Daniel Underhill
He thought I had done my duty faithfully, and that it was time for me to retire from public séances. The announcement fell like a thunderbolt upon nearly all of my investigators. Many argued that it was a duty I owed to the public, and to my God, to continue to labor in the cause of Spiritualism; that I had been chosen, by higher authorities, to do a work that rested on me and my family. Some of my friends thought differently, and as they knew the man who had so generously acquitted me of all blame or suspicion, and who so nobly sustained me through the difficulties with which I was destined to contend, my true friends congratulated me and rejoiced at my good fortune.
“Sunday Night, August 1, 1859.
“We retired about eleven o’clock. I had locked the door opening from the hall into the front room, also the door leading from the same hall into the bath-room. The door leading from the hall to the bed-room was locked on the inside by Leah; but after retiring she was in doubt as to whether she had locked it; whereupon I arose and went to the door, tried the lock, and found it fast. I then returned to bed. In a few moments we were startled by the springing of the bolt of the lock of that door. Leah exclaimed, ‘What’s that?’ I replied, ‘It’s nothing but the springing of the bolt of the lock;’ supposing thatwhen I turned the knob the bolt had failed to spring into its proper place. ‘No,’ she said, ‘it is something more than that.’ Very soon we heard sounds, as if Spirits were on their knees on the floor patting the carpet with their hands. I commenced asking questions, and received responses by the same sounds.
“It was soon evident that one or more Spirits were around our bed. My questions were answered by a hand patting me on the head. Soon something was passed over our faces, just touching us, after which lights appeared over us. They passed to my side of the bed, and a cloth was placed upon my right shoulder and pressed heavily—at times as with two hands; also on the arm. When the pressure left my arm the light again appeared on or over us, waving about us, as if to gather force from the atmosphere. During all this time hands were distinctly visible holding the cloth with a bright phosphorescent light upon it. Then the sheet with which I was covered was drawn down and the cloth was placed upon my stomach and chest. On feeling it with my hands, I found it was a coarse towel. Repeated pressures were made in this way for some time, after which there was an alarm of fire in the neighborhood. I dressed myself, and went out, returning in about half an hour. On my return I again locked the door and extinguished the light, and went to bed.
“My attention was attracted to a bright light on the floor, when, at the same time, Leah noticed a bright, flashing light, rising from the mantel, and showing the picture over it distinctly. She called my attention to it. The foot-board of the bedstead obstructed my view, but on rising I noticed several lights, also one which appeared above the mantel. I arose and went to satisfy myself that there were no matches lying around, when, reaching the spot, I found the light was very brilliant, and emitteda strong phosphorescent vapor. Placing my hand upon one of the lights, I found it to be a small granule of phosphorus, comparing exactly with those which we had before found deposited in the earth. Several of these granules were lying near by, and also in the candelabrum on the end of the mantel-piece.
“As I was about to resume my place in bed, the alphabet was called for, and the Spirit spelled out, ‘Look in the fire-place.’ On looking I discovered a number of pieces or granules of phosphorus on the bricks inside of the fire-place, which was closed tightly with a screen or summer-piece. The Spirits said they had placed them there to avoid damage or danger, as my getting up and going out had disturbed the forces too suddenly.
“A few evenings afterward, there were again manifestations of phosphorus, which were so strong that I was fearful they might set fire to the bed, and as a matter of precaution, I procured a pail of water and placed it beside the bed. It was then spelled, ‘Keep passive, and there will be no danger.’ I was then directed to place paper and pencil under the bed, which I did, and very soon we heard the scratching of the pencil on the paper, which was badly scorched, and a third part of it burned; but the writing was plainly visible. The paper was lost, and I do not now remember the communication written upon it. The Spirits said, however, that the scorching of the paper was caused by the forces being too strong.”
“Saturday Night, July 31, 1859.
“About ten o’clockP.M.Leah and myself were in the second story. I was sitting by the front window, leaning my hand against the casement, dozing. Leah had passed into the back room, and was returning to the front room, when she was startled by heavy tramping, apparently closebehind her. The sound was similar to that of a person walking in wooden shoes. She called to me. I started, and met her in the middle room. When Leah stopped walking the footsteps ceased, but as soon as she commenced again the same heavy steps kept pace with her. We passed into the front room, where she called me to try a test. She sat down in a high chair, and I seated myself on the floor, in front of her, taking her feet on my knees. Very soon the same sounds were produced on the floor beside her chair; showing very clearly that the sounds were produced independently of her, not even causing any nervous start or electric motion on her part.
“D. Underhill.”
[12]The frequency of the appearance oflights, or luminous appearances, at séances, is suggestive of the idea that Spirits often employ, in their manifestations, phosphorus in some form or condition—phosphorus probably drawn from the atmosphere, or from the brains of the medium or sitters, or both, through their higher knowledge of the secrets and resources of the chemistry of nature. That they should know also how to make it inodorous is easily conceivable. I have never perceived (though in this the author of “The Missing Link” thinks she has sometimes done so) any of the phosphoric odor as accompanying those exhibitions of Spirit lights, though sometimes the entire forms of Spirits appear as what I may call phosphorically luminous. That human brains are, to some extent at least, natural reservoirs, from which they draw or elaborate some basis of phosphorus, seems probable enough—or at least should be so to those philosophers who strive to approximate phosphorus to thought, and bid us eat phosphoric food to stimulate our wits, and fancy they catch a gleam of it in the brightening of the eye. It is reliably recorded that at the famous séances of Count de Bullet, at which the controlling Spirit is known by the conventional name of “John King,” he constantly appeared holding what seemed a round, white, luminous stone, whose light would gradually fade out after a while, till almost invisible, when he would either withdraw for a moment or two into the cabinet, where the medium was asleep in trance, and return with his lamp re-illumined, or else apply thestone, called his ‘lamp,’ to the forehead of the Count de Bullet, when the light would be seen to rapidly resume its full brightness. The first effect of such application to the forehead, was thatdark clouds of wreathing smokewould seem to enter into the stone from the forehead, soon to pass into pervading light; strong in close proximity, but, like phosphoric light, not radiating to much distance. That the Spirits should be able to elaborate the cerebral, or atmospheric, or terrestrial phosphorus into the condition of solid particles of granulated phosphorus, is not difficult to conceive, but I do not know of any other instance of their having actually done it, under human observation, than that now related by Mrs. Underhill.—Ed.
[12]The frequency of the appearance oflights, or luminous appearances, at séances, is suggestive of the idea that Spirits often employ, in their manifestations, phosphorus in some form or condition—phosphorus probably drawn from the atmosphere, or from the brains of the medium or sitters, or both, through their higher knowledge of the secrets and resources of the chemistry of nature. That they should know also how to make it inodorous is easily conceivable. I have never perceived (though in this the author of “The Missing Link” thinks she has sometimes done so) any of the phosphoric odor as accompanying those exhibitions of Spirit lights, though sometimes the entire forms of Spirits appear as what I may call phosphorically luminous. That human brains are, to some extent at least, natural reservoirs, from which they draw or elaborate some basis of phosphorus, seems probable enough—or at least should be so to those philosophers who strive to approximate phosphorus to thought, and bid us eat phosphoric food to stimulate our wits, and fancy they catch a gleam of it in the brightening of the eye. It is reliably recorded that at the famous séances of Count de Bullet, at which the controlling Spirit is known by the conventional name of “John King,” he constantly appeared holding what seemed a round, white, luminous stone, whose light would gradually fade out after a while, till almost invisible, when he would either withdraw for a moment or two into the cabinet, where the medium was asleep in trance, and return with his lamp re-illumined, or else apply thestone, called his ‘lamp,’ to the forehead of the Count de Bullet, when the light would be seen to rapidly resume its full brightness. The first effect of such application to the forehead, was thatdark clouds of wreathing smokewould seem to enter into the stone from the forehead, soon to pass into pervading light; strong in close proximity, but, like phosphoric light, not radiating to much distance. That the Spirits should be able to elaborate the cerebral, or atmospheric, or terrestrial phosphorus into the condition of solid particles of granulated phosphorus, is not difficult to conceive, but I do not know of any other instance of their having actually done it, under human observation, than that now related by Mrs. Underhill.—Ed.
[12]The frequency of the appearance oflights, or luminous appearances, at séances, is suggestive of the idea that Spirits often employ, in their manifestations, phosphorus in some form or condition—phosphorus probably drawn from the atmosphere, or from the brains of the medium or sitters, or both, through their higher knowledge of the secrets and resources of the chemistry of nature. That they should know also how to make it inodorous is easily conceivable. I have never perceived (though in this the author of “The Missing Link” thinks she has sometimes done so) any of the phosphoric odor as accompanying those exhibitions of Spirit lights, though sometimes the entire forms of Spirits appear as what I may call phosphorically luminous. That human brains are, to some extent at least, natural reservoirs, from which they draw or elaborate some basis of phosphorus, seems probable enough—or at least should be so to those philosophers who strive to approximate phosphorus to thought, and bid us eat phosphoric food to stimulate our wits, and fancy they catch a gleam of it in the brightening of the eye. It is reliably recorded that at the famous séances of Count de Bullet, at which the controlling Spirit is known by the conventional name of “John King,” he constantly appeared holding what seemed a round, white, luminous stone, whose light would gradually fade out after a while, till almost invisible, when he would either withdraw for a moment or two into the cabinet, where the medium was asleep in trance, and return with his lamp re-illumined, or else apply thestone, called his ‘lamp,’ to the forehead of the Count de Bullet, when the light would be seen to rapidly resume its full brightness. The first effect of such application to the forehead, was thatdark clouds of wreathing smokewould seem to enter into the stone from the forehead, soon to pass into pervading light; strong in close proximity, but, like phosphoric light, not radiating to much distance. That the Spirits should be able to elaborate the cerebral, or atmospheric, or terrestrial phosphorus into the condition of solid particles of granulated phosphorus, is not difficult to conceive, but I do not know of any other instance of their having actually done it, under human observation, than that now related by Mrs. Underhill.—Ed.
Agreement for an Investigation by a Committee of Harvard Professors—Expulsion of a Student from the Divinity School for the Crime of Mediumship—Professor Felton—Agassiz—Varley, the Electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.
On the 16th day of June, 1857, we left our home in New York, at the earnest solicitation of friends in Boston, to attend an investigation which had been arranged in accordance with the following note:
“We, the undersigned, hereby agree to submit the question in controversy between us in regard to the phenomena of Spiritualism, so called, to the investigation and award of the Committee, consisting of Professors Agassiz, Pierce, and Horsford, and Dr. Gould, according to the terms of the paper annexed.
Boston Courier,byGeorge Lunt.H. F. Gardner.
“Cambridge, June 9, 1857.”
DR. GARDNER’S CONDITIONS.“Meeting to be held in a suitable room in the city of Boston, to continue six days, or a longer time if desirable, and two hours each day to be devoted to the investigation, commencing at 4 and closing at 6 o’clockP.M.“All the arrangements and details for the forming of the circles to be entirely under the control of Dr. Gardner, exceptthe Committee may remain out of the circle so formed if they choose to do so. If the phenomena are produced under the arrangements as ordered by Dr. Gardner, and they are not satisfactory to the Committee, they shall have the right to require them to be produced under such conditions as in their judgment will be satisfactory to them.“As harmony is an essential condition for the production of the manifestations, it is agreed that no loud talking or exciting debate or other unnecessary noise shall be allowed in the rooms during the sessions, and that each person present shall be treated with that respect and courtesy which is due from each person to every other in the society ofGENTLEMEN.“There may be present at each session the writer in theBoston Courier, and a friend, and the four gentlemen composing the Committee of Investigation, Dr. Gardner, and any number of persons not exceeding six at any one time, at his option, such being selected and invited by Dr. Gardner.“The writer in theCourier, and the gentlemen composing the Committee, agree that, while they are at liberty to exercise all the shrewdness and powers of observation which they are capable during the investigation, they will not exercise their will power to endeavor to prevent the manifestations, but allow them to be produced under the most favorable conditions which a thorough scientific investigation will permit.“The words ‘to be provided by Dr. Gardner’ first being stricken out, and the words ‘and a friend’ inserted, it is further understood that the proceedings are not to be published until the investigations are closed.“Boston Courier,byGeorge Lunt.H. F. Gardner.”
DR. GARDNER’S CONDITIONS.
“Meeting to be held in a suitable room in the city of Boston, to continue six days, or a longer time if desirable, and two hours each day to be devoted to the investigation, commencing at 4 and closing at 6 o’clockP.M.
“All the arrangements and details for the forming of the circles to be entirely under the control of Dr. Gardner, exceptthe Committee may remain out of the circle so formed if they choose to do so. If the phenomena are produced under the arrangements as ordered by Dr. Gardner, and they are not satisfactory to the Committee, they shall have the right to require them to be produced under such conditions as in their judgment will be satisfactory to them.
“As harmony is an essential condition for the production of the manifestations, it is agreed that no loud talking or exciting debate or other unnecessary noise shall be allowed in the rooms during the sessions, and that each person present shall be treated with that respect and courtesy which is due from each person to every other in the society ofGENTLEMEN.
“There may be present at each session the writer in theBoston Courier, and a friend, and the four gentlemen composing the Committee of Investigation, Dr. Gardner, and any number of persons not exceeding six at any one time, at his option, such being selected and invited by Dr. Gardner.
“The writer in theCourier, and the gentlemen composing the Committee, agree that, while they are at liberty to exercise all the shrewdness and powers of observation which they are capable during the investigation, they will not exercise their will power to endeavor to prevent the manifestations, but allow them to be produced under the most favorable conditions which a thorough scientific investigation will permit.
“The words ‘to be provided by Dr. Gardner’ first being stricken out, and the words ‘and a friend’ inserted, it is further understood that the proceedings are not to be published until the investigations are closed.
“Boston Courier,byGeorge Lunt.H. F. Gardner.”
We questioned, at that time, the propriety of leaving New York to attend to this request, as to do so would necessarily cause us to break our engagements at home. And,as to the contest between the professors of Harvard College and the Boston Spiritualists, mediums, etc., we cared very little at that time whether they (the professors) should pronounce for or against us, and for this reason: that it may be safely averred that while intelligent, scientific minds, honestly and studiously devoted to their legitimate labors and investigations, have been, and are, glorious pioneers in the advancement of human knowledge,there are subjectstouching which scholastic eminence furnishes but a poor outfit for special and honest investigation. But we had met the equals of these Boston and Harvard professors long ere this; and here let me add we seldom received enlightenment through scientific opponents. Many successful experiments had been made by honest, intelligent, and educated investigators, which proved, beyond all cavil, whattheir sciencecould not fathom—and did not wish to.
It will be remembered, I doubt not, that Professor Eustis, of the Scientific School, once caught the foot of a Divinity student out of its proper place under the table, and that the said professor cried “fraud,” and brought an accusation against the student before the governing faculty of the university, who, in their high wisdom, knowing not what they did, expelled the young man for the “heinous crime of owning an erratic foot.”
I am unable to state here at what time this occurrence took place, but the public press, at that time, very extensively condemned the action of the collegiate authorities in that case; and, in doing this, Spiritualism necessarily came more or less in for consideration. Great doubt was expressed, in the press editorials of the day, of the honesty of the professors in thus expelling the student without giving him an opportunity to prove his integrity. The expulsion of this young Divinity student was simply because he was a Spiritualist and a medium, and refused toabandon the sacred truth which he had learned and tested in his own person; and it was in the full spirit of the old New England persecutions for honest opinion obnoxious to dominant authority; which, fortunately, had no longer the power to hang or burn. But the world moves, after all, in spite of such persecutions, to which history soon does the justice it has rendered to Galileo; and the leading scientific journal of New England, published at Cambridge itself, an organ of the Scientific faculty of Harvard, has recently put itself in the line of modern progress in reference to this very subject of Spiritualism.
Fierce and rude attacks were made in the columns ofThe Boston Courier,by these professors, upon mediums, Spiritualists, and all who had any faith in the phenomena; insinuating at the time that, “If mediums believed in themselves, they would only be too eager to exhibit their powers before those who are most sceptical.”
In reply to these attacks Dr. Gardner made the following proposition, viz., That a committee of twelve disinterested men shall be selected by the principal editors ofThe Boston Journal,The Boston Courier, andThe Daily Traveller, which committee shall arrange all the preliminaries of the discussion, and decide upon the strength of the arguments, adduced for and against the Spiritual origin of the various forms of manifestations of the present day, usually denominated Spiritual.
The challenge to a public discussion was declined, but in lieu of it the following statement appeared inThe Courier, which was well understood to have proceeded from Professor Felton, of Harvard:
“We will pay $500 to Dr. Gardner, to Mrs. Henderson, to Mrs. Hatch, or to Mr. or Mrs. anybody else who will communicate a single word imparted to the ‘Spirits’ by us, in an adjoining room; who will read a single word, inEnglish, written inside a book, or sheet of paper, folded in such a manner as we may choose; who will answer, with the aid of all the higher intelligences he or she can invoke from the other world,three questions—which the superior intelligences must be able to answer, if what they said inThe Melodeonwas true; and we will not require Dr. Gardner or the mediums to risk a single cent on the experiment. If one or all of them can do one of these things, the five hundred dollars shall be paid on the spot. If they fail, they shall pay nothing; not even the expense incident to trying the experiment.”
Immediately on receipt of this challenge from the professors, Dr. Gardner replied, “Now, Mr. Editor, I accept the offer, as I do also the distinguished gentlemen named as the committee, provided the person or persons making the offer will agree to let all of the conditions of the arrangement come within the scope of those natural laws within which we believe Spirits are confined in producing the manifestations above referred to; and I will meet the person or persons making the offer at any time and place, after next Sabbath, which he or they may name, to make such arrangements as are necessary to a thorough and scientific test of this great subject.
“H. F. Gardner.“May 27, 1857.”
The committee named in theCourierwas George Lunt (editor of that paper), Prof. Benjamin Pierce, chairman, Prof. Agassiz, Prof. Horsford, and Dr. A. B. Gould.
The place of meeting was in the upper room of the Albion Building, corner of Tremont and Beacon Streets, Boston.
I and Katie accepted an invitation to go to Boston to lend our contribution to this investigation, with disinterestedself-sacrifice for the sake of the cause, and in support of Dr. Gardner, one of the best of men and Spiritualists, who thus stood forward as its representative and champion. I may mention that this was anterior, not subsequent to the Phosphorus affair related in the preceding chapter. There were present Miss Kendrick, George A. Redman, J. V. Mansfield, the Davenport brothers, Katie and myself—mediums.
The committee of Spiritualists were Mr. Allan Putnam, Dr. Gardner, Major G. Washington Rains.
At the first meeting Dr. Gardner expressed his dissatisfaction with the idea of a penalty of $500, or of any money, to be paid by theCourier, and this seemed to meet unanimous approval; so that no ground remained for the position afterward taken by the professors, that they had to make an award, as stakeholders and judges, of $500 on the presentation of certain specific phenomena laid in Prof. Felton’s original (unsigned) article in theCourier, while the document above quoted, of June 9, 1857, between theCourierand Dr. Gardner, is conclusive to the effect that it was to be a general scientific investigation. It will be seen below how the professors afterward quibbled over this point, and avoided making a report of any results, but only an “award” that the $500 was not claimable, because the specific phenomena originally put forward by Prof. Felton had not been exhibited; while at the same time promising a future report, which report theynever came up to the scratch of making. It was generally understood that a draft of a report had been proposed by a portion of them, but suppressed because deemed more “damaging to Christianity” than one favorable to Spiritualism. So that Harvard has ever since remained under the odium and ridicule of never having made a report, of which, in what they called an “award,” it had recognized that the dutywas incumbent on the professors, and which they had expressly promised to make. It was in vain that for months and years the Spiritualist papers of Boston clamored for the promised report, and jeered at those who evidently found it impossible to make one which should not be more or less favorable to Spiritualism.
This meeting, to my mind, was very unsatisfactory. I was astonished and disappointed at the course which the professors pursued. Astonished at their seeming ignorance of all laws of order and harmony, and disappointed to find that they had met, determined to establish some appearance of carrying their point, right or wrong.
They fell far beneath the degree of intelligence we had met on so many former occasions, in connection with the phenomenal manifestations associated with Spiritualism. Our investigating committees had always heretofore been chosen with reference to their intellectual competency and honorable character; whose reports were expected to enlighten thousands who were unable to make such experiments themselves. But I am quite sure, from the experience I have had, that a great majority of those highly conceited professors, many of whom were of quite ordinary talent, had, to some extent, overcome the deficiencies of nature by turning their attention in one direction of specific study only.
On all other subjects, they are ordinary, and often very ordinary men. Professor Agassiz conversed with me pleasantly, and I was attracted to him, and admired him greatly;but I knew he was wanting in courage, the courage of being ready to forfeit or endanger his greatpositionin Harvard and the country. I incline to the theory presented by Mr. Allan Putnam in 1874, in his pamphlet on “Agassiz and Spiritualism,” that Agassiz at this investigation was in a false position, which gives him claims toour indulgence. In his earlier life, when a professor in Switzerland, he had been thrown under the mesmeric spell by the Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend, and at this investigation was under mysterious conflicting influences, of which his better self was perhaps unconscious, and for which it was not responsible. (See the pamphlet referred to, published by Colby and Rich, Boston.)
He said to me, “Mrs. Brown, I have seen the day I could do everything you do.” I replied to this, “Very well, Professor: if you can do all that is done through me, you are a Medium,” and I at once challenged him, in friendship and good-will, to take the stand (in the presence of their committee) with me, and submit himself to the same tests I would, adding that unless he could do all that the Spirits could do through me, I should claim the victory.
He replied, “My physical condition is much changed now.” I did not at that time know that he had formerly been a mesmeric subject, and had been made clairvoyant, and given positive proof of his mediumship long years before I knew anything about Spirit rappings, magnetism, or anything relating to the subject. He positively refused to have anything to do further in connection with the examination at that time, and remained with me, aside, during the investigation going on at the time with others.
Prof. Agassiz noticed that my attention was somewhat absorbed in the movements of Prof. Pierce (as he wandered about so restlessly, and seemed very much troubled; I trying to study him out), and said to me, “Mrs. Brown, what do you think of Prof. Pierce?” I replied, “If he were boxed up in such a way that I could see nothing but his lower extremities, and the manner in which he plants his feet on the ground, I could read his character correctly.” He laughed and said, “I think you do not read him favorably.” “No,” I said, “he is not an honest man.”
Prof. Agassiz did not dare to sit in a circle and subject himself to the influence or power of magnetism, as may be seen in a quotation from “Facts of Mesmerism,” by Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend, an article written by himself and consequently correct, from which the following is extracted:
“Desirous to know what to think of mesmerism, I for a long time sought for an opportunity of making some experiments in regard to it upon myself, so as to avoid the doubts which might arise on the nature of the sensations which we have heard described by mesmerized persons. M. Desor, yesterday, in a visit which he made to Berne, invited Mr. Townshend, who had previously mesmerized him, to accompany him to Neufchatel and try to mesmerize me.
“These gentlemen arrived here with the evening courier, and informed me of their arrival. At eight o’clock I went to them. We continued at supper till half-past nine o’clock, and about ten Mr. Townshend commenced operating on me. While we sat opposite to each other, he, in the first place, only took hold of my hands and looked at me fixedly. I was firmly resolved to arrive at a knowledge of the truth, whatever it might be; and therefore, the moment I saw him endeavoring to exert an action upon me,I silently addressed the Author of all things, beseeching him to give me the power to resist the influence, and to be conscientious in regard to myself, as well as in regard to the facts.
“I then fixed my eyes upon Mr. Townshend, attentive to whatever passed. I was in very suitable circumstances: the hour being early, and one at which I was in the habit of studying, was far from disposing me to sleep. I was sufficiently master of myself to experience no emotion,and to repress all flights of imagination, even if I had been less calm; accordingly it was a long time before I felt any effect from the presence of Mr. Townshend opposite me. However, after at least a quarter of an hour, I felt a sensation of a current through all my limbs, and from that moment my eye-lids grew heavy. I then saw Mr. Townshend extend his hands before my eyes, as if he were about to plunge his fingers into them; and then make different circular movements around my eyes, which caused my eye-lids to become still heavier.
“I had the idea that he was endeavoring to make me close my eyes, and yet it was not as if some one had threatened my eyes, and in the waking state I had closed them to prevent him. It was an irresistible heaviness of the lids which compelled me to shut them, and, by degrees, I found that I had no longer the power of keeping them open, but did not the less retain my consciousness of what was going on around me, so that I heard M. Desor speak to Mr. Townshend, understood what they said, and heard what questions they asked me, just as if I had been awake, but I had not the power of answering. I endeavored in vain several times to do so, and, when I succeeded, I perceived that I was passing out of the state of torpor in which I had been, and which was rather agreeable than painful.
“In this state, I heard the watchman cry ten o’clock; then I heard it strike a quarter-past; but afterward I fell into a deeper sleep, although I never entirely lost my consciousness. It appeared to me that Mr. Townshend was endeavoring to put me into a sound sleep. My movements seemed under his control; for I wished several times to change the position of my arms, but had not sufficient power to do it, or even really to will it; while I felt my head carried to the right or left shoulder, and backwardor forward, without wishing it, and, indeed, in spite of the resistance which I endeavored to oppose; and this happened several times.
“I experienced at the same time a feeling of great pleasure in giving way to the attraction which dragged me sometimes to one side, sometimes to the other; then a kind of surprise on feeling my head fall into Mr. Townshend’s hand, who appeared to me from that time to be the cause of the attraction. To his inquiry if I were well, and what I felt, I found I could not answer, but I smiled; I felt that my features expanded in spite of my resistance. I was inwardly confused at experiencing pleasurefrom an influence which was mysterious to me. From this moment I wished to wake, and was less at my ease; and yet, on Mr. Townshend asking me whether I wished to be awakened, I made a hesitating movement with my shoulders. Mr. Townshend then repeated some frictions which increased my sleep, yet I was always conscious of what was passing around me.
“He then asked me if I wished to become lucid, at the same time continuing, as I felt, the frictions from the face to the arms. I then experienced an indescribable sensation of delight, and for an instant saw before me rays of dazzling light, which instantly disappeared. I was then inwardly sorrowful at this state being prolonged. It appeared to me that enough had been done with me. I wished to awake, but could not; yet when Mr. Townshend and Mr. Desor spoke, I heard them. I also heard the clock, and the watchman cry, but I did not know what hour he cried. Mr. Townshend then presented his watch to me, and asked me if I could see the time, and if I saw him; but I could distinguish nothing. I heard the clock strike the quarter, but could not get out of my sleepy state. Mr. Townshend then woke me with some quick transversemovements from the middle of the face outward, which instantly caused my eyes to open; and at the same time I got up, saying to him, ‘I thank you.’ It was a quarter past eleven. He then told me—and M. Desor repeated the same thing—that the only fact which had satisfied them that I was in a state of mesmeric sleep was the facility with which my head followed all the movements of his hand, although he did not touch me, and the pleasure which I appeared to feel at the moment when, after several repetitions of friction, he thus moved my head at pleasure.
“(Signed)Agassiz.”
On the above quoted statement of Agassiz himself, Mr. Allan Putnam, in his pamphlet on “Agassiz and Spiritualism,” remarks:
“We are distinctly taught, in the above (see pages 6, 7, 8, and 9), that as philosopher and scientist, then in the full vigor of manhood, Agassiz ‘had for a long time sought’ for such an opportunity to be mesmerized as Dr. Townshend’s visit afforded. This professor, even then eminent—this man, gifted with gigantic mental and strong physical powers—reverently and prayerfully, as well as philosophically, sat calmly down, not to welcome and imbibe, but ‘to resist the mesmeric influence.’ Then Greek met Greek, scientist met scientist, in calm but resolute measurement of the strength and efficiency of their respective weapons and forces. Agassiz says his purpose was toresist. The whole tone of his account, however, indicates that his resistance was in no degree captious, but designed simply to measure the strength and enable him to note the action of mesmeric force. The vigorous professor then called into exercise all his own great inherent powers of resistance, and such further aid as his earnest aspirationcould bring to his support, and yet was forced to yield up to another’s will all command over his own physical organs. A stronger than he entered and ruled over his peculiar domain. The Author of all things, though besought, did not so co-operate as to countervail the legitimate action of natural powers. Invisible forces, emitted and directed by another man’s mind, against which his own robust intellect was planted in calm and firm resistance, penetrated even the compact Agassiz, and caused him,
“1st. To feel the sensation of a current through all his limbs.
“2d. To close his eye-lids from necessity.
“3d. To lose his powers of utterance.
“4th. To lose power to change the position of his arms.
“5th. To lose power to evenwillto move his arms.
“6th. To lack power to prevent movements of his own head by another’s will.
“7th. To experience great pleasure in giving way to the attraction upon him.
“8th. To feel surprised at the contact of his head with another’s hand.
“9th. To find the operator the cause of the attraction.
“10th. To be confused at experiencingpleasurefrom an influence that wasmysteriousto him.
“11th. To see for an instant dazzling rays of light.
“12th. To be unable to awake, even though he wished to.
“Similar experiences have become so common that they are now devoid of strangeness. Thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, have had their like since 1839. But no other Agassiz has described the sensations and facts attending the subduing operations. The character of their reporter gives his experiences exceptional value.
“It is true and readily admitted that this keen and exactobserver was then dominated bymesmeric, which many assume to be widely different fromSpirit, force. The belief is prevalent to-day that those two adjectives describe one and the same thing. Few persons who have sought to discover the relations between mesmerism and Spiritualism, hesitate to indorse the following statement, made by Cromwell F. Varley before a committee of the London Dialectical Society, which was substantially this, viz., ‘I believe that the mesmeric force and the Spiritual force are the same—the only difference being that in one case the producing agent is in a material body, and in the other is out of such a body.’ Mr. Varley’s competency to give a valuable opinion may be inferred from the fact that the great Atlantic Telegraph Company elected him from among England’s eminent electricians, to supervise and control the constructors and operators of their vast and delicate apparatus for flashing knowledge under the waters, from continent to continent, and he made their project a success. We add, that Spiritualism had, for years, been manifested in striking forms and much distinctness, both through himself and other members of his own family, and that he had been an extensive observer and scientific student of its phenomena, and a careful tester of its forces. He had reached the conclusion, not only that the chief force employed in producing both the mesmeric and the Spiritualistic entrancement was the same, but also that it was distinct from either electricity or magnetism. From Mr. Varley’s views the conclusion may be fairly deduced that Agassiz, in middle life, experienced much that is undistinguishable from the sensations and perceptions of modern mediums, and that he was subdued by use of the same force by which they are controlled. As a general rule, though possibly subject to a few exceptions, persons who have once yielded to mesmeric, afterward are very liableto succumb to Spirit force. This rule will have important bearings when we come to view the deportment of Agassiz as a member of the Harvard investigating committee. What we have already adduced suggests the probability that, if unresisted by himself, Spirits could have controlled him with much facility, had he consented to be calm and unresisting while he was within the auras or spheres of persons whose emanations and constituent elements were helpful to the control of physical forms by Spirits.”
The great naturalist probably was mesmerized at other times than the one of which his own pen furnished an account. For Townshend, p. 344, says: “Prof. Agassiz, who, when mesmerized, could not of himself stir a muscle, moved like an automaton across the room when impelled by me. Even while retaining his consciousness enoughto resist my effortsto move his limbs by mere gestures, without contact of any kind, he subsequently owned that he was actually compelled into such motions as I wished him to perform.”
Disinterested Judgments upon the Sham Investigation—Our Part in the Proceedings—More Fair Investigation by the Collective Representatives of the New England Press—Investigation by a Body of Unitarian Clergymen—Our Triumphant Return Home—Theodore Parker.
Not only would Prof. Agassiz not sit in circle with us, saying that he had vowed never again to sit in a circle, but he would not even consent to go into a private room with the medium, Mr. Redman, who invited him to do so when he found that the powerfully adverse influence of hostile wills and feelings strained against him, in the room in which sat the professors and the representative ofThe Courier, paralyzed his ability to exhibit the phenomena which, under normal circumstances, were familiar and invariable with him.
It is evident that all this was a mere sham “investigation.”The Boston Travellersaid after it, that “It isthe unanimous opinionof those who witnessed the whole proceedings, with the exception of the representative ofThe Courier, that the whole affair was in no sense of the word an investigation, and that nothing was proved or disproved by it.” And without quoting from other (non-Spiritualist) papers, I will only add fromThe Cambridge Chronicleof July 11th, issued under the shadow of old Harvard’s edifices, and circulated through its halls and dormitories, the following comments by a correspondent: “It is patent to observation that the committee approached the subject with preconceived views. They seem to have taken for grantedthat they knew more on the subject, even without investigation, than the unscientific Spiritualists with all their long experience and heart interest in it; and they erroneously judged that the public would take theiripse dixitwith unreasoning deference. Because a man knows a rock, does it follow that he knows a star? or if he knows a star, does he know a Spirit? Their professors have shown their ignorance in this ‘investigation,’ nothing more,” etc.
I may say, with specific reference to the part of the “two Fox sisters,” that in spite of the bad influences upon us of the bitterly hostile spirit which ruled the so-called “investigation,” and the contemptuous ill-temper often manifested by some of the committee, I had no reason to be dissatisfied with the part played by our Spirit friends. Our rappings came, if not as profusely as usual, yet abundantly, both low and loud, in spite of our being moved to different parts of the room, of our being placed standing on cushions and on the stuffed spring seat of a sofa, etc. Their demonstrative effect was broken by Agassiz’s assurances that he could show how these could be produced by natural physiological means, and his pledge that he would do so, a pledge given in the collective form of “we,” and therefore binding on the body whose silence was assent to them. And yet on the last day, after he had in haste left the room, and when Dr. Gardner called for the fulfilment of this engagement, Prof. Pierce, who had presided, wriggled out of it by the plea that that was only an individual promise by Prof. Agassiz, andnot one by the committee. Of course it would have been easy to recall Agassiz, or to hold another meeting for the purpose. Nor was that pledge ever after redeemed, in spite of the calls of the Spiritualist press. Nor could the great Agassiz have more eloquently admitted the impossibility of its fulfilment, than he did by such silence under such circumstances.
On the 10th of July, 1857, Mr. Allan Putnam, of Roxbury, published a statement from which I extract the following:
“Mrs. Brown and her sister, Miss C. Fox, were present as mediums. A conversation was started which was carried on mostly, but not entirely, by Mr. Lunt, the representative ofThe Courier, and Major Rains, of Newburg, N. Y., a graduate of West Point, once assistant professor there, and who, in connection with Judge Edmonds and others, made a long-continued investigation of Spiritual powers scientifically. This conversation related to the instrumentality and processes by which Spirits work, and Major Rains expressed some of his views as to the proper processes for a scientific investigation of this particular subject.
“Also, there was conversation, mostly between Professor Agassiz and Mrs. Brown, as to when and how the Fox family first learned that they possessed this mediumistic susceptibility. The substance of this harmonized with what has often been published.
“After a time, the mediums and a few others being at the table, raps were heard, mostly on the floor (or rather upon a three or four inch platform covering the stuffed or deadened floor), while a few gentle ones were felt and heard as if made on the table. Afterward, when Mrs. Brown stood by a large wooden box, and put first her finger and then a common pencil against the box, the raps were heard there as on the box and near her hand. Again, when she stood upon a covered stool, the sounds seemed to be made beneath her on the platform. Again, when the two mediums were both standing on the stuffed seat of a sofa, the persons near them remarked that they heard sounds as from the wood of the sofa, and also from the wall against which the sofa stood. My position was distantfrom the sofa, and I only state what others who were near remarked. Many of the raps upon the platform and one or two upon the box were quite distinctly heard in most parts of the room.
“Near the close of their sitting, Prof. Agassiz stated that the production of such sounds could be referred to known laws, and said, ‘Before the investigation is over we will explain to you how they may be produced.’
“When about to separate, Major Rains expressed a wish that all would stop and compare notes, and come to an agreement as to what had actually occurred or been exhibited. A few sentences as to the propriety or importance of this course were exchanged between him and Prof. Pierce, when the Professor said, with a very ironical and discourteous tone and look, ‘We thank you, sir, for youradvice,’ and bowing, hastily left the room. This occurred while a portion of the company were about leaving the room—while nearly all were standing and ready to go—while promiscuous conversation was going on—and it is not probable that many heard or saw what is here described. I was standing by the side of Major Rains, and saw and heard the whole most distinctly. Mortified and ashamed at the tones and looks of this representative ofAlma Materand of Science, when addressed to a gentleman stranger, and a man of science, I turned silently away, and was not surprised when, shortly after, Major Rains said to me, ‘There seems no occasion for me to remain here because of any knowledge or skill which my experience in such investigations may have given me; there is no attempt, no purpose, to have an investigation of the general subject. I had better return home.’ And soon he did go, as then proposed.
“Now the ‘change came o’er the spirit of my dream.’ At the next gathering I asked, privately, and learned fromboth Prof. Pierce and Mr. Gould, that they considered the money question as still before them, and that they were but judges and not investigators. From that time my relations to them and to that particular trial became relatively unpleasant. I had little to do or say, and nothing to hope for, because of the necessary antagonism in the room.
“At their next sitting Mr. Redman was the medium. Raps and tipping of the table did not come as they usually do with him; yet he asked those at the table to write the names of deceased friends and roll up the slips. Prof. Pierce commenced writing in a book. Prof. Agassiz, in the meanwhile, was standing near his back, frequently changing his own attitude and position, and looking very intently upon Redman, although he said to Prof. Pierce, ‘Throw that one out,’ meaning the slip just written upon. There was the appearance of much mental disturbance in Prof. Agassiz, as shown by his attitudes, his changes of position, his wild gaze, and his tones when he spoke. No raps came,nothingclaiming to be Spiritual was done by or through Mr. Redman in the public room. At some time during this sitting Dr. Gardner drew attention to the points of disturbance, through strong mental action and intent use of the eyes. Mr. Lunt was understood to say that he had been using both mind and eyes intently, and with much effect; but I was on the opposite side of the room from him when he spoke, and may not have taken in the exact import of his words.
“Similar want of success attended the other mediums, at all the subsequent sittings up to the meeting of the Davenports, on the last evening. These boys, or young men, were intrusted almost entirely to the management of the Committee, and those of us who were but spectators are not so informed as to make it proper to state in advanceof the Committee what was attempted nor what the success. We do know that at the close Prof. Agassiz held up a small, short piece of thread, which he said had been ‘broken,’ and that that was thetest. Having uttered these words in a very rough tone and emphatic manner, he, in a similar tone, said, ‘Good night, gentlemen,’ and hastily left us.
“Prof. Pierce then said to Dr. Gardner, ‘I suppose you are through with us.’ The Doctor replied, ‘No, you have promised to show us how the raps were made.’ ‘Not as a Committee,’ said Prof. Pierce; ‘Mr. Agassiz made that promise as an individual.’ And thus the affair closed—we as much disappointed at the failure of Agassiz to keep his word and unveil the mystery of rapping, as at any one failure during the sittings.
“TheInvestigation, in fact, was a trial of the correctness of the statements made at the preliminary meeting, viz., ‘that it was in the power of the gentlemen there present to make the trial a failure, by ejecting certain forces from their own minds and eyes.’ In this they were successful.
“Two of the gentlemen, Prof. Agassiz and Mr. Lunt, omitted throughout all the sessions to comply with invitations to sit in the circle around the table, and there was not, in any instance or at any point, any opportunity for Dr. Gardner to exercise ‘the determination of all the accessory circumstances.’ The former gentleman, it seems, was permitted to exercise his own choice as to being in the circle, but not so the latter. Dr. Gardner’s friends have been disappointed, and the chief disappointment was at the manners and actions and mental and emotional states of two of the Committee and a representative ofThe Courier.
“No chickens were hatched on this occasion, where the hen was kept in perpetual agitation, and was often drivenfrom her nest during the period of incubation;but it does not follow that eggs never contain a vital principle. Let the proper conditions be observed, let natural laws have legitimate play, and the latent vital principle will take form and embodiment and come forth from the shell a thing of life and power. It is easy to prevent the hatching of an egg, for the Committee did that with very little trouble. But many hens ‘steal to their nests,’ and in secluded spots, where natural laws are conformed to, the hatching processes still go on in spite of human science.
“Allen Putnam.“Roxbury, July 10, 1857.”
I must here bear testimony to the uniform politeness—I may say kindness—with which I was personally treated by Prof. Agassiz, however rough may have been his occasional treatment of some of the other mediums. So far aswewere concerned, he exhibited nothing but that perfect gentlemanhood which lent another grace to his mental greatness and scientific attainment. There has always remained on my mind the impression of something mysterious as having clouded his general conduct in this “investigation.” He was indeed in a false position, and ought never to have been a member of that committee of professors, inasmuch as it was of such serious importance to Prof. Felton (afterwards president), who was virtually the prosecuting officer against Spiritualism, and so vehement in his public antagonism to it, and who was also so closely connected by marriage with Agassiz, hisfather-in-law(I believe), that a failure to support Felton in this must have complicated family relations. I must also add that I found Prof. Horsford unexceptionable as a kind and courteous gentleman. I think that at the bottom of the committee’s strange conduct in only making an “award” on amoney question, which no longer existed before them, and then remaining in the ridiculous position of never making their promised “report,” notwithstanding the challenges and the jeers of the Spiritualist papers and orators, lay, in some degree at least, the facts of this awkwardness of domestic difficulties, and the impossibility of getting the professors united upon any report.
But that noble man, who has long since gone to his reward, Dr. Gardner, did not let the matter drop at this point. No sooner was the “award” promulgated than he engaged his mediums to postpone their departure from the city, and, under like circumstances, in the same room, furniture unchanged, to repeat their sittings before a different set of investigators, namely, therepresentatives of the Press. A large body of these gentlemen attended, besides their friends and other spectators, and it is sufficient for me to say that the results were entirely satisfactory. But Dr. Gardner had requested that their reports should be withheld from publication until after the committee’s full report should have appeared.
In Mr. Allan Putnam’s pamphlet above referred to (“Agassiz and Spiritualism”), is given an account of this convening of the members of the Press, by Dr. Gardner, written by the temporary editor ofThe New England Spiritualist, and signed “One Present,” and commencing:
“It is well known that the ‘award’ of the committee entirely failed to meet the rational demands of inquirers. It took the form of a decree rather than a decision. Such being the facts, Dr. Gardner thought it due, not only to himself but to the community, to make another effort to have the matter fairly and deliberately tested. Accordingly, immediately after the appearance of the committee’s ‘award,’ he invited the editors of the principal newspapers in the city to attend the séances and witness manifestationsthrough the same mediums he had employed before the professors.
“The gentlemen who responded to this invitation were: Messrs. Carter, Robinson, and Brown, ofThe Boston Traveller; Stockwell, ofThe Journal; Bulger, ofThe Post; Clapp and Shillaber, ofThe Gazette; Marsh, ofThe Bee; Tracy, ofThe Herald; Hill, ofThe Ledger; and the editors ofThe Banner of Light, andNew England Spiritualist. There were also present at a portion of the sittings, Hon. L. V. Bell, A. Putnam, Esq., Alvin Adams, Esq., and others.”
I extract only the following, which relates to ourselves:
“At the second session, on Thursday afternoon, July 2d, Mrs. Brown and Miss Kate Fox were present as mediums. The precaution was taken again to examine the furniture and appliances of the room, to guard against any mechanical trickery. The company then seating themselves, raps were in a few moments heard upon the floor and table. The sounds were various and complicated, from the lightest tap to quite heavy blows. The heavier sounds had a peculiar softness, as if they had been made by a padded drum-stick worked by a spring.
“The next step was to test the intelligence manifested through the sounds. The method of doing this will be understood from the following, which is but a small part of the proceedings—as a report of the whole would be but a repetition of questions similar in their character, and eliciting equivalent results.
“A Spirit-friend of Mr. Marsh announced himself as present.
“Mr. Marsh.—‘Will you tell me your name?’
“By the sounds.—‘Yes.’
“A list of names was written by Mr. M., and as he pointed to them separately the Spirit designated that of Le Grand Smith.
“Mr. M.—‘Will you tell me the manner of your death?’
“‘Lost at sea.’ (Correct.)
“Mr. M.—‘Will you tell me where I last saw you?’
“‘New York.’ (Correct.)
“‘Have you any other acquaintance in this room?’
“‘Mr. Clapp.’
“Mr. C.—‘Will Mr. Marsh ask him where I last saw him?’
“Answer obtained by Mr. Marsh—‘Boston.’ (Correct.)
“Mr. C.—‘I have seen him when he was sick; can he tell at what place?’
“Mr. M.—‘Will the Spirit tell where Mr. Clapp has seen him sick?’
“‘New York.’ (Correct.)
“‘Where else?’ (No answer.)
“‘Whom were you intimate with in Boston? the Chickerings?’
“A weak affirmative was returned, which was supposed to indicate that he was acquainted with them—perhaps not intimately.
“‘Did you know Col. N. A. Thompson?’
“‘Yes.’
“‘Any other persons in this circle?’
“‘Dr. Gardner’—and others.
“Dr. G. seemed willing that all failures should pass as such, and promptly said, ‘That is a mistake, gentlemen; I don’t know any such person.’
“A desultory conversation here sprung up; after which Mr. Marsh resumed: ‘In whose employ were you when I first knew you?’
“‘Jenny Lind’s.’
“Dr. G.—‘Oh! is that the man? I know now. I saw him in Springfield once; had some sharp words with him, too.’
“Mr. Stockwell—‘Is there any other Spirit present who was lost at sea?’
“‘Yes.’
“Mr. S.—‘An acquaintance of mine?’
“‘Yes.’
“‘Will he tell in what steamer he was lost?’
“Correctly answered.
“‘If I write a list of names, will he indicate his?’
“‘Yes.’
“Mr. S. wrote a list of names; but neither of them was indicated by the Spirit, though he went through the list twice. A moment or two after, an earnest response was heard. Mr. S. had spelt the name wrong in the first instance; but instantly, on correcting it, the affirmative came. The last-mentioned facts were then stated to the company, no hint having been given in the course of the proceeding whether it was satisfactory or not. The name indicated was that of Samuel Stacy.
“Another friend of Mr. S. announced his presence. His name was correctly given; and a list of towns was written, with the request that he would point out where he died. No response came; but on changing the word Cambridge in the list, to Cambridgeport, the sounds were promptly returned. In these last two instances was an accuracy of intelligence beyond what was looked for by the experimenter.
“‘Will the Spirit tell his birth-place?’
“‘Yes.’
“A list of towns being written by Mr. S., was passed to Mr. Brown, with the request that the response might be given to him, Mr. B. being totally ignorant of the matter.
“Various tests of this nature were tried. The questions were asked by those ignorant of their answers, and the result was, without exception, correct.
“The question of a separate intelligence having had due consideration, experiments were tried with regard to the sounds. The mediums, by request, moved to various portions of the room; and the sounds were produced, varying in quality according to the different substances from which they apparently proceeded. The ‘toe-joint’ theory being suggested by some one, the mediums were requested to stand on the spring cushion of a sofa. This they did, and merely touching the tip of a finger against the plastering, the sounds were distinctly and abundantly heard on, or ratherinthe wall. They were equally distinct to a person in the adjoining room. That the ladies had no other contact with the wall than to touch it lightly with the tip of a single finger, all present can testify.”
Nor was this action of the members of the Press the only investigation by high authority which we two (Katie and I) underwent on this occasion of our visit to Boston, in 1857.
It was proposed by our friends that we should meet a party of Unitarian clergymen at the house of Rev. Dr. Harrington, in Summerville, about six miles from Boston.
They made a most thorough investigation. They held a consultation in a private room, and considered that now was the time to satisfy themselves in regard to the production of the sounds; as they had read the statement made by the Buffalo doctors, in which “knee-knocking” figures, and also the Burr toe-ological humbug, and many more wise theories, which they wished to prove true or silence forever.
Rev. Dr. Francis, a brother of Lydia Maria Child, andanother distinguished clergyman, were appointed to hold our knees, and two ladies held our feet, rested on chairs, exposed plainly to view.
During the time we were held in this position, sounds were made all around the room—on chairs, on the floor, under their feet, etc. One old gentleman shouted out, “Thank God, I always believed the raps were genuine, and now I know they are.” He then told us he was living near Rochester when we first came before the public, and always felt the deepest sympathy for us.
At the close of the investigation we were all invited to go into the dining-room, where a sumptuous banquet had been prepared for the party. The Spirits of earth and heaven met and rejoiced together on this occasion; and there were many more of the invisible ones than of those still in the flesh. Many sweet songs were sung, and the timely echoes from the Spirit world told us plainly that they were not afar off. It was time for us to leave them. Mr. Alvin Adams had taken us there in his beautiful equipage, and he advised us of the hour. The party accompanied us to the carriage, and with many blessings and words of encouragement, bid us farewell.
There were fifteen or more Unitarian clergymen together with many of their lady and gentlemen friends. One of the clergymen, laying his hand on the shoulder of Dr. Francis, exclaimed, “Gentlemen, this is proof positive of that which we have all been grasping after, as a shadow, from time immemorial.”
On our return to the hotel at Boston, a large party of friends had assembled in our parlor, and met us with outstretched hands. Wm. Lloyd Garrison said, “I know you have been successful, or you would not come in with such happy faces.” The Spirits rapped in response to his exclamation, and we spent a pleasant evening.
The following morning a large party, who came from Vermont, occasioned considerable amusement.
They came “to see the mediums,” which seemed to be all that some of them wanted. They waited in the reception-room. Several of them stood on the stairs. As we came from the breakfast table and passed through the hall, one of them called out loudly to the others, “There! we’ve seen ’em without paying.”
They came from the Green Mountains, with the idea that we were something curious to be seen: and they had concluded to spend a dollar in order to gratify their curiosity. Edwin Forrest and several of his friends were still at the breakfast table, and they enjoyed the joke very much.
The party were not all, however, of this kind; two or three came in and paid the admission fee. One woman had good evidence of communication with a daughter lately deceased.
We met many interesting persons at Mr. Parks’s, among whom were Theodore Parker, and Rev. James Freeman Clark, who seemed very much interested, and kindly invited us to accompany Mr. and Mrs. Parks to his home, which invitation was accepted. We spent a pleasant day with his honored mother and sister, his wife being absent from home.
I shall ever remember the beaming, kindly face of Rev. Theodore Parker, who fearlessly, frankly, and honestly announced to his friends that he was a believer in Spiritualism. Subsequently he visited me several times in company with Rev. John Pierpont.
Masterly Letter from Mr. Owen.
Although not directly connected with the affair of the Harvard Professors, yet it comes in natural sequence to the preceding chapter for me to mention that, after the appearance of Robert Dale Owen’s “Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World,” Professor Felton, who burned with angry zeal against Spiritualism, wrote him a letter (April 13, 1860), which was slow in reaching its destination. Mr. Owen, having written a reply to it, requested Felton’s permission to publish the former with the latter; a request which was declined on the ground that “the letter was hastily written, and intended only for your eyes.”
The letter referred to was a fair sample of the sort of criticism which he wrote on the subject, and which he was willing to retail out to others, and then decline to face any fair discussion with a highly honorable opponent, at least his equal in public and social position, who had unanswerably answered his bitterly libellous language. It is open to question whether Mr. Owen’s delicacy was not excessive in respecting the privacy of Professor Felton’s volunteered letter of controversial attack upon his book, and whether he would not have been perfectly justified in publishing it, as he asked permission to do, side by side with the masterly reply which it elicited. This reply, which I now proceed to publish, will suffice to show how little the Harvard dignitary, however learned in Greek, was a match in logicalcontroversy for Mr. Owen, who had been a distinguished member of Congress, and who had recently vacated the post of U. S. Minister at the court of Naples.
The Professor stated that he had fully “investigated the subject both in this country and in Europe, and that the conclusion at which he had arrived was that the alleged physical phenomena, such as moving of tables without the ordinary application of physical force,never take placeunder conditions which absolutely prevent the action of delusion or fraud.” He is not the only man who has claimed to have “investigated,” when he has visited a few mediums with the eyes of his mind so shut and sealed with hostile prejudice that what he calls his investigation had been but an idle farce.
Then again, in the same letter, he declares, in relation to the investigation in Boston, that “the whole thing failed, failed utterly.”
I refrain from designating this as it deserves. I refer my readers to the history of that sham investigation for them to give it its proper designation. He knew the statement was not true of the manifestations during the investigation, if his own committee could be believed. The letter says, “If I ever have time I shall prepare a volume on the subject.”
He did not, however, have time before he followed the course of Nature, and he has now found out for himself many things not falling within the scope of his studies as Professor of Greek, which he did not know before.
After this outpouring, he goes on to sanction the same thing in Christian Revelation. He says the cases are different. Yes, we have the absolute facts here, and that is better than those of long ago. The fact is, Prof. Felton never gave it one hour of fair investigation.
Though Prof. Felton refused permission for the publicationof his letter, I am under no restraint for the publication of Mr. Owen’s masterly reply to it; with which, as it has not before been published (to my knowledge), I am glad to be able to enrich this volume.
“Philadelphia, November 12, 1860.
“My Dear Sir:
“It was only on my recent return from Europe that I had the pleasure of receiving your letter of the thirtieth of April last. I have since given to its strictures the earnest consideration to which the character and standing of the writer and his friendly tone justly entitle them.
“If, on a careful review, I had found cause to believe that the tendency of my work is such as you represent, it would be little consolation to feel that it was prompted by those good intentions which you are candid and courteous enough to ascribe to me. Prudence, painstaking discrimination, severe scrutiny of evidence, especially for the novel or the extraordinary, are, in an author, duties as imperative as good faith and uprightness; nor should he escape reprehension by pleading the one, if it appear that he has neglected the others.
“But my conscience acquits me of neglecting, save by exceptional inadvertence, reasonable precautions. That these may, in some cases, have proved unavailing, is the lot of human effort. So far, however, after ten months’ probation, I have had doubts cast upon a single narrative only, out of the seventy or eighty which my volume contains; and it is to the credit of your sagacity that the story thus discredited is that of the Livonian Schoolteacher, the very one to the evidence for which you chiefly take exception. It was part of my business in visiting Europe to test a case, to the conflicting evidence regarding which, about three months after the publication of ‘Footfalls,’my attention was called by a friend; and as my inquiries, though they showed some foundation for the story, tended to discredit its details, I did what duty required of me; I omitted in the English edition, recently issued, and in the tenth American edition, the story in question, adding an explanatory note, and substituting a narrative entitled ‘The Two Sisters,’ relative to a similar phenomenon, and of which a copy is herewith inclosed. You will find the names of the two witnesses initialized only; but I am authorized by these ladies to communicate to you, if you desire to follow up the case, their names—neither unknown nor little esteemed—and their residence, within a day’s easy journey of Cambridge.
“In two of the narratives, the ‘Wynyard apparition’ and ‘Gaspar,’ I have obtained and inserted in the latest editions important additional vouchers.
“You have not, as you inform me, the ‘slightest hesitation in rejecting the entire mass of the stories.’ Forgive me if I say, that I admire your boldness more than your discretion. Abercrombie, in his ‘Intellectual Powers,’ vouches (‘Footfalls,’ pp. 151, 163, 181, 204) for several of the most remarkable. John Wesley relates (p. 225), and Dr. Adam Clarke and the poet Southey indorse (p. 238) another; Goethe is sponsor for one (p. 197); sceptics like Mackay (p. 255) and Macnish (p. 155) for a second and third; Mrs. Senator Linn for a fourth (p. 455); Dr. Bushnell for a fifth (p. 459); William Howitt and his amiable wife for several more (pp. 170, 171, 373); Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall for two of the most interesting (pp. 447, 463). At least a dozen are attested by clergymen of unimpeached character. If all these names seem to you irresponsible, and if you refuse credit, unless men be ‘put on the stand and under the solemnity of an oath,’ that species of evidence also, the highest known to the law, I have furnished.The facts touching the Mompesson disturbances were officially proved in court (p. 221); so, before the sheriff of Edinburgh, were those which tormented Captain Molesworth (p. 254); so, above all, were the phenomena of the Cideville Parsonage, running through two months and a half. In this last case I have given (pp. 275 to 282) the sworn testimony ofelevenwitnesses taken down, as the French forms of law require, in writing, read over to each witness, and its accuracy attested by the signature of each. Among these witnesses were the mayor of the town, the Marquis de Mirville, well known as an author of repute, a neighboring lady of rank and her son, and three clergymen. The mayor swears that he saw the shovel and tongs move from the fireplace into the room, no one touching them or near them; that, having replaced them, the same thing happened a second time, ‘while the witness had his eyes on them, so as to detect any trick.’ The Curate of Saussy saw a ‘hammer fly, impelled by an invisible force, from the spot where it lay, and fall on the floor without more noise than if he had placed it there.’ All testify to phenomena, and especially to knockings, as marvellous as any which American Spiritualism claims. Monsieur de Saint Victor deposes that ‘he felt convinced, that if every person in the house had set to work, together, to pound with mallets on the floor, they would not have produced such a racket’ (p. 280). Not one of the witnesses, placed under such solemn responsibilities, ‘shrinks from repeating the monstrous story.’
“The Cideville wonders, thus attested by evidence strong enough to hang a dozen men, far exceed those of Hydesville. Are you prepared to pronounce these eleven witnesses (and as many more, whose testimony I have omitted, and who swear to the same incidents) to be, as you declared the Foxes, ‘wretched cheats, contemptibleand dishonest’? Did they, too, palm ‘unscrupulous frauds on deluded people’? Have you not the ‘slightest hesitation’ in setting down persons of character and station as wilful perjurers?—nay, as motiveless perjurers? Or were they, one and all, deluded? Were the impressions their senses received due only to ‘ill-regulated imaginations’? What sort of imagination is it that would persuade two men that a table which they sought, by main force, to prevent from moving, did move, without conceivable cause, in spite of their efforts? (p. 280.) Do people imagine ‘such a clatter in the room that one can hardly endure it’?—or that ‘every piece of furniture there was set in vibration’?—or such a pounding that the witness ‘expected every moment that the floor of the apartment would sink beneath his feet’? (p. 280.)