Theworld is indebted to scientists for their clear arrangement of and deductions from what others have discovered; for, as a rule, they are not inventive. Hasty in condemning everything new, their timidity and lack of generous bearing toward what seems to conflict with their materialistic theories are conspicuous.
Nothing can be more unscientific than the attitude of most of them toward this subject. Obliged in the past to antagonize the despotism of the old Theology, they have themselves become despotic.Condemning dogmatism, they assume a dogmatic bearing toward everything that does not square with their pre-conceived notions. Walking with faces toward the ground, they refuse to look up, or admit the existence of anything beyond matter; denying the possibility of spirit, and claiming that the earth contains within itself the "promise and potency" of everything that is or has been.
Against this sweeping claim may be opposed the fact that, in the light of a purely scientific analysis, the earth gives no promise of the living beings that cover its surface; that it creates nothing, furnishes nothing except the environments or clothing of the beings that for the time find their abiding-place here.
When scientists are confronted with materialization, they deny it without investigation, or refuse to examine it unless they can dictate their own conditions, andyet no class of men understand better than they do the necessity of adhering closely to the laws governing any operation in nature, if it is to be fairly studied. The course that has been and is now being pursued by the two scientific bodies supposed to be investigating this subject must necessarily lead to failure. Individual members may be more or less impressed with the reality of the phenomena, but no report worthy of the subject will ever be made by either society. The ridiculous farce enacted by the French Academy of Science in their report on Mesmerism, will probably be repeated here.
It has been charged upon me that I am not a scientist, and that my methods are not scientific,—all of which, if their implied definition of science is correct, I admit. I have had the fairness, notwithstanding my skepticism, to lay aside myprejudices and study this subject purely in relation to itself, and not in connection with pre-conceived ideas. The facts which I have presented have been attested by competent witnesses; and until scientists have made themselves familiar with them, their allegations amount to nothing. The course which I have pursued in studying this subject is far more sensible and scientific than a denial without investigation.
The editor of one of the ablest scientific journals has well said, "Science having no methods by which it can experimentally determine that man has a spiritual nature distinct from the material, it follows that it must be incompetent to throw light upon the nature of that which is unrecognized or unknown."
The testimony of scientists in such matters cannot be considered of any more value than that of any other careful investigator; and if we take into considerationtheir materialistic views, it is dealing liberally with them to concede that much.
Science accepts the theory of molecules and atoms, and declares matter to be indestructible. These little molecules set in motion produce the phenomena of life. When they get tired and refuse to climb one above another, like acrobats in a circus, then there is death. It is all very simple, and any one can understand it,—a little alkali thrown into some acid,—a rapid effervescence,—the atoms are disturbed and seek to hurriedly arrange themselves into a different position,—they have performed the fantastical dance of life, and all is over!
Upon this theory scientists have endeavored to account for the creation of everything. If they have found anything else they have not declared it. The trinity of Molecules, Atoms, and Motion is the keystone of the whole structurewhich for centuries they have been trying to build up.
As science takes nothing for granted, it would be interesting to learn when and where they found these little atoms, which no microscope, however powerful, has ever revealed. Before scientists insist upon the denial of the existence of that spiritual force which organizes and individualizes all forms of life, it might be as well for them to settle the question, What is matter?
I do not assert positively that these beings are spirits; for it may be said, in a scientific point of view, I have no right to do so; but I do assert that the facts warrant beyond a question the conclusion that they do not belong to what we call the earth-side of life,—that they are not automatons, lay figures, or effigies, but are living, breathing, intelligent beings, with thoughts, feelings, and passionsstrictly human; that they come out of invisible space, and depart in the same way. In the language of Professor Crookes, "Nothing is more certain than the reality of these facts. I do not say that they are possible, but I say that theyare."
WhenMesmer appeared in Paris, exhibiting his claims to Magnetism, he was ridiculed, and treated as a humbug. The French Academy of Science, after due consideration, pronounced Mesmerism a fraud. This was the more remarkable from the fact that many of the experiments in Mesmerism are so simple that a child can demonstrate them to the entire satisfaction of an unprejudiced person. Many years afterward, in 1831, the French Academy of Medicine, through a report of its Committee, reversed this decision.
So far as we know, these are the only efforts that have been made, until within a few years, by any scientific association, to investigate this class of phenomena. Both in Europe and this country it has been treated with contempt, and for more than a hundred years condemned by pseudo-Science as nothing more than a hallucination produced by a diseased condition of body or mind.
I was present at the Massachusetts Hospital, many years ago, when the elder Warren, knife in hand, made mock passes over his patient, ridiculing to his students the idea that any one could be entranced or rendered insensible to pain by what was called Mesmerism; and yet the existence of the Mesmeric force or fluid is one of the most remarkable discoveries ever made. It has been known for thousands of years, by the Hindoo philosophers, as "the pure Agassa Fluid"that penetrates and permeates all objects, whether animate or inanimate. It controls the social relations; is the secret of that influence which one person exerts over another; and is the connecting link between the seen and the unseen worlds, enabling spirits, whether in or out of the flesh, to produce all the phenomena known as "spirit-manifestations."
If we except the writings of Deleuze, Townshend, Gregory, Dr. Elliotson, and a few lesser lights, Mesmerism has been kept before the public mainly by a class of itinerant lecturers who, despairing of a more considerate hearing, have, in order to retain their hold on their audience, degraded it to a mere burlesque.
The history of Mesmerism forms no exception to all discoveries that have marked the progress of man from a state of barbarism to the present time. The old stubble chokes and prevents the newcrop of grain, unless it has been turned under. The acceptance of anything with which we are not familiar depends more upon the mental condition produced by pre-conceived ideas than upon any evidence necessary to sustain it. The progress of public opinion is like the march of a great army; it camps at night upon ground occupied by its videttes in the morning. When Spiritualism began to attract attention, the opponents of Mesmerism, not understanding its true character, abandoned their hostility to it, and accepted it as an explanation of the new phenomena. Mind-reading, Telepathy, everything possible, was brought forward to explain away this supposed evidence of another life. And, in a somewhat different form, the same thing is taking place in regard to Materialization.
If we eliminate from it the idea of spirits, and attribute to man alone thiswonderful power, we disarm scientific as well as sectarian opposition, and the possibilities of man, the influence of mind over matter, become a legitimate subject for study. But no matter how exhaustive your investigations of Materialization may have been, the moment you suggest that spirits may have something to do with it, it becomes unscientific, and, in the judgment of certain persons who have assumed the right to control public opinion, you are instantly transformed from an honest student into a "crank"!
In view of the obstacles that Conservatism is always throwing in the way of Progress, one may be pardoned for a certain kind of admiration for cranks. They have, at least, the courage of their convictions, and in this respect, if for nothing more, may become popular, for the crowd always throw up their hats,whether right or wrong, to the plucky man.
Is courage, then, so rare a thing that we are forced to applaud it even in the bulldog?
Public opinion is the despotism of a republic. It is astonishing what cowards it makes of decent men; the fear of being laughed at is the terror of society; the assertion of manhood, the expression of an honest opinion, the love of truth,—everything goes down before it.
My ministerial neighbor throws theological brickbats at me because I choose to study a subject which he has not the courage to face, and which, if not a reality, he lied about in his last funeral sermon, when he told the mourners that their "dear friend is not dead, but still living and hovering around them."
Shall we allow these attacks, and notremind him that, if he knows anything, he must know that the Christian religion is an outgrowth of paganism; that there is not a cardinal point in his theology that is not as old as the Hindoo Pagodas; that the idea of another life, imperfectly outlined in the Bible, was taken from a religion founded upon occult manifestations; that He whom he calls Lord and Master not only taught healing by laying on of hands, but exemplified Materialization in the transfiguration on the Mount, and in his bodily appearance to his disciples, after his death, in a room with closed doors?
At every séance there are more or less clandestine visitors, who shrink from letting their best friends know anything about it. At one, I met an old acquaintance, who was surprised to find me there, and begged me not to give him away. He had obtained a seat under an assumedname, partially as a test, he said, but mainly on account of his position in society; he did not care to be known to visit such places. In the course of the séance, a beautiful female form came briskly out into the middle of the room, and, stretching her arms toward him, said, "Father!" As he did not respond, the controlling spirit, calling him by name, said, "that lady is for you!" He stepped forward, and, to his astonishment, found that it was his daughter. He said afterward that the recognition was perfect. This was his first séance, and, unless Materialization becomes popular, it may be his last. That he told his wife about it there seems to be no doubt, as she has been a frequent visitor ever since. I fancy him in his dressing-gown and slippers, reclining in his armchair, smoking his cigarette, anxiously awaiting her return, that she may relate to him thetouching manifestations of affection she has received.
Traces of these phenomena have always, in one form or another, been present in the world. In India, for thousands of years, they have furnished the foundation of a religious belief, which, like all other religions, has been perverted and used as a means to blind and control the common people.
The danger of its being accepted as authority through a blind reverence for what is supposed to be supernatural, instead of affectionate and intelligent companionship, is sufficient reason why its true import should be thoroughly understood. Whether it be a power in man, the laws of which are unknown, or a direct emanation from another life, it requires the most serious consideration. Shall it receive the attention it deserves, or shall we turn our backs on it, till, like arising tide, it overwhelms us with a flood of ignorance and superstition? It will not do to ignore it; already its influence is sweeping far and wide.
Scientists may sit supinely on the summit of their intellectual conceit, insisting that it "will not be much of a shower;" still it swells and rolls on, sapping and undermining the whole system of social and religious thought. Sects and creeds crumble in its pathway. All hopes of a scientific evidence of a life after death are centred in these manifestations.
The issue is a plain one; there can be no middle ground. Either Spiritualism or Materialism triumphs. Deal with it as you may; if it is from the other side of life, it cannot be overthrown. In some form or other it must be met.
Shall we not, in the interest of humanity and of what purports to be an important truth, lay aside our pre-conceivednotions and prejudices, and treat this subject as we would any of the common things of life, earnestly endeavoring to get at its true meaning?
Millions of honest people have witnessed these things in their own homes, by their own firesides. Against what they have seen and know there is no argument.
Time will show whether the public have sufficiently advanced to grapple healthily with Materialization and its spiritual surroundings.
Ithas been heretofore stated that everything known as Spiritualism is due to pure Magnetism.
Magnetism may be classed under three heads: Terrestrial, Aerial, and Ethereal or Spiritual Magnetism. These are only different modes or grades of expression of the same thing; and may be compared, in their order, to earth, air and ether;—heat, force, and light;—or root, stock, and flower in plants.
Ethereal Magnetism is the medium of thought, as is clearly proved by what is sometimes called telepathy, or mind-reading, and by well attested facts of communicationbetween persons widely separated. It is also known to Mesmerizers that, when they have established magnetic relations between themselves and their subjects, they can often control them without reference to distance.
Outside of the domain of this subtle fluid, there can be no connection between the seen and the unseen worlds, or between any of the individual forms of life. More attenuated than Electricity, it holds the same relation to life that Terrestrial Magnetism holds to the grosser particles of matter. It enables what we call intellectual force to command and control all forms.
Through it, Thought, which is the Principle of everything, builds and unbuilds; clothing itself in material garments, and filling the earth with countless millions of individual beings, made visible to our outward senses.
The process by which this is accomplished is the same, whether done instantaneously or extending through a series of years. Materialization, then, is only the manifestation of a law everywhere acknowledged, with this difference: the external forms, under a superior force and intelligence, are more quickly wrought.
It is the question of time, more than anything else, that challenges our skepticism. That which we call progress, or evolution, is only so many steps by which mind exerts itself, with increasing force, over matter. We are in the habit of regarding matter as a solid substance; whereas, in its primitive state, it is invisible. It is only by different combinations, in its aerial form, that it becomes solid. In a fluidic state, it probably pervades all space. In this condition, spirits, it would seem, have power to condense it and shape it at pleasure.
Existing as individual beings, complete in their organization, many of them are able, under certain conditions, to draw from their surroundings sufficient matter to clothe themselves in garments, for the time being, as substantial as any forms in life.
I have witnessed the processes of materialization and of dematerialization in the middle of the room, several feet from the cabinet,—have taken hold of the hands of these beings, and gone down with them to the floor, until the last things that disappeared were the hands that were in mine.
I have been taken into the cabinet by one of these forms, and, with my left arm around the form (to all appearance as solid as my own), have put my right hand on the entranced medium, and while in this position have seen a white, luminous cloud rise slowly from the side of themedium until it reached the height of nearly six feet. I could have passed my hand through it without resistance. In a few seconds it condensed into a human form that cordially greeted and shook hands with me, having a hand as substantial as my own. It was the form of "Auntie," the control, who greeted me with "How do you do? What do you think of this?" At the same time, there were many hands patting me on the head and shoulders.
All this occurred in a cabinet where a confederate was impossible. Was I deceived,—laboring under a state of hallucination? Not if I now have or ever had any knowledge of myself.
I have studied these things as quietly as I would have studied a statue or a picture; have not been satisfied with witnessing them once, but have had them repeated many times, that I might feel certain that I had given them a thorough investigation.If I have been mistaken, those who come after me will have small chance of better success. I have stated some things positively, because I know that they are true, and can be scientifically demonstrated.
We may discover and accept the conditions that best enable these beings to reach and communicate with us, thereby extending our knowledge and our association with them, but neither our observation nor what they may tell us will enable us to comprehend what our experience has not fitted us to understand.
At best we have only established our pickets on the other side of the river. The problem of life still remains unsolved.
The erroneous ideas so generally entertained regarding beings of another life render it important that we should fully understand that no one, whether on this or the other side of life, can set aside the laws necessary to our individual growth.
The assimilation of thought; the gestation of ideas, the mental digestion which is analogous to the process of physical growth, must ever remain the source ofahealthy development. To abandon this to the dictation of authority, whether real or supposed, or to accept anything in violation of these laws, only leads to disorder and mental dyspepsia.
What we most desire does not always come; but in its place, often, something unexpected and surprising. The power which operates suffers no dictation or control; and, like the reflection of an object in water, the phenomena become distorted the moment the magnetic currents are disturbed.
Forced, by the accumulation of facts that cannot be set aside, to acknowledge the existence of these beings, they are, nevertheless, shrouded in mystery. That they are from the other life is more thanprobable; no other theory will, in the long run, be found tenable. Whether they are our departed friends and relatives must be determined by the exercise of those faculties which enable us to settle the relations of objects in this life. While they exhibit no feelings of selfishness or jealousy in their associations with us, the same cannot always be said of "the control." For some reason which we do not understand, but which may be a necessity, the controlling spirit of the séance exercises a more or lessdespoticpower over the manifestations; sometimes denying the privilege of manifestation, and forcing back spirits who have been accustomed to appear at other séances. In other words, there seems to be a good deal of human nature in their make-up, and the likes and dislikes of the medium or manager, are often shared by "the control."
While the theory is correct that the medium is nothing but the instrument through which the spirits are evoked, there can be no question that his or her mental and moral atmosphere affects the quality of the manifestations.
Your personal relations with the medium are known to the controlling spirit, and if the medium is prejudiced against you, you are, in most cases, debarred from any satisfactory results. On the other hand, your relations to these beings are known to "the control," but not necessarily to the medium,—never unless the controlling spirit thinks best to communicate them.
What you learn of the character of these beings depends upon your personality,—the magneticatmospherethat surrounds you. Many of them, if they are able to penetrate your atmosphere, are so exhausted by the effort that theycannot talk much with you; while others, overcoming all obstacles, are able to throw themselves around you with all the abandon of childhood, talking freely, and often so fast that it requires the closest attention to follow them. In such cases, however strong the resemblance may be to the medium in the outward form, the mental characteristics are as different as it is possible to be between any two individuals.
I have refrained from saying much about the quality of these manifestations. It is a matter upon which there must always be a wide difference of opinion. Every one will findhimselfmore or less reflected in them. It is the inevitable law of association. "You are a cheat and a scoundrel!" said an enraged man to my friend. "I know it," was the prompt reply; "it is the rascality and cussedness in you that have called it out.I never was conscious of it until I met you."
No selfishness, deceit, or diplomacy avails with these beings; what you truly think and feel, your moral atmosphere, makes or mars your relations with them. Until you can learn to meet them in perfect confidence, you can know nothing of the beauty which emanates from them.
Materialization is denounced by the learned and the ignorant, and in both cases the denial springs from the same cause. It is a fair illustration of high life with the bottom turned up; both classes meet on the same plane. It is also bitterly condemned by a class of Spiritualists whose brains are saturated with trance and inspirational communications. In their conceit, the little they know is the whole world to them.
As a rule, all nations and tribes hold in some form or another to a belief in thecontinued existence of man after death. However desirable such a belief may be, it is generally admitted that it rests entirely on faith, there being no substantial evidence by which it can be scientifically demonstrated. In both the Old and New Testaments are records of occult manifestations similar to what has been related here, but the materialistic tendency of science has long since caused them to be regarded as Oriental fictions.
In the materializing séance come, for the time being, living, breathing, intelligent, human forms, that are not confederates or personations by the medium. If not beings from another life, what are they? The probability, or even possibility, they offer of scientific evidence of the existence of man after death, commends them to the serious consideration of every intelligent person.
It is not a difficult task, nor one requiringa great amount of labor, to determine that these forms are distinct embodiments. To settle this is, however, only the A B C of the matter. To learn what these beings are, and their relations to us, requires the most patient investigation and the most delicate and far-reaching exercise of the mind. Facts, in themselves, unless they suggest something higher, are of little consequence. They derive their importance solely from their connection with some general law around which they are grouped.
While I have stated positively that at Mrs. Fay's no confederates are used, and that the forms that have come to me are not personations by the medium, yet, in thelegaldefinition of the word, I do notknowwho or what they are. I have my convictions, based upon what is satisfactory evidence to me. I do not ask any one to accept my theories, but upon whathave been stated as facts there need be no controversy, since any one who will give the matter the same attention can verify all that has been said.
To deny the facts without an investigation, on the ground that they are impossible, can have no weight, for it has been truly said by Arago that "outside the domain of pure mathematics, the word impossible has no meaning."
I have imperfectly related only a few of the many hundred strange things that have come under my observation, selecting them at random without any special regard to order. The same may be said of the thoughts expressed; their value, if they have any, will be found in the closeness with which I have pursued the investigation. My experience has extended over more than a hundred séances, and to have given them in detail would have exceeded my time.
These things are open to any who will approach them honestly. Let us hope that some fair-minded specialist, whose brain is not lumbered with the debris of old ideas, will yet be able to lift the veil that surrounds them.
I feel confident that I have exhausted almost every conceivable test necessary to establish the reality of these wonderful apparitions. Some of these tests, in the light of a more extended experience, now seem very absurd. Ridiculous as they must have appeared to these beings, they were never vexed, nor showed any impatience with my ignorant and unreasonable demands, but either met them squarely or playfully turned them aside. My investigations have been confined mostly to Mrs. Fay's séances, for the simple reason that here the cabinet and surroundings were known to me to be above suspicion, and from the beginning greater facilitiesfor study were granted me than elsewhere. Such is the skeptical nature of my mind that if I had been obliged to conform to the rôle of an ordinary visitor, I should, in all probability, have never been fully convinced of the truth of materialization.
In dealing with a subject so new to the mass of people, it is hardly to be expected that it will be accepted on the testimony of any one. Facts, however clearly stated, will have but little weight with those who have had no practical experience. Fortunately, the rapid increase in the number of mediums, both public and private, is bringing these things within the reach of every one.
If what I have stated be true,—if the experience of others shall prove that I have not been deceived,—then the whole system of ethics must undergo a complete revolution. Man will no longer be regardedas an animal, confined to earth, but a direct emanation from a superior intelligence, holding in his nature a dual existence, connecting him at one and the same time with both the seen and unseen worlds.
There is no estimating the influence which a realization of these things, rightly understood, would have upon the moral and social condition of society. What has been held in the past as a vague and uncertain belief, would be supplanted by knowledge; and the skeptical tendency of modern thought would be checked by a fuller sense of the inspirational and spiritual nature of man.
The dread of death, throwing a gloom over the domestic circle, would glide away as the darkness of night disappears before the coming morn. The parting of friends and relatives would find its compensation in renewed companionship andthe perfect consciousness that there is no real separation.
For the fullness and tenderness with which these beings have overwhelmed me with demonstrations of regard, promptly responding to every reasonable request, I am under the deepest obligations. As I go back in my mind over the various séances which it has been my privilege to enjoy, I linger fondly over the stately form and affectionate bearing of what claimed to be my wife; the rich girlish nature of Bertha, with her marvellous beauty of expression; and the tender pleadings of one who must be nameless here, begging that I would bring those she loved nearer to her.
All along the pathway of my investigations glow a thousand things never to be forgotten. Who shall say the gates are not ajar, and that our loved but not lost ones are not passing to and fro?
Poor in spirit and weak in affection must they be who can meet these beings as I have met them, and not feel that there comes, from the association with them, a richer and fuller life.
Transcriber's Note:Punctuation has been standardised. Changes to the original have been made as follows:ContentsPersonification by the Medium of Materialized Formschanged toPersonification by theMedium, orMaterialized FormsandSéance at the Berry Sisters in Bostonchanged toSéance at the BerrySisters'in BostonPage 98With outstreched arms they beckoned mechanged toWithoutstretchedarms they beckoned mePage 136may conflict with preconceivedchanged tomay conflict withpre-conceivedPage 170ever remain the source of a a healthychanged toever remain the source ofahealthyPage 171exercises a more or less depotic powerchanged toexercises a more or lessdespoticpowerPage 171the magnetic atmostphere that surroundschanged tothe magneticatmospherethat surrounds
Transcriber's Note:
Punctuation has been standardised. Changes to the original have been made as follows:
ContentsPersonification by the Medium of Materialized Formschanged toPersonification by theMedium, orMaterialized FormsandSéance at the Berry Sisters in Bostonchanged toSéance at the BerrySisters'in Boston
Page 98With outstreched arms they beckoned mechanged toWithoutstretchedarms they beckoned me
Page 136may conflict with preconceivedchanged tomay conflict withpre-conceived
Page 170ever remain the source of a a healthychanged toever remain the source ofahealthy
Page 171exercises a more or less depotic powerchanged toexercises a more or lessdespoticpower
Page 171the magnetic atmostphere that surroundschanged tothe magneticatmospherethat surrounds