospels, is Jesus walking on the sea, Matt. 14 :
25, 26 ; Mark 6 : 48—50 ; John 6 : 19—21. Accord
ing to the two, first, when the disciples saw Jesus walking
on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a SPIRIT.”
How could they have said this, had they not believed
spirits could manifest themselves to mortals ? The next
case is recorded by the writer of Acts (supposed to be
that same Luke above referred to), though it is not likely
he saw it, Acts 5 : 19, 20. But the angel of the Lord
(another spirit,—who else could it be ?) by night opened
the prison doors and brought them forth, and said, “ Go,
stand up in the temple, and speak all the words of this life,”
—very like what the spirits of the present day often say.
Another case is recorded in chapter 12 : 1—11. I would
ask the hearer to turn to this and read it, and, if possible,
make anything out of it but a spirit-manifestation. Trans
late it into modern language, and see if it is not just
like some things which now take place, — the luminous
appearance, the keepers entranced and Peter likewise
(see 11th verse), the gates and doors opened, etc.
It could be none other than a spirit (here called angel
of the Lord}. And this fact will explain what is meant
by angel of the Lord in the other cases. The last case,
Acts 17 : 26, — “And suddenly there was a great earth
quake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken;
and immediately all the doors were opened, and every
one’s bands were loosed.” This “ manifestation ” should
be compared with case II., number one. I think these
comprise all the phenomena, related in the New Testa
ment, which come under the first class.
We have, then, for these, the testimony of only four
persons, — and who doubts them ? But we have given the
�16
testimony of ten times this number of personal witnesses,
— who can doubt them ? I insist upon this case, and chal
lenge any person to show wherein any one of our forty
witnesses’ testimony is not as good, to say the least, as
that of any one of the four New Testament witnesses.
Till this is done, and our witnesses are reduced to less
than four, let no man, who pretends to believe the New
Testament accounts, be so inconsistent as to deny that
similar facts now occur.
z
Having made so strong a case respecting this first class,
and, as we very justly conclude, convinced every believer
in the New Testament “miracles” that the modern
“miracles” are also true, we shall not be expected to
produce so much testimony in favor of the facts of the
following classes, neither shall we be so particular in re
gard to the New Testament statements.
CLASS II.
We have, in cases I., II. and X., the testimony of ten to
facts coming under this class. Suppose, then, we have in
the New Testament five witnesses equally good, who testify
to precisely similar luminous appearances in cases of
spirit-manifestation which then occurred, — and certainly
that was a spirit-manifestation when Moses and Elias,
who had been so long in the spirit-world, appeared and
talked with Christ, — we have then produced two wit
nesses for the modern, to one for the New Testament
manifestations of this class.
CLASS ni.---- SPIRITS SEEN, ETC.
We have in cases II., III., IV. and X., the testimony
of five. I think the New Testament does not produce more
�17
than this number of witnesses to this class of facts. Truly,
it says the spirit of Christ (and if Christ was not then a
spirit, how could he get into the room when “the doors
were shut ” ?) appeared to twelve, and then to five thou
sand ; but who those were it does not say, nor does any
one of them give his testimony. Such witnesses we could
find in abundance; but we do not count any one who has
not given his own personal signature, or authorized us to
give it. This case, then, stands as good in favor of mod
ern, as New Testament “miracles.”
CLASS IV.---- VOICES HEARD.
In cases IV. and X., we have the testimony of three,
though we might have given many more; but the New
Testament testimony is so vague and equivocal upon this
point that we deem these cases sufficient to balance them.
Four cases occur in the New Testament records,—
Matt. 3:17; 17: 5; John 12: 28; Acts 9: 7. In regard
to the first, Mark (1: 10, 11) agrees with Matthew, and
says he (John or Jesus) saw the spirit descending, etc.
Luke does not contradict this. John says nothing about
the voice, but implies that only John saw the spirit
descend : “ and he (John) bare record that this is the Son
of God.” — See John 1 : 33—35. It would appear, by
comparing John 1: 34 with the others above referred to,
that, if anything of this kind did occur, — and we are not
disposed to doubt it, — when John saw the spirit descend
upon Christ, he said, “ This is the beloved Son of God”
or something like this. For he says (John 1: 34), “And
I saw (the spirit) and bore record that this is the Son of
God.” If the multitudes saw and heard all this, and the
voice from heaven, as is commonly supposed, what need
�18
would there be of John “ bearing record,” and why were
they not all at once converted to a belief in Christ ?
The second case of the voice from the cloud, on the
mount, is pretty well substantiated by the three first
gospels, and in 2 Peter 3 : 17 ; but, it appears by Luke
9 : 32, and Matt. 17 : 7, that the disciples were in a
trance, or what we should call 11 under spiritual influence.”
Now, to such cases we could bring the testimony of
hundreds.
The next case (John 12 : 28) seems to have been an
audible voice heard by the people who stood by. The
other case, in Acts 9 : 7, is contradicted in chapter 22,
verse 9.
CLASS V. — SPEAKING IN UNKNOWN TONGUES.
We have, in cases V., VIII. and X., the testimony of
nineteen, that persons under the modern spiritual influence
do speak in tongues wholly unknown to them. This tes
timony is as direct and explicit as testimony can be.
There is no statement, I think, in either of the four
gospels, that any one did speak with tongues, though
Christ is made to promise it to those who believe; hence
we may infer that some did so speak. In Acts 2, an
account is given, at considerable length, of speaking with
unknown tongues. I will translate this account into the
language of modern spiritualists, to show its close resem
blance to what now happens; and I would ask any person
to show wherein I change a single idea or fact. When
the day for the great festival of the Jews, called the
Pentecost, arrived, all disciples of Jesus (spiritualists)
met in one place, and, being in perfect harmony, or,
“forming an harmonious circle,” all at once they heard
a sound over their heads, apparently from the clouds, re-
�19
sembling a very violent blast of wind, which filled the
whole house in which they had their “ sitting.” And there
appeared to them a divided flame, resembling fire, resting
upon each one in the circle; and they were all under the
spiritual influence, and began to speak in other languages
as the “spirit” influenced them, or enabled them to
speak. At that time there were residing in Jerusalem
Jews and religious men from all nations, who had come
to this festival; so, when this manifestation was known
among them, a large number came in to witness it, and
were completely confounded, for every man heard these
ignorant spiritualists speak in his own language. And
they all were greatly astonished, for they (the learned
priests of all religions) could not account for it that these
Galileans should speak in so many foreign languages.
And they asked one another what it meant; and some
said, “ These men are drunk,”—a reply nearly as stupid
as some religious men now make, when asked what these
same manifestations mean. But one of the twelve (see
verse 14) who composed the circle replied to them very
eloquently (probably under the influence). He took them
on their own ground, quoted from their own scripture,
showing that the thing had been spoken of a long time
before, and that it should continue through all time (see
verses 16 to 18). “ Your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and
your old men shall dream dreams. And I will show
wonders in the heavens above, and signs in the earth
beneath ; blood and fire and vapor of smoke.” (These
very things are now seen.) “Repent and receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit (the spiritual influence); for the
PROMISE IS UNTO YOU, AND TO YOUR CHILDREN, AND TO ALL
�20
THAT ARE AFAR OFF, EVEN AS MANY AS THE LORD YOUR GOD
SHALL CALL.”
The promise of Christ, in Mark 16 : 16,17, is so like
this, that we will here quote it. “ He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not
shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that
believe ; in my name shall they cast out devils (evil spirits);
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.”
So, then, all “ believers ” are spiritual
ists ; nay, more, they are mediums.
Speaking in unknown languages is several times referred
to in the writings of Paul. Hence we have the direct
testimony of two in the New Testament to this class of
phenomena, for which we have adduced the testimony of
nineteen.
CLASS VI.---- TEACHING TO READ.
For facts under this head, we furnish the testimony of
four witnesses,— cases V., VI. and X. John 7 : 15,1
believe, is the only statement in the New Testament of
any fact of this kind, — and yet who doubts that Jesus
was learned spiritually ?
CLASS VII.---- HEALING.
To facts of this kind we have given, in case VII., the
testimony of seventeen witnesses, who state all the par
ticulars, and give the names of the persons healed. We
have also selected some of the most malignant cases of
almost every kind of disease ; and now we challenge any
believer in the New Testament miracles of this and the
�21
six previous classes to show wherein we have not pro
duced a far superior amount of evidence that the same
“ miracles ” are wrought now.
Whereas, no one of the six New Testament witnesses
would be allowed in our courts, — for there is no certainty
about the authenticity of either of them, or the time of
their testifying, — at least thirty of our witnesses would
be allowed, and their testimony accepted, in any court in
the United States; for we not only know as to their per
sonal identity, the time, and all the circumstances of the
events to which they testify, but we could bring into
court the identical living witnesses, and with them a
thousand more from every large city in the United States.
And not only this, but we can produce witnesses on the
spot, and make the judges themselves testify to the facts,
which they shall be made to witness with their own eyes,
ears and hands.
3
V
�22
As to the five remaining cases, it no more follows that we should
believe them because we accept other accounts in the same book,
than that we should believe all the reports of modern spiritualists
because we know many of them to be true; or that we should
accept all which any historian may record, because we receive his
testimony as to some things. A narrator may be truthful and
wise in many things; and, in those, impartially relate the facts.
But his opinions, his zeal, or want of knowledge in respect to
other things, may wholly disqualify him to judge truly concern
ing them.
Many spiritualists, at the present day, being very zealous to
advance the cause, sometimes think they see what they do not;
nnd, from a small beginning, often get up a marvellous story, and
this, too, in perfect sincerity.
So the early Christians did; hence it is reasonable to suppose
the writers of the gospel histories, whoever they were, might be
influenced in the same manner. But it is said these writings are
an exception; their authors are inspired, and could not err. How
do we know this? The writers themselves nowhere claim it;
they do not even tell us who they are. Tradition is the only
authority we have for their inspiration; and that tradition came
through the Catholic church, else it originated since the Reforma
tion, and is worth nothing.
But the facts themselves contradict the idea of infallible inspir
ation ; for we find that in many places they make wrong assertions,
reason falsely, and positively contradict each other.
In giving the genealogies of Christ from Joseph to David,
Matthew gives twenty-eight, Luke forty-three generations. Mat
thew says the father of Jesus was the son of Jacob, Luke says he
was the son of Heli; —thus they differ, nor do they again agree
till they come to David.
The object in giving this genealogy evidently was to prove that
Jesus was the son of David. But what a foolish course, by trac
ing his descent through Joseph, who, according to both these
writers, was no more the father of Jesus than of John the Bap
tist ! It is said this discrepancy and blunder is of no consequence.
�23
This reply implies one of two things. These authors were in
spired to write on a subject 11 of no consequence,” and to make a
very stupid blunder, or they were not inspired at all. Accept
either alternative, and their writings are worth no more than those
of others. This one error is sufficient to overthrow every theory
of infallible inspiration.
But we will refer to a few of the many others. Matt. 1: 22,
23 is a very false application of Isaiah 17: 14, as will be readily
seen by reading the context. Such errors are very frequent with
these writers, as one cannot fail to see, by reading the chapters
of the Old Testament whence they are taken.
Again, Matt. 2 : 16, the story of Herod slaying all the male
children, through fear of an infant, is not only not mentioned in
any other history, and plainly contradicted by these writers them
selves, in the fact that John, then about six months old, was not
slain, but it is absurd in itself.
Now, pass to the death of Jesus. John says the trial and con
demnation took place before the Passover (17 : 28, 39: 19 : 14,
31). The other three make it come after the Passover (Matt.
26 : 17 ; Mark 14 : 12; Luke 22 : 7—15). Mark says he was
crucified at the third hour (15: 25) ; John, at the sixth hour (19:
14). They differ, too, in giving the superscription on the cross;
also, concerning the resurrection, who came to the sepulchre, the
time of their coming, whom they saw there, the number of an
gels (spirits), and the position in which they first saw them.
It is common among many to pass over these as trifling errors:
but, if these incidents are worth relating at all, they are worth
relating truly, and the errors should guard us against greater ones
contained in these writings.
But, suppose these five cases did occur as they are related,— so
far from disproving the modern “ spirit manifestations,” they cor
roborate them. They prove, at least, the possibility of spirit
intercourse.
In case XII. (the birth of Jesus) are given several accounts of
spirit manifestations,— spirits are seen, conversed with, and the
communications are reported (Matt. 1; 20, 21; 2 : 19, 20; Luke
1: 11—20, 26—32; 2: 9—14). The modern phenomena, being
�24
proved, prepare the way for belief in these eases; but they do
not furnish any evidence that either of these particular cases did
then occur. To prove this, would require testimony of the same
character and amount as to prove a similar fact at the present day.
CLASS VIII.—CURSING A FIG-TREE.
One can scarcely tell which is the more ridiculous, the act
itself, or the telling of the story as a fact in the history of that
meek and lowly person, Jesus. And yet it is reported, with all
the gravity of “ inspired penmen” in the two first gospels !! !
Matt. 21: 19,—££ And when he saw a fig-tree in the way, he
came to it, and, finding nothing thereon, but leaves only, he said
to it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth forever. And pres
ently the fig-tree withered away ! ! And when the disciples saw
it they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig-tree withered
away.’' Mark 11: 20, 21,— ££And the next morning, when
they passed by, they saw the fig-tree dried up from the roots !!
And Peter calling to remembrance, saith unto him, 11 Master,
behold, the fig-tree which thou cursedst is withered
away”! !! Jesus, who said, bless, and curse not, is here
made so foolish at to curse a poor fig-tree, because he was
disappointed in not finding figs thereon ! ! ! 0 shame ! ye who can
not better understand your Master than to think to do him service
by telling such foolish stories about him ! And ye who think it
wrong to doubt these stories, which would disgrace a loafer at the
present day ; think ye that one cannot truly appreciate the char
acter of Jesus unless he makes himself think he believes this
silly thing which somebody told about him ? It reminds us of
the ten thousand other stories which were told of him and im
plicitly believed by his early disciples. (See the £ 1 Apocryphal
New Testament.”) We will give a specimen of these. (First gos
pel of Thomas, concerning the infancy of Jesus * 19 : 16—21.)
££ Again, on another day, the Lord Jesus was with some boys
by a river, and they drew water out of the river by little chan
nels, and made little fish-pools. But the Lord Jesus made
* This Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ was believed by the Gnostics, a
sect of Christians, in the second century ; and several of the fathers, Eusebius,
Athanasius, Epiplianius, Chrysostom, and others, quoted from it.
�25
twelve sparrows, and placed them about his pool, on each side
three. Now, it was the Sabbath-day ; and the son of Hanani, a
Jew, came by, and, seeing them making these things, said, Do
ye thus make figures of clay on the Sabbath ? And, running to
them, he broke down their fish-pools. But when the Lord Jesus
had clapped his hands over the sparrows which he had made, they
fled away chirping ! At length the son of Hanani coming to the
fish-pool of Jesus to destroy it, the water vanished away, and the
Lord Jesus said to him, In like manner as this water has
vanished, so shall thy life vanish; and presently the boy died.”
Second gospel according to Thomas, 2: 1, 3,—“ Moreover,
the son of Anna he scribe was standing there with Joseph, and,
taking a bough ol a willow, scattered the waters which Jesus had
gathered into lakes. But the boy Jesus, seeing what he had
done, became angry, and said unto him, Thou fool, what harm
x did the lakes unto thee, that thou shouldst scatter the water ?
Behold now, thou slialt wither as a tree, and shalt bring forth
neither leaves, nor branches, nor fruit. And immediately he
became withered all over ! ”
But some will say this miracle of cursing the fig-tree was per
formed that the disciples might believe ; that the following verses
prove this, Matthew 21: 21,—“Jesus answered and said unto
them, Verily, I say unto you, if ye have faith, and doubt not, ye
shall not only do what is done unto the fig-tree, but also, if ye shall
say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and cast into the sea ;
it shall be done.” —Wonder if any of the disciples ever believed
this ! How would one of the modern disciples, who has not faith
enough to move a table, and does not believe any one can. however
great his faith,— how would such a disciple make up liis mouth to
say to a mountain, “Be thou removed and cast into the sea."
It appears, then, that Jesus did not succeed in this effort to in
crease the disciples’ faith, if this were his object, by cursing the
fig-tree.
People can talk about faith; but, test their faith by requesting
them to put it in practice, or to believe what another has really
done in their own age, near home, and they are found as sceptical
as the boldest atheist,— frequently more so.
*
3
�26
CLASS IX. — TURNING WATER INTO WINE.
This is frequently done at the present day, though we believe
most men prefer taking the wine clear. We do not mean by this
remark any disrespect for Jesus; we say it for all wine-makers,
and for them in the true spirit of wine, which is anything but
stupid gravity. If any believe Jesus to belong to the class of
wine-makers which they would not be among, we may offend them •
but. foi ourselves, we do not believe it, and we will here give the
reasons.
1st. We think the people at the wedding had already drunk
wine enough, having drained all their bottles; and for Jesus to
make six water-pots full more (at least thirty gallons) would
border on extravagance, if not intemperance.
2d. The only account of this is given in John 2 : 1—10, which
account is rendered impossible by circumstances related in the other
three gospels. Compare Matt. 3: 16, 17; 4 : 1—13 ; Mark 1:
10—13; Luke 4 : 12. John 2 : 1, “And the third day there was
a marriage in Cana of Galilee.” By the previous chapter, verses
28, 29 and 43, it is evident that this was the third day after the
baptism of Jesus by John. By the above references to the other
three gospels, it will be seen that 11 immediately (after the bap
tism) the spirit driveth him into the wilderness, and he was there
in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan, and was with wild
beasts, and the angels (spirits) ministered unto him,” which clearly
proves an alibi by three witnesses; therefore, the testimony of
John is good for nothing.
It will be observed that I reject the miracle wholly on the
ground of evidence, there being a decided balance against it; one
witness testifying that, in a certain place, on a certain time, Jesus
performed a certain act, while three witnesses testify that Jesus
was not there within forty days of that time, — that he was off in
the wilderness with the devil.
As to the fact of water being changed into wine, or something
resembling it, I think it could be easily explained by spirit agency.
I will briefly state two facts involving the same principles.
1st. By request of spirits, distilled water was hermetically
�27
sealed in a glass bottle. In this condition it twice changed its
color; then, being analyzed, was found to contain several mineral
substances of medicinal qualities.
2d. A lady medium being sick, by the request of spirits, put
several empty bottles into a room, and, while no person could enter,
these were taken off the mantel, placed in the centre of the floor,
and filled with medicine, which she used according to the direc
tions of the spirits, and was restored to health.
I could produce several witnesses who would testify to the above
facts, though I am sure many who believe, on the testimony of one,
that Jcsus made thirty gallons of wine at a wedding feast, would
ridicule the fact of spirits making a few quarts of medicine for a
poor sick woman, though it were testified to by twenty witnesses.
But I would say to those who may think it “ a sign of mental
defect,” that, while we accept many of the facts of modern spiritu
alism, we reject some of the reports of similar facts ages since,—
and to those spiritualists who think it wisdom to swallow down
all reports of ancient and modern wonders, however great, simply
because they know some to be true, — the fact that a thing is proved
possible by our knowledge of things involving the same principles,
by no means proves that the same thing happened on any partic
ular occasion. We still require testimony, or evidence of some
kind, in proportion to the infrequency of the event, and equal to
all the probabilities against it occurring in the particular case
under consideration.
I would also reply to one class above named, if you consider me
ilin some way mentally defective” for rejecting a part of the
New Testament “miracles,” while I have subsequently believed
some of the modern “ miracles,” can I think your mind perfectly
sound, when you, having previously believed all the New Testa
ment “miracles,” reject all the modern “miracles,” notwithstand
ing the balance of testimony in favor of the latter is as ten to one.
CLASS X.
Feeding “ five thousand men, besides women and children,
On FIVE BARLEY LOAVES AND TWO SMALL FISHES,” and then
taking up “twelve baskets-full of the fragments that re
�28
mained after they did all eat and were filled” ! ! !! ten times
the amount they had before eating ! This is truly a miracle! I
confess it goes far beyond anything related by modern spiritualists.
Nothing like it has occurred in these times, nor can I believe
anything like it will occur. We have four accounts of it given
in the New Testament, as we suppose, by four different persons,
though we do not know that either of these persons were present
on the occasion, or how they got their information, oi’ when they
made the statement.
But, if ten most reliable men in any community, at the present
day, should state that they were present on such an occasion, and
give all the particular circumstances of the case, I could not
believe the fact occurred; and I think, if an hundred, nay, the
whole five thousand, should testify to it, very few Christians would
believe it. I should say they were deceived,— bread and fishes,
in abundance, might be brought into the midst of such a multi
tude, and they know nothing about the means of bringing. Hence,
the inference is plain that I do not believe the fact above related:
and may I not infer the same in the case of others, whatever their
professions ? I can conceive an explanation of the fact (if it be a
fact) which, to many spiritualists, will be perfectly rational.
It has been asserted by thousands that spirits have moved mate
rial substances, and conveyed them to a greater or less distance
through the air. I have presented testimony to this effect in this
essay. But the most remarkable facts of this kind I have not
mentioned, for I know they would be rejected, however much
testimony I might produce in their favor. I have been told, by
the parties themselves, that spirits have conveyed letters from them
to the distance of several hundred miles, and brought back answers,
of which they gave me, in all gravity, the fullest particulars. Re
liable persons have stated that when they have been in want of
certain articles (specifying the articles), those very things have
been placed before them by spirits. The last spiritualist paper I
read gave an account of a ribbon and a knife being conveyed by
spirits across the Atlantic ocean. The case of the knife being
taken from under the table and again replaced, as stated by Mr.
Garrison, involves the same principle.
�29
This fact — the ability of spirits to convey material objects
through the air — being established, as it is, in connection with the
fact that angels or spirits ministered unto Jesus, Mark 4:11,
and what he said on one occasion, “ Thinkest thou that I cannot
now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than
twelve legions of angels (spirits)?” [Matt. 26: 53], suggests a
plausible explanation of the above miracle. Spirits, perhaps,
“more than twelve legions ” of them, were employed in bringing
bread and fishes from the neighboring towns and villages. But
this explanation, plausible as it is, and no doubt acceptable to
many spiritualists, appears to me really ludicrous. Why ? Simply
because it would be more natural and easy for Jesus to dismiss the
multitude, in accordance with the suggestions of his disciples, and
permit them to go home and get their supper, than to employ so
many angels to take each a loaf of bread and a fish under his
wing, and bring them into the desert, and, after they had there
eaten, immediately dismiss them to their homes. The object
secured by all this angelic parade “would not pay.” But how
much more would it not pay for the Almighty Ruler of a million
worlds, the infinite and unchangeable God, to suspend or counter
act any of the “ immutable laws ” by which he governs all nature,
or create new laws, to accomplish this simple object! The idea
of spirits doing it is ludicrous, but the idea of the Deity doing it
is a solemn absurdity. And any person whose mind is so consti
tuted that he cannot accept the wonderful facts of modern spirit
ualism, which we have given on the testimony of forty witnesses,
cannot believe this far more wonderful fact on the testimony of
four witnesses.
CLASS II. — RAISING A PERSON FROM THE DEAD.
There is only one case of this kind in the New Testament,
that of Lazarus. — In the other cases there is no certainty that
the persons were really deaf as any one will readily see by
referring to the accounts themselves. Persons are very frequently
supposed to be dead, and sometimes buried, when they are only in
a swoon. But I think, in the case of Lazarus, this could not be.
It is not at all probable that he could lie in this state four days,
�30
and in the tomb. I am aware that this account is given more in
detail than that of any other miracle in the New Testament. But
I will ask any candid person, who professedly believes this narrative
given in the writings of only one man, and those of doubtful au
thorship, but who finds it too great a stretch of credulity to believe
“modern miracles” on the testimony of a thousand living wit
nesses, — I will ask such a person, Could you believe a fact similar
to that related in the gospel of John, if ten most reliable men
should declare they saw it performed 2 If not, then may I not
infer that you, with me, do not believe this account? I think
the other gospel writers did not believe it, or they would have re
corded it. For, if it took place, they must have known it, as Jesus
was a particular friend in this family of Lazarus. It is a greater
miracle than they have mentioned; and I can account for their
silence only on the ground that they never heard the story,
or did not believe it. I know not why a big story could not grow
up from a small matter in that age, as well as in the present age.
All, who have read any considerable portion of the church fathers
know that the greater story they could tell, the better ; and who
can say how early they began to fabricate them, or when the
gospel of John was written?
The silence of the other three histories, as to this greatest of all
the miracles, looks rather suspicious. It can be accounted for
only in one of three ways : either the writers did not hear of the
miracle, or they did not believe it, or they did not think it of
sufficient importance to be recorded.
The last supposition cannot be accepted; for they all three, with
John, record several miracles, which we all know, and which they
must have known, were far less important than this.
Either of the others amounts to the same thing. For, had such
a miracle as this occurred in the presence of so “many Jews”
(John 11: 45 and 46), it would have been not only extensively
known, but well attested. This, and the fact that Lazarus, with his
family, were particular friends of Jesus and his disciples (John
11: 11), makes it certain that they all would have known the fact,
had it really occurred as related in the fourth gospel. So, if they
heard but did not believe the story, having the same means of
�91
Ol
knowing the facts, we must conclude that it was false. The
Jews, who did not believe in Jesus, might hear of this or any
other work of Jesus, and not believe it; or they might witness
facts, and think it a deception or an imposture, as many at the
present day, who disbelieve “spirit manifestations,” reject any
particular fact, though they may have been eye-witnesses to it.
But this could not be the case with the disciples of Jesus. They
would both have known and believed the fact, had Jesus raised
Lazarus to life, after he had been dead (11 : 13, 14) four days in
the tomb. Since, then, we are compelled to accept one of those
alternatives, — namely, that they did not know, or did not believe,
— we must conclude that the fact did not occur as related.
This reasoning proceeds on the supposition that the three first
gospels were written by the immediate disciples of Jesus; but, if
they were written by those of a later period, the reasoning, with
a slight alteration, will apply with equal force.
CLASS XII. — CHILD BORN WITH NO NATURAL FATHER.
How do we know ? Somebody said so. Who said so ? Sup
posed to be Matthew and Luke ! Who told them ? Suppose
Paul told Luke, and somebody told Matthew and Paul; for
neither of these persons knew anything about the child or its
mother till thirty years after he was born. Suppose, then,
the mother of the child told this story, for it must come to this at
last. Joseph’s dream cannot be credited among a people who do
not believe in dreams and visions; nor can any of the spiritual
communications to Mary, or any of the parties, be relied upon by
those who do not believe it possible for spirits to communicate to
mortals. We then have the story reported to us at second-hand,
at least.
Now, where is the court, in any country, which could accept
such second-handed testimony as this, for the most natural event ?
And could the most credulous Christian judge, upon any bench,
but smile with pity upon the unfortunate female who should per
sonally give oath before him that her child had no natural father,
or that an angel, or a spirit, had begotten him; and would he not
�32
be the more surprised, should she solemnly declare that no less a
spirit than God himself had done this ? Why, this goes beyond all
the spirit intercourse of modern times ; though there were many
similar stories told, and believed, in those ancient times. The
people then did not think it at all strange for the gods to have
intercourse with women; and it appears, by the Old Testament,
that Jews could credit such stories, as well as the heathens,—
Gen. 4 : 2 and 4.
I am fully aware that those who professedly believe these stories
do not receive them on the flimsy testimony which is given in
their support, but through their theories of ££ the fallf and ££ the
plan of redemption ; ” else they accept them from tradition and
habit, as they do many others, without the disposition or courage
to question them. But, should we not be cautious how we build
theories upon facts so poorly substantiated ? Theories to support
the facts — then make the facts support the theories ! and this
when both the theories and the facts are, in themselves, so mon
strous and absurd, if not blasphemous, that human nature revolts
at them 1
�TESTIMONY.
Case I.
No. 1. Testimony of seven to class 1., taken from a statement published
in “ The Spirit World," Feb. 1, 1851.
>
We, the undersigned, having witnessed this day, at the house of
La Roy Sunderland (No. 28 Elliot-st., Boston), the following phenom
ena, deem it proper, in this way, to make mention of them.
We asked the spirits if they would give us some physical manifesta
tions, and we were promptly answered by raps in the affirmative.
The table was then immediately moved in various directions, from
one to two feet, - and, at our request, was quite a number of times
turned over into the laps of those surrounding it. In two instances
it was raised entirely from the floor, and we are positive that no human
instrumentality was employed in producing these results.
Upon the evening of the same day we met again, with the addition
of two to our circle. The circle was formed in Mr. Sunderland’s back
parlor, as before, when the following, among other phenomena, were
produced.
On holding each other’s hands, so that no one was at liberty in the
room, a centre-table around which we were sitting was raised up from
the floor five times, and let down with considerable force, so as to shake
the floor. Once or twice the raps were made, not on the table, but *
with it, the table being used by the spirit, as we were assured, to rap
on the floor.
Five times the table was upset and turned over, so that it fell sidewise upon the floor, with violence. A small bell, which stood upon the
table, was moved without human hands from the table, four times. It
*
was thrown upon the floor, thrown into the lap of Dr. Kibbee,. and
4
�finally it was removed by the spirit, and they spelled out, “ Find the
bell, which was the first we knew of its absence. Search was made
by one of the company, while the others remained in the circle, holding
each other s hands. After the search had been continued for some
minutes, the bell was accidentally discovered in Mrs. Cooper’s lap, as it
fell out from the folds of her apron ! During the whole of this tinw,
Mrs. Cooper’s hands had been held in the hands of two of the company,
standing or sitting, by her side. We can only say, that we have been
profoundly impressed with the conviction that no human agency what
ever was used in the production of the phenomena we have described.
Signed,
7i. P. Kibbee, M. D., Springfield, Mass.
Rufus Elmer,
«
«
Nelson L. Elmer,
“
«
Theodore M. Smith, Boston,
«
George E. Haskell,
“
“
Z. Rogers, Charlestown,
“
Moses Babcock, “
«
Boston, Jan. 22d, 1851.
No. 2. Testimony of three to class I., taken from a statement which
appeared in “ The Pittsburg Despatch:'
On the evening of Friday, March 21st (1851), our circle met at
the house of Mr. Courtney. After mentioning some conversation with
what they supposed an ignorant spirit, and some very violent physical
phenomena, to remove the ground for suspicion, we then formed a com
plete circle of all in the room, around the table, joining hands; Mary
and Mrs. Bushnell (mediums) included. A case-knife was then thrown
from the mantel into the middle of the floor, a distance of several
yards. Another book was thrown from the stand against the opposite
wall; and various other articles were tossed about in a strange mann®r
all the while a loud and muffled knocking being kept up,' caus
ing the house to shake, and the table to jar and tremble. There is not
in this case the slightest ground for suspicion of fraud and collusion, as
our two media were in the circle during the last scene, with their hands
tightly held. We will not, for a moment, suppose that the charge of
imposition will be alleged against any- of the others present, as they are
all well known in this community, with the exception of Mr. Joseph
Ketler, of New Castle, Pa., whose character can be sworn to be unex• ceptionable.
The following persons were present: W. S. Courtney, William II.
�35
Williams (broker), Milo A. Townsend, William McDonald, Joseph
Ketler, Mrs. Courtney, Mrs. Bushnell and Mary and Caroline Cronk,
all of whom are willing to testify to the facts above related.
Signed,
W. S. Courtney.
Milo A. Townsend.
William McDonald.
No. 3. Testimony of eight to class I.
To the Editors of the Republican : As many of our citizens
are of opinion that the wonders of Spiritualism, so called, have been
explained away by Prof. Grimes, as being a manifestation of the mes
meric power, and as the professor asserted that the manifestations
would cease from that time forth in this community, I am induced to
offer you the following facts, which I, in company with several other
persons, witnessed at the house of Rufus Elmer, in this city, on the
evening of the 28th of February, 1854. The circle, consisting of nine
persons besides the medium, were seated around a common cherry
table, when the following phenomena occurred. The table commenced
a trembling, vibratory motion ; sounds were heard on the floor and table,
some of which were very loud. Then the table was rocked with great
force; then raised nearly, if not quite, two feet from the floor, and was
held supported in mid air with a waving motion, as if floating on the
agitated waters of the sea, for considerable time. This operation was
repeated a number of times. Then, by the tipping, we were directed
to place the dinner-bell (weighing one pound one ounce) under the
table, on the floor, where it was rung with great violence many times;
questions answered by the raps upon it, and with it each individual in
the circle was touched in such a manner that there could be no mistake
about it. We then requested the spirits to pass the bell from the floor,
and place it into our hands, which was done to each individual sepa
rately ; and again, at our request, it was taken from our hands, and
carefully deposited upon the floor. Again, while we sung the hymn,
“ While shepherds watched,” the bell was raised from the floor and rung
in perfect time with the measure of the tune sung (Old Coronation),
after which another tune was drummed out with the bell against the
under side of the table, the sound resembling the roll of drumsticks in
the hands of a skilful performer upon a tenor drum. This was con
tinued for several minutes.
•
All the above I know was performed without human agency; the
�36
hands of each person present, during the whole performance above
described, being on the top of the table, with the room well lighted,
and in the full view of every person present; and this was also the
case during the whole sitting. During the whole time of the various
performances with the bell, as well as before and after it, our garments
were pulled almost constantly; two handkerchiefs were firmly knotted
together, while laying in the laps of the owners; our persons were
many times touched more or less forcibly, producing a peculiar and
indescribable sensation; some of us had our limbs grasped with con
siderable force, and distinctly felt the form of the spirit hand — a soft,
delicate, elastic yet powerful touch, which cannot be described, but
must be felt to be appreciated. The reader will bear in mind that the
hands of every person present were in plain view on the top of the
table.
“ The name of the medium is withheld, he being, like many others in
our city, unwilling to face the bitter contempt, scorn and sneers, which
must be borne by all who have the moral courage to honestly and fear
lessly advocate and defend the claims of the modern manifestations to
a spiritual origin.
Yours, in the cause of truth,
H. F. Gardner.
Springfield, March 1, 1854.
We, the other members of the circle above referred to, most sol
emnly and emphatically declare the foregoing statement, subscribed by
Dr. Gardner, to be strictly and literally true; and that we were sever
ally in our normal condition, both of mind and body, were fully con
scious of all that transpired, and know, as well as we are capable of
knowing any fact, that the manifestations above related were produced
by some invisible intelligence entirely independent of ourselves or of
the medium.
Mrs. John Lord,
F. C. Andreu,
Mrs. R. Elmer,
Rufus Elmer,
Mrs. S. A. Richie,
Marshall Elmer,
Miss Mary M. Harris.
Springfield, March 1, 1854.
[Springfield Republican.
No. 4. Testimony of four to class I. Extract from a statement pub
lished in “ The Springfield Republican ” of 1853.
“ The undersigned, from a sense of justice to the parties referred to,
very cordially bear testimony to the occurrence of the following facts,
�37
which we severally witnessed at the house of Rufus Elmer, in Spring
field, on the evening of the 5th inst.
The table was moved in every possible direction, and with great
force, when we could not perceive any cause of motion.
Mr. Wells seated himself on the table, which was rocked for some time
with great violence; and at length it poised itself upon two legs, and
remained in this position for some thirty seconds, when no other person
was in contact with the table.
Three persons, Messrs. Wells, Bliss and Edwards, assumed positions
on the table at the same time, and while thus seated the table was
moved in various directions.
Occasionally we were made conscious of a powerful shock, which
produced a vibratory motion on the floor of the apartment in which
we were seated. It seemed like the motion occasioned by distant
thunder, or the firing of ordnance far away; causing the tables, chairs
and other inanimate objects, and all of us, to tremble in such a manner
that the effects were both seen and felt. In the whole exhibition we were
constrained to admit that there was almost constant manifestation of
intelligence, which seemed at least independent of the circle. During
these occurrences the room was well lighted, and every possible oppor
tunity was afforded us for the closest inspection; and we submit this,
our emphatic declaration.
We know we were not imposed upon nor deceived.
Wm. Bryant,
Wm. Edwards,
B. K. Bliss,
David A. Wells.
Note.— These four witnesses are, as I have been informed, well
known in this community, and are of undoubted veracity. Mr. Wells
is Professor of Chemistry in this University.
No. 5. Testimony of 1 to class I. Case of lifting a person into the
air, taken from Rev. Herman Snow's book on “ Spirit Intercourse,”
p. 64.
In the month of March, 1852, being at the house of Rev. J. J.
Locke, in the town of Barre, Mass., one evening, as we were seated in
a circle around a table, — I should say about a dozen persons present,
several of whom were strangers to us, — all listening to some messages
that were being spelled out by raps on the table (which stood inde
pendent from the touch of any), by the use of the alphabet; all was
*
4
�38
still and peaceful, the room well lighted, and no one expecting any
thing unusual, that I was aware of, when Mrs. Cheney’s right hand began
to rise very gradually and steadily — up, up — higher and higher —
till it seemed to raise her from the chaii’; still upward she was raised,
until she swung in the open atmosphere between the floor and ceiling,
and positively not coming in contact with any visible thing whatever.
Such are the facts in relation to the case, as near as I can state them.
If any should doubt the above statement, I am happy to say that I am
able to substantiate any part of it by reliable evidence.
'
Yours, in the faith,
Athol Depot, April 26, 1853.
S. F. Cheney.
Note.— Mr. Snow states that Mr. and Mrs. Cheney are personal
acquaintances of his; that they are of excellent moral character, and
members of Rev. Mr. Clark’s church, in Athol; and may be referred
to for the fact, should any one question it.
Case II.
No. 1. Testimony of 2 to classes I and II.
Messrs. Partridge and Brittan.
Dear Sirs : We have some very strong spiritual manifestations here
in Baltimore. Our citizens are waking up to investigate the beautiful
phenomena, and we have a large number of mediums being developed.
We have also an association for investigating the subject, and over two
hundred private circles. The following is a brief description of the
phenomena which occurred at one of our private circles:
The circle met at 8 o’clock in the evening, at B. S. Benson’s house
— five ladies and four gentlemen being present. The circle was formed,
the lights were removed, and, after singing, Miss L., Miss H., Mrs. A.
P. P., mediums present, were perceived to be in the interior state, by
their description of things then transpiring in the room. It was said,
“ There is Franklin; there are three others with him; they have boxes
under their arms; they place them under the table ; they are going to
make raps ; they say something is wrong; they have gone over in the
corner of the room, and are talking together and pointing to the table;
they now bring two more boxes ; they say they are going to break the
table.” The raps, or rather pounding, commenced, and were as if made
by a muffled mall, of many pounds’ weight, suspended under the table,
at first striking so lightly as not to raise the table, but increasing by
�39
degrees, until the table was raised from the floor some ten or twelve
inches, all four legs of the table being off the floor at once. The table
was heard to drop, as if it had fallen some distance, with a tremendous
crash. There were no material means used to produce the raps, nor did
there exist a possibility of deception, there being no one in the room
but those joined in the circle, hand in hand, around the table, not one
of whom touched the table at the time. The table was at one time
thrown on the lap of a lady present, and thrown off by the same
unseen power. All present, at times, saw lights in different directions
around the room, as well as over the table. After some tremendous
poundings, which made some of those present fear they would be struck
with pieces of the table, it was then spoken by one of the mediums,
“ Nothing more to-night.”
Yours, truly,
B. S. Benson,
W. W. Laning.
No. 2. Testimony of 1 to classes II. and III. Experience of a Clergy
man. From “ Spiritual Telegraph," April 15, 1854.
Having been a Methodist local preacher, in England and America,
for about twenty years, I had many difficulties to contend with ; yet I
considered that if Spiritualism was what it purported to be, it would
be worth everything to me.
I have twelve children, and a number of them are writing, speaking
and seeing mediums; therefore I have had a good opportunity to inves
tigate. I did that which many professors do not do. I did not try to
prove the spirits good or bad spirits by my old opinions, but permitted
them to write whatever they thought proper. My wife has given me
all the evidence I could wish for. * * * *
From the time of her death up to the present time, I have received
evidence enough to satisfy any reasonable man. * * * * I have
also constantly received communications from relations and friends.
They told me I was to be a seeing medium, and so it proved.
The first I saw was (as they call it) the spirits in open daylight
(not in the body). They are always with me. * * * *
They light me to bed with a bright cloud, and I can see them by
candle-light moving around the room in colors of crimson and blue;
and now of late I am enabled to see my father, mother, sister and
brother-in-law; but none as plainly, or so long at a time, as my wife.
�40
I have been able to examine her features and dress. She looks
about thirty years of age. * * * *
Joseph Brydle.
Kellogsville, Ashtabula Co., Ohio.
Case III.
No. 1. Testimony ofl to class III.
While at High Rock, Katy professed to see the spirit of the wife
of J esse Hutchinson, who left the form before she came to this country.
On being shown a number of daguerreotype likenesses, one of which
was that of Mrs. H., without any intimation as to the object, she imme
diately exclaimed, “ 0, there’s Mrs. Hutchinson ; ” and, the company
refusing to acknowledge the fact, and apparently denying it, only made
her the more earnestly declare that it was the countenance she had
seen in the spirit world! She never had seen the likeness of Mrs. H.
before.
Rufus Elmer.
Nov. 6, 1852.
No. 2. Testimony of (1) Mr. Chase and seven others, to classes 1 and
III. Taken from Adin Ballou's “ Spirit Manifestations."
About the last of October, 1851, I was at the house of Marcus C.
Wilcox, of Blackstone. What purported to be his wife, Sybil Chase
spelled out through the raps, in answer to the question if it would ever
be possible for her to take his hand; “ I cannot shake hands with you
here, but, if you will go to the house of Meltiah Knowlton, in Green
ville, R. I., and sit with Daniel Knowlton, I will take hold of your
hand.” At the same time my father and George Knowlton, who pur
ported to be present, said they would take hold of my hand, if I
would go to Greenville and sit with Daniel.
Soon after this, in company with Mr. C. Wilcox he went to the
house of Mr. Knowlton, in Greenville. He says, I then held out
my hand in open space, where it was not possible to be reached
by any one present without altering their position, — which they did
not, as I must have seen them, — I felt a hand as perfect as that
of a living person; the touch and separation of th.e fingers were
plainly perceptible. It purported to be the hand of my former
wife. One of her hands was deformed by being badly burnt when a
child. Two of her fingers were bent inwards toward the palm, and
the nail on one of the fingers was very short and thick. I then asked
�41
her to put her deformed hand into mine, which she immediately did ;
and then passed her fingers with the thick nail, over the palm of my
hand, as if to convince me of her identity. Afterward, my father and
George Knowlton (or what purported to be them) put their hands into
mine.
Much more was done at the time; one particular of which I will
relate. I held in my hand two pieces of money, which were taken out
and passed into the hand of Mrs. Knowlton at a distance of about six
feet, by an invisible hand.
Blackstone, June 30, 1852.
(The above is given in the words of Mr. Chase.)
If the believers in the New Testament accounts object to the reality
of the above phenomena, on account that the physical deformity of a
hand could not be continued in the spirit world, or represented by a
spirit, we would refer them to the case mentioned in the twentieth chap
ter of John, where a spirit (“the doors being shut”) appeared in the
midst of a company, and exhibited to the touch of one present, the
wounds inflicted upon his physical body but few days before. It seems
the two cases are very similar; and certainly the testimony in favor of
the case we present is as reliable as that in favor of the case here
referred to; for we have in the one case the words of the very person
who witnessed the fact, while in the other we do not; nor does the
writer say he was present on the occasion, or tell us how he obtained
his information. If it be asserted that, in the case of Thomas, an
object was accomplished, we will give the very words of Mr. Chase, to
show that precisely the same object was accomplished in his case.
“ For more than twenty years,” says he, “ I was a confirmed sceptic, or
infidel, as the people called me. I did not believe man had an immor
tal soul, or any existence after the death of the body; but, in witness
ing the incident related hereafter, relative to the defective hand of
Sybil Chase, my former wife, feeling the bent and stiffened fingers, the
short and thick nails, my scepticism departed, and I believed that man
possessed an immortal part.” I will further quote from Mr. Ballou in
reference to Mr. Scott and Mr. Wilcox, both being present with Mr.
Chase on the occasion above named. Mr. Wilcox affirms that this
(feeling the pressure of spirit hands) has taken place, to his knowl
edge, more than one hundred times. The grasp is generally sensible,
firm and cordial. Mr. Wilcox says he has frequently been permitted
to feel of the hand, wrist, and part of the arm, as deliberately as he
�42
ever did one of flesh and blood. The spirits represent that they have
power, under certain circumstances, to assume forms proper to manifest
themselves to the senses of mortals, either to touch or sight. Mr.
Ballou states that Emery Scott, Ellis Cook, Marcus Wilcox and his
wife Eliza, distinctly saw a spirit hand and arm, on several occasions,
both separately and together; and states the particulars which render
it impossible that they should be deceived. At the close of the chap
ter, he says, “ The persons referred to in the foregoing narrative
(Harvey Chase, Mr. and Mrs. Marcus C. Wilcox, Mr. Emery Scott,
Elis Cook, Benj. Ray, of Blackstone, Meltiah Knowlton and Daniel
Knowlton, of Greenville, R. I.) have authorized me to refer any
doubter or inquirer to them, as witnesses of the facts set forth, and of
numerous similar facts. Messrs. Emery Scott, Marcus C. Wilcox
and Harvey Chase, are not only willing, but desirous, that I should
state to the public their conversion to a firm and happy belief in the
immortality of all human souls. Scott was for many years an intelli
gent but inveterate materialist. He says he desired to believe in
man’s future existence, but could find no proof of it adequate to a
rational conviction. He ridiculed the very idea of spirits communicat
ing with mortals, and for some time stubbornly refused to witness what
was going on at the house of Mr. Wilcox. Mr. Wilcox was brought
up an Atheist, and says he ‘ hated the very sight of the Bible from
childhood.’ ”
Here we have an equivalent to the testimony of eight persons, vouched
for by Adin Ballou (of Hopedale, Mass.), whose veracity and whose
candor are above suspicion. Besides, the persons are ready to be
referred so by those who doubt, — their names and residences being
given ; the parties, some of them at least, more sceptical and not at
all inclined to favor the spiritual side of nature. They had no preju
dices in favor, but all against, the idea of communications from spirits
out of the body. To reject such testimony, without a thorough
inquiry, by referring to the witnesses themselves, and making personal
experiments with the same, or other mediums, in whose presence such
facts are said to occur, is not only unscientific- and irrational, but the
most stupid bigotry, which none save those whose whole minds are made
up of traditions taken in with their mother’s milk, and with as little
thought, will be guilty of.
�43
Case IV.
JVo. 1. Testimony oflto class IV.
Mr. J. F. Lanning, says: “ In the month of August, 1851, I first
became sensibly influenced by some invisible power moving my hand to
write without the aid of my will, and in a short time very rapidly.
* * * * I have also often heard whisperings^ as distinctly as if
some one was at my side in conversation with me."
No. 2. Testimony of 1 to classes III. and TV. Taken from a state
ment published in the first “ Spiritual Telegraph."
* * * * That same day I received another word or words
sealed up as the first, from the hands of a gentleman, who is now, and
has been for several years, the proprietor of a city paper, with a
request similar to the first. I was sitting alone in my chamber at my
residence, a short distance from the city, at about eleven o’clock on the
night of the 8th of April, when * * * * I saw the form of my
wife standing within arm’s-length of my chair, and near the table. It
is utterly impossible for me to describe her appearance, further than
that she was, so far as features were concerned, just as she appeared in
life; but there was a bright, almost dazzling radiance about her, which
defies description.
After standing for, perhaps, ten seconds, with her eyes all the time
fixed on me, she took up from the table the sealed envelope, held it in
her fingers, and smiled as I had seen her a thousand times when living.
I am as well satisfied that I saw the words in the envelope quite as
plainly as I do these which I am now writing, as I am of my own
existence. I took up my pen, and wrote two names; whereupon the
“ presence,” or whatever it was, laid down the envelope with the most
meaning smile of satisfaction I ever beheld, and almost immediately
took up a pencil, and — I did not see her write, or lay down the pencil;
but I did see the pencil laying on the paper, and there, too, I saw the
following sentence, written in Spanish, and the exact chirography of
my wife when alive : “ God has called a mighty army for my hus
band.” Thirty seconds might have passed, during which time I sat
and gazed at the “ form,” as free from agitation as I ever was in my
life; when she spoke, —and I should have recognized that voice in an
instant among ten thousand, even had I not seen her. “ I must go
now, but I will come again, some time; ” and the next moment I was
�44
conscious of being alone, although I have no knowledge how the pres
ence disappeared. On the succeeding night I saw her in my room
three several times after I was in bed; and, if ever I heard words audi
bly spoken in my life, it was that “ form,” saying, “ Husband, I have
been to bless our little Inez.” (Our child, now nearly three years old,
at Grenada, in Spain.) On the following Monday, I gave the words
which I had written, together with the sealed envelope, to the gentle
man from whom I had received it, and who, after satisfying himself
that no efforts had been made to get at its contents, declared the names
to be correct; then, opening the envelope, in presence of witnesses who
had seen it sealed, proved, by comparing them, that they were correct
in every particular. * * * *
George R. Raymond.
Case V.
No. 1. Testimony of 1 to class V. Taken from a statement of Dr.
Joseph R. Buchanan, of Cincinnati, Ohio ; published in the
“ Journal of Man,” for May, 1852.
Spirits not only rap out the messages in languages foreign to the
medium, but, by impressing the mind of a suitable medium, enable him
to speak in a language to him entirely unknown.
Dr. Buchanan goes on to relate the particulars of a female speaking
French. She stated in that language, wholly unknown to her, that a
bloody war would soon break out, and overwhelm the continent of
Europe.
He also says of Mr. F.: “ This young gentleman, a school-teacher
by profession, having no knowledge of any foreign language, except a
slight smattering of Latin, has fallen under the influence of spirits
belonging to other nations, and speaks their language familiarly, with
out knowing the meaning of what he is uttering. * * * * Under
the influence of the Indian chief, Red Jacket, he delivers Indian
speeches, sings Indian songs, and performs the Indian dances. * * * *
Two of the company present, who were acquainted with the Indian
languages, spoke of his speech with approbation, as a genuine Indian
harangue, and a fine specimen of oratory. Mr. F. also declaims in a
language supposed to be Chinese, as he writes, under the control of the
same spirit, characters which resemble Chinese writing. I have sev
eral specimens of his writing in the character of a medium, some of
which resemble the Chinese, others the Arabic, and others the Hebrew.
�45
No. 2. Testimony of one to classes I., V. and VI. From a private
letter to the Ed. “ Spiritual Telegraphy
Wheeling, Va., July 1, 1852.
In the same vicinity [Lloydsville, Bel. Co., Ohio] is a child who is
made to speak Dutch, though she is of Irish descent. Another, who
never wrote a word, never tried to learn, and yet she has written a
legible hand while under spirit influence.
In Harrison Co., Ohio, at the house of Mr. Steel, almost every
article of furniture is moved. A stand placed in the centre of the
room moves about when no person is in the house !
J. B. Wolf.
Case VI.
No. 1. Testimony of one to class VI.
N. Y. Conference,— Weekly Report, — Friday, Aug. 6th, 1854.—
Meeting large. Dr. Smith mentioned the case of a child, some seven
or eight years of age, — the family of an acquaintance of his.
She appears to be a medium of considerable powers ; but, what is
more singular, the child, without having been taught, as far as is known
to any of the family, has recently and most unexpectedly been able to
read ! The child’s Own simple statement of the matter is, that her
mother in heaven has come to her, and taught her to read.
R. T. Hallock, Seely.
No. 2. Testimony of one to class VI.
New York Conference, Friday Evening, March Ath, 1853.—Mr.
Waters, among many other interesting facts, stated that, in West Troy,
a child four years old had been developed as a medium. The child
cannot write, yet communications are made through her in writing, and
with fac-similes of the hand-writing of deceased persons.
R. T. Hallock, SeCy.
Note. — This case, though not precisely the same as being taught
to read, involves the same principles, and is equally remarkable.
Case VII.
No. 1. Testimony of one to class VII.
The following interesting letter we take from the Practical Christian,
5
�46
of which Adin Ballou is the principal editor. A. A. Ballou, the
communicating spirit, is the son of Adin, and departed from the earth
life some two years ago.
Cuba, N. Y.
Dear Adin: On the 21st of Jan. last, 1854, Augustus took
control of Cora, and commenced influencing a sick lady who was very
low with the asthma. After operating upon the patient a few moments,
Cora was caused to lay her hands upon Miss Lucina Folsom, another
medium. Miss F. was immediately entranced, and resumed the busi
ness of operating upon the sick lady.
[The spirit here gives to the medium a description of the disease.]
About one-third of one lobe of the lungs was consumed, and the
surrounding parts appeared in a decaying condition. The bronchial
tubes on that side were obstructed by a thick glutinous substance,
which prevented the natural circulation.
lie raid the disease could be arrested where it was, and the lungs
healed over; but the organs could not be created anew where they
were gone. Cora was. again entranced, and wrote : “ If Lucina will
come here, we will operate on the sick lady, and she will receive great
benefit. Come about once a week.” This was a desperate case, of
many years’ standing. The patient was reduced to a mere skeleton,
and had not lain down in bed for some six months, on account of suf
focation. I have lately received a letter from her father, stating that
she now does her housework, shows no signs of her disease, is gaining
flesh fast, and has laid in bed without difficulty from the time above
mentioned. This was the first case, and unexpected to us all; the sub
ject not having been introduced or anticipated.
Another circumstance. One evening, Augustus delivered a lecture
through Cora, in our circle at Lake Mills, concerning heaven and hell
as being a state or condition of the mind, the spirit-land a place, &c.
&c. After closing the discourse, he said he must leave immediately,
and go to Waterloo, — that there was a gathering there, and a medium
from Sun Prairie, through whom he could speak. This was about
forty-five minutes past 7. We ascertained, the next day, that at about
that moment Mr. Budlong, of Sun Prairie, was entranced, and the
spirit announced his name to be A. A. Ballou, who spoke a communi
cation concerning heaven and hell as being a state or condition of the
mind, the spirit-land a place, &c. &c.; the identical subject, word for
word, that was delivered to us a few minutes before. The distance
between the two places is eight miles, and we had no knowledge of
their meeting, nor they of ours.
�47
I will not attempt to relate any more circumstances relative to this
subject. Were I present with you, I could tell you similar and more
“ astounding facts,” till my speech had become mute with hoarseness.
I am here with Cora, making an “ uproar among the people.” Through
Cora, a lecture has been delivered and questions answered before an
assembly of some five hundred people. The spirit-doctor has taken all
the cases of the worst character, — such as total blindness, consump
tion in the last stages, hereditary infirmities, &c., where all earthly
hopes are gone, — if the patients are willing and desirous of submitting
themselves to spirit influence. In such cases, the disease is arrested,
and the patient begins to recover from “ that very hour.” The Lord
knows what will become of us, or where we shall end — I don’t. This,
however, I do know, “ we enter into rest,” and are at peace with all
men — desiring the truth.
D. W. Scott.
No. 2. Testimony of one to class VII. Three cases of healing. H. H.
Hunt, Clergyman, Medium, from “ Spiritual Telegraph," Jan. 8,
1853.
Addison, Sept. 13, 1852.
In September, 1851, while in Indiana, I went to hear the rappings,
when I became convinced that there must be a spiritual agency in
volved in the matter. But by my position as a preacher of the Gospel
x being restrained from giving my sentiments to the public, I remained
silent, until January of 1852, when two of my daughters became
media for the sounds. After investigating the matter, and still finding
no other solution than the spiritual theory, I imputed it to the devil,
who, appearing as an angel of light, stood ready to deceive the very
elect. Indeed, I was angry at the sounds; but, as they would not
stop, I made this request, — that the unseen powers would not make my
children victims of hell, but spare them and try me.
After retiring the same night, the spirits paralyzed both my arms,
keeping them in continual motion until six o’clock in the morning, when
the circular alphabet was handed me ; and then I learned my duty
from good authority. As soon as this was made clear, I commenced
holding meetings in public, and up to this date my time has been spent
lecturing on the subject. * * * Ata circle held at Adrian, the first
Sunday in July, the spirits wrote, “ Seek the lame, the halt and the
infirm, and they shall be healed.” I then remarked to Mr. J. Rey
nolds, “ It cannot be done; if that is read, away go the spirits, and
converse to others, for some one will be presented and not cured.”
�48
Nevertheless the call was read by my colleague, when Mr. Lyons
presented himself, stating that his leg had been drawn up by rhenmatism four years, and was under acute pain at the time.’ Without
exercise of my own volition, I was thrown into the spiritual state, and
placed before him. I was also made to speak by the power of the
spirit. Like doubting Thomas of old, I put my hand on him, and he
was made whole. He dropped his cane, and went away rejoicing, fleet
as a boy of sixteen.
Cure of Fits.
2. After this, a child, son of D. C. Smith, was very sick. The
physician having given the most powerful medicine for stopping the
fits without effect, the father called me in. I seated myself by the boy,
and was put in communication with him by an unseen agency. Soon
the patient showed too clearly that another fit was coming on; but,
instead of his suffering from the attack, the whole power of the malady
fell on me. The agonizing distress, the clenched fist and contracted
muscle, gave me alarm for my own safety; but the second thought,
that I was in the hand of spirits, quieted me, and I threw off the attack.
The boy had no more fits, but got well.
3. Last July, I was called to visit Mrs. Brownell, near Adrian. She
had been sick with a weak back and continual pain in the side. Her
doctor said her liver was decayed, and she could never regain her
health.
I was moved by the power of spirits to lay my hand on her back
and head, when she said, “ I feel strange and dizzy.” I told her to
trust in God, for he was able to restore her to health. She now is well,
doing the work of her family, which she had not done before for two
years.
There are other cases which I might give, if time would permit.
Yours, in spiritual affinity,
H. H. Hunt.
No. 3. Testimony of one to class VII. “ Spirit Telegraph,” Sept. 1853.
Bridgeport, Jan. 13, 1853.
Six weeks ago last Thursday evening, Mrs. Phebe Jane Wooster, of
this place, was developed as a spiritual medium. The spirits say that
her mission, at present, is to heal the sick and wounded, the lame, the
halt and the blind. Previous to her development as a medium, she
was rather opposed to Spiritualism, but was willing to investigate the
subject. She was never an enthusiast, but submitted all subjects to the
�49
test of reason, and would never assent to anything until sufficient evi
dence was given to convince her of its truth. She was always modest
and unassuming in her deportment, and hence is compelled to do and
say many things, when acted on by spirits, in opposition to her own
views and feelings, even in the normal state. When this part of her
mission was first announced by the spirits, I must confess I was some
what sceptical about it. But my scepticism was soon removed, for, the
third day after she was developed, her predicted powers were put to
the test, and found competent to remove even a putrid disease.
The case to which I allude is as follows: Mrs. Julia Dunn, a near
neighbor, had a putrid sore throat. Large lumps or kernels had gath
ered in it, to such a size that she said she could neither swallow, speak
nor breathe, without suffering the severest pain. She told Mrs. W.
that she wished her to cure her, if possible; to which Mrs. W. replied,
that she knew nothing about it herself, but that the spirits said she could
be cured in less than twenty-four hours.
The spirits immediately took possession of the medium, and caused
her to make passes over the head, throat and stomach, of Mrs. Dunn,
for the space of thirty minutes, after which she turned to the patient
and said, “ To-morrow morning you will be well! ”
The next morning Mrs. Dunn’s complaint had entirely disappeared,
and she was as well as usual.
On the evening of the 24th of December, as we were all engaged in
conversation, my little daughter was taken with a fit, caused, the spirits
said, by sleeping with a cat; and I have every reason to believe that,
if Mrs. W. had not been there at the time, she would not have lived
fifteen minutes. What was most remarkable about it was, that none of
us knew anything was the matter with the child, until the medium was
acted on, got up out of her chair, and went to the child, who was sit
ting directly behind her, and exclaimed, “What is the matter with
Lydia Ann ? ”
I immediately went to the child, and found she was quite cold, and
had stopped breathing; but the medium took her in hand, and, after
making a few passes over her, she revived. . The child said she knew
when Mrs. W. first took hold of her, but that she could neither speak,
breathe, nor stir; that a sort of numbness came over her, and she
experienced no pain.
Case of Asthma cured.
The next day or two after, Mrs. W. was called on to go and see
*
5
�50
one of our neighbors, who had an attack of the asthma. I went in
company with her.
She had not been in the house long before she was acted on, and
spoke as follows:
“You think you are better than you were yesterday, because you
can breathe easier; but the fact is, you are not as well. True, your
asthma is not as bad, but a more deadly disease is eating at your vitals,
which, if not arrested, will terminate in physical death. But fear not;
have confidence in God, and you shall shortly be healed.”
She then commenced operations by placing one hand in his bosom,
and making passes over his system with the other. In about five
minutes’ time, the hand she placed in his bosom was as red as a piece
of scarlet, from the tip of her fingers to the elbow. She changed hands
alternately, and continued to work over him about an hour; after which
she declared he would be well on the morrow, with the exception of a
weakness, from which it would take him two or three days to recover.
Now, it is well to remark that no one suspected the person of having
any fever, more than generally results from a cold; but the medium
had not worked over him longer than ten minutes, before the room was
so filled with fever, it became sickening, and they were obliged to
throw open the door, and let in fresh air, notwithstanding it was a very
cold day, and there was but very little fire in the room at the time.
The spirits said the disease was typhus fever, and those present at the
time believed it.
Cyrus Tyrrell.
No. 4. Testimony oflto class VII.
Morris, Ostego Co., N. Y., Oct. 1852.
I know that I have conversed with the spirits of my departed friends,
as well as I know that I exist, and by the same kind of evidence. I
know by the aid of my natural senses and reason that I exist, and by
the same evidence I know that I communicate with departed spirits.
* * * * For the last six years of my life, my health has been
extremely poor, until I became a medium for spirit communications;
and, by the direction of the spirits, I am now restored to comfortable
health, and, what is better still, I am confirmed in the faith that man is
immortal.
Sarah Herron.
G. T., Dec. 11, 1852.
�No. 5. Testimony of 2 to class VII. S. C. Hewitt and John M. Spear,
“ The Prisoner's Friend."
I select the three following from the many remarkable cures which
have been performed through Mr. Spear, as specimens of the others. I
have heard the first from 'Mr. Spear himself (as I have heard him
relate many more). There can be no doubt as to Mr. Spear’s perfect
sincerity in this whole matter, and the circumstances are such as to
preclude the possibility of his being the dupe of any hallucination.
On the 21st of March, 1852, Mr. Spear’s hand, moving with no con
scious volition, took the pen and wrote, “ You must go to Abington (a
town twenty miles distant), to-morrow night — you will be wanted
there — call on David Vining.” * * * *
Never having had any experience in cases of this kind, and not
knowing anything about Mr. Vining, or what was wanted, Mr. Spear
was very sceptical, and hesitated to obey this request, till it was
urgently pressed several times, and many promises of good results had
been made.
He finally consented to go, as the unseen power directed. He re
ceived several special and encouraging communications in the course of
his journey. Among others was a perfectly satisfactory explanation of
why he was directed to go to Abington, instead of the adjoining town
of Weymouth, where Mr. Vining lived, it being important that he
should go to Abington. From Abington he took with him Mr. Phi
lander Shaw, by spirit direction, and went to Mr. Vining’s house in
W eymouth.
Mr. Spear had never heard of Mr. Vining before, and knew nothing
of the purpose of his being sent to him, till he arrived and found Mr.
Vining very sick with neuralgia.
He had been in the most extreme pain for ten days, and during all
this time had not slept. Mr. Spear immediately felt moved to sit by
his side; which being done, Mr. Spear’s hand began involuntarily to
move, and rested itself on the head of Mr. Vining, near the ear. The
latter in a moment caught up his foot, saying, “ What are you doing
to my leg ? ”
“ I am not doing anything to your leg,” was the reply.
“Well,” said Mr. Vining, “the pain is all gone.”
*
Mr. Vining being then requested to take his bed, replied that he
was afraid to do so while Mr. Spear was present; but, being reassured,
he consented, and, after a refreshing sleep, which had continued for
�52
some time, he remarked an angel had visited him in his sleep, and done
him good.
Mr. Vining soon went about his business, as usual. This he contin
ued till, in consequence of great exposure, he took a severe cold, which
was followed by neuralgia, of which, in about fifty days from the first
cure, he died; Mr. Spear being prevented, by his doubting friends,
again visiting him.
If, from the fact of his subsequent death, it be considered that his
•first cure was not real, we might urge the same objections to every
case of Christ; — for I presume none will doubt that all he cured have
since died,— how soon after the cure by him is not known.
That the cure of Mr. Vining was real and complete, has been fully
confirmed by many witnesses. Should any one doubt, I would refer
him to Mr. Philander Shaw, of Abington, Mass., and Mr. Seth Hunt,
of Weymouth, both of whom testify to the facts.
Again, Mr. Spear was directed, by what purported to be Swedenborg,
to go to Georgetown. He went, not knowing for what purpose. Then
Benjamin Franklin told him he must go and see a woman who had
been struck by lightning. He found the person, by the superior direc
tion. * * * * His hand was placed upon hers by the same
power. She then remarked to her husband, “ I can breathe easier.”
and she was very soon relieved from all pain.
But in this case, as not unfrequently occurs with others, Mr. Spear
took the pain himself, which continued about two hours. As further
testimony to the above case, Mrs. Tenny, of Georgetown, Mass., may
be referred to.
On another occasion, Mr. S. C. Hewitt, as he writes and has person
ally confirmed, called, with Rev. Mr. W., to see some remarkable dia
grams, which Mr. Spear’s hand, by the same involuntary power,
executed.
They were then introduced to each other, and seated near together.
While they were in conversation, Mr. Spear’s hand rose, as he sup
posed, to take that of Mr. W.; but his forefinger was placed on Mr.
W.’s head, where it remained several minutes. During the time, the
question was asked, “ What name do phrenologists give that part of the
brain ?”
Answer. “ Ideality.”
To which Mr. W. replied, “ That is the leading element of my mind.
The love of the ideal and the beautiful.”
This remark led the company to suppose the movement was meant
�53
simply to signify that fact; but, when the finger was removed, Mr. W.
remarked that when he came in he had a severe pain in both sides of
the head, in precisely the region where the finger rested. Mr. Spear
then asked,
“How does your head feel now?”
“ The pain is all gone," was the reply.”
In this instance, Mr. Spear’s hand had taken the pain, which, how
ever, passed away in a few minutes.
[For the full detail of these and other cases, see Murray’s “Mes
sages. By S. C. Hewitt.”]
Now, the fact of relieving the pain might be accounted for on what
are called mesmeric principles; but that will not account for the intel
ligent directing power, which, in these, as in all other cases, is entirely
foreign to Mr. Spear.
No. 6.
Testimony oflto class VII. x Cure of Mrs. Rhodes, of Lynn,
Mass. The following was given to me personally:
My wife had been confined to her bed nine months — had been
under the care of two physicians, Dr. J. U. Nye four months, and Dr.
Eastman two months, but continued to grow worse. She had lost the
use of her limbs, the muscles of her arms being so contracted as to draw
her hands up nearly to her face. Her legs were drawn up in a similar
manner, and her hips drawn out of their socket-joints. The lower ver
tebra had been split and displaced in child-birth. She had the spine
complaint, was dropsical, and greatly afflicted with darting neuralgic
pains in all parts of her system. She only prayed for death to relieve
her sufferings. The neighbors all thought she could live but a short
time.
This was her situation when Mr. John M. Spear was called to see
her by me (she having no faith in him, or in spiritualism). Mr. Spear
described her disease, and told her what to do. She obeyed him, and,
though she has taken no medicine, she is better now than she has
before been for ten years, being able to do all her work, and walk two
miles without difficulty. A few days after Mr. Spear came to see her,
on Sunday night, her arms were drawn down; she was taken from the
bed to a chair with her bed-clothes about her; she used her arms very
freely, dressed herself, and walked about the room — the family all
being present, and called in the neighbors (Mr. George Summers,
Mr. E. A. Summers and wife, and ten others). The vertebra above
referred to was replaced by the unseen agency, and likewise her hip
�54
joints by the same. During these three surgical operations (each of
which was performed at different times) she distinctly felt the impres.
sion of unseen hands about the parts operated upon.
Boston, April 25th, 1854.
Benjamin A. Rhodes.
No. 7. Testimony of 6 to class VII. Mrs. Semantha Mettler, of Hart
ford, Conn.
Testimony of Deacon Silas Mosman, of Cabotville. — Be it
known that my daughter Mary, now twenty-two years old, has, for
about three years past, been mostly confined to her bed, and unable to
walk alone. About the middle of July last, she lost all power of the
organs of speech, and a few days after was deprived of her eye-sight,
becoming entirely blind, with no power even to raise her eyelids. All
possible means have been used for her relief; she has been attended by
twelve or thirteen physicians, some of them being of the highest order
and skill. She continued in about the same condition, changing only
for the worse; and was finally told that she could never be any better.
By this time we had almost despaired of any relief; but, through a
kind providence, we noticed a letter in one of the Springfield papers
respecting the claims and powers of Mrs. Mettler, the clairvoyant, in
healing and restoring the sick. We immediately applied to her, and,
after several attempts, we were fortunate in getting her to make us a
visit. On the evening of the above date she called, made a clairvoyant
examination of Marv’s case, and prescribed for her. The next day,
Mrs. M. called again, and by manipulations quieted her a good deal.
On the next Wednesdav she called a third time to see her, and in
about half an hour, with nothing but her own hands, she succeeded, to
the joy of all, in opening her eyes, and restoring her sight and
SPEECH! The next day Mrs. Mettler called again, and, to our
astonishment, she triumphantly put the case beyond all question, by
making my daughter walk entirely alone, which she had not done for
three years. Such are the facts in this most remarkable case. Mary
continues to see, talk and walk; and, for all we know, she must be
restored to her former good health.
Silas Mosman.
Cabotville, Jan. 9, 1850.
Testimony of Mr. S. Pease.
This is to certify that I have been suffering from an extreme weak
ness of the lungs and chest; a great shortness of breath, produced
�55
from what one physician termed adhesion of the lungs, though others
were not able to determine what the real difficulty was. Although
under medical skill and treatment, my difficulties seemed to increase;
my case continued to grow alarming, as I had already been suffering
for over two years, and unable to do scarcely anything, or get any re
lief. At this stage of my difficulties, I made up my mind that there
was no help for me; this was also the opinion of the physician. [Here
he mentions the circumstances of calling on Mrs. Mettler, and says:]
Without the least faith, I ventured to have her, in her clairvoyant
state, explore my then hopeless condition, which she did with the most
perfect accuracy, pointing out facts almost impossible to believe without
a previous knowledge of them. *
*
* She then succeeded in
affecting me psychologically, and in a few moments caused me to
breathe as free as any one. My lungs felt strong and easy; hope
revived. I then commenced taking her prescriptions, and following her
directions. Soon after I commenced her treatment, I took the worst
and most prostrating cold that man could ever be afflicted with; yet,
under her treatment, with the cold upon my lungs, I felt better and
stronger than before, though all the neighbors thought it impossible for
me to live.
But here I am, in less than four months, under her treatment,
restored. I am now able to do any kind of work, and can walk as far
in a day as any other person.
I know a great many, in this and other neighborhoods, that have
been under her treatment. Cases that seemed to baffle all ordinary skill
by the regular physicians have been restored by this lady’s wonderful
and mysterious power.
N. B. This testimony is given of my own free will, unsolicited on
her part. I give it as a duty I owe Mrs. Mettler, as well as to the
public.
M. S. Pease.
Granby, Mass., October, 1850.
Taken from a Statement published in the “Hartford Times."
My daughter, some three years since, became afflicted with inflamma
tion in her eyes, produced at first, as we suppose, by getting a piece of
time in one of them. This inflammation continued to increase until both
eyes became greatly inflamed, depriving her almost entirely of her sight.
She then took cold, and this increased the inflammation, with renewed
distress and sufferings. [Here follows a statement of the case under
�56
the hands of three successive physicians, one for three months, the
others for “ some time,” the case growing worse all the while. He says:]
During the attendance of these physicians, there was a spot or felon
upon the eye, which was continually increasing; and the inflammation
became so extreme that it was with great difficulty that she could
distinguish one person from another. She could scarcely open her
eyelids, and that only in the dark. Of course, now, all hope for her
restoration was at an end, and thus she remained suffering intensely.
Finally, through the persuasion of a kind friend, as a last resort, we
took her to Mrs. Mettler, on the 21st of May last. Mrs. Mettler, while
in the clairvoyant state, gave a perfect and minute detail of the causes
of her complaint, and then prescribed for her; and, to our utter
astonishment, after the application of her prescription, in less than two
weeks she could see quite well, improving almost as if by miracle; and
in less than four weeks she could see to read, and has continued so
ever since.
The cry of humbug is a miserable substitute for facts, especially
when facts are daily multiplying in our own city, to say nothing of
what is occurring all over the wide world.
Almost daily I hear of some poor sufferer relieved or restored by
this lady’s powers. She seems to have all the worst cases to attend,
after they have passed through the physicians’ hands.
Hartford, Dec. 13, 1852.
George Staples.
Bridgeport, April, 1852.
I hereby certify that I had been troubled for several years with
ulcerations in my throat, caused at first by slight colds, inducing a
disease which is generally called quinsy. * * At length it became
a seated bronchial affection, and continued in a constant state of ulcer
ation for several months, baffling all the skill of the physicians, and
almost the last power of endurance in the sufferer. * * Finally, as
a last resort, by the desire of my friends I was persuaded to consult
Mrs. Mettler. I soon obtained relief from her prescription, and my
throat has never ulcerated once since the first application of the
remedies proposed by her. I am now happy in declaring myself in the
full enjoyment of physical health and mental harmony, with the fullest
assurance that the weak things of the earth do sometimes confound
the wise. May the life of this good woman long be preserved, as her
work is an exemplification of the angels’ mission to suffering humanity.
Eliza C. Leeds.
�57
Cure of Joseph Haight.
It is well known to my friends that I am subject to a disease which
may properly be termed an inflammatory action of the heart. Those
attacks have been so severe that many times I have longed for that
release of soul, which is commonly termed death. All applications of
medical skill have only seemed to aggravate the difficulty; and, for sev
eral years past, my disease has bid defiance to all strictly professional
means of relief. After having sunk so low as to be almost beyond the
reach of hope, I applied to Mrs. Mettler, whose powers and sympathies
are so widely known, and obtained from her the relief I had long
despaired of. * * * * A more wonderful event than this, per
haps, is not recorded in the annals of medicine. * * * * The
relief from my intense suffering appeared truly miraculous.
Bridgeport, April 2, 1853.
Joseph Haight.
The following is a very severe case of a child being burned.
writer says:
The
We had two physicians in attendance, but without much effect. The
case had become one of long standing; and his sufferings were
approaching a fearful crisis. * * * * We are grateful to Mrs,
Mettler for her kindness in restoring our little boy; for we know that
she has been the instrument of saving his life.
William Dibble.
Darien, Ct., May, 1852.
These cases are taken from the “ Biograghy of Mrs. Semantha Met
tler,” by Frances H. Green. They are by no means the most remark
able, but we selected them on account of the directness of the testimony,
and the brevity with which they could be stated. In all these cases,
Mrs. Mettler has given prescriptions; but there are many cases of
her direct and immediate cure of very malignant diseases, simply by
“ laying on the hands.”
It may be asked What has all this to do with spirits ? Truly, I have
not related that part of these or other experiences which put it beyond
a doubt that she, as she firmly believes, is assisted by spirits. But, if
any one will take the trouble to make himself acquainted with the
facts, he will have no doubt upon the subject. I cannot forbear to
quote the following words, spoken by Mr. Spear under the spirit influ
ence :
6
�58
On the 29th of January, 1853, Mr. Spear was requested by a spirit
communication to go to Hartford. He set off immediately ; arrived in
Hartford at half-past eight, when he was distinctly impressed to go to
the house of Mrs. Mettler. There he, in the superior condition, gave a
very beautiful and impressive address to Mrs. Mettler, relative to her
mission, &c. This address closed by saying :
“ This medium has been commissioned to wisely instruct this woman
for a high purpose. There is to open before this woman a new and
beautiful labor. At ten o’clock, to-morrow, the purpose of his mission
to this place will be unfolded. Let this woman be in the region of the
Tranquillities at that hour.”
At the appointed time, Mr. Spear made the following address :
“ Father of fathers, and Deity of deities, thy wills be done on the
earths as they are done in the Heaven of heavens.
“ This fondly loved one shall be consecrated to the Charities. Thou,
Lcuceforth, shalt be called Charity. That shall be thy denomination.
“ Thou shalt say to the sufferer on his couch, Arise, and it shall be
so; thou shalt say to the maimed, Be thou whole, and it shall be so;
thou shalt say to the blind, Open thou thy closed eyes, and this also
shall be; thou shalt say to the dead, Arise, and it shall come to pass.
Thou shalt pass through the humble vale, over the lofty^nountains, over
rivers and seas, and the elements shall be at thy command. Naught
shall disturb thy sweet placidity. No want shalt thou know.
“ This open hand shall bless others; and thou shalt thyself be blest.
This foot shall go and come. Thou shalt mount up like a bird of the lofti
est flight, and thou shalt never be wearied. Thou shalt ‘ go and come,
nor ever fear to die, till thou art called home.’ Happy shall they be
who behold thy sweet countenance. Blessed are they on whom thy
hand rests. Receive now this blessed power.
“ This hand shall be unfolded to dispense blessings far and wide.
Blessings shall descend upon thee. In blessing others, thou thyself
shalt be blest. Thou shalt go on in a mysterious way, dispensing
blessings. It is done.”
No. 8. Testimony oflto class VII.
From the “New Era”
Rutland, Vt., April 18, 1853.
Last summer a lady in New Hampshire was severely afflicted with
a cancer on the face. She had been in the habit of applying a great
variety of things with a view to its cure, but she grew worse continu
ally. [Here follows the direction of the spirits, and the manner of
�59
getting it, which was entirely unsolicited:] Soon after this, says the
writer, I visited the lady, and gave her the above information. She
very readily consented to a trial, and in less than three months, to the
surprise of all, she was thoroughly cured.
Charles C. York.
I hereby certify that I have been afflicted with poor health for three
years. The last year, I have been confined for weeks, in such a con
dition that I could not be turned in my bed for two weeks at a time.
My doctor said I had a tumor in my side. It appeared to grow daily,
causing great pain, — so much so, that, for the last year, I could not
walk or ride a mile without making myself sick. My doctor would do
something to relieve me' for a few days, but said I was liable to die
any day. Last February, C. C. York, a healing or clairvoyant medium,
of Claremont, N. H., came to this place, by spirit direction. I called
on him, at the suggestion of my husband, but without faith. The
said medium was immediately put into the unconscious state without
any visible agency, and described the feelings I had experienced for
many years, and told the cause of the difficulty, and said that I could
be cured. He then prescribed for me, and I made a trial. The tumor
disappeared in less than two weeks. In one week I walked five miles
in a day without pain. In ten days I rode in a carriage fifteen miles
and back in one day without inconvenience or distress, and am now in
good health.
There are others also who are receiving the same blessings here,
through this medium. I most cheerfully recommend him to the
afflicted.
Pamelia A. Nichols.
Reading, Mass., March 30, 1854.
I hereby certify that the within statement of my wife, Pamelia A.
Nichols, is true.
William Nichols.
Reading, Mass., March 30, 1854.
Another Cure. — I hereby certify, that my health has been very poor
for some years, with a general weakness, nervousness, neuralgia and
weak stomach; and all the remedies I tried only made me worse.
Since last December, I have been unable to sit up all day. The first
of this month, seeing Mrs. P. A. Nichols restored to health, I sent for
Doctor York. He called, and soon went into the clairvoyant state.
He described my feelings, told the cause of my difficulty, and said I
could be cured. I followed his directions, and I now can Sleep as
�60
usual. My food does not distress rue. I ean sit up and labor all day
without being nervous or in pain. I cheerfully recommend Doctor
York to the afflicted.
Mbs. Harriet Nelson.
Reading, Mass., March 30, 1854.
Case VIII.
No. 1. Testimony of Mr. Garrison.
However much any one may differ in opinion from Mr. Garrison,
all must admit his candor and unimpeachable veracity.
[From the Liberator of March 3, 1854.]
We are often privately asked, what we think of the “Spiritual
Manifestations,” so called, and whether we have had any opportunities
to investigate them.
When we first heard of the “Rochester knockings,” we supposed
(not personally knowing the persons implicated) that there might be
some collusion in that particular case, or, if not, that the phenomena
would ere long elicit a satisfactory solution, independent of all spiritual
agency. As the manifestations have spread from house to house, from
city to city, from one part of the country to the other, across the
Atlantic into Europe, till now the civilized world is compelled to
acknowledge their reality, however diverse in accounting for them, —
as these manifestations continue to increase in variety and power, so
that all suspicion of trick or imposture becomes simply absurd and
preposterous, — and as every attempt to find a solution for them in
some physical theory relating to electricity, the odic force, clairvoyance,
and the like, has thus far proved abortive, — it becomes. every intelli
gent mind to enter into an investigation of them with candor and fair
ness, as opportunity may offer, and to bear such testimony in regard to
them as the facts may warrant, no matter what ridicule it may excite
on the part of the uninformed or sceptical.
As for ourselves, most assuredly we have been in no haste to jump
to a conclusion in regard to phenomena so universally diffused, and of
so extraordinary a character. For the last three years, we have kept
pace with nearly all that has been published on the subject; and we
have witnessed, at various times, many surprising “ manifestations; ”
and our conviction is, that they cannot be accounted for on any other
theory than that of spiritual agency. This theory, however, is not
unattended with discrepancies, difficulties and trials. It is certain
that, if it be true, there are many deceptive spirits, and that the apos-
�61
tolic injunction to “believe not every spirit,” but to try them in every
possible way, is specially to be regarded, or the consequences may prove
very disastrous.
We might write a pretty long essay on what we have seen and heard,
touching this matter; but this we reserve for some other occasion.
We shall now merely describe some of the phenomena which we wit
nessed in New York, during our recent visit to that city.
The medium, in this instance, was Mrs. Brown, formerly Miss Fish,
of Rochester. The circle was composed of six gentlemen and four
ladies. The table was of ample dimensions, so as to accommodate the
party without inconvenience. We sat around it in the usual manner
(the hands of each individual resting upon the table), and engaged in
social chit-chat. While waiting for some demonstrations from the
invisible world, we had our right foot patted as by a human hand, and
the right leg of our pantaloons strongly pulled, by some unseen agency.
This was done repeatedly, though we said nothing at the time ; but,
thinking it might be possible that the foot of some one of the company
might undesignedly be in contact with our own, we cautiously felt
around to ascertain if this were the case, but there was nothing tangi
ble ; and the moment we put our foot down, the same familiar tappings
and jerks followed. Still, we made no disclosure. Raps were then
distinctly heard, and the alphabet was called for. Letter by letter, it
was rapped out that the medium must put her feet in the custody of
one of the party, and then we were told to wait for demonstrations.
This was evidently done to convince every one present that the medium
had nothing to do with the phenomena, by way of fraud or collusion;
and, during the entire sitting (a protracted one), before any remarka
ble feat was performed, the medium was invariably ordered to take
such a position as to render it clearly impossible for her to be privy to
it. The presence of several spirits was indicated during the evening,
and satisfactory tests were made; but the most communicative and
efficient one purported to be that of “ Jesse Hutchinson.” It was he
who had been playing bo-peep with us under the table ; and, now that
the medium was secured, to the satisfaction of all present, he renewed
his salutations, not only to us personally, but to nearly every one of
the circle. The ladies had their dresses, and the gentlemen their panta
loons, pulled, and their feet patted, in the most emphatic manner.
Heavy raps were now made on the floor; and, on being requested to
that effect, “Jesse” beat a march, — it seemed to us Washington’s
march, — in admirable time, and in the most spirited manner; no
*
6
�62
drummer could have done it more skilfully. He was then asked to
beat time, while the company joined in singing several tunes, — “The
Old Granite State,” among others, — which he did to perfection. He
then spelt out the following communications by the alphabet: “ I am
most happy, dear friends, to be able to give you such tangible evidence
of my presence. The good time has truly come. The gates of the
New Jerusalem are open, and the good spirits, made more pure by the
change of spheres, are knocking at the door of your souls.”
Isaac T. Hopper now indicated his presence to his daughter, who
was at the table, and made some physical demonstrations. His message,
as rapped out, was as follows : “ I am truly happy to echo back joy
and gladness from my happy home. Truth is bearing its way on glori
ously, and the subject of spiritualism will work miracles in the cause
of reform. My friends, the rock of prejudice begins to yield to the
hammer of truth; and, now, with the aid of good spirits, you can blast
it without the use of powder.” And he subsequently added, “I want
you to see that spirits have power to move matter.”
It was next rapped out, “ Put the bell under the table.” We, accord
ingly, took the bell (an ordinary table-bell), and put it down at our
feet. In a few moments, it was smartly rung by an unseen power, and
then fell to the floor. This was done again and again,— the bell mak
ing the circuit of the table, and ringing so loudly that the servant-girl,
in an adjacent room, supposing she was needed, came in to inquire what
was wanted.
Next, a cane with a hooked handle was laid on the carpet, under the
table. Immediately, it struck the table violently, and rubbed along
the under surface its entire length. It then fell to the floor, and
traversed over and under the feet of several of the party, like a living
;Snake, — in one or two instances, the foot being involuntarily lifted to
enable it to pass under. Its movements were exceedingly curious. At
one -time, we caught hold of the handle as it protruded itself by our
side, and .endeavored to pull it from under the table ; but the resist
ance was as strong as though another hand was grasping it at the
opposite end.
We were now directed to put several things under the table, observe
how they were placed, and wait for results. When told to look, we
found that a penknife was missing, nor could it be discovered by the
most careful search. On again resuming our seats, we were told to
take another look; and, behold! there was the penknife, precisely
where it had been originally placed !
�63
Next, we were directed to lay some writing-paper, with, a pencil upon
it, under the table. This was done ; and, in a few moments, on being
told to look, we found the word “Jesse” written upon it in a scrawling
hand, as though made with great difficulty. The same experiment was
again made, and “ Isaac T. H.” (Hopper), was written very legibly, and
in a different hand. A third time this was done, and “ Mary Jane ”
was recorded, — the name of a young lady who had been communi
cating with a gentleman present. The first two autographs we have
in our possession.
We now made two requests of “ Jesse,” to convince us yet more
strongly of his presence. The first was, to press our right foot firmly
to the floor, and to make loud raps directly under it. This was quickly
done, the foot being grasped as by a mortal hand, and vibrating to the
raps thus strangely made. The second was, if possible, to take us by
the right hand with his own, so as to make the touch palpable beyond
a doubt. Keeping the hand carefully in custody between our knees as
we sat, — the hands of all the company, including those of the medium,
being on the table, — we, in a few moments, had it patted, first on one
side, then on the other, briskly, and repeatedly, as if by another hand,
having a negative feeling, as though there was no warmth in it, but
natural in every other respect. For the general gratification, the same
thing was done to others of the party.
How shall demonstrations like these be accounted for, except on the
hypothesis of spirit-agency ? If we cannot positively affirm that Isaac
T. Hopper and Jesse Hutchinson were present on that occasion, we are,
at least, prepared to declare, as our own conviction, as well as that of
the entire company, we believe, that invisible spirits, not of this mun
dane sphere, performed the phenomena we have thus briefly narrated to
our readers.
Note. — I, with a sceptical friend, took particular pains to call on
Mr. Garrison, in reference to his experience, when he stated so many
particulars, and other important facts, as to dispel every possible
doubt.
No. 2. Testimony oflto classes I and V. Statement of Adin Ballou.
Extracted from his “ Spirit Manifestations.'"
“ I have heard the time and metre of tunes beaten out with the utmost
accuracy, and by several rappers in unison, not only while the tune was
being played or sung, but afterwards, without accompaniment; and I
�64
am as certain that these sounds were not made by any conscious mortal
agency as I am of the best authenticated facts in the common transac
tions of life.
“ I have seen tables and light-stands move about in the most astonish
ing manner, by what purported to be the same invisible agency, with
only the gentle and passive resting of the hands or fingers of the
medium upon the table. Also, many distinct movings of such objects
by request, without the touch of the medium at all.
“ I have known these invisibles, by request, to write their names with
a common plumbago-pencil on a clean sheet of paper, half a dozen of
them, each in a different hand. [He states the circumstances of 'their
writing, holding the pen themselves, and concludes it with] This (writing
without hands) was repeatedly tested with the same results, under cir
cumstances putting all suspicion of fraud and jugglery entirely at rest.”
■ [There are several other more convincing things which he states he
has seen, but they are of such a nature as to require too much room
for a place here.]
No. 3. Testimony of 1 to class I. Statement of Mr. William
1
Bugbee.
[I give the following statement as a specimen of many which I could
present from the most reliable persons. Mr. Bugbee lives in Roxbury,
and, so far as I can learn, is a man of irreproachable reputation. I
give his statement as I took it down at the time, and to which he
authorized me to attach his name.]
I have seen tables move, beat time to tunes, move contrary to my
request, when I know no person was touching them.
Mrs. Newton [whose testimony I have given] described my son, who
had been long at sea ; told every particular about him, all which were
true. She said, among other things, “he is cross-eyed;” which is true.
She said, “ he has a sore on his leg,” which she also described. This
we knew nothing of till a long time after, when he came home ; then
he confirmed the whole by showing the scar. He was greatly aston
ished that we could know anything about it. Mrs. Newton could have
no means of knowing that we had a son.
My daughter, who became a medium, said in the spiritual state, on the
19th of March, “ I see the ship in which is my brother crossing the
line.” This also proved true.
William Bugbee.
Harmony Hall, Boston, May 11, 1854.
�65
Case IX.
No. 1.
A Test.
About the first of January, 1854, the spirit of Laura F. Stevens
spelled out by raps, “ Your friend, Ellen Cronan, is dead.” When
did she die? “Jan. 1st, 1854.” What was her disease and age?
“ Her disease was lung fever; her age, fifteen years the 17th of March.”
Where did she reside at the time of her death ? “ In Lawrence, Mass.,
at No. 53 Linwell-st.” Do you know her father’s name ? “ It is Sam,
uel W. Cronan. His business is brick-making.”
Mary E. Kendall (the medium) had for a few weeks attended school
with Ellen Cronan in South Boston, six years since. Mary was then
eight years of age. This was all we ever knew of Ellen Cronan, or
any of her folks, and did not know where they lived.
But we directed the following letter in accordance with the directions
above given:
“ Sir : I have learned that your daughter Ellen is dead. Will you
please give me the particulars concerning her death, and direct to D.
C. Kendall, No. 1 India Wharf. I am very anxious to know all about
it.
“ Boston.”
A few weeks after, a reply was received, as follows :
“ Lawrence, Mass., Jan. 25, 1854.
“ Miss Kendall : You will excuse me for not answering your letter
before. We are preparing to remove from this place, and are very
busy at present. Your very singular request, for me to give you the
whole particulars of my daughter’s death, immediately led me to sup
pose that you were what is termed a ‘ spirit rapper.’ But I will give
them to you, as you wish it. She died New-Year’s night, aged fifteen
years. Her birthday would have been on March 17; disease, lung
fever. My business is brick-making; but, as it has not been very
pressing lately, and was not, especially when your letter arrived, I
began searching for a medium. I found one, and the following words
were spelled out: ‘ Dear Father, I requested a spirit to send to you
for the particulars of my death, through the mediumship of Mary E.
Kendall, in South Boston, to convince you, and to give her a test.
Direct your letter to her, and this wiH be a test for you.’ I shall
have to become a believer in this, which I have so unmercifully con
�G6
demned and ridiculed the idea of, if this test be true ; for this reason,
I have not directed as you desired me to. Most respectfully,
“ 53 Linwell-st.
Samuel AV. Cronan.”
Note. — Mrs. Kendall and her daughter both testify to the above,
and have the letter received from Mr. Cronan, which I have seen.
J. H. Fowler.
Last Tuesday afternoon, immediately after I had taken my seat in
the school-room, my hand was moved, and wrote, “ You have lost your
bracelet; you will find it in the lower hall, broken in pieces.” This
was the first I knew of its being gone. I immediately went below, and
found it as was stated.
Mary E. Kendall.
South Boston, May 18th, 1854.
Note. — I received the above statement from Miss Kendall, and
saw the pieces of the bracelet referred to.
J. H. Fowler.
No. 2. Spirit delivers a Message. From “ Spiritual Telegraph,” March
12, 1853.
S. B. Brittan.—Dear Sir: On the evening of Feb. 2d, 1852,
while a circle was convened at our residence in Lowell, my wife
inquired if Louisa (our deceased daughter) was with us, and was
answered in the affirmative. In reply to the question, “Are you often
with Susan ” (our only surviving daughter, who was then travelling
with her friends in Georgia), the spirit answered that she was. My
wife then requested the spirit to “ go and stay with Susan, and keep
her from all harm while she was away.” To which Louisa replied by
rapping that she would. This, it should be remembered, was on the
evening of Feb. 2d. In about one week from that time, we received
a letter from Susan, dated Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 3d, 1852, in which the
following fact was stated. “ Last night we had a sitting, and Louisa
came and rapped for the alphabet, and spelled out to me this sentence,
namely, ‘ Mother wants me to come and stay with you, and keep you
from all harm while away from home.'
Louisa.”
Thus you see that some invisible agent, claiming to be my daughter,
received the communication in Lowell, Mass., and delivered it, word
for word, in the town of Atlanta, Georgia, and all within the space of
an hour.
B. McFarland.
�67
jVo. 3. Testimony of Rev. D. F. Goddard, Boston.
This is to certify that, during a long investigation of the modern
phenomena which are now attracting attention in our own country and
in the old, I have repeatedly seen my own table, in my own room, to
which I know there is no nice machinery affixed for purposes of decep
tion, without any contact whatever of earthly kind, raised, tipped,
moved about the room, as if a strong man was there at work. Also,
a pianoforte played upon in the same way, without mortal, contact, pro
ducing most beautiful music, — an ocean piece, in which a storm was
represented succeeded by a calm. These phenomena occurred in the
presence of several other individuals of both sexes, all of whom saw,
and all of whom are ready to testify. I have also received from a
medium, who never saw me before, and knew nothing of my family,
the fact of my father’s death, his name, and a perfect fac-simile of his
hand-writing; and this when I was not expecting such hand-writing,
and could not have possibly imitated it, without a copy, in the labor
of a three months.
D. F. Goddard.
Boston, May 21, 1854.
No. 4. From the “New Era."
New Orleans, March 31, 1854.
Brother Hewitt. — Dear Sir : It is with much pleasure that I
take this opportunity to give you a description of the manifestations as
witnessed by myself and twenty-four others, at Jonathan Koon’s spirit
room, in Athens County, Ohio, on the evenings of the 17th, 18th and
19th of February last, in order that you may publish the statement
in your paper, if you wish, with the use of some of our names, as you
may think proper.
On the following evening, we had another sitting, when they beat a
march on the drum, and then carried the tambourine all around over
our heads, playing on it the while. They then dropped it on the table.
Then they took the triangle from the wall, and carried it all around, as
they did the other instruments, for some time. We could only hear
the dull sound of the steel; then would peal forth the full ring of the
instrument. They let this fall on the table also. After this, they
spoke through the trumpet to all, stating that they were glad to see
them. Then they went to a gentleman who was playing on the violin,
and took it out of his hand up into the air, all around, thrumming the
�68
strings, and playing as well as mortals can do, sounding very sweetly.
They soon returned it to its owner again, and then they brought the
accordeon out, and put it on the other table, and played on it; but, one
key being out of order, they took up the trumpet, and said they did
not like bad instruments to play upon. They now played most sweetly
on the trumpet; then took the harp, and brought both into tune, and
played on both instruments, and at the same time sung with some four
voices, sounding like female voices, and which, indeed, made the room
swell with melody.
After this, they made their hands visible again, and took paper, and
brought it out on the other table, and commenced writing slowly, when
one of the visitors asked them if they could not write faster; the hand
then moved so fast we could hardly see it go, but all could hear the
pencil move over the paper for some five minutes or so. When it was
done, the spirit took up the trumpet and spoke, saying the communica
tion was for friend Pierce; and at the same time the hand came up to
him, and gave the paper into his hand. Now the spirit said, if friend
Pierce would put his hand on the table, they would shake hands with
him for a testimony to the world, as he could do much good with such
a fact while on his spiritual mission. He then put his hand on the
table by their request, and the hand came up to him, and took hold of
his fingers, and shook them. Then it went away, but soon came back
again, and patted his hand some minutes, then left again. Now it
came back the third time, and, taking his whole hand for some five
minutes, he examined it all over, and found it as natural as a human
hand, even to the nails on the fingers. He traced the hand up as far
as the wrist, and found nothing any further than that point. The hand
did not feel as warm as a human hand, but it did not feel of a chilly
coldness. It remained with him until he was satisfied. Then it shook
him heartily by the full hand, and disappeared some ten minutes.
After the hand had gone, he felt a very queer sensation on the back
of his hand, where the thumb of the spirit-hand had been.
On the same evening, two spirits spoke through Mr. Pierce — one
on the first of the evening, and another the last part — to some fifty
persons.
You are at liberty to make such use of our names, private or public,
as you may think proper. Yours, truly,
D. Hasteller, Pittsburg.
Lewis Dugdale, Farmer, Ohio.
A. P. Pierce, Philadelphia. Chas. C. Stillman, Marion, Ohio.
H. F. Partridge, Wheeling, Va.
�69
No. 5. Testimony of 1 to class I.
I hereby certify that, in the month of January last, while in the
office of Mr. Cummings (No. 40 State-st., Boston), I was lifted, by
what I believe spirit agency, from the floor, and placed on a table.
Amos Cummings and wife, George Clapp, and Miss Susan Bayly, all
of Boston, each of whom were present on the occasion, are ready to
certify to the above fact.
I further certify, that, soon after this, while in the house of Mr.
Andrew J. Page, in Danvers, I was again lifted from the floor to the
table, by the same power. On this occasion were present Mr. Cum
mings and wife, and Mr. Clapp and William D. Emerson, Mr. Page
and wife, James Page, of Lowell, and many others.
Boston, May 2, 1854.
Mary H. Ide, East Boston.
Edward P. Fowler, N. Y.
No. 6. Testimony of 1 to classes III. and, IV; of 10 to class V; of
8 to classes I. and II.
The experience of Mr. Fowler is given at length in the Telegraph,
and in Judge Edmonds’ “ Spiritualism,” from which we take the follow
ing testimony:
The phenomena are so remarkable that it requires much direct testi
mony to substantiate them. This we shall present. Mr. Fowler says:
“ On this night (Nov. 21, 1851), after extinguishing my light, and
before getting in bed, I noticed a bright light over my bed, which I
should judge was a foot in diameter. At this I was not surprised,
because I had been accustomed to see such lights, with the exception
that this was brighter than usual. I proceeded to bed, where I had
lain, probably, five minutes, when I heard footsteps in the room.
“ My face was, at that time, turned towards the wall. I looked
around toward the window, and beheld a form, apparently that of a
man forty years old, and a little more than six feet high, walking
from the centre of the room toward window No. 1 ” [as given in the
diagram], “ where he met another man, not so tall, who seemed to have
come through that window. I did not see him come through, but first
saw him when one or two feet from the window, on the inside. They
stopped near the window, and spoke with each other for a few minutes,
and then came to my bed-side, and the taller one said to me, ‘ Arise and.
take thy pen, for I will dictate.’ ”
7
�70
Mr. Fowler did not arise, but states that these two spirits went to
the table, where they were joined by a third and a fourth, coming in at
the window, as the others. The fourth he believes to be Franklin.
He continues : “ After the four had consulted together for the space
of half an hour, the first and second one came to my bed-side, and
talked with me twenty-five or thirty minutes. I, at the time, fully un
derstood what was said. The two again went to the table, and con
versed with the other two. I could hear them talk, but could not
understand their language.
o
O
“ After staying three hours, from twelve till three, they left, appar
ently going out of the same window at which they came in. They
seemed to disappear from my sight when about a foot from the window,
inside.
“ That I really had possession of my natural senses, I infer from the
following circumstances:
First, I had not been asleep when the scene commenced.
“ Second, The Brooklyn fire-bells, which were tolling for fire when I
went to bed, I could still hear; and, in the course of half an hour, the
City Hall bell, of New York, gave the alarm of fire, which the church
bells repeated. I heard the ‘ Rutgers Hose ’ go by the house, and the
adjacent church-bell toll the four hours, as I lay awake, namely, 12, 1,
2, 3 and 4 o’clock.”
At other interviews of this kind, Mr. Fowler states that the spirits
have written with apparatus of their own ; he has seen them writing,
and produced the manuscripts.
The most remarkable of these is copied into Vol. i. No. 9, of the
Spiritual Telegraph.
It was this motto, Peace, but not without Freedom, signed by
upwards of fifty distinguished names, in fac-similes of their writing
while on the earth.
*
* In the Telegraph, with the copy of this autographical manuscript, is the follow
ing statement, with the signatures, as here given.
We, the undersigned, believing that these are the signatures of the spirits them
selves, and fully concurring in the sentiment expressed, hereunto affix our names,
this twenty-fifth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
John Gray,
Edward P. Fowler,
John F. Gray, M. D.,
William J. Baneb,
S. T. Fowler,
Mrs. Almira L. Fowler,
F. F. Cary,
Mrs. S. A. Partridge,
Mrs. Charlotte F. Wells,
Almon Roff,
Rorert T. Shannon,
Ward Cheney,
Daniel Minthorn,
Dr. R. T. Hallock,
Charles Partridge,
Mrs. Martha H. F. Baneb.
*
�71
In reference to this, Mr. Fowler says : « The original paper, contain
ing the autographs, I found upon my table, about three o’clock one
afternoon, on my return from business; the paper used being a sheet
of drawing-paper, which was incidentally left on my table, and which
I am sure was blank when I left my room in the forenoon. The suc
ceeding autographical manuscript, a representation of which was pub
lished, was executed in my room, on a piece of parchment, left on my
table, by direction of spirits, for that purpose. This was written on
during the night, while I was in my room asleep. I would add, that
many of the signatures on the parchment were entirely strange, having
never seen them before. I have also had several specimens of various
oriental languages, written in my room, on paper which I could identify
as my own, though the languages were unknown to me. These have
been written on, both when I have been in my room and when I have
been absent. Several of the languages referred to I had never seen,
prior to my acquaintance with them through these mystical manu
scripts ; and, of course, did not know what they were, until I had sub
mitted them to a linguist, who read them with facility.
“ The first one which I received was, as I am informed through the
kindness of Prof. Bush, a quotation from the Old Testament, written
in Hebrew. The execution of this occurred about three o’clock in the
afternoon, soon after I had returned from business. I was alone in my
room, when, through the sounds which then occurred in my presence,
I was requested to leave the room for the space of five minutes, during
which interval they (the spirits) promised an attempt to write.
“ I obeyed their request, and went into a room below, where sat my
sister. I told her what had transpired, and, at the expiration of five
minutes, we both ascended to my room. Instead of finding, as we con
jectured we should, some directions written in English, we discovered
this Hebrew quotation, the ink on the paper being still unabsorbed,
although after experiments proved that the ink of a hand heavier than
that in which the Hebrew was written would, on the same kind o?
paper, invariably dry in from two to three minutes.
“ That these writings have not been imposed upon me, I know, because
I had seen some of them written. I have seen them written in day
time, as well as in the night; and that I was in no ‘ abnormal mag
netic state’ I infer from the fact that my consciousness of the circum
stances of outward life remained unimpaired. The ringing of fire-bells,
moving of engines, the tolling of the bells at the ferry, the paddling
�72
of the boat, wheels, and various other noises, common to the city,
were no less distinctly heard than at other times.
That these writings were not perpetrated by myself, I have the
strongest proofs. First, I had never seen any specimens of the lan
guages in which most of the manuscripts were written, and, even to^he
present date, I have seen no other specimens of one or two of the lan
guages used. Second, that power which has communicated to us in our
circle, through the rappings and lifting of tables, professes to have per
formed this writing also.
E. P. Fowler.
New York, August, 1852.
As collateral testimonies to the above facts, and to the veracity of
E. P. Fowler, we submit the following extracts, omitting many par
ticular statements which tend to confirm the whole. First, statement
of facts by Mrs. Charles Partridge, taken from the minutes of the New
York circle.
Persons at the circle have been unexpectedly turned round in the
chairs in which they were sitting, and moved to and from the table.
Chairs and sofas have suddenly started from their positions against the
wall, and moved forward to the centre of the room, when they were
required in the formation of the circle. The persons in the circle have
each successively lifted his own side of the table, and the invisible
power has raised the opposite side correspondingly. Occasionally the
spirits have raised the table entirely, and sustained it in air, at a
distance of from one to three feet from the floor, so that all could
satisfy themselves that no person in the flesh was touching it. Lights
of various colors have been produced in dark rooms. A man has been
suspended in, and conveyed through, the air, a distance of fifty feet, or
more. The communications have been given in various ways, but
chiefly in writing, and by the rappings through the ordinary alphabet
ical mode.
At the close of the session held on the 17th of Nov., 1851, the
spirits, through the alphabet, and in their usual manner, said, “ We
wish to give you a sentence for you to find out and rememberwhen
the following was communicated: “ Debemos amar a todo el mundo aun
a nuestros enemigos." No person present on that occasion understood
a word of this language, but we were subsequently informed that it
was Spanish.
During the session on the 19th of January, 1852, the spirits signi
fied their desire to make a communication in Hebrew. Mr. Partridge
�73
asked who should call the alphabet, and received for answer, “ The
only person present who understands it, — George Bush.” Professor
Bush thereupon proceeded to repeat the Hebrew alphabet, and a com
munication in that language was received.
Many additional facts might be given to show that spirits communi
cate in various languages through E. P. Fowler, but the above will
suffice for the purposes of this statement.
We cannot allow the present occasion to pass without an expression
of the entire confidence and unqualified esteem with which Mr. Fowler
is regarded by the members of the New York circle, and by those who
know him generally. We have had an intimate personal acquaintance
with him for two years past, — some of us for a much longer period, —
and we have only known him as a high-minded and honorable young
man. From the beginning, he has steadily refused to accept the
slightest compensation for his time and services while employed in the
capacity of a medium; and we deem it but an act of simple justice
to Mr. F. to record the fact that, on all occasions, we have found him
entirely unassuming in his deportment, and eminently truthful in his
life. Signed,
K. T. Hallock, M. D.,
W. J. Baner,
J. T. Warner, M. D.,
John F. Gray, M. D.,
Almira L. Fowler,
Samuel T. Fowler.,
A. G. Hull, M. D.,
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Partridge.
Prof. Bush's Testimony. Extract from a letter to Mr. Brittan, dated,
New York, March 27, 1852.
Mr. Brittan : In compliance with your request, I.willingly make
a statement respecting the several communications in Hebrew, Arabic,
Bengalee, &c., which have been submitted to my inspection. Altogether,
the specimens are of an extraordinary character, such as I cannot well
convey by any verbal description.
Mr. E. P. Fowler, since I have become acquainted with him, does
not at all impress me as one who would knowingly practise deception
upon others, however he might possibly be imposed upon himself. He
certainly has no knowledge of the above languages, nor do I think it
likely that he is leagued in collusion with any one who has. A man who
is versed in these ancient and Oriental tongues would be, I think, but
little prone to lend himself as a party to a pitiful scheme of imposture.
It must, indeed, be admitted to be possible that Mr. Fowler may him
self have copied the extracts from printed books; but I can only say
*
7
�74
for myself taat, from the internal evidence, and from a multitude of
collateral circumstances, I am perfectly satisfied that he never did it.
In like manner I am equally confident that he, though the medium on
the occasion, had, consciously, nothing to do with a Hebrew communi
cation which was spelled out to me, in presence of a circle of very
respectable gentlemen, not one of whom, beside myself, had any knowl
edge of that language.
Signed,
Gr. Bush.
[In regard to these writings by E. P. Fowler, Prof. Bush says, in
another letter, published in Spiritual Telegraph, No. 45 :]
Your readers, Mr. Editor, will have seen that I assume no special
patronage of the present or any similar assorted phenomena. It is of
no consequence to me what verdict, in the end, may be pronounced
upon them. * * I accept, on the whole, what is termed the spiritual
theory of these phenomena. But I stop short with this concession.
When we come to the details, — to the identification of persons, to
the subject-matter of what is communicated from this source, — I
acknowledge, with all frankness, that I make precious little of it. For
the most part, it directly contradicts,what I believe to be true, on
evidence to which my calmest and clearest reason assigns a vastly
higher authority ; and therefore, while others will have every confidence
in making these responses oracular, with me they are “ mere leather and
prunella.”
[In this letter he reaffirms his former testimony, using this lan
guage :]
I only know that here are remarkable specimens of writing in dif
ferent tongues, of which young Fowler is ignorant in his ordinary
state, and in the penning of which I, for one, am satisfied that he had no
conscious agency.
QEOt Bush.
Note. — The languages in which the spirits have communicated,
through the mediumship of E. P. Fowler, are Sanscrit, Arabic, Hebrew.
Bengalee, Persian, French, Spanish, Malay and Chinese. I have given
this testimony to a very great length, because the phenomena are of
such a remarkable nature as to seem to justify it. If any one still
doubts the spiritual cause, they have only to examine the whole amount
of testimony given in the Spiritual Telegraph, in the Shekinah, in
Judge Edmonds’ work on Spiritualism, and in various other works on
the subject, in which an overwhelming amount of testimony in regard
to this case may be found, — testimony to which nothing in the New
Testament can compare.
�75
Statement of Martha H. Baner.
Mr. Brittan. — Dear Sir : In relation to the writing in various
languages, made in E. P. Fowler’s room, and said to have been pro
duced by spirits, I am free to say that I have been cognizant of the
execution of some of said manuscripts under circumstances physically
precluding the possibility of their having been done by any human
agency. * *
For the last three years, he has lived in the same house with my
self, and spent much time in the same room; thus giving me an almost
unlimited opportunity to discover any deception, had he been disposed
to attempt anything of the kind, or to detect any hallucination, had any
existed. His moral character I consider to be in every respect unim
peachable.
Signed,
Martha H. Baner.
Statement of Almira L. Fowler.
* * He (Mr. E. P. Fowler) has hitherto sustained an unblemished
reputation for honesty and veracity, and enjoyed the confidence of all
acquainted with him. * * I have evidence sufficient to my own mind
that he had no agency in the writing of the different languages executed
in his room, and purporting to be the products of spirits.
Philadelphia, Sept. 24, 1852.
Signed,
Almira L. Fowler.
�76
Case X.
No. 1. Testimony of 1 to classes I. and V. Testimony of Dr. G. T.
Dexter, New York, taken from his Introduction to “ Spiritualism^
It is now nearly two years since “ spirit rappings ” first attracted
my notice. My unbelief was so great, that I was ready to denounce
the whole subject as one of the greatest humbugs of the day. * * *
I made arrangements with a friend to invite to my house a medium of
considerable powers, and thus to have an opportunity of careful inves
tigation, where I knew there could be no collusion, and the chances for
deception were very few. Previous to this time, about the 10th of
Sept., 1851,1 had never witnessed any spiritual manifestations, neither
had any member of my family been present at a circle; both they and
myself were entirely ignorant of the whole subject.
[He then states that a circle, composed of the persons above referred
to, was formed at his house, with the results of which he was not satis
fied, and invited the medium to stop another day. While at breakfast,
the next morning, they heard raps about the table, &c.]
Immediately after breakfast, we formed a circle, at which were pres
ent myself and all the members of my family, the friend I have before
mentioned, and another friend, who could not be present on the eve
ning previous. The two gentlemen friends and myself were positive
unbelievers, and the others — Mrs. D. and my two daughters — were
in the same catalogue. One of my daughters was about fourteen years
of age, and the other was not yet nine years old. They had no idea
of the modus operandi of spirit on the medium, either by hearing or
by sight.
*
*
*
After we had remained sitting, with the raps heard in every direc
tion, * * * it was written out by the medium, “ Let Mr. G. go into
the other room.” Mr. Gr. went as directed. Now, my youngest
daughter (not being interested) appeared somewhat tired of the affair
before this direction was given ; but, as soon as he left the room, she
became visibly agitated all over, — her countenance changed, and she
was evidently resisting, with considerable effort, what I supposed a
slight attack of illness from being so long shut up in one room. I
asked her if she was sick. She replied, “No, but I cannot keep either
my body or my hands still. I am trembling all over.” As soon as she
�77
uttered these words, her hands and arms were violently shaken.
* * * * She became very much alarmed, and, running to her
mother, who was also deeply moved at this unlooked-for manifestation,
she said, while her voice trembled with fear, “ 0, mother, take me
away ! — take me away ! ” But her arms were forcibly wrested, as it
were, from her mother’s neck, and thrown violently up and down.
* * * * When, having soothed the frightened child, we in
duced her to remain in the circle some twenty minutes longer, her hand
was made to write legibly, and in bold, large letters,— not in the least
resembling her ordinary hand-writing,— answers to all our questions,
both mental and oral; and, what was yet more remarkable, she wrote
rapidly and easily; and the style of composition and the spelling far
excelled what we knew was the character of her original attempts at
composition, and her spelling previous to this time. Being fatigued,
about one o’clock, she was ordered, by the spirits, to leave the circle ;
and, not immediately complying with this direction, her chair was drawn
from under her by some invisible agency, and she fell to the floor. She
arose to go into the next room, and, as she was passing a sofa, she was
taken up bodily by some unseen force, and deposited upon it as gently
as if lain there by her parents.
At this sitting there were many correct answers given to questions,
and of such a character as to satisfy some individuals that the spirits
of their friends were really there. I could not bring myself to believe
that spirits had anything to do with the matter. * . * * *
I did not doubt that everything I witnessed took place without the
intervention of any individual present, and I knew that those present
could not have tricked me. In my own child I had that confidence which
a life of truthfulness has inspired. Yet the idea that the spirits of
our deceased friends could hold communication with ourselves on
earth, &c., was so strange, wonderful, and so incompatible with my edu
cation, and so opposed to my preconceived opinions and religious belief,
that what I had seen at this circle completely bewildered me. I could
not understand — I did not believe. * * * *
About this time (Oct. 1851) I was engaged in business which re
quired my absence for the day from home. The spirit of a friend had
intimated to my wife that he would apprise her of the time when I
would conclude this affair; and, on the day mentioned, just at the hour
when I had consummated the matter, he wrote out, through my daugh
ter’s hand, “ The doctor has settled his business.” She asked him how
�78
he knew; and he replied, “ I have just left him — it was six o’clock
when he finished.”
As soon as I returned home Mrs. D. immediately accosted me and
said, “ So you have arranged your affair.”
I was surprised, and asked her how she knew. She mentioned her
authority, and I then recalled to mind that just as the final arrange
ments were made the clock in the room struck six. I did not attempt
to explain this circumstance even to myself, and was yet an unbeliever.
* * * * There was no kind of evidence but what was pre
sented. The secret thoughts of my heart were read as if they had
been written on my face. Secrets, known only to the dead and my
self, were revealed to me, when there were none present but the
medium. Events, occurring even at the distance of a thousand miles,
were told to me while they were taking place, and afterwards were cor
roborated, to the letter, by the individuals who were active agents in
the transactions.
Facts relating to my own actions were predicted months before they
took place. I have listened to the most elevated thoughts, couched in
language far beyond her comprehension, describing facts in science, and
circumstances in the daily life of the spirits after death, which were
corroborated, fact by fact, idea by idea, by other mediums, with whom
she was entirely unacquainted, uttered by a little girl scarce nine years
*
old!
I have heard an illiterate mechanic repeat Greek, Latin, Hebrew and
Chaldaic. I have been present when a medium answered my ques
tions in the Italian language, of which she was ignorant, aod also
uttered several sentences in the same language, and gave the name of
the Italian gentleman, of whom she had never heard, but who was,
when living, the friend of one of the party at the circle. * * * *
It was not till after I had become a writing medium, against my will
and determined efforts to the contrary, that I yielded an implicit faith
in the truth of spiritual intercourse with men. After the concerted and
continued attempt to impress me had passed over, I refrained from
visiting circles, and thought, by staying away, I might be free from
any impression. On the contrary, my own arm would be moved while
I was asleep, and awake me by its motion.
During the time I abstained from sitting in any circle, I was twice
lifted bodily from my bed, mooed off its edge, and thus suspended in the
* It will be remembered Jesus “ was about twelve years old. ”
�79
air / # * * # Heretofore my arm had been the organ to which
their efforts had been chiefly directed; now, my whole body was sub
jected to their influence, against my will and desire, and all my strug
gles and efforts to resist them. * * * *
Often when I am alone in my office, my hand will be moved, and I
am obliged to abandon every other purpose till the spirits have con
cluded their communication. An incident of this kind happened some
months since. After I had retired to bed, I was awakened from sleep
by the rapid and violent motion of my hand. It was midnight. I
could assign no cause for this manifestation, and essayed to throw off
the influence, by all possible means, but in vain.
I was compelled to rise, procure pencil and paper, and a long com
munication was written before they would again permit me to sleep.
Another instance of their presence, when I was alone in my office,
took place a few weeks since. * * * * I was scarcely seated,
when my right hand began to move, In this hand was a small gold
pencil, which I had just been using. I was somewhat impatient at
this display of their presence, for I did not know how long I might be
detained, and I could spare them but very little time. I therefore
exclaimed, pettishly, “ Don’t detain me to write now, but show me
something new.” As if to gratify my request, the fingers and thumb
were brought together at the ends, leaving the pencil resting on the
ball of the thumb, and the fingers closed, forming a roof over it. In
this shape the arm was placed firmly on the arm of the chair, so I could
not move it. The pencil was then turned round several times, drawn
out from the hand, and lifted up toward the palm, without even a
movement of the fingers or hand during the whole operation. At this
moment a lady, resident in my house, who was an unbeliever, happened
to come into the office. I asked her to watch the pencil in my hand,
and see if it stirred. I also charged her to watch my hand, and see if
it moved in the least. I then asked the spirits to move the pencil as
before. The same process again took place, in every particular corre
sponding with the first. Whether this satisfied her or not of the pres
ence of the action of spirits, I am unable to say.
I have her corroboration of the fact as it occurred; that it was
impossible for the pencil to become so agitated by any effort of my
own.
It should be noticed, in this connection, that when I am alone, as
also when in a circle, the manifestation, whether by writing or any
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physical display, is entirely free from any participation with my own
mind, either in the subject taught or in the effect produced on my body.
I reiterate this statement, that it may be understood that the teach
ings revealed by my instrumentality, in this book, contain thoughts,
sentiments and statements, differing in toto from what were my own
views when they were communicated.
I have now given a brief history of some of the causes which have
induced in me the belief of Spirit-intercourse, and it is not a tithe, not
a hundredth part, of what I have witnessed.
George T. Dexter.
No. 2. Testimony of 1 to classes I, V. and VI. Judge Edmonds'
Statement, New York, Aug. 1 and Sept. 1, 1853. See Introduc
tion to “ Spiritualism."
It was in January, 1851, that my attention was first called to the
subject of “ spiritual intercourse.” I had, in the course of my life,
read and heard from the pulpit so many contradictory and conflicting
doctrines on the subject (of man’s future existence) that I hardly knew
what to believe.
For about four months I devoted at least two evenings in a week,
and sometimes more, to witnessing the phenomena in all its phases. I
kept careful records of all I witnessed, and, from time to time, com
pared them with each other, to detect inconsistencies and contradic
tions. I read all I could lay my hands upon, on the subject, and
especially all the professed “ exposures of the humbug.” In fine, I
availed myself of every opportunity that was afforded, thoroughly to
sift the matter to the bottom. I was all this time an unbeliever. At
length the evidence came, and in such a force that no sane man could
withhold his faith.
To detail what I witnessed, for those four months, and recorded,
would fill, at least, one hundred and thirty closely-written pages. I
will, however, mention a few things, which will give a general idea of
that which characterized interviews now numbering several hundred.
Most of them have occurred in the presence of others. I have pre
served their names in my records. * * * * These considera
tions grow out of this fact:
First, That I have thus very many witnesses whom I can invoke to
establish the truth of my statements.
Second, That if I have been deluded, and have not seen and heard
what I think I have, my delusion has been shared by many as shrewd, as
�81
intelligent, as honest and as enlightened people, as are to be found any
where among us.
My attention was first drawn to the intercourse by the rappings, then
the most common, but now the most inconsiderable mode of communing.
Of course, I was on the look out for deception, and at first relied upon
my senses, and the conclusions which my reason might draw from their
evidence. * * *
.
After depending upon my senses as to these various phases of the
phenomenon, I invoked the aid of science, and, with the assistance of an
accomplished electrician and his machinery, and of eight or ten intelli
gent, educated, and shrewd persons, examined the matter. We pursued
our inquiries many days, and established, to our satisfaction, two
things: first, that the sounds were not produced by the agency of any
person present or near us; and, secondly, that they were not forth
coming at our will and pleasure. In the mean time, another feature
attracted my attention, and that was “ physical manifestations,” as they
are termed. Thus, I have known a pine table, with four legs, lifted
up bodily from the floor, in the centre of a circle of six or eight per
sons, turned upside down, and laid upon its top at our feet, then lifted
up over our heads, and put leaning against the back of the sofa on
which we sat. * * * * I have seen a mahogany centre-table,
having only a centre leg, and with a lamp burning upon it, lifted from
the floor, at least a foot, in spite of the efforts of those present, and
shaken backward and forward, as one would shake a goblet in his
band. * * * *
I have known a dinner-bell, taken from a shelf in a closet, rung over
the heads of four or five persons in that closet, then rung around the
room over the heads of twelve or fifteen persons in the back parlor,
and then borne through the folding-doors to the further end of the
front parlor, and then dropped on the floor.
I have known persons pulled about, with a force which it was impos
sible for them to resist; and once, when all my strength was added, in
vain, to that of one thus affected.
I have known a mahogany chair thrown on its side, and moved
swiftly back and forth on the floor, no one touching it, through a room
where there were, at least, a dozen people sitting. Yet no one was
touched, and it was repeatedly stopped within a few inches of me, when
it was coming with a violence which, if not arrested, must have broken
my legs.
This is not a tithe, nay, not an hundredth part, of what I have seen,
8
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of the same character. At the same time, I have heard from others,
whose testimony would be credited in any human transaction, and
which I could not permit myself to disregard, accounts of still more
extraordinary transactions; for I have been, by no means, so much
favored in this respect as some.
Intelligence was a remarkable feature of the phenomenon. Thus, I
have frequently known mental questions answered, — that is, questions
merely framed in the mind of the interrogator, and not revealed by him
or known to others. Preparatory to meeting a circle, I have sat down
alone in my room, and carefully prepared a series of questions to be
propounded ; and I have been surprised to find my questions answered,
and in the precise order in which I wrote them, without my even tak
ing my memorandum out of my pocket, and when I knew that no per
son present knew that I had prepared questions, much less what they
were.
2Iy most secret thoughts — those which I never uttered to mortal
man or woman — have been freely spoken, as if I had uttered them.
I have known Latin, French, and Spanish words spelled out through
the rappings; and I have heard mediums, who knew no language but
their own, speak in those languages, and in Italian, German and Greek,
and in other languages unknown to me, but which were represented to
be Arabic, Chinese and Indian, and all done with the ease and rapid
ity of a native.
I have seen a person who knew nothing of music, except a little that
he had learned at a country singing-school, go to the piano and play in
perfect keeping, as to time and concord, the several parts of an over
ture to an opera.
When I was absent, last winter, in Central America, my friends, in
town, heard of my whereabouts, and of the state of my health, seven
times; and, on my return, by comparing their information with the
entries in my journal, it was found to be invariably correct.
I went into the investigation originally thinking it a deception, and
intending to make public my exposure of it. Having, from my
researches, come to a different conclusion, I feel that the obligation to
make known the result is just as strong. Therefore it is, mainly, that
I give the result to the world.
J. W. Edmonds.
The following statement of Governor Tallmadge, relative to the char
acter of Judge Edmonds, may be interesting to those who do not
already know his character. The statement is extracted from a letter
�83
to Hon. James F. Simmons, of Rhode Island, who had formerly been
in the United States Senate with Governor Tallmadge; Mr. Simmons
also being a firm believer in the spiritual manifestations.
“I had known Judge Edmonds for thirty years; had practised law in
the same courts, had served in the Senate of New York, with him, had
been associated with him also as a member of the Court for the Correc
tion of Errors, — the highest court in the state ; had known him, since
that time, as a justice of the Supreme Court, and, more recently, a
judge of the Court of Appeals, where he holds a deservedly high rank
among his brethren, the able judges of that court of last resort in the
State of New York.
“ I also knew him as a gentleman of finished classical education, and
as a lawyer of an acute mind, and a decided talent for investigation.
And, above all, I knew him to be a man of unimpeachable integrity.”
No. 3. Testimony of 1 to classes I. and VI.
Tallmadge.
Statement of Governor
During the above communication of Calhoun, the table moved occa
sionally, perhaps a foot, first one way and then the other. After the
communication closed, we all moved back from the table from two to
four feet, so that no one touched it. Suddenly it moved from the posi
tion it occupied some three or four feet, — rested a few moments, and
then moved back again to its original position. Then it again moved
as far the other way, and returned to the place it started from.
One side of it was then raised, and stood for a few moments at an
angle of about thirty-five degrees, and then again rested on the floor as
usual. The table was a large, heavy, round one, at which ten or a
dozen persons might be seated at dinner. During all these movements
no person touched it, nor was any one near it. After this the follow
ing conversation ensued: Q. Can you raise the table entirely from
the floor? A. Yes. Q. Will you raise me with it ? A. Yes; get
me the square table.
The square table was of cherry, with four legs, — a large-sized tea
table. It was brought out, and substituted for the round one. The
leaves being raised, I took my seat on the centre; the three ladies sat
at the sides and end, their hands and arms resting upon it. Two legs
of it were then raised about six inches from the floor, and then the
other two legs were raised to a level with the first, so that the whole
�84
table was suspended in the air about six inches from the floor. While
thus seated on it, I could feel a gentle vibratory motion, as if floating
in the atmosphere. After being thus suspended in the air for a few
moments, the table was gently let down again to the floor.
At a subsequent meeting, Calhoun directed me to bring three bells
and a guitar; I brought them accordingly. The bells were of different
sizes — the largest like a small-sized dinner-bell. He directed a drawer
to be put under the square table. I put under a bureau-drawer, bottom
side up. He directed the bells to be placed on the drawer. The three
ladies and myself were seated at the table, with our hands and arms
resting on it. The bells commenced ringing in a sort of chime. Nu
merous raps were made, as if beating time to a march. The bells con
tinued to ring, and to chime in with the beating of time. The time of
the march was slow and solemn. It was beautiful and perfect. The
most fastidious ear could not detect any discrepancy in it.
The raps then ceased, and the bells rang violently for several
minutes. A bell was then pressed on my foot, my ankle, and knee.
This was at different times; repeated knocks were made most vehe
mently against the underside of the table, so that a large tin candle
stick was, by every blow, raised completely from ,the table by the con
cussion. I afterward examined the underside of the table (which, it
will be recollected, was of cherry), and found indentations in the wood,
made by the end of the handle of the bell, which was tipped with
brass. Here the ringing of the bells ceased, and then I felt sensibly
and distinctly the impression of a hand on my foot, ankle, and knee.
These manifestations were several times repeated.
I was then requested to put the guitar on the drawer. We were all
seated as before, our hands and arms resting on the table. The guitar
was touched softly and gently, and gave forth sweet and delicious sounds,
like the accompaniment to a beautiful and exquisite piece of music.
It then played a sort of symphony, in much louder and bolder tones.
* * * I am utterly incapable of giving any adequate idea of the
beauty and harmony of this music. I have heard the guitar touched
by the most delicate and scientific hands, and heard from it, under such
guidance, the most splendid performances. But never did I hear any
thing that fastened upon the very soul like these prophetic strains,
drawn out by an invisible hand from the spirit world. After the
music had ceased, the following communication was received. “ This
is my hand that touches you and the guitar.
John C. Calhoun.”
I was present, by Calhoun’s appointment, with the Misses Fox and
�85
their mother. We were seated at the table as heretofore, our hands
and arms resting upon it. I was directed to put paper and pencil on
the drawer. I placed several sheets of unruled paper, together with a
wood pencil, on it. I soon heard the sound of the pencil on the paper.
It was then rapped out — Get the pencil and sharpen it. I looked
under the table, but did not see the pencil. At length, I found it
lying diagonally from me, three or four feet from the table; the lead
was broken off within the wood; I sharpened it, and again put it on the
drawer. Again, I heard the sound of the pencil on the paper. On
being directed to look at the paper, I discovered pencil-marks on each
side of the outer sheet, but no writing. Then was received the fol
lowing communication : “The power is not enough to write a sentence.
This will show you that I can write. If you meet on Friday, precisely
at seven, I will write a short sentence.
John C. Calhoun.”
We met pursuant to appointment; took our seats at the table, our hands
and arms resting on it as usual. I placed the paper, with my silvercased pencil, on the drawer, and said : “My friend, I wish the sentence to
be in your hand-writing, so that your friends will recognize it.” He
replied : “Yau will know the writing. Have your minds on the spirit
of John C. Calhoun.” I soon heard a rapid movement of the pencil on
the paper, and a rustling of the paper, together with a movement of
the drawer. I was then directed to look under the drawer. I found the
pencil outside of the drawer near my feet, but found no paper on the
drawer where I had placed it. On raising up the drawer, I discovered
the paper under it. The sheets were a little deranged, and, on examin
ing, I found on the outside sheet these words : “ Ifci with you still.”
I afterwards showed the “sentence” to Gen. James Hamilton, former
Governor of South Carolina; Gen. Waddy Thompson, former minister
to Mexico ; Gen. Robert B. Campbell, late consul at Havana ; together
with other intimate friends of Calhoun, and also to one of his sons, all
of whom are as well acquainted with his hand-writing as with their
own, and they all pronounced it to be a perfect fac-simile of the hand
writing of John C. Calhoun. Gen. Hamiltop says that Calhoun was
in the habit of writing “I’m” for “I am.” Mrs. Gen. Macomb has
stated the same fact to me.
How significant, then, does this fact become! We have not only the
most unequivocal testimony to the hand-writing itself, but, lest any
sceptic should suggest the possibility of an imitation, or a counterfeit,
this abbreviation, peculiar to himself, and known only to his most inti-
*
8
�86
mate friend?, and which no imitator or counterfeiter could know, is
introduced by way of putting such a suggestion to flight forever.
[This statement is extracted from a letter to Mrs. Sarah H. Whit
*
man, Providence, R. I., dated Washington, Jan. 10, 1853.] Signed,
N. P. Tallmadge.
The following is taken from a letter of Gov. Tallmadge to Judge
Edmonds. See “Spiritualism,” page 38:
“ My youngest daughter, aged thirteen, plays the piano by the in
struction of spirits, like an experienced performer. She knows nothing
of notes or music, and never played the piano before in her life.” *
Case XI. — Candor.
Mr. and Mrs. Newton's Testimony.
[Extracted from “ The Ministry of Angels Realized. A Letter to the
Edwards Congregational Church, Boston,” of which they were mem
bers.]
The results, however, of this first investigation, at the time, were
(for reasons not then apparent, but which have since been made plain
to us) far from satisfactory. Though we witnessed some striking
evidences of invisible intelligent agency, there was nothing by which
this agency could be positively identified; and the conclusion seemed
most in accordance with our previous opinions, that, if any agency
beyond that of human beings was concerned, it was that of evil and
seducing spirits. Some months subsequently to this, we were led to
attempt- the investigation under circumstances more favorable to
arriving at a satisfactory conclusion. * * * The results of this
interview were of the most surprising, yea, astounding character. An
intelligence, claiming to be that of a venerated parent, who had long
since passed within the vail, manifested its presence, and addressed to
one of us a communication glowing with parental affection, and
breathing the very spirit of the upper realm. This was accompanied
by the statement of a number of facts, pertaining to his earthly life,
none of which, we were fully satisfied, could have been known to any
person, bodily present, except the inquirer, and some of them unknown
even to him. Although the investigation had been approached with
* This case of playing the piano involves the same principles as being taught to
read. It is not more remarkable than the playing without human hands, which is
frequently done.
�87
minds on the alert and perceptions sharpened to detect collusion, im
posture, deception, or diabolism, in any of its forms, no trace of them
could be perceived; all was conducted with evident frankness and
candor, on the part of those concerned; and no solution of the
mystery was then arrived at, and no adequate one has since been
offered, which does not recognize the agency of intelligent beings. A
trumpet-blast from the clouds could scarcely have been more startling
to our prejudices and unbelief than was that message from the hidden
world. * * * As may be well supposed, the interest awakened
by this occurrence was sufficient to lead to a further investigation.
But a truth so novel and startling could not at once be received,
however demonstrative and convincing the evidence on which it rested.
Nor was it until evidence had accumulated upon evidence, and proof
become piled upon proof,— not until manifestations of the most mar
vellous character had been repeatedly witnessed, under a great variety
of circumstances, and notwithstanding the application of every con
ceivable test, — that we could consent to acknowledge, even to ourselves,
a belief in the agency of spiritual beings. That belief, however, in
spite of prejudice and scepticism, in spite of the general cry of “ hum
bug ” and “ imposture,” in spite of all attempts of scientific men to
explain the marvels on the basis of materialism (which explanations we
found in every case to be wholly inadequate to account for what we wit
nessed), that belief became at length forced upon our minds by irre
sistible evidence.
But the question still pressed upon us, who were these invisible
beings ? and what their character and designs ? They claimed to be
the spirits of departed human beings. Some of them insisted that they
were our relatives and friends, and they furnished most startling and
inexplicable proofs of their identity. They professed to be thus mani
festing themselves to our outward senses, for the purest and holiest of
purposes. * * *
The most favorable of opportunities were offered us for making this
investigation ; and they were carefully and prayerfully improved.
For several successive months did we continue to apply to what was
transpiring under our notice, through the mediumship of others, the
keenest powers of observation, and the highest exercise of moral per
ception, which have been granted us; ever seeking light and aid from
Him who has said, “ Ask, and ye shall receive.”
At length, these intelligences from another sphere began to manifest
themselves to us in a manner most unlooked-for and diverse from
�88
anything we had elsewhere witnessed, in the quietness and seclusion of
our own home, and without the intervention of any other person. From
small and gentle beginnings, they have gone forward as we were able to
bear the increasing light, to give greater, and higher, and clearer proofs
of the reality of their presence, their identity, and their heavenly mis
sion; until, through a period of six or seven months, we have been
permitted, as we believe, the almost daily enjoyment of the sweetest
and most intimate communion with the spirits of “just ones made per
fect above.”
Signed,
A. E. Newton,
S. J. Newton.
Such is a very brief statement of the experience of two persons in
this community, whose reputation is above suspicion, and whose candor
is made sufficiently evident by the character of the statement. Several
things should be noticed in this testimony.
First, They have been personal witnesses to the facts.
Second, These facts have been such as to convince them that they are
of a certain origin, and tend to produce certain results.
Third, They were prejudiced against these facts by previous experi
ence and religious belief.
Fourth, They took every possible precaution not to be deceived;
were not convinced till after a long and thorough investigation; finally,
the facts occurring in an unexpected manner in their own house, af
forded them the most ample opportunities for investigation, at the same
time precluding all possibility of imposition, unless they imposed upon
themselves, which, in consideration of their known integrity, their prej
udices and many other circumstances, it is absurd to suppose.
Fifth, As to their conclusion concerning the origin or cause, the
nature or character, the tendency or object, of these facts, they have
arrived at it by no preconceived notions. It is altogether contrary to
all their prejudices. They were compelled to relinquish every position
they had assumed, and this by no subtlety of logic, but by what they
saw and heard of the facts themselves; — and in this same manner, by
the facts, not by a process of reasoning, they were driven to their
conclusion.
Now, this experience, and these conclusions forced upon the mind
by it, do not belong alone to two persons, nor to a hundred, but thou
sands have had the same experience, and come to the same conclu
sions, concerning the origin, nature and tendency, of the phenomena. In
�89
view of these facts, I ask if it can be possible that all these people are
deceived ?
The idea of “ deception,” “ collusion,” “ humbug,” is absurd; a fool’s
reply, who judges a matter before he knows anything about it.
The assertion of “ physical impossibility ” is the bigot’s reply, who
judges all creation, and all powers of creation, by what he has seen in
his father’s door-yard, though he cannot even tell how the grass grows
thereon. The cry of “ diabolism,” raised by many divines, is a pla
giarism. Their brethren raised it eighteen hundred years ago, for the
same cause. They were obliged to admit the facts to save their own
reputation and influence ; they raised this foolish cry to bring the whole
thing into disrepute. But these are a thousand times more stupid; for
the facts which they thus admit will not only doom them to the fate of
their ancient brethren, but completely blast and totally annihilate the
chief corner-stone on which their order rests, their very shield and
defence against this as well as all other truths of nature which are not
first discovered and proclaimed within their own dismal edifice. Yes,
they are pitifully stupid to raise this cry of “ diabolism ” against that
which has not only laid a giant hand upon, but has already began to
strangle Diabolos himself; — that which has the power and the will
to completely finish the old fellow.
Can they not see the force of the reply to them, “ If Satan be
divided against Satan, how shall his kingdom stand ” ?
Again, the assertion of “physical cause" raised by some men of
science, is most unscientific of all that calls itself science. They are
not only obliged to exclude a whole class of important facts, which
rest upon just as good evidence as those which they accept, but they
are obliged to exclude from the majority of the facts they do admit
one important element, namely, a directing personal intelligence; they
are not only compelled to admit the physico-spiritual existence of a
new physical agent, or rather physical spiritual agent, which they
have never before known to exist, and the powers and properties
of which they theoretically and most dogmatically frame for every
occasion; but they are also compelled to renounce all their old the
ories of Psychology (the science of mind), and to attribute to the human
mind, in the body, more wonderful power than is claimed for it out
of the body.
If any one doubt this assertion, we refer him to “ The Philosophy
of Mysterious Rappings,” by Dr. Rogers, of Boston.
In this book he will find all we have stated fully illustrated. The
�90
work reminds us of a certain brilliant attempt once made, in the pres
ence of two honest country farmers, as they were hastily preparing
their dry hay for an approaching shower. A shaft of lightning, accom
panied by a sharp thunder-clap, descended upon a majestic pine, which
had for a century proudly defied all blasts of this kind. The fierce
bolt, no doubt, intended to demolish the noble tree at once; but, being
obliged to take a scientific course and follow the grain, it began to
wind itself around the trunk, more and more directly as it descended,
apparently becoming more angry, but making less headway, till finally
it spread itself over the whole surface of the tree, and fell harmless at
its roots; whereupon one of the farmers very coolly said, “ I swear !
that is the first time I ever saw lightning get its match.”
So we think science, if it attempt to explain this spirit manifestation
on “ material ” principles, will, for the first time, find its match.
The following, which we have taken from a daily paper, expresses
the conclusion to which every honest scientific inquirer must soon
come:
“ Prof. Hare, formerly Professor of Chemistry in the University of
Pennsylvania, avows that, after having tested the spiritual rappings by
electrical apparatus, and every other mode capable of detecting the
presence and influence of electricity as to their cause, he has come to
the conclusion that there is an intelligent independent invisible agency,
entirely aside from the medium, concerned in producing the various
phenomena, and further affirms that the theory of the spiritualists is
the only intelligible solution yet presented.”
It is well known among spiritualists and their opponents that this
aged professor had formerly endorsed the theory of Faraday, and that
he wrote several lengthy articles in favor of that theory.
�THE NATURE OF THE PHENOMENA.
We now take it for granted, that he who still adheres
to the “ miracles” of the New Testament, will accept, on
the far greater evidence, the modern “miracles.” We
think the superiority of the evidence will more than bal
ance the enchantment of distance. We have presupposed
that the resemblance between each of the first seven
classes in the New Testament, and those we have pre
sented under the same heads, would be sufficiently obvious
to justify this connection. They resemble each other as
much as any two cases at the present day. It would be
wholly gratuitous to point out the close resemblance be
tween the laying on of the dpostles’ hands and the con
sequent recovery of the sick, and the laying on of the
“mediums’” hands, followed by the same results. So
with speaking in tongues, the luminous appearances
attending spirit manifestations, and with all the other
classes ; the only difference seems to consist in some in
cidental circumstances attending the modern phenomena,
which have not been related as connected with those
of the New Testament. If they had some kinds of man
ifestations which we have not, we also have some of which
they give us no account, — such as spelling sentences by
raps or tips, or pointing to the letters ; writing by spirits
alone, and singing and playing music. But these kinds
of manifestations are produced by the same causes as
other kinds which we now have; they are all of the same
nature; and, should the development of new kinds
of manifestation continue to any extent, no one would
�92
think of assigning any new cause from that fact. Hence
we conclude that these different kinds of manifestation,
which are peculiar to each, will lead no one to suppose
that the modern phenomena are of a different nature from
the ancient, or that they can be assignable to a wholly
different cause. It is not philosophical to assign different
causes to phenomena so closely resembling each other,
simply because they occur in different ages of the world,
any more than it would be to say that those which now
occur in America are of a different nature, and are pro
duced by a different cause, from those in Europe. No
one would be in danger of this last mistake, though the
phenomena in the two countries differ as widely as those
in the two ages.
This principle, essential to science, has been insisted
upon by all who have attempted to account for these
phenomena; but they have made an exception in the
case of the Christian miracles, — an exception which, if
insisted upon, destroys the principle, and renders science
impossible.
So, when it is once decided that a number of phenomena
belong to the same class, according to a principle already
asserted, it is unphilosophical to assign a cause to the
whole from the consideration of a part only, whether
the part considered be the highest or lowest. The cause
must be adequate to the production of both the high and
the low. Hence we conclude that, whatever may have
been the moving cause in the early Christian manifesta
tions, the same cause is now operating to produce similar
phenomena.
Mr. Rogers, in his “ Philosophy of Mysterious Rap
pings,” judges the cause by physical manifestations of
the lowest character, in which no distinct marks of an
�93
independent directing intelligence are apparent; and
then, adhering to the principle above laid down, assigns
the same cause to the similar phenomena in which such
an intelligence is too apparent to be denied, without
denying many of the facts themselves. The cause he
assigns cannot produce the higher manifestations ; but
the cause assigned by spiritualists can produce both the
lower and the higher.
Mr. Dods, in his “ Spirit Manifestations Examined and
Explained” by the “Back-Brain,” says, “ On these in
voluntary powers (in the back-brain) presentiments are
often impressed ; and through these the Creator has held,
in the early ages of the world, mysterious converse with
holy men, and through these He has poured the streams
of prophetic truth and divine inspiration from the fountain
of His being, and through these He has reached the
reason, thought, understanding and will of His creatures ”
(p. 104). “It (the back-brain instinct, or involuntary
power) is the living oracle through which God has spoken
to His servants in dreams, in visions, in silent and passive
meditation. It is the living oracle, through which Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, consulted the Eternal;
and through which, as His inspired servants, they heard
His voice speaking, in the cool stillness of the day, in
silent and passive meditation” (p. 69). But Mr. Dods
pretends that it is almost blasphemy to suppose ‘‘ impres
sions” are now made upon these same involuntary powers
of the will by spirits, or that God now “speaks in dreams
and visions ” through this “ living oracle.” This is the
way he expresses it, in his own peculiar style : “Ladies
and gentlemen, I will only say that electro-psychology and
mesmerism, as matters of science, should be kept in their own appropriate domain, to detect and describe disease,
9
�94
and apply the healing remedy; but let them not pre
sume through these agents, by supposed spirit mani
festations, clairvoyance, or any other mode, to make a
revelation superior to the prophets, and Jesus Christ and
the apostles. And deeply do I regret that Mr. Davis has
attempted this!! ” (page 108). On the same page he says,
“ I say all somnambulists write, and, if I may so speak,
reason and move by the involuntary power of mind and
nerves. And so do all mesmeric clairvoyants, and those
in a state of catalepsy.” Now, he has just said, as we
have quoted, “ Through this involuntary power the Cre
ator has held, in the early ages of the world, mysterious
converse with holy men. It is the living oracle through
which Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and David, consulted the
Eternal, and through which, as His inspired servants, they
heard His voice.” Why, then, Mr. Dods, may not these
men, who you say possess the same “living oracle” as
“the prophets, and Jesus Christ and the apostles,” also
“ consult the Eternal ” through it, and, “ as His inspired
servants, hear His voice ” ? The prophets came before
Jesus Christ and his apostles; but Mr. Dods himself thinks
that the latter, “ through these agents,” did “ presume
to make a revelation superior to the prophets,” and that
' they succeeded.
Now, if Mr. Davis and others at the present day, who
have, according to Mr. Dods, presumed “ through these
agents to work a revelation superior to the prophets, and
Jesus Christ and the apostles,” should really succeed,
though Mr. Dods may “marvel and wonder,” “I hope
he will not wonder and perish” ! I have no fears that
he will; for, in the same chapter (p. 103), to save himself,
he has built a bridge in large capitals, on which he may
walk right over the invisible chasm from his theory into
�95
Spiritualism.
This is it: “Now,
convince me that the
SPIRIT MANIFESTATIONS ARE TRUE, AND MY PHILOSOPHY IS
STILL CORRECT.
In
SUCH A CASE IT WOULD BE NECESSARY
FOR ME TO MOVE MY POSITION ONE STEP FURTHER BACK, AND
SAY THAT DEPARTED SPIRITS INFLUENCED THE INVOLUNTARY
POWERS OF THE MIND IN THE BACK-BRAIN, AND MOVED INTO
ACTION THE INSTINCTIVE ENERGIES OF OUR.BEING.”*
If the New Testament records were accepted on the
same ground that we accept other records, and the accounts
of similar phenomena at the present day, it would be
readily seen that to reject the fact of spirit communica
tion would reject a large portion of the New Testament
itself, and make much of the remainder sheer nonsense ;
for that book begins and ends with, and all the way through
contains, reports of these communications, or allusions to
them. In the first and second chapters of Matthew sev
eral verbatim reports of these are professedly given, and
the whole book of Revelations is made up of what “ the
spirit,” who was John’s “fellow-servant, and of the
prophets,”’communicated to him while “ in the spirit,”
or, what we should say, “under the spiritual influence.”
The modern manifestations resemble those of the New
Testament, not only in their nature and quality, but in
the effect they produce on those who believe them.
“While reading Mr. Dods’ lectures, one feels that he already knows that he
cannot much longer maintain his present position, — that the facts will drive him
back, upon his own theory, into Spiritualism. He says, on the ninety-third page,
“ Let the mediums step into a room, not touch the table at all, and then cause it to
be tipped, raised or moved, and their work is done. For one, I am a convert,
and will unflinchinglyface a sneering and scoffing world.” Now, if Mr. Dods
is the candid man he professes to be, he will take the true method to satisfy him
self of this fact,— for it frequently occurs, — then he will “ unflinchingly come out,
and face a sneering and scoffing world.’’ We expect soon to see this additional
title attached to the second edition of his book : “ With my position moved one.
STEP FURTHER BACK.”
�96
Christ and his disciples, according to the accounts, be
came the most zealous philanthropists. So enthusiastic
were they, that they believed the kingdom of heaven
was really coming on the earth, and they in good earnest
set about to bring it. They met together and formed
communities (Acts 2 : 44, 45; 4 : 32, 37); and de
sired to live in harmony.
Now, the modern manifestations have precisely this
tendency; and in this consists their chief value.
The two following communications — the first purport
ing to come from John C. Calhoun, the second from W. E.
Channing — express the object the spirits professedly have
in view in these communications. They are given in
answer to this question: “ It is to draio mankind together
into harmony, and convince sceptics of the immortality of
the soul.”
“ To unite mankind and convince sceptical minds of
the immortality of the soul.”
And such every spiritualist knows to be their teach
ings generally, and the actual results of them. I could
name hundreds of sceptics, honest sceptics, whom the
New Testament, and the Christian ministry, and all other
means, could not convince, and yet who have become
firm believers in this joyous truth, through these mani
festations.
But its tendency “ to unite mankind in harmony” is
its most interesting feature to me. If it is all imagina
tion, I know it produces this result. I have for the last
six years been deeply interested in the social condition
of mankind ; and, were it not for this present influx of
spirit life, I should almost despair of its change for the
better.
But now I see the eyes of nearly all spiritualists
�97
opening to the fearful social discords which are baffling all
individual efforts for goodness and harmony.
With
but few exceptions, every spiritualist with whom I have
met has somehow become possessed of an intense desire
for harmony. “ Harmony” “Harmony,” I hear ut
tered, and repeated, many times, in every circle of spir
itualists. I know it has awakened the desire in the
hearts of thousands, and it has become intense.
Such a
desire I know will be answered by- some mighty practical
results. From the first creation of the world, there have
been periods of the influx of new and higher life into
this earth. It is distinctly traceable through all the geo
logical ages, and in the traditions and monumental his
tories of mankind. And now we see the most unmistaka
ble indications of a new and higher influx of life, of di
vine life, into this world, which is already opening upon
mankind the dawn of a new era, as much more glorious
than the “Christian” era as that is more glorious than
the Mosaic. The friends of the cause have everything
to hope. Let them work on ; the full light of the day
of harmony, which is now dawning, will soon appear,
when the reward of all their labors will be realized in
the practical brotherhood of the race ; what all those
ancient spiritualists so earnestly desired and labored for,
---- THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON EARTH.
I have, throughout, implied a belief in the spiritual
cause of these phenomena. This belief is founded on
facts and reason ; and, though firmly established in it, I
have not come to it by the observation of a few facts of
a particular kind, but by a careful observation of many
facts of various kinds, and under every variety of circum
stances. I have become so acquainted with this mode
of communication with spirits, that I can sit at the table,
*
9
�98
and, through its movements, converse almost as intelli
gently and rapidly as with a personal friend. I cannot
always tell who the spirit is with whom I am conversing.
But I have frequently become so acquainted with the
peculiar movements of a certain spirit, that I can iden
tify him the moment he begins to move the table. I can
readily detect the feelings of the spirit, whether he is
angry or pleased, by the movements. I have conversed
with spirits, when, by a single word, I seemed to throw
them into a violent fit of passion, which they would
manifest so forcibly as to greatly disturb the medium and
myself; then, by a few words, I have quieted them. I
have been sitting at the table with my sister, conversing,
when the table, of its own accord, would start off and
open the door, and come back to its former position;
when it, in the same manner, would go to the pianoforte,
and, by intelligible signs, ask for a tune ; and other
things of a similar nature. I have seen it perform, as in
telligently as a human being, and with an intelligence
wholly independent of the conscious thought of any person
in the room.
I have listened to and read communications enough to
fill a volume larger than the Bible ; and, with but very
few exceptions, the communications have been of a high
moral character ; frequently very applicable to the oc
casion, and gratifying to the feelings of the persons to
whom they were addressed ; also instructive to others
present. I haye seen frivolous communications, but
these have always been given in reply to questions equally
frivolous. Never have I witnessed anything lower, or
more vulgar, in the utterances of spirits, than in those
of the persons conversing with them at the time.
Truly, the communications are not generally so great
�99
and wise, according to the standard of this world ; but,
according to the New Testament standard, they often
contain “ the wisdom and the power of God unto sal
vation.” Generally they breathe the very spirit of love,
which, according to Jesus, is the germ of all wisdom.
They frequently manifest a deep interest in the welfare
of their personal friends, and in the general welfare of
humanity.
Do you ask again, “ What is the good of all this” ?
I would say, first, my dear friend, it will give you that
very light of which, your question implies, you are now
wholly destitute ; so destitute and dark is your mind,
that you cannot comprehend the light, and when it
shines upon you, you cry out, “ what is that ? ” “ away
with the shadow.”
Yes, it will enlighten you, wise as you now are, and
reveal to you things, both in heaven and earth, which,
hitherto, you have not dreamt of. Allow me to speak
further of my own experience.
I had “ lost ” a dear sister, whom I loved as myself,
and a father, more precious than life. I often thought
of delightful and instructive intercourse I had with them
while on earth ; my soul at times would seem to feel
their presence ; and, for the moment, I would seem to
realize a joyous communion with their spirits; but
the next moment I would be aroused from “ the pleasant
delusion,” to feel all the more lonely from the contrast.
Then would I offer the whole world for one audible word
from them, that I might know they still lived and knew
my thoughts; for I had even then begun to feel the
foreshadowing of that awful state of positive unbelief into
which many minds have fallen. I did not then see it;
but I now see that the course of study and investigation
�100
which I had marked out for myself would have carried
me to the pit of atheism, had I not been saved by means
which I did not then believe to exist.
In the winter of 1849-50, I took up a paper in which
an account of audible communication with the spirit
world was given. I read that account with a thrill of
interest seldom experienced ; though I could not believe
the reality of those dear friends speaking to me again,
while I lived on this earth, I hoped it would prove true.
I resolved to investigate for myself, for I had often
wondered why there could not be some means of com
munication between those who so dearly love. I did in
vestigate ; and, after a long trial, have become fully
convinced of the fact. I feel sure that my father and
sister have spoken that precious word for which I would
have travelled to the farthest verge of earth. And now,
when I think of that gloomy gulf of doubt into which all
the active tendencies of my nature and pursuits would
have inevitably plunged me, my heart swells with grati
tude, and yearns with a desire to use every means to
save the many thousand others who, in spite of all the
evidences in the Bible, have no belief in their immortal
existence.
I have seen many persons, in this land of Christian
churches, who, from honest doubt and sincere atheism,
have been brought to a firm and cheering faith in the
immortality of the soul, through the “ raps ” and the
“ table tippings.” Ask them, if you would know “ what
sense there is in a table jumping up and down.” They
will tell you it has done more for their souls than all your
pulpit “jumping up and down.” These physical move
ments, as they are called, though the lowest manifesta
tions, are still the most useful ; they are what most
�101
spiritual persons demand before they will accept the
higher as genuine spirit communications.
Thus it often
happens that those “ foolish things ” at which the wise
scoff are able to save them from the folly of their own
wisdom. “ The last shall be first, and the first shall be
last.”
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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New Testament "miracles" and modern "miracles"; the comparative amount of evidence for each; the nature of both; testimony of a hundred witnesses: an essay read before the middle and senior classes in Cambridge Divinity School
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Fowler, J. H.
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Place of publication: Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.; Philadephia
Collation: 101 p. ; 22 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Printed by Hobart & Robbins, Boston.
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Bela Marsh
Partridge & Brittan
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1854
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Bible
Spiritualism
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Bible-N.T.
Conway Tracts
Miracles
Spiritualism
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gbbenx Snrmg.
Had someone stood under the crystal dome of the first great Exhibition,
and foretold that in a quarter of a century after that inauguration of the
millennium of common sense, England would incur the denunciations of
the Hebrew prophets on a land of wizards and necromancers, and of
those who “ seek after familiar spirits,” how merrily should we have
laughed the absurd prediction to scorn ! Not much more attention
should we have paid to it even had we known that just three years before
(in 1848) Miss Kate Fox, of Hydesville, State of New York, at the mature
age of nine, had received monitions from the spirit world in the form of a
hail-storm of raps on the walls and floors of her abode. It seemed,
indeed, scarcely more likely that the juvenile “ medium” should open a
new dispensation for Europe and America, than that her contemporary little
visionaries (or naughty little impostors, as the case may be) of La Salette
should send half France on pious pilgrimage to the spot where they saw,
or did not see, the Virgin. The lesson that great events may spring from
small causes, and that the foolish things of the world not seldom confound
the wise, is, however, by no means a new one for mankind, and we have
now very plainly to reckon with Spiritualism as one of the prominent
facts of the age. We will not take upon ourselves to guess how many
disciples it may boast in America before these sheets pass to the press ;
a few millions, more or less, seem to count for little in the statements of its
triumphant advocates ; but here, in England, there are evidences enough
of its flourishing condition. In nearly every company may be met at least
one lady or gentleman who looks grave and uncomfortable when the
subject is treated with levity ; confesses to a conviction that there is
“ something in it; ” and challenges disproof of miracles which she or he
has actually beheld, heard, and handled. Not seldom are to be seen
persons in a later stage of faith, easily recognisable by wild and vision
seeking eyes, and hands and feet in perpetual nervous agitation, who
take no interest in other conversation, but eagerly pour out narratives,
arguments, and appeals concerning Spiritualism whenever they can make
an opportunity introducing the subject. Even the pulpit is no longer free
from spiritualistic interpretations of religious mysteries ; and the periodical
press, which long confined itself to such attacks and refutations as those
by Lord Amberley, in the Fortnightly Review, by an anonymous writer in
the New Quarterly Magazine, and by a well-known physiologist in the
Quarterly Review (October, 1871), has now opened its columns to two
very remarkable papers in its defence, by Dr. Alfred Wallace (Fortnightly
�MODERN SORCERY.
37
Review, May and June, 1874). This double essay, indeed, by the dis
tinguished traveller and fellow-originator with Dr. Darwin of the
“Doctrine of Natural Selection,” may be justly said to mark an epoch in
the progress of the movement, and we can scarcely do wrong in taking it
as the first serious challenge to us from competent authority, to give to
the marvels of Spiritualism a fair and full investigation.
To many readers, indeed, we believe it has not unsuccessfully so ap
pealed ; causing them to hesitate as to whether they were justified in
holding back any longer from enquiry, even while the process remains
to them eminently distasteful. In view of such a dilemma it may be
not inopportune to discuss briefly, not the Evidences of Spiritualism, but
the preliminary question—Whether we are intellectually or morally bound
to examine and weigh those evidences ? Spiritualists, to do them justice,
very candidly warn us that the task is no trivial one to be performed in a
hurry. They scoff indignantly at the notion that five unsuccessful
séances (in one of which Di Vernon appeared as an historical character,
and, in another, Socrates with a straight nose and a disinclination to
speak Greek) were sufficient to warrant Lord Amberley in pronouncing
Spiritualism an imposition ; and they bid us admire men who, like Dr.
Sexton, are prepared to spend fifteen years in inquiry before the
“ needful evidence ” to convince them is vouchsafed/' To sift and
collate the mass of evidence already produced ; to cross-examine the
witnesses, and weigh the value of their individual testimony ; finally,
to institute the requisite actual experiments at séances innumerable,
would be to exceed the labours of Hercules, and repeat the weariness
of the Tichborne trial. It is not too much to insist that excellent
reason should be shown for the devotion of so much time and toil to such
an end ; nor need we be alarmed at the adoption by Spiritualists of the
tone of high moral indignation against indolent non-inquirers, natural to
all persons who think they are advocating some important discovery.
Few amongst us who have reached middle life regret that we did not
obey the solicitations of early friends to devote the years of our prime to
investigations of the “ discoveries ” of St. John Long, Spurzheim, and
Reichenbach,—to testing the therapeutic agencies of tar-water, “ tracttors,” and brandy and salt ; or nicely studying the successive solutions
triumphantly propounded of the problem of human flight and of perpetual
motion. We have borne with tolerable equanimity to be called hasty
and prejudiced in these matters ; and we may now endure the taunt of
Spiritualists that we display indifference to truths possibly indefinitely
valuable to the human race. Some limits there must needs be to the
duty of inquiring into everything proposed to us as a subject of inves
tigation ; and those limits we may perhaps in the present case find in the
nature of the subject, the methods of the investigation to be pursued,
and the results which follow in the contingency of such inquiries proving
successful.
Quarterly Review, May 1874, p, 651.
�38
MODERN SORCERY.
The propensity which ethnologists attribute, especially to Touranian
races, to seek after intercourse with inferior grades of spiritual existence, or
(to give it the old name) the passion for Sorcery, is one which seems to
flourish like the olive, the Phoenix of trees. Cut down, or burnt down,
in one land or age, it springs up and branches forth afresh in the next;
and while the main tendency of human thought seems constantly towards
a stricter monotheism, a counter eddy of the current for ever fills and
re-fills the invisible world with legions of imps, ghosts, and lying spirits,
meaner and more puerile than human nature in its basest condition.
Fifty years ago such delusions seemed to have ebbed out, and the few
writers who dealt with them, spoke of them as things of the past; and
assured us that, save in some Tartar tent in the East, or Gipsy one in
the West, magic and incantations would be heard no more. The future
historian of the England of to-day may truly relate that such incantations
were more common in London in 1874 than they were in Palestine when
the witch of Endor deluded Saul; or in Byzantium, when Santabaren
restored his long lost son to the arms of the Emperor Basil the Mace
*
donian.
What is the origin of this widespread and seemingly ineradicable
propensity ? Of course the answer which first suggests itself is, that it
is the result of a most natural and blameless curiosity to learn the
mysteries of that life into which we ourselves expect to pass through
the gates of the tomb, and wherein it is our hope that the beloved
ones who have left us have already entered. That in some cases this
is the real spring of the desire, we will not question. But it is certain
that the passion for Sorcery has far other springs beside, and that those
who addict themselves to it most completely have neither ardent long
ings for immortality on their own account, nor common reverence for
the dead. The special characteristic of the propensity, and of the
practices to which it gives rise, is the absence of all the more delicate
sentiments or spiritual aspirations of true human love, or true religion;
and the presence, in their stead, of a brutal familiarity and irreverence
as regards the dead, and of a gross materialism touching the experiences
of communion, divine or human.
In this respect superstitious Sacerdotalism and Sorcery have in all ages
borne some strong features of resemblance, even while mutually denouncing
one another. Each of them disregards really spiritual gifts as needful
to qualify Priest or Medium for intercourse with the unseen world; and
relies upon rites and incantations, rather than upon such liftings-up of
the human soul in longing and prayer, as should draw (if anything
might draw) the Divine aid from heaven and human love back from
the grave. The Sacerdotalist forgets the truth that, not by the help of
* This latter marvel is vouched for by Leo Grammaticus in vita Basilii Imp., § 20.
It was obviously accomplished by phantasmagoria and a magic lanthorn. See, for a
most valuable explanation of a multitude of such wonders,Eusebe Salverte’s Sciences
Occultes.
�MODERN SORCERY.
39
ecclesiastical machinery, but by spiritual worship, must the Father of
Spirits be approached ; and the Spiritualist forgets that not by his
machinery of raps and alphabets, but indeed “spiritually,” must “ spiritual
things” (such as immortality), be discerned. It was well said of late
by a profound thinker, that “if our belief in a future life could be
verified by the senses, Heaven would cease to be a part of our religion, and
become a branch of our geography.” “ Spiritualism ” is indeed a singular
misnomer, or, rather, it is a case of lucus a non lucendo, for there is no
“ spirituality ” in the system at all. It is materialism, pure and simple,
applied to a spiritual truth.
No one who entertains natural reverence and awe for the dead
can contemplate the practices of spiritualists in their séances without
pain and indignation, and only the example of unfeeling mediums and
excited friends can have prompted many tender natures to sanction or
endure them. In the midnight silence and stillness of our chambers,
or in some calm evening solitude of hills and woods, it might be pos
sible to bear the overwhelming emotions of awe ; the rush of unspeak
able tenderness, which must come upon us with the genuine convic
tion that the one who was “ soul of our soul ” has actually returned from
the grave, and is near us once more, conveying to us (as his presence even
in silence would surely do) the ineffable sense of love triumphant over
death ; and ready to receive from us the passionate assurances of neverforgotten regret and affection. Such a meeting of the spirits of the dead
and the living would be among all life’s solemn and affecting incidents the
most profound and touching ; the one which would move us to the very
foundations of our being, and leave us evermore other men than we had been.
Nay, we may further conceive that, bending over the dying, and speak
ing to them of the world into which they are about to enter, and where it
is at least not impossible they may meet our long lost friend or parent,
we might with faltering lips charge them to bear for us to the dead the
message of unchanged fidelity. Such as these are forms of communion
with the departed which involve no shock to our reverence, no sin against
the holiness of buried affection. But what shall we say for the travesty
and mockery thereof which goes on at every spiritualistic séance, amid
the circumstances with which we are all too well acquainted; and as
an alternate evening diversion to music, cards, or tea ? In a drawing
room with gas raised or extinguished a score of times to suit the require
ments of the medium, amid a circle of pleasantly excited ladies and gentle
men dabbling with alphabets, and slates, and planchettes, and ready'to
catch up every straw of “ evidence ” to be published or gossiped about on
the morrow ; in such a scene as this, and with the aid of a psychagogue,
who can scarcely pronounce three common-place sentences without betray
ing his ignorance or his vulgarity, we are told that wives ask to com
*
* Charles Sumner has just been brought back from the grave, and proves to have
very quickly acquired that disregard of adverbs which is common among the weaker
�40
MODERN SORCERY.
municate with their dead husbands ; parents are made to “feel” a lost
child in their arms; and sons listen to words professedly spoken to
them by their mother’s souls. We do not need to be told that the com
munications thus made are utterly unworthy of the majesty of death, and
are patently calculated rather to convince and entertain the audience by
verifiable allusions to names and places, than to convey what—if it were
truly the departed soul which had returned—would inevitably be the heartwrung utterances of supreme love. Strange is it indeed that persons not
otherwise devoid of tender and reverent feeling, when caught by the passion
for this sorcery, permit themselves and the company they may happen to
join ; to find the entertainment of an evening in practice so revolting.
Shall we give to it the name which it deserves, and say that the act of
evoking the dead in such a manner, and for such a purpose, is seta ileye ?
We have spoken of the objects and method of spiritualistic inquiry.
Its results even more emphatically exonerate any man of sound and re
verent mind from engaging in the task of its investigation. Dr. Wallace
asks us to “ look rather at the results produced by the evidence, than
to the evidence itself,” and we are thankful to accept his challenge.
Never, we venture to say, may the principle of judging a tree by its fruits
be more fairly applied. The grand and obvious result of Spiritualism is
to afford us one more (real or fictitious) revelation of the state of de
parted souls, added to those which we possessed before. Let us consider
it a little carefully, and observe what it really reveals.
The pictures of a future world which men have drawn in different
lands and ages, all possess at least one claim to our interest. They afford
us not indeed the faintest outlines of that Undiscovered Country beyond
the bourne of death, but they reveal with unimpeachable, because un
intentional sincerity, the innermost desires and fears of living men. On
that “cloud” which receives every departing soul out of our sight, the
magic-lantern of fancy casts its bright or gloomy imagery, and we need
but watch the phantasms as they pass to know the hidden slides of the
brain which produced them. The luscious gardens and Houris anticipated
by the Moslem; the eternal repose of Nirvana sighed for by the Budd
hist; the alternate warfare and wassail of Walhalla, for which the Norse
man longed as the climax of glory and felicity, convey to us at a glance
a livelier conception of the sensuality, the indolence, and the fierceness,
of the respective races than could be acquired by elaborate studies of
their manners and morality. In a similar way other characteristics are
revealed by the terrors of Future Punishment,—which the lively Greek
imagined to himself as the endless hopeless labours of an Ixion or a
Sisyphus ; the dignified Egyptian, as degradation to a bestial form; and
the grim-souled Teuton of the Dark Ages, as eternal torture in a fiery
brethren, in America—and also, perhaps, among American mediums. He is repotted
to have said, “ Oh, my friends, that you would ponder well that sacred injunction from
spirit life, * Lay up treasures in Heaven. Yhu need not be told how to do this, you
must act unselfish.'1'
�41
MODERN SORCERY.
cave. Whatever has constituted man’s highest pleasure on earth, that
he has hoped to find again in heaven, and whatever he has most dreaded,
that he has imagined as forming the retribution of guilt hereafter. From
this point of view the Christian idea of a serene empyrean, wherein saints
and archangels for ever cast their crowns before the great White Throne,
and worship the thrice Holy One who sitteth thereon—affords singular
evidence of the spiritual altitude to which those souls had attained to
whom 'such an Apocalypse opened the supremest vision of beatitude.
The attitude of Adoration—of sublime ecstatic rapture in the presence
of perfect Holiness and Goodness, is assuredly the loftiest of which we
have any conception, and to desire to enjoy and prolong it for ever can
only genuinely pertain to a soul in which the love of Divine goodness is
already the ruling passion. Wider thought and calmer reflection may
teach that not alone on such mountain peaks of emotion, but on the plains
of sacred service, should the faithful son of God desire to spend his
immortality. But the modern American poet who has taken on himself
to sneer at the notion of angels “ loafing about the Throne,” has given
curious evidence of his incompetence to understand what sublime passion
it was which inspired that wondrous vision of Patmos.
Accepting then the Heaven and Hell of each creed as a natural test
of the characteristic sentiments of its disciples, we turn somewhat in
quisitively to discover what sort of a future existence the new faith of
Spiritualism proposes to give us. Of course it affords every facility for
such an inquiry ; for, while other religions teach primarily concerning God,
and secondly, and with much more reserve, about the life after death ;
Spiritualism teaches first, and at great length, about the future life, and
frankly confesses that it has no light to throw on the problems of
theology. What then, we ask, has Spiritualism told us respecting the
state of the dead, or rather (as a sceptic mustinwardly pose the question)__
What do its narratives betray concerning the ideals of existence which
Spiritualists have created out of the depth of their own consciousness ? Do
they prove an advance upon those of earlier creeds; or, on the contrary, do
they mark a singular and deplorable retrogression towards the material
istic, the carnal, and the vulgar ? Of course such an enquiry would be
met at the outset by a Spiritualist with the vehement assertion that it was
not he who devised what the spirits say of themselves, but the spirits
who have lifted the veil of their own existence, for whose ignoble details
he is in no way responsible. As, however, every Pagan and Buddhist
Mahometan and Parsee would say as much on his own behalf, and main
tain that Elysium and Nirvana, Paradise and Gorotman, had each been
revealed by such “mediums” as Orpheus and Buddha, Mahomet and
Zoroaster, we must be content to pass by this argument and treat the
phase of immortality discovered (or invented) by Mr. Hume and his friends
as no less significant of the moral ideals of Spiritualists and the general
level of their aspirations.
Let it be granted cordially that there is nothing in the spiritualistic
3—5
�42
MODERN SORCERY.
Hades akin to the “ Hell of the Red Hot Iron,” the “ Hell of the Little
Child,” the “ Hell of the Burning Bonnet,” and the “ Hell of the
Boiling Kettle ” set forth with such ghastly circumstantiality in these
latter days in Dr. Furness’ Books for the Young, and in older times by
numberless Calvinistic and Catholic divines. Theodore Parker went,
indeed, so far as to say that “ there was, at all events, one good service
which the Spiritualists had done, they had, knocked the bottom out of Hell.”
Considering that the peculiarity of that terrible Pit has been generally
understood to be that it is “bottomless,” the achievement would seem
rather difficult; but in any case we may candidly agree that on this side
no exception need be taken against the spiritualist doctrine, save that
perchance it fails to afford indication of any sense of how profound must
be the mental anguish through which it is possible for a soul, stained
with vice and cruelty, to recover its purity and peace.
Spiritualist
remorse seems almost as colourless as spiritualist beatitude is vulgar
and inane.
On the other hand, when we ask to be informed (beyond the testimony
of sweet smiles and assurances of felicity), of the nature of the happiness
of virtuous departed souls, we are confronted with narratives much more
nearly realizing our notion of humiliating penance and helplessness than of
glory and freedom ; of Purgatory rather than of Paradise. The dead, it
seems, according to Spiritualism, have not (even after vast intervals of time)
advanced one step nearer to the knowledge of those diviner truths for
which the soul of man hungers, than they possessed while on earth. The
Hope of Immortality is bound up, in religious minds, with the faith that
though no actual vision can ever be vouchsafed of the all-pervading Spirit,
yet that some sense beyond any which earthly life affords, of the presence
and love of the Father will come to the soul when it has gone “ home to
God,” and that Doubt will surely be left behind among the cerements of
the grave. But Spiritualists cheerfully tell us such hopes are quite as
delusive as those of the material crowns and harps of the New Jerusalem.
“ Nothing,” says Dr. Wallace, “ is more common than for religious people
at seances to ask questions about God and Christ. In reply they never
get more than opinions, or more frequently the statement that they, the
spirits, have no more actual knowledge than they had on earth ” (p. 805.)
There are indeed, Dr. Wallace assures us, Catholic and Protestant,
Mahommedan and Hindoo spirits, proving that the “mind with its
myriad beliefs is not suddenly changed at death,” nor, seemingly, for ages
afterwards. Thus from our estimate of the Spiritualist state of future
felicity, we are called on to make, at starting, the enormous deduction of
everything resembling religious progress. The Spiritualist is perfectly
content with an ideal Heaven wherein he will remain in just as much doubt
or error as he happens to have entertained upon earth.
Further, as regards his personal and social affections, Does he at least
image to himself that he will be nearer and more able to protect and
bless his dear ones after death ? Or that he will pass freely hither
�MODERN SORCERY.
43
and thither, doing service like a guardian angel to mankind, strengthening
the weak, comforting the mourner, and awakening the conscience of the
wicked? There is (so far as we have followed the literature of Spiritualism)
no warrant for such a picture of bénéficient activity. Good spirits, as well
as bad—the souls of Plato and Fénélon, as well as those of the silliest
and wickedest “twaddler” (as Dr. Wallace honestly describes many
spirits Zmôàiiés of séances)—have seemingly spent all the centuries since
their demise humbly waiting to be called up by some, woman, or child
precisely, as if they were lackeys ready to answer the downstairs’ bell.
In many cases we are led to infer that the dead have been striving for
years and ages to make themselves known, and now for the last quarter
of a century have very clumsily and imperfectly succeeded in doing so.
Let us conceive for' a moment a grand and loving soul—a Shakespeare,
or Jeremy Taylor, or Shelley, who once spoke to mankind in free and
noble speech, a man among men, fumbling about the legs of tables,
scratching like a dog at a door, and eagerly flying to obtain the services
of an interpreter like Miss Fox, Mr. Hume, or Mrs.Guppy,—and we have
surely invented a punishment and humiliation exceeding those of any
purgatory hitherto invented. If Virtue itself has nothing better to hope
for hereafter than such a destiny, we may well wish that the grave should
prove indeed, after all, the last home of “ earth’s mighty nation.”
Where Oblivion’s pall shall darkly fall
On the dreamless sleep of annihilation.
In conclusion, Is it too much now to ask that we may be exonerated,
once for all, from the charge of unreasonable prejudice, if we refuse to
undertake the laborious inquiry into the marvels of Spiritualism which its
advocates challenge,— an inquiry pursued by methods bordering upon the
sacrilegious, and terminating, either in the exposure of a miserable delu
sion, or else in the stultification and abortion of man’s immortal Hope ?
�
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Modern sorcery
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Cobbe, Frances Power [1832-1907.]
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An account of the resource
Place of publication: [London]
Collation: [36]-43 p. ; 23 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. From the Cornhill Magazine 30 (July, 1874). Attribution of author, the magazine title, and date from Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals 1824-1900. The top of the first page has been cut out, no text is missing.
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[Smith, Elder & Co.]
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[1874]
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G5345
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Spiritualism
Witchcraft
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English
Conway Tracts
Spiritualism
Witchcraft
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Cjs6^
i •
LONDON
DIALECTICAL
SOCIETY,
32A, GEORGE STREET, HANOVER SQUARE, W.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WERTHEIMER, LEA AND CO.,
CIRCUS PLACE, FINSBURY CIRCUS.
1866—67.
��PROSPECTUS.
--------------00-------------
That Truth is of all things the most to be desired,
and that it is best elicited by the conflict of op
posing opinions, are propositions on which all
philosophers are agreed, and which need only be
enunciated to command universal assent.
Influenced by these considerations, and actuated
by the desire of giving them effect, several gentle
men of various tastes, literary, scientific, and phi
losophical, thought that a Society instituted for
the purpose of interchange of opinion on all sub
jects of interest, would be to a certain extent a
novelty, and would meet with favorable support.
They were aware that there already existed nume
rous Debating Societies, where mere surface-ques
tions were argued, (chiefly for the purpose of ob
taining practice in speaking,) and where subjects
held to be of the highest importance were prohi
bited from being discussed at all; but there did
not appear to be a Society for the philosophical
�6
treatment of all questions, especially those which
lie at the root of the differences of opinion which
divide mankind,—such questions, for instance, as
are comprised in the domain of Ethics, Meta
physics, and Theology.
It was designed, therefore, to establish not a
mere Debating Society, or Discussion Class, but
an Association with higher and more philosophical
aims.
It appeared to the Founders, that for a Society
of this kind to be successful, Sectarianism of every
description must be rigidly excluded,—all distinc
tion founded upon social condition, occupation,
and the like, disregarded—and the only recognised
qualifications for Membership be an unstained
character, and a genuine desire for the promotion
of the objects of the Society.
It was manifest, too, as an essential condition of
success—being, indeed, the fundamental principle
of the Society, that the most absolute freedom of
debate should be permitted ;—that no subject
whatever should be excluded on any ground save
that of its triviality, and that the restrictions and
reservations which obtain in ordinary Debating
Societies should have no place here.
�1
A meeting of the Founders was subsequentlyheld, at which, after due deliberation, the follow
ing Resolution was unanimously carried : — “ That
“ in the opinion of this meeting, it is desirable that
“ a Philosophical Association be formed for the
“ discovery and elucidation of truth, upon all sub“ jects, by means of argument and discussion.”
The first question to be considered was the name
by which the Society should be known; and with
reference to the title adopted, the following re
marks by Professor Bain, in his essay on Early
Philosophy, may not be out of place :—
“ The essence of the Dialectic Method is to place
“ side by side, with every doctrine and its reasons,
<£ all opposing doctrines and their reasons, allow“ ing these to be stated in full by the persons
“ holding them. No doctrine is to be held as ex“ pounded, far less proved, unless it stands in
“ parallel array to every other counter-theory, with
££ all that can be said for each. For a short time
“ this system was actually, maintained and prac“ tised but the execution of Sokrates gave it its
“ first check, and the natural intolerance of man“ kind rendered its continuance impossible. Since
“ the Reformation, struggles have been made to
�“ regain for the discussion of questions generally,
“ —philosophical, political, moral, and religious,
“ the two-sided procedure of the law-courts, and
“ perhaps never more strenuously than now.”
Let the London Dialectical Society, then, encou
rage and practise the method of teaching implied
by its title : let us remember that
“ Through mutual intercourse and mutual aid,
“ Great deeds are done, and great discoveries made,
“ The wise new wisdom on the wise bestow,
“ Whilst the lone thinker’s thoughts come slight and slow.”
Let us emulate the example of the great Athe
nian philosopher of antiquity, the aim of whose
existence was the demonstration of Reasoned
Truth, and the exposure of the errors and fallacies
of his age,—who, absolutely regardless of all con
sequences, passed his life in the bold enunciation
of the truth, and voluntarily and cheerfully forfeited
it in its defence, — whose virtue, courage, and
wisdom have earned for him the veneration of
posterity.
The Founders of the Society are aware of the
difficulties to be encountered. They know that a
Society of individuals proposing to discuss every
subject, without the slightest reserve, will neces
sarily incur considerable obloquy, and be the ob
�9
ject of much depreciatory remark and prophetic
denunciation. It will rest with the Members to
prove by their conduct in debate, that these un
favorable comments and gloomy forebodings were
based upon an erroneous conception of the prin
ciples upon which the proceedings of the Associa
tion are to be conducted.
In a Society where such full liberty of debate is
granted, where matters on which men have deeplycherished opinions are openly and boldly dis
cussed, some little self-restraint must be exercised
on the one hand, and too great sensitiveness must
not be exhibited on the other. Debate must be
conducted without any undue warmth of feeling,—
arguments, and not individuals, must be attacked,
—imputation of motives must be avoided,—and
the Chairman must exercise his authority with
promptitude, impartiality, and rigor.
It is hardly necessary to express a hope that
* Members will not consume the time of both them
selves and others by the consideration of questions
of frivolous import or vexatious triviality. It was
proposed, indeed, to meet the difficulty by a Law,
empowering the Council to exercise some kind of
censorship ; but it was thought better to leave the
�IO
matter to the good sense of the whole body of
Members, in the full confidence that any attempt at
trifling would be promptly and efficiently checked.
To conclude : the London Dialectical Society
will have effected much good, if, by its means, per
sons are made to feel that to profess a belief on a
disputed question with regard to which they refuse
to examine the evidence, is an act altogether un
worthy of a rational being; and that the only
method of arriving at truth is by submitting one’s
opinions to the test of unsparing and adverse
criticism. Freedom of speech and thought are, not
less than personal freedom, the natural birthright of
all mankind. To refrain from uttering opinions be
cause they are unpopular, betokens a certain amount
of moral cowardice, — engendered by long-con
tinued persecution. To state fearlessly the truth,
or what we believe to be the truth, even though it
be held only by a few, is the act of all who con
sider the exercise of private judgment a right, and *
the extension of human knowledge a duty. But
society generally has not yet reached such a stage
of progress, as to allow individuals to give expres
sion to their honest and deliberate convictions,
without inflicting upon them penalties more or less
�II
severe. The effect of this is to deter men from
expressing opinions, which might be corrected if
erroneous, and accepted if true. In the London
Dialectical Society, however, not only will no per
son suffer obloquy on account of any opinion he
may entertain or express, but he will be encouraged
to lay before his fellow-members the fullest expo
sition of his views. Even if this were not so, it is
to be hoped that Members of the Society will
possess sufficient moral courage to disregard, in the
interests of Truth, that social tyranny—the weapon
of Ignorance and Intolerance.
“ They are Slaves who will not choose
“ Hatred, scoffing, and abuse,
“ Rather than in silence shrink
“ From the truth they needs must think.
‘ ‘ They are Slaves who dare not be
“ In the right with two or three.”
Let us be mindful of the fact, that throughout the
whole history of the world, the voice of Authority
has constantly opposed new truths; and, with an
earnest desire both to learn and teach, let us zea
lously follow the practice of Dialectics, unaffected
by the praises of some, undeterred by the denun
ciations of others, but conscious of honesty and
purity of motive, and desirous for the wisdom and
happiness of Man.
�RULES.
I. —That the Society be called “ The London
Dialectical Society.”
II. —That the object of the Society be the philo
sophical consideration of all subjects, with a view
to the discovery and elucidation of truth.
III. —That the Society consist of a President,
Vice-Presidents, and Members.
IV. —That the government of the Society be
vested in a council of nine, consisting of the Secre
tary, the Treasurer, and seven other Members ;
three to be a quorum.
V. —That the Council be elected by Ballot
annually.
VI. —That vacancies occurring in the Council
be provisionally filled up by the remaining Mem
bers of the Council.
�VII. —That the President and Vice-Presidents
be elected by the Council, and that they enjoy all
the privileges of ordinary Members.
VIII. —That on and after the ist of January,
1867, persons desirous of becoming Members of
the Society, having filled up a form of applica
tion, to be obtained of the Secretary (of which the
annexed is a copy,) be proposed and seconded at
an ordinary Meeting, and balloted for at the fol
lowing Meeting, one black ball in six to exclude;
and that any one thus excluded be not again pro
posed for a period of three months.
FORM OF APPLICATION.
Having read the Prospectus and Rules of the London
Dialectical Society, I beg to express my cordial approval
of its object and the principles on which it is founded, as
therein set forth ; and being desirous of becoming a Member,
request that my name be placed on the List of Candidates for
admission.
Signed________________________________
Address_______________________________
Date_______________________
Proposed by________________________ ________
Seconded by_________________________________
�i4
E IX.—That two ordinary Meetings of the Society
be held in each month, except the months of August
and September; but that the Council have the
power to appoint any additional Meeting, and fix
the day for an adjourned ordinary Meeting.
X. —That Members be entitled to introduce per
sonally a friend each at the ordinary Meetings, whose
names shall be entered, together with the names of
the Members introducing them, in a book kept for
that purpose; such Visitors not to take part in the
discussion, without permission of the Chairman.
XI. —That on the written requisition of twelve
Members, the Council call a Special General Meet
ing to consider any question with reference to the
affairs of the Society, and that at such Meeting no
other business but that stated in the requisition be
considered.
XII. —That no Rule be made or altered without
the consent of three-fourths of the Members pre
sent at the Special General Meeting called to con
sider the proposed alteration.
XIII. —That the Secretary send to each Member
of the Council due notice of each Council Meet-
�i5
ing; and to each Member of the Society due notice
of the Annual, and of every Special Meeting; in
each case stating the object for which the Meeting
has been called.
XIV. —That a Balance-sheet and Report be
drawn up by the Council, and presented at the
Annual General Meeting.
XV. —That at the ordinary Meetings, no vote
be taken with reference to the subject of the Paper
read, or discussion which may have taken place.
XVI. —That the Secretary keep Minutes of each
Meeting; such Minutes to consist of a short sum
mary of the Paper read, together with the Debate
thereon, and also any other proceedings which may
have taken place.
XVII. —That the Papers read before the So
ciety, or a copy of them, be delivered to the Secre
tary, and become the property of the Society ■ but
that no Paper be published without the consent of
its Author.
XVIII.—That the subjects proposed for discus
�sion be received, and the order in which they are
to be taken arranged, by the Council.
XIX. —That if the conduct of any Member be
such as to cast discredit on the Society, or to be
detrimental to its interests, a Special General
Meeting shall be called by the Council, according
to the provisions of Rule XI., at which Meeting
the expulsion of such Member may be resolved
upon, the conditions of Rule XII. being complied
with, and the Vote being taken by Ballot.
XX. —That except where otherwise stated, open
Voting be practised.
XXI. —That in the absence of the President,
each Meeting elect its own Chairman, whose de
cision on all matters of order shall be final.
XXII. —That the Annual Subscription be ten
shillings and sixpence, payable in advance.
XXIII.—That the Council have the power to
make such Bye-laws and other Regulations as from
time to time they may deem necessary; but that
no Bye-law or Regulation be made inconsistent
with the constitution of the Society, as set forth
in the Prospectus and fundamental Rules.
�17
XXIV. —That the Council have the power to in
vite persons of celebrity to read papers, or deliver
addresses before the Society.
XXV. —That at the conclusion of each Meet
ing, the subject to be considered at the following
Ordinary Meeting be announced, and that the
Secretary make known the subjects, if possible, not
less than three months in advance.
�BYE-LAWS.
I. —That the Session, commence on the ist of
October, and terminate on the 31st of July.
II. —That the ordinary Meetings be held at the
Rooms of the Society, 3 2a, George Street, Han
over Square, on the evenings of the first and third
Wednesday in each month during the session, and
that the proceedings commence at eight o’clock
precisely.
III. —That any ordinary Meeting held in the
first week of any month, maybe adjourned to the
night of ordinary Meeting in the third week of that
month; such adjourned Meeting to take prece
dence of all ordinary business of that night.
IV. —That no ordinary Meeting held in the
third week of any month be adjourned without
special leave previously obtained of the Council.
V. —That no adjourned ordinary Meeting be
held in the first week of any month.
�19
Papers and Discussions during the Session
. 1866—67.
1867.
Jan. 29.—Inaugural Meeting.
Feb. 5.-—“ On the Causes of Poverty and Low Wages.”
Dr. Drysdale.
19. —Adjourned Debate on Dr. Drysdale’s paper.
Mar. 5.—“On the Laws relating to the Tenure of Land.”
Dr. Chapman.
13.—“On the Medical Education of Women.”
Dr. Edmunds.
20. -—Adjourned Debate on Dr. Drysdale’s Paper.
April 3.—“ On the Political Philosophy of Thomas Carlyle.”
Mr. Smith.
17.—11 On Utilitarianism, as compared with Theological
or Dogmatic Standards of Morality.”
Dr. Drysdale.
May 1.—“ On the Influence of the Inquisition upon Spanish
Literature.”
Mr. Chidley.
15.—“ On Aggressive War : what are the circumstances
(if any) which justify it ?”
Mr. Smith.
June 5.—“ On Utility,—the ultimate Test of Morality.”
Mr. Shields.
19. — “On Waste, politico-economically considered.”
Dr. Edmunds.
July 3.—“ On Marriage-Contracts.”
Dr. Chapman.
17.—“ On the Credibility of Miracles.”
Mr. Warington.
�20
MEMBERS.
Philip Abraham, Esq., 147, Gower Street, W.C.
L. B. Abrahams, Esq., B. A., Jews’ Free School, Bell Lane,
N.E.
Roger Acton, Esq.,
Crescent, N.W.
n, Crescent Place, Mornington
Isidore G. Ascher, Esq., B.C.L., 6, Guildhall Chambers,
Basinghall Street, E.C.
Wynne E. Baxter, Esq., Bedford Park, Croydon, S.
Herman Beigel, Esq., M.D., 3, Finsbury Square, E.C.
H. R. Fox Bourne, Esq., 29, Brixton Place, S.
Thomas Bourne, Esq., 25, Somerset Street, Portman
Square, W.
H. Evans Broad, Esq., 5, Stratheden Villas, Hammer
smith, W.
F. Gordon Brown, Esq., M.R.C.S., 16, Finsbury Circus,
E.C.
N. J. Canstatt, Esq., M.R.C.S., 12, South Place, Fins
bury, E.C.
The Rev. John Chapman, Jews’ College, Finsbury Square,
E.C.
John Chapman, Esq., M.D., 25, Somerset Street, Portman
Square, W.
Sydney Chidley, Esq., 25, Old Jewry, E.C.
Andrew Clark, Esq., M.D., 23, Montague Place, Russell
Square, W.C.
�21
Frank Crisp, Esq., B.A., LL.B., 6, Old Jewry, E.C.
John Crowther, Esq., 94, Holborn Hill, W.C.
Charles R. Drysdale, Esq., M.D., 99, Southampton
Row, W.C.
R. William Dunn, Esq., M.R.C.S., 13, Surrey Street,
Strand, W.C.
Arthur E. Durham, Esq., F.R.C.S., F.S.S., 30, Brook
Street, Grosvenor Square, W.
D. H. Dyte, Esq., M.R.C.S., 15, Bury Street, E.C.
John Dyte, Esq., 32, Moorgate Street, E.C.
James Edmunds, Esq., M.D., 4, Fitzroy Square, W.
Mrs. Edmunds, 4, Fitzroy Square, W.
Pierce Egan, jun., Esq., Middle Temple, E.C.
James Ellis, Esq., M.D., St. Luke’s Hospital, Old Street,
E.C.
James H. Gough, Esq., B.A., Thames Conservancy Office,
Trinity Square, E.C.
Jacob Guedalla, Esq., 10, Clarendon Gardens, Maida
Vale, W.
Joseph Guedalla, Esq., 10, Clarendon Gardens, Maida
Vale, W.
William Hardwicke, Esq., M.D., 70, Momington Road,
N.W.
Ephraim Harris, Esq., B.A., Jews’ Free School, Bell
Lane, N. E.
Morris Harris, Esq., 8, Great Prescott Street, E.
A. Hartog, Esq., 15, Belsize Square, N.W.
George H. Haydon, Esq., Bethlem Hospital, Lambeth, S.
N. Heckford, Esq.,M.R.C.S., 5, Broad Street Buildings, E.C.
�22
Samuel Jackson, Esq., Guy’s Hospital, Borough, S.
H. L. Kempthorne, Esq., M.D., Bethlem Hospital, Lam
beth, S.
G. W. King, Esq., Eagle Wharf Road, N.
Albert Kisch, Esq., M.R.C.S., 2, Circus Place, Finsbury,
E.C.
James Knight, Esq., 71, Cheapside, E.C.
Joseph Knight, Esq., 8, Warden Road, Haverstock Hill,
N.W.
J. Baxter Langley, Esq., M.R.C.S., F.L.S., 50, Lincoln’s
Inn Fields, W.C.
J. S. Laurie, Esq., Hall Staircase, Inner Temple, E.C.
Gerald Levi, Esq., 8, Coleman Street, E.C.
Maurice H. Levirton, Esq., 2, Fen Court, Fenchurch
Street, E.C.
J. H. Levy, Esq., Education Department, Privy Council
Office, Downing Street, S.W.
The Rev. M. B. Levy, Synagogue, St. Alban’s Place, S.W.
Morell Mackenzie, Esq., M.D., 13, Weymouth Street,
Portland Place, W.
The Rev. P. Magnus, B.A., B. Sc., 29, Blandford Square,
N.W.
Frank R. Malleson, Camp Cottage, Wimbledon, S.W.
Mrs. Malleson, Camp Cottage, Wimbledon, S.W.
Henry Maudsley, Esq., M.D., 38, Queen Anne Street,
Cavendish Square, W.
J. Maurice, Esq., 3, Langham Place, Regent Street, W.
Bentley McLeod, Esq., 32, Moorgate Street, E.C.
B. M. Moss, Esq., 25, Store Street, Bedford Square, W.C.
�LONDON
DIALECTICAL
SOCIETY.
PRESIDENT.
Sir JOHN LUBBOCK, Bart., F.R.S.
VICE-PRESIDENTS.
ANDREW CLARK, Esq., M.D.
Prof. HUXLEY, F.R.S.
COUNCIL.
L. B. Abrahams, Esq., B.A.
John Chapman, Esq., M.D.
William Hardwicke, Esq., M.D.
James Knight, Esq.
J. H. Levy, Esq.
Henry Maudsley, Esq., M.D.
J. Rigby Smith, Esq.
TREASURER.
C. R. Drysdale, Esq., M.D.
HON. SECRETARY.
D. H. Dyte, Esq., M.R.C.S.
HON. SOLICITOR.
Sydney Chidley, Esq.
A UDITORS.
James H. Gough, Esq., B.A.
Bentley McLeod, Esq., (Messrs. Dyte, McLeod and
Leader, 32, Moorgate Street, E.C.)
�INDEX.
Prospectus
........
3
Rules................................................................................. 12
Bye-Laws-............................................
Papers for
List
of
the
Session 1866-67
.
18
...
19
Members.....................................
20
�23
E. J. Moss, Esq., 48, Edmund Terrace, Kensington, W.
H. Raymond, Esq., 8, York Grove, Peckham, S.E.
Alfred T. Rees, Esq., 13, Rydon Crescent, St. John
Street Road, E.C.
Walter Rivington, Esq., B.A.,M.S., 22, Finsbury Square,
E.C.
W. H. Mosse Robinson, Esq., Birdhirst. Croydon.
Henry Sewill, Esq., M.R.C.S.,20, Clifton Gardens, Maida
Vale, W.
W. A. Shields, Esq., Birkbeck Schools, Peckham, S.E.
James L. Shuter, Esq., 33, Farringdon Street, E.C.
A. Simons, Esq., B.A., Jews’ Free School, Bell Lane, N.E.
J. Rigby Smith, Esq., Education Department, Privy Council
Office, Downing Street, S.W.
James Spear, Esq., 6, Bishop’s Road, Bayswater, W.
P. Spiers, Esq., Jews’ Free School, Bell Lane, N.E.
H. C. Stephens, Esq., Grove House, Finchley, N.
William Taylor, Esq., 145, New Bond Street, W.
Arthur Waller, Esq., B.A., B.Sc., St. Thomas’s Hos
pital, Walworth, S.
George Warington, Esq., F.C.S., Apothecaries’ Hall,
Blackfriars, E.C.
William Rhys Williams, Esq., M.D., Bethlem Hospital,
Lambeth, S.
W. H. Witherby, Esq., M.A., M.D., Coombe, Croydon, S.
H. S. Yeomans, Esq, 35, . Upper East Smithfield, E.
G. G. Zerffi, Esq., Ph. D., 3, Warrington Gardens, Maida
Hill, W.
��y
^rosycdusi atul
OF THE
LONDON DIALECTICAL
SOCIETY.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY S. MELDOLA, 9, CRANE COURT,
FLEET STREET, E.C.
1866.
��PROSPECTUS,
That Truth is of all things the most to be desired,
and that it is best elicited by the conflict of opposing
opinions, are propositions on which all philosophers
are agreed, and which need only be enunciated to command universal assent.
Influenced by these considerations, and actuated
by the desire of giving them effect, several gentlemen
of various tastes, literary, scientific, and philosophical,
thought that a Society instituted for the purpose of
interchange of opinion on all subjects of interest,
would be to a certain extent a novelty, and would
favorable support.
They were aware that there already existed numerous Debating Societies, where mere surface-questions were argued, chiefly for the purpose of obtainKgMRe.tice in speaking, and where subjects held to
be of the highest importance were prohibited from
being discussed at all; but there did not appear to be
�4
a Society for the philosophical treatment of all ques
tions, especially those which lie at the root of the
differences of opinion which divide mankind,—such
questions, for instance, as are comprised in the domain
of Ethics, Metaphysics, and Theology.
It was designed, therefore, to establish not a mere
Debating Society, or Discussion Class, but an Asso
ciation with higher and more philosophical aims.
It appeared to the Founders, that for a Society
of this kind to be successful, Sectarianism of every
description must be rigidly excluded,—all distinc
tion founded upon social condition, occupation,
and the like, disregarded—and the only recognised
qualifications for Membership be an unstained cha
racter, and a genuine desire for the promotion of the
objects of the Society.
It was manifest, too, as an essential condition of
success—being indeed the fundamental principle of
the Society, that the most absolute freedom of de
bate should be permitted;—that no subject whatever
should be excluded on any ground save that of its
triviality, and that the restrictions and reservations
which obtain in ordinary Debating Societies should
have no place here.
A meeting of the Founders was subsequently held,
at which, after due deliberation, the following Reso
�lution was unanimously carried: “ That in the
“ opinion of this Meeting, it is desirable that a Philo“ sophical Association be formed for the discovery and
“ elMjgi of truth, upon all subjects, by means of
“argument and discussion.”
The first question to be considered was the name
by which the Society should be known; and with
reference to the title adopted, the following remarks
by Professor Bain, in his essay on Early Philosophy,
may not be out of place :
“The Essence of the Dialectic Method is to place
“ side by side, with every doctrine and its reasons, all
■ 4Ep8?sin£jdoctrines and their reasons, allowing these
“ to be stated in full by the persons holding them.
■ No doctrine is to be held as expounded, far less
“ proved, unless it stands in parallel array to every
“ other counter-theory, with all that can be said for
“each. For a short time this system was actually
‘MEinaained and practised; but the execution of
“ Sokrates gave it its first check, and the natural
“intolerance of mankind rendered its continuance
“impossible. Since the Reformation, struggles have
“been made to regain for the discussion of questions
^EfetUrally.—philosophical, political, moral, and
“religious, the two-sided procedure of the law-courts,
“ and perhaps never more strenuously than now.”
�6
Let the London Dialectical Society then, encoa*
rage and practise the method of teaching implied by
its title: let us remember that
“ Through mutual intercourse and mutual aid,
“ Great deeds are done, and great discoveries made,
“The wise new wisdom on the wise bestow,
“ Whilst the lone thinker’s thoughts come slight and slow.”
Let us emulate the example of the great Athenian
philosopher of antiquity, the aim of whose existence
was the demonstration of Reasoned Truth, and the
exposure of the errors and fallacies of his age,—who^
absolutely regardless of all consequences, passed his
life in the bold enunciation of the truth, and volung
tarily and cheerfully forfeited it in its defence,—
whose virtue, courage, and wisdom have earned for
him the veneration of posterity.
The Founders of the Society are aware of the diflL
culties to be encountered. They know that a Society
of individuals proposing to discuss every subject,
without the slightest reserve, will necessarily incur
considerable obloquy, and be the object of much
depreciatory remark and prophetic denunciation.
It will rest with the Members to prove by their
conduct in debate, that these unfavorable comments
and gloomy forebodings were based upon an
�1
erroneous conception of the principles upon which
the proceedings of the Association are to be conducted.
Ill a Society where such full liberty of debate is
granted, where matters on which men have deeplycherished opinions are openly and boldly discussed,
some little self-restraint must be exercised on the
one hand, and too great sensitiveness must not be exE^^d on the other. Debate must be conducted without any undue warmth of feeling,—arguments, and
not individuals, must be attacked,—imputation of motives must be avoided,—and the Chairman must exercise his authority with promptitude, impartiality,
rigor.
It is hardly necessary to express a hope that gentlemen will not consume the time of both themselves
and others by the consideration of questions of frivolous import or vexatious triviality. It was proposed indeed, to meet this difficulty by a Law, empowering the Council to exercise some kind of censorship; but it was thought better to leave the matter
to the good sense of the whole body of Members, in
the full confidence that any attempt at trifling
would be promptly and efficiently checked.
To conclude : the London Dialectical Society will
have effected much good, if by its means, persons are
�8
made to feel that to profess a belief on a disputed
question with regard to which they refuse to examine
the evidence, is an act altogether unworthy of a
rational being j and that the only method of arriving
at truth is by submitting one’s opinions to the test of
unsparing and adverse criticism.
Freedom of speech and thought are, not less than
personal freedom, the natural birthright of all Man
kind. To refrain from uttering opinions because
they are unpopular, betokens a certain amount of
moral cowardice,—engendered by long-continued paw
secution. To state fearlessly the truth, or what we
believe to be the truth, even though it be held only
by a few, is the act of all who consider the exercise
of private judgment a right, and the extension of
human knowledge a duty. But society generally has
not yet reached such a stage of progress, as to allow
individuals to give expression to their honest and
deliberate convictions, without inflicting upon them
penalties more or less severe. The effect of this is to
deter men from expressing opinions, which might, fee
corrected if erroneous, and accepted if true. In the
London Dialectical Society, however, not only will
no person suffer obloquy on account of any opinion
he may entertain or express, but he will be encou
raged to lay before his fellow-members, the fullest
�9
^•positron of his views. Even if this were not so, it
is to be hoped that Members of the Society will
possess sufficient moral courage to disregard, in the
interests of Truth, that social tyranny—the weapon
of Ignorance and Intolerance.
They are Slaves who will not choose
“ Hatred, scoffing, and abuse,
“Rather than in silence shrink
From the truth they needs must think.
“They are slaves who dare not be
In the right with two or three.”
Let us be mindful of the fact, that throughout the
whBpi&istory of the world, the voice of Authority has
EojgraaMy opposed new truths ; and, with an earnest
desire both to learn and teach, let us zealously follow
the practice of Dialectics, unaffected by the praises of
some, undeterred by the denunciations of others, but
conscious of honesty and purity of motive, and desirous for the wisdom and happiness of Man.
��RULES.
I. —That the Society be called “ The London DiaSociety.’ ’
lectical
II. —That the object of the Society be the philosoph^^^Ensideration of all subjects, with a view to the
discovery and elucidation of truth.
III. —That the Society consist of a President, VicePresidents and Members.
IV. —That the government of the Society be vested
in a ^Sfacil of nine, consisting of the Secretary, the
and seven other Members; three to be a
quorum.
V. —That the Council be elected by Ballot annually.
VI. —That vacancies occurring in the Council be
provisionally filled up by the remaining Members of the
Council.
VII. —That the President and Vice-Presidents be
elected by the Council, and that they enjoy all the privileges of ordinary Members.
�VIII.—That on and after the 1st of October 1866,
gentlemen desirous of becoming Members of the Society,
having filled up a form of application to be obtained,
of the Secretary (of which the annexed is a, copy)
be proposed and seconded at an ordinary Meeting, and
balloted for at the following Meeting, one black ball in
six to exclude; and that a person thus excluded be M)t
again proposed for a period of three months.
FORM OF APPLICATION.
Saving read the Prospectus and Pules of the Londo®
Dialectical Society, and cordially approving of its object, I
am desirous of becoming a Member, and request that my Name
be placed on the List of Candidates for Admission.
Signed ________________
Address_____________________
Date___________________
Proposed by_____________________
Seconded by_____________________
IX.—That the ordinary Meetings of the Society be
held on the evenings of the first and third Tuesday in
each month, except the months of August and Septem
ber ; but that the Council have the power to appoint
any additional Meeting, and fix the day for an adjourned
ordinary meeting.
�13
each Member be entitled to introduce perKnOI® a friend at the ordinary Meetings, whose name
shall be announced to the Meeting, and entered, toge
ther with the name of the Member introducing him, in
a book kept for that purpose; such Visitor not to take
part in the discussion.
XI. —That on the written requisition of twelve Mem
bers, the Council call a special general Meeting to consic^Pwnypiestion with reference to the affairs of the
Society, and that at such Meeting no other business but
that stated in the requisition be considered.
XII. —That no Rule be made or altered without the
consent of three-fourths of the Members present at the
special general Meeting called to consider the proposed
alteration—at which Meeting not less than one-half of
the members of the Society must be present.
XIII. —That the Secretary send to each Member of
the Council due notice of each Council Meeting; and to
each member of the Society due notice of the Annual.,
and of every Special Meeting ; in each case stating the
object for which the Meeting has been called.
XIV. —That a Balance-sheet and Report be drawn
up by the Council, and presented at the annual general
Meeting.
�u
XV. —That at the ordinary Meetings, no Vote be
taken with reference to the subject of the Paper read, or
Discussion which may have taken place.
XVI. —That the Secretary keep Minutes of each
Meeting; such minutes to consist of a short summary
of the Paper read together with the Debate thereon,
and also any other proceedings which may have taken
place.
XVII. —That the Papers read before the Society, or
a copy of them, be delivered to the Secretary, and be
come the property of the Society; but that no Paper
be published without the consent of its Author.
XVIII.—That at a general Meeting specially con-?
vened, the subjects proposed for discussion be received^
and that if there be more subjects than opportunities!
for meeting, the subjects for consideration be decided by
the Meeting, and the order in which they are to be
taken arranged by the Council.
XIX.—That if the conduct of any Member be such
as to cast discredit on the Society, or to be detrimental
to its interests, a special genera] Meeting shall be called
by the Council, according to the provisions of Pule Xl?
at which Meeting the expulsion of such Member may be
resolved, the conditions of Rule XII. being complied
with.
�15
XX. —That except where otherwise stated the Voting be conducted by Ballot.
XXI. —That open Voting be practised at Council
Meetings, election of Chairman at ordinary Meetings,
and under Rule XVIII.
XXII. —That in the absence of the President, each
general Meeting elect its own Chairman, whose decision
on all matters of order shall be final.
XXIII.—That the Annual Subscription be ten shillings and sixpence, payable in advance, on or before the
first Tuesday in October.
XXIV. That the Council have the power to make
such Bye-laws and other Regulations as from timo to
time they may deem necessary : but that no Bye-law or
Regulation be made inconsistent wjth the constitution
of the Society, as set forth in the Prospectus and fundamental Rules.
XXV. —That the Council have the power to invite
persons of celebiity to read papers, or deliver addresses
before the Society.
XXVI. —That at the conclusion of each Meeting,
the subject to be considered at the following ordinary
Meeting be announced, and that the Secretary make
known the subjects, if possible, not less than three
months in advance.
��
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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London Dialectical Society
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London Dialectical Society
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Place of publication: London
Collation: 23 p. ; 19 cm.
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Spiritualism
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Conway Tracts
London Dialectical Society
Spiritualism
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Text
{TRACTS FOR THE TIMES.
I
“ Read, Mark, Learn, and Inwardly Digest.”
------------- O-------------
|l LAST ADDRESS OF REV. JOHN PIERPONT.
------------- o------------j
Our friend who has just welcomed you to this city, has'J
i;jwelcomed you, among other things, as “infidels.” I think it
[may not be inappropriate to say one word upon that forij®dable
®word “Infidel.” What does it mean 1 Etymologically, jig means
an unfaithful one. In that sense, I do not recognize the epithet
las belonging to myself; Ido not believe that it belongs to|$-ou.
. In another sense, it means those who'diy not agree in certain
■ Particulars with the majority of the commuuityfegoundBthem, 1
i Almost all of the various Christian denomination are very much
& in the habit of branding those not of their peculiai®^nomination i
as infidels. The Catholic Church has, in my own hearing,
spoken of all Protestants as infidels. Many of the Protestant I
| sects speak of the most enlightened and the most Christian of I
® their fellow-Christians as infidels, notrbecause they are less I
il’ faithful, but because, in fact, they are wore, faithful than them- a
fselves. Faithful to what? is the great question. If faithfuljl'ness to a party or sect is meant, I do not care how soon nord
how generally I am called an infidel ; I welcome the epithet.
But if faithfulness to truth or one’s convictions to truth is meant g
ji I hold that we are not infidels, but that, on the contrary, we are
» P faithful among the faithless.” Let a man be faiskhful to the o
truth, or, what is equivalent, faithful to his convictions as tot
[ what is true, and you may trust that man' anywhere. But, myib
V friends, it requires some backbone in a man or a woman to befr
j faithful to his or her convictions, when thosb convictions depart o
h- by a very sharp angle from the opinions of those around Hiem/il
I know that, if you mean by infidel, an unbeliever, IBamBnfidel'I
I to a great many of the forms of pd^ulaiweligion, because I doT
not believe in many of the points whiclsd are held by a majority t
! of the Christian, nay even of the Protestant Church, It is not
necessary for me to say in what I do not believe, and in regard
' to which I am, therefore, an infidel; but let me say, how many!
times, for example, have I heard Wm. Lloyd Garrison denounced
. in former years as an infidel, not because of his want of belief
bdn the doctrines of the Christian Church, or even of the Orthodox
[Price 6d. per dozen.]
�2
Church, but because he did not believe with the people at large
in the sanctity of slavery, and did not believe it was a divine
institution, and said so, and did what he could to dissuade
others from that belief. Not ten days ago, I heard Gerritt
Smith denounced as an infidel, because he did not believe in the
Sabbath > but Gerritt Smith observes both the seventh day and
the first day, and is therefore more of an observer of the
Sabbath than those who reproach him with infidelity.
Why are we Spiritualists 1 Why do I take that opprobrious
name, and acknowledge it before the world 1 Because I am
thoroughly convinced, by the evidence presented to my mind,
that the leading doctrines of the Spiritualists are true. The
facts upon which those doctrines rest—as all doctrines rest finallyi;
the reasoning by which I infer the doctrine from the fact,/
show it. If not, perhaps you had better restrain the charge of
infidelity until you can establish it on better evidence.
Why does any man believe in any religious doctrine ? If he
believes it in the proper sense of that word,he receivesit as
true upon the ground of having seen evidence of its truth. If
he takes it on the authority of pastor, teacher or parent, it is
not belief, it is an echo. His intelligence has nothing to do
with it. He says he believes it, because he is told to say he
believes so, or told to believe so. A proper belief in regard to
matters of religion consists in this: the conviction of an intelli
gent mind of the truth of a proposition because of the evidence
that is presented to that mind that that proposition is true. No
other belief on the subject of religion is worthy of the name of
religion. Now, we believe in the tact, that under certain con
ditions, in these our days, communications do come to us from
the spirits of those who have passed through the gate which we
call the gate of death, through certain media or mediums; and
from that fact we believe that the spirit survives the body in a
personal, conscious state—a state of intelligent, moral activity.
That fact makes us Spiritualists ; or, rather, (speaking only for
myself) that fact makes me a Spiritualist; not because I believe
in thefacts of which other menhave been cognizant, but becauseof
facts which I have witnessed, to which my senses have borne
their testimony. I believe on the same grounds of reason that
induced the beloved disciple to believe the Gospel. The things
which his eyes had seen, and his ears had heard, and his hands
Lad handled, these declared he unto his fellow disciples and to
the world at large. And what higher testimony can we have of
�3
I any fact than the testimony of our senses ? What I see with
w my eyes, what I hear with my ears, and what I feel through.
J the medium of my nervous system, I know; and I know that
si as well aS St. John knew what he saw and heard and felt.
iJForjMy use and my purposes, my senses are as good as the sensei
of St. John, the beloved disciple, or any other saint. God in
that respect has put us upon an equality, and has given us senses
by which we hold communion with the objects of the externas
world around us.
>■* Now, here are two questions which present themselves to
3 every intelligent and thoughtful mind—whence came I ? whither
31am I going 1 These questions are to be answered by the reasoni J png faculties of man. Whence came I? I put my hand upon
1 'this desk. This object, I see, is at rest; it cannot move itself,
fcgotoheara lecture on natural philosophy. The professor
> stands by his table and says, “ All matter is endowed with what
we call vis inertia—the quality of lying still. It cannot move
itself.’'’ This ball that I hold in my hand would lie there until it
•decomposed, unless it was moved by some power other than
itsplf. Now, what is true of this ball which I hold in my hand,
and which I move in my hand, is just as true of this great ball,
I t.ie earth on which we stand, and on which we move and have
Lour being. “ What moves that ball ?” I ask. “ Why, my hand.”
to Is aiot your hand matter ?’’ “ Yes.’’ “ What moves your hand,
B itheriiji’ “ There is a mechanical arrangement here of levers and
I pullies, and my arm moves my hand.” And what moves your
rgarm^M “ Well, the nervous system connected with it.” “ And
| what moves the nervous system ?” ‘ Well, the brain, which is
y the centre of the nervous system.’’ “Well, but is not the
brain matter?” “Yes.” “What moves the brain?’’ “The
I -spirit that is in man.”
And when we come to. the last analysis, it is spirit that moves
.all matter. The ultimate motive power of all the motion of the
universe is spirit. That is what I believe, my friends. I
F believe that inasmuch as matter cannot be said to move itself,
•as matter cannot move, spirit cannot rest; it is always active,
•always in motion ; as incapable of rest as matter is incapable of
motion. Then, I come to this : all the growth in the vegetable
wojd&all the formations in the mineral world, indicate design.
Thegbrmation of quartz crystal in the bosom of the limestone
I. aaA indicates that that is the work of spirit, and that spirit
pervades that rock as perfectly as it pervades space—that it
pervades every sphere in every system—that it is universal
�4
Then I come to an omnipresent? an omnipotent, and an omni-'J
scient spirit; and that spirit I call God ; and I read in the New |
Testament “ God is a spirit.” So I make a distinction between i
the Maker and the things that are made, and realize that that4
spirit ministers to all that it produces, and manifests itself
through all worlds and all time, and that he works, not six days
alone, but seven. His work was from eternity, and probably
will continue through eternity. He works through certain 1
principles or laws of action, Laws are often spoken of as'if they
were the cause of production ; but according to my idea, laws;:
never do anything. A law is defined by the elementary writers •
on law as a rule of action, never an agent. A law never acts, i
but is the rule accoiding to which some agent acts. Principles®!
are never agents ; principles do nothing. Men act according tot
principles but principles never act. ' In spirit, you always have /
an agency of action. Therefore ami, and therefore are you, I
suppose, Spiritualists.
Then more especially are we Spiritualists when, havingasked the question whence we came, we comprehend that we
came from.spirit, not from matter. When we look around upon
the material world, we see matter changing continually its I
forms, but not its nature as malter. There is ice. Men melt it
at thirty-two degrees Farenheit, into water ; it is the same
substance, but different in form. Carry it up to two hundred
and twelve degrees, and the water changes its form, and becomes
vapour. You cannot see it, but it goes up into the cool regions
of the atmosphere, and there assumes the form of visible vapour ;
and when it goes higher it changes its form again, and comes
down upon us as rain.
So other objects continually change their form, but their
nature is the same ; and no part of matter ever comes to nothing,
or ever came from nothing. Then all life, all motion, all
change, comes directly or indirectly from the action of spirit ; I
and hence we receive the doctrine, that the spirit is the man, and
believe that if the spirit survives after the process we call death,
the man survives, and is the identical man. Not that his exter
nal form is the same ; we know it is not. Philosophers tell us
that the whole human body changes once in about seven years,
but the personal identity remains the same. I therefore
conclude that I came from spirit, came from the spirit-world, and
am myself a spirit.
Then comes the question, Whither am I going ? What say®
reason ?
Reason says, spirit cannot rest ; spirit cannot be
�annihilated ; spirit must live, must act, wherever it is. The
great question then comes, shall this spirit, which is now
personalf retain its individuality after it passes the curtain that
divides the present from the future, or shall it be merged in the
infinite spirit, as one drop of rain is merged in the ocean into
wfejh it, falls 1 There is the great question. And when I know
thlTthe spirits that have known me, and that I have known,
can and do, through certain media, hold communication with
me when I see the expression of my wife, who has been more
than ten years in the spirit-world beaming out upon me from
another face, when she speaks to me as her husband, when she
reminds me of the past, when she tells me of her present conc&tion, when she assures me that there is a pleasant place
waiting for me when I come ; when my father, speaks to me
through a medium who describes him, and says he looks like me,
and tells me in what particulars he differs from me, and tells
me a fact which no other human being in the world but myself
and he know, T am sure that I am having a communication
from my father, and that, when I cast off the fleshy part of my
nature, I am to meet the spirit of my father on the other side of
Ulis curtain, and that I am going into his society.
When a
woman, whom I never saw before in my life, and who probably
never saw me, tells me that there is a spirit who calls me by a
particular name who was alive and well .when I saw him last,
and I say it is a mistake, that he is not in the spirit-world, and
he tells me that he has been there several months, and on en
quiring of his friends, I learn that he has been in the spirit-world
several months, I feel justified in saying that I know.
Now, I ask can any one come to the conviction that there is a
spirit in him, and not feel blessed and benefited by it 1 Who
has not said, only relieve me from the dread uncertainty that
hangs over me, only let me know that I shall be individualized
a.nd as I am now, and I ask no other question ; I know that I
am in the hands of the Universal Spirit, and it will be well
with me as it has always been well with me in His hands. Upon
that arm I can cast myself with entire confidence only let me know
that I shall be at all. Through Spiritualism I do know that the
spirit survives the body, and that when it passes through the
grave, it has communion with those who have gone before.
When, therefore, I am asked the question, whither am I going, I
answer, I am going into the spirit-world, there to meet kindred
spirits ; to join, in the language of the scriptures, ‘‘ the general
assembly of the church of the first born, whose names are written
�6
in heaven.” “ In heaven !” But where is heaven ? That ques
tion laboured in my mind for years, until I felt the fact of
Spiritualism : Where is the spirit to go ?—whither ?—to what
place ? Shall it go to one star or many, or roam from star to
star ? Shall it go from luminous world to luminous world, or
shall it be confined to the present star ? for this earth that we
live on is a star, as bright and beautiful when seen from Venus,
as Venus is when seen from the earth. Shall we go to Venus or
stay upon the earth ? For myself, I am satisfied that before
long, in all probability, before I have the pleasure of addressing
another Spiritual Convention, I shall put off this fleshy garment,
and when next you meet, I may be with you, unseen, and may.
possibly hold communion with one or more of you, when you
wake or when you sleep. At all events, that is my faith ; and
to that faith I do not mean to be infidel while 1 live, and do not,
think I shall. People may call me what they please. Faithful
or unfaithful is a question which lies between me and the Infinite
Spirit alone. With Him I am perfectly content that it should
rest.
I, therefore, as it becomes me on this occasion, retire from the
■chair to which, through your kindness, I was invited last^ year,
with the knowledge that I am inadequate to perform its duties.
I cannot see your faces nor hear your voices to-day so well, even
as I could last year. I gratefully acknowledge your kindness to
me, and trust that, as the faith in which we are held together as
brothers and sisters is not a new faith, but a faith that has been
held by some in all ages, it will be held in all ages; and that as
in our age, more than in the past, evidences are had that it is
the true faith, more and more will gather round this standard ;
and although, before you meet again, I may have passed away, I
believe that I shall be permitted, even then, to meet with those
who are still left on this side of the stream which flows between
the seen and the unseen worlds.
O
�1
-------- o--------This eminent and venerable man, known—by name at least—
on both sides of the Atlantic, as preacher, orator, poet, scholar,
patriot, reformer, and philanthropist, peaceably passed from the
scene of his earthly labours to the better life, on Monday, August
17th, at the ripe age of eighty-one. The editor of the Banner of
iAghWLn an obituary notice, remarks
His career embraced
almost every department of action that could give a man
confidence, and develope the courage and the strength of
manhood that is in him. He was a reformer, a man of ideas,
a lover of truth wherever found, impervious to the bugbear of
social fear, brave and tender, strong and feminine, tenacious of his
opinions, overflowing with charity, and full of a knightly resolu
tion to challenge all comers for the cause of Truth, in whose
defence he stood, a genuine poet, and a sincere, healthy, whole
man.”
At the commemoration service held at the church where he
had been pastor, a large concourse, including George Thompson,
Lloyd Garrison, and some of the most eminent citizens of
Boston and its vicinity were present. The Rev. Mr. Stetston,
who delivered the funeral address, said—“He had known the
deceased nearly fifty years j he was a greet worker; the leading
philanthropist of his age for a whole generation. Neither
threats nor persuasion could turn him from his line of duty.
When asked by the members of his congregation not to speak
upon certain ‘exciting topics,’ his reply was:—‘I will stand
in a free pulpit, or none: I will speak the whole truth or not
speak at all! ” He was imbued with great kindness of heart,
warm and tender sympathies, exalted hopes foi' the race, and
possessed of such an indomitable will that he would willingly
be reduced to beggary—be thrown aside, sacrificing everything
for reform, or such unpopular truths as met with the approba
tion of his own conscience. As a strenuous advocate of human
rights, and freedom for all races, he had left his mark upon the
century.”
Becoming a Spiritualist late in life, he proclaimed his faith
far and wide, in the same brave spirit in which he did every
thing else. He lived to the last hour of his life. His last
public act was to preside over the National Convention of
Sj|^g|^lists, held at Providence, U.S.A., only a few days before
his death. A member of that Convention writes:—“We shall
�8
never forget his last words to us at the National Convention.
Extending his hand he said, ‘ Brother, go on ; Christ, our Elder
Brother is with you ; God, the Father, and His angels are with
you ! Proclaim the ministry of spirits to earth ! It is the chief
blessing of my life! Do the work of an Evangelist, and as far •
as possible, make our faith practical among men.’ ”
His first thought in the spirit-world, as his last in this, seems -»
to have been given to the advancement of that knowledge of
its verity and power of blissful communion with the beloved of
earth which he has now realized. At a gathering of friends
irj.Boston a few .days after his mortal decease, his spirit was >
distinctly seen, taking hold of the arm of an old friend who
was present, and who felt the touch, though he did not perceivb »
the presence of the spirit. The lady who had seen the* spirit, *
becoming entranced, the spirit through her, spoke as follows
>
Blessed—thrice blessed—are they who die with a knowledge of the 1
truth.
After a slight pause, the spirit resumed :—
Brothers and Sisters^—The problem now is solved with me. And
because I live, you shall live also .; for the same divine Father and
Mother that confers immortality upon one soul, bestows the gift upon
all. Oh, I am so joyous to-night, that my soul can scarcely give express
ion to its thoughts through this weak mortal; and I never realized
before how good God is! I regret I cannot portray to you the transcend
ent beauty of the vision I saw just before I passed to the spirit-world, as
my dear ones stretched out their I hands to receive me saying, ‘‘Your
time has arrived—come home with us.” The glories of this new life are
beyond description. Language would fail me should I attempt to describe'
them. Tell those who were in sympathy with me, but not with my
belief, that what was then to me a belief, is how a blessed reality. I
know that I live and can return.
Then addressing the friend, whose arm he had just taken, he <
said:—
My good brother, go on in the work in which you are engaged regardless of the derision and scorn of those who do not understand you.: Be fearless
in the way of right, for Christ our Elder Brother, and God our Father,,!
will ever be with you to bless and sustain you in the noble cause in
which you are engaged. Take courage brother ; persevere resolutely ; ,
it will be well with you.
London: Printed by J.H. Powell, 6, Sidney Terrace, Grove
Road, Victoria Park, E. Sold by J. Burns, Progressive Library,
1, Wellington Road, Camberwell, S., and Mr. Lockyer, 14, Newman
Street, Oxford Street, W. Forwarded by Post.
i
■ >;
*
�
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Title
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Last address of Rev. John Pierpont
Creator
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Pierpont, John [1785-1866]
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: 8 p. ; 18 cm.
Series title: Tracts for the times
Series number: no. 1
Notes: John Pierpont was an American poet, who was also successively a teacher, lawyer, merchant, and Unitarian minister. From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Printed by J.H. Powell, Victoria Park, London. The better known 'Tracts for the Times' began in 1833 with the first tract written by John Henry Newman entitled Thoughts on the Ministerial Commission. Pierpont's address was therefore part of another series [unidentified] published with the same name. Pages 7 & 8 are an In Memoriam.
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[s.n.]
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[186-]
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G5255
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Last address of Rev. John Pierpont), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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Text
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English
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Spiritualism
Conway Tracts
Spiritualism
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PDF Text
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IS THERE A LIFE
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��IS THERE A LIFE
BEYOND THE GRAVE ?
A Reply to Dr. R. B. Westbrook.
A uthor of ‘ ‘ The Teachings of Secularism, Compared with Orthodox
Christianity," ‘‘ Secularism: Constructive and Destructive,"
“ Evolution and Special Creation," “The Glory of Unbelief,"
“Saints and, Sinners: Which?" “ Bible Morality,”
“ Christianity: Its Origin, Nature and Influence,"
“ Agnosticism and Christian Theism : Which
is the More Reasonable ? " “ Reply to
Father Lambert," Etc., Etc.
LONDON:
watts & co>, 17 jchnson-s court, fleet st., eax
1894.
PRICE
THREE
PENCE.
��Is there a Life Beyond the
Grave ?
A REPLY TO
R. B. WESTBROOK, A.M., D.D.
It has been aptly remarked that it does not necessarily follow,
because an opponent has been replied to, that his arguments
have been answered. The truth of this statement never ap
peared to me so evident as when I read the comments of Dr.
Westbrook (which appeared in Secular Thought of the 2nd
and 9th of December last) on my lecture, “ Is there a Life
Beyond the Grave ? ” Instead of endeavoring to refute my
arguments, the doctor contented himself with presenting to the
-reader a conglomeration of meaningless phrases, contradictory
statements, and reckless assertions. His article, moreover, was
marred by undignified imputation, more indicative of an irri
table schoolboy, who had undertaken a task which he found
himself unable to perform, than of a debater who felt con
scious of his ability to refute the arguments of his opponent.
To designate my lecture as “ flimsy argument,” and to suggest
that I “cavilled,’' but without attempting by any ordinary rea
soning process to prove his statements, was a marked specimen
of controversial weakness. Dr. Westbrook’s elegant (?) re
mark, “ Did he (Mr. Watts) not bellow and paw up the dirt,
and rush around furiously with hay on his horns like a wild
bull of Bashan, for an hour and a half?” was a proof that in
his case “ a firm faith in a future state ” has not had a “ salu
tary influence.” Such vulgar imputations may be the result of
an “ evil spirit
but it is opposed to that material refinment
,
�4
Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
and courtesy which as a rule characterize a real gentleman in
controversy. The only “dirt” that I “pawed up” consisted
in exposing the fallacies indulged in by those who assume a
knowledge which they do not possess. That some of the “ dirt”
fell on Dr. Westbrook is clear from the blemishes that dis
figure his reply to me.
The doctor commences by saying: “I do not accept the
ordinary distinctions which are made in speaking of man, as
consisting of a body and soul. The body is not the man, the
soul is not the man, the mind is not the man ; but it requires
what is intended by these three terms, and much more, to make
a man.” Now, wrhat is the “ much more ” here referred to ?
If there is something more in man than “body, soul and mind,”
the doctor should have stated what it is. Again, he says : “ I
make no distinction between the material and immaterial,
the natural and the supernatural, as I do not know where to
draw the line.” Then, if he makes no distinction and if he
knows not where to draw the line, why does he mention the
“supernatural” at all, particularly when he further observes :
“I can think of nothing separate from matter ”? If he is correct
in this last assertion, he by his own confession knows nothing
of any “ supernatural,” and any “ argument,” therefore, drawn
from such meaningless phrases must be “ flimsy ” indeed.
Dr. Westbrook alleges that I admit that the doctrine of a
future life “ is beyond the limits of controversy. If he (Mr.
Watts) has any logical argument that could be used against
the theory of a future life would he not have produced it ?"
I have made no such admission ; on the contrary, my lecture
was a proof that, in my opinion, the doctrine did come within
“ the limits of controversy.” Surely there is a difference
between debating a doctrine and admitting that what the doc
trine represents is capable of demonstration. “The fact is,”
as the doctor observes, “ it is easy to cavil.” As to my pro
ducing arguments against the theory of a future life, that is
�Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
5
precisely what I did in my lecture ; but whether they were
“ logical ” or not. the doctor made no effort to show. : For
instance, I pointed out that the term . “ soul ”, has never been
defined ; that, if we possess one, it is not known in what part
of the body it is to be found,' or when.it enters or .when it
leaves jbq human frame; .that the only ‘-soul ” known is the
brain of man,, and if that brain, does, not properly exercise its
functions, the. manifestations of. life will be .proportionally inn
paired. In proof of this I referred to persons in lunatic asylums
who had diseased brains, whose judgment was dethroned, and
whose reason had deserted them. , Had the soul, I asked, ip
their case lost its power of, control ? If so,, what is its value..?
When a drunkard becomes intoxicated, and loses. all.control
over.hjinself^has bis soul lost its power? Again, as regards the
>‘.<>oul ”, leaving.the body, I .enquired if it did so immediately
at death, if it.goes straight,to heaven or hell, witfcpuj;,waiting
for the judgment day ? If it does not leave the,body till some
time after death, how can a decaying., body retain the so.ul ?
Jo any one of these questions the doctor did not even , attempt
to give an answer.
.• .
? < . ; Further quoting.frorp / J,h<? Creed of.Science,” by Professor
Graham. I showed that,science taught that immo.rtality i;s not
.and cannot be proved,, t}bat the chief function of the brain
is that which is known, by the. term “ mental activity,” that
nothing is .known, and nothing can be known of, a life beyond
the -grave. In . support of my contention I produced-the
evidence of several scientific men, concluding with.the ¡testi
mony of the late Professor Tyndall, who said ; “ But to return
to the hypothesis.of a,human soul, offered as an explanation
or a simplification of a series of obscure phenomena. . Adequate
reflection shows |hat, , instead of introducing .light .into our
minds, it increases :our darkness. -You .do not, ip'this case,
explain the .qnknown in terms of the known, which is the
method of science,, but you explain theK,unknown, in. terms of
�6-
there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
the more unknown.” Now, upon all this Dr. Westbrook was
silent in his reply, and he coolly asserted that I produced no
“ logical argument ” against the theory of a future life. If
what I did produce were illogical, why did not the doctor
endeavor to prove this was so ?
I am further charged with denying a future life, whereas in
my lecture I distinctly stated in answer to the question, “ If a
man die shall he live again ?” that by its very nature, and by
the very nature of our mentality, it is utterly impossible to give
a definite opinion pro or con. Referring to Spiritualism, I said
that I had studied it for five years, and had found nothing in
it; not that I wished to deny that there might be something,
but—depending on my own reason and judgment, by which °I
stand or fall -I had found nothing. But, says Dr. Westbrook,
“ What does this prove ? Why, that Mr. Watts did not find
anything in Spiritualism ! But does his failure show that
nobody else ever succeeded ? Does he know every thing ?” Of
course my failure to discover anything in Spiritualism only
proves what I stated, that I found nothing in it. It is not my
custom to dogmatize as to what others have seen, or thought
they have seen. I am reminded that I don’t “ know every
thing.” That is so, and in this particular the doctor and my
self are on equal terms. I am asked if I can “ mention one
thing which man actually desires, which has not a palpable
existence.” Certainly I can. Men desire universal happiness,
justice for all, and a fair distribution of wealth, but these
conditions have no “ palpable existence .”
I repeat that it is impossible to long for that of which nothing
is known. The doctor takes exception to this, but he gives
no instance to prove that I am wrong. If, as he says,—“ Life
beyond the grave is this : a continuation of the present life,
nothing more, nothing less,” then the future is not another
life, and the doctor has to show how the “ continuation of
the present life” can go on in the absence of the conditions
�Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
7
that we know are necessary to its manifestations now. We
have positive proof that the body, including the brain, the
heart and the lungs, are indispensable to what we term life : let
it, therefore, be shown how this life can continue when the body
and its organs have disappeared. The doctor, however, re
futes himself, for he says that in the next world we shall be “as
the angels/’ and not subject to the conditions that govern us
here. If this will be so, it will be another life after all, inas
much as existence here is not regulated on the “angelic”
principle, therefore, continuity ceases.
Apart from such flimsy arguments ” as the above, the
doctor bases his belief in “a life beyond the grave ” upon the
opinions of great men. the alleged universality of the belief and
the general desire that is supposed to exist for such a life. As
these objections to the Agnostic position involve probably the
strongest arguments that can be urged in favor of a future life,
I shall examine them one by one.
Dr. Westbrook, in his reply, does not content himself by
modestly asking, “ Is there a life beyond the grave ?” but he
positively asserts that there is such an existence. This is a
bold allegation, to prove the truth of which will require more
knowledge than the doctor has hitherto given evidence that he
possesses. What is meant by the term “ life ”? Our answer
is, that we only know of it as “ functional activity ” in organ
ized existence, such as we behold in the animal and vegetal
kingdoms, The question, however, of a future life concerns
chiefly man, who possesses an organism and functions of
various kinds. Before we can accept as true, the statement
“ there is a life beyond the grave,” we must have some know
ledge of the conditions of that supposed existence, and
whether or not they are suitable to man as we now know him.
But up to the present we have not met any one who possesses
the required knowledge, and, therefore, no information is
forthcoming as to the nature of a future life. We certainly
�8
Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
decline to accept the. proposition as being self-evident. If, as
the doctor alleges, there is presumptive evidence in favor of a
future life, the most that can be reasonably argued is that there
may be such a lite. Of course we do not contend that a visit
to the planet Mars wonld be necessary before we could believe
that life existed there, but we do assert that some kind of com
munication with the inhabitants would be necessary before we
could positively allege that human life was there. It is not
unreasonable to demand at least reliable testimony in .matters
beyond our experience. It is one thing to have a mind open
to conviction, and quite another to meet the man who can con
vince us. When, similar evidence is presented in favor of a
■ future existence to that which obtains for the operation of
natural law throughout the universe, and when such evidence
can be tested by the ordinary rules of observation and experi
ment, the question of a life beyond the grave will deserve
serious consideration
'
■
•.’ -i'.'A
The doctor’s proposition, although put in the positive form,
is really an assumption, based on the fact of the continuity of
life on our globe. But what is understood by such continuity?
Simply a succession of animated forms of existence, beings who
continue to possess the attributes of life, in whom the living
principle appears in a series of individual representations. Bui
a life beyond the grave involves much more than this ; it
assumes a continuity of life in the same individual, a condition
of which we know nothing Man exists generation after genera
tion, but every succeeding one is new. Life on this globe ceases
in the individual man when his organism becomes disintegrated
and when its functions are unable to continue their opera
tions. Death is a condition the very opposite to that of life :
both therefore cannot be conceived as being one, as the
doctor’s contention requires. A living dead man is a contra
diction, tor it is a self-evident fact that if man always lived he
' would never die. Death occurs every moment, but we haw
�Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
9
no instance of the perpetual continuation of one living indivi
dual. A body in action must be present, somewhere, but
when it has disappeared in the grave and gone to ashes, it is
no longer an organized body. In other words, a body must
act where it is, or where it is not. It cannot act where it is, in
the grave, for there its functions have ceased ; it cannot act
elsewhere because it is not there to act. This appears as selfevident as that the whole is greater than the part# The denial
that a future state has been proved is held to be the converse
of the proposition that there is one, and therefore it is equally
unphilosophical and presumptuous. People fail to discrim
inate between the thing itself and what is said about it,
although there is a manifest difference between the two cases.
What we deny is the validity of the evidence, the conclusive
ness of the reasons given in support of the theory of a future
life.
The doctor relies much upon what great men have said and
written on the subject. Of course the opinions of eminent
men are entitled to respect, but they are also open to dispute,
inasmuch as all men are fallible. Great men have enter
tained the most erroneous and childish ideas.
We must
not confound Newton and the apple with Newton and the
Bible, nor Faraday the chemist with Faraday the Muggletonian.
Our estimate of great men is based upon what they do or what
they prove. When they defend the abominations of slavery
and witchcraft, or when they give their support to miracles and
orthodox doctrines, because they are sanctioned by the Bible,
we change our estimate of them. Great men have held mis
taken views about creation, the laws of motion, and the pos
sible disappearance of all existing things, but that is no reason
why the humblest of their fellow men should endorse their
mistakes. Professor Wallace’s views on development may be
accepted, if the facts he submits prove his case, and so also may
his other views be accepted for the same reason. But in our
�io
Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
opinion his contentions in reference to a future life cannot be
proved by candid investigation and sound reasoning.
The alleged universality of opinion is quoted by Dr. West
brook as a proof of the reality of a future life. The fact is the
belief in all kinds of error has been general in all ages and in
all nations. Because the multitude once believed in the mov
ing sun, in the stationary earth and in the existence of angels
and devils, it®is no conclusive proof to us that their belief was
correct. Have we then the audacity to reject the verdict of
ages, and to declare that the majority of men have been mis
taken ? On certain matters we do so most decidedly, for the
reason that nothing is clearer to-day than that our forefathers
were wrong upon many things which were objects of “universal
belief.” The notion that the stars were drawn by the gods or
guided by spirits, has had to give way before the discoveries of
attraction and gravitation, and the creation theory is refuted
by the facts of evolution. Those who base their faith in a
future life on the common beliefs are like the man who is said
to have built his house upon the sand. The flood of science
will sweep all false beliefs away, as surely as the morning sun
disperses the vapors of the night.
The doctor fires off his syllogistic cannon and he supposes
that we are fatally wounded. But it is not so, for we would
remind the doctor that the value of a syllogism depends mostly
upon the first premiss. For instance, take the following :
“ The future will be a continuance of the present, the present
is manifest and undisputable, therefore, so is the future.” Now
if the first premiss were proved, the conclusion may follow,
but as it is only an assumption, based on general belief and on
great men’s opinions, the conclusion is also of the same nature,
and is a part of the assumption. Dr. Westbrook ought to know
that the greatest absurdity might be made to appear
feasible to the uneducated mind by the syllogistic mode of
pleading. For instance, “Nothing is better than heaven, a
�Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
n
chop is better than nothing, therefore a chop is better than
heaven.”
It is commonly held that any conception formed by man
must have a corresponding reality somewhere. Yet the con
ception which was formed as to the origin of things has been
shown by modern researches to be absolutely groundless in
reality. Modern investigation has exploded the old theories of
the genesis of things. Men have had to unlearn much that
the dame schools taught and that the Sunday-school endorsed.
Take the illustration of the general conception of the dragon.
We may be able to trace the idea to some extinct animal, but
that does not prove the existence of the dragon or attest the
truth of the belief that such an animal ever existed. If an
artist paints a picture of the Devil it is perfectly certain that his
Satanic Majesty never sat for the portrait.
Perhaps the strongest element in the argument for a future
life is derived from what is called the desires of mankind.
These, it is said, must be accounted for, which we think can
easily be done. We submit that the instinctive love of life
found in man is sufficient to explain the desire for its continua
tion. No doubt there is some connection between desires and
their realization in reference to things that are attainable, for
the very desire may be a factor in the sum of the causes that
enable us to realize our ideal. But the mere fact of having the
desire is no evidence that its realization will follow, A desire
for food and comfort is very general, but many are destitute of
both. The longing that all members of the human family
should be equally well off is extensive, but such an enviable
state of things does not exist. We must not, in reasoning,
take refuge in incongruities. Those who argue that without
an endless future, this life is not worth having, must regard the
present existence as being exceedingly defective. Why, then,
should its continuation be desired ? And yet the doctor
argues for a prolongation of such a life. If it is said that in
�12
Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
another world there will be a change for the better, we ask,
where is the proof that any improvement will take place ? It
is another instance that the wish is father to the thought.
Endless existence and interminable motion may be laws of
thought which it is impossible to banish from our minds,
although we are unable to conceive of an infinite past, which is
involved in the statement. But it is otherwise with the forms
of existence that possess life, these can be conceived of as
coming to an dnd. Intense heat or intense cold may ter
minate all living things in a brief space of time. The truth is
that it is only dreamers who contend that any part of the
compound being called man will
“ flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amidst the war of elements,
The wrecks of matter, and the crash of worlds.”
Many persons who do not admit that Secularism is the best
philosophy of existence, acknowledge that its principles are
excellent so far as this life is concerned ; but they assert that
t.iose principles are insufficient to sustain its believers in the
hour of death. With a view of showing that this position is
not a sound one, and that it misrepresents the Secular views
as to death, we purpose answering the following three queries,
which are frequently put by our opponents.
1. What are the Secular views in reference to death ?
2. Is there sufficient reason to justify the Agnostic attitude
as to a future life ?
3 Is the Secular position a safe one ?
In the first place, what are the Secular views as to death ?
They are these. That there is not sufficient evidence to justify
the assertion that there is, or that there is not, a life beyond
the grave. Many centuries ago, an oriental sage is said to
have asked, “If a man die, shall he live again? ’ Although
many generations have passed away since the supposed query
�Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
was submitted, no definite or satisfactory answer has been
given It is a problem to the solution of which the philosopher
has devoted his wisdom, the poet has dedicated his poetry, and
the scientist has directed his attention, and yet the problem
remains unsolved. Secularists, therefore, agree with Thomas
Carlyle when he said : “ What went before, and what will
follow me, I regard as two impenetrable curtains which hang
down at the two extremities of human life, and which no man
has drawn aside.” The Secularists adopt, in reference to a
future life, the Agnostic position, and they refuse to dogmatize,
either pro or con., upon a matter in reference to which, with
the present limited knowledge in the world, it is impossible to
know anything.
Mr. Hugh O. Pentecost thus puts the case :
“ The Freethinker looks at death just as it is, so far as we
know anything about it—the end of life.
He does not hope,
nor expect to live after death. He admits that he may, just as
there may be a planet in which water runs up-hill. He there
fore maps out his life with absolutely no reference to alleged
heavens or hells, or to any kind of spirit world.
He goes
through this world seeking his own welfare and knowing, from
the open book of history and his own experience, that he can
promote his own welfare only by promoting the welfare of every
other man, woman and child in the world ; knowing that he
cannot be as happy as he might while anyone else is miserable.
He knows that death is as natural as birth.
He knows that,
as we were unconscious of our birth, we will be unconscious
of our death. He knows that, if death puts a final end to him
as a person, as science seems to prove, it cannot be an evi.l.
He suffered nothing before he was ; he will suffer nothing if
he ceases to be. He will not even know that he is dead.”
The Secularist accepts this Freethought view of death. He
is not sufficiently dogmatic to assert there is an existence
beyond the present one, neither is he presumptuous enough to
say there is not. Knowing only of one existence, Secularists
�14
Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
content themselves therewith, feeling assured that the best
credentials to secure any possible immortality is the wisest
and most intellectual use of the life we now have. They
further allege that, to the man who is sincere and true to his
conscience through life, “ hereafter ” has no terrors. The man
who has lived well has made the best preparation to die well,
and he will find that the principles which supported him in
health can sustain him in sickness. When the last grand scene
arrives, the Secularist, having done his duty, lies down quietly
to rest, and sleeps the long sleep from which, so far as we
know, there is no waking. What has he to fear ? He knows
that death is the consequence of life, that nothing possesses im
mortality. The plant that blooms in the garden, the bird that
flutters in the summer sun, the bee that flies from flower to
flower, and the lower animals of every kind, all pass into a
state of unconsciousness when their part is played and their
work is done. Why should man be an exception to the uni
versal law ? His body is built up on the same principle as
that of everything else that breathes, and his mental faculties
differ in degree, but not in character, from theirs. He is sub
ject to the same law as the rest of existence, and to repine at
death is as absurd as it would be to weep because he did not
live in some other planet or at some other time.
Nature is
imperative in her decrees, and must be obeyed. Death is the
common lot of all. The atoms of matter of which one organism
is made up are required for the construction of another, so they
must be given up for that purpose, and to repine at it argues
an ill-tutored mind. The work is done, and if it has been
done well there is nothing to fear, either in this or any other
hfe. Such are the views of Secularists as to death, and,
o ding such views, they can die without fear, as they have
lived without hypocrisy.
Now as to the second query-Is there sufficient reason to
justify this Agnostic position ? It must be understood that
�Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
15
this position not only admits the “ don t know, but it goes
further, and alleges that as we are at present constituted, we
cannot know of anything beyond the present life. ¡Moreover,
be it observed, our position is still more comprehensive than
- this ; for we contend that the facts of existence do not substantiate the positive statement that there is a life beyond the grave.
Professor Graham, in his. “ Creeds of Science,” in giving a sum
mary of modern scientific opinion on this subject, observes :
“ And now what is the scientific doctrine of the great theme
of immortality? Is there.any hope for man ? In one word,
No. For any such hope, if men must continue to indulge in
it after hearing the scientific, arguments, they must go else
where—to the theologian, the metaphysician, the mystic, the
poet. These men, habitually dwelling in their several spheres
of illusion and unreality, may find suggestions of the phantasy,
which they persuade themselves are arguments in favor of a
future life ; the man of science, for his part, and the positive
thinker, building on science, consider no proposition more
certain than that the soul is mortal as well as the body which
supported it, and of which it was merely the final flower and
product. . . • Our modern physiologist has ascertained that
thought is but a function of the brain and nerves. Why should
it not perish with these ? . . . Why shonld it not collapse with
the general break-up of the machinery ? Why should it not
cease when no longer supported by the various physical ener
gies whose transformations within the bodily machine alone
made its existence possible ? .... But science, for her part,
finds no grounds for the beliefs of theology or metaphysics in a
• ‘ future life—beliefs, moreover, which she regards as little com
forting at the best. ... Science, we think, has made out the
dependence of our mind and present consciousness on bodily
conditions, so far as to justify the conclusion that, the disso
lution of the body carries with it the dissolution of our present
consciousness and memory, which are reared on .the bodily
�16
Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
basis. At least, it raises apprehension in the highest degree that
this will be the case. Again, Science - partly by what Darwin
has established, partly by other evidence, only recently acces
sible, respecting the low state of the primitive man —has
brought the human species into the general circle of the animal
kingdom in a sense far more deep and essential than was for
merly dreamed of ; and she has thereby deepened the belief,
though without producing absolute conviction, that the argu
ments proving a possible future life for man hold likewise for
the lower animals j so that, if man be judged immortal, they
should be also, and if they be mortal, so also is man. Thirdly,
Science has called attention to the fact that there is something
like a general law discoverable in the history of Species, that
they all have their terms of years, though the term is usually a
long one, and that probably, therefore, the human Species it
self, as well as all other existing Species, will disappear, giving
place to wholly different, though derivative types of life. And
all these things taken together undoubtedly tend strongly to
produce the conviction that death closes the career of the exist
ing individual.” In support of the conclusions here arrived at,
Professor J. P. Lesley says : “ Science cannot possibly either
teach or deny immortality.” Professor Lester F. Ward observes
that, “ So far as science can speak on the subject, consciousness
persists as long as the organized brain, and no longer.” And
Professor E. S. Morse writes : “ I have never yet seen anything
in the discoveries of science which would in the slightest degree
support or strengthen a belief in immorality.”
It is alleged that the “ soul ” is the “ thinking principle.” If
this be so, wherein is man’s superiority over the lower animals,
so far as immortality is concerned ? Herbert Spencer, Dr. W.
B. Carpenter, and many other eminent writers, have contended
that the reasoning powers in man differ only in degree from
those in the general animal kingdom. In other words, if, the
above allegation be correct, the lower animals, as they possess
�Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
17
the “thinking principle,’’ have “souls,” and will live for ever.
Indeed, Bishop Butler granted this, for he assures us “that
there is no true analogy in all nature which would lead us to
think that death will prove the destruction of a living creation.”
Moreover, we read in the Bible: “ For that which befalleth the
sons of man befalleth beasts / even one thing befalleth them :
as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one
breath : so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast :
for all is vanity.” Besides, the thinking principle, so far as we
know, depends upon a material organization for its manifesta
tion : is it, therefore, not reasonable to conclude that when the
organization is destroyed the principle will no longer exist?
When the cause is gone the effect must cease.
Those persons who dogmatically assert that there is a future
life, erroneously confound something they call a “ soul ’ with
the mind, and they then assert that ’ the mind is a distinct
entity. Now as Dr. Wigan observes: “ The mind every
anatomist knows to be a set of functions of the brain, differing
only in number and degree from the intellect of animals. Ot
the mind- we’know much, but of the soul we know nothing.
Can the mind, then, be a thing perse, distinct and separate
from the body ? No more than the motion can exist indepen
dent of the watch, and all the arguments of theologians and
metaphysicians on this subject are founded on the confusion
of terms.” It is said that a future life is proved by the fact
that development has been always taking place in the organic
kingdom. First came animals low in the scale, then of higher
and higher type, and so on up to man. Why, then, it is asked,
may not man pass at death into a still higher condition ? Now
the merest tyro in logic can recognize that there is no analogy
whatever in the two cases.
The higher animals are not
the lower in another stage, but an improvement upon
them, a new individuality. The only argument that could
logically be drawn from the develepment theory on this point
�18
Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
is that after man beings of a still higher order might make
their appearance, but then they would no more be individual
men of a previous age than we are the Iguanodons of the “ age
of reptiles.” Besides, all the changes that we know of in the
organic kingdom have taken place upon the earth, whereas the
condition which believers in a future life contend for is to be
in some far-off land of shadows occupied by what is termed
“ disembodied spirits.” The case of the caterpillar is frequently
given as an illustration of changes from a lower to a higher
state of existence.
But the caterpillar becomes transformed
into the butterfly before our eyes; we can see it in both con
ditions, and can observe the process of change going on.
The butterfly is an improvement upon the caterpillar in point
of organization, but in every other respect they are both
similar. Both are material, and each is liable to destruction
and decay. The spirit, however, that is supposed to be evolved
from the human form at death, is said to be immaterial and
immortal, and, therefore, totally unlike that material organiza
tion from which it has escaped. The change is not observed.
he body dies and the elements of which it was .composed
pass into other forms-this is all that we see and all that we
know. Beyond this everything is mere conjecture and vague
speculation.
6
As to how the belief m a future life originated, the statement
o Piofessor Graham is a pertinent explanation. He says ‘A strange and extravagant fancy that arose one day in the
breast of one more aspiring than the rest, became soon after
wards a wish ; the wish became a fixed idea that drew around
itself vain and spurious arguments in its favor ; and at length
e fancy, the wish, the idea, was erected into an established
octane of belief. Such, in sum, is the natural history of the
famous dogma of a future life.
Not by any means, however
was it a primitive and universal belief of all nations. Arising
probably at first with the Egyptians, it was only after a Ion!
�Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
T9
time taken up by the Jews, then, or possibly earlier, by the
Greeks, with whom, however, the life held out, thin and un
substantial even at best, was far from being desirable. It was
only in the Christian and Mohammedan religions that the
notion of a future and an eternal life was fully developed, and
that the doctrine was erected into a central and an essential
article of belief.
We now come to the third query—Is the Secular position a
safe one? Our answer is, Yes ; for by making the best of this
life, physically, morally, and intellectually, we are pursuing the
wisest course, whatever the issues in reference to a future
life may be. If there should be another life, the Secularist
must share it with his opponent Our opinions do not affect
the reality in the slightest degree.
If we are to sleep forever,
we shall so sleep despite the belief in immortality : and if we
are to 'ive for ever, we shall so live despite the belief that pos
sibly death ends all It must also be remembered that if man
possesses a soul, that soul will be the better through being in
a body that has been properly trained ; and if there is to be a
future life, that life will be the better if the higher duties of the
present one have been fully and honestly performed Secular
ists are, therefore, safe so far, inasmuch as they recognize it to
be their first duty to cultivate a healthy body, and to endeavor
to make the best, in its highest sense, of the present existence.
Now, in reference to the supposition that we may be punished
in case we ate wrong. Our position is, that if there be a just
God, before whom we are to appear to be judged, he will
never punish those to whom he has not vouchsafed the faculty
of seeing beyond the grave because they honestly avowed that
their mental vision was limited to this side of the tomb. Thus
the Secularists feel quite safe as regards any futurity that may
be worth having If the present be the only life, then it will
be all the more valuable if we give it our undivided attention.
If, on the other hand, there is to be another life, then, in that
�20
Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
case, we shall have won the right to its advantages through
having been faithful to our convictions just to our fellows, and
in having striven to leave the world purer and nobler than we
found it. As to the feeling of consolation, which is said.to be
derived from the belief in a future life, we are safe upon this,
point also. For if there be a.life beyond the grave, we have
the conviction -that our Secular conduct on earth will, entitle us
to the realization of its fullest pleasure. Moreover, this con
viction is not marred by the belief that the majority of the
human race will be condemned to a fate “ which humanity
cannot conceive without terror, nor contemplate without dis. may.”
...
Finally, Secularism asserts that, if we are to have an immortal?
ity, it ought to be one in which we can mingle with the purest,of
the earth, for the anticipation of it would fill our minds with
delight and would afford us the assurance that in Quitting,this
stage of life it would only be an exchange for" one purer and lof
tier. But, pleasing as this ideal may be, consolatory .as it would
undoubtedly prove, it is useless to forget that our present know
ledge teaches us that such hopes are only poetical, such
anticipations only imaginary.
We therefore sternly face the
truth, and as some of us cannot believe in a future life, we
seek to realize the worth of this one by'striving to correct its
many errors. And in so doing we are achieving the safest of
all rewards—the consciousness that while here on earth we are
working with sincerity and fidelity to secure that heaven of
humanity, the comfort, happiness, and welfare of the human
race.
Through the lack of careful study, many errors obtain and
strange misconceptions exist as to what the terms “ matter 7
and ‘ spirit’ signify. We desire, therefore,, to endeavor to ex.plain what they really mean, and how far, and in what way,
they have any relation to human conduct. For instance, are
they both existences of which we have any knowledge ? and if
�Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
17
the “thinking principle,’’have “souls,” and will live for ever.
Indeed, Bishop Butler granted this, for he assures us “that
there is no true analogy in all nature which would lead us to
think that death will prove the destruction of a living creation.”
Moreover, we read in the Bible: “ For that which befalleth the
sons of man befalleth beasts : even one thing befalleth them :
as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one
breath : so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast :
for all is vanity.” Besides, the thinking principle, so far as we
know, depends upon a material organization for its manifesta
tion : is it, therefore, not reasonable to conclude that when the
organization is destroyed the principle will no longer exist?
When the cause is gone the effect must cease.
Those persons who dogmatically assert that there is a future
life, erroneously confound something they call a “ soul ’ with
the mind, and they then assert that ’ the mind is a distinct
entity. Now as Dr. Wigan observes: “ The mind every
anatomist knows to be a set of functions of the brain, differing
only in number and degree from the intellect of animals. Ot
the mind- we know much, but of the soul we know nothing.
Can the mind, then, be a thing perse, distinct and separate
from the body ? No more than the motion can exist indepen
dent of the watch, and all the arguments of theologians and
metaphysicians on this subject are founded on the confusion
of-terms.” It is said that a future life is proved by the fact
that development has been always taking place in the organic
kingdom. First came animals low in the scale, then of higher
and higher type, and so on up to man. Why, then, it is asked,
may not man pass at death into a still higher condition ? Now
the merest tyro in logic can recognize that there is no analogy
whatever in the two cases.
The higher animals are not
the lower in another stage, but an improvement upon
them, a new individuality. The only argument that could
logically be drawn from the development theory on this point
�22
Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
exercises an influence over any or all of the three, it must
follow that this spirit must be some force that can operate with
out any medium connecting things that have no affinity or
relation to each other. This is equivalent to saying that we can
transmit a message to America, not only without a cable, but
without any conductor at all. To postulate spirit as the unknown
cause of known effects, is simply another way of expressing
our ignorance of what that cause is. But we submit that
these assumptions amount to a clear contradiction, because
they imply that after we have eliminated from the totality of
existence, all entities, and their attributes and functions, there
yet remains spirit. Io think of something apart from every
thing is beyond our power, and to think of spirit in relation to
anything, is to make it an entity or an attribute.
Matter may be defined as that which occupies space and
is cognized by the senses.” But what is spirit? If it can be
cognized it must be material, and if it cannot be cognized
it is to us as nothing. We are aware that spirit has been de
fined as “ refined matter,” but in that case it would be material.
e can, therefoie, only act consistently when we accept the
decision of the human intellect as applied to every proposition
submitted to us.
We cannot, if we act wisely, repudiate its
authority in judging of the highest conception of things. This
is our standard of appeal upon all matters material, or so-called
spiritual. We accept what appears true, after the most rigorous
criticism, and we reject every error immediately it is discovered.
For instance, we regard two truths as being established so far
as our present knowledge extends—the indestructibility of
matter, and the invariable order of nature. By nature we
mean all that is, because, so far as is known, it has no limit in
space or time. The term spirit is not included in this defininition, tor the reason that we have no conception of what it is.
It it exist, its claims to belief can only be established by one
�fs there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
23
method, that of observation and experiment.
Should its
claims be thus successfully proved. Spiritualism will then cease
to be distinguished from Materialism, inasmuch as it will then
be within our conception of the established order of things.
We fail to see how there can be two different kinds of truth in
the sense of there being one that we can apprehend by our
understanding, and another that we cannot. We are aware that
theologians assert that there are two kinds of truth, one within
the reach of reason, and the other above it ; but we cannot
believe this theory, as no sufficient reason has been given to
justify us in accepting such a proposition. In reference to
such preposterous claims, we ask the following pertinent ques
tion__If there is a truth above or beyond the reason of man to
comprehend, how can it become known ? Of course our in
ability to understand such a truth does not prove its non
existence, but it disposes of our relation to it ; and conse
quently it is no truth to us.
In science it is the practice to explain things in materialistic
terms; and to adopt spiritualistic phrases is in our opinion
not only of no advantage, but it tends to the confusion of ideas
and leads many minds into the region of obscurity.
We
see no justification for ceasing to speak of matter as a form of
thought and of thought as a property of matter, so long as our
object is to indicate what we think and feel. The main point
that we are anxious to insist upon is that no unknown power
or powers should be appealed to for the purpose of explaining
the facts of existence when we are cognizant of forces that are
sufficient to achieve the object.
Moreover, an unknown
power can only be of practical service to us if its manifestations
admit of verification, which those of spiritualism do not. W e
therefore rely upon truths that are demonstrated by material
processes, for they give potency and dignity to nature ; that
nature, be it observed, that may be termed the mother of all.
�24
Is there a Life Beyond the Grave ?
;rom her bosom we derive the sustenance of life, the panacea
for woes and wrongs, and the solace for misery and despair
that too frequently crush the hopes of man and rob humanity
of its highest glory and its noblest service.
��Works by Charles Watts.
The Bible
Up to Date.
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The Teachings of Secularism Compared with Orthodox Chris
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A Reply to Father Lambert’s “ Tactics of Infidels.”
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& ’
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�
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Is there a life beyond the grave? A reply to Dr. R.B. Westbrook
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Secularism
Spiritualism
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ILLUSION AND DELUSION;
OK,
MODERN
PANTHEISM
versus
SPIRITUALISM.'
“The burden of the mystery of all this unintelligible world."—Wordsworth:.
CHARLES BRAY,
AUTHOR OF UTHE PHILOSOPHY OF NECESSITY,” “ A MANUAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY.” ETC.
PUBLISHED BY THOMAS SCOTT,
NO. 11, THE TERRACE, FARQUHAR ROAD,
UPPER NORWOOD, LONDON, S.E.
Price Sixpence.
��ILLUSION AND DELUSION, ETC.
N Mathematics we can all agree ■ in Physics we have
at least learned to call things by the same name;
we understand what we are talking about so far as to
have certain definite admitted facts in common; but in
Psychology every one at present appears to use words
in a different sense, and we talk of Body and Soul,
Matter and Mind, Spirit and Spirits, Knowledge and
Ideas, Matter andMotion and Borce,without any common
ground of assent, or even knowing whether such things,
in the sense in which we use the terms, have any real
existence or not. In this unfenced, hazy, uncultivated
ground superstition still rides supreme. But is it not
possible, and if so, will it not be desirable, to divest
ourselves of the preconceptions time and authority
have attached to these names, and to see how far known
facts will carry us in the knowledge of such things, as
in others in which we are all agreed 1 Accuracy in
Mental Science is the more important, as all sects and
denominations take advantage of the want of it, and of
the darkness that exists to introduce all sorts of ground
less assumptions, and to reason upon them as established
truths. The differences between metaphysicians, and
much misconception and error at present arise, from
their confounding motion and the thing moving ; force
■with that of which it is the force; passive force, which
I
�4
Illusion and Delusion.
they call matter, with active force, which they call
spirit. The question is, have we knowledge enough
to enable us to substitute such very vague conceptions
on these and similar fundamental principles for the
more accurate ones which science requires? I think
we have.
“ All our conceptions,” says James Hinton, in 1 Man
and his Dwelling-Place,’ “ are based on the implied pos
tulate that the world is as it appears. . . . The
advance of knowledge consists in the substitution of
accurate conceptions for natural ones.” This implies
that our natural conceptions are not accurate ones, and
such will be found to be universally the case. In no
single instance is the world what it appears to be tothe common sense or to the vulgar eye. It is a com
plete illusion to all, and delusion to those who believe
in its real existence as it appears to us. The delusion
is not more complete in those who believe that Heaven
is above, in a world that turns round every twenty-four
hours, and in which therefore there can be no above
and below, than it is with respect to the existence of
the earth itself. Let us take a single illustration of the
common belief, and examine it thoroughly by the light
of science. The world, as it appears to the common
sense, is based on the conception that colour is some
thing that belongs to bodies outside ourselves, and the
world without colour would lose all its beauty. And
yet what we call colour is a nervous sensibility, an
idea, a feeling within ourselves. The vulgar idea is
that the green is in the grass, whereas the green is in
ourselves. Equally it will be found that all the other
attributes or qualities ascribed to matter are attributes
of mind and not of matter, and that the world itself is
but an illusion and delusion—a great ghost or mental
spectre. All that is known of matter is its capability
of creating within us these Illusions. Professor Tyn
dall says, “ The atoms of luminous bodies vibrating,
communicate their vibrations to the ether in which they
�Illusion and Delusion.
5
swing, being propagated through it in waves ; these
waves enter the pupil, cross the ball, and impinge upon
the retina, at the back of the eye. The motion of the
ether then communicated to the retina is transmitted
thence along the optic nerve of the brain, and there
announces itself to consciousness as light;.” It would
take, he tells us, 699 million of millions of such waves
to enter the eye in a single second to produce the im
pression we call violet in the brain. We are not
required to count these waves, because that would take
some little time, but as 57,000 of such waves fill an
inch, and light travels at the rate of 192,000 miles in a
.second, we have only to bring the miles into inches
and then multiply one by the other to get the million
■of millions required. It takes 477 millions of millions
of such waves to produce the colour we call red, and
577 millions of millions to produce green. Now let
us examine these facts. The effect produced by this
wonderful motion from without is a nervous impression,
a sensation of light, an idea of colour. Our perception
of colour, it is now known, is dependent upon a parti
cular part of the brain, for if that part of the brain is
not there, or deficient in quantity, people have no
*
perception of colour, i.e., are colour blind, or can only
partially distinguish colours. How, then, can colour
be in the object ? or what possible resemblance or sim* Sir David Brewster says that as many as one person in
twenty-eight cannot distinguish some colours from.others, and
that about one in ninety are colour blind, that is, cannot see
colours at all. Any one, in such cases, may easily satisfy
himself that it is the brain that is deficient; for if he puts his
thumb on the centre of the eye-bsow he will find an indenta
tion enabling him to touch the eye—his thumb will rest upon
the eye-ball. People are equally blind, in about the same
proportion, in other mental faculties. They may be fluent in
speech, full of facts, well read in history, with a generally
good memory, so as to be able to make a great display, and
yet be blind in the reasoning power ; and people are seldom
conscious of their own mental deficiencies, even in colour,
unless they are quite colour blind.
�6
Illusion and Delusion.
ilitude can there be between our feeling or idea and the
object which we say is coloured? The immediate
antecedent of our idea of colour is the motion of the
brain; this motion is communicated, through the eye
and retina, by the ether, and the ether is set in motion
by the reflex action of what we erroneously call the
coloured body. What this particular action is that
produces this effect upon the ether we have no means
whatever of knowing; we only know that it has tn
produce 122 millions of millions of knocks on the eye
less per second from the ether waves to produce the
green colour than the violet, and 100 millions of mil
lions less to produce the red than the green. Then
what is colour ? An idea or feeling within ourselves,
requiring all these links in the chain, and all their
wonderfully varied modes of motion, to produce it. If
any link in the chain is absent—if the brain, or the
retina, or the eye-ball, or the waves of ether, or the
reflex action on the ether, are not there, the effect is
not produced. ' It has probably taken millions of years
to perfect this relationship—to create this faculty of
mind which entirely depends upon this continuous
adjustment of internal relations to external ones. Tyn
dall says, “ We have rays of too high and too low a
pitch to be visible, that is, they are incapable of excit
ing any sensation, or creating within us any idea of
colour.'” Where, then, is the colour? Very nearly the
same motions go on outside of us without creating any
idea of colour or consciousness on our part. The
same, he -says, “ may be said of sound, and probably
sounds are heard by injects, which entirely escape our
perceptions ; and both as regards light and sound, our
organs of -sight and hearing embrace a certain practical
range, beyond which, on both sides, though the ob
jective cause exists, our nerves cease to be influenced
by it.” Metaphysicians used to divide the qualities or
properties of matter into primary and secondary; the
primary—extension, &c., were supposed to belong to
�Illusion and Delusion.
7
things themselves : the secondary—colour, &c., to our
selves ; but observation has shown that there is no
ground for this distinction, no difference between
primary and secondary, that all are equally dependent
upon the action of the brain. Extension, that is, form
and size, as well as weight, order, relative position, &c.,
are all formed in the mind like colour by the action of
forces from without, which set the brain in motion. It
is an illusion and delusion to suppose that there is
anything without ourselves resembling these percep
tions. Our perceptions are all we know or are con
scious of, and how can a perception be like an object,
or anything but itself ? There are no coloured forms
without us ; coloured forms are perceptions. All that
we know of without us are certain powers or forces,
producing certain motions which produce within us
these perceptions, the aggregate of which perceptions
we call the mind, and we are under the delusion that
they really exist out of our own minds, constituting
the external world. The world, however, as we con
ceive it, is created by the peculiar constitution of the
nervous system, which nervous system has been grad
ually increasing in size and complexity since the first
appearance of life on this earth, supposed to be some
100 millions of years ago. Each creature’s ideas, or
forms of thought, depend upon its nervous system, and
vary as that system varies, so that each animal creates
its own world, and carries it about in its own head, that
world varying as the size and Rapacity of that head
varies.
There is not one world, then, but thousands of
worlds, as each creature creates its own, and all made
out of the same stuff, which is not matter, but mind.
What we call matter is an illusion and delusion.
What there may be in reality we do not know, we only
know of something that affects us in a certain way, for
“ we know nothing of- objects, but the sensations we
have from them.” Locke says (book ii., chap. 23, § 29),
�8
Illusion and Delusion.
“ The simple ideas we receive from sensation and reflec
tion are the boundaries of our thoughts, beyond which
the mind, whatever effort it would make, is not able to
advance one jot.” David Hume only puts this a little
more emphatically. He says, “We may observe that
it is universally allowed by philosophers, and is besides
pretty obvious of itself, that nothing is ever present with
the mind but its perceptions or impressions and ideas,
and that external objects become
k
*nown
to us only by
the perceptions they occasion. Now, since nothing is
ever present to the mind but perceptions, and since all
ideas are derived from something antecedent to the
mind, it follows that it is impossible for us so much as to
conceive or form an idea of anyth ing specifically different
from ideas and impressions. Let us fix our ideas out
of ourselves as much as possible; let us chase our
imaginations to the heavens, or to the utmost limit of
the universe; we never really advance a step beyond
ourselves, nor can perceive any kind of existence but
those perceptions which have appeared in that narrow
compass.” That is, no creature can advance a single
step beyond the little world its own brain has created.
He knows nothing of matter, but only of his idea of
matter ; nor of spirit, but of his idea of it; and what
relation these ideas bear to the real truth, and whether
there is any real difference between matter and spirit
he has no means of knowing. .Knowing and perceiving
are to us the same thing. We know or are conscious of
our own perceptions, and what those perceptions are in
themselves we do not know. We know nothing of the
real or essential nature of anything. Any supposed
difference, then, between matter and spirit or between
mind and matter, may be, as far as we know, and pro
bably is, as we shall see, a delusion. All dogmatizing
about such supposed differences proceeds from ignorance,
and all theories based upon them must fall to the
ground, for if we do not know what matter is or what
spirit is, only their different modes of motion or mani
�Illusion and Delusion.
9
festation, how can we know that they differ from each
other, except in such manifestations ?
The brain, and the nervous system that travels to and
from this great nervous centre, have been of> very slow
growth. The brain of a fish bears about the average
proportion to the spinal cord of 2 to 1 ; of the reptile,
of 2 J to 1 ; the bird, 3 to 1; the animal, 4 to 1; and,
lastly, man averages 23 to 1. Sensibility or power of
feeling, which in man we call mental energy, increases
as we thus rise in the scale of being, and always in
proportion to the enlargement and complexity of the
brain and nervous system ; from the creature who is all
stomach to a London Aiderman, who is sometimes
supposed to possess feelings and faculties beyond.
The faculties, both of feeling and intellect, have been
gradually formed during countless ages by the continu
ous adjustment of internal relations to external neces
sities. First, we have exercise, then habit, attended
with increase of structure, this structure is transmitted
to offspring with its functions, and we have then spon
taneous action or instinct as it is called. All our faculties
are instincts,-—organized experience or habits that have
become structure transmitted from parent to offspring,
through innumerable generations, from variety to
variety. It is a most complicated relationship this be
tween external forces and our perceptions, as we have
seen in the faculty which enables us to perceive colour,
and has been doubtless countless ages forming, so that
the whole body upon which it and our other faculties
depend is the most wonderful contrivance of creative
skill with which we are acquainted or can conceive.
The way in which this body and mind have been built
up, part added to part, and function to function, through
the chain of being, since life first appeared on this earth,
probably 100 million years ago, is the great marvel,
and yet we hear endless talk of spirits that possess all
these attributes without this previous probation, and of
souls to whom this wonderful body is only a clog and
�io
Illusion and Delusion.
hindrance to its naturally more perfect action; but
there is not a single fact on record from which we can
infer that there is or can be anywhere such a thing as a
disembodied spirit, and as to this soul, whatever that
may be, we know its action is determined entirely by
the body.
First, we have the monad, the simplest of all organisms,,
of which seven species are at present known. These
do not present any division of functions or of organs.
One of these species, discovered by Huxley, inhabits
the sea at great depths, covering the ground with a sort
of network, and is so homogeneous in its construction
that its spontaneous generation is not thought improb
able. This monad becomes a cell, the original starting
point of all plants and animals. Man at the out
set of his existence, like every other animal, is only an
egg, a simple cell, of almost invisible proportions. This
egg after fecundation becomes an embryo. The female
supplies the egg, the male the fecundation, and there
is considerable dispute as to which performs the most
important part in the production of the new being. It
is asked, “ Does the mother merely supply, as it were,
by the ovum a cradle for the incipient man, and after
wards feed and nurse it until birth; or is it that the
germ is in the ovum of the mother, to which nothing
more than vital action stimulating it to growth is
imparted by the father1?” We know that, however
important a part the woman may play in influencing
through her own nervous system the nervous organiza
tion of the child, yet that the man supplies the germ, and
often thus transmits to his offspring his colour of hair, or
other bodily features, tendencies to disease, and other
characteristics, and also his mental aptitudes, habits, and
idiosyncracies,—some peculiar habits that belonged to the
father not manifesting themselves till late in life. So
early is the soul under the influence of structure and
organisation, that is, of the body. It is significant that the
grades through which man passes in his passage through
�Illusion and Delusion.
[i
the womb are the same in order as the history of the
earth- shows us the different forms of animals have
been, viz., fishes, amphibia, reptiles, birds, and mam
mals, so that we have not only the evolution of the
ages, but the same thing repeated at the gestation
of every superior animal, and this development of the
individual from his cell is, if anything, more difficult to
explain than that of the species, inasmuch as it is ac
complished in so comparatively short a time. There is
nothing more wonderful than the hatching of a bird’s
egg, unless it is the hatching of a man. The different
classes in the earliest stages of their embryonic develop
ment cannot be distinguished from each other, and later
man and the dog are almost identical, and when develop
ment in man is arrested, as in the idiot, no higher
functions are manifested than in some of the lowest
animals, and vastly inferior to the dog. “ Mr Marshall
has recently examined and described the brains of two
idiots of European descent. He found the convolutions
to be fewer in number, individually less complex,
broader, and smoother than in the apes.” “ In this
respect,” he says, “the idiot’s brains are even more
simple than that of the gibbon, and approach that of
the baboon.” The proportion of the weight of brain
to that of body was extraordinarily diminished. We
learn, then, that when man is born with a brain no
higher —— indeed lower —- than that of an ape, he
may have the convolutions fewer in number, and
individually less complex than they are in the brain of
a chimpanzee and an orang; the human brain may
revert to, or fall below that type of development from
which, if the theory of Darwin be true, it has gradually
ascended by evolution through the ages.” * “ The
native Australian, who is one of the lowest existing
savages, has no words in his language to express such
exalted ideas as justice, love, virtue, mercy; he has no
such ideas in his mind, and cannot comprehend them.
* Body and Mind, p. 46. By Dr Henry Maudsley.
�12
‘
Illusion and Delusion.
The vesicular neurine, which should embody them in
its constitution and manifest them in its functions, has
not been developed in his convolutions ; he is as incap
able, therefore, of the higher mental displays of abstract
reasoning and moral feeling as an idiot is, and for a
like reason.” * M. Taine, speaking of the Bearn
peasants, says, “ Here men are thin and pale ; their
bones protrude, and their features are large and severe,
like their mountains. An eternal struggle with the soil
has made-women stunted as well as plants ; it has left
in their eyes a vague expression of melancholy and
reflection. . . . The impressions of the soul and
body modify in the long run the body and the soul;
the race moulds the individual, and the country moulds
the race. A degree of heat in the atmosphere and of
inclination in the soil is the primary cause of our
faculties and passions. . . . The productions of
the human mind, as well as those of organic life, are
only to be explained by the atmosphere in which they
thrive.” On the other side, when the climatic influences
are not too depressing, the necessity which is the
mother of invention, gives increased activity to the
brain, and with it increased size. Centuries of skinning
flints have bred the finest race in Scotland that there is
in the world, and the Scotch brain is the largest in the
world.
These are now well known and acknowledged facts.
The mind depends upon the brain, and the brain upon
the body of which it is part, and the body, not upon
the soul, but upon Life. “ Our thoughts,” says Huxley,
“ are the expression of molecular changes in that matter
of life which is the source of our other vital phenomena.”
Those molecular changes depend upon the perfect action
of every other part of the body, and “ it behoves us
clearly to realize the broad fact, which has most wide
reaching consequence in mental physiology and pathol°gy, that all parts of the body, the highest and the
* Body and Mind, p. 56.
�Illusion and Delusion.
13
lowest, have a sympathy with one another more intel
ligent than conscious intelligence can yet or perhaps
ever will, conceive ; that there is not an organic motion
visible or invisible ministrant to the noblest or to the
most humble purposes, which does not work its appointed
effect in the complex recesses of mind ; that the mind
as the crowning achievement of organization, and the
. consummation and outcome of all its energies, really
comprehends the bodily life. . . . Lower the
supply of blood to the brain below a certain level, and
the power of thinking is abolished ; the brain will then
no more do mental work than a water-wheel will move
the machinery of the mill when the water is lowered
so as not to touch it.” *
The Spiritists, 'or Spiritualists, as they improperly
call themselves, disregard or altogether ignore this close
and necessary connection between mind and body,—
this nice adaptation of one to the other. They think
they have observed a class of phenomena which prove
that mind can exist separately from body ; that spirits
and souls have new faculties adapted to their new
*
sphere of action, without having any idea, however, of
how such faculties are formed. The mental faculties
with which we are acquainted are a nice adaptation of'
internal to external requirements—necessitating certain
movements—which have taken ages to form. But the
Spiritualists, by a sort of hocus-pocus or thimble-rigging
with the words body, mind, soul, have created a sys
tem which, in my opinion, falls to pieces immediately
we know definitely what is meant by such terms.
I think we have sufficient knowledge now to show
definitely what there is that really corresponds to these
words.
We have seen what a perfect piece of mechanism the
body is, “fearfully and wonderfully made
the ques
tion is, what is the power that works it ? It is pre
cisely the same as works the steam-engine, and it re* Body and Mind, p. 102.
Dr Maudsley.
�14
Illusion and Delusion.
quires stoking very much in the same way, and if it is
not stoked or fed regularly it will not go. The source
of this power, as at present traced by us, is the sun;
sun-power divorces the carbon.from the oxygen in
plants, and when the carbon and oxygen come to
gether again this power is restored, whether in the fire
of a steam-engine or in the slower combustion of the
human body. The force of heat is generated, known
to us by its mode of motion. This heat, this peculiar
mode of motion, is correlated or transformed in its
passage through the body into various other modes of
motion, and which we call the functions of different
organs, until it causes the molecular motion of the
brain, on which it resumes consciousness or becomes
sensibility. A function is a force indicating a specific
mode of action. Force seems to intensify as it passes
through the body, one equivalent of chemical force
corresponding to several equivalents of heat or inferior
force, and brain or mental force is the most concen
trated of all. Mind is the highest development of Force.
But what is Force ? We know that it is persistent,
or that it cannot be made to cease to exist, and therefore ■
it is an entity. This admitted, and it cannot now be
disputed, and we have the gist of the whole matter.
It explains numberless difficulties both in psychology
and physics, and here will be found, in my opinion, the
explanation of the phenomena which now so perplex
sincere Spiritualists. Force is not a function of matter,
although it must be the force of something—of some
entity; matter only conditions it, that is, changes its
modes of manifestation ; it is not motion, but the
cause of motion. It is known to us only in its modes
of motion, and hitherto it has been confounded with
motion, and hereby we have lost the secret of much
that has appeared mysterious. Force, as it has been
known to us only by its manifestations, is what we
have been accustomed to call a spiritual entity. If I
turn the handle of a grindstone, force passes from me
�Illusion and Delusion.
*5
into the grindstone, and does its work; as soon as that
force has passed’ out, causing motion elsewhere, the
motion I caused in the grindstone ceases. If I wind
np a watch, force passes from me into the watch com
pressing the spring ; as it passes out, setting the whole
machine in regulated motion, it tells the time. Force
is the active principle in nature, causing motion every
where ; this motion acts in a certain order for a given
purpose, that is, it acts intelligently, and if you add in
telligence to force we have what we call mind or will.
Mind acts both consciously and unconsciously, or what
is called automatically, and what we call physical force
is probably automatic mind.
Now, what happens in the creation of what we call
mind ? The force we take in with the food, after un
dergoing various transformations in the body, is worked
up °into sensibility or consciousness, by . inducing a
peculiar motion in the brain, which we call its molecular
action, so that, as Dr Huxley tells us, “ Consciousness
and molecular action are capable of being expressed by
one another, just as heat and mechanical action are
capable of being expressed in terms of one another.
Consciousness requires so much force to produce it, and
the intensity of an idea or feeling is in proportion to the
amount consumed, and that is generally in proportion to
the size of the nervous centre, or organ, or specialized part
of the brain through which it passes. Thus conscious
ness, like heat, has also its mechanical equivalents.. The
brain, already in motion, is acted upon from without
through the medium of the senses, and the union of
the specific force within with the specific force without
produces an idea which we call a perception. We
have seen how our perception of colour is produced,
and the extraordinary complicated action that is re
quired. If any link in this long chain of outward
sequences is wanting, the idea is not produced ; and if
the food, or internal force is not supplied, or the mole
cular action of the brain is interfered with, by pressure
�i6
Illusion and Delusion.
upon it, there is no consciousness—no ideas or feelings
—and millions of millions of ether wave motions with
out are required to give a simple perception of colour.
Other ideas are formed in the same way, by the union
of force within with force without. We have ideas of
form, size, weight, which together give us our ideas of
extension and solidity, and which are no more solid
and extended than music and colour are. The popular
notion of these things is a belief in that which in fact
does not exist. Forces act upon us from without and
give us what we call perceptions, these are taken up by
other parts of the brain, by what we call our faculties
of relative perception, comparison, causality, &c., and
in this way the external world is created. But it is
only our idea of an external world, which must vary as
the specific structure of the brain varies upon which
that idea depends. But although the world, as we
conceive of it, exists only in our ideas, something exists,
which is real independent of our thoughts, something
that we call force, or a system of forces. Light and
sound, the mental states, might cease to exist, but their
vibratory causes without us would not, and they might
affect other beings'differently organized in quite a dif
ferent way; that which produced light m us might pro
duce sound, or other sensations or ideas, in them, and
vice versa. Perception is the direct action of force
without; Conception is the internal action of the brain
only, producing the same ideas but less vivid; Memory
is a repetition of this action in a given form; Imagina
tion is the re-combination in the brain itself of these
ideas, strong in proportion to the great or less activity
of the brain; and Judgment is either a reference of a
simple perception to its external source, or, as more
generally understood, the action of one class of faculties
upon the others, inducing, among other things, what is
called self-consciousness and reason. These are not
primitive or innate faculties of mind—they have no
organs, they are only modes of action of all the faculties.
�17
Illusion and Delusion.
To be conscious and to know, or consciousness and
knowing, are to us the same things. Consciousness
and sensibility are also the same things—and sensi
bility we divide into ideas and feelings. Knowing a
thing and our idea of it are the same, and an idea
cannot be like anything but itself. We cannot in our
knowledge get beyond or even behind that idea, and it
tells us nothing of itself, still less of anything but itself.
When, then, we speak of matter and spirit, of body,
mind, and soul, as different in themselves, we speak of
what we can and do know nothing about; we speak of
only our ideas of such things, and those ideas do not
differ in themselves, but are the same. The differences
we think we see are differences in modes of action only.
Almost all the controversies on these subjects are
based upon the supposed essential differences in these
objects, of which differences, if any such exist, we
know really nothing. When we talk of the material
man, we mean our idea of him, but that idea is what
has been called spirit.
Having stated facts as they are at present known to
us, let us now give a few definitions based upon them.
Matter is the unknown cause of states of con
sciousness. It produces different sensations in us
by its different modes of motion, and Science is the
mere registration of these different modes of motion.
Men of science give fine names to these motions, and
having named them, assume that they know all about
them, when in fact they know nothing but of these
modes of motion.
‘ ‘ Our little systems have their day;
They have their day and cease to he:
They are but broken lights of Thee,
And thou, 0 Lord, art more than they.”
—Tennyson.
The consciousness, idea, or perception of matter is
the union of the force within, prepared by the molecu
lar action of the brain, and the force without. We
B
�18
Illusion and Delusion.
have matter, motion, and force. Motion, which by
physicists is almost always confounded with its cause,
is nothing, it is a mere change of place, and is of course
inseparable from the thing moving. Force is the
active cause of all motion, and passive force, which is
what we call matter, is the cause of the peculiar and
specific direction which the force takes, its correlation
or transformation. It is force only that acts upon us,
that is upon our bodies or structures, and those struc
tures, when examined, resolve themselves into centres
of force. The more we examine the more the convic
tion is forced upon us that there is but one stuff out of
which all things are made, and that is force, or rather
the unknown of which force is the force. Huxley says,
“ Every form is force visible ; a form of rest is a bal
ance of forces; a form undergoing change is the pre
dominance of one over others.'"’ Matter and mind are
probably the same in essence ; I say probably, for we
know nothing of essences, and we do not know there
fore that there is any difference. Dr Carpenter says,
matter possesses extension, or occupies space, while
mind has no such property; but surely if individual
mind exists, and one mind exists separate and apart
from another, there must be somewhere where it exists,
and that somewhere is what we call space. But if ex
tension is only a form of thought, and there is only
force or mind, then space, like extension, is a form of
thought, or purely subjective, and the universe, with
its supposed enormous distances from star to star, must
be something very different to what we conceive
of it.
Spirit is only sublimated or etherialised matter.
Spirits and souls are, with most people, the same things.
Huxley tells us “ that the alchemists called the volatile
liquid which they obtained from wine, ‘spirits’ of
wine, and as the ‘ spiritus ’ or breath of a man was
thought to be the most refined or subtle part of him,
the intelligent essence of man was also conceived as a
�Illusion and Delusion.
19
sort of breath or spirit; and by analogy, the most re
fined essence of anything was called ‘spirit.’ And
thus it has come about that we use the same word for
soul of man and for a glass of gin.”
Mind.—Sensibility, as distinguished from insensi
bility, or consciousness, as distinguished from uncon
sciousness, is what we call mind. As protoplasm is the
physical base of life, so sensibility is the spiritual base
of mind, the specific form it takes depending on organ
isation. There is no idea or feeling but is connected
with the action of brain or nervous system. The spe
cific action of certain parts of the brain we call forms
of thought, the specific action of other parts we call
feelings, which we divide into propensities and senti
ments. We receive a number of separate impressions
from without, a form of thought gives them unity and
individuality, which unity we call matter, body, or
substance; we have a succession of separate and inde
pendent thoughts and feelings, the same faculty of
mind, or form of thought, gives unity to them also, and
we call them our mind, although it is clear that all the
unity they possess is. given them by a form of thought,
and that each separate thought and feeling is a distinct
entity. The mind is one whole, we are told—and much
is based upon the assumption—and yet it is evident
the idea of individual mind as a whole is a creation
of the mind, in the same way as colour is ; or rather it
is a whole only in the same sense as the body is, which
is composed of many parts, and is always changing
them, so the mind is composed of many ideas and feel
ings constantly changing.
The unity of mind is an illusion, there are individual
thoughts and feelings, and that is all. The unity of
any mind but the one Great Supreme, is a delusion.
Faith, hope, resignation, and all the soul’s highest
aspirations, exist only from their connection, like colour
and music, with organisation; they are feelings spe
cialised by the peculiar structure of certain nervous
�20
Illusion and Delusion.
centres, and if that organisation is not there, like colour,
they do not and cannot exist.
But there must be a substratum of consciousness, a
something that is conscious. What is that? Mind,
says one, soul, says another, brain or matter, says a third,
but none of these are right. The force within, it is,
that under brain action becomes conscious, and the
quantity of this force consumed is always proportionate
to the vividness of the idea or the amount of feeling.
Mental activity and nerve force are the same; mental
force is the strongest of all forces, and being persistent,
it passes from the state we call consciousness into all
the motions of the body, and probably into all the
extraordinary phenomena of so-called spiritual manifes
tations. We are told that “ the nerve and brain organism
is the immediate substratum which has the conscious
ness.” This is a mistake; it is the “ force” that be
comes consciousness, which the brain does not originate,
but only conditions. Again, “the nervous organism,
which is the conscious agent, reacts through the muscles
upon the external world.” Here, also, it is not the
organism, but the force that is the conscious agent, and
reacts, &c. Consciousness is said to be immaterial,
but consciousness tells us nothing of its own nature,
nothing of either material or immaterial.
The Soul.—It is this substratum of consciousness
that is usually called the soul, but in this sense it is
the active principle, conscious or unconscious, of all
things. Man, however, is supposed to have a special
soul of his own. I must confess, however, that I have
not been able to find it, or any use for it. If there is
a special soul, where does it come from? when and how
does it enter into him ? In the germ in which lie
folded up many of the mental attributes of the future
man ? or during what period of gestation, at what period
of animal evolution ? or at birth? No ; the poet says,
“ there lives and moves a soul in all things, and that
�Illusion and Delusion.
21
soul is God ■, ” arid the poet, I think, will prove to be
right.
The Self, the Ego.—Intimately connected with
this soul is the self or ego ; but this also is an illusion
and delusion. The “ ego” is a mere form of thought—
that is, self-consciousness is formed by the brain. Thus
we say “ I think,” when all we are warranted in saying
is, that “ thinking is.” The “ I” comprises both body
and mind, hut the body does not think, it only “con
ditions ” or gives the “form” to thought, therefore “I
think” is wrong. There is a succession of thoughts,
and that is all that we find in the analysis of conscious
ness. The “ I ” of consciousness is an intuition, but
intuitions are not always truths, although they are
generally accepted' as such. Intuitions or instincts
are specialised actions of the brain, hereditarily trans
mitted, to answer definite purposes. The body is con
stantly changing, and the mind is only a change of
thought corresponding; neither body nor mind are iden
tical or the same for any two seconds together, but are
part of, and in constant flux with, all the forces around ;
nevertheless, a part of the brain, whose function it is,
produces the “ ego,” or the sense of individuality, and
personal identity. This part of the brain is sometimes
diseased, and then the “I” or sense of identity is lost,
as is well known in some cases of insanity, and of
double consciousness. This ego has about the same
reality as the external world; there must be something
that produces the feeling, and that is all. It is charac
teristic of living organisms to replace the new material
precisely in the place of the old. A mark on the body
continues through life, the same on the brain, the new
material is placed round the old impressions, so that the
forms of thought and feeling turned out by it are very
nearly, if not precisely, the same. It is the trans
mitted experience of this result that has produced the
intuitional “ I,” or the feeling of identity. Memory is
the result of impressions on the brain, deep and vivid
�22
Illusion and Delusion.
in proportion to our youth and susceptibility. In old
age, when our animal vigour is exhausted, and less
force passes through the brain, and the brain itself be
comes less susceptible of impression, the old, or rather
the early impressions resume their sway, and we return
to our habits of feeling and thinking, and our early
memories. “If,” says Bishop Butler, in his “Analogy,”
“ the old man on the verge of the grave is the same as
the child within the womb, if the mutilated soldier is
conscious that no part of himself is, if to the very edge
of that change which we call death we have watched
the force of mind and soul continued in all its keen
ness, then the belief that what each man calls himself
will be destroyed when the material surroundings which
have been often changed without affecting him are dis
solved, is not justified by anything we see in the world
around us.” But material surroundings never do
change without affecting him, and close observation
show's that a change of mind always accompanies a
change of body.
The Will is generally regarded as our commander,
and free. This is another delusion. It is entirely a
servant, and necessarily obeys cither the last dictate of
the understanding or some strong impulse or feeling.
No doubt the will has a local habitation in the brain,
in a position in which it can best execute these com
mands. The intellect or feeling having determined
what to do, with a power proportioned to the size of
the organs from which the determination proceeds, the
will, like a trigger to the mind, lets off this force in the
direction of the purpose aimed at. Under the very
top of the head, where firmness lies, is the part of the
brain connected with the Ego, and again under this, in
the base of the brain, above the medulla oblongata, is
most probably the part connected wdth the will. This
specialises the control over different muscles. We say
“ I will,” and a bundle of isolated nerve-threads, com
municating with particular portions of the central
�Illusion and Delusion.
23
nervous system, can set to work any set of muscles
through the aid of the vaso-motor nerves, which close
or liberate the flow of blood to any particular part of
the central system.
Truth.—If, then, in the process of substituting
accurate conceptions for “ common sense ” ones we are
obliged to come to the conviction that the latter, or the
ordinary ideas of matter, mind, soul, the I, and the
free will are illusions and delusions, how is it that we
believe in them ? As these ideas result from the natu
ral exercise of our faculties—that is, as it is the func
tion of the brain to produce these illusions, so there is
-a part of the brain whose function it is to produce be
lief in them, or to give the sense of their reality. Each
faculty has its function, and it is natural to us to be
lieve in the result of its activity, but that may have no
relation to the real truth about any tiling. What, then,
is truth ? Truth, to us, is the record of the succession
-of our own consciousness, and of how that is affected
by the infinitely varied modes of motion without us.
But how distinguish the internal workings of our own
mind or brain, our active imaginings, from that which
takes .place without us, and which ought to be the
same to all beings similarly organised ? Observation
•and experience is the test of truth. Different and in
dependent individuals question nature, and if they
invariably get the same answer—that is, the same im
pressions,—that we call the truth. But this is merely
how we are impressed; it tells us nothing more, and
that impression can be like nothing but itself; still it
is all we can know, which is merely affirming what all
philosophers now admit, that our knowledge is only
relative, and not absolute. However it may affect our
•self-conceit, this relative knowledge is all we have, or
probably can have, and it is all that can be of any use
to us. To know what things are in themselves is pro
bably impossible to finite creatures, and how such
things affect other intelligences is of comparatively little
�24
Illusion and Delusion.
consequence to us. The object of nature does not
appear to be to give us any real knowledge, only to in
duce that kind of action in us that shall harmonise
with the things without us, and produce and perpetuate
the largest amount of enjoyment. All opinions may
be erroneous, but all are thus made salutory ; for “ it
is manifest,” as Bishop Butler observes, “ that nothing
can be of consequence to mankind, or any creature, but
happiness.” In this department alone has man any
real knowledge, all else is illusion and delusion. The
knowledge of pains and pleasures is alone absolute
knowledge, and to increase the sum of the pleasures,
the aggregate of which constitutes happiness, has this
wonderful phantasmagoria of a world been produced.
Man is “ the heir of all the ages,” and it has taken
ages to put him together in his present form. The
lowest forms of animal life appeared first, and arenecessary steps to the evolution of the highest. He
has passed through all grades, as is now illustrated in
his passage through the womb. We trace the gradual
evolution and specialisation of nerve centres from the
first appearance of nerve tissue in the lowest animals to
the complex structure of the nervous system of man.
What is rudimentary in savage man becomes more fully
developed as civilisation advances, and this “ progres
sive evolution of the human brain is a proof that wedo inherit, as a natural endowment, the laboured ac
quisitions of our ancestors. The added structure repre
sents, as it were, the embodied experience and memories
of the race..”* And this embodied experience or instinct
represents 30 per cent, of the added structure, which
is the difference in weight between the brains of savage
and civilised man. I know it is customary to speak of
the body, of the material man, in terms of depreciation
and reproach, as merely the instrument by which the
mind communicates with the world without, &c., but
* “Body and Mind,” p. 59, by Dr H. Maudsley.
�Illusion and Delusion.'
25
there is not the slightest evidence to show that mind, asknown to us-—that is, as specialised for special pur
poses here, can act separately or independently from
the body. Body and the succession of thought and
feeling which we call mind, are one and indivisible.
“ Life,” says Schelling, “ is the tendency to individua
tion.” The forces of nature are confined within definite
limits, and work towards a given object. The evolu
tion of the brain depends upon life ; and mind, as it is
specialised in human ideas and feelings, is the result of
brain action. The soul—that is, force, may exist as an
independent essence, but faith, hope, charity, and all
its other supposed attributes exist only from their con
nection, like colour, with organisation. These senti
ments, and the moral feelings generally, have been spe
cialised for a special purpose connected with the rela
tion of man to his fellows. Milton, among our great
and unprejudiced minds, and quite independent of
recent discoveries in cerebral physiology, perceived this
oneness of body and mind. He says, in his “ Treatise
on Christian Doctrine,” “ That man is a living being,
intrinsically and properly one and individual, not com
pound or separable, not, according' to the common
opinion, made up and framed of two distinct and differ
ent natures, as of soul and body—but the whole man
is soul, and the soul man; that is to say, a body, or'
substance, individual, animated, sensitive, and rational.”
This unity of body and mind is now generally ad
mitted by physiologists and scientific men generally,
and those who hold the unity only without, further
investigation into what has been called matter are
called Materialists, which is considered to be a term of
reproach. The Spiritualists think that they have dis
covered a class of phenomena which prove that man is
“ compound or separable,” and that these manifesta
tions appear at the present time as a sort of special
revelation to counteract the above materialistic tendency
�2,6
Illusion and Delusion.
of the age. The late hard-headed mathematician Au
gustus de Morgan, speaking of these phenomena, many
•of which he had himself witnessed, says, “When it
-comes to what is the cause of these phenomena, I find
I cannot adopt any explanation which has yet been
suggested. If I were bound to choose among things
that I can conceive, I should say that there is some
sort of action, of some combination of will, intellect,
and physical power, which is not that of any of the
human beings present. But thinking it very likely
that the universe may- contain a few agencies, say half
■a million, about which no man knows anything, I can
not but suspect that a-small proportion of these agen
cies, say five thousand, may be severally competent to
the production of all the phenomena, or may be quite
up to the task among them. The physical explana
tions which I have seen are easy, but miserably insuffi
cient ; the spiritual hypothesis is sufficient, but ponder. ously difficult.” In the early ages of the world, in the
prevalent ignorance of physics, spirits were the supposed
agents in all those unknown causes which we now
trace to natural law. Psychology is at the present
time where physics was in those early ages, and again
we have recourse to spirits to help us out of our diffi
culties, and supplement our ignorance. And more
than that, these spirits are called up to neutralise and
make of no avail the knowledge we have acquired.
But I would ask the Spiritualists, “Would it not be
better to pause, with Professor de Morgan, until we
■know more, rather than commit ourselves to a ‘ future
state’ so little desirable?” for, as the Professor says, ‘ if
these things be spirits, they show that pretenders, cox
combs, and liars are to Le found on the other side of
the grave as well as this,’ and all seem to have retro
graded, both in mind and feeling, since they were in
the body. Surely we had better satisfy ourselves with
nature’s course, and be content to pass on our powers
•of body and mind, in endless progress, to coming gene-
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1”]
rations, than continue our own individual existence
under such conditions.
This idea of ghosts and apparitions and a future state
does not ever appear to have been a comfortable one
all the world over. Among savages, when a chief died
his wives and horses and dogs were slain at his tomb,
that he might have the use of them in the happy hunt
ing grounds where he had gone. Hindoo widows were
burnt (burnt themselves, it was said) on the funeral
pile in the same spirit, and at the present time, although
widows are not burnt, their life is one of continual
penance. A Hindoo widow obtains her husband’s pro
perty, that she may devote it to oblations and cere
monies for the good of her husband’s soul. Should
the lady marry again, the husband is supposed to have
a very bad time of it below, and the daring couple be■corne literally outcasts from all society, and all that
makes life enjoyable. In China this fear of ghosts is
the great barrier to all progress. It is not the living,
but the dead that rule. There can be no railroads, lest
in laying them down the bodies of the dead should be
disturbed, and relations should be haunted by their
-spirits. In this and other Christian countries a future
state is looked upon as a sort of necessary aid to the
policeman, and children are asked if they know where
they will “go to” if they steal or tell a lie. We are
also told by Mr Thomas Wright, the journeyman
■engineer, “ that it is well for society that the masses
have this hope and belief, or they would not endure
the present so patiently as they have done and do.”
Their belief is that the condition of rich and poor will
be reversed in another world, if they do not even rejoice
a little over the fate of Dives. But this kind of con
solation does not appear to be confined altogether to
the working classes. Thus we are told in “ Random
Recollections of the Midland Circuit,” by Robert Wal
ton, a book lately published, that “ a man of the
name of Harrington was tried at Warwick for bias-
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Illusion and Delusion.
phemy. Old Clarke, Q.C., was the leading prosecuting
counsel. Clarke, in the general reply he claimed on
the part of the Crown, inveighed in no measured terms
upon the evil tendency of the man’s writing, especially
those parts which denied the existence of his Satanic
majesty and his various attributes, the doctrine of
future rewards and punishments, &c. Warming him
self as he went on, as he of course would, from the
very nature of his subject, he exclaimed, ‘ Gentlemen, if
there be any truth in what the prisoner asserts, where
are we?’ (A favourite expression of his.) ‘ If there
be no devil and no hell, what is to become of us?
Gentlemen, it is men like those who would deprive us
of all hope here and comfort hereafter.’”
Neither can a “ future state” be altogether a “ gospel
of glad tidings,” even to the orthodox Christian, who
professes to believe that “ Whosoever will be saved,
before all things, it is necessary that he hold the
Catholic Faith,” and that, without doubt, he shall
perish everlastingly,—go into everlasting fire, if he do
not. This Creed includes the belief that Christ “de
scended into Hell,” and that men shall live again with
their bodies, to give account for their own works. We
are told that “ Strait is the gate and narrow the way
that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it,” and
“ that many are called, but few are chosenand truly
this must be, so, if such faith is required. The Scotch
man’s creed, based on the Westminster Confession of
Faith, contains similar consolation. He holds that
God hath appointed the Elect only unto glory, and
that the rest of mankind he was pleased to pass by,
and to ordain them to dishonour, and wrath for their
sin, to the praise of his glorious justice / However
certain a man may be in his self-conceit and selfcomplacency of his own salvation, he must be extra
ordinarily constituted, if such a belief in a Future state
can supply him with any consolation. For myself, I
would rather, a thousand times, give up all hopes of an
�Illusion and Delusion.
29
“ individual ” hereafter, and go back to where I was
before I was born, when, if I was not happy, at least I
did not suffer, rather than that one being should be
reserved to everlasting suffering.
Continued existence does not necessarily imply Im
mortality, fortunately, as all the Spiritualists assume,
for think of the gift of Immortality being considered a
blessing, when, possibly it might be one of endless misery!
Even the poor “ wandering Jew” would rest when this
world came to an end. I cannot imagine how such
devilish conceptions ever got into people’s heads, or how,
having got them there, they can live and even be happy !
Dr Carpenter says: “ I look upon the root of this
Spiritualism to lie in that which is very natural, and in
some respects a wholesome disposition of the kind'—a
desire to connect ourselves, in thought, with those
whom we have loved, and who have gone before us.
Nothing is more admirable, more beautiful, in our
nature, than this longing for the continuance of inter
course with those whom we have loved on earth. . . .
But this manifestation of it, is one which those who
experience this feeling, in its greatest purity, and its
greatest intensity, feel to be absurd and contrary to
common sense.” How much better is the Poet’s
expression of this feeling :—
“ Forgive my grief for one removed,
Thy creature whom I found so fair,
I trust he Ilves in thee, and there
I find him worthier to be loved.”—Tennyson.
We who believe in God,— and not in a being
who exacts an impossible belief, or who elects a few
to glory, and passes the rest by, when he might either
have not created, or have elected all,—as regards a
Future state, hold the faith, that if it is better, all
things considered, that we should, as individuals, con
tinue to exist, we shall be sure to do so; if it is
not better we ought not, and do not, desire to do so.
Surely this is the least selfish faith. I, for one, am
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Illusion and Delusion.
prepared to leave myself for the future, in infinite
confidence in God’s hands.
But are the physical explanations of these so-called
spiritual phenomena so miserably insufficient as De
Morgan represents •them ? I think not; at least they
appear to me to point unmistakeably to the direction
in which the explanation will be found. In the first
place, as we have seen, to know and to be conscious
are with us the same things, and consciousness is what
we call mental, and we know of nothing beyond—that
is, the difference between physical and mental is only
in their modes of manifestation; we know of no essen
tial difference between them. The more we know, the
more it seems probable that all is of one stuff, and that
all is mind, not matter. If so, we must confess that
we know at present but very little of its natural modes
of manifestation, that what little we do know is at pre
sent “practically interpretable only through the methods
and formulae of physics,” and through the language or
terms of physics. Thus an immense amount of what we
call physical force passes through the body, estimated
at 14 millions of foot pounds per day, which, when
subjected to the molecular action of the brain becomes
mind or consciousness, that is, thoughts and feelings.
This force, on leaving the brain again appears to lose its
consciousness, and to revert to physical force, and at
present we know very imperfectly what becomes of it,
or what its real condition is after leaving the brain.
The investigation which Sergeant Cox proposes to make
in his second Vol. of “ What ami?” into Sleep and
Dream, Insanity, Hallucination, Unconscious Cerebra
tion, Trance, Delirium, Psychic Force and Natural and
Artificial Somnambulism, will no doubt throw consider
able light on this subject, and be proportionally inter
esting. Dr C. Darwin’s book on “Expression of the
Emotions in Men and Animals,” is a valuable contribu
tion in this direction ; so also is “ Mysteries of the
Vital Element,” by Dr Eobt. Collyer. Mr Herbert
�Illusion and Delusion.
31
Spencer insists on the general law, that feeling passing
a certain pitch, habitually vents itself in bodily action,
and that an overplus of nervous forces, undirected by
any motive, will manifestly take first- the most
habitual routes ; and if these do not suffice, will next
overflow into the less habitual ones. But Mr Spencer,,
although an able exponent of the persistence of Force,,
has not yet attempted to trace nervous force, beyond
the body, in its action upon other organizations,
neither, as far as I know, does he believe in it. My
own personal experience has been very slight. I have
seen will force acting beyond the body, that is, without
the aid of the muscles, and producing various effects,
both in contact and without, both near and at some
distance. I have witnessed many cures from what
appeared to be the action of the nervous force of one
body upon another, and also one mind as completely
under the control of another, as if they were one, in
what is called Electro-biology. I have satisfied myself
beyond a doubt, that thought reading is a possibility,
having on one occasion seen a mesmerised child tell
the number of three watches, consecutively, each
number consisting of five figures each. These figures
could only have been known to the mesmeriser, who,,
with some difficulty, madti them out by the aid of a
strong light. I have also satisfied myself of the truthof phreno-mesmerism, and that it is not necessarily
connected with thought reading. I have also seen, in
Spiritualist circles, a great deal of humbug and pious
fraud, as well as self-deception.
I have, however, seen quite enough to satisfy me that
the senses, the ordinary inlets to the mind, are not the
only means by which the brain is acted upon from
without. The brain faculties specialize the action of
-mind for special purposes, and the senses direct the
action and limit the quantity of force from without
but these barriers to the more general and universal
action of mind can be partially removed. We are part
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Illusion and Delusion.
of all the forces around, and in direct and immediate
connection with them, and but partially individualized.
As star can act on star, at immeasurable distances, so can
one mind upon another within more limited bounds,
when such minds are en-rapport. In thought-reading
we have probably synchronism of vibration between
patient and mesmeriser. We can charge a table with
brain or nervous force, and our volition can act or pro
duce motion through that medium without the aid of
the motor-nerves and muscular contact. In electro
biology the same thing takes place, one brain becomes
charged with nervous force from another, and the whole
of this force is under the direction of one will. We
are surrounded by an atmosphere, the result of cerebra
tion, its character depending upon the nervous centres
or mental faculties from which it emanates. We all
have felt the effect, more or less, of coming into each
other’s atmospheres. There are mental attractions and
repulsions, likes and antipathies among individuals,
varying as they do in chemistry. The amount of force
that goes to the brain may -be artificially increased by
Alcohol, Opium, Haschisch, etc., not only inducing
greatly increased mental activity, but many extra
ordinary phenomena besides. We have nerve force
from mental energy, and mental energy from nerve
force in constant correlation. In trance we have the
same thing, the force being withdrawn from the vital
functions, gives us mind under new conditions, with
increased and additional and abnormal powers. As
force from the sun impinging upon body, produces 699
millions of millions of waves in ether (probably the raw
material of mind) inducing in us the sensation we call
violet colour, so brain force may be carried through the
same ether inducing consciousness, and carrying ideas
in all sorts of ways, at present unknown to us. At
any rate we should hesitate before we call in the aid of
the Spirits, the infallible resort, from the beginning of
time, of ignorance. We ought to be modest and
�Illusion and Delusion.
33
cautious when we reflect that we know only our own
consciousness, and everything else only as it is reflected
there, and that it tells us nothing of its own nature, or
of the nature of anything without its boundaries.
I have to apologize for this digression upon Spirit
ualism, which originally formed no part of my subject,
and .which shortens the space at my command, which
before was too little.
The Moral World.
If the physical world has been created by our forms of
thought connected with the intellect, so has the moral
world been created within us by our feelings ; as a few
simple perceptions have been worked up by the mental
faculties to form the world without, so our simple
pains and pleasures have been worked up by our moral
faculties to make our moral world. To suppose that
there is anything outside ourselves corresponding is as
pure an illusion and delusion in one case as the other.
We are said to be responsible for freedom of will, that is,
we are supposed to’be a sort of first cause in a small way
capable of spontaneous action ; an exception to every
thing else in the universe, to be capable of originating
motion; but this is a contradiction to the now estab
lished doctrine of the persistence of force.
This
doctrine of the conservation of energy furnishes the
modern proof of the truth of what has been hitherto
called Philosophical Necessity. Thus as Oerstead says,
“ everything that exists depends upon the past, prepares
the future, and is related to the whole.” This is the
principle of evolution : “ each manifestation of force
can be interpreted only as the affect of some antecedent
force, no matter whether it be an inorganic action, an
animal movement, a thought or feeling.”* “ Con
sequently, as I have said elsewhere (Manual of
* Herbert Spencer.
c
�34
Illusion and Delusion.
Anthropology, p. 309) “ all actions being equally
necessary—all equally the effect of some antecedent
force, there can be no intrinsic difference between them,
the only difference being one of arrangement. Good
and evil are purely subjective, that is dependent upon
the way in which our sensibility is affected by things
■without. Where we have pleasure it is called good ;
where we have pain evil. Pleasurable sensation
attends the legitimate action of all our faculties, whereas
pain or suffering is not the legitimate object of any
, part of our organization. Praise and blame, reward and
punishment are not a recognition of any intrinsic
difference in actions themselves, but of our wish to
produce one class of actions rather than another as more
agreeable to ourselves. They are intended merely as
motives to action.
Responsibility consists in our
having to bear the natural and necessary consequences
of our actions. The supposition that our responsibility
• consists in our liability to so much suffering for so much
sin or error, if not in this world then in another—that
jut, 'ice requires that if we sin we must suffer—however
ancient, is an altogether groundless notion. The object
of pain or suffering is reformation, and any pain or
punishment that has not that object, any suffering in
excess of that, would be objectless and mere revenge.
Every sin contains its own atonement in the pain or
penalty attached to the natural consequences that
follow it. . . . That retribution would not be just which
included more punishment than was sufficient to correct
the offence and was therefore good for the offender.”
“ If,” as Quetelet says, “ society prepares crime, and the
guilty are only the instruments by which it is executed,”
the strict demands of justice would require that the
sinner, not the saint, should be made happy in another
world, because the sinner having been made to dis
honour in this world, has been the most unhappy here,
and requires compensation.” We hear much of the
“ self-determining will of man, on which his moral
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35
responsibility essentially depends.” But what does this
mean but that he may be moved by motives and his
liability to suffer the consequences if he does not ?
'Conscience tells him he must do right, and not do what
is wrong, and it is these consequences that tell him
what is right and wrong. A sense of pain and pleasure,
is the revelation God has given to all mankind, not to be
disregarded or misinterpreted. And what does self
determining mean but that a man must necessarily act
in accordance with the laws of his own nature? A
selfish man acts selfishly and takes the consequences,
and he could not do otherwise in either case, whether
his actions were free or necessary. Fire burns and
water drowns whether we get into them voluntarily or
by accident. Self-determining in this sense applies to
everything organic or inorganic,—everything acts in
.accordance with the laws of its own nature, from an
atom to a monad, and from a monad to God. It is the
power to do this without external constraint that con
stitutes freedom, and it is this experience, organized in
the long ages, that is the source of the instinct or intui
tion that is generally stronger than reason, even in the
best informed. I know that my will is free ; I feel that
I can do as I please, that is the language of intuition but
it is not the less an illusion and delusion. What we
please to do depends upon persistent force passing through
•our organization, the strongest force or feeling always
prevailing, or governing the will. It is our conscious
ness that deceives us in this case, as in so many others,
from it insufficiency ; the fact being that this governing
power or force, does not appear in consciousness, but
only‘its correlation. “Human liberty, of which all
boast,” says Spinoza, “ consists solely in this, that man
is conscious of his will, and unconscious of the causes by
which it is determined.” “ Arrest one of the viscera,
■ and the vital actions quickly cease; prevent a limb
from moving, and the ability to meet surrounding
circumstances is seriously interfered with; destroy a
�36
Illusion and Delusion.
sense organ, paralyze a perceptive power, derange the
reason, and there comes more or less failure in that
adjustment of conduct to circumstances by which life
is preserved.” * It is of such kind of impediments to
free action only of which man is conscious, and it is this
power of adjustment of conduct to circumstances that
constitutes his freedom, and this is a freedom that can
be exercised only in accordance with natural law.
There can be no mental science or social science, or
indeed “ science ” at all where these principles are not
admitted; and the sooner this dire chimera of man’s
freedom of will, which has caused and still causes so
much suffering, is banished the better. The science of
man must be placed on the same foundation as all the
other sciences, and not left to chance as this freedom
implies ; on the contrary we shall take care that the
will is never free but always under the governance of
the cultivated intellect and highest feeling. We shall
then begin to discover that the laws which regulate
men’s birth are quite as important as those by which we
improve our horses, short-horns, sheep, and dogs ; and
our inquiries will be directed, not so much as to where
he is going to, as to where he comes from. Our .gaols
will undergo the change, that, with much labour, we
have effected in our Lunatic Asylums^ and we shall
learn that civilization does not consist in the increase of
wealth, but in the increase of brain, upon which all
thought and feeling depend. When Morality becomes
a Science we shall cultivate brain, as its special organ
ization and harmonious development are essential to
warmth of sentiment, to the sense of the beautiful, and
to religious emotion ; and education in the future will
consist in the developing and perfecting of all the
faculties which make a complete man. Tf the organ-ization is deficient or defective, we can no more feel the
higher emotions than wre can see without eyes. To*•
*• Principles of Psychology, vol. 2, p. 627, by Herbert Spencer-
�Illusion and Delusion.
37
-ensure this development of a healthy and well-formed
brain, “ preaching ” goes but a very little way ; it must
be placed in conditions favourable to its healthy growth.
The increase of wealth is essential, as we cannot engraft
virtue on physical misery, and we must be happy
ourselves to wish to make others happy. As I have
said elsewhere (Education of the Feelings'), 11 To grow
the organization upon which moral action habitually
depends is the work of time, and we must be content
' to wait.”
We may pause here for a brief summary before we
enter a field of thought into which scientific men may
not feel equally disposed to follow me, and which,
with our limited knowledge, necessarily partakes of
much speculation.
Matter is known to us only from its capacity of
creating within us certain sensations which we call
ideas and feelings. “ The conception we have of matter,”
says Herbert Spencer, “ is one which unites independ
ence, permanence, and force.”
Mind is the aggregate of these ideas and feelings,
their character or speciality depending upon the brain.
The World, therefore, is created within us, and
although there is something without us, the world, as
we conceive of it, exists only in our conception. But
although the world is the world of our ideas, and exists
only in thought, it is not the less worthy or wonderful
on that account. It is our wmrld.
The Soul is the force or active power which causes
these ideas, or creates this world ; and more, this force,
■or that which it is the force of, is the stuff out of
which this world is made.
The Will is the subject of “law” like everything
else.
Morality regulates the laws of man’s well-being,
and as it is the “ law ” of his nature to seek his well
being, the interests of morality are sufficiently assured,
whatever may be his opinions on the subject.
�38
Illusion and Delusion.
The Body consists of forces of nature individualized
and acting together for a special purpose. Their action
depends upon the nice balance established between
external and internal relations. It has taken ages tobring together and establish this relationship, and it
is the unity of these powers and their united action
that constitutes the Identity or the Ego. The forces
which compose the body are all capable of acting
separately and are indestructible, but when this unity
of body is destroyed, whether the identity is destroyed
with it, is a question I leave every one to answer for
himself, as it is usually made a question of feeling and
not of reasoning.
Thus Matter, Mind, the World, the Will, in thecommon conception, are illusions, and to many delusions.
What is the Reality underlying them? For myself,
I believe in what natural philosophers call Pre
existent and Persistent Force and its Correlates, and
which to me is the Supreme and Universal Spirit and itsmanifestations. All the phenomena in the universe
consist but in changes of form or transformation of
energy. Matter wrhen closely examined resolves itself
into centres of force, and mind is force or energy,
representing a concentration of all the forces. All
forces readily pass from one into the other, according
to the structure through which they pass. We have
a right, therefore, to infer that there is but one force.
And what is this ? As there cannot be motion without
something moved, so force or power must be the force
of something; and that something to me is the Great
Unknown, its modes of action or manifestations alone
are known to us. But as everything shows the unity
of force, and as all force or power tends to a given
purpose or design, that force must be intelligent, and,
if intelligent, conscious, and the conscious action of
power is will. All power, therefore, is will power,,
and as W. R. Grove, says, “ Causation is the will,
creation the act of God.” The will which originally
�Illusion and Delusion.
39
required a distinct conscious volition has passed, in the
ages, into the unconscious or automatic, constituting
the fixed laws and order of nature.
Here Materialism and Absolute Idealism meet.
Physical force is automatic mind, and this uncon
scious force passing through the brain and subjected
to its molecular action resumes its consciousness consti
tuting that succession of “forms of thought ” and feeling
which man calls his mind. Thus our bodies :—
‘ ‘ Are but organic harps diversely framed,
That tremble into thought, as o’er them sweeps,
Plastic and vast, one intellectual breeze,
At once the soul of each, and God of all.”
Coleridge.
Giordano Bruno taught that “Nature is but a
shadow, a phantom, the mirror in which the Infinite
images himself. The basis of all things is mind, not
matter. It is mind that pervades all. We ourselves
are mind, and what we meet in creation is a corre
sponding mind. Creation does not present mere
traces or footprints of the Deity, but the Deity him
self in his own presence.” For this belief in the 13th
century he was burnt. The world is wiser now, for
there are many who believe with St. Paul “ that God is
all in all,—that of him and through him, and unto him
are all things.” That God is the universe, and the
universe is God; and that, in no poetical, but in a
truly literal sense, “ In him we live and move and
have our being.” “ It is true there are diversities of
operation, but the same God worketh all in all.”
“ God is everything or nothing.” * “ But nature,
which is the time-vesture of God, and reveals him to
the wise, hides him from the foolish.”^
It is as difficult for most people to accept this conclu
sion as it is to believe that the world does not exist
outside of them as it appears to them to do. God the
Victor Cousin.
t T. Carlyle.
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Illusion and Delusion.
author of all things is accepted only in theory and in
a very limited and secondary sense, for what then
becomes of sin and evil if it were so, is he the author
of them? The answer is, good and evil are purely
subjective—relative pains and pleasures, the creation
of our own minds; beyond is only good. What we
call the soul’s highest and sweetest emotions are parts
only of the great whole that equally includes the
little, the low, the poor and the helpless, and what to
us are the worthless and the bad.
This Pantheism is as old as the world, the highest
minds in very early ages have attained to it. “ The
earliest known origin,” says E. W. Newman, “ of
Pantheism was in India; where it was taught that
the eternal infinite Being creates by self-evolution,
whereby he becomes, and is, all existence ; that he
alternately expands, and as it were, contracts himself,
reabsorbing into himself the things created. Thus the
universe, matter, and its laws, are all modes of divine
existence. Each living thing is a part of God, each
soul is a drop out of the divine ocean; and, as Virgil
has it, the soul of a bee is a ‘ divinse particula aura?.’ ”
The question is, has modern thought or science added
any thing that helps to make the conception clearer?
I think it has, in the knowledge we now have of the
existence of persistent intelligent force and its unity.
But as we cannot know things in themselves, we can
only judge by analogy, or show how one thing resem
bles another. The human body is a perfect cosmos,
an epitome of the action of the forces of the whole
world. Every action of the body—the heart, the
liver, the lungs, &c.,—that is now performed uncon
sciously or automatically were originally performed vol
untarily ; the spinal cord, on its first appearance, in the
lower animal scale, governed the body consciously and
intelligently, as the brain does at present; it now
governs the body intelligently, Dt not consciously,
u
*
and it does its work quite as well. This is a most
�Illusion and Delusion,
4i
important distinction, as it seems to be universal.
Mind itself may perhaps be truly said to be inseparable
from consciousness, but it acts equally well uncon
sciously, and we have the action of “unconscious
intelligence.” We can only know things through
their manifestations, and this appears to be the nature
of mind. A conscious mental act frequently volun
tarily performed, passes with such frequent repetition
into the involuntary or automatic state, where the
same action is performed equally well unconsciously.
This it appears to do by the aid of structure (whatever
that is in itself) and as far as we know, mind is never
separated from structure or body. That
“ All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body nature is, and God the soul,”
is probably as true as it is poetical. “Thought and
extension,” says Spinoza, “are the internal and external
elements of Being.” In speaking of mind, therefore, we
must regard it, in its modes of manifestation at least,
as both conscious and automatic. Continuing then the
analogy between ourselves and the universe; as many of
the functions of the body are now performed, uncon
sciously but intelligently, and as many of our originally
voluntary acts during our lifetime, such as walking,
talking, &c., have passed into the automatic, so in the
world without the Laws of Nature appear to act
intelligently but unconsciously. All power is Will
power, but the will which originally required a distinct
conscious volition has passed, in the ages, into the
unconscious or automatic, thus constituting the
fixed laws and order of nature. If this view be
accepted the bridge over the gap between nerve
elements and consciousness has been discovered; the
gulf hitherto supposed to exist between matter and
mind is filled up, and such questions as,—Can mere
matter think ? How can mere physical force pass into
consciousness? In the world is mind developed first
�42
Illusion and Delusion.
or last? &c., are answered, and all we have to explain
are the conditions under which automatic mind or
unconscious intelligence resumes its consciousness.
Again, as our body has a centre of volition and intelli
gence so may the universe have. Our earth moves
round the sun, and all power comes to us from thence ;
but the sun moves round some other centre, and that
probably round another, until we approach the great
centre of all, where possibly God’s power may be more
directly exercised, and he may consciously govern all;
here, in the extremities, much of it seems to have passed
into the automatic. And here, as regards this centre,
we have another analogy most important. As the
world to us is the world only of our ideas, so the
universe may exist only in the mind of God. We
know nothing but consciousness, space is a mere mode
or form of thought, and if there is nothing but mind,,
things without ourselves must be very different indeed
As Bishop
to what we intuitively regard them.
Berkeley says, “All permanent existence is in the
Divine Mind,” and, as Hegel considers he has demon
strated, the essence of the world and all things in it is
thought, and Schopenhauer also holds that Will alone
is the dinge an sich, the essence of the world.
What then are we ? Schelling, like Spinoza and our
greatest thinkers, allow only a phenomenal existence
to the object and subject, admitting only one reality,
the Absolute. The individual ego is phenomenal, the
universal ego only is noumenal. This may be made
intelligible by the kaleidoscope : with each turn we
have a different form, this form is the phenomenon, and
passes away, that of which it was composed is the
noumenon, and is persistent. The world is a great
kaleidoscope, 'it is ever on the turn, producing its
infinitely varied forms in ever-increasing brilliancy and
beauty, and ever-increasing pleasurable sensibility.
That which persists or exists is not these forms but
that which is the nexus, or which underlies these ever
�Illusion and Delusion.
43
varying appearances. Thus “There is no death in the
concrete, what passes away passes away into its own self,
only the passing away passes away.”* We continue for
ever to exist as part of the Great Whole, in never-ending
changes of form. The sun sets in all his splendour, it is
equally beautiful on the following day, although the
splendour is not the same; the song of the lark each
returning spring is quite as sweet, although no one asks
or cares if it is the same lark; the night comes to us,
and a new day rises to some new comer, with no loss
of enjoyment, but only increased freshness. Is this for
us an ignoble position ?
Are we so perfect, any
of us, that we would for ever remain as we are?
Is the recollection of our present grub state so
very desirable? We are immortal, for we are part
of God himself, do we wish always to remain in
the childhood of our present individual existence ? To
be thus for ever fellow-workers with God is surely
honourable, by whatever names we may be called.
Through the countless ages, one universal plan prevails
for the elaboration and organisation of a nervous system,
by which unconscious mind shall again become conscious
in all the varied forms of animal life. Each creature has
its own world created in its own head, specially fitting
it to take its appointed place at the common feast.
And here we have the last and most striking analogy
of the human body to the great cosmos. As each of
the countless cells in the human body has a separate
life, and yet constituting the fife of the whole, making
one body, so the aggregate of individual creatures
makes one great nervous system, every beat or change
in which produces intense enjoyment, so great, indeed,
that the necessary pain which we call evil disappearsand is lost.
* Hegel.
TURNBULL AND SUIJARS, I'RtNTKKS, EDINBURGH
�
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Illusion and delusion; or, modern pantheism versus spiritualism
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Bray, Charles
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Thomas Scott
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[1873]
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Pantheism
Spiritualism
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DREAMS AND GHOSTS.
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
SUNDAY LECTURE SOCIETY,
ON
SUNDAY AFTERNOON, 7th FEBRUARY, 1875.
BY
G. G. ZERFFI, Ph.D., F.R.Hist.S., F.R.S.L.,
Lecturer on Historic Ornament, National Art Training School,
South Kensington.
Author of Goethe's 1 Faust, with Commentaries,' '■Spiritualism and
Animal Magnetism,’ <fc, <fc.
BOND ON:
PUBLISHED BY THE SUNDAY LECTURE SOCIETY.
1875.
Price Threepence.
�SYLLABUS.
Naturalism and Spiritualism.
Astrologers and Philosophers.
Perceptions either sensual or cerebral.
Dreams. Object and subject blended into one.
“ Noctambulatio.”
Dreams of reality.
Hallucinations.
Nikolai of Berlin. Abercrombie. Brierre de
Boismont.
Natural or Supernatural agencies.
Hysteria and Revivals.
Are Ghosts possible ?
How to treat those who see them.
Shakespeare’s Ghosts.
Some practical points to be taken into con
sideration.
Conclusion. .
�DREAMS AND GHOSTS.
IND is assumed to be opposed to Matter,
Nature to be different from Spirit, and
Reality to be unconnected with Ideality. These
assumptions, and a continuous misuse of words, have
for thousands of years produced misunderstandings
of the utmost importance to Science and the welfare
of Humanity.
Mysticism and Rationalism, Naturalism and
Spiritualism, have been arrayed against one another
like two hostile armies ; and whilst the one party
took everything literally, and required a certain
notion to be attached to every word, as the result
of a clear perception, the other roamed into the field
of the allegorical or parabolical, performed tropological gambols with exquisite cunning, and terrified
us by an anagogical treatment of the simplest
matters. If a certain substance was stated to be
black or white, it might be black only in substance,
whilst in essence it was white ; all depended whether
it was taken in its reality or in its ideality.
A fluid may be in substance, say, oil, but in
essence fire ; allegorically it may be food for hungry
souls; tropologically it may represent virtue gliding
smoothly through the heavenly gates, and anagogically it may be spiritual balm on our wounded
hearts to cool their passionate throbbing for the
vanities and pleasures of this world.
The difficulties were made still greater by the
combinations of these four categories ; a thing might
be to one mind allegorico-tropological, whilst to
another it appeared litero-anagogical. The term
B
M
�4
Drtams and Ghosts.
allegorical is used when you say one thing and
mean another ; the terms tropological or symbolic
are synonymous, and imply when you mean one
thing and say another; and anagogical, is to argue
from generalities to particulars; namely, “ all men
are sinners ; Joe Smith is a man, therefore he must
be a sinner.” A syllogism, which, at all events, is
not very complimentary to Joe Smith.
For centuries, nay for thousands of years, science
had often no other task than to sift the allegoricotropologico-anagogical nonsense that was propounded
by mystics, dogmatists, and metaphysicians, who
brought confusion into the simplest phenomena of
this world. The differences between mystics and
rationalists often existed in mere words,—the one
trying to oppose a common-sense explanation upon
which the other insisted. Obstinacy on both sides
made the struggle still fiercer and hindered the real
progress of knowledge. I said in one of my Lec
tures, that the “unknown” had always a mysterious
charm for man. Astrologers need not know as much
as philosophers. The astrologer gazes at the stars,
sees threads millions of miles in length extending
from certain stars to particular individuals, and
talks of the influence these mystic ties must exer
cise on the destinies of those thus attached to
heavenly bodies. If the individual believes in this
star-theory, the philosopher tries in vain to detach
him from his star, and all he can do is to prove the
impossibility of the man’s having anything to do
with the star or the star with him. So it is with
the great question in dispute concerning mind and
matter. If people start with the conviction that
there is something above nature, or as they call it
“ supernatural,” that impressions on our senses are
possible, even though an outward object to create
such impressions be wanting, that there exists
beyond nature a realm peopled by various strange
beings, how are we to proceed to argue the point ?
�Dreams and Ghosts.
5
■ What is Supernatural ?
The very expression, though continually used,
designates in itself a “ nonentity.” All things must
exist in space and time; space and time are the
first conditions of anything existent, but all nature
with its attributes of space and time fills the Uni
verse, and there is undoubtedly no room for any
thing above or beyond nature as a Universe.
Super-earthly or supersensual might have some
meaning as referring to that which is beyond our
globe, but supernatural has certainly no sense.
In discoursing on dreams and ghosts, I shall
endeavour to avoid being dogmatic, and simply take
up certain psychological phenomena, lay them before
you, and you will be kind enough to draw your
own conclusions.
First of all it must be borne in mind that our
perceptions of the outer world are not only sen
sual (by means of our senses) but also intellectual
(by means of ideas produced in the brain), that is
cerebral. The senses produce nothing but mere
sensations in their special organs, furnishing thus
the material from which intellect, by applying the
laws of causation, forms the outer world under the
existing conditions of space and time.
All our perceptions when in a waking and nor
mal state, are certainly results of impressions on
our senses, which produce an effect of which our
intellect causes us to become conscious. Now is it
possible that impressions may reach our brain from
quite a different source than the outer world,
impressions produced by our own organisation, work
ing on our brain exactly like impressions of the outer
world ? If this be possible, we should endeavour
to find out the relation in which such a phenomenon
would stand to its effect, and whether such
effect would afford us means of making ourselves
acquainted with its real cause; and we should be
at once obliged, as in the material world, to investi-
�6
Dreams and Ghosts.
gate the apparition, that is the outward impression
on our senses in its relation to its own reality.
People do dream, have dreamt, and will dream;
Apparitions, or to speak more colloquially, ghosts
have been really seen.
Dreams and spectral visions are the strong points
of those who assume an Empire of Spirits altogether
independent of matter. There was probably a time
in the phase of the progressive development of
humanity, when man was not yet able to discrimi
nate between dreams and reality. I am inclined to
consider the whole period during which myths, nur
sery tales, miracles, and pious wonders, such as flying
monks and nuns who “ levitated ” from the ground,
were assumed to be realities—a period of dreams.
For the question, whether perceptible visions, as
perfect and distinct as those caused by the impres
sions of the material world can be produced in the
brain, must be answered in the affirmative ; pheno
mena known to us all, phenomena, the effects of
which we experience nearly every night, prove this
with incontestable force, namely Dreams !
What are dreams ?
They are not, as has been assumed, a mere play of
our fancy, an echo of our imaginary faculty, or an
epilogue of those outward impressions which we
received when still awake. Fancies, as the effects
of our imagination, are weak, imperfect, and transi
tory ; so that the most vivid imagination is scarcely
able to reproduce the image of an absent person,
even for a few seconds. In oui' dreams everything
affecting our perceptive faculty appears as exterior
to ourselves as are the impressions received from
the outer world. All objects appear clear and defined,
exactly as in reality, not only with regard to our
selves, but perfectly finished in all their details,
surrounded by all real impediments; every body
with its shadow, every object with its peculiar form
and special substance. That our dreams are entirely ■.
�Dreams and Ghosts.
7
objective is shown by the actions that take place in
them being often contrary to our expectations and
our wishes. Our astonishment is excited by the
dramatic truth of the characters and their actions;
so much so that it may almost be asserted that a
person dreaming is, for the time, a kind of Shake
speare.
The deception produced by dreams is sometimes
so great that, reality stepping into its rights when
we awake, has to combat our vivid impressions to
prove that what has been was only the airy creation
of a dream. This goes far to prove that dreams are
not a function of our brain, and totally distinct
from its power of imagination. Aristotle already
called “ sleep a special sense,” and made the obser
vation that in dreams our imagination is often
engaged in representing extraneous objects. This
leads us to the conclusion that during dreams our
faculty of imagination is at our disposal, and that
this cannot be at the same time the in strum ent or
organ of our dreams.
Dreams resemble madness, they may be called a
short and passing madness, whilst madness is a long
and sometimes lasting dream. The essential con
dition of dreams is sleep, in which the normal
activity of our brain and senses is suspended.
Only when this activity ceases dreams begin to
work; just as the pictures of a magic lantern
appear in a room deprived of light. It is a further
-fact that in our very dreams our reasoning faculty
is often at work: we reason about their incongruity, their ridiculous combinations. There is,
therefore, in us a force by means of which
we can fill space with forms, we can hear and
understand voices, can see, smell, and taste with
out any outward influences on our senses ; which
influences are necessary when we are awake;
we ourselves, therefore, are the sole cause, object,
and empirical basis of our thoughts, though in no
�8
Dreams and Ghosts.
way identical with them. In working on our
imagination this force does not gather impressions
through our senses from without—but undoubtedly
from within. For our senses are closed to the
outer world, and all the objects of our dreams
appear to be the creations of our own subjectivity.
Object and subject are thus blended into one. Let
us not lose sight of this important assertion ; for
I intend to lead you step by step to the most
incredible phenomena, which, however, are facts,
and may be explained in a very rational way. We
must.only give up the old “shell and kernel theory,”
and see that there is no contest between the within
and without, but that mind and matter, however
complicated, marvellous, and incomprehensible their
functions may be, are one. The “ gross and brutal
materialism” and the “moonshiny, dreamy idealism”
formulae must be given up. If dreams are facts
whilst we are asleep, might dreams not be possible
whilst we are half or entirely awake ?
The Scotch have for this state an excellent term
—they call it “ second sightwhilst one sight
through our eyes is going on, another faculty of
seeing, as in our dreams, is at work in us. We see
and at the same time create what we see. Our
imagination is impressed, but its impressions are
produced by an inner force of our own. The term
“ second sight,” however, is applicable to a “ species ”
of our mental and bodily functions, we cannot use
it for the genus. To designate that indisputable
and undeniable force in us which produces per
ceptions without any outward influences on our
senses, we will use the expression “ organ of
dreams.” So soon as we assume an organ we
naturally wish to know its construction and mode
of acting, and, in fact, are anxious to see the
machine and its working; I must content myself at
this moment with merely giving you some further
effects of which this organ must be the cause.
�Dreams and Ghosts.
9
There are undoubtedly different degrees of dreams;
of some we are only dimly conscious, of others we
often are in doubt whether the incidents of our
dream did not happen in reality. We have dreams
in which we dream only of those realities which
surround us. What we dream is at the same time
true and real. It is as if our skull were trans
parent, as if the outer world were directly affecting
our brain, instead of impressing it by means of our
senses.
This mysterious state we might call “half
dreams,” or, still better, “ dreams of reality.”
These dreams often reach a higher phase when the
horizon of the dreamer is enlarged so as to enable
him to see beyond the walls of his bedroom. Our
“ organ of dreams ” appears often to lead us to
distant places, often utterly unknown to us, never
before seen. Instances of this are numberless.
Recently a gentleman wrote to a newspaper “ that
he was lifted up, or rather levitated on the tower
of St. Mark at Venice; that he looked down upon
the town, seeing it in all its reality as clearly as if
he had known the place before, though he had
never been at Venice.” Of course he might have
seen many engravings or paintings of the town,
and have read many descriptions of it; to this he
does not allude, but, at all events, we can have no
reason to doubt that, whilst asleep, he was trans
ferred to Venice, and was impressed by the visionary
city as though it had been the real one.
A still higher effect of which the “ organ of
dreams ” may be assumed to be the cause is “ Noctambulatio,” described by the Greeks as “upnobateia” (sleep-wandering), that is somnambulism.
It is very common in Austria and Germany, France
and Italy; less common in England, but more fre
quent in Scotland. Somnambulists dream, and at
the same time often perform their daily occupa
tions ; some have copied music, others have made
�IO
Dreams and Ghosts.
notes of sermons, others have put their rooms in
order, others have climbed dangerous heights, or
walked on parapets; and though their senses are
perfectly asleep, all the sensual functions are
performed.
They see, they feel, they avoid
chairs, tables they move about, and hear the noise
they make; this is also the case with people arti
ficially put into this peculiar state. The brain
appears to be in the deepest sleep, that is in perfect
inactivity—what organ is there active in us ? Have
we after all really a double life; is there something
active in us whilst our brain, the organ of our
mighty intellectual faculties, is at rest ? If so,
there must be in us a separate Spirit that enters
and leaves our body, and is strangely occupied not
only when still attached to us, but also when it has
left the shell and floats through the infinite. But
is this so ? I think that the theory of psycholo
gists and physiologists is much more likely to be
near the truth, than the assumption that there are
lively sprites in us which are altogether independent
of our material organisation. Modern psycholo
gists assume that in such a state as I have alluded
to, a total depression of the vital functions of-the
brain and an accumulation of all vital force in the
ganglia take place.
These ganglia have their
centre in the “ plexus Solaris,” or “ cerebrum abdominale,” (the brain of the stomach), which con
sists of a few annular vessels filled with a nervous
fluid, standing in the same relation to the ganglia
as the brain to our nervous system. This has given
origin to the hypothesis that dreams have a special
organ, which during a total depression of the func
tions of the brain is most active, so much so “ that
apparently an accumulation of all the vital force
takes place in the ganglia, whose larger tissues,
with the ‘plexus Solaris,’ are turned into a sensorium, which, as if by substitution, performs the
functions of the brain, dispensing with the aid of
�Dreams and Ghosts.
11
the senses to receive impressions from without, and
still exercising all the faculties of the brain, some
times even with greater perfection than when
awake.”—(See my work, ‘Spiritualism and Animal
Magnetism.’ London: Robert Hardwicke. 1872.
Second Edition, page 33.) By this means we may
trace a positive, self-conscious force in us, and a
negative or unconscious force ; a positive and nega
tive element in our nature. The equilibrium of
these forces or elements may be disturbed ; the
brain or the positive force may be with all its glo
rious structure, its intricate and complicated wind
ings, its admirable power of consciousness, if de
ranged, lowered, depressed, exhausted under the in
fluence of the ganglia, and the brain of the stomach
may rule the brain of the head. That is, the
“ organ of dreams ” becomes master of the “ organ
of intellect.” It is a well-authenticated fact that
somnambulists move with great decision, extreme
quickness, that they conform to anything surround
ing them ; that they observe everything with the
“ organ of dreams,” that they dare more when led
by this mysterious organ than when awake.
Our nerves of motion originate in the spine, they
are connected by the “ medulla oblongata ” with
the cerebellum, the regulator of our motions, which
again is connected with the cerebrum, the seat of
our consciousness and perception. Now, how is it
possible that perceptions which determine our
motives for movements, when transferred to the
tissue of the ganglia in the stomach, should direct
the steps of a somnambulist with the swiftness of
lightning ? All we can assume is that the cerebral
force of the somnambulist in such a state is not
entirely asleep, but only sufficiently awake to direct
his steps, to receive impressions through organs
which are different from our senses; thus dreams,
half-dreams, and somnambulism are but effects of a
special organ in us which becomes the more active
�12
Dreams and Ghosts.
the more passive our brain is. We must consider
a still stranger state, arising from a complication of
the disturbed balance between the functions of the
brain and those of the “ plexus Solaris.”
Let us assume a state in which our brain is, at
least, partially awake; we see the objects in our
room with perfect clearness; the lamp on our
writing table, the books on our shelves, the pictures,
&c., and still we suddenly see a figure before us,—
a dear relation not long dead, a beloved child, whose
last parting words still resound in our ears. Such
cases are recorded by perfectly credible persons.
How is this ? Our answer would be: we do not
doubt your assertion; we believe your having seen
your dead mother, but you were in a half-dream ;
your brain was, in spite of its partial capacity of
receiving certain impressions through your senses,
depressed, and your ganglionic system hard at work
to make you dream, whilst in this state. All cases
of hallucinations and spectral visions may be
reduced to this natural cause. If we admit that
our “ organ of dreams ” can produce impressions on
our senses when asleep, we may assume, with great
probability, and without leaving the firm ground of
physical possibility, that this organ may work in us
whilst our senses of vision and hearing are awake.
The perceptive faculties of our brain ’ will be
influenced exactly as in our dreams, though we be
not asleep. The phantom or object of our visual
organ will stand before us in a given form, as perfect
as any object of our dreams. But its immediate
cause of existence must be looked for in our own
inner organism. These phantoms, in accordance
with the faculties of our “ organ of dreams,” will
assume form, colour; emit sounds which will affect
us like the language of living beings; and if our
organ of dreams is in an excited state of activity,
the phantoms presenting themselves will be hazy in
appearance, pale, greyish, ghastly, nearly transpa-
�Dreams and Ghosts.
13
rent; their voices will be hollow and whispering, or
hoarse and whistling. A heavy supper (say, a Welsh
rare-bit,) nervous debility, over-work, great grief,
or a glass of grog as an overdose, will produce the
most important changes in these phantoms ; but as
soon as the visionary tries to bring his faculty of
reasoning into play, that is, as soon as his positive
or cerebral force becomes master of the negative or
abdominal element, the phantoms vanish. Nothing
can more speedily cure our propensity to see spectres
than a firm will to verify, by close investigation, the
reality, the substance of the apparition.
Spectres, like dealers in mysticism and dogmatic
incredibilities, prefer above all the twilight, or rather
no light at all. Visionaries of whatever sort and
stamp do not like to be disturbed in their manipu
lations by candles and gas-jets, and least of all by
some rays of common sense and sound logic. Mid
night, dark abodes with painted windows, have been
set down from old as the time and places when not
only Erin’s but “ any clouds are hung round with
ghosts.”
That visions and apparitions are facts produced
by our own selves cannot be denied, but they do not
prove anything extraneous to us, or the existence
of some undiscovered country from whose bourne
some travellers do return.
We may now investigate their causes, and we shall
find that some very material physical derangement
of our constitution is the principal one. Already
Hippokrates and Galen drew the attention of medi
cal men to phenomena of this kind, and tried to
classify the diseases according to the visions of the
sick person. It is pretty well known that those
suffering from “ delirium tremens ” generally see
rats, cats, mice, serpents, black dogs, elephants,
devils with big horns, grotesque monkeys, or some
terrifying monster of the animal kingdom. So
much so, that even the visionary realm of ghosts
�14
Dreams and Ghosts.
appears to abominate drunkenness as something
loathsome and bestial. Those suffering from con
sumption have pleasant visions; bright, sunny plains,
beautiful cool woods, present themselves to their
eyes; they see angels in long robes with broad, airy
wings, and hear strange melodies resounding through
space. The sooner people having such visions con
sult a physician the better. Madness is, not neces
sarily always, but frequently accompanied by
hallucinations.
There are some rare cases, perfectly authenticated,
in which apparitions have been seen by individuals
who at least were in a state of perfect bodily
health. The most known is that of Nikolai,' the
celebrated author and bookseller of Berlin. This
case was laid before the Academy of Sciences at
Berlin, 1799. Nikolai’s statement was the follow
ing :—“ On the 24th of February, 1791, after a sharp
altercation (the excited, nervous state of the vision
ary is to be taken into special consideration), I
suddenly perceived, at the distance of ten paces, a
dead body. (The great accuracy with which the
distance is recorded shows at once that Nikolai was
altogether dreaming; whoever heard of a man seeing
a dead body before him and trying to measure the
distance between the apparition and himself.) I
inquired of my wife whether she did not see it. My
question alarmed her. The apparition lasted eight
minutes. (Another peculiarity of these kind of
visionaries is that they always are most particular
with regard to dates and time. Is anybody childish
enough to suppose that a man seeing a dead body
takes out his watch, and counts the minutes, and
notes them down ? The tale, as told, bears in its
intrinsic evidence all the usual traces of impossi
bility which we may study in all reports on so-called
“ supernatural ” matters.) At four in the afternoon
the same vision appeared. I was then alone and
much disturbed by it. I went to my wife’s apart-
�Dreams and Ghosts.
ment. The vision followed me. At six I perceived
several figures that had no connection with the
former vision.” Nikolai was undoubtedly dreaming
whilst awake : he was bled by a judicious medical
man, and the vision did not return.
“A. stranger in Edinburgh died suddenly in an
omnibus. The corpse was exposed, and a medical
man called in to report on the cause of death. After
several days’ close study of a medical subject, he
perceived, on raising his eyes, the form of the dead
stranger opposite him, as distinctly as he had seen
him on the table of the police office.” The.over
wrought cerebral faculty was under the dominion of
the sympathetic nerve, which, in its turn, still
affected by the impression of the corpse, represented
it to the debilitated powers of the brain.
Abercrombie, in his ‘ Inquiries Concerning the
Intellectual Powers ’ (11th Ed., Lond., 1841, p. 380),
relates the case of a man who was beset with hallu
cinations all his life. “ His disposition was such
that, when he met a friend in the streets, he was
uncertain whether he were a real person or a
phantom.”
Unscientifically trained persons often give them
selves up to credulity, and to that craving after
abnormal supernatural agencies which has done so
much evil throughout the whole progressive develop
ment of humanity. They take these kind of visions
for granted, and jump at the conclusion that, as
visions were seen, they must be substances or
essences from another world. I recommend any
body suffering from “ Psycho-mania,” or from
“ Table-danceology,” or paralysis of the brain from
knock-conversation, or who has “levitation fits,”
or “ air-floating paroxysms,” to read Brierre de
Boismont ‘On Hallucination,’ 1845. His cases are,
unhappily, neither systematically arranged nor
psychologically or physiologically explained; yet
they must convince anybody believing in super-
�16
Dreams and Ghosts.
sensual agencies, that strange things may happen,
all taking their origin in a derangement of our ner
vous and cerebral system, without troubling any
spirits from another world. If spirits really exist,
why have they not yet proven themselves useful ?
Why do they not appear half-an-hour before a ship
burns down, and 400 human beings are killed and
drowned, to warn the captain ; or why do they not
alter the signals of a railway in right time to prevent
a collision and to save an infinity of wretchedness ?
Because they do not choose to do it—might be the
answer of some “ Supernaturalistbut why should
spirits come and talk nonsense at the bidding of A
or B, and why not teach us in an evening the
multiplication table, or give us some information
which might be turned to some use or comfort for
humanity ?
Hysteria on the one hand, and a reaction against
the growing materialistic and utilitarian tendencies
of our times on the other, drive those who are
endowed with a vivid emotional nature into the
regions of ghostly shadows. They tremble that
there should be no more mysteries; no more tidings
from another world, no more communications with
dear pretty angels, no horrible monsters to frighten
young and old babies ! Why do they not throw
themselves into the arms of poetry and art, num
berless spirits and fancy-wrought forms may be
brought up from the depths of our cultivated minds.
We ought not allow ourselves to be dragged into a
lowering of our cerebral powers, our faculty of
reasoning, by the inordinate use of our sympathetic
nerves, or the unconscious emotional, ganglionic
element in us. For there can be no doubt that an
unusual mental excitement, paired with bodily
depression, may abnormally develope the emotional
element in us, and produce the most destructive and
pernicious results. This statement was born, out
during the period of St. John s “ dance mania 5
�Dreams and Ghosts.
17
people in their paroxysms saw the Saviour enthroned
with the Virgin Mary. We do not doubt these
visions ; we only are convinced that Christ and the
Virgin Mary were no realities; they formed no
more the outer phenomena that impressed the
visionaries than do the forms we see in our dreams,
but the excited organs of dreams produced them.
For Ghosts are impossibilities—they can neither be
seen nor heard; except they are bodies—but then
there is an end of the so-called spiritual kingdom.
So that those who call themselves Spiritualists, are
the greatest materialists, and work into the hands
of those who intend to reduce everything to mere
ponderable and calculable substances.
In order to see—a body or a substance is required,
which by means of reflection of the rays of light
acts on our retina; in order to hear—a body or
substance is required to act by means of the vibra
tion of the air on our tympanum. All that
visionaries or ghost-see-ers may justly assert, is that
they are conscious of the impression on their per
ceptive faculties of something that reflects light,
creates sounds, though there is nothing which could
produce these phenomena—that is they dream—for
all other phenomena, if they really happen, how
ever mysterious they may appear, however incredible,
are mere deceptions a la Dr. Lynn, or Maskelyne
and Cooke, and of course not worthy of any scientific
treatment.
The danger in playing with the so-called super
natural ” is that the derangement in one individual
becomes contagious. One hysteric girl in a school
is capable of infecting all the others. But for any
such derangement the best cures are rational ones,
or wherever these do not suffice a drastic physical
one will do. An English physician was called into
a ladies’ school, where one hysterical girl had infec
ted many others ; after he had in vain tried various
remedies, he one day observed to the mistress of the
�18
Dreams and Ghosts.
establishment in the hearing of the patients that
there remained but one chance of effecting a cure,—
the application of a red-hot iron to the spine of the
patients so as to quiet their nervously excited sys
tem. Strange to say, the red-hot iron was never
applied, for the hysterical attacks ceased as if by
magic. The same was the case with a revival
mania in a large school near Cologne ; Government
sent an inspector down ; the boys pretended to
have visions of Jesus Christ, but the implacable
officer threatened to close the school if any other
spiritual inspector should interfere with his business,
and the students should be for ever excluded from
pursuing their studies : the effect was as magical as
the red-hot iron remedy—the revivals ceased at
once.
Shakespeare, that master-mind, who knew the
most hidden recesses of our hearts, whose writings
form the most complete and exhaustive psycho
logical essays, who made many a ghost “ revisit the
glimpses of the moon, to make night hideous,” has
solved the “Spirit Question” in a clear, commonsense, and exhaustive way in “ Macbeth,” when he
makes the ambitious thane exclaim :—
“ Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand 1 Come, let me clutch thee !
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight ? Or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain ? ”
To beware of false creations in science and
religion, not to allow our heat-oppressed brain an
unruly dominion over our intellectual faculties, is
conveyed by those few lines of our immortal bard.
The brief consideration of dreams and ghosts
which I have placed before you may be summed up
in the following points :—
�Dreams and Ghosts.
’9
1. That we have an organ in us which can act
on the perceptive faculties of our brain from
within.
2. That this “ organ of dreams ” has its seat in
the centre of our ganglionic system or the sym
pathetic nerves, namely in the “ plexus Solaris.”
3. That our cerebral faculties may be lowered
and the faculty of our ganglia heightened.
4. That spectral visions, religious excitements,
emotional extravagances, mysticism, and symbolic
charlatanism are merely products of a deranged
balance between our vegetable or ganglionic and
our cerebral or intellectual life.
5. That there is nothing in nature that ought
not to be capable of explanation from a natural
point of view, as there is no room for anything to
be above or without nature.
6. That instead of admitting in some instances
our ignorance of the laws of nature with regard to
certain phenomena, to assume some “ supernatural ”
interference is an insult to the all-pervading spirit of
the Creator, who cannot allow his spirits to wander
about to serve small table-talk. Anything beyond
the horizon of human intellect is of evil. This
evil peopled heaven and earth with gods, goddesses,
angels, and demons ; it formed a strong element in
our double nature, and took its origin in our
craving to fathom the unfathomable. It is, in fact,
nothing but a piece of pride. We think ourselves
better than others when we have dear little
apparitions which others have not; we consider
ourselves chosen, elected, specially inspired, small
prophets, benighted evangelists, and mighty instru
ments to testify that God takes us more into his
councils than others. The roaming in the Empire
of Ghosts, the taking of dreams for realities, the
neglect of this world for the sake of other distant
unknown worlds is nothing but inordinate pride.
If I have erred in trying to explain hypotheti-
�20
Dreams and Ghosts.
cally some curious phenomena of our nature, I can
only plead that the striving of finite beings in
whom the cerebral functions are not lowered by
tropological or anagogical studies should be after
truth in the sense of the immortal Lessing :—
“If God were to hold in His right hand all
truth, and in his left the everlasting active desire
for truth though veiled in eternal error, and were to
bid me choose, I would humbly grasp his left,
praying, Almighty Father, grant me this gift—
absolute truth is for Thee alone.”
SUNDAY LECTURE SOCIETY.
To provide for the delivery on Sundays in the Metropolis, and
to encourage the delivery elsewhere, of Lectures on Science,
—physical, intellectual, and moral,—History, Literature,
and Art; especially in their bearing upon the improvement
and social well-being of mankind.
THE SOCIETY’S LECTURES
ARE DELIVERED AT
ST GEORGE’S HALL, LANGHAM PLACE,
On SUNDAY Afternoons, at FOUR o'clock precisely.
(Annually—from November to May).
Twenty-Four Lectures (in three series), ending 2nd May,
1875, will be given.
Members’ £1 subscription entitles them to an annual ticket
(transferable and admitting to the reserved seats), and to eight
single reserved-seat tickets available for any lecture.
Tickets for each series (one for each lecture) as below,—
To the Shilling Reserved Seats—5s. 6d.
To the Sixpenny Seats— 2s., being at the rate of Threepence
each lecture.
’
For tickets apply (by letter) to the Hon. Treasurer, Wm. Henry
Domville, Esq., 15 Gloucester Crescent, Hyde Park, W.
Payment at the door :—One Penny ;—Sixpence
and
(Reserved Seats) One Shilling.
PRINTED BY C. W. RRYNELL, LITTLE PULTBNBY STREET, HAYMARKET.
�
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Dreams and ghosts. A lecture delivered before the Sunday Lecture Society on Sunday Afternoon, 7th February, 1875
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Zerffi, G. G. (Gustavus George)
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Place of publication: London
Collation: 20 p. ; 19 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
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Sunday Lecture Society
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1875
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Spiritualism
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Conway Tracts
Dreams
Ghosts
Naturalism
Spiritualism
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Text
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CREEDS
AND
SPIRITUALITY
ROBERT C. INGERSOLL.
---------------- 4----------------
Price One Penny.
/
LONDON :
PROGRESSIVE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
28’ Stonecutter Street, E.O.
1891.
*.
»>
�CREEDS.
(From the “ New York Morning Advertiser.”)
[Whateveb may be said of his belief in revealed religion,
Robert G. Ingersoll is respected by all intellectual antagonists
for thorough sincerity, absolute fairness in debate, and un
questionable ability in ti.e presentation of his argument.
His views, therefore, on the recent attitude of the general
assembly at Detroit in the case of Dr. Briggs, the alleged
heretical utterances of the Rev. Heber Newton, and the
desertion of one creed for another by the Rev. Dr. Bridgman,
are of peculiar interest just at this time. Colonel Ingersoll
has just returned from a trip through the west, and in speaking
of these incidents, he said :—]
There is a natural desire on the part of every intelli
gent human being to harmonise his information—to
make his theories agree—in other words, to make what
he knows, or thinks he knows, in one department
agree with, and harmonise with, what he knows, or
thinks he knows, in every other department of human
knowledge.
The human race has not advanced in line, neither
has it advanced in all departments with the same
rapidity. It is with the race as it is with an individual.
A man may turn his entire attention to some one
subject—as, for instance, to geology—and neglect other
sciences. He may be a good geologist, but an exceed
ingly poor astronomer ; or he may know nothing of
politics or of political economy. So he may be a
successful statesman and know nothing of theology.
But if a man, successful in one direction, takes up
some other question, he is bound to use the knowledge
he has on one subject as a kind of standard to measure
what he is told on some other subject. If he is a
chemist, it will be natural for him, when studying
some other question, to use what he knows in chemistry ;
that is to say, he will expect to find cause, and every
where succession and resemblance. He will say : It
�( 3 )
must be in all other sciences as in chemistry—there
must be no chance. The elements have no caprice.
Iron is always the same. Gold does not change.
Prussic acid is always poison—it has no freaks. So he
will reason as to all facts in nature. He will be a
believer in the atomic integrity of all matter, in the
persistence of gravitation. Being so trained, and so
convinced, his tendency will be to weigh what is
called new information in the same scales that he has
been using.
Now for the application of this. Progress in reli
gion is the slowest, because man is kept back by
sentimentality, by the efforts of parents, by old asso
ciations. A thousand unseen tendrils are twining
about him that he must necessarily break if he
advances. In other departments of knowledge induce
ments are held out and rewards are promised to the
one who does succeed—to the one who really does
advance—to the man who discovers new facts. But in
religion, instead of rewards being promised, threats are
made. The man is told that he must not advance ;
that if he takes a step forward it is at the peril of his
soul; that if he thinks and investigates, he is in danger
of exciting the wrath of God. Consequently religion
has been of the slowest growth. Now, in most depart
ments of knowledge man has advanced ; and coming
back to the original statement—a desire to harmonise
all that we know—there is a growing desire on the
part of intelligent men to have a religion fit to keep
company with the other sciences.
THE MAKING OF CREEDS.
Our creeds were made in times of ignorance. They
suited very well a flat world, and a God who lived in
the sky just above us, and who used the lightning to
destroy his enemies. This God was regarded much as
a savage regarded the head of his tribe—as one having
the right to reward and punish. And this God, being
much greater than a chief of the tribe, could give
greater rewards and inflict greater punishments. They
knew that the ordinary chief, or the ordinary king,
punished the slightest offences with death. They also
knew that these chiefs and kings tortured their victims
�( 4 )
as long as the victims could bear the torture. So when
they described their God, they gave to this God power
to keep the tortured victim alive for ever, because they
knew that the earthly chief, or the earthly king, would
prolong the life of the tortured for the sake of increas
ing the agonies of the victim. In those savage days
they regarded punishment as the only means of pro
tecting society. In consequence of this they built
heaven and hell on an earthly plan, and they put God
—that is to say, the chief, that is to say, the king—on
a throne-like an earthly king.
Of course, these views were all ignorant and
barbaric ; but in that blessed day their geology and
astronomy were on a par with their theology. There
was a harmony in all departments of knowledge, or
rather of ignorance. Since that time there has been a
great advance made in the idea of government—the
old idea being that the right to do came from God to
the king, and from the king to the people. Now
intelligent people believe that the source of authority
has been changed, and that all just powers of govern
ment are derived from the consent of the governed.
So there has been a great advance in the philosophy
of punishment—in the treatment of criminals. So,
too, in all the sciences. The earth is no longer flat;
heaven is not immediately above us ; the universe has
been infinitely enlarged, and we have at last found
that our earth is but a grain of sand, a speck on the
great shores of the infinite. Consequently there is
a discrepancy, a discord, a contradiction between our
theology and the other sciences. Men of intelligence
feel this. Dr. Briggs concluded that a perfectly good
and intelligent God could not have created billions of
sentient beings knowing that they were to be eternally
miserable. No man could do such a thing, had he the
power, without being infinitely malicious. Dr. Briggs
began to have a little hope for the huinan race—began
to think that maybe God is better than the creed
describes him.
And right here it may be well enough to remark
that no man has ever been declared a heretic for think
ing God bad. Heresy has consisted in thinking God
�( 5 )
better than the church said he was. The man who
said God will damn nearly everybody was orthodox.
The man who said God will save everybody was
denounced as a blaspheming wretch, as one who
assailed and maligned the character of God. I can
remember when the Universalists were denounced as
vehemently and maliciously as the Atheists are to-day.
THE CASE OF DR. BRIGGS.
Now, continued Colonel Ingersoll, Dr. Briggs is
undoubtedly an intelligent man. He knows that
nobody on the earth knows who wrote the five books
of Moses. He knows that they were not written until
hundred of years after Moses was dead. He knows
that tw’O or more persons were the authors of Isaiah.
He knows that David did not write to exceed three or
four of the Psalms. He knows that the book of Job is
not a Jewish book. He knows that the songs of
Solomon were not written by Solomon. He knows
that the book of Ecclesiastes was written by a Free
thinker. He also knows that there is not in existence
to-day—so far as anybody knows—any of the manu
scripts of the Old or New Testament.
So about the New Testament, Dr. Briggs knows
that nobody lives who has ever seen an original manu
script, or who ever saw anybody that did see one, or
that claims to have seen one. He knows that nobody
knows who wrote Matthew, or Mark, or Luke, or John.
He knows that John did not write John, and that
gospel was not written until long after John was dead.
He knows that no one knows who wrote the Hebrews.
He also knows that the book of Revelation is an insane
production, Dr. Briggs also knows the way in which
these books came to be canonical, and he knows that
the way was no more binding than a resolution passed
by a political convention.
He also knows that many books were left out that
had for centuries equal authority with those that were
put in. He also knows that many passages—and the
very passages upon which many churches are founded
—are interpolations. He knows that the last chapter
of Mark, beginning with the sixteenth verse to the
end, is an interpolation ; and he also knows that neither
�( 6 )
Matthew, nor Mark, nor Luke, ever said one word
about the necessity of believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ, or of believing anything—not one word about
believing in the Bible or joining the church, or doing
any particular thing in the way of ceremony to ensure
salvation. He knows that, according to Matthew, God
agreed to forgive us when we would forgive others,!
Consequently he knows that there is not one particle
of what is called modern theology in Matthew, Mark,
or Luke. He knows that the trouble commenced in
John, and that John was not written until probably one
hundred and fifty years—possibly two hundred years—
after Christ was dead. So he also knows that the sin
against the Holy Ghost is an interpolation; that “ I
came not to bring peace but a sword,” if not an inter
polation, is an absolute contradiction.
Knowing those things, and knowing, in addition
to what I have stated, that there are 30,000 or 40,000
mistakes in the Old Testament, that there are a great
many contradictions and absurdities, that many of the
laws are cruel and infamous, and could have been
made only by a barbarous people, Dr. Briggs has con-«
eluded that, after all, the torch that sheds the serenest
and divinest light is the human reason, and that we
must investigate the Bible as we do other books. At
least, I suppose he has reached such conclusion. He
may imagine that the pure gold of inspiration still runs
through the quartz and porphyry of ignorance and
mistake, and that all we have to do is to extract the
shining metal by some process that may be called
theological smelting; and if so I have no fault to find.
Dr. Briggs has taken a step in advance—that is to say,
the tree is growing, and when the tree goes the bark
splits ; when the new leaves come the old leaves are
rotting on the ground.
AS TO PRESBYTERIANISM.
The Presbyterian Creed is a very bad creed. It
has been the stumbling block, not only of the head,
but of the heart for many generations. I do not know
that it is, in fact, worse than any other orthodox creed ;
but the bad features are stated with an explicitness
and emphasised with a candor that render the creed
�( 7 )
absolutely appalling. It is amazing to me that any
man ever wrote it, or that any set of men ever produced
it. It is more amazing to me that any human being
thought it wicked not to believe it. It is more amazing
still than all the others combined that any human
being ever wanted it to be true.
#
This creed is a relic of the middle ages. It has m
the malice, the malicious logic, the total depravity, the
utter heartlessness of John Calvin, and it gives me a
great pleasure to say that no Presbyterian was ever as
bad as his creed. And here let me say, as I have said
many times, that I do not hate Presbyterians—because
among them I count some of my best friends but i
hate Presbyterianism. And I cannot illustrate this
any better than by saying, I do not hate a man because
he has the rheumatism, but I hate the rheumatism
because it has a man.
The Presbyterian Church is growing, and is growing
because, as I said at first, there is a universal tendency
in the mind of a man to harmonise all that he knows
or thinks he knows. This growth may be delayed.
The buds of heresy may be kept back by the north
wind of Princeton and by the early frost called Patton.
In spite of these souvenirs of the dark ages the church
must continue to grow. The theologians who regard
theology as something higher than a trade tend toward
Liberalism. Those who regard preaching as a business,
and the inculcation of sentiment as a trade, will stand
by the lowest possible views. They will cling to the
letter and throw away the spirit. They prefer the
dead limb to a new bud or to a new leaf. They, want
no more sap. They delight in the dead tree, in its
unbending nature, and they mistake, the stiffness of
death for the vigor and resistance of life.
.
Now,“ as with Dr. Briggs, so with Dr. Bridgman,
although it seems to me that he has simply jumped
from the frying-pan into the fire ; and why he should,
prefer the Episcopal creed to the Baptist is more than I
can imagine. The Episcopal creed is, in. fact, just as
bad as the Presbyterian. It calmly and .with unruffled
brow utters the sentence of eternal punishment on the
majority of the human race, and the Episcopalian
�(8)
expects to be happy in heaven, with his son or his
daughter or his mother or his wife in hell.
Dr. Bridgman will find himself exactly in the
position of the Rev. Mr. Newton, provided he expresses
his thought. But I account for the Bridgmans and the
Newtons by the fact there is still sympathy in the
human heart, and that there is still intelligence in the
human brain. For my part I am glad to see this
growth in the orthodox churches, and the quicker
they revise their creeds the better. I oppose nothing
that is good in any creed—I attack only that which
is only ignorant, cruel and absurd, and I make the
attack in the interest of human liberty and for the
sake of human happiness.
ORTHODOXY THE MASTER.
What do you think of the action of the Presbyterian
General Assembly at Detroit, and what effect do you
think it will have on the religious growth ?” was
asked.
That. General Assembly was controlled by the ortho
dox within the Church, replied Colonel Inge rsoll,
by the strict constructionists and by the Calvii ists;
by the gentlemen who not only believe the creed, not
only believe that a vast majority of people are going to
hell, but are really glad of it; by gentlemen who, when
they feel a little blue, read about total depravity to
cheer up, and when they think of the mercy of God
as exhibited in their salvation, and the justice of God
as illustrated by the damnation of others, their hearts
burst into a kind of effloresence of joy.
These gentlemen are opposed to all kinds of amuse
ments except reading the Bible, the Confession of
Faith and the Creed and listening to Presbyterian
sermons and prayers. All these things they regard as
the food of cheerfulness. They warn the elect against
theatres and operas, dancing and games of chance.
Well, if their doctrine is true, there ought to be no
theatres, except exhibitions of hell; there ought to be
no operas, except where the music is a succession of
wails for the misfortunes of man. If their doctrine is
true, I do not see how any human being could ever
�( 9 )
smile again—I do not see how a mother conld welcome
her babe ; everything in nature would become hateful
—flowers and sunshine would simply tell us of our
fate.
My doctrine is exactly the opposite of this. Let us
enjoy ourselves every moment that we can. The love
of the dramatic is universal. The stage has not simply
amused, but it has elevated mankind. The greatest
genius of our world poured the treasures of his soul
into the drama. I do not believe that any girl can be
corrupted, or that any man can be injured, by becoming
acquainted with Isabella, or Miranda, or Juliet, or
Imogene, or any of the great heroines of Shake
speare.
So I regard the opera as one of the great civilisers.
No one can listen to the symphonies of Beethoven or
the music of Schubert, without receiving a benefit.
And no one can hear the operas of Wagner without
feeling that he has been ennobled and refined.
Why is it the Presbyterians are so opposed to music
in this world, and yet expect to have so much in
heaven ? Is not music just as demoralising in the sky
as on the earth, and does anybody believe that Abra
ham, or Isaac, or Jacob, ever played any music com
parable to Wagner ?
Why should we postpone our joy to another world ?
Thousands of people take great pleasure in dancing,
and I let them dance. Dancing is better than weeping
and wailing over a theology born of ignorance and
superstition.
And so with games of chance. There is a certain
pleasure in playing games, and the pleasure is of the
most innocent character. Let all these games be played
at home and children will not prefer the saloon to the
society of their parents. I believe in cards and billiards,
and would believe in progressive euchre were it more
of a game—the great objection to it is its lack of com
plexity. My idea is to get what little happiness you
can out of this life, and to enjoy all sunshine that
breaks through the clouds of misfortune. Life is poor
enough at best. No one should fail to pick up every
jewel of joy that can be found in his path. Every one
�( W )
should be as happy as he can, provided he is not happy
at the expense of another.
So let us get all we can of good between the cradle
and the grave—all that we can of the truly dramatic,
all that we can of enjoyment; and if, when death
comes, that is the end, we have at least made the best
of this life, and if there be another life, let us make the
best of that.
I am doing what little I can to hasten the coming
of the day when the human race will enjoy liberty—
not simply of body, but liberty of mind. And by
liberty of mind I mean freedom from superstition, and,
added to that, the intelligence to find out the conditions
of happiness ; and, added to that, the wisdom to live
in accordance with those conditions.
�(11)
SPIRITUALITY.
If there is an abused word in our language, it is
“ spirituality.”
It has been repeated over and over for several
years by pious pretenders and snivellers as though it
belonged exclusively to them.
In the early days of Christianity the “spiritual”
renounced the world, with all its duties and obliga
tions. They deserted their wives and children. They
became hermits and dwelt in caves. They spent
their useless years praying for their shrivelled and
worthless souls.
They were too “ spiritual ” to love women, to build
homes and to labor for children.
They were too “ spiritual ” to earn their bread, so
they became beggars, and stood by the highway of
life and held out their hands and asked alms of
industry and courage.
They were too “ spiritual ” to be merciful. They
preached the dogmas of eternal pain and gloried in
“ the wrath to come.”
They were too “ spiritual ” to be civilised, so they
persecuted their fellow-men for expressing their
honest thoughts.
They were so “spiritual” that they invented in
struments of torture, founded the Inquisition, ap
pealed to the whip, the rack, the sword and the fagot.
They tore the flesh of their fellow-man with hooks
of iron, buried their neighbors alive, cut off their
eyelids, dashed out the brains of babes and cut off
the breasts of mothers.
�( 12 )
These “ spiritual ” wretches spent day and night
on their knees praying for their own salvation and
asking God to curse the best and noblest in the
world.
John Calvin was intensely “spiritual” when he
warmed his fleshless hands at the flames that consumed
Servetus.
John Knox was constrained by his “spirituality”
to utter low and loathsome calumnies against all
women. All the witch-burners and quaker-maimers
and mutilators were so “ spiritual ” that they constantly
looked heavenward and longed for the skies.
These lovers of God—these haters of men—looked
upon the Greek marbles us unclean, and denounced
the glories of art as the snares and pitfalls of perdition.
These “ spiritual ” mendicants hated laughter and
smiles and dimples, and exhausted their diseased and
polluted imagination in the effort to make love loath
some.
_ From almost every pulpit was heard the denuncia
tion of all that adds to the wealth, the joy, and glory
of life. It became the fashion for the “ spiritual ” to
malign every hope and passion that tends to humanise
and refine the heart. Man was denounced as totally
depraved. Woman was declared to be a perpetual
temptation—her beauty a snare, and her touch pollu
tion.
Even in our own time and country some of the
ministers, no matter how radical they claim to be,
retain the aroma, the odor, or the smell of the
“ spiritual.”
They denounce some of the best and greatest—some
of the benefactors of the race—for having lived on a
low plane of usefulness, and for having had the pitiful
ambition to make their fellows happy in this world.
Thomas Paine was a grovelling wretch because he
devoted his life to the preservation of the rights of
man, and Voltaire lacked the “spiritual” because he
abolished torture in France, and attacked with the
enthusiasm of a divine madness the monster that was
endeavoring to drive the hope of liberty from the heart
of man.
�( 13 )
Humboldt was not “ spiritual ” enough to repeat
with closed eyes the absurdities of superstition, but
was so lost to all the “ skyey influences ” that he was
satisfied to add to the intellectual wealth of the world.
■Darwin lacked “ spirituality,” and in its place had
nothing but sincerity, patience, intelligence, the spirit
of investigation, and the courage to give his honest
conclusions to the world. He contented himself with
giving to his fellow men the greatest and the sublimest
truths that man has spoken since lips have uttered
speech.
But we are now told that these soldiers of science,
these heroes of liberty, these sculptors and painters,,
these singers of songs, these composers of music,
lacked “ spirituality ”’and after all were only common
clay.
This word “ spirituality ” is the fortress, the breast
work, the riflepit of the Pharisee. It sustains the same
relation to sincerity that Dutch metal does to pure gold.
There seems to be something about a pulpit that
poisons the occupant—that changes his nature—that
causes him to denounce what he really loves and to
laud with the fervor of insanity a joy that he never
felt—a rapture that never thrilled his soul. Hypnotised
by his surroundings, he unconsciously brings to market
that which he supposes the purchasers desire.
In every church, whether orthodox or radical, there
are two parties—one conservative, looking backward ;
one radical, looking forward—and generally a minister
“ spiritual ” enough to look both ways.
A. minister who seems to be a philosopher on the
street, or in the home of a sensible man, cannot with
stand the atmosphere of the pulpit. The moment he
stands behind a Bible cushion, like Bottom, he is
“ translated ” and the Titania of superstition “ kisses
his large, fair ears.”
Nothing is more amusing than to hear a clergyman
denounce worldliness—ask his hearers what it will
profit them to build railways and palaces and lose their
own souls—inquire of the common folks before him
why they waste their precious years in following
trades and professions, in gathering treasures that
�( 14 )
moths corrupt and rust devours, giving their days to
the vulgar business of making money—and then see
him take up a collection, knowing perfectly well that
only the worldly, the very people he has denounced,
can by any possibility give a dollar.
“ Spirituality,” for the most part, is a mask worn by
idleness, arrogance, and greed.
Some people imagine they are “ spiritual ” when
they are sickly.
It may be well enough to ask—What is it to be
really spiritual ?
The spiritual man lives up to his ideal. He
endeavors to make others happy. He does not despise
the passions that have filled the world with art and
glory. He loves his wife and* children—home and
fireside. He cultivates the amenities and refinements
of life. He is a friend and champion of the oppressed.
His sympathies are with the poor and the suffering.
He attacks what he believes to be wrong, though
defended by the many, and he is willing to stand for
the right against the world.
He enjoys the beautiful.
In the presence of the highest creations of Art his
eyes are suffused with tears. When he listens to the
great melodies, the divine harmonies, he feels the
sorrows and the raptures of death and love. He is
intensely human. He carries in his heart the burdens
of the world. He searches for the deeper meanings.
He appreciates the harmonies of conduct, the melody
of a perfect life.
He loves his wife and children better than any
God.
He cares more for the world he lives in than for any
other. He tries to discharge the duties of this life, to
help those that he can reach. He believes in being
useful—in making money to feed and clothe and
educate the ones he loves—to assist the deserving and
to support himself. He does not want to be a burden
on others. He is just, generous, and sincere.
Spirituality is all of this world. It is a child of this
earth, born and cradled here. It comes from no
heaven, but it makes a heaven where it is. There is
�( 15 )
no possible connection between superstition and the
spiritual, or between theology and the spiritual.
The spiritually-minded man is a poet. If he does
not write poetry, he lives it. He is an artist. If he
does not paint pictures or chisel statues, he feels them
and their beauty softens his heart. He fills the temple
of his soul with all that is beautiful and he worships at
the shrine of the ideal.
In all the relations of life he is faithful and true.
He asks for nothing that he does not earn. He does
not wish to be happy in heaven if he must receive
happiness as alms. He does not rely on the goodness
of another. He is not ambitious to become a winged
pauper.
.
Spirituality is the perfect health of the soul. It is
noble, manly, generous, brave, free-spoken, natural,
•SupGrl)»
Nothing is more sickening than the “spiritual”
whine—the pretence that crawls at first and talks about
humility, and then suddenly becomes arrogant and
says : “ I am ‘ spiritual ’—I hold in contempt the
vulgar jovs of this life. You work and toil and build
homes and sing songs and weave your delicate robes.
You love women and children and adorn yourselves.
You subdue the earth and dig for gold. You have
your theatres, your operas, and all the luxuries of life ;
but I, beggar that I am, Pharisee that I am, am your
superior because I am ‘ spiritual.’ ”
Above all things, let us be sincere.
Printed by G. W. Foote, at 28 Stonecutter Street, London, E.C.
�WORKS BY COLONEL R. G. INGERSOLL
s. d.
r
MISTAKES OF MOSES
Superior edition, in cloth ...
Only Complete Edition published in England.
DEFENCE OF FREETHOUGHT
Five Hours’ Speech, at the Trial of C. B.
Reynolds for Blasphemy.
REPLY TO GLADSTONE. With a Biography by
J. M. Wheeler
ROME OR REASON ? Reply to Cardinal Man ning
CRIMES AGAINST CRIMINALS
...
AN ORATION ON WALT WHITMAN ...
FAITH AND FACT. Reply to Rev. Dr. Field
GOD AND MAN. Second Reply to Dr. Field
...
THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH
...
LOVE THE REDEEMER. Reply to Count To lstoi
THE LIMITS OF TOLERATION
•••
A Discussion with Hon. F. D. Coudert and
Gov. S. L. Woodford
...
THE DYING CREED
DO I BLASPHEME ?
THE CLERGY AND COMMON SENSE
...
SOCIAL SALVATION
...
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE ...
...
GOD AND THE STATE
WHY AM I AN AGNOSTIC ?
...
...
WHY AM I AN AGNOSTIC ? Part II.
...
ART AND MORALITY
...
CHRIST AND MIRACLES
...
...
THE GREAT MISTAKE
...
LIVE TOPICS
MYTH AND MIRACLE
...
REAL BLASPHEMY
...
REPAIRING THE IDOLS
R. Forder, 28 Stonecutter-street, London, E.C.
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
Publisher
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
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Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Creeds and spirituality
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ingersoll, Robert Green [1833-1896]
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 15 p. ; 19 cm.
Notes: Reprinted from the New York Morning Advertiser. "Works by Colonel R.G. Ingersoll" listed on back cover. No. 12a in Stein checklist. Printed by G.W. Foote. Part of the NSS pamphlet collection.
Publisher
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Progressive Publishing Company
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1891
Identifier
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N328
Subject
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Spiritualism
Rights
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Creeds and spirituality), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
Creeds
NSS
Religion
Spirituality
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
An evening with Mr. Home fifteen years ago, and reflections thereon: a lecture at the Cavendish Rooms, London, on Sunday evening 17th July 1870
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
White, William
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 14, [2], p. ; 22 cm.
Notes: Printed by Thomas Scott, Holborn, London. Extracts from reviews of the author's work 'Emanuel Swedenborg; his Life and Writings' on unnumbered pages at the end. From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
James Burns
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1870
Identifier
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G5177
Subject
The topic of the resource
Spiritualism
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (An evening with Mr. Home fifteen years ago, and reflections thereon: a lecture at the Cavendish Rooms, London, on Sunday evening 17th July 1870), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
Conway Tracts
Spiritualism