A Journal o f Psychical, Occult, and Mystical Research.

Lig h t ! More Lig h t lGoethe.

No. G26. V o l . X III.

[Rtw X e ftr8a]

Whatever

both makS manifest is

SA T U R D A Y , JA N U A R Y 7, 1893.

CONTENTS.
Pauls Visit to the W itch of E n d o r..
Notes by th e W ay ............................... 1
Sradba Ceremony of the H in d u s___2
Black Magic..........................................0
Records of Private Seances . . . . . . . 8
Spirit Photography........................... 10
Dr. Parker on Spiritualism
Questions and Answers.....................10
........4
Spiritualism and Science.................... 5
Letters to the Editor ................. 10-12
The Outlook..........................................6
Society W ork......................................| |

NOTES BY T H E W AY.
Mr. Stead has not only brought upon the world the
shallow sophistications of Dr. Parker, but the small w it of
others. We have not always admired Mr. Steads methods^
but it would be foolish to deny th at he has the courage of
his opinions, and in this m atter of automatic writing has
done yeoman service. As a great part of the work of the
late Stainton Moses was of this automatic character, the
importance of independent testimony as to all the circum
stances connected with its production cannot be over
estimated. Dr. Parker has been treated of in another
column, but Mr. Stead has roused some other members
of the gallery, among them the Editor of the Morning
Leader. In an editorial of this paper, headed Inter-;
viewing a Spook, we get some of the old hilarity, but
in a subdued form. The writer, however, is quite correct in
his assertion th at when the spook told Mr. Stead th at the
departed can when they please assume their old bodies or
their spiritual counterparts as they can assume their old
clothes for purposes of identification, th at spook was
asserting something quite new to Spiritualism, and pos
sibly quite wrong. The central fact is that the writing
Mr. Stead asserts to have been done automatically.

uom ."~P aul.

[ KNewtpater* *] PRICE TWOPENCE.

This is another story by the same hand :

Two little girls (near relatives of mine) were with their
father in Spain. They were surprised (because father and son
were on bad terms) to see their grandfather, who they thought
was in London, come into their room and look at them- The
next day they expected to meet their grandfather at breakfast.
As a matter of fact they did not, as the old gentleman had died
in London at the very time they thought they saw him in
Madrid. He had asked to see his granddaughters before he
died. The peculiarity of the story is that the ghost appeared
to two persons at the same time, who believed him to be a
living man. I have heard the story from the ladies (now dead),
who, I repeat, were near relatives of my own.
And then, as if ashamed of having bowed the knee to
Baal, this Roving Commissioner tells a story of no im
port whatever, except as a feeble jokelet.

We have received a courteous letter animadverting on a

recent note about the prospectus of the Berean Society.
Especially is our correspondent aggrieved at notice being
taken of the word plain, which should have been plane.
This is said to have been a printers error. Most likely
it was, yet at the same time it is the sort of printers error
which makes the ungodly to rejoice : hence tlj attention
called to it. Moreover, there is a strange tendency in all
the new pseudo-sciences of to-day to start with a formid
able array of words and phrases.
If the philosophies of
the various societies cannot be elucidated without all this,
there is considerable room for misgiving as to their teach
ings. The English language is a fairly potent machine for
The newspaper and magazine writers who indulge in most purposes.
ghost stories a t this time of the year are often bewailing
Not long ago a letter was received in which the Editor
the departure of the good old-fashioned ghost, with his
clanking chains and so forth. Certain it is that the new of L ight was asked these two q u e s t i o n s Are you a
ghost story, thanks to the publicity which has attached to Spiritualist 1 Were you ever a Spiritualist 1 the writer
Spiritualistic investigation of late, is of quite a different disagreeing with the Editor on a certain point. Recently
type from the old one. Thus the Sunday Times for letters have come, in which not only is the Editors Spirit
January 1st has an article called a Gathering of Ghosts, ualism assumed, b at assumed to be of such a nature as to
in which article regret for the old midnight ghost having exclude the consideration of subjects which in some way the
been made in the usual way, the writer, after some silly writers appear to think are connected with Spiritualism.
talk about Home, proceeds to narrate the following episode Now, it should be perfectly understood that Spiritualism is
at a seance where there was present a sceptic colonel : a branch of study dealing with the Unseen, and is neither
identical with Re-incarnation, vegetarianism anti-vivisecThe sceptic colonel declared he believed in nothing, and the
knocks on the table, so to speak, went for him. They abused tionism, anti-vaccinationism, the assertion of womans
him in really very unspiritual fashion, and recommended his rights, nor the eating of wholemeal bread. A man may
immediate departure. Then they declared that the Christian believe in the action of independent and unseen intelli
names of the colonels mother were Marie Joseph, which gences, and study the modes of action of these intelligences,
aroused derision until I ascertained that the lady in question and yet have views about other matters more or less in
had been born prematurely in an obscure Italian village, and accord with the rest of the world. There should be no
that she had been entrusted to the care of a peasant nurse. reason given for the enemy to blaspheme, and come to regard,
When I suggested that the child might have been christened
as is very often the case, the word Spiritualist as
Marie Joseph, by her custodian, the table jumped about
with delight. But I thought the jumps and the knocks could syxionymous wth the word crank.
be explained away; yet I was fairly stumped when the
following strange thing happened. I held the two corners
The New Reviewhas a remarkable article by Proof a handkerchief while an old Scotch lady ( Bobby )
|
fessor
Charcot on The Faith Cure, and the Fortnightly
retained the remaining couple. Then the handkerchief was
pushed up by what seemed to be a phantom hand. No one was an equally striking paper by Mr. Haweis on Ghosts and
near us, and I cannot explain how it was done. I repeat, it their Photos, to both of which we shall refer in a future
i issue.
fftirly stumped me.

L IG H T .

Pastor Frank Smith is again en evidence. [ n the South

London M a il he accuses Spiritualists of the grossest
immorality. There are immoral Spiritualists and there are
immoral pastors, yet one does not condemn all the pastors.
Pastor Smith should read a hook by Salad in " called
Janet S m ith ; pp. Si! to SO would pleasantly instruct
him.

[Jan u ary 7, 181)3.

face of tho oartli, will bo saying something contrary to previous

experience.
If it can bo shown that the Hindu ceremony of 8radli4 lias
boon based on something more than mere faith, then tho
questions asked before in this article hardly require any answer;
if not, t.Iio subject itself is scarcely worth a m om ents considerstion. A belief th at has no reasonable grounds of support is
worthy of no respect whatever. Let us see, therefore whether
there are any such grounds which may w arrant us to suppose
that tho ceremony is not a myth. Wo have said before that in
SRADHA' CEREMONY OF THE HINDUS.
order to tost the truth of any beliefs it is essentially necessary
The C alcu tta Psycho-R eligious Society has sen t certain th at we should know all things connected with it, and for a
papers in respect of its w ork w hich are in terestin g , though time try to forgot our own prejudices against it. In analysing
a little an cien t in fact, the report to w hich the article all the mantras of the (Sradhd ceremony we find the
w ith th e above heading is appended is th a t of 1891. The, following :
(a) The directions to bo observed by the perform er of (lie
position of th e society does n o t seem quite clear, for in the
ceremony on the day previous to the performance.
rep o rt th e re is a reference to an in v ita tio n sen t by the so
(b) The selection of the medium.
ciety to M r. B ooth and other officers of the S alvation A rm y
(/;) The invocation ceremony.
to v isit th e Sam aj, and accepted by some of these officers,
(d) Tho articles used.
an d im m ediately following th is th ere is a p aragraph w here
(e) The time fixed for the performance of tho ceremony,
( / ) The knowledge of spirit-life as displayed in >Sra,dli4
S ir George B ird wood is quoted as saying to the society :
The only thing that interests me, and fills my soul with life, m antras.
Before
wo
venture
to discuss on each of the subjects men- i
is the subject of the civilisation of Bnihminical India. Rover
tioned
above,
we
may
note, by-the-way, th a t the ceremony is j
give up that good tight, stand faithfully and resolutely by the
social, religious, literary, and artistic culture of your sacro not only to bo observed once a year, bu t a person may do it j
every day if he wishes to do so. I t is, however, incumbent on |
sanct forefathers. That is my first and last counsel to you.
him to do it at the time of a marriage or an upanayana (the j
There seems some little incompatibility in the two ceremony of the investiture of the holy thread), &c. ; and lienee j
statements.
Sradhd, is divided into five kinds :
W h atev er may be th e spiritual position of th e society
1 ., Nityd (daily).
the description and explanation of th e Sradhd ceremony
2. Nymitikd (annual).
3. Kamyd (when a kamdna. or object is to be attained).
are interesting. The E nglish is, indeed, of th e k in d called
4. Bridhi (when blessings of the departed ancestors are to be ]
Baboo, b u t th a t has n othing to do w ith th e subject m atter.
asked
before marriage, &c.).
I t is impossible and, moreover, unnecessary to publish th e
5.
Parbdnd
(on a new moon day, Urdhodoyd yoyd, &c.). j
paper in full. Some ex tracts only can be given :
The | directions to be observed I are w h a t m ig h t be ex- I j
We have said before that the Hindus respect the memory of
their deceased ancestors like most civilised peoples ; and they pected in any case of w h ite m agic j p u rity in thought, I
1
do more. They invoke the dead and offer food (cakes) to them ! word, an d deed, b o th p ractically an d symbolically, as in I
W hat are these cakes for | Do dead men eat | If not, where is personal cleanliness, an d so forth. A s to th e medium
the necessity | Or, is it a random shot, a shot in the dark, or
I t is said the medium should be a joti (one who can control 1
is it a priestcraft ? We will soon discuss all these questions as his mind). H e should be also either a Brahmachari (one who 1
we go on. In the first place let us try to understand why the has devoted himself to the services of his M aker entirely; or an 1
ceremony is called Sradhd. The word Sradhd is derived honest family man. A medium should be shunned if he be 'a 1 i
from Srodha or faith. The ceremony is therefore huilt on faith thief, an out-caste or fallen, an atheist, a physician, a dealer in s
c
principallyon the faith that the spirits of the deceased do flesh, | money-lender, or one who has bad.nails or bad teeth.
actually come to partake of the offerings made in gratefulness.
It will beapparent to anyone who is not a thorough materialist 1 s
I t is a spiritual Yag. Let us now see whether there is any th at the medium should be a m an who can exercise a control I 0
sensible grounds for the belief.
over his m ental images, and who should be a man who has 1 1
To show gratitude to the dead ancestors is a pleasing trait devoted himself entirely to prayers. &c. ; failing him, he should a s
in humanity, which is acknowledged by all. To do the same, be an honest family man. The injunction of the Sastrd to shun 3
however, with flowers, fruits, rice, milk, sugar, &c., believing those who possess bad nails or had teeth is significant.
t
that the deceased do actually come to the spot and feel the
a
Before
describing
th
e
cerem
ony
of
invocation
there
is
1
pleasure of actual eating, is something which cannot he well
a
understood, much leas acknowledged by alL Herein therefore given a classification of th e invoked sp irits :

lies the difference. To assume the possibility of their presence,

They are divided into three great classes :
ci
in the first instance, and then of their capacity for enjoyment
(a) Those that are said to be Sthiramurti, l.e., possessing 9 ai
of material things, presupposes
tl
forms.
1st. Our intimate knowledge of the spirit-world and of the
(b) Those th at have no form, but can assume form at will- | ti
existence of spirit-life.
9
These are called Itchamurti.
2nd. Our power to invoke the dead and bring them back to
(c) Those that are without form and wish n o t to assume j ai
earth for a while.
bi
form' are called Am urti.
3rd. The capacity of the spirits for enjoyment of material
lu
These are subdivided into seven classes :
things, food for instance.
al
Let us now see whether the ancients had any knowledge of
1. Shubhambara.
spirit spheres. In order to teat a truth or a class of truths, it
2. Bahirshad.
H usual to have at first a clear statement of surrounding circum
3. Agnishwata.
stances connected with them. If, for instance, an individual or
4. Krabad.
tl
1 nation believes that one man can affect another by the odours
5. Upahata.
of his body, or by subjecting one to inhale the smell of the wear
6. Arjapa.
ing apparel of another for a length of time, it would be necessary
7. Sakahsi.
on the part of the individual who wants to test the truth or
Among these the first three are Am urti, the fo u rth a0
otherwise of the belief, to have a clear statem ent of all the cir fifth Itchamurti, and the sixth and seventh Sthiramurti.
di
cumstances connected with it. To ignore a fact or a truth
tl
The substances used in th e invocation are
ei
merely on th e ground that it is not known to all men is repug
Besides boiled rice and vegetables, sugar, heney, fruits, a*5
nant to all experience and reason. The truth of the circulation of
it
the blood in the animal body flashed originally in one mind only, sweets, (1) kusa, (2) til, (3) light, and (4; incense.
h\J
an d though not accepted at first by all remained nevertheless
Of light and incense we need not speak 1 but of til (Sesaiu
a truth. To say, therefore, that the S radhi ceremony cannot be indicum) and Kusa (Amden Ac-ad) a word is necessary. Tb*5* w,
Vi
tone on the ground that it is confined only to one nation on the two are supposed to exercise a greet attractive power, as tar^r

i ailnary p 1893.3

LIGHT,

vr mustard seecl is supposed (a supposition based on experience

in cases of possession) to exercise a controlling power over
earthly spirits, as iron exercises a dispelling influence n them.
And as to the ceremony, the writer says :
The souls of the ancestors of a man are supposed to belong
to either of the two classes of spirits called Sthiramurti or
Itchamurti; for they are said to be not beyond the region of
physical other. Srfldhd is therefore necessary for them. Their
memories are yet green and they retain the affections of the
earth, and watch with interest their descendants. iHradlid is
performed for the Priti or satisfaction of the deceased ancestors,
commencing from father or mother up to great grandfather or
great grandmother. The souls of the ancestors further remote
nrc supposed to have passed beyond the limits of the physical
to luminous ether and consequently they retain not the
affections of the earth. This is the general ruling in respect to
the performance of Snldhd ceremony. It is not meant to make
provision for individual cases ; and hence it is necessary on the
part of the performer of the ceremony to have some spiritual
education to know whether his father or grandfather is earthy
or ethereal spirit to be able to discharge his duties to his own
satisfaction and to the satisfaction of his ancestors. To pass
the night previous to the performance of Sradha in gay company,
ami to swamp oneself in gin and brandy, and then to sit the
next day to discharge the onerous duties of Sradha, is a grave
insult to the memory of ones own ancestors and an unpardon
able sin in the eyes of God. We -would advise our young men
rather not to perform the cermony at all if they cannot
reverentially fulfil all the essential conditions of the ceremony,
than to do it in a way which is repugnant to reason and
conscience alike.
For a person who is not a Hindu, and even for a Hindu who
is not a believer, or who has not once in his life performed the
SrCtdhd of his parents with reverence, the ceremony will not be
quite intelligible, as is generally supposed. For instance, it is
usual to wear the holy thread and the Utaria cloth from the left
to the right side, but at the time of Sradha it is necessary to
bring it from the left to the right side, with a view to leave off
that passive state of resignation which is usual with a Hindu,
and to attain the state of active self-hooda state in which one
is required to be a worker himself and not a mere instrument.
He is required to exercise the will of Ills ownthat will which
would enable him to invoke successfully the spirits of his
deceased ancestors. But in the Sradha, as in cases of all Yajna,
it is necessary to address God in prayer, without whom no
ceremony is worth anything. He gives strengthHe is strength
and is to be prayed first, prayed last and midst. By His
strength all evil influences are to be withstood and all difficulties
overcome. After Him the Biswa Devatas are to be worshipped.
By Biswa -devatas we understand the presiding spirits of the
solar systems of the universe, who govern their respective
system in the name of God according to the Hght vouchsafed to
them by Him, as we men here make laws and reign in His name
according to the light within us. And, lastly, the departed souls
are invoked, for whose priti or satisfaction the cakes are offered
with incense and flowers. They are said to come to the place of
ceremony by the Deva'-Prisidha, or the usual path of the devatas,
and are asked to bring their friends with them. The cakes are
then offered to them. They are supposed to feel the satisfac
tion of eating the things offered to them in love, respect, and
gratitude. The performer of the ceremony is to think that his
ancestors are at the spot, and to ask their blessings. The merit
of the performance is offered to God, the light covered by the
hand, and the ceremony finished with a prayer to God to forgive
all shortcomings on the part of the performer of the ceremony.
Such is the account of the Sradha ceremony sent by the
secretary of the Calcutta Psycho-Religious Society. W hat
ever may be its descriptive value, it is very curious that
those who practise such a ritual should have thought them
selves in some way in sympathy with the Salvation Army.
H igh things to eacli mind are the things above it, Let
each put forth his hand for those on his own level. It is
difficult to think of things as high in the abstract. The dining
room table is high to a black beetle, but a camelopard can
easily look in at the first floor windows.J ean I ngelow.
The will of God can never be other than good ; but I doubt
if any man can ever be sure that a thing is the will of God, save
by seeing into its nature and character, and beholding its good
ness, Whatever God does must be right, but are we sure that
we know whut He does ? That which men say He docs may be
very wrong indeed.Geo. M acdonald.

RECORDS OF PRIVATE SEANCES

FROM NOTES TAKEN AT THE TIME OF EACH SITTING.
No. XXXYT.
F rom the R ecords op M rs. S.

.Tune 29th.Before meeting this evening we had been

dining together, and afterwards, during dessert, Mr. S. M. read
to us an article he had written that morning upon musical
manifestations, more especially concerning those made in the
circle by G. Soon after going into the stance-room we per
ceived much spirit-light, and raps were heard all round
Mr. S. M.one very loud on the door of the bookcase. G. of
late had not manifested so frequently, and had made his sounds
quite outside of the circle ; but to-night he seemed to come at
once, making very sweet, quiet sounds on the table. He
answered many questions, and told us he had been with
Mr. S. M. during the time he was writing the article, had come
to our house with him, and had heard all our conversation
regarding him and his manifestations. We then asked whether
the descriptions were correct. Yes, was answered joyfully.
Have you anything to a d d ? No. Are you pleased
that the account is to be published ? The alphabet was
instantly asked for, and delighted was given through raps.
We then told him how grateful we felt for all the trouble he
had taken for so many months in giving us such wonderful
manifestations of spirit-power. By raps he said Thank you.:
He now played again, louder and better, if possible, than he
had ever done before. It seemed as if a giant were playing on
a monster violoncello, so loud, deep, and strong were the sounds
he drew from his invisible instrum ent; they were appalling,
and would have startled anyone who had not been accustomed
(as we had been for many months) to the gradual development of
this most wonderful manifestation. All the time this was going
on Mr. S. M. was in deep trance. Dr. S. asked for the tam
bourine sounds. The message was rapped out, Ask no more.
Dr. S. then inquired if our friend H. was present. Instantly
he showed his flashing light. I t was clear and bright, and
darted round the medium, coming close to the table afterwards.
Dr. S. then said, Are any others of our friends here? He
mentioned several names, and thought of Dr. Dee, but would
not name him for fear his loud manifestation would alarm us
and the medium, still in deep trance. While asking for the
dropping sounds Dr. Dee took advantage of the thought,
and came down with a crashing blow on the centre of
the table. I t was as if a thunderbolt had fallen in our
midst, so awful and loud was the crash ; had it been a
material blow the table must have been shattered. We were
several minutes recovering from the shock of the explosion.
Mr. S. M. was too deeply entranced to know what was taking
place. Chom then controlled and said he was in a bad way, G.
having used too much power ; he told us to keep our hands flat
on the table and he would keep the medium asleep, or he would
have a bad headache. We were then deluged with scent, and
perfumed air was wafted over us.
Chom said nothing more could be done, and the Chief could
not come near us as G. had used up all the power. Rector was
present, and it was -well he was, as he helped to restore the
conditions. Chom then said Join hands, and that he and
the Indian spirit, who had just arrived, would write. He talked
to us for some time, and after Mr. S. M. had come out of the
control we found on the paper that had been placed under the
table the names of Rector, Chom, and the Indian. Mr. S. M.
felt uncomfortable on waking up, but knew nothing that had
occurred, as his mind had been a blank during the greater part
of the seance.
June 30th. We met as usual. Scent very abundant. G.
came making very subdued sounds, as he had made Mr. S. M.
ill through using too much power on the previous evening.
Chom controlled and spoke a little. Imperator also spoke with
great difficulty. He said he had come to let us know he was
unable to get near the medium at our last meeting because one of
the friends had made too rough a manifestation. I t must not
occur again, as such manifestations took too much power from
the medium. The control was very short, and Imperator left
after giving us his blessing.
July 3rd. Mr. Percival sat with us this evening, and we held
a short disturbed stance. Rose scent was brought, but as this
seemed to turn into peppermint (a very disagreeable scent) wo
closed the seance. The conditions had been upset before

LIGHT.

[January 7. iSfW.

mooting. I think an uncongenial visitor' lunl boon in tho houso Hither sound also came and played a duet with G. so near to my
and altoivd tho conditions. After this wo held two seances face that l could foci tho vibrations of t.lio air produced by the
with the manifestations of scent, lights, tnuaie, and raps. The sounds. Chords wore played with a running accompaniment.
Indian spirit brought a very largo light, diin, and much draped. By request the trombone played close round the circle. Iks
light was very beautiful, and also manifested round tho circle.
Ho brushed the drapery over our hands several times.
July 12th, This evening Mr. 1ereival again joined tho Much liquid scent was brought, and a quantity poured inton
circle. Our mooting room had been closed and prepared for claret glass by request. The scout appeared to fall from the
some time before we mot. As soon as we extinguished the coiling. Ghom and Kabbila brought a largo flat shaded light,
natural light wo saw masses of spirit-light floating all over tho not bright and flashing like H .s. Dr. S. asked if it had any
room, and rose perfume was wafted over the eirelo, The drapery round it, and, if so, would they brush it over his .
Thoy complied with his request several times. [
wilier spirit came and played very sweetly between me and ( hands.
Mr. 8. M. The notes were clear and resembled those made on Catharine then rapped close to mo and her brother. During a
a harp. At times it appeared as if two instruments were being these varied and powerful manifestations Mr. S. M. was in j
Ho had been withdrawn from the table, and I |
played, as we heard running treble notes accompanied by deep deep trance.
sounding chords. This'manifostation was very sweet, lasting a heard him making troubled peculiar sounds. Catharines raps |
long time. Questions were answered by the spirit through became very frequent, and she appeared excited. At last sho I
his instrument. When the medium became entranced, this , called for the alphabet and gave the message Take care of 1
spirit played over the table, bringing the sounds l>y request to the Medium." Yos, wo will, when he has come out of the 1
each of the sitters. G. also came when wo asked for him and trance. This did not pacify her, and as we had been told j
played on his spirit instrument, making deep, but very sweet never to sti'ike a light until the medium had come out of the |
At last she 1
and musical sounds. After playing for some time wet soent control wo could not understand her wishes.
was thrown over us and Mr. 8. M. awoke. We changed tho rapped out Light. Wo then discovered that the medium 1
room for a few minutes, and after returning more wet scent had fallen from his chair, and was in a very uncomfortable 1
was sprinkled over us. Raps were then made round Mr. position between the book-case and the table. Dr. S. lifted ]
S.M. and tho control was soon established by Imporator, who him up, and we bathed his face with cold water, letting fresh I
air into the room ; but it was some time before he recovered. |
spoke as follows :
HMay the blessing of the All-Wise be with you. We We were afterwards informed that too much power had been 1
desired to speak to you to-night, as we may not lmvo another used in the manifestations.
opportunity for some time, for the conditions are unfavourable
both as regards the atmosphere and the mediums health. A
DR. PARKER ON SPIRITUALISM.
year ago nothing could have been done under these conditions,
but. experience has taught us how to overcome obstacles, and
One is not greatly exercised to know the opinions of I
in this circle manifestations can be generally produced. Since
Dr.
Parker on any subject whatever, y et there are times I
we last spoke to you we have marked groat progress in the work
when
it is useful to note what a person of his intellectual 1
we have in hand : the time draws nigh when a great develop
capacity
has to say when in presence of a subject, he does 1
ment of power willshowitself and should not be hampered. Hence
we desire to enforce conditions which may seem stringent to you. not understand, but nevertheless about which he thinks it 1
You are the recipients in no ordinary degree of agreat develop proper and necessary to write.
Such an opportunity I
ment of spiritual power. The Spiritual sense is increasing occurs in the open letter to Mr. Stead published in the I
amongst men, and step by step the presence of spirit agency is M orning of December 31st, 1892. Mr. Stead had 1
manifested. Strange to say, we are as ignorant of the conditions sent Dr. Parker the Christinas N um ber of the Review of 1
on your earth as you are of our world. Wo stand on similar
Reviews. T he result is a pleasant study of words. Says |
bases, but continued intercourse has shown us how to overcome
Dr.
Parker :
and provide against bad conditions. Tho projection of thought
from intelligent minds acts on those around you and helps us in
our work.
| The wave of spirit influence now passing over your earth is
analagous to that which passed over the world during the life of
tho Christ. Happy for your race if the teaching now revealed
be not hereafter adulterated as was that which came through
Him. Those who now teach in His name often preach doctrine
quite unlike what He taught. The truth we are now bringing,
fresh from the Divine source, will meet with the fate that all
truth meets with at first. The time will come when men will
receive i t ; that time is drawing near; you have aidod and are
still aiding it,
We dread apathy more than opposition to our workdead,
cold, lifeless indifference, which cares not to question and has
not sufficient interest to doubt. New life is perpetually being
born into your worldanimal life which enshrines the soul.
Mind is no attribute of matter, but is a separate birth and
creation in each case. New creations of spirits are formed by
condensation of the atmosphere which is the connecting link
between us and you. You are surrounded by spirit life and are
never alonenever.
July 19th. Wo sat as usual. Much spirit-light, was visible
in tho room, and we had also wet scent and perfumed air and
musical sounds. Mentor rapped round the medium and con
trolled him. He said he had been with him and Dr. S. that
afternoon at the photographers, helping little Catharine to
manifest, and her likeness was on one of the plates and a friend
of the photographers on the other. She was now present,
but felt so delighted that her likeness had been taken that she
was not sufficiently passive to manifest her presence by rapping.
Mentor answered many questions, and said it was too hot to
prolong the seance ; but he would meet us at Shanklin, where
we wore soon going.
July 2th. This evening, as soon as the room was darkened,
wo saw masses of floating light, which remained with us until
the conclusion of tho seance. Mr. S. M, was controlled at
once. G, manifested quickly, and answered questions. Tho

I
am glad to be able to accept your statement without the 1
faintest shadow of reserve ns to its literal accuracy, because you I
have given me evidence which makes scepticism impossible.
Very good ; and then a few lines further down in the 1
open letter Dr. Parker goes o n :
Of what consequence is it that some ghostly presence has
drawn pictures, or some spectral influence has written letters
or made lines upon a slate, or given some other token and sign
of nearness and interest 1 Even if all this were literally true, in
my judgment it amounts to nothing unless we can carry the
matter very much further.

I
a
1
1
1

Even if all this were literally true ! and in a paragraph but separated from th is by a few lines this accurate
writer asserts th at he accepts Mr. Steads statem ents without the faintest shadow of reserve as to their literal
accuracy! Acceptance followed by semi-denial is not a
very secure basis for the kind of argument used by even
such personb as Dr. Parker.

1
I

J
j
|
|

A fter this one may expect anything, and it is not sur- <
prising to find Dr. Parker arguing in favour of his emigre- |
gation being about the best circle for investigation that 1
can be imagined :
For myBelf, I have no difficulty in believing that nil seances, i
all inquiries of the kind you indicate, all earnest endeavours to j
test tho reality of the spiritual, represent so much groping after ;
God Himself. God is a Spirit. If mon were to give them
selves, might and main, to an inquiry concerning God, I should
regard that inquiry as expressing the deepest interest in true
Spiritualism. Why be anxious to talk to the servant when wo
can get access to the Master Himself 'l Why talk to tho
sentry at the door when wo can advance into the very presence
chamber of tho Monarch 'I lb scorns to luo that a congregation,
properly regulated, ought to constitute the largest and most
i effective sdanoe possible. I do not look upon a congregation

January 7, 1893.]

LIGHT.

uioiely as a public mob, or a miscellaneous gathering of unrelated

SPIRITUALISM AND SCIENCE.
ivtonra and particles. I look upon, it as a constituted medium or
it.
organisation through which the Most High can communicato
We have received from Buenos Ayres Sefior Senillosas work
V present-day rovelations. Of course, if congregations will not , ou The Agreement of Spiritualism with Science,* the result
8,
lift up their thoughts to this high level they cannot expect to of the patient study of the phenomena for eight years. We
8
receive visions from God. If they have merely assembled pro have read this book with interest, and are convinced that such
k
miscuously to take only the interest of curiosity in what is going a scholarly and withal temperate presentment to the Spanish
speaking public of the case for Spiritualism cannot fail to bear
3
on they will deprive themselves of all the richest advantages.
fi
This, which is of the lowest kind of Sunday-school good fruit. The history and philosophy of the movement are
ably outlined, and many phases of mediumahip are described,
is i
s. | teaching, is followed immediately by a paragraph where the interspersed with thoughtful hypotheses as to how the phenomena
word therefore is as much out of place as the there are produced. Even the knotty question of the existence and form
3
fore
between Tenterden steeple and the Goodwin Sands : of the soul is bravely tackledof course, from the Ite-incarnationn
I
I should hold, therefore, that the letter which you were ist standpoint, for Allan Kardecs influence throughout the book
s I enabled to write by some kind of spiritual influence, is not for is abundantly apparent. There are not a few noteworthy records
II a moment to be compared in living interest, nor for the highest of phenomena which have come under the authors personal
notice, scattered among the many interesting but well-known
f 1 purposes, as equal to what we find written in the Bible.
case compiled from the leading authorities. In one plaee he
How a letter can, even for a moment, be compared
relates a rather curious case of haunting. A friend, when a
as equal to what we find w ritten in the Bible it is difficult youth, was staying with an aunt of his who died. On the
to see, but the language is of the same excellence as the evening of the death, when the family and friends were assembled
logicslipshod English, slipshod argument.
together for sympathy, the key in the outer door unlocked
Dr. Parker then drags in Irv in g Bishop and S tu art itself with a harsh grating sound, and the bolt drew back, and
Cumberland, notw ithstanding the assertion a t the beginning the doors flew open much to the consternation of the assembly.
of the open le tte r as to the literal accuracy which When everypne had retired for the night the youth and
his brothers heard the noise and short, quick steps, and
had made scepticism impossible :
| the rustle of a dress on the floor. The steps seemed to
Mr. Irving Bishop was a frequent visitor at my house. He move backwards and forwards, pausing for a while at the
laid no claim to anything in the line of Spiritualism.
! door of a bedroom where some relations slept, and where there
The lice of Spiritualism . H ow well one knows the was a light. In the youths bedroom were two tables covered
style. A new line in fancy cottons. N othing else like it in i with knick-knacks. The young men felt one of the tables move,
and it appeared from the noise made to be completely wrecked,
the trade:
together with the porcelain ornaments. Then the other table
He could not explain his own actions ; in some eases he was j was approached and th e like seemed to happen. When the
neither afraid nor ashamed to call them tricks.. A great elder brother exclaimed, How long will aunt haunt us like
scientific authority told him that many of his eccentric and this ? the noises abruptly ceased, but the terrified cries of their
marvellous actions were due to what he called unconscious sister from the adjoining room were soon heard : Mother 1
cerebration, by which, I suppose, he meant some unconscious aunt has come to my bed ; I feel her near m e. You are
action of the brain which did not fall within the ascertained dreaming, said the mother, striking a light, hut if you are
lines of mental science. I have seen Mr. Irving Bishop discover afraid it is because of til quarrel you had with your
hidden things, find out words that were written and sealed up aunt. On the sister saying that she wished to forgive
in envelopes, and so far follow the thinking of a subject as to her aunt the manifestations at once ceased. N ext day the
be able to give names, figures, letters, and the like as they mother declared she had heard no noises in the brothers room,
were communicated from the brain of the subject to his own and, strange to say, the tables showed no sign of damage.
brain. All this was very striking, but what did it amount to ?
There is also an account of the surprising cure of an internal
And Dr. Parker is very careful not to say w hat i t did tumour in a woman by a French magnetiser, which cure Sefior
amount to. W e then get a panegyric of S tu a rt Cumber Senillosa himself witnessed in Paris. After magnetising the
land, whose tricks we are told were wonderful ; and Dr. woman for ten minutes, the mesmerist said, How do you feel
now ? As if I were being burnt up inside, replied the
Parker proceeds :
woman, groaning. Ah, that is what we are trying to doto
No doubt a rogue could make a great deal out of the cauterise the tumour. This treatm ent continued daily, for a
exercise of such a faculty, but Mr. Stuart Cumberland simply fortnight the pain becoming less and less acute, finally dis
said that lie believed every mental action had its corresponding appearing. Scattered throughout the book there is plenty of
physical indications, and it was by the out-working of these really excellent advice, while here and there are not a few
indications that his hand transferred to the blackboard the needed words of warning as to the unwisdom of meddling with
impressions that were written upon the brain of the subject : Spiritualism in anything but a serious mood. I t is a doublewith whom he was co-operating. This again, I repeat, is very edged sword. Woe to him who manages it badly. In this
striking ; at the same time one cannot but ask, What is the use connection we will quote a rather gruesome instance of the folly
of it 1 What does it amount to 1 Is it not merely a very of blindly surrendering the conduct of mundane affairs to spirit
curious trick and nothing more ?
control. There was a certain fruit-seller in Buenos Ayres who
What does Dr. P arker m ean? Does he know w hat he had a son, who was a trance-medium. This son was ordered by
means himself? A fter having referred to M r. Steads his control to select a certain number for the lottery. This
letter as written by some kind of spiritual influence, he number drew the prize. Then he was told th a t there was a
large quantity of gold under the houseleft there from the time
implies that, after all, i t was a very curious trick and
of the Spaniards. The fruiterer excavated in every direction,
nothing more.
but found nothing. N ot yet disillusionised,; he was induced by
That Dr. P arker concludes w ith th e observation th a t the spirit to realise his business and take up a concession of land
the Church should look upon Spiritualism w ith a friendly in Patagonia, where he was to erect a factory for making oil
eye when the processes are honestly conducted in no way from fish, and amass an immense fortune. The result was th a t
helps us over the difficulties of his. contradictions and im the fruiterers wife died there, his son went mad, and lie him
self returned home a ruined man. I t is significant th at the
plications.
author concludes his work with the words More prudence and
Though the Times took no notice of the death of Mr. less propaganda.
Stainton Moses in its customary daily obituary, nevertheless
his death is noticed in the general obituary of the year. He is
T h e W il l .Tis in ourselves th at we are thus or thus. Our
described as Spiritualist and Editor of L ight .
bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners ; so
Build up spiritual excellence from within, do hot start with that if we will plant nettles, or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed
ceremonies and proceed until you encompass the h e a r t; but up thyme . . . have it. sterile with idleness, or manured
start at the heart and build outwards. Keep the pinnacles of with industry, why, the power and corrigible authority of this
that building in symmetrical proportions ; do not allow one lies in our wills.S hakespeare .
pinnacle to assume the proportions of a spire at the expense of
* Oonoordancia del Espiritismo con la Cioneia.Par F la irs
spiritual symmetry,Chough E lliott W right *
Senillosa.

O F F I C E O F L I G H T ,"
ft, J J U K E S T B E E T ,
A D E L F U I , W.&.

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a n d a ll Bookseller#.

A DVERTISEMK NT C1IARG EK.

FIve lin es an d u n d e r 3s. O ne inch, 5#.
m ad e for a series of insertions.

EDITE D

BY

Colum n, 2 2n.

P ag e, 4.

M. A .,

o u d

A red u ctio n

S A T U R D A Y , J A N U A R Y 7th , 1893.
T O C O X T J t l B C I O J i S ,C o m m u n i c a t i o n s i n t e n d e d to b e p r i n t e d
s h o u l d be a d d r e s s e d to th e E d i t o r , 'J, D u k e - s t r e e t , A d e l p h i . I t
tv ill m u c h f a c i l it a t e th e in s e r tio n o f s u ita b le a r tic le s i f th e y
a r e u n d e r ttv o c o l u m n s i n l e n g t h , L o n g c o m m u n i c a t i o n s a r e
a lw a y s in d a n g e r of b e in g d e la y e d , a n d a r e f r e q u e n tly
d e c lin e d o n a c c o u n t o f w a n t of s p a c e , th o u g h i n o th e r r e s p e c ts
g o o d a n d d e s i r a b l e . L e t te r s s h o u l d b e c o n f i n e d to th e s p a c e
o f h a l f a c o l u m n to e n s u r e i n s e r t i o n .
B u s i n e s s c o m m u n i c a t i o n s s h o u l d i n a l l c a s e s b e a d d r e s s e d to
H r . I t. I). G o d f r e y , '3, D u k e - s t r e e t , A d e l p h i , IV .C ., a n d n o t to
th e E d i t o r .

T H E OUTLOOK.

try to ignore the psychical reaction that has set in, hut a
is only an attempt, and a leader which appeared recently i
the T i m e s was an eloquent tribute to the spirituality whie|
is beginning to flood even our commercial civilisation. TL
old landmarks are being destroyed, and who shall set up
the new 1 There came through the long years mysterioZ
driftwood across the A tlan tic on to the shores of Europe
and at last the meaning of that driftwood was understood
The continent of Am erica was discovered. So has the drift
wood come across the boundaries from the unseen; and that
other country, n ot the small heaven of the orthodox, but a
state real,more real than this, has come with in our knowledge
Call it what you will, subliminal consciousness, the Beyond
four-dimensional space, or what not there has come into our
common consciousness something that but a short time
since was the possession of an isolated and esoteric few,
A whole continent lies before us, and its exploration is our
work, subject to all the dangers of travelling into the
unknown.
I t is easy to suppose that when Columbus first sighted
the W est Indian islands he, or, if not he, many of his
men, thought they had found all that was to be found. In
the golden groves of the summer isles they could not
imagine the icy shores of Labrador, the canons of the
Yosemite, or the roaring waters of Niagara ; yet these were
all eventually to be found. So the traveller into the region
of the unseen is but too apt to think his small experience
is the experience of every one else, his summer land of
luxurious peace comprises all the continent of an enfeebling
heaven.
The fight has any way to go on, not now so much with
this world, but with other and stronger adversaries, who
revel in making for us placid assurance that all is well.
For we, indeed, wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in
high places.

Though such epochs as that of New Years D ay are

fixed more or less arbitrarily the summer solstice would
have been as good as the winter solstice for the fixed
point of a new departureyet these epochs, whenever
they come, bring with them a certain feeling of beginning
again. More than ever is it so with us this year. The one
man who had been so long identified with L i g h t and all
matters connected with Spiritualism has gone from us, and
others must take the responsibility, and that responsibility
is not small, for we stand in the presence of a new order of
things.
LONDON SPIRITUALIST ALLIANCE.
"When Stainton Moses began to interest himself in
Spiritualism the world mocked ; when he died the world had
The next meeting of members and friends of the London
become interested. The work he did was essentially a fight Spiritualist Alliance will be held at 2, Duke-street, Adelphi, on
ing work,and when his perhaps not always scientific methods Tuesday, the 17th inst., at 7.30 p.m., when an address will be
are attacked it should be remembered th at it was to gain a delivered by the Rev. J . Page Hopps, on The Unceasing Day
hearing by the world of what he believed to be truth that of Pentecost.
Stainton Moses struggled. If the Society for Psychical
A COINCIDENCE.
Research, whose work has been invaluable, has made it
The late S. 0. H all says of Campbells burial in Westminster
possible to talk of occult matters without being branded as
a fool or madman, let us not forget that it was very much I Abbey: i*Statesmen, poets, and men of letters followed the
owing to Stainton Moses that the Society itself became al venerable Dean of St. P auls, the poet Milman, as, reading the
burial service, he led the solemn procession to Poets Corner.
possibility. H e fought, and the result we are beginning to
I t was not, however, the presence of those illustrious mourners
understand.
that made the funeral one of the most impressive ever seen in
The task that has to be performed is in one sense easier that mausoleum of great men. A long, reverential pause pre
than that of Stainton Moses, in another sense harder; ceded the words, Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. As they were
Rosier in that the ground has been prepared ; harder as slowly uttered a Polish officer advanced, from among the
prosperity, however slight, is more difficult to cope with mourners and dropped upon the coffin some earth taken from
than adversity, however great. To. keep healthy on the the grave of Kosciusko, the hero whose patriotism and death
hills with pure air and simple food is one thing, to w ith the poet had praised in verse. The effect was startling. Then
came the climax. I heard a voice from Heaven, read the
stand the intricate and delicately arranged assaults of a l
Dean, and immediately a thunder-clap shook the old Abbey.
luxurious life on the plains is another thing. N ot that the | He paused ; the mourners wore thrilled. As the awful sound
last condition is fulfilled as yet, but there are signs that it died away, the Dean finished the sentence : - they rest from their
w ill come in the not very distant future, and the fight labours. It is to this startling incident that Sir Theodore Martin
refers in his poem, 4The Interm ent of Thomas Campbell :
w ith the adversaries then w ill be very hard.
Louder yet, and yet more loudly, let the organs thunders rise.
That this is the position needs but little consideration.
Hark ! a louder thunder answers, deepening inwards to the skies
u is true that the two morning halfpenny papers, the
Heavens majestic diapason, pealing as from east to west;
Never grander music anthemed poet to liis hour of rest.
M orning and the Morning Leader, are nob of such
importance as the greater dailies, but there is the fact that
44A coincidence, say you? Yes. But what coincidence is
each of those papers devoted on the same day space to the not determinedly co-ordinatod with its incidence ? S a l a d in
Consideration of Spiritualistic matters, banteringly cer in the Agnostic Journal.
tainly, but only half banteringly in the one case, and
L et us, if we must have groat actions, make our own also l
se rio u sly though foolishly in the other. The managers of
all action is of infinite elasticity, and the least admits of being
these papers presumably know their public. Undoubtedly inflated with celestial air, until it eclipses the sun and moon.A
H K g i ^ M e r s , or rather followers, of public opinion R. W. E mekson.

I;f< 11 IT.

. l u t n i t n y 71 IHUH \

SAULS VISIT TO THE WOMAN OF I N DO If

inhit, wlr' i'v llm fmxt and final interypsw toek (ila'-e foty/4>,e,ri
'hem, Hmnly Maid mi(/lil, linve l#oon pardoned for Imping that
II A
I'KW H. I 11
a Moufourat (40 long dolnyed m (la fulf'duM.l, luol |i ( forgotten
or
rovokud. Me, w ,l!4 (;|( KU.g; f|,(, Ummoeiation of the
Til*' I i ii if,ir Hi'rmiioPiiiiuih nil mu 11lig lli<' #I*7U.I.li nl Himl an (he
(],iy following liifi vii! ffi llio Women nl'
liftVo hew. me'le prophet had m/fe driven him from tlm throne ; ho wouM void are
(|ti
nf mmmmmhln vvet'iiiogn, mi Ihe ftlttf of Hntmi of nm to try and i.i,-, him again hy tlm im.triiumnteldy of the womarr,
ami learn il lira f/u .m-r nio wa. rordly r/;momh-.rod againat him.
p u r t h d p n l h / n n in H p j r i t n i i l i n i
III>>n< fifthedox f r i i U M l u , a g a l u x t
'I'!"', paanagn m | |M. | ^ |
<'hrordole.-.j wayrt it v/aa for
flllOrMi, flaw III10 H l l p | M l f .il i o n l l i # 10 Mil# h o i t i i u ' i ^ i m o s h o w n, hy
o h#i in oji/iOitolion in i l l v l u o eai iyrng out thin project that he, paid th", penalty of hie life,
Lfi0 t o t #1 which h o f # d I h i ? K i o / . { , 1
l'ortm.Hte,|y we, ..art teat thirt ae.rterthm by tho very word -, of the
h / t w t #1 not iw n o t
The tmxt. on who d i H i m m l l l i p o M i t l m i
tut h |
prophet art the, whole converantion re recorded i
in 1hu (ft t a i l e d %&( o o o L g b / m i i o t h # } m n lii'ni r r e o r f l u , of
IIft
t o i l nil ii o n l o l # itlHOll 1 n l a f a .HIMill'
Ami Kamiiel aap| i,, Haul, Why haat thou dbopnetod m*'.
S h i i i ihK to j o * l o v , h i l l ir. I m O i i #
tn bring me up | And Haul atiaw'erml, I am wore, diehrearte'l
III*} v v l u d o n it t o n t w o l o l.ho
in llm Hook of ( ! h r o i t i r l < OH w I l M l ' O
mu fell#- 1/luli^tuMju fttaku !//>.Tr;//udbT /rM
*^ anO OoM l|
m l # ) I m i i i It i M vor-f!OH, T h i n nl h I,o
Ji h f of mm K imh i\H ( ; o O i j U T
I lo m nnn uinl iiimwr.n.Ui ,//*>
m o io f n o ilh o i hy fuophutn,
Uoi' liy tli'annw ; l,hfnj''/nf, I iutV0 culloM th^C that
i/iayuBt
IIM>ill; IMHh follow M
lufowu I// mi; vvlutt I whall Oo. 'IImu) waiM Hauiu^h
Sn Saul (lictl (.iv In : 1numgnwwiofi*
1 oommi'Moil
VVlicntlfiif} Uif'ii Mont thou
of nn^ w:i;iti'jf tho l/u'O ^
MfWiixUlm 1,01.1, V II Hernial. Il"i won I of | | | Lord, which
O u p fu |/U < l f r o m
u u U /}-, O u u m n u fJ iiiM j u t u a u y l
A n d th ^ j
11 | j not, ami iiIho I..1 nuking <oim ml of oim Unit, IumI
liMj'd hath fh/iH; (><;>|)jfn $$ Ji<- k j ; hy r/M
*, ; f o t ' i f w \*or*\ ha^li
,t laaiiiut r,oil it, 1 w<|tm. of H i himI oiimiirwl not. of f in
rout Umj kiot/floin out of f/luiio haridt ;u>fl '/ivoii it 1/; ihy
| ,iii 1 | Uienjforu li<- .' low linn, | | | | I'triii-il tho kingdom imfo
uui^lihoio\ uvojj 0, lui,vid { hufauT^/ thou 'vhoyT'd;',t uot tfe#
jjfovld Mill NOII of do*MO. (I f'lltoll. X. I<i, IT)
Vf/ifio pi tho hordj oor oxouutudttt IIif,
v/rath upon
Twit ttllugntioiiM HIT made Imre*
whiclMt.ro gencmlly
Ainalok, fJiorofo^o huXh Un: Isov<l dooo fJO^ \,hiti'/ nut/> ihoo
HM.j.tnl wiUiouf furl I|. r impliry,
hot.ll " f | || j | | K S J
thIH day, Moro<iv<;rt tho Lord will alno d<div<,r buaol with
thoo inf,o tho hand of Uio Phdi/vtiiMiH J and to morrow frh*dt
to bt>contwy lo foot; (l)T h t Haul hmt hi* life nun penally
t/hou
and t)iv ikmih ho with no?: tlu^ Lonl al>^> nhall dolivor
| | satktflg coiuiMoJof oi.o Dial, (lull I familiar apirif, ami (2; I,hot
Iho hoot (;f lor/to,l inf,(> thfj hand
tho I'lnJiotino.o (I Kano
In: ,||,t !|,r; m j.r.'fm nm to inquiring "f , h Lord, Wo propoao
xxviii* Hr H),)
to i , 11 y mir invodtigrttion Further Ihull in oiiafomary, ami will
Not a word, hint, or ai^n that tho doming <lo.th of H/*.ul w,
mulmvoiir to discover, if jmiwibie* g # I''"" H""Wer l.o two imduo to hio Hooking that intorviow. rriui OUly loforonoo rrovlo to
ix/rU/it uuu#tion#;
it by th#j propliot joif>Why hant th#u# dio'piiot.od 1/10 f/> h/in^
I II.nl Si in I * rnnmillul.lmi, w ith | | | m a n / Unitor a n y mo up |
Itut wh#*n tho oxphuiation vvag pjivon, Batnuol wao
t/nng hf tto on. Ih lu i ib o th '{
rjtfinli#}#!, au#l mor#:ly ann#;U7ioo#l tlio Hpoody fulfilmont of the
To oflOiin ii i;ov root ro|
long-dcdayod oonton#;o9 and MnhHtanti^/lly rop#;atod htn moowu/o
10
III
d o t to iOViual pa
#>f twonty4hreo youtw la>forto Uccau^o Haul r<;fu-/;#l t<> uttorly
k fttli f|f Haiiuod, TIm.s tii
d.oj|troy Amalok wan llio ^ thoroforo >f of hi*i #loathe wluoli W
iw donfh ix a iuohhw:mi give)
ann#>urjoo#l f<n#l/lio moirijw*
4

II, Hod/ Hunt wu/b'cJj'J. lo i t u / n (>

J (!od btfot'/*,
ThlWHni\h idio Lord #;f
...................
ho
laid
waitfor
him
in
Uni
way,
when
M U) Ixraol* h##W he 1
vwoitrtM to th e Wonts Ob o f l i m b u ' !
lie Mim; iip from
pL Now | | ,UII
Amalek, a ml
ClmmicloM Maya that ho had^ and that thoroforo ho wan
utterly deatroy all Dial, I,hoy have, ami nonce them not; hilt
day |,ofl, man and woman, infant and wielding, M and ahoop, alain ; hut tho dotailod ataUnnont ol tho Jtook of Katnuo) dooa
caaa.| ami a*# . . A ml Haul anioto the Amalokitoa, IVom not hour out tho wordaof Chr#;iii#}Ioh$ foi ii naya tlurt ho did
Havilali until f|,oii eomoat to Hhur that ia over againat K ffy p t. iiupiiro of tho Lord* but to no purpoao :
And Im
g M g | | | kino of tho Anialokifon alivo, and
And wluui Said omjuirod of tho bord, tlm Lord amuvor#;#!
utterly destroyed .all tho pooplo with tho edge of tho liwonl,
hint not* hoitliorf>y droania* nor l>y
rior hy [irophota.
i>ut Saul ami tho pooplo aparod Agng, and Iho hoot ol the,
Them oaid Haul unto Imh ii#:rvantM* Ho#:k mo a woman that hath
dieep, and of tho oxen, and of tho fatlingH, and tho lamb*,
a familiar wpirit* that I may \io to hor ami omjuiro of h#:r,
and all I v . a good, and wonhl not utterly doe troy
( I Sum. xxviii, h* 7 .)
hteni : hut everythin:' that wart VIJo fttjd ref nee, that they
destroyed utterly. |1 Ham. xv< 2, lb)
Ho hud oxliuuatod ovo.ry mounn at li.w diupoHul to loam the
It need;) no learned theologian to point out that Sail I kept will of Clod| hut all without avail ; and it wan only in tho hint
w it f 'tie part of the command, ami paid no attention to tho ;
uxfromity, whon thotjm oof battlo war. drawing nigh? that ho
''filer. All that Wart Valuable ami comely of tho Amalokitjrth roM#niod to a hioann which Wan ohjootionahlo to him, hut
f toperfy j|.; ctirufully appropriatod for hie own purpoeort, that yot tho only #>no uvuilaldo. Wo nay olijootionahlo*MIjOcuuKO
A'ii';h vtaa UMoloKrt ho doetroyod without compunction, Bid ho it miiKt ho roinomhorod that Haul hud boon vory diligoiit in
not dealing with a man ; tho onmniaml for oxforminal.ion trying to oxtorminatn Hindi an thin w#umui Ironi the land*
B horn tho ;.pir)tnal f.irlo of l/'fo, Hnhiucj vvae frill, tho modiunr | | Ham. xxviii, \\i) A co)dirination of thin view of tho poHition.
' r ^orrumurioafion. Hpii'ituaJ infolJigonooH were walr.'hing tho in found in Saul'a worda t#/ Hiunuol :
^eufciori of f},e command ; they enw Joe failhh;H,mjoee, and fohl

1 am aoro diMtroaaod ; for tho I>liilinfdtnu> mal<<* war againnt

mo* and Hod in dopurtod Irom mo* and uiiHworoth mo no tnoro*
'w y , Siiimial w i n i n f o r m a l o f IJ1 0 wli^njaliouOj of Mjo Kjh^, j /mithor by propliota* nor by <lroaniH ; tbo.ntfom. hav#i I oallod
tli/'O* that thou mayont muko known to Inc what I ahull do.
u,<
forth to
)ii in, not to coiitfivAiilnhi; h i t it upon hif>
(I Ham, xxviin lo, )
l>nt p, prohoii/iofi h Koutoiion Uj>o)i \\iw \m v i \ ( \ y . flour
Wo urn well aware that tlm nninpurmnn of th two account#
.
I//UO {
.
Ill# 1/OjtI /l'i |/ro;rt
il> hiU'hf/ ollorin/#'
| ntabliuboH a eaie of contradiction in the Jiiblu recordw, but with,
;m- jfJ o h ^yiii^ tho, voi^o of tho lionl f l#ohohlt to j tliia fact wo have no immodiato ooiioorn. Wo may, however,
**1/ hof.lor, jth;m
fwinlioo.
an il to hourkoii
tliun . tho
fut ol montion one circumnlunco which thrown aonm, littlo light upon
l'
i,
*
,4
' .
, . j
_
.
I 4
j
,
rehollion ie ini tho him <rf witohoraff, ami d,uMorn
the oxintonoo of thono eontrudiotiohM, and l | not without Homo
W
fm

^ n tu { t itty wn<\ idolatry,

thou huut rojoofcod
tl
bearing upon llioBiibjoct ol our impury. In tho introductory
, ' y/onl iff |j|f, hol'd, ho hath alfto roi^utafl thou from
Ufiy / 1 to,
<>;< (ii| i
(
MotcH I(#i tfio mimniary ol tho Hlin/mcloH in lhtgator,H
fi r
Bible 91-* a book by no mouim puldinlicd in tlm intoHmt of
7t r,y
umI puffiful wua that iutarviuw* tlio lank Ihuk
Kpirituaiinni w mud ;
rUfu; to Kumiicl w h i l e

Khij ) wum

from

Inn j

f/otwr*uoi t)o; Kino uiul, Huuiuojf l)U/foro tlM?

r if ^*^5 prophat. Haul roj>ootu^l of Ihm uin, aiul plua^lu,d
^
but HujuuoI had /io povvur to rovoko tlio
^ jjp$ iiitittl of Oo/I had faaui doclaro<jt and HumI wua
% Mnxfc chapter roconn-w tho m o l n t l m of David an
U/' hU|p

^K,/ W^ u n ^
0,10
io mforuno'o to Haul
lorrilrly I,hinge had ohaugoh :

Tlm iiurrutivo (of flbroniclnn) rune nurullol witli tlml# of tlm

pr?f5uding hintoricul hook ft, oiipocially that of Kumiiol and

KingM ; l/ut A f t Mw t,odv,r kiHlonj warn iwfMww fnim o

pvophr.lin libb'ivd IJun (b!li;tuniid<v<) %fw n-ritleu
prhidly, ( u iVd/h? i[olpH*Mp# 2B#)

from, <t

Horn f c tlm noorot of tho whole ruutter< Tho prophets and

the priowtn worn always at deadly loud* and their intorenU colld
f e lire h
W f ,f r/j|L
S
th-.jrarl/od i'fohi Haul, /l-inl an avil
novor bo brouglifc to run on parallol linom MTo imiuii y fnnn
l>
" Mi ^'nu l.iouMod him, (J Ham, xvl. IT)
Hod wan originally in tho bund# of tho priuutliood, buf when the
1
j
Hanjiiol'n rloolaf;al/(un <>l' proplietn caiuo p i nuporaodod tlm piionta in thim piirfmuhu'>
' <<auJ and hie, vieif fr>
oavo o f fj/o Wolnau oil thereby lemoning the authority of the hitler.
Thin wuh too

LIGHT.

[January 7, 189.1.

much for the officers of the sanctuary to endure in silence, and me, a statement wliioh Avas Aerified to the letter, which gave
consequently they became as zealous, or more so, in persecuting the divine sanction to the interview. But whj* could not this
the prophets as in discharging their own priestly functions. information have been given by Urim, by prophet, or by dream ?
Samuel had no interest in maintaining the priestly authority; to It could have been easily done ; but the honour of the prophet
him, to obey was better than sacrifice hence we do not had to be maintained and Samuel was the first of his lineby
find him breathing any denunciation for Sauls visit to the their being brought face to face, a fact by whioh God taught a
woman. On the other hand the priests saw their institution great lesson to Israel and set His seal of approval on the line of
was in danger, and simply refer to Saul for the purpose of mediums by Avhom Samuel would be succeeded.
Another significant and parallel fact calls for our attention
declaring that he died for not inquiring of tire Lord, and daring
to consult God through one upon whom the hands of anointing here. While Saul Avas fruitlessly endeavouring to consult the
ordinary oracles at Gilboa, David, at Ziklag, had not the least
had not rested.
Some persons will be anxious to ask whether it was not a difficulty in doing so. Finding on his return from the army that
very strange coincidence, which led Saul to visit the Woman of the town had been burned and his wives taken prisoners, he
Endor upon the last night of his life. We reply at once that commanded the ephod to be brought:
Ave do not think there was any coincidence in the case, but that
And David enquired at the Lord, saying. Shall 1 pursue
a careful following up of the chain of events from anotherand
after this troop ? shall I overtake them ? And he answered
him, Pursue ; for thou shalt surely overtake them and vrithout
generally unheededpoint of view, Avill reveal to us the fact
fail recover all. (1 Sam. xxx. 8.)
that that visit had more of a divine appointment about it [than
the committing of a forbidden sin. Let us folloAV this line of
What necessity was there for Saul to consult the oracle at
all ? If the methods usually resorted to were silent why need he
thought.
Sixteen years after Sauls rejection, and seven before his seek to consult others 1 I t does not require any Aary close study
death, David was anointed by Samuel to be King in Sauls of the Mosaic laAv to know that it Avas a distinct command that
stead. (1 Sam. xxi.) Throughout that sixteen years Israel had Israel was to go to battle and come in from battle by the
been at peace, hut no sooner had David been anointed than the direction of the oracle. The command was giA'en Avhen Joshua
Philistines marched against Saul, and Goliath defied the j was appointed leader in the place of Moses :
army of the Lord. The craven spirit of Saul Avas at once
And he shall stand before Eleazer the priest, who shall ask
manifest in his neglect to answer the challenge of the
counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord:
heathen champion. Had the spirit of the Lord been with
at his word shall they go out, and at his word shall they come
him then Goliath would not tAvice have defied them. But the | in, both he and all the children of Israel with him, eAren all
stripling David came to the rescue, achieved the welcome j the congregation.(Numb, xxvii., 21.)
victory, and was at once recognised as being the blessed of I
The Bible records more than one event where the Israelites
the Lord. Saul hath slain his thousands, but David his ten j Avere Avrong through not making the authorised consultation ; it
thousands, Avas the cry of the whole nation. This provoked was therefore a very important preparation for a battle to knoAV
the anger of Saul and led him to hunt David as a fugitive in the the will of the oracle. We have just seen that David asked such
wilderness in order that he might kill him. At length David counsel before pursuing the spoilers of Ziklag, and Saul had no
found a safe refuge Avitli Achish, the King of the Philistines, intention of drawing his sword until he had done the same and
where he dwelt for several years with his friends, until Achish received a reply. D id the silence mean wait ? But Avhilehe
gathered his army and marched against Saul to the fatal battle Avaited the Philistines were gaining ground. So the silence
of Gilboa. David called his followers together and marched drove him to the Woman of Endor, where the purposes of God
Avith Achish, and only through the lack of confidence shown in were fulfilledSaul and Samuel were brought again face to face,
him by the princes of Philistia, were he and his men sent and the King learned his fate.
back again. The only battle Israel had been engaged in since
Someone will tell us that Moses commanded all such as this
the rejection of Saul had been won by David ; a second Woman of Endor, together with diviners, necromancers, and
battle approaches and the Bethlehemite is with the eliemy soothsayers, to be put to death as an abomination to the Lord.
coming on to the engagement. In the interval between the We know he did, but for some reason or other we are constantly
battles Saul has added to his sins the charge of attempting to finding his orders at variance with recorded facts. For instance:
take the life of his anointed successor ; may we not then expect When Josephs brethren left Egypt the second time with
the battle to go against the forsaken King ?
corn, he had ordered their money to be put in the moutliB of
At such a moment Saul consults the oracle as to his prospects their sacks as before, but in Benjamins sack his own cup had
of success. Urim is unresponsive ; he asks that God will make been concealed in addition. They had scarcely left before we
known His will by dreams, but his sleep is dreamless ; then the hear Joseph saying to his steward
prophets are consulted, but there is no Thus saith the Lord.
Up, follow after the men, and when thou dost overtake
There is one other means of oracular consultation known to
them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye reAvarded evil for
him, a person that hath a familiar sp irit; to this he must resort
good 1 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and where
for he dare not go to battle until he has tried every available
by indeed he divineth? Ye have done evil in so doing. (Gen.
method 5therefore his determination.
xliv. 4, 5.)
All the facts of the case point to the one conclusion that
Now if Joseph was not a diviner, he could not have been
events were so ordered as to lead Saul to visit the woman for such a model of truth as he is said to have been of virtue.
a specific purpose, which could be only accomplished in her Again, when that mysterious hand Avrote upon the wall at |
cave. Saul and Samuel had to be brought face to face once Belshazzars Feast, the Queen of Babylon referred to Daniel
again, in order that the King might know from the lips of the thus
prophet that the sentence he had pronounced so long ago had
There is a man in thy kingdom in Avhom is the spirit of
hot been revoked of forgotten. This appearance of Samuel
the holy gods ; and in the days of thy father light and
could not satisfactorily take place through either of the usually
understanding and Avisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, Avas
adopted methods. Urim gave its reply by a flash or voice ; a
found in him; Avhom the King Nebuchadnezzar thy father,
the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians,
dteam might be considered by the King as uncertain ;; and the
astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. (Dan. v. 11.)
prophets answered by inspiration or trance ; only in the place
and the presence of a medium suitable for materialisation could
Daniel held this position In Babylon for more than thirty
the personal interview be afforded. That the visit was in full years, and AvaB assisted in his divinations by his three friends.
accord with the divine will (we use this term without prejudice Were these four men abominations to the Lord 1 According to
for the sake of the argument) is patent from the fact of the Moses they were, and should have died the death ; but instead
appearance of Samuel, who came as a messenger of God and of this the three were saved, by divine interposition from
established his claim as such according to the Mosaic t e s t:
death in the fiery furnace, and Daniel had an equally signal
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the delivery from la deii of lions. The very practices which Moses
thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which denounced and commanded to be punished by death, became
the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it the legitimate practice of the prophets who came after him.
, presumptuously. Thou shalt not be afraid of him. (Deut.
There is evidence in the Bible, however, which comes much
Xviii. 22.)
nearer to the case of Saul and the Woman of Endor, than these
By the same authority if the thing colnes to pass that instances bring it. There are several cases recorded whore
prophet has spoken in the name of the Lord. Now Samuel heathen necromancers, such as Avas this woman of Endor,
told Saul that to-morrow thou and thy sons shall be with were specially used by God Avhen Iferaelitish prophets wove

.January 7, 1803.]

LlG H U

not- at hand. The instance of Balaam is the best known of

those eases. When the messengers of Balak arrived at his
house, with the reward of divination, the wizard said
Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again,
as the Lord shall speak unto m e: and the princes of Moab
abode with Balaam. And God came unto Balaam, and said,
What men are these with thee ? (Num. xxii. i , 9.)
God came unto Balaam. These words prove onr case
without quoting the whole story, which is so well known, and
in which we find that God and His angels came again and again
to this Moabitish necromancer, and used him for the purpose of
blessing Israel.
When the Ark of the Lord had been captured by the
Philistines and placed in the temple of Dagon, at Ashdod,
with such wonderful results, God revealed His will to the
Philistine magicians as to the offerings they should make, and
how the Ark should be sent back to Israel. (1 Sam. vi. 1-9.|
Necho, King of Egypt, also received a command to go up
to battle from the Lord through His wise men (2 Ohron.
xxxv. 21), which was fully substantiated by the victory he
obtained and the death of King Josiah. So was the Woman of
Endor used for the same divine purpose, and when her part was
played she, too, fell into the background and was forgotten.
How terribly unusual was the answer to hor enchantments
on that eventful night is evidenced by her cry of fear, when she
beheld the spirit of the prophet arising from the ground. This
was no familiar ! Her familiars were not in the habit
of making themselv.es visible,, but answered by speaking low
out of the dust (Isa. xxix. 4), and declaring themselves bo
her alone whose command they obeyed. But in this instance
there rose up before her astonished sight an old man covered
with a mantle," who forthwith dispensed with her services and
addressed himself to Saul. The King was to go to the battle,
and Samuel said it would be his last.
What more need we say? The only shadow of a curse
which is to be found in this incident is that which priestcraft
and bigotry seek to throw across it. The only curse which
rested upon Saul was for his disobedience at Anialek.
Does God ever work evil that good may result ? If soif He
were capable of so doingthen He would become a broken reed
to rest upon. Absolute truth is an essential part of absolute
perfection ; it is therefore an impossible thing for a perfect God
to act or tell a lie. Gorl permitted Samuel to appear to Saul, or
the Bible becomes a false guide ; and if Samuel appeared, that
one case establishes the fact that the so-called dead have the
power to return. I t matters not if there had never been another
instance known ; the fact remains the same. That Samuel did
appear to Saul and speak to him no one can deny in the face of
the evidence ; there must therefore exist some law by which the
spirits of the departed may enter into communication with
friends on earth. The case of Samuel is corroborated by the re
appearance of Moses and Elias on the Mount of Transfiguration,
and if further evidence is needed to show that such intercourse
is permissible, is it not found in the fact that Jesus conversed
with them 1 The two cases quoted are all the evidence needed
to establish a truth, but these have been supplemented by
thousands of others occurring in all ages, in every nation, fait'.#;
authenticated equally well with any other known fact. Bigots
may condemn this fuller and brighter reveliSiols, as. they have
every other in the past, but truth has always been too powerful
for error, and so it will be once again. Spirit intercourse rolls
back the stone from the door of the sepulchre ; it proclaims the
presence of those we love ; it strikes the chains of superstition
from the sons of men ; it is the foe of dogma, creed, and sect ;
and knows as its only gospel that which was taught by Jesus
the Fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of man.
Is such a system promulgated by devils from hell or angels
from Heaven ? Let common-sense, not blinded bigotry, give an
answer.
PEACE.
God spoke to her, and so she fell asleep.
I laid a white fair lily on her heart,
And when I saw her face I could not weep.
It had the peace Death only understands ;
And when I knew she Would not Wake on earth
I laid my heart between her folded hands.
God spoke to her so softly, saying : R e s t!
And when she wakes in Heaven, she will find
My lily and my heart upon her breast.
Coiu F abbri,. WfflH

BLACK MAGIC.
The Tfmaophiat for December contains some more old
stories of Black Magic. Those now given are by Pietro
della Valle, an Italian traveller who visited Turkey,
Egypt, Syria, Persia, and India some time during the
seventeenth century, and by Abul Fagal, of about the
same period. I t goes without saying that a t the time
when our own Royal Society was discussing the qualities
of sympathetic powders, and so forth, the world at large
was a trifio credulous. A t the same time, there is a
curious uniformity in these old stories of witchcraft, and
one would like to know where and how they have their
counterpart now. Pietro della Valle says:
An Arabian woman, by name Meluk, was thrown in prison on
a charge of having bewitched, or as they call it, eaten the heart
of a young native of Ormuz, who had lately, from being a
Christian, turned Mahomedan. The cause of the offence was
that the young man, after keeping company some time with
one of her daughters, had forsaken her. He himself who was
In a pitiable condition, and in danger of his life, was one of
her accusers. This sort of witchcraft, which the Indians call
eating the heart, and which is what we call bewitching, as
;sorcerers do by their venomous and deadly looks, is not a new
thing nor unheard of elsewhere ; for many persons practised it
formerly in Sclavonia, and the country of the Triballes, as we
learn from Ortelius, who took the account from Pliny, who
upon the report of Isigones testifies that this species of
enchantment was much in use among these people, and many
others whom he mentions, as it is at present here, especially
among the Arabians, who inhabit the western coast of the Persian
Gulf, where this art is common. The way in which they do
it is only by the eyes and mouth, keeping the eyes fixed steadily
upon the person whose heart they design to eat, and pro
nouncing between It# * teeth, 1 know net what diabolical
words, by virtue of which and by the operation of the devil,
the person, how hale and strong so ever, falls immediately into
an unknown and inevitable disease, which makes him appear
phthisical, consumes him little by little, and at last destroys
him. And this takes place faster or slower as the heart is
eaten, as they say ; for these sorcerers can either eat the whole
or a.part only; that is, can consume it entirely and at once,
or bit by bit, as they please. The vulgar give it this name,
because they believe that the devil, acting upon the imagination
of the witch when she mutters her wicked words, represents
invisibly to her the heart and entrails of the patient, taken out
.of his. body and makes her devour them, in which these
wretches find so- delightful a task, that very often to satisfy
:their appetite, without any impulse of resentment or enmity,
they will destroy innocent persons, and even their nearest
relatives, as there is a report that our prisoner killed one of her
1own daughters in this manner.
This was confirmed to me by a similar story, which I heard
at Ispahan, from the mouth of' P. Schostian de Jesus, a
Portuguese Augustinian, a man to be believed, and of singular
virtue, who was prior of their convent when I departed. Ho
.assured, me, Ipi!*. one I the places dependent upon Portugal,
on the oomfin.es gpKArabm, Felix (Yemen), I know not whether
iit was at Muscate or at Ormuz, an Arab having been taken up
for a similar crime, and convicted of itfor he confessed the
factthe captain or governor of the place, who was a Portuguese,
that he might better understand the truth of these black and
devilish actions of which there is no doubt in this country,
ordered the sorcerer to be brought before him before he was
led to his punishment, and asked him if he could eat the inside
of a cucumber without opening it as well as the heart of a man.
The sorcerer said yes, and in order to prove it a cucumber was
brought. He looked at it, never touching it, steadily for the
time, with his usual enchantments, and then told the captain
lie had eaten the whole inside ; and accordingly when it Was
opened nothing was found but the rind. This is not impossible ;
for the devil of whom they make use in these operations, having
in the order of nature greater powers than all inferior creatures,
can, with Gods permission, produce these effects and others
more marvellous.
I
Abul Fagal tells this
! One of the wonders of this country is the Jiggerkhar11(oj?
liver-eater), flu of this class can steal away the liver of another
by looks and incantations, Other accounts say that by looking at

LIGHT.

10

a person lie deprives him of his senses, and then lie steals from
him something resembling the seed of | pomegranate, which lie
hides in the calf of his leg. The |j Jiggerkhar throws on the
tiro the grain before described, which spreads to the size of a
dish, and he distributes it amongst his follows, to bo eaten ;
which ceremony concludes the life of the fascinated person. A
v Jiggerkhar is able to communicate bis art to another, which
ho does by teaching him the incantations, and by making him
eat I bit of the liver cake. If any one cuts open tho calf of
the magicians leg, extracts the grain, and gives it to the
atilicted person to eat, he immediately recovers. These
" J ig g e rk h a rs a rc mostly women. It is said, moreover, that
they can bring intelligence from a great distance in a short space
of time : and if they are thrown into a river, with a stone tied
to them, they nevertheless will not sink.
T1ie people in authority had a pleasant way of punishing
this kind of thing :
In order to deprive any one of this wicked power, they
brand his temples, and every joint in his body, cram his eyes
with salt, suspend him for forty days in a subterraneous cavern,
and repeat over him certain incantations. In this state he is
called Detchereh." Although, after having undergone this
discipline, he is not able to destroy the liver of any one, yet
he retains the power of being able to discover another
Jiggerkhar, and is used for detecting those disturbers of
mankind. They can also cure many diseases, by administering
a potion, or by repeating an incantation. Many other mar
vellous stories are told of these people.

[January 7, 1M3.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

Under this heading wc propose, at tho request of several sub
scribers, to give from time to time such questions as may
reach usprovided we deem them of a profitable character
with a view to their being answered, not necessarily by
the Editor, but preferably by our readers. Both questions
and answers should be stated clearly and succinctly, and in
the replies the questions should be indicated by the num
ber, to prevent the necessity of their being re-stated.
1. Why is an Astral Body so called, and what connection
has it with the stars ?A. C. M.
2. Why, in astrological lore, is Saturn considered an unUt.chj
I
j planet, while his reign on earth is called the Golden Age,
to designate the happiest of all periods ?A. C. M.
|
3. Has any reader of L ig h t had experience of the control
of automatic writing by tho spirit of a person, still in the flesh ?
A friend of mine has been surprised by a message thus obtained,
professedly from a person living in a distant part of the world 1
I nquirer .

4. I should bo glad to have a definition of spirit and the

relation between spirit and matter. Are they dual, co-existent,
co-equal, and co-eternal ? Is matter the result of a condition of
j spirit, or are they different and independent entities ?C harles
Strange.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY.

[The Editor is not responsible fo r opinions expressed by correspondent>,

and sometimes publishes what he does not agree with fo r the purpose
o f presenting views that may elicit discussion. j

F kom the D aily G raphic . 8

Re-Incarnation.

To the Fortnightly the Rev. H. R. Haweis contributes a

farther interesting paper on the subject of spirit photography,
a subject which he has now taken under Iris especial patronage.
What he has to say may be listened to with the more attention
because, as he explains himself, he has never seen a ghost.
I am not clairvoyant, very doubtfully clairaudient, only
slightly telepathic ; I am not good at planchette, pencils will not
write automatically for me, tables will not rap unless there is a
medium present : I cannot see in crystals ; I have no prophetic
dreams, no distinct intuitions, and, though not a direct hindrance
to phenomena, I am not particularly helpful at seances, and
air hough I have attended a good many, I am now very rarely
present at them. " So it is rather as an outsider that he holds a
brief for the earth-walking spirit, for in other directions he has
been still as unsuccessful ~
I have had many friends who have passed away after pro
mising faithfully that they would appear to me if they possibly
could after death. The last of these was my valued and
lamented friend, the Rev, .John Macnaught. who was by
his own desire cremated at Woking. I have never yet had
the least sign from him or any of the dead.
Mr. Haweiss main argument though is this :p The camera
has no fancies: the sensitive plate is without imagination ;
and many photographers are in the habit of casting aside plates,
after partial development, because ihey have what they call a
fa u ltthat is. a blur or marks obscuring or occupying portions
of the plate. That these marks should be carefully examined
is what Mr. Haweis recommends :
I heard the other day of a young lady who was photojpaphed, at Brighton. I believe, and twice the plate came out
blurred- Hie second time she persuaded the photographer,
who was about to lay it aside as useless, to develop it. The
blurs. on being examined with | magnifier, proved to be I
frees, all the same face, ifhe at once recognised it as the face j
of a rejected lover who had died.
In short, the contentionand it is one of the most reason
able contentions ever put forward by Spiritualistic advocates
is this ; * May nor a surface more chemically sensitive than the
human retina be able to receive impressions oi things really
objective, bat to us invisible?" The answer is of course
obvious. We have only to resect on the thousands of stars
v hiih have been photographedstars whose light no telescope,
however powerful, la s been able 11 reveal to the human eye.
T b s talent oi success is untiring more titan doing what you
Can do well : and doing wall whatever you dowithout thought
f favrap If i t eome az alL it will oome because it is deserved,
met- because jt is sought after.

Sir , If G.M.C. will refer to my letter in your Issue of

December 10th he will see that my statement in regard to the
consciousness and reality of spirit life was in opposition to the
condition of material existence, and did not extend to Kardec's
conception of spirit existence outside the material world.
As to the apparent injustice of our present surroundings,
I should say that it is only apparent, and that our ideas of
justice vary. As we have to pass through this life it is our duty
to rise above our surrounding conditions, whatever they may lie.
I should like G.M.C. to say of what good are all the virtues
in the world without their corresponding vices, and the
possession of such vices without the opportunity7 to gratify
them. If the incarnate spirit fails, during its passage through this
life, to learn certain lessons necessary for its future progress, it
has to gather them under a new set of conditions and with the
burden of increased difficulties, as a retribution for its past
failure. I t is stem justice, I know j but still, it is more
consonant with my ideas of justice.
The fact that there are exceptional intellects is no proof of
the actual existence of Re-incarnation ; it only shows that one
man has made more use of his gifts than another. Besides,
astrologers have another solution of that riddle.
I have made a study of Kardecs works for three months,
but at last came to the conclusion, as I said before, that he does
anything but explain the necessity for personal existence, which
individuality, after the process termed death has taken place,
is thrown off like an old garment.
In conclusion. I will add that my remarks on the theory of
Re-incarnation refer, as will be seen by my former letter, to
re-birth on this planet in a physical human frame, and not to
the possibility of existence (not necessarily material or personal)
in other worlds and systems.
Charles S trange.
S ir , Your L ig h t comes weekly to our house, hence
I see it, and you will forgive me if I say I feel regret that you
show such a strong bias against the only key* to the problems
human life presentsviz., re-embodiment. I accepted this at
the time I was a .Spiritualist because of its logical necessity, and
it seems to me impossible to believe that the countless millions
i/dlioiu, ratherhave, after one life on this planet each of an
average length of less than thirty years, slipped out of physical
existence altogether.* Also, j being generated in time cannot
be immortal : i the immortal parr of it necessarily possesses preexistence. As for the injustice of this one-life condition, i:
simply makes a chaos of human life altogether. One person has
every advantage in wealth, position, and brains, another is a
wretched outcast: one enjoys lire after a fashion, another

* Mowthe orip key?B p . rM LycottEo. Again, why not ?Kn.

January % 1893.]

LIGHT.

11

commits suicide ; one works for humanity, another lives in an some kind that the Re-incarnationist has in mind. The mere
asylum ; one is strong and robust, another is handicapped by etymology of the word is possibly responsible for the last
wretched health ; and so on ad lib, No use to say, Oh, that assertion, which cannot be squared with Kardecs statement
is all compensated for in the spirit-world. Is it ? Certainly not. that it is only in the lower worlds that matter is so gross as
No injustice and such it then would bo can bo got rid of in here, that life becomes less material as we advance, until in the
that light manner. Again, one sox has boon subordinated to the highest worlds it is almost puro spirit. If I understood by re
other, and very sad has been the outcome. All this ignorance incarnation more re-birth into a world resembling this, I
demands enlightenment; all these inequalities neod adjust should repudiate the doctrine quite as heartily as you. But
ment. To imagine that they can be dealt with on a plane where no, tho Ro-mearnationisfc holds . as you do, that spirit is the
the physical ceases to exist is to stultify the laws of Nature and abiding reality and matter the phantasm. And if you admit
of orderly evolution. Men continually need experience in the that spirit undergoes one presentment in matter, why not
as easily two, ten, or fifty such presentments ? What is the
form of womanhood, and vice versa.
The loss of the body carries away with it the force of various length of even a long series of re-incarnations in comparison
emotions and feelings, and these can only be ovorcome with. Eternity ? In both cases tho result, the evolution of pure
and used (not abused) by the higher naturo iehe.ii it is and perfected spirit, is the same ; it is a matter of indifference
connected with the body.
This is the Christ - victory, whether that result is achieved under purely spiritual, or
and a Christ is not evolved in a day. I know many chiefly spiritual and partly material, conditions. Only in the
Spiritualists are Re-incarnationists, but in U.S.A., where the former case we do not see any clear reason for the existence of
mass of the Spiritualists are given to phenomena and per this enigmatical and almost apparently accidental world ; in
sonal matters, and the comforting assurance that they are the latter we do, and stfe that it is all part of an orderly and
all going to a summer-land of happiness (Pandemonium, I beautiful plan.
I consider it unfair to say that Spiritists takc a hypothesis
should say !if the folks are the same as they are here !), the
and then try.to find facts to fit it. The testimony comes from
philosophy which teaches anything deeper is absolutely hated.
Through seeing this, and also the wreckage made of so precisely the same source as yours, from the spirit world itself;
many lives over there by courting controls of all kinds, I the real difficulty is to understand why one spirit should assert
andmany friends who had been through the same experiences that Re-incarnation is a fact, and another should say nothing
turned our attention to Theosophy. I have ever since been about it or perhaps deny it. Argument on this point is likely
.
.
G. M. C.
gkd of it, and have found a great deal of light in its study. tb cut both ways. .
The Kingdom of Heaven is within us, and we can make
S ib ,I am glad to see the above named subject discussed in
no spiritual progress until we know ourselvesthe only
your journal, the belief in its truth having been to me of the
knowledge which gives a key to any external phenomena.
very highest value, because I seem now to understand the
I have read nearly all the leading literature of Spiritualism,
mystery of suffering and sorrow in a way I never did before,
but I.find more instruction as to the origin and evolution of
and am able to justify the ways of God to man to my own
man and the laws of Nature, in, for instance, Olds What is
satisfaction, and I think to that of others sometimes who
Theosophy ? a mere handbook of outlinethan in any of these
converse with me on the subject. The Apostle Paul declared
volumes, although there are many observations in them which
in the Epistle to the Romans that the whole creationgroaneth
are of value ; but these are all on a level with a keen human
and travaileth in pain ; he added until now, and surely
observation and brain. As I had been more than an inquirera
we-may say the same even at this date, and the fact of this
worker in behalf of Spiritualism, and one who honestly believed
being so has been used by some amongst us as an argument to
it could regenerate humanitythis contrast struck me very
disprove the teaching that God is loving and merciful, for .they
much.- I think any Spiritualists, however, who desire to pene
say no loving and omnipotent Father would allow his children
trate beyond the surface might accept and read with pleasure
to suffer as so many do during this earth-life. And it is not
Annie Besants shilling handbooks, which are wonderfully clear,
only these who think this, but many a tender child of grace
and give reasons for every item of information, &c.*
has at times thought so likewise ; once, however, let him grasp
I think Spiritualism has done and is doing an important work
the idea of Re-incarnation and all such doubts will vanish, for the
in many ways, and one which will eventually tend in the
sufferer will then feel that the sorrow he bears himself, and
Theosophical direction. I had thought of. sending a reply as to
sadly witnesses in others, is but the effect of wrong-doing
re-embodiment, but considered, after all, it would be of little
committed at some time or another of his existence, and is
use,' until experience showsas it will show in every life sooner
absolutely necessary in order to wipe out the stain incurred
or laterthat it is the first light which dawns upon us with
thereby. Every true Spiritualist believes that whatsoever a
regard to self-knowledge. So long as any feel a prejudice
man soweth that shall he also reap, and consequently that it is
against it, so long will it be useless to say anything ; the present
not God Who causeth us to suffer but our own evil actions,
feelings, ideas, loves, &c., are too positive, and bar the way.
although without the belief in a previous existence we shall be
We'have to suffer a good deal and give up much before we can
unable to- account for much that we see, and suffer also. These
accept truths which give light, but do not bend to our personal
are my views upon the subject after nearly seventy years of
desires and feelings. But as to the after-life, Theosophy presents
sojourn here on earth ; they may seem weak and childish to
a very beautiful picture of rest, which all souls' do indeed
some, but as I said before, I value them highly, and the thought
need after the crucial experiences of the physical life. We lose
may perhaps help to lighten the burden of some worn and
nothing at all linked with the higher nature, while the loss of
weary sister or brother who may read these words,
the body (with which are connected the selfish and lower
T. L, H enxy. principles) enables life to be a real dream of Heaven while it
[Does
our
correspondent
not
see
that
the
mere belief in
lasts ; and it lasts until we wear it out, and feel the need of
Re-incarnation
does
not
make
the
Re-incarnation
itself afact,
further bodily existence. Nothing very dreadful in this !
though it may be comforting to have such a belief ? More
E quality.
over previous existence and re-incarnation are not
convertible terms.-pEd. L ight .]
Sib,I have read with interest, and with due appreciation
of its vigour and ability, your article of December 24th, with
Australian Race Dream Prevision.
its adverse comments on my former letter. I should be glad to
see the subject discussed fully, and by abler pens than my own.
Sib , The paragraph at p. 620 of L i g h t , dated Decem
I hope I am neither bigoted on the subject, nor inclined to be ber 17th, 1892, has much interest for m e ; because, since
unduly aggressive. I have written in defence of what appears 1870, during ten years residence in Australia, I have, in
to me an eminently reasonable and logical explanation of the common with most Australians concerned in racing matters,
reason for the existence of the phenomenal universe. In been on the alert about dreams seeming to indicate winners of
endeavouring to avoid dogmatism, and in speaking of the horse races, especially of that greatest- of all the races of the
subject simply as a theory, I have to some extent anticipated Southern Hemisphere, the Melbourne Cup, of which it is not
your desire to see 'the matter brought forward as a hypothesis. too much to say that all Australasia cares for it more than for
Well, even from this point of view, I must entirely demur to anything else, save, perhaps, cash.
such sweeping and indeed astonishing assertions as that the
No doubt many Australian racing men deride the notion that
idea is essentially materialistic, that Spiritualism and Re-incarna- dreams are of use towards the discovery of winning horses. But,
tion are not convertible terms, and that it is always flesh of often as I have heard that question discussed, I have invariably
found the discussion including a remarkable case of dream pre* Do they ?E d.

12

LIGHT.

vision which I will, if you please, add to the two others

contained in the paragraph published on p. 620 of Linux of
the 17th nit.
At this moment I oannot state exactly the year when
Nimblofoot won the Melbourne Cup. I think this happened in
1868 or 1869. However, if any of your readers wish to bo
certain about that | list of winners is probably in the
Australasian of November 12th, 1892, describing the Cup
week. The owner of Nimblefoot was Craig, the proprietor of
Craigs Hotel, at Ballarat, and Craig was in his time as well
known in Australia as the Melbourne Cup. Some weeks before
the race was won Craig dreamed that he saw Nimblefoot win the
race, that the rider was wearing his (Craigs) oolours, and that the
jockey had black crape round his arm. 1 can only so far fix the
time when Craig dreamed this by stating that it must have been
at least a month before the l'aoo; because at that time Nimble!oot
was not fit, and his chance of winning was so little thought of
that Slack, at that time the biggest bookmaker in Australia,
when Craig told him of his dream, laid Craig 1,060 to eight
drinks that his horse would not win. Well, Nimhlefoot did
win, and the jockey who rode him rode in Craigs colours ; but
there was not crape round his arm, though Craig died before the
race was won.
Now, if I am asked how I know that -Sack lay Craig
1,000 to eight drinks, I answer that Slack told me so himself.
I knew Slack very well, and he told me about this wager while
we were on board a P. and O. steamer, journeying from Gallo
to Melbourne; and he said that he paid Craigs widow the
1,000, though he said, I need not have done so, because
Craigs death made the bet off. This dream was published in
the Ballarat papers before the race was run. I had, but I have
lost, a cutting from a newspaper, published before the race was
run, mentioning the dream, and 1 know very well that the cir
cumstances are, in the main, as I have stated them j, and know
ing, as I do, how much this matter has- Mgifc discussed in
Australia, I have o manner of doubt that rjp; two dreams
published in L ight of the Ififh pit,, were talked of and likely
enough published, fee, in Australian newspapts(|lS|^^
won the Cup in 1891 and Glenluth won it in 1892. 1 wish I had
been there in November ; I would have given the bookmakers
cause to remember me, as, indeed, many of them cloalas, not
so much on account of my winnings as by reason of what I paid
them.
These last statements are calculated to discredit me in the
opinion of theological and scientific tyrants who may read this
letter. Still, sir, that cannot efface the things done which I
narrate ; and it doesnt signify if it be said I m as bad as my
facts, and so much the worse for the facts ; and s0 towards
the disestablishment f all else but.
respectable and proper.
It is remarkable that Glenluth won over a course deep in
mud, so much so that his rider said he was almost blinded by
mud cast in his face by the horses he had to get through ; and he
seemed surprised that the horse had won.
January 1st, 1893.
Gilbert E lliot.

SOCIETY WORK.
58, T avistock-crescent, Westbourne P ark, W. (near
station).Mrs. Mason will give a stance on Saturday next, at
8 prompt, at the above address. Investigators will be heartily
welcome.J. H. B., Hon. Sec.
14, Orchard-road, Askew-road, S hepherd s Jp-irsa, W .
On Sunday, in the absence of our appointed speaker, Mrs. Mason
kindly gave us a special stance. Several spirit-friends (relatives)
of the sitters were present, and were all recognised, Sunday,
at 7 p.m., Mrs. Spring. Tuesday, at 8 p.m., seance, Mrs. Mason.
J . H. B.
18, Clarendon-road, W althamstow. Several controls by
the spirit band spoke through Mr. Brailey, the subjects being
Charity, Truth, A Years Retrospect, From Glory
to Glory. Several solos were also rendered. The dates were
unfortunately given wrong by me of the undermentioned
entertainments:18, Clarendon-road, Walthamstow, Mr.
Petersileas entertainments:January 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th,
February 2nd, 9th.B.
S outh-place I nstitute, S outh-place, F insbury, E.O.A
course of eight lectures on the Language, Literature, History,
and Religion of Ancient Egypt will be delivered by F. W.
Read (chairman of the London Spiritualist Federation) on
Tuesday evenings, at 8 oclock. The lectures will be of a
popular character, and fully illustrated by photographic views
exhibited by the limelight lantern. The first lecture will be
given on Tuesday, January 10th. Admission free.
S piritual H all, 86, H igh -street, M arylebone. On
Sunday Mr. Isaac Hunt spoke on the subject announced, giving
an account of private stances recently attended, &c. January
9fch, Dr. F. R. Young, -The Dream of Pilates Wife. January
15th, Mr. H. J . Bowen, Trance Address. January 22nd, Mr.
C. Petersilea on The Fallacy of Re-incarnation preceded by,
Why I am a Spiritualist. January 29th, Mr. Anderson,
from America, Public stances discontinued.0. H.

[January 7, 1893.

P eokham Society op Spiritualists, W inchester H all,

33, H igh -street, On Sunday morning an interesting discussion was opened by Dr. Bass on the Solar System. In
the evening Mr. Butcher kindly gave an address in n hicli he
dwelt mainly on the work of the society during the past year,
and gave encouragement to continue our efforts to bring the
truth of Spiritualism before H people. I have another letter
inserted in both the | South London Mail and the South
London Press" in reply to Frank M. Smiths attack on
Spiritualists. Sunday next, at 11 and 7, M. Voifcoh.J. T,
Audy.
T he Stratford Society op Spiritualists, W orkmans
H all, W est H asi-lane, Strateord,,
service each

Sunday, a t 7 p.m. Speaker for next Sunday, Mr, #, Allen;

subject, Mesmerism, the Handmaid of Spiritualism. The
collection will be given to Mr. W. Wallis, who requires assist,
ance, having met with a serious accident. On Saturday, Jan
uary 21st, at 7-30 p.m., Mr, James Burns will deliver fi lecture
at the above Hall, on Spiritualism: its Facts and Pheno
mena, with one hundred oxy-hydrogen limelight illustrations,
Tickets, reserved seats, Is. ; unreserved, 6d. : from the
committee or after the usual service.J. R ainbow, Hon. Soc.
L ondon S piritualist F ederation, F ederation H all,

359, E d<sware-road. Next Sunday, at 7 p.m., T. Shorter, Esq,,

will lecture o Early Spiritual Phenomena. We are forming
a new circle for Saturday evenings. Those who wish to join
please write first. On Sunday, the 15th, we invite all Spiritualists
to a conference to aid the Federation in starting a philanthropic
scheme to assist mediums and! the poorer Spiritualists. This is a
matter which we have much at heart, Mr. Percy Smyth will
take the chair. Any who cannot attend the lecture, and who
are interested in the matter, please write to me at the hall.
A. F. Tindall, A.T.C.L., Hon. Sec.
South L ondon Spiritualist Society, 311, Camberwell
N ew-road, S.E.Sunday, at 11.30 a.m., service; at 3p.m.,
Lyceum ; at 7 p.m., service ; at 8.30 p.m,, general meeting.
Wednesday, at 8.30, spirit circle. January 29th, anniversary
services; and Tuesday, January 31st, tea and soiree. The
watch night stance was very successful, many realising the
nearness of their helo-ved friends in tllS spirit land. On Sunday
evening a memorial service was held for our departed member,
Mrs Watkins, Mr. Wyndoe giving a pathetic reading on
Immortality, followed by Mr. Long, who spoke as to the
definite knowledge that our sister still lives, death being a
birth into the spiritual realms.M. G. Coote, Hon. Sec.
N ew Years B all.A dance has been arranged for Monday
evening, January 23rd, at the Portman Rooms, Baker-street,
W. The (No. 2) suite of rooms has already been taken, and
Mr. Austins, full quadrille hand has been specially engaged, so
that there will be a grand opportunity for those who delight in
a real good dance. Light refreshments will be provided.
Tickets are now ready, and as they are limited early application
is necessary. The price has been fixed at 5s. each, and
tickets can be obtained of any of the following ladies, who
are also members of the committee Mrs. Everitt, Lillian
Villa, Holders Hill, Hendon, N. W. ; Miss Rowan Vincent, 31,
Gower-place, W.C. ; Mrs. Russell Davies, Sunnyside,
Ledrington-road, Upper Norwood, S.E. ; also at the Office of
L ight, 2, Duke-street, W.C. ; and of Mr. Alfred J.
Sutton, hon. sec., Woburn House, 12, Upper Woburn-place,
W. O., to whom all inquiries respecting the dance should be
addressed. Further particulars will be announced.A.J.S.
T he Spiritualists I nternational Corresponding Society.

Information and assistance given to inquirers into Spiritualism.

Literature on the subject and list of members will be sent on
receipt of stamped envelope by any of the following Inter
national CommitteeBAmerica, Mrs. M. Palmer, 3,101, North
Broad-street, Philadelphia ; Australia, Mr. Webster, 5, Peckville-street North, Melbourne ; Canada, Mr. Woodstock,
Waterniche, Brookville ; France, P . G. Leymarie, 1, Rue
Cliabanais, P a ris; Germany, E. Schloshaur, 65, KoniggriLtzer
Str., Berlin, S.W. ; Holland,F. W. H. Van Straaten, Apeldoorn,
Middellaan, .682 ; India, Mr. Thomas Hatton, Alimedabad;
New Zealand, Mr. Graham Huntley, Waikato ; Sweden, B.
Fortensom, Ade, Christiania ; England, J. Allen, Hon. Sec.,
14, Berkley-terrace, White Post-lane, Manor Park, Essex; or
W. 0. Robson, French correspondent, 166, Rye Hill, Newcastleon-Tyne. The Manor Park branch will hold the following
meetings at 14, Berkley-terrace, White Post-lane : Sunday, at
11 a.m., students meeting ; and the last Sunday in each month,
at 7 p.m., inquirers meeting. Friday, at 7.30 p.m., for
Spiritualists only, The Study of Spiritualism. And at
1, Winifred-road, Tuesday, at 7.30 p.m., inquirers meeting.
Also the first Sunday in each month, at 7 p.m., inquirers
meeting.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
E. H. H.^-Next week.
U na .Next week. But in the meantime please give us your
name and address in confidence.
W. O.Thanks for your communication, which shall appear hi
our next.

A Journal o f Psychical, Occult, and Mystical Research.

Lig h t ! More Light !

No. 627.V ol . X III. [RN

" , arsa]

Goethe.

Whatever

doth make manifest is eight."Paul.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1893.

CONTENTS.
Notes by the Way ...............
The New Spiritualism ,..
Wilting In a Locked D, sk .. ___ 14
Ancient Egyptian and Modern
The New Mesmerism............
Religious Reliefs.........
A Story of Swedenborg........
Questions and Answers... ............. 20
Two Ghost Stories................. .......17
Letters to the Editor ... ........ 21-24
Curious Will Case ...............
Society Work ..........

P rice T wopence.

must be very grateful to the Editor of the Review of

Reviews the hoardings will surely soon have more of
the wonderful posters identified with the lucrative exposure
at the Egyptian Hall.

Whether it be new or old Spiritualism it is all abroad,

liven the materialistic World spoke hesitatingly about
An art-eritio of much eminence once, when asked ghosts a week ago, and now that cynical paper of all
why a certain Mr, X. who knew nothing about pictures had : cynical papers, the National Observer, in introducing the
begun the profession of art-criticism, said, with some subject of St. Andrews Ghosts says :
humour, Such knowledge is unnecessary. Mr. M. H. j Ghosts ! Are they? And what are they 1 Unless it he in a
Spielmann, himself a well-known art-critic, and a friend 1Christmas number, the man who would write or talk of the
and erst companion of Mr. Stead, having accompanied supernatural hurls himself out of his own window, as it were,
him in his earlier investigations into Spiritualism, cannot right on to the horns of a dilemma, whereof he must needs get
surely believe that ignorance would be a qualification for broached on one. Either ho must protest that, as for ghosts,
himself is a believer in no such matter ; or he must shelter with
his own work, yet we find Mr. Spielmann, when iinterviewed science, and protend to justify the faith that is in him by
by one of the staff of the Morniiig?' as<ertin*j;ljS,t>the ; a parade of theory. Now, as concerning the general tribe of
unscientific man is far and away the; hSftiperson to make a ghosts, witches, and other night fears, there is no conjecturing
scientific investigation. Now Mr. i|ragBB presumably an here. They may be spiritsthings of a certain bloodless
unscientific person, therefore he a t ^ R S should stand a substance ; or, they may be the mere dormitories of the dead
chance of success in investigating thij^gSult; but accord where the devil like an insolent champion beholds with pride
ing to Mr. Spielmann, Mr. Stead,Sowing to his being the spoils and trophies of the world; or mayhap, again, they
may be simply hallucinations, heat delusions and tales out of
rather ready than otherwise to accept anything in the ;Pliny, having their birth and being in a disordered liver. The
supernatural order,whatever that may meanhas some problem is one whose solution is most comfortably left to the
how been led away. But if both the scientific and unscien societyit is in fact a Tribunalwhich sits at Westminster, and
whose meetings are dull as the dullest Chancery suit. But there
tific are led away so easily, who is safe 1
can be no harm in telling the said Tribunal where it may come
Mr. Spielmann denies that, as the Morning suggested, upon evidence. The- informers is not an honourable trade : but
he went on his rounds with Mr. Stead, carrying a small it is protected by law. And if the Society for Psychical Research
camera to take a snap-shot at any materialised spirit, but will prosently proceed to St. Andrews, it may light on something
he confesses that he did go around with a little machine of to its advantage.
No condemnation of the folly of all such things, only
his own invention which would have enabled him to
the
somewhat ponderous jocularity of the National
detain any spirit-hand that touched him, and to detain it
Observer.
' .
however he might have been knocked about and ill-used, as
he was amiably threatened. Where did poor Mr. Spielmann
Of all experiments connected with the occult, those that
go with his companion 1
have to do with hynotism are perhaps the most open to
trickery. In another column wo give extracts from the
Miss Fay possibly deceived Mr. Crookes, and Mr.
; Times describing certain things done by Dr. Luys at
Spielmann naturally says so; but not a word is said about
the Charitd Hospital of Paris, which the writer in the
Florence Cook. Mr. Eglinton gave up Spiritualism for a
Times asserts to have been quite genuine; and, already
time, it was said, because of certain exposures. And horein
as wo go to press, Mr. Ernest Hart, who has experimented
we see the excellence of knowing nothing about a subjeot,
in Paris with the same subjects as Dr. Luys, asserts, also in
when an opinion is asked. Spiritualism and Spiritualistic
;
phenomena are confounded as usual. Indeed, of Mr. the Times, that he has found ample evidence of fraud.
Spielmarms accuracy we have abundant evidence, for did We shall refer to this subjeot again next week.
NOTES BY THE WAY.

he not go to a stance near Langham Church 1 I t was

Moreover, the correspondent of the Times who sent
perhaps there that Mr. Spielmann was threatened, for he
the
two letters, fully quoted from in another eolumn, has
seems to have come across no one but the professional
executed
as extraordinary a volte-face as any on record
medium.
He has seen through the whole thing from the first! We
We, however, cannot but regret that Mr. Steads past beg our readers, therefore, to read carefully the article on
experiences in the way of being duped give more weight the New Mesmerism, as we shall have occasion to refer
to Mr. Spielmanns remarks than would otherwise attach to it when commenting on the astonishing last utterances
to them. The investigation, which it would appear that of the Times correspondent.
the Society for Psychical Research is about to make, will,
we hope, soon be entered upon, and the result made known.
I f I touch my hand to a board, there is only a blunt sound ;
but if I touch it to the key of an instrument there is a musical
And the effect produced upon a person by that wit which
The Messrs Maskelyne, Stuart Cumberland, and all sound.
he comes in contact depends upon what there is in him to be
who live by exposing Spiritualistic and suchlike frauds, touched,H, W. Beecher,

14

LIGHT.
WRITING IN A LOCKED DESK.

[January 14, 1893.

top of the pile to the bottom, bringing them in contact with the
wooden and outside part of the desk. In turning over the
papers our eyes fell at once upon the writing. There was
no pencil in the desk, and no other sign of disturbance of any
kind. The message will be seen to be a lengthy and coherent
communication, signed and dated in a manner that would go to
explain some of the attendant phenomena described.
We were, of course, highly gratified at the success of this
deeply interesting experiment. The circumstances under which
the writing was obtained were shortly stated by us on the other
half of the sheet of note-paper, and this document was signed by
all the seven persons present. The test, to those acquainted with
the circumstances, and with Mr. Everitt and his family, is an
absolutely perfect one. I have received direct writing, under
test conditions, on various other occasions, and have not a
shadow of doubt in my mind as to the origin of this message.
I t will, no doubt, be read with much interest and perfect confidence
by m any of th e subscribers to L ight . With the outside
public, of course, it will have little weight, Men cannot easily

W e p rin t below the fne-simile of some direct spiritw riting, given under circumstances described in the follow
ing narrative which has been supplied, a t our request, by a
respected clergyman of the Church of England with whom
we have the pleasure of being personally acquainted :
On December 17th I paid a visit to the house of my esteemed
friends, Mr. and Mrs. Everitt, from whom I have, for several
years past, received the mast valuable aid and counsel in my
study of the interesting but difficult and complex phenomena of
Spiritualism. I was, on this occasion, accompanied by three
ladies who are members of my own family, and who are also
acquainted with the truths of spirit-intercourse. We had spent
some time m oonv,'ersation relative to this all-important subject,
and I was giving Mr. Everitt some details in connection with
my own experiments in the attempt to obtain direct writing
under strictly test conditions, when Mr. Everitt requested his
daughter to open her desk and to show me a copy of a direct be convinced against th eir will.
message which she had received under peculiar circumstances
some time since. The message was from a young man who had
been drowned while bathing, and whose death had caused un
speakable p tin and grief to his parents. The message, so far
as I remember, was one of comfort and consolation, with a
warm expression of regret at the trouble and sorrow thus
unhappily and unwillingly caused. I was deeply interested to
learn that intelligence of the message thus conveyed was given
to Mrs. Everitt (Miss Everitt being the medium on this occasion)
when she was many miles away from her own house, where the
message was afterwards found in the place and under the
circumstances indicated.
Someone present suggested that I should place a sheet of
note paper in the same desk with a view of receiving, perhaps,
a similar interesting and valuable communication. Miss Everitt
very kindly put her desk at my disposal, and gave me three or
four sheets of ordinary note paper, which I initialed and dated
on the outside half-page, and placed them, in the presence of six
witnesses, on the top of Miss Everitts papers, closing the flap of
the divided desk, and carefully locking the desk itself. As no
shadow of doubt respecting the trustworthiness of the family
entered into my mind, I proposed to leave the key in Miss
E veritts possession. Mr. Everitt, however, very kindly suggested
that, with a view of making the test (to those at least concerned
jt=3
in the matter) more perfect, I should retain possession of the
m
key and return to the house to open the desk in the event of
any communication being received. I therefore put the key
gi
into my purse. I t was ascertained th at no other key in the
house fitted the desk.
The latter was placed in its usual
1
W
placeMiss E veritts bedroom. There was no pencil inside the
m
desk, but there were three ordinary lead pencils in the dressingtable drawer.
$
1
On the evening of December 20th I received aI note from Miss
1q i
tv
Vs
Everitt informing me th at a communication had been made to
them a t breakfast that morning, to the effect that some writing
m
N
had been given in the desk, and asking me to come over with
the key. In company with two of the three ladies who had
The message, having been w ritten in pencil, was too faint in
been present on the previous occasion described, I at once places to be easily photographed, and some lines are therefore a
proceeded to the house, where another gentleman had arranged little indistinct in the reproduction ; but it can, nevertheless, be
to meet us in order to witness the opening of the desk, the key read without difficulty as follows :
of which, I need hardly say, had not for a moment passed out
31y dear friend and fellow worker we are glad to be able to
of my possession.
help and influence you in your work on the earth plane your
Upon our arrival, and before the opening of the desk, Mr.
mind is open to truth in whatever form you fin d it hence the
Everitt told me th at Miss Everitt, after retiring about twelve
facility
with which we can impress you do not think you are
oclock on the 19th of December, and while in a semi-conscious
not
free
ice do not compel only influence and guide you and
state, suddenly felt the bed shaking and herself trembling.
lead
you
to
see fo r yourself the truthfulness and importana of a
Concluding that the writing was going on she tried to fix the
knowledge
that
there isa life beyond the plane on which humanity
time in her mind, and thought it would be a little before one
exists
to
make
known
to your fellowman the certainty of again
oclock. On rising in the morning she discovered th at the hands
meeting
with
the
loved
and dear ones gone on before rest assured
of the clock had been stopped at a quarter to one. A friend of the
we
will
help
and
guide
you all ice can
,
family, who occupied a bedroom in the house during the same
ever
your
friend
night, confessed at breakfast in the morning th at he had ex
12 month 20 day 1 hour
John Watt
perienced similar physical disturbances about the same hour of
the night, these independent testimonies leading Mr. Everitt
to think tliat they had been produced with a definite aim, and
A great poet declares that we needs must love the highest
th at we should probably find some evidence th at the writing had when we see it ; but he has omitted to add the unflattering
been accomplished about the time the clock had been stopped.
postscript, that evep while both seeing and loving it, either
I now proceeded to unlock the desk in the presence of six through defect of nature or instability of will the ordinary
witnesses. I found upon raising the flap that the papers had mortal soon finds the highest a little exhausting, and, as a rule,
been disturbed. The sheets of note-paper which I had placed takes very good care not to spend any great length of time in
on the top of Miss E v eritts papers had been removed from the its near neighbourhood.Lvc.ys Malkt,

fauumy M, 1893.]

THE NEW MESMERISM.

LIGHT.

15

piano accustomed to play tunes in company with another

piano. By this time next year doubtless the Times
Ilus is the title of two long papers in the Times. correspondent will have- arrived at a clearer view of the
TUofirst appeared on December 28th, 1892, the second on matter. Of tho facts lie says :January nth, 1893. Perhaps no more im portant sign of
To describe thorn adequately would occupy a whole number
tlu> change that has come over the thinking world could bo
of the Times," and therefore I shall not attempt it. Besides,
given than that these two articles should appear in the
they are an old story now, and may bo found in dozens of
" Times ' newspaper. Y et there they are. The writer, hooks written in ovory civilised language. But in case there
who is u an occasional correspondent, writes from Paris. are still some incredulous people who find these wonders
About the identity of modern hypnotism and the older difficult to believe, I hog to assert that they are absolutely
mesmerism there is no hesitation ; there is no difference true. Whatever may bo the case on a public platform, there is
whatever between them. More than that, it is asserted no room for imposturo in the wards of a hospital, and more
that some of the most advanced practitioners in Paris are over many of the phenomena are entirely beyond the reach of
tho cleverest imposter. Tho brain of a hypnotic becomes
being led back to processes and theories strangely like transformed and capable of a thousand things wholly impossible
Mesmers own, but even more transcendental. I t was t > tho same organ in tho natural state, or indeed to any other.
hardly to be supposed th at a w riter for tho Times would The utter truthfulness, for instance, with which a common
readily give way to this transcendentalism, and though woman of the people, ordinarily dull and ignorant, will, when
towards the end of the two papers the observed facts seem hypnotised, realise a suggested character and play the part,
to have carried the w riter somewhat out of himself, yet in surpasses the art of tho most accomplished actress. It must be
the first paper there is the usual attem pt at semi-explanation. seen to bo appreciated.
To two classes of phenomena, however, our attention
The Occasional Correspondent tried to get mesmerised
so as to observe what happened as he gradually recovered is specially called, namely, th at of the apparent transmis
consciousness, having recognised as hopeless the attem pt to sion of sensibility either to or from an image, from or to the
remember anything th a t happened during the somnambulic subject, and th at of the cure of certain forms of disease by
deep, He could not be put into the hypnotic state, though transference from the patient to a hypnotised person by the
he sat staring for tw enty minutes a t the miroir rotatif of use of magnets and the subsequent dismissal of the disease
Dr. buys. This is the account of the observers experience: from the hypnotised person by suggestion. We have
this instance given of the first class :
Even a failure teaches something, and although tho ultimate
effects wove nil I learnt how the thing acts, at any rate to some
I have been fortunate enough to witness some of these
extent. As it revolves and Hashes into your eyes several times experiments and will describe what I saw. They were not
in a second, the repeated stimulus of the optic nerve causes a carried out by Dr. Luys, but by an amateur who attends his
distraction of mind which renders it impossible to concentrate diniqite. This gentleman had a roughly constructed figure,
your attention upon anything. The thinking part of your brain about I foot high, resembling the human form and made of gutta
will not work ; it seems to lie open, inert and half bewildered ; percha or some such material, and he experimented with it on
control is lost. In this condition, when the doctor comes, closes a hysterical young woman, one of the hospital patients and an
the eyelids, and utters the words, Go to sleep emphatically extremely sensitive subject. She was placed in an arm-chair
into your ear, the mind seizes upon the suggested idea with great and hypnotised, and he seated himself immediately opposite
avidity, as a sorb of relief, and holds it tenaciously, to the in close contact with her, their logs touching and her hands
exclusion of everything else. So it happened to me. I realised placed upon his knees. After some preliminary business of
the command of Dr. Luys with extraordinary distinctness, but stroking her arms and so forth, lie produced the figure and held
unfortunately felt no inclination whatever to obey it. I closed it up in front of her, presumably to be charged with her
lay eyes and honestly tried to go to sleep, but without the smallest magnetism, for these experiments rest on the magnetic theory.
success. After tho lapse of twenty minutes they proposed to Then he placed it out of her sight and pinched it. Sometimes
bring the sitting to an end, as it is supposed to be fatiguing. she appeared to feel it and sometimes she did not, but he was
Not finding it so, however, and wisliing to give the miroir a full all the time in actual contact with her. Then he held it where
trial, I opened my eyes again, and went on for another ten she could see it, and this time, she obviously suffered acutely
minutes, bub with less result than before. Of course a single whenever he touched the figure and in the place where he
sitting counts for nothing, and many subjects who fail on the touched it, although she did not look at it or seem to observe it.
first occasion afterwards succumb. Bub I declined to try again, Especially when he touched the sole of the foot it evidently
because I was convinced that, it would be waste of time. tickled her beyond endurance. Then the figure was placed aside
Familiarity had already bred contempt. The beginning was the on a table out of sight both of the girl and of the operator, while
most favourable chance, because I started with that susceptible, another gentleman put one hand on the operators back and the
half-tremulous condition of mind which accompanies expectancy other on the image. I was in such a position as to see them all,
of the unknown. When the unknown did not arrive, or rather and whenever the second gentleman touched the figure rhe girl
became the known, and I could measure and analyse its action, felt it. Then she was told that she was to feel it just the same
then absolute conviction of its inutility in my case set in. The after being woke up, and an attempt was made to wake her, but
reason why I ooidd not go to sleop on being told to is simply she was by this time very profoundly affected, and the attempt
that I am wholly unaccustomed to act upon anybody elses was only partially successful. In this statethat is, still
dictation, and that seems to me to explain, in a great measure, somnambulisticshe stood up and moved from her place. The
the difference between those who are susceptible to hypnotism operator did the. same, and being separated from her by some
and those who are not. The question has less to do with physical feet he turned his back to her and held the figure in such a
health than with mind, except in so far as health affects the mind. position that she could not possibly see it. Then he pinched at
The susceptible are those mentally feeble folk who are open to the back of the neck and she felt- it at the same moment, but in
every external influence, and find it easier to follow anothers the wrong place. . . .
I can answer for it that she felt
load than to act on their own initiativepeople not necessarily something at the moment when he touched tho image, and that
unintelligent, hut with empty and ill-controlled minds. The she could net see. it and was not in contact with him, because I
vigorous brain, and especially that with educated and disciplined was standing almost- between them. But she felt- it far more
faculties, accustomed to reason and to act upon reason, is acutely when he pinched his own wrist under tho same eiivumwholly impervious to hypnotism. Not all tho doctors in Paris etances. That brought the experiments to a conclusion. They
could influence it in the smallest degree if they tried every day occupied a t least- half an hour, and included a number of
for a year.
interesting details which I have boon obliged to omit.
Of course, this is no explanation at nil, or at any rate,
This experiment the correspondent asserts to have
there is very little explanation in it, W hen the m ind and been perfectly genuine. W e come then to trausferenml
bruin are talked of in this loose wav. but little explanation magnetism,
This method of euro is said to be practised
cun he expected, A vigorous brain accustomed to reason, in l.)r. Luyss clintquc at the Chari to Hospital, alone.
and to act Upon reason, is about as easy to imagine as a The patient- himself is not hypnotised, but is placed in

hi

light.

contact with another person who is,

Three eases nro
given :
Tilt) first is a man siilfei iug front a cosb w iilf'v of Ilie lol l hand,
(I is a nervous affection ; (ho muscles acting on Iho lingers are
in a state of permanent spasm, whioh has Iho oiled of closing
tho hand, not quite tightly, but with extreme flrmutis*. Ilo fe)
placed in a ohaivi anil a hypnotic subject front tho wurila seats
kiniaoif in another immediately opposite at. (ho distance of a low
Itu'l This man is instantaneously hypnol isod h,V Iho hospital
attendant* who carries out. Iho whole | | w M P wil.h a*
methodical precision that indicates huts' practice, lie places
Ins hand on tho mans forehead, and tho lattor at onoo falls back
in Iho arntohatr profoundly du/nriH/, Thou, aftor interlocking
tho hands of tho two mon, hit takes a- largo quadruple har
magnet Htnh beginning at the patient's loft, shoulder, passes Iho
magnet along that, arm ami up to ( ho otltor man a shoulder,
across his oho,st, down tho arms on tho other aido to tho
patient's right shoulder, and Dually across his ohoat to tho
starting point again. This tttanonivro is repeated aovoral times,
and oaoh tune a slight atop or point, is made opposite tho
shoulders, elbows, and wrists of hot It tnott. AI lor tltroo or four
tuiuutoa of this, tho magnet is laid aaido anil their hands onlocked* Tho sloopor is now found to ha.vo acquired tho patioilt a
ces/mr/mv, while tho latter's hand is slightly, hut, palpably,
looaor than it was. To complete llto proceedings, tho hypnotic,
is told that, when ho awakes tho rmifroWim will, disappear. A
pttir across t ho eyes wakes hint without morn ado, and his hand
has already regained its normal condition. The second ease is
that of a young man who complains of vertigo and a sense of
emptiness in the head. The treatment is earned out with tho
same hypnotic subject, whose hands are this time placed on the
patient's head and hold there hy the patient's own. Tho Name
proceedings are repeated, except, that tho magnet is applied to
the head. At its close the sleeper is asked if his head aches,
and he replies No. What, do you feel
1 feel an
emptiness in my brain, -My head seems hollow." llo is told
that, he will not feel it on awaking, and so it happens, Tho
third case is a. girl, seven or eight years of age, suffering from a
fairly severe attack of chorea (St, Vitus's dance), She is placed
in contact with a fresh hypnotic subject, a middle-aged woman,
and precisely the same performance is repeated, Tho woman
acquires the. symptoms of chorea, while hypnotised, and loses
them again on returning to consciousness, while the litt le girl is
percept ihly quiet or.
After referring to (he well observed fact that hypnot ised
people have. a. marked power of sensing, and for the time
assimilating the disordered eonditions of others, a faet pre
eminently brought out in those magnetic experiments, tho
Times' correspondent concludes the second of these two
remarkable papers with an account, of D l\ Luys's own
beliefs as to the connect ion between physical magnetism, and
the Mmagnetism of a human being :
Hr. buys himself believes in the magnetic theory, and thinks
the magnet, used plays a real part in the proceedings. In fact.,
he is almost as thoroughgoing an animal magnotiat as Mesmer
himself. Ho has for some years studied the action of magnets
on hypnotic subjects and has made seme curious observations
on the point. Hypnotics, he finds, are intensely susceptible to
magnets; they are attracted hy the north polo and ropollod hy
the smith, ami this act,ion can he exercised at some distance,
though the magnet is screened from view, Further, hypnotics
can set) ami describe the waves of mngwotism given off by large
oar magnets. Tho.sc disengaged from tho north polo are blue
and agreeable, those from the south pole are red ami painful*
This faculty can he still further applied to the study of
human polarity.*1 The living being, in the form of the
hypnotic subject, can he used as a re '.agent to reveal the
ditforont colourings proper to man in the normal state. Thus
it is found that, the eye, ear, nostril, ami cheek of the right side
give ellrod waves, while those of the left, side give oil* blue ones,
that the intensity of the waves is proportionate to the vital
energy, that it. is considerably lessened in a side a hooted hy
paralysis and'reduced to a m ininnw i in ohronio wasting diseases,
that in neuropaths and hysterics the red waves of tho right side
bcoomo violet,
That wo have, ns the writer says, got very far on the
road hnek towards Mesmer is pretty clear, Ami as he says
quite truly * the principal dilVeronoo between the practice
and theory of Mesmer and the practice ami theory of the

f.January 14, IHftrt.

moderns, lies in the superior point of view which

present generation owes to an intervening eeutui'y t,f
scion title (| incur cry. 1
It wss not to bo aopposed that the appearance of two
mit'h article?! in the Times Mcould be passed iiunotieo(|
and noourdingly we find lh \ Ihieknill writing to Mini,
Journal under dato Oocmnbrr .l Is!, The d o ll experj.
nient overpowers him. And whether the doll transferred
sensibility to the woman, or Ilie wom ans sensibility wir,
transferred to the doll) lh \ Ihieknill saysIn nil her case I nm?d, dam to nay that the marvel had clearly
gone, beyond the verge of tho super)infcurnl, and that Iho only
explanation acceptable t,o my mind is that the facts \voro
inadequately observed,
A lit I then we get this ; On word more. The writer of your article distinguishes
between the mesmerism of t he platform and ( hat. of a hospitod,
and he declares that, thorn is no room for imposture in tlio
Wards of a hospital, (hit, I very well remember (though it, i?t
hall a century ago) seeing the Misses Okey in tho wards uf
University Uollege Hospital, whore they had been retained far
experiment about two yours hy that able ami popular piofcNHor
of medicine, Dr. Mlliotsoii. At length I.hoy developed the power
ol seeing Itluck .lack sitting on tho bed of every pat ient, in thoir
Ward who was about to die ; and this had such a depressing
elloet, upon the nerves even of those patients who were about to
live that tho hospital committee turned the young ladies out,
and Dr. Klliotsou resigned his elmir and his hospital ; and this
is tho only important, result, of mesmerism which lias over mine
to my knowledge.
This paragraph seems to require explanation* If the
ladies saw Hlaek Jack sitting on the beds of only those
about to die, and not on the bods of the others, this was
surely evidence against imposture instead of for it. Ihit
Dr, Hnek nil I does not say what he means,
That <4 this is
the only important result of mesmerism which has over
come to my k n o w le d g e o n e can readily believe,
A STORY

OF SWEDENBORG,

A respectable man in Stockholm bought an ostufeo of aunt InW,

paid for it, and received an acknowledgment, says the Chicago
Mail. The purchaser died soon after, and not long aftor the
seller demanded payment of tho widow, threatening that non*
oompliunoo would eause him to take possession again. Tho
widow was torriliod, for sh knowhor hushaml had paid, hut
after making a most minute search she was unable to Dud proof
anywhere, As tho deceased had been on kindly terms with Iho
Russian ambassador she had recourse to him, who, being well
aware what assistance Swedenborg had ailordod in such casus,
promised the widow that ho would talk over her case with him,
Some days after Swedenborg came to tho ambassador and bade
him toll the widow that on a certain night her husband would
appear to her and give direct information where the receipt, was
secreted. This was awful to contemplate, but, as impending
ruin stared her in the face, she determined to sit up on the
night, in question, keeping her maid, however, with hor, Hut
the lat ter fell into a deep sleep, and all efforts of the widow wore
unavailing to keep her awake,
At midnight the deceased
appeared, He looked grave, as though displeased, and then
pointed out the place where the receipt, lay in a little desk in
{mot her room attached to t he wall, on which he disappeared,
The widow went the next morning to the place he had indicated*
and there found the receipt. Iteligio-lMulosophioal Journal,1
TRUE BLESSEDNESS*
Hlost he the hands that toil to aid
The great, world's ceaseless need,
Tho hands that, never are afraid
To do a kindly deed.
Most he the thoughtful brain that schemes
A beautiful ideal,
Mankind grows great through noble dreams
That, are in time made real.
Do good in thought some future day
Twill ripen into speech,
Por words are seeds that* grow to deeds,
.None know hew far they roach.

.January 14, 1893.]

TWO GHOST STORIES.

JjTC M

l . __ _____ ________________ _______ 17__

stops they scrambled ill pursuit, but Appearance there was none.
Thoso men told their story: the woman's hat, the silver
Tho National Observer gives these ghost stories ns faco, tho look of unearthly woo, and all the r e s t; and they,
loiug legendary hi St. Andrews
also, were laughed at for their pains. They affected (collectively)
A liailo from St. Andrews is a certain country house, now to bo persuaded. But (individually) they kept their' opinion.
tiio [iroporty of an ominently respectable person (not a literary And the question remains : how if not thus would a Scots
character), once the Palace of Archbishop Sharp. Hither ho mason qualify a Cardinals hat?
yffig driving that afternoon, when they slow him on Magus Muir
before his daughters eyesBalfour of Burleigh and the rost :
SUSTENTATION FUND.
while Hackston of Rathillot put his cloak about his mouth,
ami to tho old mans Ton are a gentleman, Rathillot, and will
We gratefully acknowledge tho following contributions, and
protect me, responded simply, I will never lay a hand on hope that our friends will all give what they can, whether much
you," and let the bloody work go on. W ell: long afterward, or little. Remittances should ho sent to the Treasurer, Mr, H.
ami during tho tenancy of Mr. Brooks (of Sheffield: that W ltf p , Gravel Lane, Southwark, London, S.E. :
s. d.
eminent publisher), a certain member of the Royal and Ancient
E, H. Rental!
...
50 0 0
went out. to dine and stay the night. Going to bod, he know no
. ,,
A Lady ...
. .
...
20 0 0
more till he was awakened suddenly by hearing someone in his
1 ###
0.
0.
M........................
*
1

...
10 10 0
room. Ho sat up, and through tho curtains at his feet ho sa w a
Mrs. S. E. Coates ...
...
10
0 0
figure passing softly to and fro. Now, ho had particularly
...
Mrs. (Stanhope (Speer
...
5 5 0
desired to bo called at 7 a.in. ; and, as the month was June
M,
Hen. Percy Wyndham
5 0 0
ami tho morning brilliant, a strong light flooded the room and
...
...
Mrs. F. A. Moulton
5 0 0
mado tho hour a problem ; so he called out to the servantas
,,,
5 0 0
Thomas Grant
he supposed In good time, I hope? and turned to look at
,,,
...
3 oQ 0
Mrs. C. H. Swanston
his watch. It was not yot five oclock ; and at that moment tho
m
2 2 0
P. H. N i n d ............. .
man went silently by the bed into a closet in the chamber wall ;
...
2 0 0
Mrs. A. J . Penny ...
and ns lie passed, that golfer saw his faco, and marked it in his
Mrs. Mackinnon
2 0 0
mind. Then ho leaped out of bed and ran after ; but the closet
E, J . Baillie ...
1 1 0
stood empty. Thereupon he slept no more ; but at seven the
Mrs. Sainsbury
1 1 0
real servant cam in, and was told. A confidential man, he
1 1 0
Hon. Mrs, Carleton
begged tho seer to say nothing about it to his master. No more
Miss Boswell-Stone ...
1 1 0
was said, accordingly ; and years went by ; and Mr. Brooks had
Mr. and Mrs. Senior

...
1 1 0
passed away from East Fife : and this Royal and Ancient one
1 1 0
Mrs. Morgan Payler
was again a guest in a country house. This time his host was a
1 1 0
W. O. ...
great collector of old prints, and was wont to drag his guests
...
1 1 0
Mrs. F. A. Ross
through chamber after chamber filled with antique portraits.
...
1 1 0
.
R. G. Bennett
One morning the Royal and Ancient, being moro or less
**
1 0 0
Mrs. Wigharn Richardson ...
desperate in the Scots mist of his entertainers information, saw
1 0 0
Mrs. 0. J . Burton ...
something that brought his heart to his mouth. There, in a
1 0 0
E. T. Luson ...
little old dirty print, but unmistakable, identical, was the face
1 0 0
Mrs. Glanville
of the man who had waked him in his room that summer
...
1 0 0
Edward Maitland
morning years ago. Breathless he asked the name. 11Hackston
...
0 10 0
The Misses Taunton
of Rathillet!
...
0 10 0
T. Powers
...............
Not Sharp, however, is the doyen of St. Andrews dead ; nor
John Knox; nor any but David Beatoun, about whose name
CURIOUS WILL CASE.
tradition iB still green, and whose memory is terrible. W hat
wonder if he must revisit the glimpses of the moon and the
A curious will caso was tried in the P robate Court, Sydney,
scenes of a tremendous life ? So, whenever the tide is fu ll on the a month ago. The facts were as follow s: In May last Mrs.
Sod Sands between midnight and the first hour of morninghe Hannah Cowell, a wealthy widow, residing a t Gladesville,
drives down by the old Abbey Wall into the sea. They are dropped dead. A t the time it was supposed she died intestate,
many that have seen his white face pleading at the coach- and the curator of intestate estates took possession of her effects
window : he cannot speakmutely lie must implore your with a view to protecting her estate. J u s t after he received his
prayers ; for the devil sits with him and holds him by the arm. rder to administer, a will dated January, 1891, purporting to
His outriders are skeletons, his coachman is headless, and thus he made by Mrs. Cowell, was produced, and it was alleged th at
he drives to his doom : whenever the tide is full on the East Sands it had been found stuffed in the lining of an easy chair. It,
between midnight and the first how of morning. And one evening however, bore the signature of only one witness, and was th e re
twas the overling of the longest daynot many years syne, fore treated as invalid. The curator of intestate estates was
three masons were smoking on his ruined banquoting-room, about to dispose of the personal estate of th e deceased, when a
tliat gives on where the draw-bridge over-spanned the moat of will dated October, 1886, was produced. I t bore th e signatures
Rfc, Andrews Castle. Stone steps, like all else, open to the air, of two witnesses, Jam es M artin and W alter Lam bert, and this
lead up to it from tho Entrance Hall on either hand ; and gravel will was contested on the ground th a t at th e tim e it was
floors tho passages once laid with marble. I t was a favourite executed tho attesting witnesses were not present, T he pecu
howlF of these masons; and to-night they looked for the liarity of the case arises from th e fact th a t it was alleged th a t
coining of a friend. Presently they heard his steps approaching Alioe Maidment, a girl who had lived w ith th e deceased as a
but deliberately. Jocks takin his time the nicht, said servant and companion for about nine years, stated th a t a few
one. And the steps came slowly nearer, passed to the foot of days after th e curator of intestate estates took possession Bhe
the stairs, and began climbing them one by one. I ll go and had a dream, in which an angel appeared to h e r and to ld h e r
meet him, said the man who had spoken; and he started forw ard; th at an escritoire belonging to her late m istress contained a
but his feet recoiled, and he stood with the rest. And turning secret drawer, and th a t she was to look in it. T h is was done,
to greet their friend, now on the last step of tho staircase, they and the will dated 1886 was found duly attested. Tho p ro perty
Haw it was not he but a woman, for who but a woman would under the will was shown to be w orth from 14,000 to 16,000,
wear that trailing gown, that big red hut ? She came at them, and amongst th e bequests was one of 400 to tlie m aidservant.
and behold 1 it was no woman, but a man dressed up as for a The girl was examined a t length as to h er dream , and adm itted
masquerade. They would have laid hands on him, but some- th a t she had one resulting in th e finding of th e will, b u t could
bow they were stricken stony, and could move no hand nor foot.| remember nothing about it or the angel. U ltim ately th e
Court found in favour of the will th u s cuiTously propounded.
Tbc Appearance said no word, but went straight by them. I t
seemed unconscious of their presence: ho aye lookit out to
DiU'rn not only beautifies our bodies w hen th e soul has le d ,
sen, said one of them afterwards. Tho faco of it was ghastly
waa sot in a look of dreadful sadness : so th at one man burst b u t even in life th e thought of death gives new beauty to our
lineam ents, and new strength to th e heart, as rosem ary both
into a (it of sobbing. I t was now on the opposite staircase : winds as a garland around tho dead and revives tho fainting
slowly it went down. Then one and all were free. Down the J spirit by its cordial essence.J ean P aui . R iciiteb .

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B o n d ."

SA TURD A Y, JA N U A R Y 14th, 1S93.

T O C O X T R I B U T O R S .C o m m u n ic a tio n s i n t e n d e d to be p r in te d ,
s h o u ld be a d d c e s se d to th e E d i t o r , 2 , D u k e - s t r c e t , A d e lp h i . I t
t c i l l m u c h f a c i l i t a t e th e i n s e r t i o n o f s u i t a b l e a r t i c l e s i f th e y
a r e u n d e r tw o c o lu m n s i n le n ffth . L o n g c o m m u n i c a t io n s a r e
a l w a y s i n d a n g e r o f b e in g d e l a y e d , a n d a r e f r e q u e n t l y
d e c l i n e d o n a c c o u n t o f w a n t o f s p a c e , th o u g h i n o th e r r e s p e c ts
g o o d a n d d e s ir a b le . L e t te r s s h o u ld be c o n f in e d to th e s p a c e
o f h a l f a c o lu m n to e n s u r e i n s e r t i o n .
B u s in e s s c o m m u n ic a tio n s s h o u ld i n a l l c a s e s be a d d r e s s e d to
H r . B . D . G o d f r e y , 2 , D u k e - s t r c e t , A d e lp h i , IV.C., a n d n o t to
th e E d ito r .

T H E N E W S P IR IT U A L IS M .
As we have got the n e w Mesmerism, so i t seems to
some people th a t we have also arrived a t the new
Spiritualism.
A t any rate, the open letter of Dr.
P ark er to Mr. Stead, published in the M orning and
to which L ight has already referred, has given rise to a
considerable am ount of correspondence in th a t journal.
The interview has also been freely worked. T hat Mr.
Frederic H arrison and Mr. Maskelyne reproduce th e old
jau n ty contempt goes without saying, and we therefore pass
them by. Much more interest attaches to w hat Mr. Stead
and his medium, Mrs. Davies, say about the m atter. Mr.
Stead is reported to have said, when replying to a question
by the interview er as to how the autom atic w riting
began
I t came about in this way. One of my friends had been
accustomed for some time to do automatic writing, and when I
was watching the process a message was written to me to the
effect that a certain deceased lady wished to use my hand. I
said I should be very glad, but it was absolutely impossible
for my hand to write except consciously, and that, as far as I
knew, I had not a particle of medium!stic power. My own
phrase was that I was blind, deaf, and dumb in all psychical
matters, and I could neither do automatic handwriting, go into
a trance, see ghosts, or do anything whatever in that line. The
automatic handwriting went on to say that I was mistaken ;
that if I would put my hand at her disposal for five minutes she
would write with it. I said, By all means try, but as my
hand remained motionless for five minutes, I said it was , no
go. Then came the message * I had not given her time enough.
I said I would give her another five minutes, which I did, with
the same result, whereupon I said I would not go on fooling
round any longer, as it was quite evident that I had not the capa
city, and that if there was any message to be delivered it must
be given to me through some person who was more gifted in
that respect than myself. About a month afterwards the same
person, who was doing the automatic handwriting before, wrote
another message to the effect that the person who had wished to
communicate with me was present,' and was in great distress be
cause she wished to speak to me, and I would not give her a
chance. I said I had given her two chances, and that I could
not afford to sit for ever waiting until my hand moved. The
message came Will you give me nine minutes to-morrow
morning before you begin your w ork? I said yes, and I
did, and to my immense surprise my hand slowly, and with
great difficulty, wrote out an almost illegible message, to which
was appended the name of the person who had alleged she
wished to communicate with me. Thivt was the beginning of it.

[January 14, 1895.

Mr. Stead th en went on to assert th a t he consciously

I had no influence over the w riting, and informed his ques
tioner as to how lie became convinced of the identity of
the communicating intelligence. To the question as to
I how, he said :
Well, I can host answer that by tolling you the facts of the
j story that figures so conspicuously in my Christmas Number,
j From the Old World to the Now. I will not mention the
real names, although I have no objection to tell them to you
1 privately. I was staying at a country house in the West of
! England, when a lady who was present asked me one day, much
to my surprise, if I knew of any clairvoyant or medium. I said,
Yes, but why? She said that about six months before she
had lost her dearest friend, a lady of great intelligence, whom I
had met twice a year or two before. The lady who addressed
me said further that while her friend was alive they had long
ago promised each other that whoever died first would appear to
the other if she could. Now, she said, my friend has
appeared to mo twice since she died, once very shortly
after her decease, and the second time only the other night, in
this very house. W h a t! I said, are there ghosts about
h e re ? She continued, I was awakened in the middle of the
nightsuddenly awakened by the consciousness of her pre
sence at my bedside. I saw her as distinctly as I see you, but
I could not hear if she spoke. Then she faded away, and I
only saw a light where she had been standing. I cannot bear to
think that she has come back to see me, and that I cannot hear
her voice. I thought that if you knew a trustworthy clair
voyant she might be able to tell me what my friend wants to
say. I said, Very well, when you come back to London, I
will introduce you to Mrs. Davies. But my hand has begun to
write a little. I knew your friend, and if she is about I will see
if she will write with my hand. Next morning before
breakfast, in my bedroom, I took a pencil in my hand,
put it upon a sheet of paper, and said, Now, Miss
(naming the person), if you have anything to communi
cate to Miss ---- you can use my hand to say what you
want. Then, without a moments hesitation, my hand very
slowly wrote her name and traced three lines of a message. I
said then, This is all very well, but how do I know that this is
not merely the unconscious action of my own brain working in
some mysterious way ? How do I know that you are what you
profess to be ? Can you give me a test of your identity ? My
hand wrote Yes. Then I received the test about Minerva,
which was given almost exactly as it is stated in the chapter
From the Other Side in the Christmas Number of the
Review of Reviews. In fact, from this point the whole of
the rest of the narrative is an exact transcript of what actually
happened, the only difference being that it was my hand, not
that of Rose, that wrote, and that it was controlled, not by
Roses husband, but by the lady who had died about six or
seven months previously in America. All the rest of the story
is quite exaot, the names being altered, and the places also, so
as not to reveal the identity of the persons concerned.
Mr. Stead told th e M orning representative th a t he
had already seen Professor Sidgwick and M r. Myers, and
was preparing a paper em bodying all th e facts with the
vouchers, and form al evidence, to be laid before the
Council of th e Society for Psychical Research, H e then
gave an illustrative proof of identification in ordinary life,
to which the reviewer had no reply to make, and concluded
w ith these words :-=-=
For the present my last Word is this, that before many
months are over, I think it will be admitted by every candid
mind that the persistence of the individual after death, and the
possibility of communicating with that individual, has been
as well established on a scientific basis as any other fact in
nature. That you may think is a bold assertion. I t is not an
assertion. I t is a prophecy, based upon facts Which are within
my own knowledge, and of which I speak with as much confidence
as I do of anything which has ever come within my own personal
observation.
W e hope Mr. Steads prophecy may be fulfilled.
The interview er also questioned Mrs. Davies, as to hot'
share in the autom atic w ritin g . She said :
1 know probably more about that than anyone. I was in Mr,
Steads office sometime in the beginning of Deoember last regard
ing the forthcoming publication of a book of mine concerning

January 14, 1893.]

LIG

we

___________________________ m

Spiritualism. The conversation turned upon Spiritualistic auto

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AND MODERN
matic handwriting. I did not know the deceased lady who was
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.
writing through him, but I saw her behind his chair as distinctly
as if she had been in the flesh. I described her position as she
SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL BODY OR KA.
stood, and her appearance. She at once wrote through Mr.
Stead s hand confirming all I had stated concerning her in my
B y W illiam Oxley.
description. Mr. Steads hand continued to write. I knew after
In comparing the religious system of thought which actuated
wards it wrote out a message stating that another spirit was in the
the
Ancient Egyptians with what prevails in Christendom at the
room. Mr. Stead asked me if I could describe that spirit. I had
to wait some little time before I detected it, and then I recognised present time, one cannot but be lost in amazement that so little
as in the flesh a very famous personage recently dead, and whose if, indeed, anyprogress has been made in something like
loss was mourned all the world over in prose and verse. I care sixty centuries of our years. Strange, passing strange, it is that
fully described the spirit as he appeared to mo, and then Mr. Stead after this enormous lapse of time in human history, our modem
religious thought and life, and especially in regard to the most
said I was right. B ut, I answered, I see another male
momentous problem that is now agitating all thoughtful minds,
spirit. Ask the deceased lady, who is writing through you, to
viz., the continuity of the personal, or individual, self-conscious
write the name of the last spirit. Mr. Steads hand automatic
ness of life, has no surer base than beliefs, and, it may be, hopes.
ally moved, and he wrote the name of a son of the famous
Of course, there is a small minority among Christian people who
personage already alluded to. Mr. Stead was amazed. I told
have advanced from the usual negative to the affirmative of this
him frankly that in the flesh I had known the father and son
question, based on knowledge and evidence that cannot honestly
who had appeared in the spirit, and in a few moments Mr.
be denied or disproved; but, even by these exceptional few, little
Steads hand, at the instigation of the spirit of the deceased
is reaHy known beyond the bare fact that there is a life beyond
lady, wrote out this message from the elder of the male spirits : death and the grave, though from this base there can be no
I kuew this lady as Bessie Fitzgerald, not as Mrs. Davies.
question that, in course of time, there wiU be evolved a science
Mi's. Davies gave the interview er cei'tain inform ation as of the human spirit, as to its origin and destiny, as demonstrable
to her spiritual experiences which would offer no new as any branch of science pertaining to what is understood by
feature to the readers of *L ig h t . The following account Nature.
I am not now concerned with other, undoubtedly, ancient
which she gives, of having astonished a thorough sceptic,
religious systems, such as that of the Chinese, and of certain
is however of some i n t e r e s t *
Oriental nations ; for, as yet, we have no clear data, or historical
Mrs. Davies further stated that on the previous (Tuesday) records, from which their antiquity can be ascertained. In what
night-, by appointment and through an introduction, a gentleman follows, however, I shall deal with what is known, and although
waited upon her at six p.m. He was a thorough sceptic, and the actual dates may not be quite certain, yet there cannot be
came avowedly for the purpose of getting Mrs. Davies to attempt much more than a very few centuries for a margin of difference
to define some ailments from which he suffered in order that his between the estimates of our best Egyptologists, and this wiH
unbelief in Spiritualism might be strengthened. Human not affect the conclusions I have formed after long and patient
ailments, she continued, I discern by the vaporous emana-ji study and research in this specific domain, which is a most
t-ions from the body of the peison complaining, and this applies fascinating one to the student of humanity.
to all animate bodies, and also in a marked degreeto flowers. I
Our sources of information regarding what may be termed
told him he had, and has, a throat ailment, that he suffered the cradle of civilisation, flexible as the term is as to its mean
from neuralgia, and a constant pain in the back of his head. ing and application, and also of systematised religious thought
He admitted, in the fullest manner possible, the accuracy of my and action, are increasing with astonishing rapidity; and we
statement, and as he went away he declined to give me his have undoubtedly genuine recorded history from which to
name, but I told him that I would soon find out all about him gather knowledge of the out-working of human mentality as
by sending a spirit on the mission.
exemplified in Ancient Egypt, dating from some four thousand
Mr. Stead has perhaps worked a boom as Mr. I years before the Christian era ; and I shall present the picture
Frederic Harrison, in his le tte r to the M orning, says of this ill as short a form as is consistent with the importance of
he has, but it is a boom requiring some, courage even the-subject.
The splendid discoveries in Egypt, dating from 1887, made
now, much as public opinion has been educated as to occult
by Professor W. Flinders Petrie, and now published in various
matters. The thing is in the air, and when the scientific volumes, form a repertory of literary treasures that is all but
proof of another life im pinging on, and influencing, this, has j inexhaustible, and they are equally valuable to the antiquarian,
been made, and it will be made, if not in Mr. Steads few archaeologist, historian, and religionist. I t is with these last that
months, in a time a t any rate not far distant, a revolution I am now chiefly concerned.
The inestimable value of Professor Petries work consists
will come about in mens m inds such as the world has not
in
its
accuracy. He has never allowedwhich cannot be said
yet seen.
of some others, who rank as Egyptologists of the first order
his imagination to come into play by substituting, or omitting,
LONDON SPIRITUALIST ALLIANCE.
any sign, hieroglyph, or picture, which profess to be copies
S pecial N otice.
of the originals ; for he has reproduced them with a fidelity
that leaves nothing to be desired. In foHowing him we may be
We learn with regret, as we go to press, that the Rev. J.
quite sure of a safe guide, and it is mainly from his volumes that
Page Hopps is ill, and that it will be quite impossible for him
I have culled my knowledge in reference to the ancient Egyptian
to give his promised address to the members and friends of
the Alliance on Tuesday evening next. The meeting will, religion, andin my viewits modern aspect in the Christian
therefore, be postponed for a week, that is, till Tuesday, system.
Its first expressionso far as is now knowndates from
January31st, when Mr. W. Paice will give an address,on The
prior
to the time of tho great Pyramids of Ghizeh ; for Mr.
Spiritual Meaning of M atter.
Petrie has demonstrated that the so-called Step Pyramid of
Medum was built for, if not by, Senefuru, the founder and first
DECEASE OF MR. W. TOWNS.
King of the fourth Egyptian Dynasty; who was pTobably the
Those of our readers who have known Mr. Towns will greatly father-in-law of Khufu, the builder of the great pyramid of
regret to hear of his somewhat sudden departure after an illness Ghizeh, and thus Senefurus pyramid is the oldest yet known.
of but a few days. Mr. Towns was possessed of excellent There is, as yet, no certitude as to the date of its building, but
powers as a clairvoyant, and was ever ready to devote Iris gifts we cannot be far wrong in assuming it to be between 3,000 and
to the sendee of others, taking no fee from those who could not 1,000 years b. c. The Pyramid itself is in a ruinous condition,
afford to recompense him for the time which he readily placed is nearly all tile original outside casing stones have been stolen
at their disposition. He was without education, in the Usual and utilised for building and other purposes ; but this destruc
Kunse of the term, but was a man of considerable intelligence,
aiid of a genial and kindly disposition which endeared him to tion has not been all evil; for the removal of the stone casing
those wlioi had the advantage of his close acquaintance. The caused a vast mass of debris to fall and cover lip the small teinplo
J-imeral will take place at Finchley Cemetery, at 2.30 p.m. on at its base, Which, thanks to the efforts of Mr. Petrie, has been
luewlay next.
unearthed and exposed as perfect as when it Was constructed,

*20

LIG H T,

[January 14, 1893.

ami thus Mi. P etrie is justified in stating th at it is the ohlost in forcing an entrance for tho sake of stealing tho gold and
known perfect building in tho world. * Thin temple and its use jewels in tho sarcophagus. By a strange ejnsode in human

form my starting p o in t; for, being a temple, it is tho ouboomo history, a number of Royal mummified bodies have been dis
of religious thought.
covered, and are now exposed to view about throe thousand years
The temple is an adjunct of the pyramid which wn> built as after death. Bub whore is tho K a the spiritual form that was
a tomb for King Senefuru, the tomb itself being a chamber to come and claim tho natural body ? Echo answers Where?
Tho K a chamber in all the principal tombs was open for
below the centre of the pyramid, deep down in tho nick. This,
however, has he.en rifled in bygone ages, and nothing now visitants and worshippers, who laid th eir pious offerings on the
remains eit her of the sarcophagus or of the body of tho King. altar. Into tin's chamber the K a was supposed to enter at will,
The t emple adjoins the east face of the pyramid, but is not built partaking of tho ossencos of tho fruits, provisions, wine, and so
into it, and thus forms an independent structure, which is small, forth. Moreover, it was one of the chief prayei's of the deceased
being about twenty foot square on plan. I t consists of an to the presiding Genii in the various states through which the
entrance passage, t hen a chamber, which is counoctod by an spirit, or K a, had to pass ere it arrived iix the presence of the
opening into a courtyard a t the hack. In this courtyard arc groat God Osiris,, that he might be gifted with power to go and
two upright stoics with a stone altar between them, and a spout come to tho body in the tomb, so th at he might bo made perfect.
corroded by pouring out drink offerings of sour wine or boor. By this wo see th at they could not conceive of a perfect fonn
There are no original sculptures, bub a num ber of graffiti, most without an external ox-gaxxism or physical body.
In tho wall of the outer chanibei', or temple, there was an
of them written during the eighteenth dynasty, about one
thousand five hundred years after tho erection of the pyramid imitation doorway, yet of solid stonework, and it was by means
and temple. Festivals in honour of the deceased King and of this that the K a made its entry and exit. Thus they thought
worship connected therewith were regularly kept up to the time that m atter could offer no impediment to the spirit, or Ka.
Apropos of this door, or doorway, read what is said to have
of the eighteenth dynasty, as is proved by the graffiti. One of
these was written by a scribe named Aakheperkara in tho been claimed by Jesus (see Jo h n x. 7, 8, 9), and in the light of
forty-first year of the reign of Thothmos TIL, who tells us, what is now given the allegory is quite intelligible, and shows
**he came here to see the beautiful temple of the Horns where and whence it was derived. S u b stitu te principles for a
(King) Senefuru, and found it like heaven within when the personality and the nxeaning is clear, although some knowledge 1
Sun-God is rising in it. May the King give an offering, and of psychical law and spiritual action w ithin the human organism
may Osiris, the great deity (and other gods named), grant a is required to appreciate the force and beauty of the allegory.
thousand (each) of loaves of bread, beer, oxen, fowls, provisions,
(To be continued.)
bundles of linen, and a thousand of every good and pure thing
th at heaven gives, that the earth produces, that the Nile brings
QUESTIO NS AND A NSW ERS.
from its sources, to the K a of the Horus King Senefuru, who
has made good his claim before his father Osiris, the great lord Under this heading we propose, a t the request of several sub- j
of the sacred land. Another scribe, Mai, says, lie came to
sciibors, to give from time to time such questions as may I
see the very great pyramid of Horus, the Soul (?) of King
reach usprovided we deem them of a profitable character I
Senefuru.
with a View to their being answered, not necessarily by I
Many of the great nobles had sumptuous tombs, and their
the Editor, but preferably by our readers. Both questions I
retainers and descendants brought offerings and deposited them
and answers should be stated clearly axxd succinctly, and in I
in the K a cham ber; but Worship was only paid to defunct Kings,
the replies the questions should be indicated by the number. I
whose pyramid temples were used by the officiating priests
appointed for the purpose ; and this because they claimed
Q uestions A nsw ered .
what seems to have been fully endorsed by the nationto be
The following replies have been received to the questions I
not- only representatives of deity, but to be begotten by some given in last weeks L ig h t . The answers to questions 1 and 2 I
god, and that they were the outcomes of an immaculate concep have been kindly supplied, a t our request, by our esteemed I
tion ; thus the term god is so frequently used in the laudatory correspondent, C.C.M . :
inscriptions of so many of the Kings down to the extinction of
1. W hy is an Astral Body so called, and what connection I
the kingdom.
has
it with the stars ?-^A. C. M.
The Kings had three names : one the family name, one the
The
tenxx astral (or siderial) b o d y originated, I believe, with I
regal, or throne, name, and the third the Horus, or K a name.
Paracelsus.
The perisprit, or fluidic body (which is a 1
The two first are shown in Cartouchesi.e., in oVals ; but the
specialisation of the universal element, etliei', or prima I
third, or Ka name, was inscribed on what was supposed to be
materia, the vital interm ediary of Nature, and the first I
a banner, which Mr. Petrie has shown not to have been a
recipient of foi-ma) is conceived as microcosmically quali- I
fled by all the influences of the spirit of Nature prevailing I
banner, but the representation of a doorway. The sign, or
at generation. These influences proceed from their foci, I
symbol, which refers to the K a is, in coiiiiiion use, shown bjTa
the planets and stars, their combined character at any given I
Bhort horizontal line with two uprights, one at each end ; but in
moment being astrologically ascertained by the figure of I
the case of Kings it is
much more elaborate,
the heavens a t such time. F or further information, and ft I
and shows the original uj
| | to be formed by two
general view of the whole subject, refer to Eliphas Levis I
arms, joined together M
)[ and straight out to the
**Dogme et R ituel de la H aute Magie (of which a transla- I
tion by Colonel Olcott has lately been published), to The
t
elbows, then the other (|j----1 J J parts with the hands
Astral Light, by Nizida, and to the late Dr. Anna K ^
are raised vertically,
holding a design repre
Kingsfords edition of the Astrology Theologized of
senting a door with the royal K a name inscribed thereon. I t
Valentine Weigelius. Also to Dr. Franz Hartmann's
,
is this that throws a flood of light on the ancient Egyptian
Paracelsus. --C . C. M.
religion, and enables us to gain the knowledge as to what
2. Why, iir astrological lore, is Saturn considered an unlucky
*
formed the basis of the most powerful religious system in
planet, wlxile his reign on earth is called the Golden Age,
ancient times. The basic articles of belief werethe resurrec
to designate the happiest of all periods ?A. C. M.
tion of the body ; the emerging of the spiritual body called the
is no inconsistency, though mundane axxd genethliacal
j
K a at death ; and the ultimate junction of the spiritual with There
astrology is not respoxxsible for the tradition of the Goldexx
,
the physical body after the lapse of three thousand years ; and
Age. That, as the reign of Chrorxos (or Saturn), is refem'd
finally, after this junction, the glorification of the dual form,
to by Plato in the Laws, Book IV . This God who
^
and its unity with the great God Osirisi.e., transformed into
rules over wise men is there represented as having es- V if
tablished a sox-t of theocracy, a govenixxxexxt of the world by
fcj
his likeness ; hence comes our phrase God-likeness.
deixxi-gods, who ordered all thiixgs X'ightly. The primitive
y.
We can now well Understand why the Kings and liobles
Goldexx Age was also placed under the rule of Saturn
expended such Vast sums on their sepulchres, and made them as
because that planet was supposed to be the highest and the ,
secure os the best skill of their architects could devise, so that
oldest. And he represents tire seventh day, or Sabbath of 9
their mortal remains, being mummified, should be hermetically
Nature. And so, hr astrology, he puts a pex-iod to the active th
terrestrial life, axxd appeals as hostile to its success, health,
be
sealed against outside intrusion. None but those especially
and sensuous joy. All the planets are considered in ro
appointed were ever allowed to enter the Royal tombs, alid then
a double aspect. Thus Mai's represents courage, but jl(j
it was to see that the bodies were safe. This only came to pass
cru elty ; Venus, the most amiable disposition, but
in later times, on account of tomb violators, who often succeeded
also sensuality ; Mercin-y is clevei', but also dishonest > >
Jupiter gives magnaminity, but also pride. They havs j
1 fo r full details, drawings, &c., see Medum, by W. M. F un debs
the faults of their qualities. Satuni ns a ruler, well of
F etbik, 1892. {London! David Nutt, 270, Strand, W.C.)

January 14, 1809.3

l ig h t

21

dignified, would tend to make a win,, and profound

character, though melancholy and out of sympathy with Whore is tho reality of blim solidity if in I,ruth the rock is but a
cloud of microscopic non-coutiguoiis atoms held together solely
C.O.M. er l l l i a,K^ ^ t e r ia l prosperities of terrene life, - by forces inherent in themselves '! Holid though the rock seems,
3. Has any reader of L ight " had experience of the control it is but a presentation to our consciousness of equilibrate'I and
of automatic writing by the spirit of a person still in the ilosh? opposing forces at enormous tension, an outward formulation of
A Mend of mine lias boon surprised by a message thus obtained, tho power of law,
(1, A. K.says that thought* cannot exist apart from the
professedly from a person living in a distant part of the world |
mind which conceived them.. Why not? Do Wo not know of
I n q u ir e r .
such a thing as thought-transference, and are wc to deny that
I have personally known instances in which the spirits of persons
still in the flesh have undoubtedly oonnnunioutod mossagos man, who draws liis thoughts out of the Cosmic Mind, may not
at a distance by means of ramand I do not see why they transfer them back again '( Perhaps it wii) be denied that in the
should not do so equally well by automatic writing. Mr. ease of his earthly-minded consciousness he does so derive bin
W. T. Stead in his Christmas number, From the Old ideas. Hut of what avail i.s such denial when We have our senses
World to the New, mentions cases in which this was done, handy to prove themselves tho channels of communication
and vouches for tho truth fulness of tho narrative.V iojiax. between tho world without and tho mentality within ? True, the
In reply to Inquirers query, I hog to state that automatic human Will holds together the bundle of associated thoughts,
handwriting by a living spirit, or rather by a spirit which is I and true again that death withdraws this will when disintegra
not yet emancipated from its body, is of constant occurrence.
I call it automatic telepathy, and in my Christmas number, tion gradually sots in and thought-transference supervenes.
From tho Old World to tho New, I describe it, and give i Hut this is not a sudden process, and Theosophy maintains that
an illustration of tho way in which it might ho used. If its withdrawal may be retarded, and even tho Ego interfered
Inquirer" cares to communicate with me I shall bo very j with by projecting our own wills into these shells.
glad to give him further information on the subject.W.
G. A. K. further brings forward an example of spirit
T. Stead, Mowbray House, Norfolk-stroet, Strand.
growth. Those I havo read of, and if true, clearly the theory of
4. I should ho glad to havo a definition of spirit and the I shells in its crude enunciation, while accounting for the vast
relation between spirit and matter. Are they dual, eo-oxistout, j majority of cases, only partially accounts for them. But I
co-equal, and co-eternal'! Is matter tho result of a condition of j ropoat, I do not believe all manifestations from tho spirit world
spirit, or are they different and independent entities ?Charles I are to bo classed under one heading. Finally, I am told that
Strange.
: according to posthumous apparitions, one conscious entity
Charles Strange can hardly havo realised the enormous range separates and forms two conscious entities after death. This is
covered by his questions, which, in fact, ask for a general
explanation of the whole meaning of existence. I should ho j not what I have said, but that tho relation of tho dual consciousinclined to say yes to his second question, and consider I ness which during life possesses us is for a time maintained on
matter to be a condition of spirit. This being so, nothing j tho inner spheres of posthumous existence.
need be said about duality, or co-existence, or co-oquality.
T homas W illiams, F.T.S,
If spirit he eternal, each condition through which it passos
Re-incarnation,
would present a state of consciousness which would be tho
matter corresponding to that condition, so that there would
(Sin,Your correspondent G. M. Cl., protests against the
be many different forms of such matter at various epochs
of this eternity of existence.
I hazard no definition of suggestion that Re-incarnation is materialistic, or that it must
: mean ro-birth into flesh of this World, but this is certainly wliat
the term I spirit.-Alpha.
| is hold by Itc-incarriationists properly so called. They unduly
oxalt the value and meaning of material existence; all experience,
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
they say, is to be gained through connection with a physical
[The Editor is not responsible f o r opinions expressed by correspondents,
body, and yet the Dovachanic state, in which such long periods
and sometimes publishes w hat he does not agree w ith f o r the purpose
are
to be spent, is supposed to be an entirely bodiless condition,
of presenting views th a t m a y elicit discussion. ']
On the other hand, all Spiritualists, I think, hold that a vehicle
Posthumous Apparitions.
or body of some kind is necessary to individual existence.
I t would not, indeed, be a very extravagant idea to think that
8m,III referring to The Philosophy of Posthumous
Apparitions, G. A. K . states the point at issue Very clearly. We may hereafter dwell in other material worlds, if such condi
He believes that substance may be unconscious ; I believe this tion should bo part of a continuous and progressive existence ;
to be an absolute impossibility. Theosophy takes up the follow but this is very different from the intermittent drama which
ing general position with regard to consciousness and its relation the Re-incamationists propose, the myriad earth-lives alterna
to man and to the universe. Consciousness is the one reality ting with centuries of dream.
I t is a common argument that our torm of threescore years
lying at the back of manifestation, either in man or in the
world he lives in. The reflection of the microcosmic cpnscious- and ten is out of all proportion to Eternity, and that, therefore,
ness into the macroeosmic consciousness is tho source of j it cannot represent the total of this Worlds experience. To
cr/mition in man. Consciousness is substantial with a sub- speak of proportion between the finite and the infinite is,
stantiality which enters into and forms the basis of every form perhaps, scarcely correct, or else it might be answered that this
earth also is but a speck in proportion to the universe.
of matter.
Moreover, if spiritual perfection is to bo attained here by
What can We offer as a proof of the above ? Why do we say I
that consciousness is just as much a part of the phenomenal I repeated incarnations, it would appear that, so far as wo are
World around us as it is of ourselves l The following is an concerned, everything outside this world of ours is a superfluity,
attempt to answer briefly these same questions. Cognition, on I
I t is usual for Re-incaniationists to assume as an axiom
the part of man, implies an identical element in the cogniser that whatever has its beginning in time must also have its
immortality necessitates pre-existence. Even
and the tiling cognised, otherwise cognition were impossible. end in time,
What is this common element? If we consider the relation if this statement were established, pre-existence need not signify
which the things of the phenomenal world bear to their own pre-incarnation, but I thimk tho proposition by no means selfreality as objects of sense perception, we find it inseparable evident.
Translating the principle so as to apply it to the laws of space,
from consciousness; therefore the reality of objects around us
depends on their connection with consciousness. Perception let me ask whether a line which has a beginning must also have
and consciousness cannot be separated, for the thing perceived, an end. Can a line commencing here be produced to infinity in
if detached from consciousness, would be to Us intangible, one direction ? If so, tho aforesaid axiom is open to doubt. Ex
tasteless, without sound or visibility. Therefore we say that nihilo nikil fit, arid wo may believe that we had pre-existence as
the object of perception and ourselves as the percoiver have a spirit, but whether as individualised spirit is quite another
common element, which is consciousness. I t follows from, this question.
As to tho apparent injustice in the conditions of earth-life, if
that the phenomenal world is built of conscious substance, and
that thoughts are things. Conversely things arc thoughts it is to be accounted for only by acts done in a previous incarna
belonging to a Cosmic Mind. B ut you will say that, for example, tion, how about tho suffering of dumb animals ? Some birds
rock w solid and apparently unconscious. So it may seem, but spend a joyods life in the Woods ; others are Caged or tortured.
how deceptive appearances may be, science has shown. For HaVc the latter sinned or broken some law in a past existence 1
instance, what does she say of this same solid mass of stone |
From the very nature of physical life it follows that there
Is it not made of molecules | Are not these molecules composed must be inequalities, and hence seeming injustice. Persons
'A atoms, and is not o<tch atom held to bo in active oscillation l bom in a temperate clime have many advantages over those

22

LIGHT,

[January 14, 1893.

within the Arctic circle, and the dwellers in Pompeii were especially for the principle of anthorHy. Rebellion against such
exposed to a danger which, perhaps, never threatened the principle, as a friend (a distinguished occultist) writes me,
must mean tendency to anarchy, and that anarchy is chaos
inhabitants of Britain.
Strange that (even enlightened) man
The cruellest wrongs in human life form merely an extension and of the devil.
of this law of inequality, and the theory of Re-incarnation is, cannot see that it is by his limitation, not his liberty, that man
is distinguished from the beast. Honour, honesty, self-re
after all, but an imperfect solution of the difficulty.
Several of the expressions in the letter signed Equality straint, virtue, religion itself are all limitations, the savage lias
are suggestive of the reason why Theosophy has found a place few of themthe higher animals fewer, the lower animals
in so many minds. He speaks of its literature as giving more perhaps none at allyet, are the lower animals therefore the
instruction as to the origin and evolution of man and the laws of noblest ?
Limitation means, therefore, an awakening to a higher law,
nature, than is found in that of Spiritualism. Exactly s o :
Spiritualists have formed conclusions only to the extent of the involving higher faculties, which see for themselves that in
evidence before them. As a body they are, perhaps, to blame for fringement of law brings certain penalties which the reasoning
dwelling too much on facts and phenomena, and neglecting the man wittingly avoids. This is why authority per se is valuable,
philosophy of the subject; but this is better than the construct- and obedience to authority an indirect gain to the obedient
When that obedient person becomes enlightened j
in*', on a very slight foundation, of an intellectual Tower of person.
Babel, which can end only in confusion. Equality refers to to the extent of understanding the causes underlying law he i
the Theosophical conception of the after-life as a very receives double his reward. This, then, roughly is the value
of authority per se. People must learn to distinguish between j
beautiful picture of rest, and a real dream of Heaven.
The beauty of the picture, however (which is a matter of the authority of a principle and personal authority, and their I
opinion), is scarcely sufficient ground for accepting it as a reality. own knowledge and consciences will be their safe guide.
Had the principle of authority been duly observed from I
It is difficult to imagine why these centuries of rest or dream
should be necessary for sp irit; or why (since time is said to be early times, doubtless the demoralised shadow of it, the mere |
an illusion of the senses) such long periods should be wasted personal authority, would not have so usurped its place, that I
in I subjective state where no new knowledge can be gained. in many cases it has forced conscientious refusal to obedience |
Might not a single hour of that condition be made to represent and hence less conscientious refusals have resulted in sheer 1
disobedience, anarchy, and chaos.
a thousand years l
In Devachan, it is said, everything we wish for, and everyone
My arguments, therefore, for the value of authority, and
whose presence we desire, will seem to be with usas in a respect to ancient doctrines and dogmas, is to urge the conces- 1
dream ; there will be no reality or substantiality; and this state sion, of at least the possibility, of the value of the principle 1
of continued hallucination lasts for many centuries. A similar of authority. That being gained by being conceded, the student 1
picture may be seen in our asylums, where some poor maniac will next find, by easy transit, that he steps within the realm of I
imagines himself an emperor, while the keepers form his order, and forthwith comes a much wider horizon of mental I
imperial court.
The subject of this hallucination may be thought, thought that enlightens itself, with an ever extending I
supremely' happy, yet we are accustomed to regard him with realm of form and lawthis end of the clue well in hand.
profound pity. Is he not already in Devachan ?
This may appear very abstract and wide of the mark, hut I I
The Heaven of those simple souls who expect to play the do not think it is so in reality, and it will assure the reader I
harp for ever has at least this advantage over the other : it is a th at yielding to the principle of authority is not necessarily an I
state of realities, where some new experience might be acquired, intellectually backward step.
were it only a knowledge of music.
G.A.K.
The question, of course, will arise : but what and whose I
authority ? Do I mean the leaders of occult thought popularly 1
The True Church of Christ.
called the Mahatmas, or the Pope, or the Bishops, or the I
Sib , With reference to my letter in your issue of December Reverend So-and-So, or the Scientists ? &c., &c., Ac.
10th, and your Editorial comments, I should like to say in reply
To this I will not answer except by saying, Render unto 9
what I ought to have said in the first instance, that it was Caesar the things that are Caesars. Everyone recognises- his M
entirely by an omission of my [ien that I did not put F. T. S. own Caesarlet him obey h im ; but he must respect the 1
after my name. I have never left the Theosophical Society as a principle of authority, and allow his neighbour his Caesar, or 9
body, only as I do not now reside in London I cannot so easily else he is a mere devotee to the person of one Caesar, and will 1
belong to the London Lodge, I have therefore the honour of wage war with his neighbour for not bowing down also, The I
being a member of the Liverpool Lodge, where I am now result of this obedience and forbearance will be this, all the 9
living. I should like to take this opportunity of stating that various Caesars will be unveiled in due time, as the neophyte I
because one is a member of the Theosophical Society it is an becomes the Initiate, and it will be seen that all the Ccesars are I
error to suppose one must necessarily be a follower of the but One ! ! under various aspects.
[
Buddhistic doctrines in extenso, or in any way to have
But to no one except the faithful and obedient servant will I
abandoned Christian teaching. Any person inquiring into the this wonder be really vouchsafed; though the other less faithful I *
conditions of the Theosophical Society will find this is the case servants may know it from hearsay, they will not learn it 1
without my having to go into further particulars, which would absolutely for and through and ioithin themselves in any other B *
only burden your pages with unnecessary matter.
way than by the law of obedience.
This much I may add, that Theosophia, hence Theosophy,
To speak personally, I may venture to say that the Church f 11
literally tends more towards the elucidation of Western secret Anglican is my outer Ceesar. I t may not be so with many of 9 d
doctrine rather than Eastern ; however, I must with all willing most of your readers, and I would deprecate anything that I
ness and gratitude admit that it was through the teachings of the would seem on iny part to raise my Caesar on to any highef ; a
Eastern doctrine first that I was led to see the sublime meaning pedestal than the other Caesars surrounding me.
underlying common or orthodox Christianity; Isis Unveiled
I simply find sufficient reason to assure myself that there is
0
first, and then The Perfect Way has been my road.
good ground for the authority of Church doctrines, therefore I
0
I fancy there are many who will agree in this, for it does am willing to render the reasonable dues required of me. I find
not mean placing either of these revelations in opposition and in the order and ritual of the Church valuable and enlightening. | sc
antagonism to each other ; though a partial study might lead to Others may not. I have no taste for propagandism or dogmatis- \ U1
this hasty conclusion. But I should like again to correct a ing myself, and I have a great dislike to attempt to knock down ;S ai
hasty pen, lest it seem, because I object to partial study, that I anyone elses Caesar; neither would I be very much concerned
*i
have made an exhaustive study, this being simply ridiculous. I with the person of mine, provided the principle were not
am referring only to the still more partial information upon attacked.
which many persons trade their opinions.
Because one respects the [lowers that b e (this, by the I ai
With regard to the tendency our respected Editor seems to way, has a much deeper and more supermundane meaning than ; lil
trace in me towards undue leaning on authority, I think I mere temporal authority, the reflex of that which is super' I
may be at fault in my expressions. I, of course, referred in my mundane, whether good or evil), it is no reason at all that one is **
somewhat discursive and abstract reference to the Church of to close ones mind, stifle the reason, and shroud ones intellect.
the present day, to mered authority, not inferring that minds Surely any intelligent person must see this. Because I feel: au
should in any Way voluntarily put themselves into the fetters there is high authority for Church doctrine, it is no reason fo> I
from which they consider they have emancipated themselves, as me to lefuse to read in or write in L ight," study occult p
long as they feel that they are fettersy but I was arguing more philosophy and the psychio powers in man, and so forth.

January 14, 1893.]

m
\
p

LIGHT.

23

The Cnasar I rospoot, because I have' sufficient authority who uses his ten talents knows their value ; K who hides his one
for knowing that he was onoe deckel in true Imperial welding talent forgets it and does not even recognise it when ho sees it
* garments, has, doubtless, these same garments torn and in ,: cherished i*n others.
H n holes, even hanging in shreds, and his poor form bespattered 11 It is perfectly true one may find more real godliness and
with mud, from crowds who reader their own dues, but who try true religion among wayfaring men and women of the world,
to destroy the lights of all others. The poor form needs repair though fools in regard to occult matters, than amongst any other
alj
and restoration, but the worshippers at its shrine are often too j<class of persons. This is quite possible, and we know our Lord
;L
ignorant of its original1glory, and so they say, Lot bo, our spoke sternly to the Pharisees and lovingly to the children
Orosars image is just as it should be ; it wants nothing but and the multitude. Nevertheless, we do not always find
more people to come and kneel. ** More people is the cry that all true religion is only with fools, and as a rule
i^1
at all the shrines. This must be tho test of the reality of our such fools do notin the present day crowd the thoroughfares.
shrine. But it is not, of course, the only one ; perhaps we Wo are even inclined to prefer any one to those few, judging
i from the way in which people treat those who act up uncondiC
ay include increase of population and many other reasons.

Nevertheless, though I see Church Christianity now de- jI tionally to their religious tenets.
Also people do not like being taught by fools, and these
,
graded, it was once decked in Imperial garments, and J
do not see that the other Ctesars have ever been so people mentioned by Mr. Henly are generally only known not to
decked ; still, I would respect them, became^ though they are :| be fools really by other eyes than the worlds. Therefore,
phantoms, they represent the tme Ocesar. This, therefore, is ! the teacher, if he hopes to have pupils, must, at least, have tho
my attitude of mind, and I sihcerely hope, with this course of appearance of wisdom. And I am arguing that though in reality
'
action as regards the principles of authority and of obedience, godliness is simple, like the simplicity of saying eternity is a
that the world of order, hence of law, hence of source of laws, circle, it requires something more than a fool to expound to
| its primeval lucidity why eternity is symbolised by a circle, and
>i!1
may be more and more fully revealed.
I aji| convinced that the doctrine of reverence and respect to it requires someone more than a fool to understand i t ! To

one another is one of the keys for unlocking the mystery of the explain the simplicity of godliness, in that he is expounding the
e> human mindfirst, respect to ones own Self, and that mystery of man being made in the image of God, requires also
6r
reverence and respect (bear in mind, I never mean reverence a man mot to be a fool. A fool may feel it, but only a wise man
that would entail the loss of ones self-respect) to outer forms as can expound it so as to be understanded of the people.
I sabel de Steiger, F.T.S.
n
symbols, beginning at the religious ordinances which a Karmic
slaw placed one in at ones birth, pave the way to order in life,
P.S.I feel that Mr. Henly may still misunderstand,
h
and, for intellectually gifted and developed brains, for still so I say far be it from me to underrate what is called simple
nt
greater achievements in those realms.
piety. Moral and spiritual improvement are the first steps to
of
This is, as shortly as I can put it,, what I mean by awthority|| the godliness of which the Apostle speaks. Occultism
al
Is it a retrograde step ?
especially points out the deadly danger of knowledge without
ig
With regard to the subjugation of the will," I can see but goodness, or the head full and the heart empty. The
one supreme object there, and that is the old prayer that our m ystery of godliness is the unravelling of the secret of the
I wills should be subject to the will of the Father in Heaven. In real regeneration, not, as I said, the regeneration meant by
jr other words, to say we pray that the magnificent and glorious an improved attitude of thought. I t is this knowledge that is
in day may come when we, as gods on earth, say our wills are one achieved by the wise man consciously, and it is this that I main
with that of Heaven, Heaven and earth being then One.
' j tain is not the simple easy matter imagined by modern Christi
sc
To attain this end,, the work of: the individual is that his anity, dating from a confused glimpse gained of it and taught by
[y mind may become so illuminated that his will cannot work in the Evangelical school, a distinct echo of the true doctrine taught

any disorderly fashion, only in agreement with the Eternal by occultists and mystics, East and West, for each other only.
Law, the true Law of Christ underlying its shadowthat is, the
The achievement of the great work being in the power of
i0 human law; this is the only subjugation of will to which I but few, the Master Christ tells all the weak ones (and most are
jj aspire, for this covers everything by means of which the will is weak) to fear not, He will help them until such time as they
e no longer an obstacle, but a bridge.
are able to stand alone. Trusting in Jesus is no figment of the
ir
My letter is already too long to reply to the valuable and imagination, but a very real help in the next plane of existence.
H excellent one of my friend Mr. Maitland. At some future time The salvation offered in the Gospels is the saving from being
e 1 hope to do so in another shape, for I am not sure that your lo st in the astral realms of disorder and chaos, as well as
6 columns quite care to be charged with what some of your from sin and evil in this world. The travelled man knows
e readers may consider irrelevant matter. I confess I would per- the value of a friend in a strange country, the ignorant man takes
, sonally prefer as matters of discussion the profound and intricate the offer of assistance in faith, and the help is given without fa il;
ones opened up in Mrs. Pennys remarkable article on The the rod and staff are at hand.
As all occultists teach, knowledge, being but partial, does not
j Image, of your issue of December 24th, leaving all such quesI tions as authority, Church ritual, &c., to be settled individually bring happiness, for it brings responsibility, loneliness; and selfI and quietly. We learn by discussing (not by arguing or con- support, so apt to fail, seems weak and poor when a man fairly
, tradicting) such subjects, by the friction of mind evolving takes himself in hand; so in pity for the weakness of the many,
image after image from other minds. To the orderly mind, that the Master, Jesus, redeemed His people from the necessity of
I is, the mind working under understood law, from all suoh the well-nigh impossible work to most Westerns of achieving
their own salvation, until such time as they are able, when they
discussion lcnowlege is reaped and placed.
However, I must end with a few words to the champion of aspire to be servants no longer but Brothers.I. be S m F.T.S.
another Oeesar, Mr. Henly. He somewhat wrongs me in
The Dual Church of Christ.
saying I wish to enforce magic. I certainly have too high an
opinion of the value of authority and obedience to wish to enforce
Sir , Would you allow me to suggest a few thoughts in reply
obedience where I have no authority !
to the letters headed The True Church of Christ ? Progress"
Mr. Henly is right, I believe, in stating that magic vulgarly is Gods law, and as suoh let us handle it reverently; for one
so called underlies the Bible, and as soon as anyone thoroughly day in His sight is as a thousand years. In these days of rapid
understands what that magic is, can himself be a 1 magician, thought and eager action we are in great danger of losing sight
and I maintainand here I speak with no hesitating voice of signs which are among useven at our doors.
until he is, he has but a partial understanding of the Bible !
As yet the feminine manifestations are still wrapped up in
There is, however, nothing to prevent anyone from fully the mysteries and symbols of the Church of our landfor
maintaining his or her complete comprehension of the Bible j may we not have been under the third dispensation, symbolised
and all its doctrines and stories. People may say what they under the vision of the creature with the face of a man
like, and contradiction is useless and effete. Magic or super (Rev. iv. 7), but are now entering the fourth like a flying
mundane knowledge is at the root of all authority; in this Mr. eagle testifying to the soaring spirit the intuitional heart o
Henly is perfectly right.
woman ? The Holy Saviour Himself shook hands with the Old
Into the question who has the right to assume theological Dispensation of God the Father whilst bringing on earth the
authority, whether the Pope, tho Freemasons, the Jesuits, the Newer Light of God the Son. He came not to destroy, but to
Church Anglican, Church Protestant, Church of variety, or fulfil and the disciple must not be above the Master. Let
anyone else, it is not now my province to enter into, nor to inquire us, while sharing in and looking forward to the newest Light of
into, neither is it in my power to decide. Suffice it to say, he only Grod the Spirit, clasp lovingly both the hands, and thus assist

24

LIGHT.

(Jmmry 14, i

fe porfect Lho Mystic JI<ily Three, instead of trying to break tins j Wiuifi(sd-von/l, Tucnday, a t 7 .W) ji.ui., iinjuirorfs
wondrous chain of spirit symbolisms Mid manifestations given $f|tf first Huiiduy in oach month, fit 7 J i n q u i r e r # jflfditi
hy a jgoviug Father, in different forum in His earthly children so
N nw Y kakh B all, PoKTMAlf R ooms, L aker-strek//,
....
i
it
ili

i
i
ii
i i ' im .
i ..< i .
Thii
u 1 to keen alive m their midst tho Divine lufliix,
* 1 ' second meeting of tho huh oh , committee
m i
,, took tilm
T
. ,
,,, . 1 m
, r ,
ng
, Thursday afternoon, January nth, a t Woburn Howie, Vi, f
I t is i "tund on the Watch lower of Life with the Sword vVoburn-place.W.C., when the M arrangements B
of p i Spirit," which is the II'out Oif God for woman's flayn are ;U)(j i:,.fjViad,orily settled. Tins tickets are being /#<; <//,
hero ami is there not | prophecy f/eeli. i. $|) He stood ,,f) u),d those who propose ts> attend would do well toinakiJ
os. each, and can he had i
whom" the myrtle trees in the .shady place," to he fulfilled |
In j application. The tickets are bs.
there not a Woman to he Redeemed (liev. xii. 13, 14)?*- 9 per- Mr:;, Everitt, f.ilian Villa, Hendon; Miss Rowan Vincent.
Honal Bride to he chosen ?as well an a universal Church, a (lower-place, VV,C. ; and .VIr, A. J. Sutton, Hon, .Sec., W<>|
House, 12, I."ppor Wo hum-place, W.C. ; and also of Mr, /;
Now Jerusalem," to ho formed? Of the Incruuus of Ilia Godfrey, Office of L im it , 2, Duke-street, Adelphi, The
Government there shall ho no end." (Iaa. ix. 7.) Soon lie will
ill he lield on Monday evening, January With. TMvtfhio
come, as // was seen to go hy the chosen few and in a cloud, I commence punctually a t 0 oclock, and carnages may be onjj
thu symbolical repreaentation of the Shcchiiiali or /''eiuiiiino for <1,40a.IQ. The entrance is in Dorset-street, Baker-Stre^
Nature. But for tho now manifestation of this our eyes will special programme hai; been arranged, and by way of variation
those who do not join in the dancing, an Impromptu prognnJ
ho hidden, and to Hie voice of Another crying in the wilder
n e ss our ears will he deaf, unless wo both patiently watch I of song and recitation, between the dances, J/as been artut^
A .J.8.
cj
mid pray.
____________________________ R b a -oo-MBL,
T he N ew Y e a r 's B all , Miss Rowan Vincent writs#.
I May I call the attention of your many readers to the New W
SOCIETY WORK.
Ball, which will he held at the Portman Rooms on the 23;v]
S piritual H all, 86; H ioh -street, MAnyr.Kno.vK.
On this month, when think a most enjoyable evening n/ay -
Sunday last in tho absence of Dr. Young, Mr. W. Cooper gave spent? The real purpose for which wo have promoted the p
a reading. January 15th, at II a.m., mooting of friend* ; at is to raise a fund to provide a superior class of lecturers for n
7 p.m., Mr. if. J. Bowen, Trance Address. Tuesday 17th, platform of the little society of Spiritualists held at 86', If;,'/'
street, Marylebone, of which I have the honour to he a
Mr. Petersilea, at 8 p.m. Admission Is., (id,, 3d.0. H unt .
mittec member. We all recognise the necessity of having
l'K C K lU M S o u l KT Y OK S H HIT UA LISTS, W IN C H E S T E R H a I.I,,
speakers to present the subject of Spiritualism to the pulju.]
H iuh S treet . On Sunday evening Mr. Ycitehs address especially at a time like the present, when a desire to birP
was listened to with apparent interest. Certainly the Spiritualist something about it is becoming so w idely spread. Some of
ideas upon tho subject of hell were more acceptable than friends may think the idea of a Ball a frivolous way to
the views generally entertained. Sunday next Inspirational funds for so serious a cause, but I have yet to learn thutinrus^l
address at 7 p.m. Morning 11.30, Mr, Edwards on The amusement will injure the purity of any movement. So I f<;(j
Works of Thomas Paine.J no. T. A uoy.
justified in asking for support in our enterprise.
14, O rchard - road, A skkw - roao, S heph erd 's B ush , VV.
On Sunday last Mr. Mason delivered an impressive discourse
upon The Rise and Progress of Spiritualism, urging all
NO DEATH.
present to help to make known our glorious truths. Mrs.
Mason gave descriptions of spirit friends, which were all
Stand neath the stars, and listen to the gladness,
recognised. Sunday, at 7 p.m., Mr. Pursey, Spirit Writings.
The music of the many-throated spheres,
Tuesdays, at 8 p.m., seance, Mrs. Mason, January 22nd, Mr,
Which Bing to-night, methinks, with wondrous clearness
J. T. Dales.J. H. B.
The hymn which drieth all our human tears.
T he Stratford S ociety of S piritualists , W orkman s
Hash ! Peace ! I hear her fluttering thro those heavens
H all, W est H am-lank, Stkatforo , E.Spiritual service each
Which, when weve climbed enough, we shall attain.
Sunday at 7 p.m. Speaker for next Sunday, Mr. J. Yeitch, on
And Joythe distant torrent of whose rivers
Hell, Some New Ideas. On Saturday, January 21st, at
Poureth sweet waters on the sea of pain.
7.30 p.m., Mr, J. Bums will give a lecture on Spiritualism,
And Life I feel, quick-pulsing thro the starlight
its Facts and Phenomena, with one hundred oxy-hydrogen
Life deep, abundant as prophetic rain.
limelight illustrations in the above hall. Tickets, front seats,
It seems as though the skies afresh were opened
Is, ; second, 6d. ; obtainable at the hall, or from Mr. J,
As oncesupremely oncethey were to Man.
R ainbow, Hon. Sec., 1, Winifred-road, Manor Park, E.
Tell me not, mourner, that thy tears are flowing
To fill the desert of an em pty place !
L ondon S piritualist F ederation , F ederation H all,
For lo !I hear the voice of thy Beloved,
309, E doware-road, W.Last Sunday evening, Mr. Thos.
Ringing in choral gratitude and grace j
Shorter was unfortunately absent; but Mr. Percy Smyth gave
Tell me not any Glory is departed,
| good address upon A Scientific View of .Spiritualism,
That Earth can slay the Possible, the True !
which was much appreciated. Next Sunday, at | p.m., Mrs.I
That Time lies dead to-night, with buried treasure,
Stanley Inspirational Address. On the 27th a meeting
We may not find upon to-morrows dew.
will lie held to consider the practicability of forming a Philan
There is no death j for Love, and Truth, and Beauty
thropic Fund for Aged Spiritualists and mediums when in
They change their faces, but their hearts are one.
distress. Suggestions invited. A. F. T indall , A.T.C.L.,
The Everlasting Birth of the Eternal ;
Secretary.
The Myriad Rays of an Immortal Sun.
S outh L ondon S piritualist S ociety, 311, C amberwell
Kingswood.
E. H. H.
N ew -road, S.E.Sunday, at 11.30 a.m., circle; at 3 p.m.,
Lyceum ; at 7 p.m., spiritual service ; Wednesday, circle.
NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Strangers welcome. Our New Years soiree and supper were
well supported, and the friends thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
On Sunday, January 29th, tho anniversary services will be held,! T. W.Letter is under consideration,
when many prominent speakers and mediums will take part.I 0. P awley .See L ight , February 14th, 1891.
IHRsttAISiAA
Ml A A Fund.
m fI>)/1
.1/1 members
riV.uil.AWi and
nn/1 friendsl
/\vi /I / I . .
,- , ,
_
.

.
.
#
19*
Collection tVI
in 01/1
aid /if
of Piano
AllAllold
L eo. Tlianks ; but too late for this week s issue.
welcome. Tea and social festival on Tuesday, January 31st, at
7 p.m. ; tickets 6d. each, to bo had of the Hon. Sec., W. G. T homas D abbs is thanked for his communication. The evident
of identity on which he depends does not exist, however. I
CoOTE.
T he S itrituallsts I nternational Corresponding S ociety. CommUNiCATiONB have also been received from G. G. S., Y. Z.,1
G. G. Sloane, A. E. Tomebohm, J. S. Hyde, T, H, Henly, |
^Information and assistance given to inquirers into Spiritualism.
and Equality.
Literature on the subject and list of members will be sent on
receipt of stamped envelope by any of the following International
Committee :America, Mrs. M. Palmer, 3101, North BroadOur ignorance is great enough, and yet the fact most surprising^
street, Philadelphia ; Australia, Mr. Webster, 5, Peckville- is not our ignorance, but the aversion of men to knowledge-1
street North, Melbourne ; Canada, Mr. Woodcock, Water- That which, one would say, would unite all minds, and join alljj
niche, Brookville ; France, P. G. Leyinarie, 1, Rue CliabanaisJ handsthe ambition to push, as far as fate would permit, thaj
Paris; Germany, E. Schloshaur, 65, Koniggratzer Str., Berlin, planted garden of man, on every hand, into the kingdom om
S. W. ; Holland, F. W. H. Van Straaten, Apeldoorn, nightreally fires the heart of few and solitary men. Tell nienJj
Middcllaan, 682 ; India, Mr. Thomas Hatton, Ahmedabad ; to study themselves, and, for the most part, they find nothing i
New Zealand, Mr. Graham, Huntley, Waikato ; Sweden, B. less interesting. Whilst we walk, environed before and behind;!
Fortenson, Ado, Christiania ; England, J. Allen, Hon. Sec., 14, with Will, Fate, Hope, Fear, Love, and Death, these phantoms J
Berkley-terraee, White Post-lane, Manor Park, Essex ; or or angels, whom wo catch at but cannot embrace, it is droll tom
W. C. Robson, French Correspondent, 166, Rye Hill, see the contentment and incuriosity of man. All take (orm
Ncweastlo-on-Tync. The Manor Park branch will hold the grantedthe learned as well as the unlearnedthat a great deal. 9
following meetings at 14, Berkley-terraee, White Post-lane : nay, almost all, is known and for ever settled. But, in truth. | |
Sunday, at 11 a.m., students meeting ; and the last Sunday in all is now to be begun, and every new mind ought to take the
each month, at 7 p.m., inquirersmeeting. Friday, at 7-30 p-m.,H attitude of Columbus, launch out from the gaping loiterers vl*
for Spiritualists only, 1 The Study of Spiritualism. And at 1, the shore, and sail west for a new world.R, W, E merson,

A Journal o f Psychical, Occult, and M ystical Research.

L i m i t ! M ore L ig h t !"Goethe.

No. 628,Vol. X III. [aN

s

,ear8a]

W hatever doth make manifest is right .

SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1893.

CONTENTS.
Notes by the Way.......................... 25
The Beginnings of Prosperity........ SO
Mr. Haweis on Spiritualism............. 20
The New Mesmerism......................SI
Mrs. Besant and Theosophical
The Faith Cure................................S2

Claims........................................26

Ancient Egyptian Religions............. 27

Beconls of Private Seances...........29

A Prophetic Vision......................... 33
Questions and Answers.....................Si

Letters to the Edlto'- ............... Si-36

NOTES BY THE WAY.

In Notes by the Way of December 31st, 1892, a
comment was made on a prospectus issued by Mr. Charles
Fox of a work he wished to publish on the Great Pyramid.
That prospectus or leaflet came in the ordinary way, and,
as it was worded, seemed to merit remark, as do so many
of the numerous leaflets of the kind that oome t*o the office
of Light. There was an appeal for money to carry out
the publication, which in the Note was characterised as
begging. Mr. Fox is, we learn, a conscientious, highminded man, a Quaker, and has simply what he considers
the good of mankind abheart. Apology is, J^erefore, due
to him, and is freely offered. A t the same time, in
justification of the Note, it must be admitted that the
wording of the prospectus was very curious. AVe tiustjJ
however, that Mr. Fox may obtain the money he wants,
and so b ring out the work in which he is so deeply in
terested. It is in the intei est of true Rpintuahsm, and w
mystical and occult science, to keep everything above
suspicion, and that is the only object of such Notes as Mr.
Fox complains of. In his case we are only too happy to
find we have erred.
The Arena publishes another article by Edgar Lee
on Astrology in London. Of the recently developed
wide-spread interest in the science there can be no doubt.
One would be glad, however, to have some corrobora
tion of Mr. Lees statements. Jpe asserts that on the
occasion of the Jubilee service in Westminster Abbey
in 1887 certain journalists were anxious, with fair reason,
about their safety at the service, and the wife of one of
them suggested a consultation with a famous intuitional
astrologer on the eve of the ceremonial. He did so consult,
and he got this answer:
There is not the slightest fear of anything happening to
morrow. Jupiter, who rules her Majesty, is in his full dignity,
and nothing sinister could possibly occur. There is, however,
likely to be an accident to some one, who, though not Royal, is
insomeway connected with the Royal house, and it would appear
as though it were a horse accident. It will be remembered by
many that on the morning of the ceremony the Marquis of
Lome, while in the park en route to join the procession, was
thrown from his charger and sufficiently injured to prevent his
taking part in the proceedings.
Another account is still more curious:
That same night while the journalist was making this
inquiry, two other querents applied to the astrologer, both
asking a question as to the safety of the Abbey on the morrow.
The reply given by the astrologer was naturally a repetition of
his previous answer, whereupon the younger of the two visitors,
who spoke English imperfectly, asked for a forecast of his own
career. After ascertaining minutely the hour of birth and the

Paul,

ptfjjsjgJKfj P rice T wopence.

latitude and longitutude of the birthplace, the astrologer in

quired if he were by profession a soldier, and the reply was that
he held rank in a foreign army. Your end will be sudden,
and by lead, said the astrologer, and, so far as I can see, the
end is so near that it is not worth while casting the nativity.
The young man laughed at the time, but it afterwards transpired
that he was the Archduke Rudolf of Austria, whose melancholy
and tragic demise will be still fresh in the memory of the
reader.
Professor St. George Mivarts Apology for Hell has
naturally roused the orthodox champions of that timehonoured institution, and Father Clarke has come to its
rescue. Seeing that neither of these gentlemen appears to
Ipy any foundation for his arguments outside what
certain fathers of the Church have thought and written,
the whole controversy is surely a waste of words. Perhaps
the most amazing thing about this most horrible belief is
that men presumably gentle in all their relations of life
can contemplate the possibility @f any" one dear to them
incurring such a fate as the belief involves because of the
accidental omission of a certain ceremony, or the lack
of eredtenlfSas to a certain fiHotTine. Of all the strange
developments of the human mind this is one of the strangest.
Calvins notion of infants a span long crawling about the
floor of hell, and President Edwardss doctrine that part of
the happiness of the blest would consist in seeing the
tortures of the damned, stand out as frightful examples of
the cruelty that may come of unreasoning dogma.
From the notion of hell it is not a far cry to the notion
of the devil. As the home of the Deity is given as Heaven,
so the home of the devil is given as hell. One of the
arguments (?) of the ignorant orthodox against ghosts used
to be that if the spirit had gone to Heaven it would be too
happy to come back, and if it had gone to hell Satan would
take good care to keep it there. The habitation and its
principal tenant went together. Investigation of the
unseen has abolished the old Heaven and its opposite; but,
at the same time, it has confirmed the existence of spiritual
life. As good and evil existno explanation of what
they mean is offered hereso good spirits and evil spirits
doubtless exist in all grades of goodness and wickedness,
and therefore of the personal devil we may say, using the
plural, they do exist. The one devil, as opposed to the
one God, is an abstract idea only. Some Spiritualists are a
little perplexed about this at first.
Some thirty years ago, nay, less than that, the cry was
for what is called Education. Educate the masses and
all will be well. But the materialism of the age did not
distinguish between instruction and education, and so
when the people wanted bread they were given stones.
And now it is found that the stones were not nutritious,
and somehow what was expected from the food has not
come about. What else could be expected 1 Education, or
rather instruction, does not, as Lord Justice Bowen says,
cure hydrophobia; it will not obliterate all inequalities of
nature, since you may rub and polish a pewter till it shines
without its becoming silver in the end. But the materialist

26

LIGHT.

[January 21, 1893.

says all iuou uro born equal, the difference is only because in this matterone by Christ, By their fruits ye shall kno I
of their environm ent; yet somehow we have by this t hem ; tho other by St. John, Try the spirits. But to I
education made the environment more nearly uniform, acquire knowledge is just what wo are sent hero for, nor coul<) 1
and the result is, as Lord Justice Howen says, that we any have been acquired had men listened to tho parrot cries of I
Cni bomf and Non licet ! To ascend into the air, to control tho I
write long biographies of Nobody, and we celebrate the
lightning, to govorn steam, to imprison sunlight, to conserve tho 1
centenaries of Nothing." Tho spirit and the spirits shadow very voice of tho dead, even to deaden pain by amestheticsI
once more are not the same.
one and all have been denounced as invasions of tho Divine I
prerogative and flying in the face of God, a parleying with tho I
devil, or a diving into unlawful secrets ; and had the idler" |
MR. HAWEIS ON SPIRITUALISM.
and tho timidities and, I will add, the persecutors been!
Tt is not a little remarkable that in the same month as hooded in tho past, we should never have had the balloon, the 1
that in which an article appears in the New Review steam-engine, tho photograph, the phonograph, the telephone,
on the Faith Cure, one on Ghosts should be published in the tho telegraph, or even chloroform. Thun history, that I
Fortnightly Review. The latter is by Mr. Haweis and irresistible cynic, repeats herself. All great discoveries have at i
first boon derided as ridiculous and then denounced as impious, 1
has been already referred to in Linin', in a short tran
and lastly adopted as a matter of course. Let us, then, as we H
script from the Daily Graphic. That, transcript refers have to learn to labour and to wait, stand firm for the expansion p
only to the photos of ghosts, as Mr. Haweis calls them. of human faculty, increase of human growth, accession to I
Mr. Haweis, however, has much to say on the general human knowledge, and welcome as it comes to us all in the I
days work, even the silent apparition or the gibbering ghost. ]
question. He says ;
It is a busy world, and you may fairly ask, Why should I
Mr. ITaweis naturally theorises somewhat, and he has 1
attend to ghosts or, for the matter of that, any of these bogey evolved the thought body, the astral body presumably ?
phenomena, which I am told on excellent authority can be of the Theosophist, the double of the Psychical!
accounted for by fraud, credulity, hallucination, or misunder
Research Society, and other people. Of the existence of
standing | I will answer that question first.
this
thought body he gives the following illustrations :'i
We must attend to occult phenomena (were there no other
reason) because of their obstinate persistency. That is Herbert
The late Lady Sandhurst assured me that whilst she was at an |
Spencers test of reality. The broad backs of thoso much evening party, her thoughts being anxiously set on a sick person, j
belaboured but patient beasts of burden called Fraud, Credulity, that sick person beheld her thought-body enter the room. A |
Hallucination, and Misunderstanding, have at last refused to similar case happened to a friend of mine at Rome, whose little 1
bear any more loading. Whos to carry what is left ? for this boy saw the thought-body of a dear friend then in England I
obstinate residuum it seems cannot be destroyed. Comparative standing behind his mother in Rome, at a time when the absent!
studies in these days are all the fashion. Will no one give us a friend was afterwards found to have been intently thinking ofI
comparative study of ghosts ? will no one even provide us with the boys mother in London.
an introductory and concise study of occult phenomena in and ;
The double gives Mr. Haweis an opportunity for 1
out of the Bible, in historyancient and modern, sacred and
speculation
profane ? Lastly, in a word, will no one, after loading the four
For aught we know, railway stations, streets, churches, and 1
beasts as heavily as possible, produce the fifth beast whose name
is Truth, and who will bear without hesitation or fatigue that all public assemblies may be frequented to an incalculable ex-1
puzzling residuum of indisputable but unintelligible phenomena ? tent by doubles. Nor can it be safely said of anyone at any I
Is it not strange that the occult, or wliafc we commonly call moment, known or unknown, that he may not be the double,!
the miraculous, weathers age after age of scepticism 1 True, instead of the normal man. Very odd cases of mistaken!
that at this very moment we are living in an age of scientific identity and supposed false swearing might be explained onl
ostriches, who mumble, with their heads in the sand, that no this hypothesis, and an element of confusion introduced into!
one now believes in miracles ; that ghosts never appear; that life which it would be very difficult to cope with.
second-sight, and premonitions, and dreams that come true, and
W e also get the stereotyped ghost story of the!
prophecies that are verified, have all vanished before the light of uninitiated ; Mr. Haweis says :
knowledge and the scrutiny of science. True also it is that
I am at this moment staying in the house of a Government 1
never were there a greater number of intelligent people con
vinced of the reality and importance of these occult phenomena. official, high up in her Majestys service, who commenced hisj
This persistency of the occult is at any rate a fact, and a stubborn narrative, as people usually do their little bogey stories, with!
one. From age to age the same unexplained phenomena occur. Of course I dont believe in ghosts, but (sic) a strange thing I
In Spiritualism more than in anything else history repeats itself. happened to me some years ago. I woke up, and found an I
From age to age a number of supposed supernaturalisms are elderly man standing by my bed, and, as he leaned over me, I
exposed or explained ; from age to age a residuum cannot be raised my head and struck at him ; my hand seemed to pass I
exposed or explained : no, not by Crookes, or Wallace, or through him, and he disappeared; but tho odd thing was that I
Lodge, or Flammarion, or the Berlin conjurer, Bellachini, or my brother, who was sleeping in another room, complained in I
the French conjurer, Houdin, or the English conjurers, Maske- the morning that he, too, had been disturbed by the strangest!
lyne and Cook ; or Sidgwick and the Psychical Society, or any noises in his room, but had seen nothing. Of course, I dont!
other society, or anybody else. This gives to reflect, as the believe in ghosts generally, only I cant help believing in that!
onebecause I saw i t !
French say.
One of the few things ia which the splendid teaching of!
Mr. Haweis treats the persistent and obstinate un
De M organ was perhaps a little wrong was where he incul
believer with scant courtesy :
With those hyper-scrupulous inquirers who declare that, as cated the worthlessness of popular science. The thing may |
regards all that class of phenomena commonly called miraculous be carried too far nevertheless the populariser is always]
or supernatural, no conceivable amount of evidence would valuable, and we thank M r. H aweis accordingly.
weigh with them, I am not now concerned. In a free country
people may hold opinions, however absurd, and ^blurt out
THE TWO SPIRITS.
denials, however preposterous, and still be tolerated, but they
need not be reasoned with.
I dreamed two spirits cameone dusk as night.
Mortals miscall me Life, he sadly saith ;
W ith the truth seekers he is quite in accord, but of
The other, with a smile like morning light,
those whom he calls the non licet timidities | he speaks
Flashed his strong wings, and spake, 1 Men name me Death.
freely :
J ames B. K enyon , in the Century.
Is it lawful ? To this there is but one answer. Phenomena
in themselves are neither good nor had. Morals can alone be
T he Spiritualists of Barrow-in-Furness appeal for help fof:
decided by tendencies ; and the tendencies of ghosts and of their local societies. As-Barrow is very much isolated, this
occult things generally are clearly of all sortsgood, bad, and appeal will commend itself.Address, M rs , H ewitson, %
p&diSbrent, Therefore there are but two counsels of perfection Creeian-st^ ebT) B arrow-in -F urness,

janliary 2i, 1893.3

L IG H T

MRS. BESANT AND THEOSOPHICAL CLAIMS.

Mrs. Besant has been lecturing at Chicago. Tt I
jiistructi\e to nolo how her teaching has impressed a
writer in the 1 Roligio-Philosophical Jo u rn al :

27_
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AND MODERN
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.
B y W illiam Oxley.

No. II.
Mrs. Annie Besant | lectures, given in this city recently,
In my former paper I showed the close parallel there is
jtfiikeut'il considerable interest among those interested in occult
subjects. She came here and spoke under the auspices of the between the basic doctrines of the most ancient Egyptian and
Thcisoi>hieal Society, and the lectures were an effort to establish Christian religious systems, meaning thereby the Greek, Roman
till-claims of Theosophy upon the impregnable basis of science. Catholic, and Protestant Churches. Anyone who has visited
The lecturer presented some of the latest results of scientific Egypt, and has been surrounded by tlic remains in numberless
investigation and some of the speculations of able thinkers and monuments,sculptures, papyri, &c., showing the religious
endeavoured to show their correspondence with tho views of the thought and action of a people whose history is therein re
ancient- teachers of Theosophy. She emphasised the claim that corded, can see, by unmistakable evidence, the origin of
the teachings of men like Crookes are identical with those of Christianity. Even the habits and customs of the natives of
goger Bacon and with those earlier taught by tho Theosophical to-day show characteristics from which many of our Scripture
anchors of antiquity. Undoubtedly there was a great deal of incidents and allegories are derived.
Although the authorship of the Gospelsand it may be the
gill thought in the lectures. Mrs. Besants careful study of
science through a number of years, when she was a mate other books as wellis unknown, and for ever likely to remain
rialist. are of valuable service to her now in ingeniously and so, there is little doubt that the real authors were members of a
plausibly supporting Theosophical claims and harmonising them more or less secret order, whose headquarters were at Alex
with the latest utterances of scientific men, but it must be andria during the earliest centuries of the Christian era, and
said that for the most part, her lecture would have been just who were well versed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. It
as strong, tier thought just as valuable, her utterances just as was the knowledge of what that ancient system contained in
eloquent, if the thought advanced had been labelled Spirit its mystical sense that enabled them to reproduce in an im
ualism, instead of Theosophy. In proof of the special dis proved form the beliefs and main doctrines of the ancient
tinguishing doctrines of Theosophy she advanced nothing worthy Egyptian system, by substituting other names for those used by
to be called proof. Indeed, the weakest point of her lecture was the Egyptians. Most of the alleged incidents recorded in the
the effort she made to answer the question, often propounded, Gospel narratives are the same as had been known for some
as to why experts in Theosophical science do not make known to three thousand years at least to the worshippers and votaries of
the world the great powers they possess, such as that of com the older system.
The ancient Egyptians were pre-eminently a religious
municating at great distances by means of letters, chelas, and
people,
and they had no notion of being savedor justified
other unusual methods. She said that such knowledge, if
possessed commonly, was very liable to be abused, and that evil as they termed itby faith in their doctrinal or dogmatic
irould come from the exercise of it. She instanced the evil teachings or beliefs; but they lived so that after death they
effects of knowledge of electricity as shown in the power to use could pass the ordeal of the Judgm ent in the Hall of Two
it to further gambling, and thereby to cause loss and ruin to Truths, and be pronounced justified by the great God Osiris,
thousands. The occult knowledge, if possessed by many, who was the supreme Judge of the dead. This hope, which
would be used to the detriment of mankind. She apparently underlay all their actions in secular, as well as religious life,
did not realise that her arguments were against the value and was their motor in life and sustainer in death. Good morals
application of the use of electricity, which in fact has been one and righteous livingaccording to their standardwas the
o? the greatest civilisers of the modem world, bringing nations outcome, which made them a religious people. The raids of
closely together, practically annihilating space and thereby their kings into the neighbouring States for booty and slaves, as
increasing the common interests and the brotherhood of men to well as for the lust of conquest, may be thought a set-off against
an extent that lias been done in the same space of time by no their morality; but the history of Christianity is not free from
other agency which can be named. Even if it is true that the this foul blot; and even in our own highly favoured country
occult power would be wrongly applied by certain persons, think how many centuries have elapsed since it was thought no crime
of the vast amount of good that would be accomplished by such to steal a man, while sheep stealing was a crime the penalty of
means of communication, as are said to be possible to the which was death t Then, as now, wealth and position were
adepts in occult science! and the very commonness of the powerful factors in dealing with the memorials of the defunct
knowledge possessed would, in 1 short time, measurably diminish and with the K a of the departed man or woman. Instead of
the amount of resulting evil, the same as to-day the general prayers for the soulas used by the Roman Catholics in the
exercise of mans intellectual powers and the extension of their Christian systemthe Egyptians presented offerings of the best
influence by numerous arts and devices prevent a few securing that the votary could give for the use of the Ka, or liberated
spirit, who claimed to be devoted to Osiris. Another form
their advantage at the expense of the many.
If Theosophy is to have any future among discriminating was the Osirian, as applied to the deceased, who was sup
thinkers it must submit its claims to the process of verification. posed to have been made like unto Osiris; and in one form or
It will not do for a few individuals to assert the existence of other this was the prevailing custom down to the end of the
wonderful powers known only to themselves; they must prove Osirian religion. Even the powerful hierarchy of Thebes,
their claims, and they must prove them before those who are supported by Royalty, wliioh formed the priesthood of Amun
competent to judge as to the value of the proof. Mrs. Besant Rathe king of the gods, according to their claimcould
is a lady whose past life and whose intellectual abilities com not eradicate this deep-seated affection for the worship of, and
mand for her great respect, and secure for her a hearing, which reverence towards, the supreme god, Osiris, which had been
she otherwise could not obtain. She is vastly superior to perpetual from, to them, ancient times. This is proved by the
the great mass of those who are identified with Theosophy, that vast number of funereal cones, containing prayers and offerings,
is, in the capacity of teachers and leaders. Since she has herself which have been found in great abundance in the neighbour
been an advocate of science and of investigation, according to hood of Thebes. Mr. Petrie gives copies of the inscriptions
the scientific method, she knows the importance of putting what on one hundred and seven of these, with interpretations by Mr.
The opening formula in most common use is
she presents for public acceptance upon a scientific basis and Griffith.
sustaining it by evidences and arguments which will bear the devoted to Osiris, and then follows the prayer or offering,
closest scrutiny. It is due to her many friends and admirers, giving the name, occupation, and position of the votary, either
who know of her past work and methods, that she should give his, her own, or that of the deceased. I give a few as illustra
them something more than mere assertion, if she wishes them tion :
Royal offering to Osiris, Lord of the West, may he give
to accept the statements which she makes in regard to the
the
sweet breath of the north windfor the Ka of the Scribe
extraordinary performances and achievements of the adepts of
Roma.
Theosophy.
----- says, I am devoted to thee, Osiris, I am devoted
to thee. Anpu. (Name of defunct.) Royal offering to
We are still troubled a good deal with poetry. Would
Osiris, Lord of eternity by----- chief of police.
that our correspondents would realise that not only is the poet
Frequently the prayer, &c., is omittedbut taken as under horn and not made, but that when he is boffn, his fines
should scan.E d, L ight.
'Stood--anci only the name and title of the devotee, o r defunct,

:s

LIGHT

[January 21, 1803.

ho oould return and visit bis body, into which ho could re-emtot I
permanently at the appointed time. On a papyrus in tin, I
Louvre (Paris) is given tho experience of flic K a of a docoasucl I
lady called Isioor. It is illustrated by drawings showing tho I
Tin
hrm /it justitioil (true voiiiud) in peace
l\u. hovering over the mummified body, and finishes with tho S
All tlu'so, mill very many more, wo tlio equivalents of our prayer to tho groat (Sod Osiris, May I accomplish all my ft
moilorii i;i\ ivi' stouos, but. are inuro expressive of tlioir pious transformations, and power ho given mo by which 1 may go
tioliofa in tlio iiotiml state of tlioir ilooottsoil relatives in tlio wheresoever l will, and all my substance ho transformed into
oir
thy glorious likeness. Such instances may ho multiplied, hut
future world wid lift'. Commoting tlioso with tlioir noiv well
us>
known chwiiotoristios, wo limy not. regard tlioni ns empty those are sufficient, to tlioso who can road between tho linns,
SCO
compliments, hut as tho expression of tlioir deep-seated religious to show that Spirit Communion, in several forms, was not f;
unknown to tlio votaries of this ancient religious system.
beliefs, hopes, slid inspirations.
on1
Tho doctrine of future rewards and punishment for domls
Wo have dulinoatod tho beliefs on which tho Osiriun 1 tl
done in tho body is a cardinal one, and formed the incentive religion was based, and wo have now some historical evidence | ivc
to a life of morality and rectitude. Many of tho monumental as to the outcome of such beliefs. Throe thousand years were 1 m
i
inscriptions hoar testimony to this ; and the life deeds of the to elapse between death and resurrection of the body; and
o
o
king, priest, or noble, as tho case may ho, are enumerated as a within the last few years several royal and priestly bodies I no
reminder to tho god or gods, whose offspring they wore claimed have been discovered, some of them pertaining to the kings of 1 gt
to he. that service rendered to them in earthly life should ho the groat eighteenth anil nineteenth dynasties, whose bodies
b<
rewarded by a rapid transit through tho intervening states in wore embalmed over 3,000 years ago, but the Ka or spirit which
it
the under world, specified under the term hours of tho night; was projected from the bodies has not returned to claim and
11
ami a speedy entrance into tho presence of Osiris, by whom they re-enter them. And this belief which formed the most im
anticipated being received with royal honours, and made like portant part of their articles of faith-has been demonstrated
unto himself. If the generally accepted belief of ecclesiastical beyond question to have been baseless. Of the others, we
Christians, not excepting 1 evangelical ones, is noton tho same cannot, of course, pronounce so decidedly, but from what can
or similar lines, then the modern professions of belief are be gathered from the narratives of some who have entered the
meaningless. In all, wnl through all, the exaltation of tho future life and testified of what they saw and experienced we
personality was the paramount thought and desire, and their shall be justified in saying that they also must go by the
notions of future happiness were grounded on the continuation board, and be pronounced equally without foundation.
of tho good things of this life. Servitude by retainers, domestics,
If this be true in regard to the parent system, what of its
and slaves was to bo the lot of the base born there as here ; offspringtho Christian system of thought and beliefs 1 Are
and thus, instead of hoping to become ministering angels to the the God Jehovah and His Son Jesus any more actual than the
requirements of others, they were to be the ministered unto ; God Osiris and his son Horus ? And have any Christian Kas
and so the Kit's of their servants and subjectsif they were ever returned to tell of the actuality of their heaven and hell l 1
allowed to have anywere considered beneath notice, their Until scientific proof can be afforded, the probabilityI 1
only value consisted in their sendees rendered. This explains I would venture to say the certaintyis, that the articles of
the Ka chamber and its use in the temples attached to the faith | on which Christianity is based have no more real nor
pyramids ; and why the real or supposed Ka of the deceased substantial foundation than Osirianity, which for more than four !
king became the object of worship. Possessed of despotic power thousand years supplied comfort and religion to the millions of
they were so inflated by vanity, that they were given over to people who composed the ancient Egyptian nation.
believe a lie," and as a god made manifest in flesh, they exalted
The awakening process has begun, amongst the Protestant
themselves at the expense of the debasement of others by whom sections especially; and unless the hands of time can be turned
they were surrounded, and demanded their recognition and back, and the spiritual evolution in human mentality and in
worship as a god. But the chief point of interest is to know
tellectuality be strangled and stamped out, it must go on till the
how they gained the knowledge of the spiritual body, or Ka, as
struggle for liberty and truth, versus (ecclesiastical) bondage and
they termed it. We know that the ancient Egyptians wore not
speculative beliefs, so deeply involved with personal vested
ignorant of psychology, their monuments and writings abound interests, ends in the emancipation of the human mind from
with testimony to this fa c t ; for when the ecclesiastical system ignorance by the acquirement of true knowledge concerning the
was formulated, what are termed magical usages and incanta
here and hereafter. All who value the assertion of the human
tions in connection with the present and future life were
birthright will join inSpeed the tim e!
inseparable from their rites and ceremonials in the act of
( T o be c o n t i n u e d .)
worship. Astrologers also were as essential as the priesthood,
for in all state and religious processions the horoscoper
occupied a prominent position. The immense number of
SOME MAGAZINES AND BOOKS.
am ulets, worn as charms in life to ward off danger from enemies,
Been and unseen, and deposited with the mortal remains after
The Mew Review f is very good. That Charcot, Ibsen, I
lljkijih.' gave employment to a large number of artificers, whose Roden Noel, and Archibald Forbes should be found side by side 1
trade interests were as dear to them as to the silversmiths, who means much. Of Charcots article we have treated elsewhere.
fabricated the offerings at the shrine of the Ephesian Diana,
The Fortnightly has a variety of articles on various I
Thus we see how personal11vested interests i were associated subjects, from Michelangelo by way of the South Meath eleotion |
with ecclesiastical requirements. Then as now, these vested to Ghosts and their Photos.
interests were opposed to the liberation of the human mind from
The Id ler is perhaps a little less the Idler than usual. |
$&. thraldom of king-craft and priestcraft; and then as now
There is an amusing story of a double, inspired apparently by 1
in strictly Catholic countriesthe Church and State were
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and a most gruesome and horrible I
irreparable ; for priest and king are the governing power, that
picture of lifeGod save the markin the Chinese quarter of
will brook no opposition nor resistance to their claims, and for
New York.
the laity to draw a distinction between the secular and
We have also the Picture Magazine, a new venture of |
spiritual is tabooed as heresy deserving severe punishment.
George
Newnes, and last but not least, a charming Birthday book, !:
It were hard to credit tho beliefs of the ancient Egyptians
in reference to tho Ka and its future destiny, ns speculativ where the language of flowers is tho key-note, the verses for j
only ; for we have evidence, if truthfully reoorded, of the every day being by Emily Reader, and tho illustrations by :
/; appearance of so-called spirits of the deceased to those who Ada Br'ooko.
Of Books and Pamphlets, as distinct from Magazines, AV0
Were in mortal conditions. For instance, in The Instructions
of King Amenemha I. to his son Uscrteeon I. (12th Dyn. have received many ; a compact edition of Mr. Roden Noels
2700 B.c.) the deceased king gave advice as to government, poems among others. Janet Smith, by Saladin, is a vigorous j
and tells his son how he had met liis death by assassination ; attack on some of the shams of the day. Yorkshire Ghost j
and finishes his discourse by saying I am a spirit. (See Stories are good, but are by no means ghost stories.
Records of the Past, Vol. II., p. 11.) An inscription on
FromFranoe comes an announcement of La Haute Science,
the coffin of Monei-teb-tep (in British Museum) states that the Ka whioh is to bo a Review of Esoteric Tradition. Tho Bovin"'
of the deceased, a priest of Osiris, had passed the ordeal of the will begin with a French translation of the Zohar, and of tlm
Judgment scene, and was now in the Elysian fields, from whenoe Bl'ihacUranyaka-Upanished.
lviof of lllo priest*
is, itailliul, snob ss : " Devoted to Osiris
"f Amon, .I>-/.-rut i n f . "
" For tlio Kit i>f the chief prophet of Villi, ne/ rri t i t /l ,
widow, tlio I'liiinttoss of Amon,
justified ; in peace.

jannary 21, 1893.]

LIGHT.

RECORDS OF PRIVATE SEANCES

PROMnotes

t a k e n a t t h e t im e o f e a c h s it t i n g .

No. XXXVII.
F rom

the

R ecords or M rs. S.

August 31,st, at Shanklin.Aftor five weeks cessation the

circle this evening renewed its soancos. We met under the
usual conditions. Baps came quickly, and very sweet verbena
scent, made from leaves that were in the room. G. and the
other musical spirits manifested. Wo saw much spirit-light, and
one column of light remained near Dr. S. for some time. Chom
told us it was a spirit that wished to communicate, but
would have to w ait; he said it was a big spirit. He answered
more questions, and suddenly left, saying, I go, Chief is
coming. We then heard Impcrutors voice saying he could
not allow the circle to resume its sittings without coming to
give it welcome. He answered many questions. Wo saw a
beautiful pillar of light standing near Mr. S. M. We spoke of
it. Imperator answered, Wait, friends,and in a few moments
H.s flashing light was visible. Kabbila then manifested, and
Imperator closed the stance with a short prayer.
September 1st.This evening the raps came soon after we
badsettled ourselves, and much spirit-light was visible, especially
in one corner of the room. By raps we were told that a strange
spirit wished to communicate, and would do so during the
seance, G., Chom, and Saida all manifested by making their
different, musical sounds. After playing for some time G.
rapped out, We have done. The table then began to quiver
as if alive. It was a heavy, solid, old-fashioned, round table,
difficult to move, but it was raised several times, and a spirit
rapped on it with much energy, asking for the alphabet, and
when it was called gave the name of Abraham Florentine.*
We asked, Where did you live ? Brooklyn. And then
followed, I fought in the war of 1812. When did you pass
away! I passed August 5th, 1874. At what age?
Eighty-three years, one month, seventeen days. This infor
mation was given in a most excited manner, and the table was
violently shaken when we did not quite understand the answers.
Great power was taken from each of the circle, and we were so
upset by the constant violent movements of the tableproduc
ing, each time it was moved, a kind of electric shock through us
-that we had the greatest difficulty in taking the information
through the alphabet. The spirit at last ceased, and our friend
G. came to the rescue. He informed us that the spirit had been
chosen by Imperator to give us another proof of identity, and
that he had been a Spiritualist in earth-life. We were then
deluged with scent and told to cease. Mr. S. M. was in deep
trance during the tune the information was given.
September 2nd.This evening the scent was exquisite ; raps
came quickly and with them several musical sounds. All the
stringed instruments were heard, and a new sound like a drum.
This, we were told, was a manifestation of Kabbilas. He and
H. showed their lights. Abraham Florentine came again, we
recognised his presence at once by the violent trembling of the
table. We rather objected to his rough manifestations, as he
used up so much power. G. then interfered and told us the spirit
wished to say the one month and seventeen days g referred
to his age. We had not perfectly understood this on the
previous evening. Catharine then rapped Cease.
September 5th.Mr. Peroival having come to Shanklin for
a short time sat with us this evening. Scent came quickly, and
the peculiar grinding Bound we had previously heard at former
seances. We tried to open communication, but failed. G.
then stepped in, giving three musical notes. They sounded
very mournful. We asked, Do you know the spirit?
Yes. Was he with us here last winter ? Yes. * Who
is he; can you give name ? To our dismay he answered by
raps Woe. We did not understand what this meant, until it
flashed into the mind of Mr. S. M. that this was the spirits
name. Will you give his other name ? We can hold no
communication with him. Dr. S. said, Will you embody in
one word the fault that has brought him to this sad condition?
A pauseand then the alphabet was asked for, and the word
Greed was spelt out. We all felt the influence very disagree
able ; it made us feel very cold, shivering, and unhappy. Then
musical manifestations followed, but we all felt anxious to cease
and let in the cheerful light. The next evening we met and had
the usual manifestations of raps, scent, and music.
* AH the details given were afterwards completely verified. No
one present at the stance knew anything about Abraham Florentine.

29

September 7th.This evening we bad the usual manifesta

tions of scent and music, but something seemed wrong, as they
did not come freely, although from the quantity of light in the
room many spirits seemed present. After some time we were
able to open communication with G., who told us to change the
air in the room, and leave for a few minutes.
He said
Imperator was with us, and that the manifestations were
retarded on account of the bad state of the weather, and the
mediums ill-health.
On returning to the room 11. showed his flashing light, and
Mentor soon controlled Mr. S. M. He told us he had come to
show us lights; that they would be much better but for the bad
medium; that the Chief would not allow a large light to be made ;
that we must rub our hands and lay them flat on the table. We
obeyed, and soon a bright cake of light appeared, much smaller
than usual, hut very bright ancl clear, surrounded with fine soft
drapery, which brushed over our hands and faces many times.
Mentor would not allow me to touch it. The last light he
brought remained moving about the room and circle for nearly
half an hour. Mentor then said, My light go, wait, and look.
I felt his hand very distinctly when he passed the drapery over
mine. H. then brought his flashing light on one side of the
medium, while Kabbilas dimmer light appeared on the other.
They moved about in every direction.
This manifestation
lasted for some time. When the lights had vanished, Mentor
spoke through the medium, telling us that the two previous
seances had not been very good, as he and the other spirits had
been trying experiments which had failed ; he should remain at
Shanklin as long as the medium stayed ; he had made us scent
and would bring us musk.

SUSTENTATION FUND.
We gratefully acknowledge the following contributions, and
hope that our friends will all give what they can, whether much
or little. Remittances should be sent to the Treasurer, Mr. H .
Withall, Gravel Lane, Southwark, London, S.E. :
s. d.
50 0 0
E. H. Bentall
...
30 0 0

...
K ........................
20 0 0
. ...
...
A L ady* ...............
. 10 10 0
C. C. M.
...
...
...
10 0 0
...
Mrs. S. E. Coates
10 0 0
F . G. S.........................
...
10 0 0
...
...
N. Fabyan Dawe
5 5 0
...
Mrs. Stanhope Speer
5 0 0
Hon. Percy Wyndham
5 0 0
...
Mrs. F. A. Moulton
5 0 0
Thomas Grant
5 0 0
...
H. H . ..........................
3 3 0
Mrs. C. H. Swanston
3 0 0
Geo. Wyld, M.D. ...
2 2 0
...
-w
P. H . N i n d ...............
2 0 0
...
...
Mrs. A. J . Penny ...
2 0 0
...
Mrs. Mackinnon
1 1 0
...
E. J . B a illie ...............
1 1 0
...
Mrs. Sains bury
1 1 0
Hon. Mrs. Carleton

1 1 0
Miss Boswell-Stone ...
...
1 1 0
Mr. and Mrs. Senior
1 1 0
...
Mrs. Morgan Payler
1 1 0
W. 0. .........................
1 1 0
...
Mrs. F. A. Ross
...
1 1 0
R. G. Bennett
fpp
...
1 0 0
Mrs. Wigham Richardson
Wm.
1 0 0
Mrs. C. J. Burton ...
1 0 0
E. T. Luson ...
M
1 0 0
Mrs. Glanville
Edward Maitland
1 0 0
...
...
Rev. E. T. Sale
...
1 0 0
I..
The Misses Taunton
..
0 10 0
T. Powers
..............
...
...
...
0 10 0
NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS.
J. J. B ell is thanked.
F. B. D oveton. Not suitable.
Vox.The project is impracticable.
P. H eathcote-S n APE.We do not quite Understand.
Y. Z.We fear your letter too nearly approaches the boundaries
of religious controversy for its publication in Light.

36

LIGHT.
O F F IC E O F 'L IG H T ,"
S, D U K E STR EE T,
A D B L V H I , W.C.

[January 21, 1898,

thusiastic, some would he ready to apply to the Lord

Mayor for a warrant on the ground of obstruction,
while the newspapers would head their placards with the
NOTICK TO SUBSCRIB KKH.
legend Bursting of the Angel Bubble. How many of
The Anneal Subscription {or 'L im it ," post-toe to twy atMram, 1 JiQs, llOtl1. per
annum, forwarded to our office in advance.
those who profess to believe in Jesus now would' have hesi
Cheques and Postal Outers should be made payable to Mr. B. D. Godfrey, and
tated to work out the tragedy of Calvary as soon as they
should iuvtu'ia'bty be ovossed ------- & Co.
All orders for papers and for advertisements, and all remittances, should1bb
had got over the surprise of the miracles they had seen!,
addressed to The Manager" and not to the Kditor.
There is something in it all people will begin to say
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC.
L ight " may also be obtained from K. W. Alley, 4, Avo Maria Lano, London, now quite easily, we have known of it all along. But
and all Booksellers.
that something will be thrown aside quite as easily when it
Is found to be overlaid with falsehood and fraud. I t will
not be easy to separate the kernel from the husk. To
separate that kernel from th at husk, however, must he
E D I T E D BY M .A ., L o n d .
our task.
SATU11DA I-, JANUARY 31*t. 1803.
We are not in the position of the scientific investigator
TO C O N T lilIt UTOIiS*^Com m unications in te n d e d to he p r in te d of the lower grade, who, having decided what he means by
sh ou ld he a d d re ssed to th e E d ito r , 3 , D u k e -stre e t, A d e lp h i. I t
w ill m uch fa c ilita te the in s e r tio n of su ita b le a r tic le s i f th e y a metal, what are the exact properties which define a
a re u n d e r tw o co lu m n s in len g th . L o n g c o m m u n ic a tio n s a r e j metal, knows at once when a certain substance, whether
a lw a y s in d a n g e r of b ein g d e la y e d , m id a r e f r e q u e n tly
d eclin ed on a cco u n t of w a n t of sp a c e, th ou gh i n o th e r re sp e c ts Klssoviered by ispectroscopic analysis.; (oaf; pither means* is a
good a n d d esira b le. L e tte rs sh ou ld be con fin ed to th e sp a c e metal according to his definition. W e are not in the
of h a lf a colu m n to en su re in s e r tio n .
B u sin ess co m m u n ica tio n s sh ou ld i n a ll ca ses be a d d r e s s e d tic position of the palaeontologist, who, having become sure
M r. Jl. D . G o d frey, 2 , D u k e -str e e t, A d e lp h i, W .C,, a n d n e t to
miisdi t # srafl
only
th e E d ito r.
gBf|h belonged tp isueh and j|jci an animal, therefore
proceeds with pleasant self-approbation to reconstruct
THE BEGINNINGS OF PROSPERITY.
the animal as lie believed it to have existed, no one
being
easily able to contradict h im ; but rather we are
The trouble of prosperity is already somewhat in
evidence. The magazines and newspapers are p ro d ia^ ^ in the position of the physicist, who, beginning to
articles and letters involving questions as to the occult, doubt whether his conceptions of things are true, works on
and already also the chaff is seen to be mixing seriously the confines of his phenomenal knowledge, and finds results
with the seed corn of the wheat. Therein will lie one of the which begin to contradict all his preconceived experiences,
great difficulties of the immediate future. Positive denial can and which be can . only put-down as doubtful until he
be met with positive assertion, but half truths are as bad knows more. Somehow he knows there is truth in his
to deal with as half lies. The great singer who passed pesjajL'ts, but how much he is not sure, and the
away last autumn told us that the lie that is half a truth small fry who have wobbled about in the fringes of his
is ever the worst of lies, and so the truth which i|f half pubject begin to jeer at him because he does not produce a
a He is ever the woist of tristh..' T'l! halfness is its new and fully developed Pegasus from the stable of his
difficulty, for the truth, the whole truth,, and nothing.but 'investigations. That the unseen exists will not be, indeed is
the truth jf is the supposed desire of the average thinker, not, doubted, but its existence will be so overlaid with false
as the lie, the whole lie, and nothing hut the lie is hood that the truth will not. at first be easily arrived at,
what he really hopes to get. The end of 1892 a n d ,the though it will come at last.
|jgj||||^k--4ad rendjf methods, are good enough in. the face
beginning of 1893 were signalised by the'great journal,
of which, whatever may he our political opinions,' .we of rough and ready denial; but the subtle and delicate
are proud, giving apparently unqualified testimony to attacks of the adversary where some truth is allowed to be
the truth of some of those strange phenomena that are the seem., but falsebood far greater is shown to accompany it,
outward and visible sign of the borderland between what will require a subtler and a more skilful method of defence.
is called matter and what is called spirit. One naturally
LONDON SPIRITUALIST ALLIANCE.
rejoiced that this evidence of changed opinion was so
presented to the world, when suddenly we found that the
S p e c i a l N o t ic e .
narrator of the phenomena himself, as well as other inde
The next meeting of members and friends of the Alliance
pendent investigators, threw grave doubts? ufSOft the genuine
p.t. on Tuesday week, January 31st, when
ness of those same, phenomena, described at first with so
Mr. W. Paice will give an address on The Spiritual Meaning
much minuteness and appearance of truth. Not that all
,w: p?e are glad to he able to ep^:^ytliat Mr. Page
the things were; false, not that th# observer was an inex Hopps, who would have given an address on Tuesday evening
perienced observer, but that there was fraud somewhere is last but for ill-health, is considerably better, but he is unable to
the burden of the story ; and chat fraud somewhere w i! fulfil his engagement just at present.
be one of the difficulties that we shall have to fight with
as we go on. Deliberate and unqualified denial will not
W h a t is this thought that is now here, and now leaps across
now he the rule, hut we shall get such a carping and un the profound abyss of space with a velocity that leaves
gracious acquiescence as will be not so very much better lightning and light itself hopelessly behind, to plant its foot on
than that straight denial itself. Yet, though not so very Sirius; that travels so far in an instant, though the light that
reveals one of those heavenly bodies must be thousands of
much better, it will be better.
years in Grossing the heavens before it can become visible even
Salvation either of the individual or of the race is not to the mightiest telescope 1 What is this power of dreaming,
to he won in a moment. That a nation should be born in which, when we are unconscious, plays its mad pranks, takes
a day was one of the poetic fancies of a Hebrew seer, hut these long journeys, builds these wonderful structures, revels
in lawlessness and disorder, and pleases itself with wondrous
the story of all time tells us that true and lasting progress is fancies, and makes us, for a time at least, the inhabitants of a
never sudden. The conquest must be gradual to be secure. world whose light has never yet shone oh sea or land 1 And
I t is conceivable that if a materialised angel were to hold what is this power of waking dreams, this idealising faculty of
ours ? What is the process going on when a mail leans his face
his court for a week in front .of St. Pauls, the whole on his hand and his elbow on his desk, and then reviews all the
city would rush to see him and even to worship him, past, visits the places with which lie is familiar, communes for a
but it is quite certain that if the angel stopped time with those who are living no more, creates conditions that
the human race has not yet attained, and seeks comfort in these
there, there would be a reaction at the end of the creations 1 What is this power ? No science, no philosophy,
week, and of those who at the first were the most en understands it.M in o t S a v a g e .

JattttM-y Si, 1893.]

LIGHT

THE NEW MESMERISM.

In last weeks L ight extractsaccompanied by a
few commentswere given, from tho two remarkable
articles which have been printed in the Times on
11Mesmerism as Practised in Paris. Those two articles
appeared, as was noted in L ight , on December 28th,
1892, and January 5th, 1893. Six days afterwards, on
January 11th, there appeared a third and presumably
concluding article by the same pen, and it is to this that
especial attention is now called.
The Occasional Correspondent of the Times had
given a circumstantial account of the things he saw done,
especially by Prs. Bernheim and Luys. Certainly his
comments were not very numerous, but, in th at he spoke
very disparagingly of the experiments of the former and
not of those of the latter, one could only draw the in
ference that, while lie condemned Dr. Bernheim, he did
not condemn Dr. Luys. But it seems that we were all
wrong. He was revelling in his contempt all the time.
It hits been said that the postscript is always the most
important part of a womans letter, and so it would seem
to be of this Occasional Correspondents. In a postscript
to his last communication he says, having read Mr. Ernest
Harts letter: He quite confirms my own impression
about the proceedings in question.
To my mind, they
stood so self-condemned as to be not worth testing, and I
have no doubt that the results of investigation are as he
says. It seems a pity th at the Occasional Correspon
dent did not give liis opinion at once; it would;, for
instance, have saved Dr. Bucknill the trouble of writing as
he did about inadequate observation. Instead of this,
however, at the end of his description of the marvels about
which he had indeed waxed almost eloquent, this ingenuous
Correspondent says th at the superiority of the present
practitioner over Mesmer lies in the superior point of
view which the present generation owes to an intervening
century of scientific discovery. Absence / i f adverse
comment does not, as we all know, mean approval, but if
that absence be replaced by assertions th at the phenomena
were genuine, after the manner of ijsls writer, we may be
forgiven if we did not see th at after all he was trying to
produce something not very distantly related to a practical
joke. As a matter of fact, in a subsidiary letter, which
appeared on January 9th, a letter instigated by the com
ments of Dr. Bucknill, the Correspondent says:
I described nothing but what I saw ; that the proceedings
were too plain to admit of any mistake ; that they were not
got up for anybodys benefit, but were, on the oontrary, brought
rather angrily to a conclusion on the ground that trap de monde
(four or five persons) were present; that similar experiments
have been carried out on other subjects and described by other
independent observers ; and, lastly, that they are susceptible of
a perfectly rational explanation.
Putting aside the politics of the great journal, one does
look to it for accurate information, so th at regret and
disappointment are very natural when one finds phenomena
described os genuine which the cham ber all the time knew
(,to be so self-condemned as to be not worth testing. W e
have, it appears, misunderstood his manner of approaching
the subject. In any further scientific communications
another manner might be used with advantage.
A letter front Ml1. F. W. H. Myers, which appeared
in the Times of January 14th, and which is reproduced
here, is of far more value than anything th at has been said by
this vibratory Correspondent. I t is to be regretted th at it
did not appear earlier:

31

by stating that Dr. Luys is in no way a representative of

modem hypnotism.
The untrustworthiness of many of his results was amply
demonstrated in the report presented by M. Dujardin-Beaumetz
to the Aeaddmie do Medicine, Paris, on March 6th, 1888 ; and
since that date most persons conversant with the subject have
recognised that no conclusions, positive or negative, as to either
the therapeutic value or the psychological import of hypnotism
can safely be drawn from the experiments of the ingenious but
incautious physician of the Cliarite. For instance, at the recent
International Congress of Experimental Psychology, hypnotism
was discussed, mainly, of course, from its psychological side, by
leading authorities from France, Germany, Holland, and other
countries. But no allusion whatever was made in public, nor, so
far as I am aware, in private, to any of Dr. Luys experiments.
The statement of Mr. Ernest H art is that being in
Paris at the Pasteur celebration he visited the Charity, and,
believing th at fraud was being used, especially as Dr. Luys
would take no proper precautions against it, he determined
to investigate further. He says :
Subsequently to this I secured the attendance at my apart
ments of five of the persons on whom Dr. Luys had been accus
tomed, and is still accustomed, to give his demonstrations in the
wards, and who have been the chief subjects of his Lego-m
(Jlinifpies, of which I have before me the printed volumes, con
taining reports of the marvellous phenomena produced, with
photographic representations of many of them. I had in all
nearly twelve sittings with these five subjects, among them being
the persons shown to your correspondent and going through the
performances which he describes. At all these sittings there
were present medical and scientific witnesses and independent
observers of undoubted competency. Among those who were
present at one or other of the sittings were Dr. Louis Olivier,
Docteur-des-Sciences, Directeur de la Revue Generale des
|g|ences; Dr. Lutaud, Editor of the Journal de Medicine de
Paris; Dr. Sajous, Editor of the American Annual of
Medicine; M. Cremiere, of St. Petersburg; Mr. B. F. C. Costello,
of London, and others whose names I need not at present
mention. They have signed the notes of the various test
experiments. These notes are too numerous and too detailed
; to permit me to venture to burden your columns with them : I
shall shortly publish them in detail. I need only say here that
the whole of the phenomena were reproduced with sham mag
nets, with substituted figures, with misnamed medicinal sub
stances, and with distilled water, and with sham suggestion,
opposite suggestion, or none at all. Everyone was able to
convince himself that all the results so shown were, without
j exception, simulated, fictitious, and fraudulent. That some of
the patients were hypnotic and hysterical in a high degree does
not alter the fact that from beginning to end they all showed
themselves to be tricksters of the most barefaced kind ; some of
them very clever actors, possessing dramatic powers which
might have been turned to better purposes, most of them utterly
venal, and some of them confessing that they played upon the
credulity of Dr. Luys for their own purposes.
Mr. Ernest H art, we are glad to see, promises signed
details of these experiments Against Mr. H a rt it must}
nevertheless, be said th a t he is not an unprejudiced observer.
Speaking of these same details he says :-

I think they will convince even the most credulous apostles

of the new mesmerism that we have here to deal only with
another chapter of human folly, misled by fraud, a reproduction
of the old frauds of Mesmer, of the self-deceptions of
Reichenbach, and the malpractices of sham magicians of the
Middle Ages who have still their ingenious imitators. These
impostures and this self-deception mask themselves now under
a new nomenclature, and avail themselves of recent develop
ments of psychological investigation in order to assume more
plausible shapes and a piewdo-scientific character. Buis when
the authentic details of their separate and combined simulations
are read, it will only remain to regret that so much prominence
has been given to so sad a page in human wickedness and folly,
and that men of distinguished position and good faith have
allowed themselves, by carelessness and persistent credulity, to
be made use of as propagators and apostles of wild follies and
Sir,With reference to the articles and letters which have vulgar deceptions.
fccently appeared in your columns on The New Mesmerism,
B ut whatever may be Mr. H a rts or anybody elses
andwhich have dealt mainly with the experiments of Dr. Luys,'
perhaps you will allow nue to avert a possible misunderstanding conclusions as to the methods or meaning of the New

32

L IG H T .

flittmiary j, i8i)3.

Mesmerism, his concluding remarks are. but too serioas> turge of the Pharaohs. At the bottom of the shrine stands I
the miraolo-working statue. Among the servitors of the temple I
and, we fear, but too truly founded :
There is a still more painful, Roeial, and moral side to this
matter, to which I can here only distantly allude, but which
confirms me in the belief that the question is at least as much
one of police as of science, and from that point of view deserves
the attention of the lay authorities of the Paris hospitals and
of the correctional tribunals.

Two things are apparent nevertheless from this con

troversyfirst, that there is now a recognition of a true
hypnotic state ; and next the grave responsibility which rests
on those who induce that state for any purposes whatever.

THE FAITH CURE.

Anything that is said by Dr. Charcot is worthy of
attention, and the article on the Faith Cure in the current
number of the New Review is perhaps more worthy of
notice than usual. The main consideration is that Dr.
Charcot accepts the validity of the Faith Cure in very many
eases, indeed, in all cases where the disease is the result of
nervous disorganisation, that is, when the ailment is of a
nature to be dependent in any WMg on idea. A t first sight
this would seem seriously to limitsdhe area of operation.
That limitation,however, is not so great as might be supposed,
for there are very many cases of disorganisation which, though
apparently due primarily to u .idk lesion, ai< soHJHjfj
only in a secondary degree, the, first, cae being a neurotic
disturbance which has brought about the organic disruption.
Such eases include nuwul.ir itroplit, nalenu, and ulcer,iti d
tumours.- That these last
has been
one of the crnces of the disciples of faith-curing, the truth
of the cures having been QOBBfturifPaaserted H h U B B
while their impossibility has been asserted with equal force
on the other. Dr. Charcot, however, is of omnion'.tiiatfiffry
often these ulcerated tumours are themselves the outcome
of neurotic disturbance, just as much as is that which Dr.
Russell Reynolds has called, paralysi^d^emdpnjt on idea.
A t once it may be said that Dr. Charcot allows of no
such aSsumpuon j At ffifS-flfiiffl' nllaelg. Whatever and how
ever obscure may be the operation of the cure by faith,
it is the outcome of law, natural, though but imperfectly
understood, so that he makes no distinction between
religious and lay faith cures ; the same working of the
brain produces in each ease the same effect. That science
cannot immediately explain the result is no stumbling
block, for science in the process of evolution makes no
pretence to solve every problem. If it did, it would
stultify its own evolution. I t offers an explanation,
reasonable in proportion to its discoveries, and that is all.
In every case it is a foe to systematic negation, which the
morrow may cause to melt away fn the, light of its new
triumphs. This is indeed the right way of estimating
science; unfortunately it is not the way always adopted.
In investigating the scientific position of the faith-cure,
Dr. Charcot naturally begins with the religious shrines,where
it is found in the fullest vigour. He traces shortly the history
of these shrines, by illustration commencing from a distant
antiquity, and of them he says: They have been the same
from the most remote periods of history up to our own day,
copying one another, a, to speak. That is to say,,that
through all the ages, among Ap. nj.qst diverse civilisations,
in the midst of
dissimilar, the
conditions of the
same, its laws of evolution iim ^table.
this solution of contiaiufity,
takes , the
Aaclepeion at Athens, and comprises the usuagesjAf its
devotees and officers with that of o 'fte 'rsB B illltih | shrines
and different epochs.
Let us examine the Aaclepeion at Athens, a direct descendant
of the shrines of ancient Egypt, since the healing god of the
Asclepeion shows the very lineaments of Serapis, the tlmuma-

are the doctor-priests, who are charged with noting aiw aiclnj/ 1
the curesthat is to say, the Medical Board, which the shrines 1
of to-day never fail to maintain if they are of sufficient ito- 1
portanoe.
Again, we find beneath the porticoes of the Asclepeion a I
very curious class of personsnamely, the intercessorswhose 1
business it is to approach the healing god in various towns, and I
implore his protection for their clients vicariously.
All through Poitou there exists a class of old women, whose I
ordinary business it is to go in like manner and intercede at the I
miraculous tomb of St. Radigunde for those who, although 1
believers in the faith-cure, either will not or cannot go f
themselves.
We may leave these intermediaries, and consider simply the 1
suppliants who come in person. From every deme of Greece a
those who believed in the faith-cure journeyed to the shrine to 1
obtain relief from their ills. On their arrival they placed rich 1
presents on the altar of the god, and plunged into the healing j
spring which bubbled up before the temple of riSsculapius.
By Zeus, exclaims the worthy woman to whom Charion 1
the servant, in Aristophanes comedy, tells the allegorical 9
adventures of Ploutos, its a queer kind of kindness to dip an |
old man into cold water f Centuries have passed, but the 1
sacred stream flows on still.

After these preliminaries the suppliants are admitted to pass

the night under the porticoes of the temple. Thus the inenba- |
tion commences, the nine days propitiation, during which the 9
healing virtue of faith rises ever higher and higher by the power 1
of aMo.-siiggestion ; each one is infected by his neighbours with 1
an unconscious enthusiasm, and the cure takes place if it comes I
off at all.
^Cfvnrcot then gees on to point omt that those who 1
were cured at the Asclepeion adorned the walls with I
votive hymns engraved on iaiarble and various other I
memorials in exactly the same way as are modern shrines. I
As to the operation itself, moreover, Dr. Charcot has also I
jH B M BIf f say. When a man in grave case is advised 1
to go to a certain shrine - It is very rarely that he yields to the temptation to go there I
at once. A thousand material difficulties standat least tern- I
porarilyin the Way of his moving ; it is no light matter for a I
paralytic or a blind man, however we off he he, to start on a j
long journey. He questions his friends; he demands cir- I
cmnstantial accounts of the wonderful cures of which rumour |
has spoken. He receives nothing but encouragement, not only
from his immediate surroundings, but often even from his
doctor, who is unwilling to deprive his patient of his last hope,
especially if he believes his malady to he amenable to the faitheure, a remedy which he has not dared to prescribe himself. I
Besides, the only effect of contradiction would be to heighten ]
the patients belief in the possibility of a: miraculous cure.
The faith-cure is now born, and it continues to develop. The
forming of the plan, the preparation, the pilgrimage, become an I
iMefixe. The poor humiliate themselves to ask alms to enable
them to reach the holy spot; the rich become generous towards
the poor in the hope of propitiating the godhead; each and all i
pray with fervour and entreat their cure. Under these con-;
ditions the mind is not slow to obtain mastery over tbe body.
When the latter has been shaken by a fatiguing journey the
patients arrive at the shrine in a state of mind eminently
receptive of suggestion. The mind of the invalid, says
Barwell,* being dominated I f the firm conviction that a
be iefflsllid1,^K ure & effected fo rth w ith .O n e last
effortan immersion in the pool, a last most fervent prayer,
aided by the ecstasy produced by the solemn ritesand the
faith-cure produces the desired result: the miraculous healing
an
fact.
All seems fairly- easy as long as the diseases are of the
..eonVuIsionafipr hysterical kind, but the cases of tumours and
before adverted to, are more difficult. Y et of these
faith-cure has healed tumours and
Eww ,1 time; and the cure has, from all time, as
; #e$l as to-day, been effected under well-marked conditions,
of which it is quite possible, in the majority of cases, to
give an exact analysis. The instructive instance, that of
* Lancet, November 20th, 1878.

JftUUwy 21, 1893.]

uam .

Mdlle. Coirin in 1716, which Carre cle Momtgeron describes,

and which Dr. Charcot gives at length, is too long for
insertion hero, hut if the story be true, and Dr. Charcot
apparently receives it as such, there can be no doubt of
the euro by faith of a cancerous disease of the breast,
However, Dr. Charcot is careful to differentiate this case of
caneei'ous disease from that of cancer in the modern
histological use of the term. Such cancerous disease, Dr.
Glmreot avers, could be produced by hysteria. Persistent
ulcerations of the skin are not uncommon in derangements
of the nervous system, as "witness the sores of St, Francis of
Assisi, and the scabs of Louise Sateau. In further
justification of this position, Dr. Charcot quotes Dr. Fowler
of New York, who subjected liis hysterical patients suffering
from tumour of the breast to a course of treatment in
which, so to speak, the psychical element was made the
chief point, and tumours which had been pronounced
reducible by the knife alone vanished as if by magic.*'
In further support of his theory that miracle is not in
volved in any of these cases,Dr. Charcot points out that though
the cure is apparently immediate it is not really so :
Under the influence of the faith-cure, or of any other cause
which is considered more or less miraculous, the rigidity ceases
and the muscles can be employed again. At the moment and
duriug the days immediately following, an attentive examination
will show that a lack of sensibility and an exaggeration of the
reflextendency, the ordinary concomitants of contraction, remain
in the limb which has suffered. It is a physiological law that
these phenomena do not disappear immediately, and that, as I
have often pointed out to my clinical staff, a return of paralysis,
or nervous contraction, is to be feared in direct ratio to their
persistency. It is not to be expected that these phenomena
should be looked for by those about the shrines, but I have
noted them as frequently among the patients who have been
curedat a holy place, as among those whose cure has been effected
at the Salpetribre. The difference is not in the facts themselves
but in the interpretation thereof.
Dr. Charcot concludes :
Can we then affirm that we can explain ever} thing which
claims to be of superi #^ or%in
the frontiers of the miraculous are vlaily:s h ^
before the march of scientific attainments ? ^ Certainly not. Iff
all investigation we have to learn the lesson iff patience. I am
among the first to recognise that Shakespeuc s words hold good
to-dayrU
There are more things in heaven and
Than are dreamt of in thy philosophy.
A PHOTOGRAPHIC GHOST STORY.

On November 12th, 1892, there was published in L ight

a story with the above heading. It was about a photograph
that had been taken of a woman who had been dead four or five
years. The story was copied from the Religio-Philosophical
Journal, as was stated at the time. This latter had copied it
fromthe Neue Spiritualistiche Matter. A letter has just come
to Light from Stockholm, with the well-known signature,
"A. E. Terhebohm, giving some very unpleasant information
asto the genesis of the story. One or two points about the story
appearing suspicious, Professor Tomebohm wrote for a copy of
Anzeigeblatt fur Photographie, to which the Spiritualistiche
Bliitter professed itself indebted for the account. In the
issue of that paper containing the narrative, says our correspon
dent, I found to my utter astonishment that there the story was
distinctly pointed out as a fiction, got up for the amusement of
the readers of the Amzeigeblatt. At the end of the article
there appeared this passage, The man who told the story
seemed to be drunk.|?|f>That this story appeared in L ight is
to be regretted, but it is the Neue Spiritualistiche Blatter
which is to blame, as it should have seen that p H tiling was a
joke. It is such things as this that help fjo- bring discredit on
accounts of Spiritualistic investigation. At the same time it may
he of use in showing, fe those of our correspondents
few
aggrieved at apparent severity, how necessary,
really is, The Neue Spiritualistiche Blotter should have
been above suspicion.

A PROPHETIC VISION.
In his editorial notes Mr. B. O. Flower, the Editor of
the Arena, asks the question,; Are wo on the threshold
of ,a new world of T ru th ? and as^lustrative.of an affirma
tive answer gives several psyohfeal: xperfewees, Otoe of
these, which may be considered as a prophetic vision, is tine
narrative of Mr. David Van Etten, #n attorney of Omaha,
enjoying a very large and lucrative practice in the Supreme
Court of Nebraska. In a personal letter to the Editor of
the Arena Mr. Van E tten says
I am willing to make an unqualified affidavit of the entire
and simple truth of every statement I have made in the following
recital, which is only one experience of many quite as marvellous
which I might relate. I have never spoken of them to others,
as people would be apt to regard me as superstitious or
Spiritualistically inclined. I am prejudiced against Spiritualism.
I have not prepared this recital for publication, and have
therefore penned facts exactly as they occurred to me, without
any effort at literary embellishment or the employment of
technical or psychical expressions. I however have no objection
to your publishing the article if you desire.
In 1867 I left the home of my nativity, Kingston-on-theHudson, and have never returned. In 1889 I settled in
Nebraska, removing to the Republican Yalley, in that State, in
1870-71, where I remained until October, 1875, when I removed
to the city of Omaha, and where I have ever since resided and
still reside. During all the time I have been in Nebraska, until
1884, I have not heard of, or from, any person in or from my
native home, or directly or indirectly of, from, or concerning the
person I herein refer to, or of, or from, any person related to
her, or who had the slightest acquaintance with her, or who
ever knew of the existence of such a person. She was my
cousin, several years my senior, good, honest, faithful, unpre
tentious, and an industrious farmers wife, respectably married,
with a pleasant and affectionate family, consisting of her husband
and two girls, about six and ten years of age. In fact, I had
only seen her a few times in my life, except in the summer of
H p l whil&il
few days of my summer vacation at her
home,
flshfng in the streams of the
f00t-'Mwbf'^^M!^"ki|FMo.^|^iii^PaTi;'hfver so much as once
HiDit a conversation
a. few minutes duration, and
then always w-ith am^d in fh<q presence of her family. I am-thus
minute
shdwtha't there couMmo.tet possibly have been any
'psychologyil affinities befiv^^Mfp^sleed,, she h#d always.,fee,
very much as a stranger to me. This was the state of affairs,
when, one nigliMnl the qMjflLer of 1*87$,,} m a dreammany ;
call-, if a ;deani>lyiwi on my bed'as far as I know, asleep
in my hotpgj,

away
jf|liigkt of her for
years, she appeared 'presenfrhvvbli me. It seems I went into her
room as if exiled
fSofatfei uitijy
pillows, in great distress, seemingly appealing f me, as if C
might save her from her terrib || agony of pain Her left breast
appeared almost, in fact entirely, eaten away, torn, raw, andf
flayed, It almost sickens me now as I recall nfet-A^dne, so vivid,
and real was this terrible condition presented to me, and yet B
did not see it, for she was fifteen hundred miles away, and it had
not yet occurred. Remember, this was in 1873. Of course,
when I awoke, my dream, i f it were a dream, deeply impressed
itself upon me. I can see the whole scene yet, seemingly as I
did that night. To see a woman in such terrible condition,
such frightful agony, an acquaintance, a relativeI could
scarcely sleep any more that night, and yet I regarded it then
as merely a dream. I did not learn until 1884 that my cousin
was dead, died of a cancer in her left breast; her left breast all
eaten away, raw and flayed," and died in terrible pain and
suffering, and only on August 3rd, 1892, learned she so died on
the morning of July 19th, 1878, five years after my dream,
i f it were a dream, and precisely as I dreamed it five years before.

No our dreams of goodness, but our earnest resolves and

comstamtrefforts to be good and to do good, save us from ignoble
living. We must do something more, therefore, than merely
raifcke ourselves ready for the souls higher moods, prepared to
rebel?* the messe|pef of the Divine Spirit. We must learn to
put to noble uses tho spiritual quickening, the moral inspiration.
Neurotic Tumours of the Breast Read before the Neurological The* heavenly vision, the religious insight, the groat hope,*
society, Tuesday, January MM 1890, Medical Record, February these are given us, that, while we are under their spell, we may
#ifi tonddidlflibiiihil heavenly things.H. G. Spaulding.
19th, 1890, p 179.

34

LIGHT,

[January 21, 1893.

-

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Under this heading we propose, ai the request of several sub The Editor is not responsible fo r opinions expressed by eorrespondenu I
and sometimes publishes what he does not agree with fo r the purpose I
scribers, to give from time to time such questions as may
o f presenting views that may elicit discussion. 1
reach us-provided wo deem them of a profitable character
A Dream.
with a view to their being answered, not necessarily by
the Editor, but preferably by our readers. Both questions
liRpteOn the night of December 11th I dreamt that
and answers should be stated clearly and succinctly, and in happened t have a serious accident. . I don t knowhow, but my I
the replies the questions should be indicated by the number. limbs were nearly severed from my body, and I sank down, I
while the blood gushed through my muslin gown. So intense were 1
Questions.
my sensations, that I awoke and shuddered ; furthermore, I had I
5. Will some one explain the meaning of the word dimen the conviction that my dream was omhioU and pTOffiltetic. In I
sion which is often used by correspondents in Lmiht, the morning I told my husband, who, if he doesnt as yt quite I
especially in connection with the expression fourth dimension ? believe in, is however sympathetic towards his wifes abnormal 1
The dictionaries are of no use.K.
idiosyncrasies. It happened, notwithstanding the nights I
(i. What is the difference in meaning between tlih terms i experience, that I was particularly well and lively that day. 1
soul and spirit ? They are betlSsed, apywently with nevertheless the dream would recur, and each time I wondered I
different significations, in 1 These, v. 23, and Hebrews iv. 12, i What
it.be 2 When -I nearly cut my hand in halving I
But it seems to mo that they are employed by many writers a. Ilpe,. anljMte usual shudder went through me, I thought Was 1
as interchangeable terms.It. S.
it h ^ lJ^ ih is ? Later,, when the horsekeeper was thrown while I
exercising my mare, I asked myself the same, ibfflt knew I
Answers.
immediately it wa's neiiJalflof these. When my husband came I
The following additional replies have been received to
jllr'went wjtliW/w^lirtlo fox-terrier, Hello (ray companion
questions 1 and 2.
and pet), for a Walls'5 Mount Lavinia, and, as it grew dark, I |
1.
Why is an Astral Body so called, and what connection
said with a sigh)^^M*{^:The: day isfvgieatk^:over, and nothing |
has it with the stars ?A. 0. M.
bad has. happened, '~ptramge, such dreams with me are always 1
An astral body is so called because of its starry or self- true. After turning homewards, we heard the Colombo train I
luminous appearance sometimes when seen by clairvoyants. approaching, and as usual called Hello. Galloping in answer, 1
Its connection with the stars will be seen when it is re the little dog got in the rays of light from* the engine, and, I
membered that the astral body is really the formative part
of man. It antedates the formation of the physical feody,i apparent! bewMefed.Ja'l t pdlMgl he ramlk-, right -in front oil the 1
which is built; up around it in the womb
<ici|f!as! a i train. Too late ! I fell ':tn^MOk.itfcisenaailions. just as in uiy m
vehicle for conveying to the body the influence of the life dream, and with a cry sank on to the grass. It was as though I
energy, and of the emotions, thoughts, and desires. It is nay lia8' Were severed from my body, ^Jmh'.bayqhands instthf- I
therefore the pivot on: Wtdeh iufms][Sl sonicIPmeaMmefna'c lively fel|ip0wat;my dress, though, of course, there was actually I
whole nature of man while he remains'upon thislbwer plane.
It is more especially the centre of mans lower nature or no blood on me. Mypittle Hello was killed, mangled before 1
personality. It gellects into a:
r on f the gfefiry ST'ea p
astral and physical jdanes, all the influences of this * . Dehiwala, Ceylon.
Caroline CoRner-Ohlmes.
nature, just as the moon focuses and reflects fight on to the
earth which she receives
^w e;
ir/.ilbib! Substance of Existence.
remember that these influences of the lower nature which
the astral body receives and transmits
Sir , The issues involved in Question 4 are so vast, a correct
(microcosmic) correspondences of forces which in the universe definition is so indispensable to a sound system of thought, and
(macrocosm) are exactly represented and counterparted by the solution contained in Clothed with the Sun (Part IL,
the attractions, motions, positions, and aspects of the
planets, we can easily see what an important part the astral V., vii., viii., ix.) is so complete, as to make me confident that
body must play in occult astrology. Every planetary and the following account of that solution will make for the more
other influence must pass through the astral body as a philosophically minded of youn .readers a welcome addition to
vehicle before it can become potent upon the physical the reply formulated by Alpha.
plane^rLeo.
The unity of original being follows necessarily from the seib
2. Why, in astrological lore, is Saturn considered an unlucky evident impossibility of conceiving of the table of numbers as
planet, while his reign on earth is called the Golden Age, beginning with a two. But while all things must spring from
an original unity, it is no less necessary that there be also an
to designate the happiest of all periods ?A.C.M.
A similar question might be put as to the reason for the original duality. This is because creation, which is manifestation,
astrological influence of each one of the planets ; and I think occurs necessarily by generation, and generation is not of one,
A.C.M. will have to dive somewhat deeply into occultism but of twain.
to get a complete answer. According to the Greek myth,
The duality, however, subsists in the unity, and consists in
Saturn was the supreme god ; his sons rebelled against him
. and cast him out of heaven on to the earth, where he those two .indispensable constituents of every entity, force and
inaugurated the Golden Age. Anything that is thrown out substance, which last is not matter, but that which substands
of heaven or out of the spirit, evidently is of a material matter, and of which matter is the appearance or phenomenon,
oduced by i@ operation of force upon? substance,
nature. In astrology Saturn is an earthy planet, and,
when well placed in a horoscope, gives success in dealing
regarding force and- substance aa E^lpf^itw 'first
with land, houses, farming, building, mining, and operations
iff
**Ifc # N tjr entity, whftn E eliflhemselvp.s
closely connected with the earth ; he is prudent, cautious UTurli mifest, and
as theA|wd principle or
and miserly in his native, aind therefore (when in a good
by, .aj|d through Which they beeofi||| manifest, we
humour) can give material advancement and prosperity.
Sidefeas
Hermetic axioms, every
He is said to be the planet of the Jewish race, which is
y, that is. manifest is manifest by the evolution of
significant in this connection. Some very suggestive
thoughts on Saturn will be found in Dr. Anna Kingsfords its trinity and these three, force, substance, and phenomenon,
Secret of Satan, in The Perfect Way and Clothed are not three entities, but one entity.
with the Sun. There is more than one: interpretation pf
Being in themselves unmanifest, force and substance are
the myth. Prom one point of view it refers to the world
spiritual,
are spirit. And, as the two modes under which spirit
wide legend of the Fall of the Angels. Conscious
intelligence is bestowed upon mortal beings at a certain :^tiss*?jSley constitute
' And
stage in evolutionary development; and this intelligence iaaSiH, as foroe is that whieli acts and substance is that
which they gain is said allegorically to fall from and be shut which is acted upon or in, of which action the result is matter
out of heaven, as it certainly is for the space of earth life. or phenomenon, force is that which makes manifest, substance
This intelligence is given to man in order that he may reign
' over and control the passions and emotions of his lower is that which is made manifest, and their resultant phenomenon
nature, and so inaugurate a Golden Age on earth. L eo. is that which is manifest. And since substance is spirit, matter
is definable as spirit projected by force of the Divine Will into
conditions and limitations, and made exteriorly cognisable.
S P E C IA L
W O T IQ 1 . '
But more than this. Being spirit, matter is capable of revert
We beg to remind those Subscribers to Light and the
ing
to the condition of spirit, ceasing to be as matter. Or,
London Spiritualist Alliance who have not already re
newed their Subscriptions for 1893, that they should precisely stated, substance is capable of reverting from its acci
forward remittances at once to Mr. B. D. Godfrey, 2, dental, secondary, material condition to its essential, primary,)
spiritual condition. But equally through the operation of force,

Duke Street, Adelphi, W.C.

LIGHT.

January 21, 1893.]

the direction only being changed, namely from outwards to

inwards, centrifugal to centripetal, evolutional to involutional.
And it )8 this reversion of spirit from matter in the individual
that constitutes the great work, the work of redemption,
which is the object of that higher Alchemy which occupies
itself with the regeneration of man, and which is the secret
doctrine of the Bible, the Christ being the personal demonstra
tion of the process. They are the force and substance of being
which are variously called in the Bible spirit and the waters,
spirit and water, the blood and the water, spirit and bride,
Holy Ghost and Virgin Mary, and are the spirit and soul in man,
and the Eucharistic elements, the wine and the bread. And
whereas force and substance are respectively of masculine and
feminine potency, He is the father and She is the mother,
their offspring or resultant expression or word being the
Son, who has the potency of both in himself, according to the
plane of activity. From which it is clear that in no region of
being is there escape from the doctrine of the unity, duality,
and trinity, and also of the spiritual nature of existence.
Of course, matter or body is not the immediate resultant of
the interaction of force and substance in their original pure and
divine condition. There are many stages to be traversed before
these, their lowosb expression, are readied. Original being,
moreover, subsists under two modes, the unmanifest and the
manifest, the interval between the opposite extremes of which
einstitute a stupendous ladder, the whole of which, nevertheless,
is within man.
This exposition might be extended indefinitely, so com
prehensive is the scope of its application, being nothing less than
universal. But it will suffice to show, among other things, that
while matter is eternally the mode of manifestation of spirit,
matter is not itself eternal. For spirit is under no compulsion
to be always manifest. Rather is it as mind which must always
becapable of thinking, but need not always be thinking.
E

dw ard

a it l a n d .

Reincarnation.
Sir,I fully agree with you that the mere belief in Re
incarnation does not make the Re-incarnation itself a fact, but
neither does it do this in regard to the sun giving light to
the earth, and I purposely used the words the idea of Re
incarnation, which, whether true or false, is a comforting
belief, as you suggest, to me, and may be so perhaps
to others. Previous existence and Re-incarnation may
not be convertible terms, as you point out, but if the latter
k true, the former must be so likewise, as I look at it, for what
is it that is re-incarnated but the Spirit of the Man within ? I
believe that Jesus was teaching this when He said toNicodemus:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again he
cannot see the Kingdom of God. We gather from his reply
that Nicodemus thought he meant this earthly body should be
bom again, and, in spite of all explanation on the part of Jesus,
he ends by saying How can these things be ? to which Jesus
replied: Artthou a Master of Israel, and knowest not these
things ? That which is bom of the flesh is flesh and that which is
bom of the spirit is spirit; and to me it seems an absolute
necessity that the Spirit that is in every human being should be
bom again and again into this life, in order to fit it for that
higher life which every true Spiritualist looks forward to attain
ing to, and which Jesus speaks of as The Kingdom of God.
>
T. L. H enly.
Sir,Will you kindly allow me to comment on your brief
Notes and Queries on my last letter ? First, the only key
which meets every problem presented by human existence is
certainly re-embodiment. I have never seen any real attempt,
made to deal with such in any other way, from all points of
view. For this there is the same kind of evidence as that
which the astronomer accepts in postulating the existence of an
unseen planet by the significant movements of adjacent bodies.
Second and third, immortality which preserves the individuality
of the higfor self is something which we earn by our own efforts.
Hence pre-existence must involve consciousness, and that
consciousness is slowly evolved by contact with matter through
prolonged periods until true knowledge dawns upon the Ego. A
ray of the Divine Spirit suddenly incarnated in the human form
would violate all the laws of evolution; there would be no
antecedent cause for such a sudden manifestation, neither
would the consequence be such as would justify it. The reason
why man needs a prolonged acquaintance with the plane of life
created by the possession of the body is surely obvious, A

35

perfect man must have experienced every type of earthly

relation and duty, every phase of desire, affection, and passion,
every form of temptation, and every variety of conflict. No
one life can possibly furnish the material for more than a
minute section of such experience. We can readily see that
some of the richest soul-acquirements come only through contact
with human relations, and through suffering from ills. Of
these, sympathy, toleration, patience, energy, fortitude, fore
sight, gratitude, pity, beneficence, and altruism are examples,
The fact that so many of u:i rebel against the idea of other lives
in the human form proves their necessity, since we have
attained no real victory fiver that lower nature which has
created our sufferings. And, indeed, fully a third of our race
never even lives beyond childhood, and their knowledge of
planetary life would be lessto give an illustration than that of
a traveller who spent five minutes in an Eastern country by
way of acquiring experience about the East,
It is impossible, however, to deal with such a vast question
related to so many other questions in a brief letter, or even in a
series of letters. Words teach less than intuition and observa
tion. I have been a Re-incarnationist for years, arid have
continually recognised its truth in witnessing the phenomena
connected with the lives around me. It furnishes an explana
tion in innumerable cases which otherwise could only be met by
silence. Moreover, it is quite possible to verify Re-incarnation
either through acquaintance with those who remember some of
their past lives, and the relation of these to the present, or by
the process of occult training which confers the recollection. It
is through a knowledge that this is possible, and also an
acquaintance with various psychic facts not always accessible to
the majority, that Mrs. Besant has written the handbooks of
so-called dogma to which I referred. She has sought to
popularise the statements they contain, as well as the reasons
furnished to the degree they can be, but none of us can proceed
far in self-knowledge without certain efforts in self-development
which clear away some of the illusions presented by physical
lifeeducational and necessary though they areand enable us
to attain perceptions of a spiritual order, so that each may say
for himself : Whereas I was blind, now I see.
I think we may all look forward with satisfaction to incar
nation in a more perfected form of humanity than in the present
race, which is in its spiritual childhood, and that we may well
enjoy a share of work and employment in that millennial age of
our planet which has been foretold by poet and seer, in modem
and in ancient aud sacred writings. We are creators of our own
miseries through ignorance, and we are capable of becoming
creators of our own heaven through wisdom. And the possession
of the body is a most important factor in the attainment of that
wisdom, since it is the reservoir of forces contributing to the
development of Soul, which must necessarily, like the Christ,
be victor on all planes of life. We are incarnated not to be
impotent in our contact with matter, but to obtain dominion
over it. For man is the microcosm, and conquering himself he
knows and conquers all.
E q u a l it y .
P.S.I have just read G. A. K s. letter. Ihave only space
to say that he does not seem to be aware that very many mediums
teach Re-incarnation, being thus instructed by their controls^
so that doctors differ in the spirit-world. And further, that
the principles of Theosophy rest not on blind assertions, but on
the concurrent testimony of generations of trained seers, who
possess, and have proved that they possess, powers of perception
far beyond the psyhic gifts commonly known. The secret signs
of this knowledge are to be seen (and interpreted by those who
understand them) in the oldest monuments in the world. This
knowledge relates for the most part to the history and the nature
of man, and self-knowledge is the only avenue to truth, either
concerned with this life or any other. Animals do not suffer
nearly as much as mankind, for mental sufferings far exceed
physical, but even for these there is the law of evolution and
compensation. Nothing suffers in vain. Finally, the condition
of Devachan, of which your correspondent complains, is far more
real to those who enter it than our physical life. The time
occupied is simply determined by the stage of evolution reached
by the Ego. Those who are deeply engrossed with the circum
stances of their earthly lives naturally require time to exhaust
a certain phase of the love and interest.these have inspired.
When this grows weak the Ego, as has been well explained,
is drawn by irresistible affinity to the circumstances that yield
opening for its further evolution. The desire for sentient life,
tho desire for objective expression, the desire which set the |
universe a-building, impels it to seek renewed manifestation,

LIGHT

ob

and on the piano wlvioh olloi'N attractions (notwithstanding

sufferings) t o it-, and in oounootod with foroon of its own aroation.
A sulliciently developed Ego oan incarnate at will, and preserve
an unbroken memory from one incarnation to another until the
necessity dies out.

Immortality and Pre-Existence.

Sir ,Your correspondent Q-.A.K. considers the pro
position that immortality necessitates pro-existence by no
means self-evident, and adduces in support of this doubt the
ease of a lino in space, with a /m/wirts a quo, but with the
possibility of infinite prolongation in one direction. But this
possibility of prolonging a line in infinitum is only the im
possibility of putting a limit to space. Wo merely identify the
supposed lino with a direction in space. Wo take our stand at
a supposed point in space, looking one way, and forgetting that
as the space, so our supposed lino, is equally producible the
pther way. Wo got the beginning of the line only as we got
the beginning of the space, of which the lino is the more direction,
by a position which is no more a limitation of the possibility
of producing the lino in one direction than it is of producing it
in the other. There is 110 natural point, or terminus a quo, in
space. We feign that. If, however, wo suppose a beginning of
motion, we at onoe see that its continued progress is con
tingent, and all we can say is that empty space will not arrest it.
On the other hand, we can only assert the immortality of a being
on the ground of its necessity. Otherwise wo must confess the
duration of its life to bo contingent, oven though our ignorance
cannot assign to it a definite natural term. A being, or mode of
being, originating in time, has no intrinsic necessity, because there
was a time when it was not, and therefore wo cannot attribute to
it a natural immortality.
C. C. M.

[January 21, I803,

Olaptiam.- -A few Spiritualists residing in the district 0i I

Olapham have resolved to form an association to bo called (jM i
CJapham Society of Spiritualists. Spiritualists living fajL I
neighbourhood, who aro willing to co-operate in active work, Rh. I
particularly invited to attend at 32, St. Lukes-road, Olaphum, |
road, S.W., 011 Friday, the 27th inst., at 7.45 p.m., when th I
rules and constitution will he settled. On subsequent Friday f
evenings, Spiritualists, inquirers, and others in sympathy wit( t
various reforms will receive a hearty woloorno.F. T. A. D avirr
Organiser.
S outh L ondon S piritualist S ociety, 311, Camberwri^
N ew - road, S.E.Tho anniversary services to commemorate ,
tho opening of our seventh year of spiritual propaganda will bg
held on Sunday, January 29th. Sdance at 11.30 a.m., Mr. G.D,
Wyndhoe ; at 3 p.m. seance, Mrs. BUhh ; and service at 7 p.m,
Many mediums and speakers will bo present. Tho tea an<j
social gathering will bo held on Tuesday, January 31st; tickets,
Gd. each. Tea at 7 p.m. On Sunday last tho unpardonable sIr
against the Holy Ghost was explained.
Communication
should bo addressed to the Hon. Soo., Miss E. Wostoott, at tho )
above address.
Cardiff .On Sunday last wo were again privileged to listen ,
to two excellent discourses by tho guides of Mrs. M. H. Wullm,
of Manchester. In tho morning, tho discourse on Progress,
tho Law of Lifo was a masterful effort, in whioh the various
vicissitudes and experiences of the past were ably summarised,
and shown to he so many unmistakable evidences, in the grand
march of being, that Progress is the law of life. In tho ,
evening, to a crowded meeting, Mrs. Wallis delivered an address
on Our Mission to the World, which was a clear and eloquent
statement of the advanced position we claim to occupy in the
religious thought of the age. Clairvoyant descriptions were
given after each address, the majority of whioh were recognised.
On Monday evening we had trance replies to written questions
from the audience, concluding with clairvoyance.E. A.
T he S piritualists I nternational Corresponding Society.

Information and assistance given bo inquirers into Spiritualism.

The Late Mr. Towns,
Literature on the subject and list of members will be sent on
S ir , Kindly allow me to state in reference to the numerous reoeipt of stamped envelope by any of tho following International
letters of sympathy for myself and family on the deooase of Committee :America, Mrs. M. Palmer, 3101, North Broadmy beloved husband, the late W. Towns, that I am unable to street, Philadelphia; Australia, Mr. Webster, 5, Peckvilleanswer them personally, and take this means on behalf of myself streot North, M elbourne; Canada, Mr. Woodstock, Waterniche, Brookville ; France, P. G. Leynmrie, 1, Rue Chabanais,
and family of expressing my grateful thanks.
P a ris ; Germany, E. Seliloshaur, 65, Koniggratzer Str., Berlin,
124, Portobello-road, Hotting Hill.
M. T owns,
S.W. ; Holland, F. W. H. Van Straaten, Apeldoorn,
Middellaan, 682 ; India, Mr. Thomas Hatton, Ahmedabad;
New Zealand, Mr. Graham, Huntley, Waikato; Sweden, B.
SOCIETY WORK.
Fortenson, Ade, Christiania ; England, J. Allen, Hon. Sec., 14,
C orrespondents who sen d u s notices o f the w o r k o f th e Societies w ith w h ic h
Berkley-terrace, White Post-lane, Manor Park, Essex; or
th e y a rc associated w ill oblige by w r itin g as d is tin c tly a s possible
W. C. Robson, French correspondent, 166, Rye Hill,
a n d by a p p e n d in g th e ir s ig n a tu r e s to th e ir c o m m u n ica tio n s. I n a t Newcastle-on-Tyne.
The Manor Park branch will hold the
te n tio n to these re q u ire m e n ts o fte n oom pels u s to rejeot th e ir c o n tr i
b u tio n s. JVo no tice received la te r th a n th e Urst p o s t o n T u e sd a y is following meetings at 14, Berkley-terrace, White Post-lane:
Sunday, at 11 a.m., students meeting ; and the last Sunday in
su re o f a d m issio n . ]
each month, at 7 p.m., inquirers meeting. Friday, at 7.30 p.m.,
18, Clarendon R oad, W althamstowThe address given for Spiritualists only, The Study of Spiritualism. And at 1,
last Sunday by Mr. Braileys guide on Progression Here and Winifred-road, Tuesday, at 7.30 p.m., inquirers meeting. Also
Hereafter was well received by the friends present. W. R. B. the first Sunday ineaoli month, at 7 p.m,, inquirers meeting.
T he Stratford S ociety of S piritualists , W orkmans
H all, W est H am-lane , S tratford, E.Spiritual service each

Sunday at 7 p.m. Several speakers will address the meeting

next Sunday on Is Spiritualism Factor Fraud ?J. R ainbow ,
Hon. Sec.
P eckham S ociety

of

S piritualists , W inchester H all,

33, H igh - street. On Sunday evening Mr. Dale, at short

notice, gave an instructive lecture on Astrology, illustrated
by coloured diagrams. In the morning Mr. W. H. Edwards
lectured on The Life and Works of Thomas Paine, and will
repeat the address next Sunday evening at 7. Sunday morning
next, at 11.15, Mr. Yeitch.J. T. A udy .
14, Orchard-road, A skew -road, S hepherd s B ush , W.
At our service on Sunday last Mr. Pursey delivered a very
instructive discourse upon The Wonders of the Globe. Miss
Copos guides followed witli excellent clairvoyant tests, and
good advice upon health. Next Sunday, at 7 p.m., Mr. J.
T. Dales. Tuesday, at 8 p.m., stSanoe, Mrs. Mason. Sunday,
29th, Mr. Wyndoe.J. H. B., Hon. Sec.
S piritual H all, 8(1, H ioh -street, M arylebone . On
Sunday last, Mr. II. J. Bowen gave a good address on Spirit
ualism, urging his hearers to stand by its facts, and to exemplify
its teaching in daily life. Sunday next at 11 a.m,, Mr. Bowen ;
usual mooting, at 7 p.m,, Mr. 0. Petersiloa on The Fallaoy of
Re-incarnation, preceded by Why I am a Spiritualist, Mr.
T. Everittin the chair. Friday, Mr. Horatio Hunt on Nero.
Tickets Gd., at the Hall, or of tho Committee.C. H unt .
L ondon S piritualist F ederation, F ederation H all,
359, E doware-road, W. Next Sunday, at 7 p.m., Mr. J. A.

Butcher will give a trance address. On Friday, tho 27th, at

eight oclock, a meeting will be held to consider tho practi
cability of forming a philanthropic fund for aged Spiritualists
and mediums when in distress. On Sunday, the 29th, Mr.
Devor-Summors will lecture. During February, on Friday
evenings, 1 shall give a course of four lectures on Tho Esoteric
Spiritual Religion Revealed by Occultism. Further particulars
later on.A. F. Tindall , A.T.O.L., Hon. Sec.

MY LITTLE MAIDEN.
Theres a fair little maiden that loves me so well,
And I know that her heart is true,
With heavens light gilding her flowing hair,
And leaping in eyes of blue,
And heavens truth shining in her sweet face,
With a radiance so bright and rare,
That when she greets me with fond embrace,
I feel I am wafted there.
Oh, a doubt may darken a deep true love,
And shadow oer sunshine fling ;
But no doubt can come when the heart is pure,
As the songs that the angels sing.
And this maiden I love with the holiest love
That a mortal heart can hold ;
For she nestles close to a fathers breast,
And shes seven bright summers old.
Oh, the sunshine that floats from this fairy maid,
And streams all the household oer !
Oh, the music sweet of the pattering feet
That hurry to open the door !
Oh, the rippling laughter upon her lip,
And the talk of her dainty tongue !
They fill my soul with a melting bliss
That can never be said or sung.
And if heaven may list to a sinners cry,
And answer a sinners prayer,
How free shall this maiden bo from pain !
And how glad will I take her share !
But I teach her to pray with her own rod lips,
And when her sweet voice floats above,
Then heaven will answer my little maid,
If there bo a God of Lovo.
D ovglas B .

H art.

/1 Journal o f Psychical, Occult, and Mystical Research.

L ight ! Moke Light \ "-~ Goetlw .

Whatever doth make manifest is

atj * AXii-i
YTTT lnte*i<re<l
J SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 1893.
No. G29.- - VVUI
NowHiuipor

Notes by the Way...............

Ancient Egyptian Religions
Arrest of Thought ............
Records of Private Seances
Portended in a Dream .......

CONTENTS.
An Id ea of Researoh .........................42
.87
.88 Mr. Morel! T h e o b a ld ........................ 48
.80 Visual Sensitiveness in M ediums . .48
40 L etters to th e E d ito r.................46-48
Society W ork....................................... 48
.41

NOTES BY T H E W A Y.
As the Morning took up the running anent the
New Spiritualism, after Mr. Stead had started it, it is
only fair to state what the conclusions of th a t journal are
in respect of the matter. One thing the Morning is
assured of, and th at is th a t Spiritualism is the most
widely spread superstition of the age. Moreover, there
is no deceptionat the same time there are no spirits !

[RNeXi.oTft] P r ic e T w o p e n c e .

Cumberland been all these years ? This critic of Spiritual

ism does not see th a t all he says may be quite true and yet
Spiritualism be an undoubted fact.
With respect to the musical box. I t is floated round the
room on the mediums hand. When it goes out of the
room the medium is merely sitting upon it; that causes the
muffled sound. When the eye cannot see what produces sound,
it is next to impossible to tell the direction of sound ; and when
you are told the box has gone out of the room you, not being
able to see where it is, imagine it is out of the room.
If you wish to catch your medium itx flagrante delicto you
must break the conditions. Suddenly strike a light when the
manifestations are going on, and you will see what you will see.
A little lamp-black surreptitiously put upon the handle of the
musical-box will leave its mark upon the hand of the medium
when the spirit winds up the box. I have tried it, also the
sudden light, with effect. In my next article I shall deal with
the materialisation of spirit forms.

The paid medium is now all but extinct. The most striking
characteristic of the New Spiritualism is that it may be
described as the Spiritualism of the home circle. Perfectly
honest persons have discovered that they can see forms and hear
voices. Among their relatives and friends, with perhaps a
W e shall look forward to this, and meanwhile suggest
stranger admitted as a special favour, they produce the sights
and sounds once almost the monopoly of professional mediums. th a t the new E ditor of the Pall Mall might profitably
There is no imposture in the matter. Their bonafldes is beyond investigate the date of the original draft of the article.
question.
W e seem to know it so well.
But it is in attributing these sense-hallucinations to the
Surely Mr. H erbert Burrows has misunderstood. H e
spirits of the dead th at self-deception comes in ! And
says in Lucifer, acting as locum tenens for Mrs. Besant:
how delightful is the superficiality <f the following :
I have before me the last number of L ight , which con
Psychologists are perfectly familiar with it all, are they?
tains some of the records of private stances held by its late
It is in attributing these sense-hallucinations to the spirits of Editor, Mr. Stainton Moses, with a medium who was supposed
the dead that self-deception comes in. The New Spiritualists to be controlled by a spirit of a very high order. There is in
are not satisfied to describe the sensations they experience. them not one single new idea, nothing which is anything more
They profess to explain them. And it is in wrongly assuming than the outside husk of Eastern and Western Occultism.
that the only possible explanation is one dependent upon extranatural causes that the error of Spiritualism lies. Psychologists,
Now, if this refers to the records of Mrs. S., the
particularly those who make a study of what may be termed
abnormal brain workings, are perfectly familiar with the cerebral medium was Mr. Stainton Moses him self; and if the refer
states in which the seeing and hearing of spirits is a common ence is to any stances described in the letters, then the
experience.
control was not said to be of a very high order. There
And so :
is a suggestive w ant of accuracy in this kind of pronounce
The explanation is perfectly natural, or, it may be better to ment. A fter this we can readily believe Mr. Burrows
say, physical. It would be an undoubted benefit to the com when he says :
munity if the teachings of psychology were more generally
I have investigated Spiritualism, for many years I have read
known. Hasty assumptions as to the supernatural would not its literature, I have listened to trance orations, and have done
then be so prevalent. We feel that no apology is needed for my best to gain light, but so far as regards the real philosophy
the prominence we have given this subject. The extent of the of being I have never yet met with anything which was not
belief in Spiritualism at the present day is in the nature of a already in this-world thought. I never get any forwarder.
revelation. Like other forms of credulity this would be merely
curious but for the fact that indulgence in morbid habits of mind
Mr. Burrows gives some cases of natural clairvoy
is apt to destroy the equilibrium of the mental faculties. The
ance, one of which we reproduce. H e uses the word
appetite grows by what it feeds on.
natural as meaning untrained and not consciously
developed.
The clairvoyante was a woman :
But what a godsend have the New Mesmerism and the
New Spiritualism been to some of the journals. To print
A gentleman in the North went out for a walk one morning,
columns of letters upon the subject letters rarely good, some distance over grassy ground. When he reached home he
often bad, and mostly indifferentis an excellent way of found he had lost the diamond from his ring. His wife told him
filling up a journal, and it costs so little. The Pall Mall that lie should go and look for it, but he refused, as he thought
it was useless. Thereupon she went herself, he following her
Gazette, however, has begun a series of papers beaded
at a short distance. She took exactly the route that he had
Spirits and their W ays, and the first paper is, appro takenalthough he had not told her of itand on reaching the
priately enough, by S tuart Cumberland, who gives all the grassy place she suddenly stopped, turned aside a long tuft, and
old worn tales about the dark stance. The following there was the diamond. On another occasion she pointed out
i funny to the last degree. W here has Mr. S tuart to him a gentleman who was a perfect stranger to them both,

L IG H T

38

Mill informed him th at the latter would have a certain influence

over his life, describing many of the forthcoming circumstances.
The details are too long to give here, hut everything turned out
as predicted.
I n a note to one of the num erous letters received on
the subject of R e-incarnation, we have expressed a desire
th a t th e subject may lie dropped for the present. The
subject is no d o ubt a fascinating one, especially if there is
a notion th at, in a previous incarnation, she or he has been,
say M ary Queen of Scots, or Jo h n th e B a p t i s t ; m oreover a
little bad K arm a would balance a good deal of C leopatra.
The principal teaching of th e correspondence, indeed, seems
to be, th at, given a theory, which has n o t a single fa ct to
support it, any speculation will do for argum ent.
There has come to hand an octavo volum e of th re e
hundred odd pages on th e connection betw een m agnetism
and S piritualism R ap p o rt du M agndtism e e t du
Spiritualisine. The book is of th a t f o f | n a tu re to which
F rench publishers have accustom ed us, and seems to be a
history of all things connected w ith hypnotism a n d so forth.
W e wish i t w e ll; b u t could n o t these subjects be tre a te d
occasionally w ith a little less verbosity t
The steps by which physical science is breaking down
th e b arrier betw een m a tte r and sp irit become m ore pro
nounced every day.
Professor D ew ar has been liquifying
oxygen an d a ir a t th e R oyal in stitu tio n . I n order to do this,
tem peratures of extrem e lowness h ad to be produced.
Indeed, i t is asserted th a t 220 degrees centigrade below
th e freezing p o in t of w ater was reached. The theoretical
absolute zero is ab out seventy degrees still fu rth e r dow n ;
b u t already a t th e low tem peratures obtained oxygen had
become inert. The Times rep o rt of th e experim ents
s a y s :
For it is matter in articulo mortis Upon which the audience
were privileged to look on Friday evening. A t the temperatures
they saw, chemical forces are in complete abeyance, and oxygen
becomes as inert as nitrogen. A few degrees lower and the last
traces will disappear of that molecular motion which we call
heat, the most mobile gas will be frozen into rigidity, and the
properties by which we recognise m atter will vanish. In a
world at the temperature of that little bulb on the lecture-table
bergs of silvery potassium might float for ever untarnished upon
seas of liquid oxygen. A little loweronly a little, though it is
much to achievethe rarest form of m atter with which we have
any acquaintance will in turn surrender that mysterious energy
which for the present baffles our ablest experimenters. At
270deg., or thereabouts, below zero centigrade, hydrogen itself
will give up the ghost, and m atter as we conceive it will be dead.

THE MOONLIT SKY.

Moonlight and the first timid trembling of the dawn were by
this time blending, and the blendings were brought into a still
more exquisite state of unity by a slight silvery mist, motionless
and dreamy, th at covered the woods and fields, but with a veil
of equable transparency. Except the feet of our own horses,
which, running on a sandy margin of the road, made hut little
disturbance, there was no sound abroad. In the clouds, and on
the earth, prevailed the same majestic peace ; and in spite of all
that the villain of a schoolmaster has done for the ruin of our
sublimer thoughts, which are the thoughts of our infancy, we
still believe in no such nonsense as a limited atmosphere. W hat
ever we may swear with our false feigning lips, in our faithful
hearts we still believe, and must for ever believe, in fields of air
traversing the total gulf between earth and the central heavens.
Still, in the confidence of children that tread without fear every
chamber in their fathers house, and to whom no door is closed,
we, in that Sabbatic vision which sometimes is revealed for an
hour upon nights like this, ascend with easy steps from the
sorrow-stricken fields of earth upwards to the sandals of God.

Db Q u i n c e y .

W rite it on your heart that every day is the last day in the
year. No man has learned anything rightly until he knows that
every day is doomsday.E merson,

[January 28, 1893,

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AND MODERN

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.

I have used the term beliefs in reference to the basic I

principles on which all ancient and modern religious system,^
roposo. B ut it would be unfair to the votaries of these system* I
to omit their presentation of the subject. With the best of |
them faith in what they regard as the revealed will of God, 1
as contained in the Scriptures, is undoubtedly a motor and!
factor th at cannot be disregarded. B ut this is exactly the cru* |
of the whole question, and we have only to view the agitation |
now going on in all religious bodies, especially amongst the
thoughtful, and we shall immediately see that'w hat has Been 3
claimed as the result of fa ith is rapidly resolving itself into |
a question of belief. The agitation is getting more and more
acute, bu t seeing th at the ablest men in literary and scientific |
m atters are -the prom inent leaders in the advanced guard of the;i
higher criticism, as it is called, th e old rough and ready
method of expulsion has to be thought of twice before being -j
resorted to. W hen we hear Anglican Bishops and dignitaries, i
and theological Professors in Nonconformist colleges, challenging y
the verbal inspiration of the Bibleto say nothing of the y
under-current of doubt among both clergy and laityit becomes
a most noteworthy sign of the times, and marks off an epoch in
religion th at the historian of the future will have to dwell upon,
and perhaps notify as the commencement of a mew Reformation, 1
B ut the Christian system, ecclesiastically considered, exists I
on the b elief in the alleged founder, i.e., in the so-called |
historical Jesus Christ, who lived as a God-Man in the East near j
two thousand years ago. A question th at will have to be dealt 1
with is, did such a Beinghalf God and half m anever have an *
actual existence ?
If so, there m ust have been many more long antedating the I
Christian Son of God and M an. The parallel between!
the Egyptian Horns and the Christian Jesus is too close to be,,
unnoticed; and the claims of so many of the Egyptian kings to j
be the offspring of deity or deities show th at immaculate |
conceptions were not uncommon. The details connected with |
such outbirths are shown in numerous sculptures and in I
w ritten records. W hen the Egyptian religion was extin-1
guished by the Roman Em peror Theodosius the transition |
from the exaltation and worship of Horus to th at of Jesue *
Was easily effected. As the Christian system depends upon J
the doctrine of the person of Christ, so the ancient Egyptian *
system was based upon the doctrine of the person of Horus, ,
who was the great prototype of the Egyptian kings, who j
required the worship of their subjects, not in the line of I
Apostolic succession, but in Deific succession, as embodying i
the divine in human form on the earth. Nor was this I
belief confined to ancient E g y p t; for we know th at several 1
of the Oriental religions had their own saviours, or god-men, 1
all the outcome of immaculate conceptions ; and it stands to I
reason that if all the others are not based upon actuality, possibly, and very probably, the actuality of the person of ?
Je su s must be included in the same category.
B ut there is a significant fact th at gives cogency to this j
mode of reasoning, and th at is, one and all are born on a date I
corresponding to our December 25th. This supplies the key I
to the solution of the question, as it is found to agree with I
solar, sidereal, and planetary apparent motions. The sun is I
the central figure and power, the light and life of the world; I
hence the invariable title of the Egyptian kings was the Son |
of the Sun.
W hen read and studied, not as personal history, but as j
allegories representing solar motion, action, and power, the I
histories of these Messiahs become vested with a beauty and ]
force that cannot but excite our admiration. Many works have, I
in recent times, been published, in which the main incidents of I
the various Scriptural narratives are demonstrated to be 1
astronomical motions personified. I t was reserved for the late I
Henry Melville, a Freemason, to discover the astro-masonical I
references and meaning of these allegories, which were written
according to the laws of the Modes and Persians, which alter
not, and in the light of which they are undoubtedly true.
In the corridor of the temple a t Abydus, in Egypt, is a *
stone record containing the names of his kingly predecessors
and ancestors by Sethi I. (about 1400 b . o.), who heads it wilt I
an inscription thus, 11Royal offering to Osiris : Lord of Iho I

.tauuary 28, 1893,]

LIGHT.

Tomb; Resident in the abode of the Sun; Establishes of Truth

ARREST OF THOUGHT.
for ever to the Kings of Upper and Lower Egypt. Se.thi, the
B y M rs. A. j . P enny.
Sun; Establisher of Truth; Son of tho Sun; Beloved of Ptah.
(Ptah was always represented in mummified clothing, relating to
Among the spiritual griefs which I have known, there is one
Osiris, and meant his death and resurrection.) Herein is shown
which I feel almost every day, that of seeing how very little
the deep-seated religious idiosyncracy that characterised even
people care to explain things to themselves, which proves to
the monarchy of that ancient kingdom, and we know it formed
me either that they have not the smallest desire above
such as are common to animals; or that if they have some
the heart and soul of the nation at large.
perceptions of great truths, they judge of these so erroneously
The origin of this marvellous ecclesiastical system is lost in
as to think they find limitation at the point where their own
the night of time, but possibly further discoveries may tend to
minds pause, unaware of the ceaseless progressions of truth,
lift the veil, and, if so, we may be able to trace when and how
and that these of themselves propagate other truths.L. C.
the language, hieroglyphs, and religion assumed a concrete
de St . M artins Self Portraiture (Posthumous Works),
Vol. I., par. 684.
form. At present we can go no further back than the fourth
dynasty, beyond which there are no monumental or written
Musing the other day on a subject which often recurs to my
records, hut it is impossible to oonceive that such a system
could be developed in a short period of time ; nevertheless, we do mind with new surprise, the unprogressiveness of thought in
know that some four thousand years b . c. the language, symbols, average Spiritualists, I was brought face to face with similar
and religion were then fully developed, along with arts and arrest of development in that of average Christians (of course, I
sciences that were scarcely improved upon in after ages. Who only contrast such as answer to one designation, and, emphatically
were, and whence came, those mysterious people that overspread not to the other, for many, I am happy to know, are Christian
the Nile valley, and, like the Israelites, invaded and incorporated Spiritualists); and I found myself guilty of just the same in
the former inhabitants of this fertile region ? There is no trace i consequence which I had stared at, so to speak, in other people,
in Asia before their advent of anything in language, writings,. m accumulating facts which confirm belief year after year without,
sculpture that shows their Asiatic origin, and it is inconceivable as it seems, giving that belief any adequate weight in practical
that they were developed from the negroids of Africa ; therefore ! life. Again and again new evidence is supplied from all parts
this important question still remains an impenetrable mystery. ; of the world f the interaction of visible and invisible agents ;
Important as this question is to the anthropologist, it has a still but with how very few does that mass of well-attested evidence
more important bearing upon the spirituo-intellectual develop form a solid basis, from which advance may be made to another
ments of the race. We are informed by scientists who have fixed platform for receiving future data ! With most of us what
madea special study of this department, that intercourse between ought by this time to be firmly settled in the mind seems still
human beings at first was by gesture, supplemented by nature no better than a quicksand, appearing during the stir of new
^swpfesubmerged by the mingled cursounds, such as proceeded from animals, &c., but here' in the
case of tliis ancient Egyptian nation we are brought face to face 1rents of indifference and society-suiting peradventures. With
with symbols, in what are called hieroglyphs, to express ideas, such a paper as L ight for the prosecution of inquiry, it amazes
founded upon strictly correct grammatical principles, as perfect me to find so little following up of intensely interesting themes.
apparently as any linguistic art and science of modern times. Records of phenomena most surprising, and suggestions that
And, what is still more strange, they appear to have had advanced might lead to elucidating their message from the unseen, appear
conceptions of what we understand by the law of corre 1in the dauntless kittle paper constantly, but; in Scriptural
spondences, by which all external phenomena are the outward phraseology, they fall to the ground. They are read, no
expression of an underlying spiritual thought and action, For doubt, yet one seldom sees any sign of their having made a
instance, the symbols which form the name of the supreme God j lasting impression. No one appears to pursue the ideas let
Osiris are an eyethe all-seeing eye of the Freemasons of loose, or to try to connect one aperpt of the laws of spirit-life
to-dayover a throne. The eye, according to this law, is with another, in quest of some inferential conclusions. No one,
indicative of intelligence, and by means of the eye we are seemingly, cares enough for startling proofs of spirits conscious
conscious of what surrounds us in the light of day. The throne presence with man, to study Swedenborgs abundant information
denotes the seat of power, hence the two combined are repre about the close by hidden life in which we are all inextricably
sented in the external universe by the sun, the rays of which involved. His writings are a perfect handbook to it, and if all
are universal-in our solar system and in a more restricted the knowledge they contain had been mastered, the Psychical
sense the sun is the Light, or Light Giver to the World, and Research Society might have saved much of its time, and with
occupying the central position it dominates all the planets, and his data for premises could have gone on to new discoveries.
To establish negatives perpetually invalidated by facts must
thus occupies the throne, or seat of universal power. Similar
instances might he multiplied, and by close scrutiny, aided by weary even the splendid intellects which attempt it. Canute in
intuition, the students of this great law may clearly trace the the old story was not more powerless to check a rising tide than
beginning of knowledge in reference to its outworking from the these acute reasoners to exclude spirits from public recognition
realms of spirit into the world of nature as we are conscious of as quite superfluous, in accounting for what they believe to be
wholly subjective. If what was written down of unsought
the same.
All beliefs and theories, in whatever domain of thought revelation more than a century ago, tallying with testimony of
and life, scientific or religious, are being subject to test and seers and clairaudient reporters now, fails to deserve the name of
scrutiny, and whatever cannot pass the ordeal is doomed; but knowledge, what are words worth 1 or what consentient witness 1
This, however, is a side issue. I t is the consequence of
vested interests, as history too truly records, die hard, and the
dissociation of these will be the problem of the incoming and accepted knowledge in the mind of believers that I miss, and
following generations, when human systems based on beliefs venture to complain of missing, here, Examples are needed;
will be superseded by social systems based on knowledge. We let us take one of the most incontestible points in the belief
now know the result that followed the establishment of the of Spiritualists, when taught by Swedenborg to interpret what
ancient Egyptian ecclesiastical system. When it came face to they learn from many another sourcethat in this life each of
face with other and younger nations it collapsed; and unless us belongs to some society of spirits wholly congenial, a society
the Christianism of the day can pass the fiery ordeal which it is of which death can but make us more conscious ; not more
destined to undergo, the external presentment must follow I closely bound to its members. Did we believe this effectually,
suit; for, to my view, they are one and the same, but dressed in we could never feel alone, never without the backing of a
a diverse form to meet the different characteristics of the nations band of friends who would promote our objects in spiritual life,
as theirs, to the best of their power.
and peoples involved.
We believe, if evidence can make any lasting impression on
Higher Broughton, Manchester.
us, that spirits read our thoughts, but if we believed this as
We learn from the almanac of La Irradiacion, of Madrid, perfectly as we do that people can hear what we say in an
that there are seventeen periodicals published in Spain and its adjoining room only divided from ours by lath and plaster,
colonies in connection with Spiritualism, whilst the number of could our thoughts be what they are, so unbridled, often so
harsh, so low itt aim, so fe$||jiip)ally futile ? If those we have
investigating societies is given approximately as eighty*e%ht*
| lost sight of, but cannot many hours forget, linger near as strong
B very sure of this, that no human creatures will be found
Haying sinoercly Our brothers on earth unless they have said affection is likely bo detain them, can we wish our thoughts to
previously; Our Father which art in Heaven. F rederick be understood ? The eager inroads of disturbing spirits into any
haphazard stance with a powerful medium, and the malignant
Bknwon Maurice.

40

faces neon by people whose curiosity has removed natural

barriers between their consciousness and th a t of elemental^,
assures overy one who will, accept facts authenticated by the eye
w itness of trustw orthy observers, th a t wo are hemmed if* by
beings who only want power to befool and torment, u.
T heir |jfosonce, lovo of mischief, and malicious skill have
boon placed beyond doubt.
No experienced Spiritualist
would question the fact, and on th at point TheoKophiste; not only
n m m i%b u t
them an to danger. But does any d eg m o f
outturn result from th a t knowledge ? In any inquirer withheld
by it. from pushing experimental research an far an it can go into
th a t silent ambush of hostility | Strangely causeless as it
seems from our .side, yet we know' it is there, and still persist in
risking, wo know* not how much. Now, as f wan in full flow' of
ceriv>rioas .surprise at these discrepancies between the faith and
f e e lin g o r faith ami practice of Spiritualists, it wm given to me,
>rcd.se ly the same con
Si'iyni to re frit;}|) }|{;t t.hfi
if^deip j
tra M
i>e*m | he d isg irace a n d
th e y have i b o m i t h e i a m e o f t h e i r
m y4Tsei If* amk/1 <
I HtJplK;.^e to be
one
ex cet;fth>n in xuurtit C h m t ia n 1IV

f ' h i n t/'ir y 2 k

L IG H T ,

.,
9

blindness of earth bodies, we may reckon on purer

flesh and blood, if tru ly incorporated into the
ystica) t/**
of th e Lord C h ristj ami so clothed upon" may , 'v
trials while helping less happy spirit#, but as aavioi/rH ?
conquerors in our degree. f would *eem too P&m uttrfa*
to expect <mch service, being v/bat v/e now are, had Jif. '
disci pie He loved beet of old given us as guarantee h,r [
g sons of C od y//ll
Jl.Vffi
* //.
te arul me asure y/f* are g | |
v/e a re th e sons of Cod and u
ll 1 be, b u t v/e knoiw th at, whe
shall appear, v/e shall be like H irnj for v/e shall see Hjf/
I f e i#," f 1 Jo h n lib 2,)

R E C O R D S O F P R IV A T E S E A N C E S
FROM NOTES T A K E S AT T H E f J M I OF EACH KlTT lSc

N o, X X X V i l l ,
Vyj)\i THr> Rr/;oKOS o r M > H.

Septem ber 8 th .-Same circle and conditions, rapping

that which in practice ft. either forgotten, or over hom e by the
scent,
GTs and th e other stringed in stru m e n ts played all ewl
fazli&f iff the. m tl th e will to please onc.HolL
W e wore then told through raps o
ft
ilse sim ilarity of i n d u c t in both kinds of the room and circle.
believe?* suggested appeasem ent of conscience, as I thought it p b re a k /' Af t e r returning to th e w o rn th e alphabet
caimoi tiieii be due to any innate wickedness; for as Spiritualists rapped for, and th e message was given; ffW e have brum /
WIMil>id be | ery willing to keep m
aX|uired, only we c a n n o t; objiecfe
our atfccmfcion on ev<sry side
o f anything It mtist b
worW. A ll! there we come to the root of the m atter, and. th ere rapped for th e alphabet, and th e message was given ; We ban
m
dispelled. W e are all spiritual done. Chief cannot come, Cea&c," A fter lighting tlie v#
i^lfoirisatterts, and if Christians, as such, can believe. th e w ant I over th e table, we found th e Xpaper
bad been, moved,7 and
* J.*/
for a world now unseen as in n o cen t in their case as it musk throw n on. it.
is jst th at of
not Christian, I venture to say th a t
Septem ber 9th. Same circle and renditions.
We hui
v e r y im portant revelation, and as most of our scent an d th e usual musical m anifestations.
Al&o a Dev
iM x U a ^ e a l teachers leave i t comparatively urmoticryl, i t is no sound like a d istan t bell, C atharine gave a message; We
w o n d e r t h a t th ey m- m .
do no m o re .'*
which would cnaU e an im m ortal I
Septem ber 10th.M r. Hercival having le ft Shanklin thk
o th er than such as are shrouded in m ortal evening th e circle sat alone. T h e room goon seemed full of
f e n -m a race. F o r all hum an beings th is blind' [foggy light, and C atharine quickly rapped, C. sounded th m l
deal of w hat is spoken of as original sin, musical notes ; through th e alphabet he told us th a t, though t k
Site'"..
of seitvSUOHS attraction.
H ie Hesh I atm^/sphere w'as l>ad, v/e were to sit and t h e y would do all]
^IpllfeM qr 'dw otB ite </wjti claims, and having organs perfectly 1 th e y could for us.
M r. H, M, was deeply entranced. an4 i
wiH deny it ? - th e chief-ruler c^mtinued in th a t state all through th e seance. rJbe stringed?
an d philosophers c^/ntinue to I instrum ent/; v/ere played, and. th e sounds evoked were d^ 1
________
Ajffihust aubmiaaion to th e base I lightfu) and startling ; chord afte r chord was played with great!
agea p a ^ b u t th e fleshly bo<ly t o its j strength and rapidity. This m anifestation lasted for w m e tima
sa im bom w still in em bryonic feeble- Hr. S. then rem arked th a t m any spirits seemed to have left m,
O tvct of all jjfe sent to our race in its Haviour [ and m entioned th e nam e of D r. Dee. fn a few moments ha new crearion :n th e fire of ite g r ^ l y deg^merate manifested, striking th e table a trem endous blow ; both tte
# ^ w jsirid, b u t means of attain in g Dxlily organs mediiirn an d myself were greatly u p se t, M r.
restore ry>wdousnes,s to th e comates/^1 sp irit of f move aand
n a groan as nif m
J he nhoek
in pain,
pain. The
shock was
wg so sudden t W
be- when freed from his animal it i|t|d e m feel cold, and th e conditions beca/
w # ftew creature I s C hrist for our anointed Hu d <]enly th e room grev/ 1v ery bright, and I fe
inni rec<>ver such /^/is/dous- cloud of light and exqnriite scetit. Thia was
^therefore Cf .believers in Je su s C hrist/, bound to j Liquid scent v/as also showered over our hands and heads, Thii
P Ip p lW who e&rmot k n o w what is dangerous i; delicious perfum e brouglit harmony, and we fieard raps, askir;;'
______ wd who m m ^ rely on th e p aren t's Jove ! for th e alphabet. The message given was Benjam in Kranklri
ten d er care. In such hum ble, is present." 1 then, heard a sw eet tin kling sound like a cN B
be formed by insensible bell close to nry e a r ; it nsoved and piaye d v * * J-*/II. 1/ OJ
o th er conditions is th a t grov/th j^ssib ie. > me^liu/n, y/ho 'as htill deeply entranced.
afterward# z
ritualist, regardless of these,. ^n r o t be played over t
middle of the table, when Dr. H, heard it fc/
1 having ma/le no vows to th e F ath er of th e first tim e, Iftt was a striking man ifestat ton. th e notes weT^
m ic ro b e as a s ubs ti t u t e for deity [ so clear, sweet, and low---we nam ed i t fain/ bells.;; AH
^^Ww^dbut if fo rm e it was still a case of choice ! tim e Catharine v/as standing between me and Mr. H, M..
r.f
O i U iA
anyone :5 rap}>ed verjf joyfully, and through, the alnlc d>et teld i
iroJ by j ill Medium miji.s,t wash i /*ice, Cood man/fesfatimis. Cease," Mr
sense is : ft. M. then awoke, l|iilte unconsesous of anytlung that Jj/w
present i occurred.
III H^T/ifeytly m ore open te intercourse y/ith spirits
L i#
rkjpte/nber l i t ) / , - - nanuj circle, usual a u d itio n s .
fill
ts M . to b e in f o r m e r tirn ^ i, tl n ^ e a lte r e d
nueo the /7>om, a | much scent, C atharine rapped, and
i t e fisc more / J a te rro r th an a Jn/pe, f or b/ what
musical notes. Kak
ittOfe open | To th e m lx w l world of s p ir its ,!
h e fabh;, and. o ver it.
aying
w ith 4&iMA*,h% of m any worlds, f// j all the stringed instrum ents, and th e f fairy bells
olaviug
f*ells #f/ pi
fu ll of d/stress,e?i wb /chi
ig
fFh e inll
\7 v/ay
4/ off,
S an anodyne. W hat would com
e alm ost li/iccu SCIo us
we could p a ^ through felt it difficult b> speak
, Af t e r few mint
^ ^ higher p.phere i rl*ha t & th e perceive^! a ;v>ft hand i.tro
1 t/ten tinned it, bul
H
welbgfoun/fed W a n
W hatever D/t ri, and Mr. ft, ,\J, said the1
hot touched mie. 1
1 Mr. S'
S R w .b P /H M K * and I it r i S hav*
Fm nkK n,
M w
), h
as M
be Ihad
tohWM-

fannary 28,1303-3

LIGHT.

jiifccndod using t.lio other members of tho circle for tho

*l viticftl manifestations if possible, to nave taking so much power
}''jin him* After tlio fairy hullH hail ceased playing, Kabbila
pij g showed their respective lights, (Jatharine tlion closed
!ju) stance and told us to cease.
September 12th.This evening scent came very quickly.

Catharine rapped, asking for alphabet. Message given; You

not passive; excited with the music. This referred to a
...lovfid improvisation on the piano wo had heard from our
in a perfectly dark room just before meeting. I lie mani
festations dragged, and it was thought better to leave the room
for a h"v minutes. After returning (1. and the other stringed
instruments manifested. Mr. S. M. described a bright light,
l^e I star, in one corner of the room, Catharine, through the
alphabet, told us it was Doctor; the star was his sign.
Much
verbena scent was then thrown over us. I felt very sleepy,
|H unnl)lo to speak, and while this lasted heard tho fairy bolls
played very sweetly. Catharine then gave tho message: Wo
have done.
September 16th.This evening strong lavender scent was
quickly perceived by the circlo ; it had evidently been made from
seme lavender I had gathered and placed in the room before
the stance, as I wished to see whether our spirit friends would
utilise it. They wafted the dry scent over us, and rained much
wet perfume on tho circlo.
I t was all lavender scented.
Catharine rapped and G. made some clear musical sounds. Dr.
S. asked whether tho other musical friends were present. G.
answered Yes, and the message was then given : | They give
way to the Chief. After some time had elapsed, Mr. S. M.
became controlled, and Imperator held a short conversation with
us. He said he had been absent on work concerning the mission,
and had tried to put us into communication with our lost friend.
For the present the experiment had failed, as the spirit
was one who was not attracted back to earth, and had no mission
<>r power in herself to return. This power was something akin
to the mediumistic power possessed by some mortals.
September 15th.The medium was under influence some
time before we met in seance this evening, and as soon as the
lights were extinguished he was controlled by Chom, the
Egyptian spirit. At first we noticed that the room was void of
the usual spirit light. Chom explained the reason, and said
the power was concentrated round the medium, and used up in
the control. Catharine rapped, answered questions, and told
us the medium was all right. G. sounded some sweet notes.
Dry scent was wafted over us, and liquid perfume rained
abundantly over circle and table. H . showed his flashing
light, Kabbila three shaded ones, one appearing as the other
disappeared. Chom then said: I go; Chief coming. Iraperator spoke through the medium for some time, and
answered questions concerning the conditions under which
spirits could communicate. He told us the entrance of a spirit
into 1 new plane of existence was similar to a birth of an
infant into our world. Communion of spirits with us was no
new experience, but hitherto it had been the exception rather
than the rule; the time was approaching when it would be the
reverse. Many, very many, wish to return who are not able
for the following reasons. Those who could most easily com
municate are those who are most material and still remaining
near the earth sphere, but they are not always allowed to do so.
The lower class of spirits are those most ready to rush into circles,
especially when those circles are not well guarded, and hence
the danger of public stances. After them, the class who can
best manifest are exactly similar to the incarnate spirits we
term mediums, those who possessed mediumistic power either
latent or developed during their earth-life. Spirits also returned
who had work appointed them to do on the earth-sphere,
missionary spirits we call them . None could return unless
permitted by their guides. Your friend was a spirit not
attracted to earth, neither (lid she possess the necessary medial
powers, and her guides thought it wiser to defer all communion
with the earth-sphere, as she might be attracted back if once
within the sphere of your world.
September 19th.Before meeting this evening we heard the
I fairy bells playing in different parts of the garden where we
were walking ; at times they sounded far off, seemingly playing
at the top of some high elm trees, music and stars mingling
together, then they would approach nearer to us, eventually
following us into the stance room, which opened on to the lawn.
After we were seated the music still lingered with us, playing
in the corners of the room, and theft over the table round which
tve were sitting. They played scales and chords by request,

41

with tlio groatcsl. rapidity, and copied notch Dr. H. made with
his voice. After Mr. N. M. was entranced the music became
louder and Hounded like brilliant playing on a piano. There
was no instrument in that room. The sound we called the seven
stringed instrument became coherent for the first time this
overling, and answered questions through the alphabet with this
instrument instead of rapping on the table. The spirit told us
he was an Kgypl.ian, his name was Roophat, he had been a
priest in Urn Temple of Osiris, and a friend of Hade and Chom.
The scent was most abundant, and was thrown all over the table
and. circle. It had been brought for us to save, but as we had
forgotten to place a glass on the table, they threw it over us in
large quantities. We bad mentioned before commencing the
stance that we should like more scent to add to what had already
been obtained and bottled.
During our visit toSlianklin so many different musical sounds
were developed that 1 propose now placing them on record.
G., who had manifested so long in the circle, and whose
sounds resemble a harp, tambourine, and double-bass.
The Welsh Harper, who always played apparently on a very
small harp, making high notes, on very tight strings.
Chom and Hade played on instruments which consist of three
or four strings.
Roophat on a seven-stringed instrument. This was like a
very sweet harp playing in the air.
Wo had also Kabbilas drum sound, and the one, for want
of a better name, we called the plate sound, as it resembled a
sound that could be made on a china plate turned upside down
and struck with a small hammer.
1st.G., Double bass, tambourine, and harp.
2nd.Roophat, seven-stringed instrument.
3rd.Sade, three and four-stringed instrument.
4th.Chom, three and four-stringed instrument.
5th.Kabbila, drum.
6th.Welsh Harper, small harp.
7th.Plate sound, operator unknown.
8th.Fairy bells. Introduced when Benjamin Franklin
first manifested in our circle. We had always associated
these sounds with him, and the spirits who came with him.
I t was an exquisite manifestation, something like a musical box,
but more ethereal, and the notes sweeter. We used to hear
it playing about us very often at this time, especially when
out in the garden late at night. I t was our habit to open the
casement window and step on to the lawn after our stance
was concluded, and I have often heard these fairy b ells
playing at midnight among the trees, the effect being very
beautiful and unearthly.

PORTENDED IN A DREAM.
A lady, whose husband recently lost his life on board a
certain ill-fated vessel, received, some time after his death, a
letter written by him a few days before the catastrophe occurred.
In this letter he related how, on the night previous to writing
it, he had had a most strange and unpleasant dream. I
dreamt, he wrote, that I was lying half-asleep in my cabin,
when suddenly I heard a most extraordinary grating noise,
which seemed to come from underneath the ship. Leaping
from my berththis was my dreamI hastily slipped on some
clothing and rushed up the hatchway, to discover what was the
matter. W hat was my horror to find the hatch down ! and
hammer at it as hard as I would, no answer came, nor did the
hatch show the least signs of giving way. Suddenly, the ship
seemed to give a heave, and was thrown violently down. Pick
ing myself up, bruised and half-dazed, I made another attempt
to burst open the hatch, but again without success. Heavens !
the ship must have struck suddenly upon a rock. She was
going down, and, as I thought of it, a cold sweat came over me,
and every action of my life seemed to flash through my mind.
Again I recommenced my efforts to escape with renewed energy
and at last the hatch gave way, and I . . . fell with a
thud on the floor of my cabin. Thank heaven it was only a
dream after a l l ! but it was pretty vivid, I can assure you. My
head was aching, adds the writer of the letter, my pulse
throbbing as if my heart would burst, and my whole frame
trembled like an aspen leaf. Now mark the sequel: Three
days later the unfortunate mans dream came true, and many of
us now have to mourn the loss of those near and dear to us who
perished with the ill-fated ship. Sword and Chatelaine.

O F F I V K Ob' l # A f l # T , M

PWMM HTHKHT,
A O N t<P I f f t W.V*

NOTITK 'T<> SUlWOlilBKHrt,

T!i# A u i u m l SuWripttoa <n\ HLimit,* po*( free lo any w h l r o * * , I* M< l,H* (*'*
l u m u i i K f o r w a r d e d h o u r ofttcn* i n S d f l o w v .
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r i U M i u r ^ i i m l l V t a l O n lrT H fttio id d h e f i v u ll ^ p a y a b l e I n M i . H. l. G o d f r e y , a m i

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A l l <>nhr* f o r y x y n 'i* a m i f o r AdvortlfMWtionU, a m i a l l r a n u l l a m r s . s l i o u i u h o

A d r i r m e d t a " I h o M a n a u o r " a m i Hoi t o I h n K t l i l o r .
< I,M i ll r m a y a l s o h o

4> u i l l H TO
IV' THK
( I I I / PUBLIC.
l ' I'MM/,
NOTiOK
obtained f r o m I.. W. AI.1.KN, I, A v o

M aria l a n e ,

London,

and all |ltM)L*H'1lri^

J ig lit:
K D 1 T K I>

B V

M . A .,

L o s i>. m

SATURDAY, J A N U A R Y Wih, 189$.

T O C O X T H t ft t ' T O t t S . - C o m m u n i c a t io ts i n t e n d e d t o b e p r i n t e d
s h o u l d bo a d d r c s s e d t o t h e bU ilt o r t
D u ke-st re e f, A d e lp h i. it
trill to u ch f a c i l i t a t e th e i n s e r t i o n oj s u i t i t h t r a r tic le * if t h e y
a r c u n d e r (w o c o lu m n s in t c o y t h . L o n g c o m m a i l ic a t Io n s a r c
a l w a y s i n d a n y e r of b r i n y d e ta y e d t a n d a r e f r e q u e n t ! y
d e c lin e d o n a c c o u n t of w a n t of s p a c e , th o u g h in o th e r re s p e c t s
goo d a n d d esira b le ,
L e t t e r s s h o u l d be c o n f i n e d to t h e s p a c e
of h a l f a c o lu m n to e n s u r e i n s e r t i o n ,
b u s i n e s s c o m m u n i c a t i o n s s h o u l d i n a l l c a s e s b e a d d r e s s e d , to
M r . Ji. / > . i i o d f r e j / i *J, D u k e - s t r e e t 9 A d e l p h i , I f \ C > a n d n o t t o
t h e bid i t o r .

A N J D K A O P R E S E A 11 0 11.
I n a n o th e r c o lu m n o f Light th e r e w ill he fo u n d an
a r tic le o n th e in te r e s tin g r e se a r c h e s o f D r. P u r d o n , a s to
c e r ta in o p tic a l in d ic a tio n s observed in s e n s itiv e s . O f th e
v a lu e o f th e se resea r ch es it is n o t in te n d e d to s a y m u ch
h ere
th o u g h th e y a p p ea r to b o v ery im p o r ta n t it is r a th e r
th e p u rp o se to m a k e Dr. P u r d o n s p a p e r a t e x t , o n w h ic h
c e r ta in o th e r o b s e r v a tio n s m a y b e h u n g .
It is to b e n o te d t h a t D r. P u r d o n , w it h o u t p o s itin g
th e S p ir itu a lis tic o r a n y o th e r h y p o th e s is , a llo w s t h a t t h e
a b n o rm a l s ta te s in w h ic h th e u a c h r o m a to p sia o c c u r r e d
w e re rea l sta te s, a n d i t is th is fa c t, th a t th e p h e n o m e n a
th e m se lv e s a r e n o t a lw a y s d e n ie d a s th e y u s e d t o b e, t h a t
m a rk s th e g r e a t d is ta n c e w h ic h h a s been tr a v e lle d d u r in g
th e la s t tw e n ty y e a rs. H o w e v e r t h e y m a y be in te r p r e te d ,
th e fa c ts th e m se lv e s a r e n o t n o w so fr e q u e n tly la u g h e d a t, or
a ttr ib u te d to fr a u d , a s th e y w e r e w o n t to be. T h a t k in d o f
th in g is m a in ly in d u lg e d in n o w b y t h e p r o fe ssio n a l a n tiS p ir itu a list, w h o lo g in s to iin d h is o c c u p a tio n g o n e a s th e
sc ie n tific c e r ta in ty th a t gjth ere is so m e th in g in i t a fte r a ll
b e c o m es m ore, a n d m o re e v id e n t. T h is b e in g so . w h a t
sh o u ld b e t h e a ttitu d e o f b e lie v e r s in th e u n s e e n w ith
reg a rd to t h e sc ie n tific a d v a n c e o f t h e a g e ? T h e a n s w e r
se e m s to b e t h a t it sh o u ld b e w a tc h e d m o s t a t t e n t iv e ly a n d
^ r x x ip a th e tic a lly , fo r th a t in i t a r e issu e s o f th e g r e a te s t
im p o r ta n c e .
T h e a tt it u d e o f th e s c ie n tific p e o p le o f tw e n t y a n d
m o r e y e a r s a g o w a s o n e g e n e r a lly o f e x tr e m e h o s tility ,
f f f p l f e t a n y sc ie n tific m a n o f t h a t p e r io d w a s m a d e
Sjjll su ffer, w h e n h e to o k a n y in te llig e n t in t e r e s t in t h e
f u t u r e o f t h e u n se en , m a y n e v e r p o s s ib ly b e r e a lise d ,
ixjjhltf} co u ra g e, in d e e d , w a s t h a t o f D e M o r g a n , w h e n
h e p u b lish e d th e p r e fa c e to h is w ife s b o o k , F r o m M a tte r
! W h a t in tr e p id ity h a s b e e n t h a t o f R u s s e l
^ w B p il rrr 1 A n d w h a t fa it h f u l ste a d fa s tn e s s t h a t o f C ro o k es !
|||K o-day, h o w ev e r, th in g s h a v e c h a n g e d c o n sid e r a b ly , a n d
t o reck o n w ith a n e w o r d e r o f th in g s , a n d th is
b e se r io u sly ta k e n to h e a r t b y S p ir itu a lis ts . T h e
w o rk s d o u b tin g ly n o w , w h e r e h e w o r k e d w ith
I"|PBartainty b efo re 1 a n d h e is b e g in n in g , v e r y o fte n , n o t o n ly to
^ l^ e ir tio n th e v a lid ity o f so m e o f h is e a r lie r c o n c lu sio n s, b u t
to w o n d e r w h ere h e w ill e v e n tu a lly g e t to . T h e r e is
in d e e d n o th in g to g u id e h im . N o w , if S p ir itu a lism he
H w l|||l th a t is, if th e e x is te n c e o f in d e p e n d e n t in te llig e n c e
b e a c c e p te d a s a c e r ta in ty , th e c o n d itio n s a re c h a n g e d a t
W h e n a sea rch p a r ty s e ts o u t fo r t h e sa lv a tio n o f
^ f t in e r s e n to m b e d a liv e a fte r a c o llie r y a c c id e n t, th e p a r ty
a r e g u id ed o n ly b y th e n o rm a l c o n sid e r a tio n s w h ic h

:in* apparent to (hem ; b u t when (hey begin to hear n

d ioids and rapping* of their comrades, th e direction ,]
their efforts
made, sure, while (hose effort* lliernsc)v^
are redoubled. And surely S piritualists are just in t,},\
very position; $|S ul(.iiiui(.e coiTMtitution <y$ 11matter }) J
fo-iting to be a h o re pu///te. to pure, science; but the livjrK
spirit beyond, which impinges somehow on this (i matter,3*|
m atter it bo, ift heard by ( he. Spiritualist, ju st as the rnine^
aie, heard by their comrades, and should guide him,
ns |.lic-ir c.omrades voices guide th e others.
The srieneo r(d(*rr(-d to hero is not the science of
popular lecturer merely ; b u t th a t kind of profound mv%
tigation wliich (hnnands l-ime, patienc(?, and very oft^
expense, But time, patience, and means are not wantin'*
one or all, to very many Spiritualists,
J t s e e m s difficult to s u p p o s e t h a t a n y p r e s e n tm e n t to

o u r c o n s c io u s n e s s c a n b e m e a n in g le s s , a n d s o t h e treatise*
w r itte n o n m o d e r n m a t h e m a t ic s , t o t a k e a n in stan ce
m u s t have'' s ig n ific a n c e s o m e w h e r e .
A t p r e s e n t th e re
s e a r c h e s a p p e a r t o e n d in t h e m s e lv e s , a s fa r a s th e y ant
t h e m s e lv e s c o n c e r n e d , w h ile t h e ir a u t h o r s g e t in to the
R o y a l S o c ie t y . R u t w h e n i t is r e m e m b e r e d t h a t certain
b r a n c h e s o f m a th e m a tic a l s t u d y o c c u p ie d m e n s m inds
w it h o u t a n y a p p a r e n t u se, u n t il N e w t o n a p p lie d the
r e s u lts to t h e w o r k in g o u t o f h is p la n e t a r y th e o r y , the
d e v e lo p m e n ts h in t e d a t w ill n o t a p p e a r to b e so fa r-fetch ed
and vagu e.
1 lo w t h e s e m a t h e m a t ic a l d e v e lo p m e n ts
a ffe c te d s u c h a g e n iu s a s C liffo r d , m a t e r ia lis t th o u g h he
th o u g h t h im s e lf to b e , w ill b e r e m e m b e r e d b y m a n y . The
m a s s e s o f th is k in d o f in v e s t ig a t io n , a p p a r e n tly le a d in g to
n o w h e r e , c a n n o t, s u r e ly , b o w it h o u t s o m e k in d o f m ean
in g . P o s s ib ly t h e ir a p p lic a t io n m a y e v e n t u a lly b e found
in so m e o f t h o s e o u t p o s t s o f p h y s ic a l r e se a r c h w h e r e m a tter
is a lr e a d y s e e n t o b e r e s o lv in g in t o s p ir it.
T h is a t t e n t io n t o s c ie n t if ic w o r k s e e m s t o b e em p h a sised
b y t h e p u b lic a t io n o f t h e r e c o r d s o f s e a n c e s w h ic h have
b e e n p u b lis h e d in L ig h t fo r so lo n g , w h e r e t h e la te Mr.
S t a in t o n M o se s w a s th e m e d iu m . U n le s s w e c a n su pp ose
t h a t fo r so m e u n k n o w n a n d p r o fitle s s p u r p o se fo u r o r five
p e o p le o f r e c o g n ise d p o s itio n w e n t o u t o f th e ir w a y t o a ssert
t h e s e t ilin g s , w e a r e b o u n d t o a c c e p t t h e a c c o u n ts , a s of
c o u r se w e d o . A n d t h e s e a c c o u n ts a r e fu ll o f t h e m o st
a m a z in g p h y s ic a l m a n if e s t a t io n s w h e r e t h e a g e n c y w a s the
in t e llig e n t o p e r a to r o n t h e o th e r s id e . T h e p r o d u c tio n of
m a t e r ia l s c e n t, o f a ir v ib r a tio n s r e s u lt in g in m u sica l
so u n d s, o f h e a v y b lo w s o n s o lid ta b le s , a ll p o in t to th e im
p o r ta n c e o f t h e k in d o f in v e s t ig a t io n w h ic h is su g g e ste d .
A n d w e a r e su r e t h a t w e sh a ll b e m e t, a t least- h a lf-w a y to
t h e so lu tio n .
LONDON SPIRITUALIST ALLIANCE.
A m eetin g o f th e in em bers an d frien d s o f th e A llia n ce will
b e h eld a t 7 .3 0 p .m . on T u esd a y n e x t, a t 2, D u k e-street,
A d elp h i, w h en M r. W . P a ice w ill g iv e a n a d d ress on The
S piritual M eanin g o f M a tter .
W o h o p e to s e e a large
attendance.
B e f o r e an y on e can b egin to rea lise w h a t a g h o s t or sp ir it
I is, h e m u st g e t a good grip o f th e fa c t th a t m a tter is n o t
: n ecessarily lik e lead , or m ud, or pork, or a 5 n o te. H e m u st
know it as a com m on-place th a t o x y g en is as tru ly m a tter as
S gran ite, and th a t th e su b tile vap ou r w hich can p a ss th rou gh a
j ste e l cy lin d er is as tru ly m a tter as th e hard m etal through
which it p asses.
l i e m u st a lso accustom h im self to the
v ita l fact th a t w hat w e call m in d is th e m a ster o f th e b o d y , that
th e hand k n ow s n o th in g ab ou t th e w ritin g , an d th a t the
ton gu e and teeth k now n o th in g a b o u t th e sp eak in g. The
m aster o f th e h o u se alon e k now s. T h ey are o n ly instru m en ts.
T h en , fe elin g h is w ay on, h e m ay p erchan ce com e up w ith the
sp len d id truth th a t i f a b ein g could p o sse ss a body w liich , for
su b tilty and fineness, w ou ld equal th e su b tile fin en ess of
th ou gh t, such a b ein g m ig h t b e in v isib le and in ta n g ib le, and
J y et be capable of m ovem en ts and far-reach in g com binations
a lto g eth er beyond th e ordinary clu m sy creatu re w hose body
and m ind arc, a t p resent, so ill-m atch ed and so little agree.
W hat w ould such a b ein g be b u t a sp irit ? A nd th a t is as
scien tifically con ceivab le as th e e x iste n c e o f th e eth e r of space*
P a g e H o f f s in th e C om ing D a y .

Jamiary 28, 1898.}

L lG ttT

MR, M ORELL TH EO BALD.

Mr. Morell Theobald, whose name is well known to our
readers, has been for many years actively connected with
various movements for the diffusion of a knowledge of the
facts and phenomena of Spiritualism. More than twenty
years ago he was busily engaged in noting and recording
experiences which he was fortunate enough to obtain through
the mediumship of Mrs. Everitt. These were afterwards
supplemented by remarkable occurrences in his own home,
which were narrated at length in his very interesting book
entitled Spirit Workers in the Home Circle. So strange
and marvellous were the phenomena therein described that
some readers held their breath in astonishment, and disre
garding the evidence offered, refused credence on the ground
that such things were utterly impossible, while others
investigated and came to the conclusion th atpossible or
impossible there was no reasonable doubt that the thing
had happened. Anyhow, the book was eagerly read, and
brought to Mr. Theobald communications from sympathisers
and inquirers in all parts of the world.

MR. MORELL THEOBALD.

(From a photograph by A. <5c G. Taylor.)

When the British National Association of Spiritualists

was established in 1873, Mr. Theobald entered heartily into
the work, and was a member of the Council during the
presidency of Mr. T. Everitt, Mr. Martin Smith, and Mr.
Alexander Calder, rendering valuable aid as Chairman of
the Finance Committee; and when in 1883 Mr. Stainton
Moses promoted the London Spiritualist Alliance Mr.
Theobald was amongst those whom he called to his assist
ance. From that year until 1890 he acted as Honorary
Secretary, and on his resignation of the office was unani
mously elected as Vice-President. H e was also the first
treasurer, and a member of the first Council, of the Society
for Psychical Research, but resigned on finding that the
Societys methods were not such as to command his
sympathy.
In regard to the phenomena of Spiritualism, Mr.
Theobald has always consistently maintained th at they
should be regarded from a purely scientific point of view,
and as irrefragable arguments against Agnosticism and
Materialism, but that Spiritualism should never be con
founded with religion, though it might be valuable as an
adjunct to religious life.

VISUAL SENSITIVENESS IN MEDIUMS.*

Dr. Purdon, of Alabama, has been making some very
interesting researches as to the variations of colour sen
sibility observable in mediumistiiC persons. R e asserts that
curious functional disturbance of the optic nerve does occur
with such people, especially at or about the time of the seances
in which their peculiar powers come into play. Dr. Purdon
is careful at once to distinguish the peculiar variations ho
claims to have discovered, from the affection so well
known as colour-blindness. H is attention was first at
tracted to this subject in 1871, when he was brought into
contact w ith the members of a family of marked sensitive
powers.
There were three sisters, one of whom, Dr.
Purdon states, was the medium by whose aid Mr. Crookes
obtained some of his most important results. H e says:
For the greater part of each month she suffered from
weakness of one eye, with loss of accommodation and im
perfection of colour vision,which, however, were both corrected
by a seven or eight inch minus glass. She also perceived black
bands or rings drawn on paper to be thickened and doubled in
a certain uniform way, when observed through the uncorrected
eye, although the sight of the other eye was very good. As
this young lady was at that time becoming fatnous as a medium,
I eagerly embraced every opportunity that offered to study such
eases as hers, in the Hope of finding some clue to the nature of
the changes that take place in the cerebral machinery whenever
there were present manifestations indicative of the activity of
psychic force. I noticed that at a certain time each month both
the power to manifest the special psychic activity and the
abnormal vision disappeared together, leaving the inference to
be drawn that abnormal colour and ray vision and the psychic
potentiality co-existed in her ease, and most probably were
related in consequence of a strained condition of certain parts
of the brain to be determined by other observations.
Further experience tended to confirm this view, for I found,
in the case of this young lady, during actual manifestation of
great psychic power, a total disorganisation of distinct colour
perception and discrimination, while the evidence of brain strain
and congestion was furnished by profuse nose bleeding coming
on during the actual exercise of the psychic power. My atten
tion having been turned in this direction, I found several
instances of analogous colour vision disturbance m patients of
mine who were haunted by subjective spectral figures, not
dependent upon drink, opium, or similar exciting causes. I
think I may safely say that in all these cases the cardiac inner
vation was imperfecta sign of the general condition of the
nervous system.
Some years after Dr. Purdon had the opportunity of
observing the two sisters of this lady. These girls, whom
he calls Miss K. C. and Miss E. C., were then twenty-four
and eighteen years old respectively. The elder sister was
affected in the left eye, and a m inus glass corrected the
error; the younger in the right eye, the correction being
with a plus glass. Dr. Purdons accounts of some of the
experiments are given here because of their apparently
great value. Coloured wools and coloured glasses of many
shades were used, as well as polarised light passed through
doubly refracting crystals.
April 29th, 1883, Miss K. C., a wonderful medium for all
kinds of physical manifestations, was examined with the double
image prism previous to a stance. She could see with the left
eye but one image of a pencil mark ring on white paper, that
one which was most refracted. She placed the point of a pencil
a good way outside the circumference of the circle when asked
to put it exactly in the centre. As the paper was moved the
ring was unstable in its position. The prism showed two rings
in the ordinary manner to the right eye. After the seance she
could not see at all with the left eye. The right eye remained
unaffected.
Miss E. C., before the stance, saw the two images through
the double image prism, but much separated from each other.
She also remarked, when she looked at the ground glass globe
of the gas lamp, that one of the images, that which was most
* The Psychical Import of Variable Achromatopsia; an Original
Research. By J ohn E dward P urdon, A.B., M.D., Cullman, .Tumor
Counsellor of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama. Re
printed from the Transactions of 1892.

44

ILIG HT.

refracted, showed broad coloured hands taking ii| nearly Urn

wlmln f ilii' outline, in place ul' Ilia nonitit) mere edging of

[.January 28, 180.1

Before the stance this distance was the same for both eyes, as
I bad noticed aftor careful observation,

i'<!*ur.
I)r. Purilon also found th a t every m em ber of thus family,
May 'Jml. Mihm K.
could see only one image through Urn Including tho mother, three daughters, and one son,
double imago nvuiiii In-Id In (lm lufl eye, Wlion Unit eye was
were more or less subjects of abnorm al colour sensibility,
Hniiiilicd vvii.li It |||S
inch m im i.i glass silo hiuv bot.ll linages
The conclusions to which Dr. P urdon comes are so very
quite wall. An experiment was llioii niiidi< with plates of
selenite between two Nicols prisms. The colour of the purple im portant th at they are given in full :
and areeniah yellow selenite worn called Mno and yellow, Imt
lst.Nervous states, with a tendency to hysteria, may be
wlion Iho I cno Mno ami yellow solenilo was placed between the accompanied by a derangement of accommodation, in one or
two N tool's prisma the colours worn not. recognized at. nil. TIiiih both eyes, which is indicative of a more general defect of
if appears tied led and green, which worn components of the attention on the part of the automatic centres of the brain,
pui plo and greenish -yellow, w-oco unperoeivod in the. first pair I whereby the elements of sensation are generally combined into
uf colours, while the hluo and yellow, the it\fen'&d perception I higher psychical complexes. Observation with the ophthalmoscope
a l t e r Much ali d taoiion, were not porceivnd when directly pre and otherwise led me to the belief that functional inactivity
sented in tin- .second pair of selenite colours, After the sdanoe, depends rather upon a deficient supply of blood than upon
which iva a very good one, the medium could nol. sou with flic direct inhibition. I found that forced attention restored the
hi! w o ; l he coitcH ing concave glass, which was useful before visual function in one of the sisters when I used a distorting
t|,c si meo, having, after it was over, no cllbct in restoring her instrument, Stokes lens, to excite her curiosity when looking
M -iu, The circulation, judging from the radial pulse, was at small type.
weaker on the left side than on the right aftor the sriinco, and
2nd.The existence of this state is a predisposing cause in
neither ring could be seen through the double image prism.
tho manifesting of psychic phenomena, such as are usually shown
Mi .1 E. C. was examined before the seance with the double by respectable mediums under test conditions, at least in the
imago prism and a l s o with the selenite plates. Hho saw the
t w o images correctly, and also the colours, but afterwards,
t h o u g h she could see the two images through hho prism, she
had lost all. .sensibility tor colour on the affected side. Both the
young ladies were examined with the coloured wools after the
seance ; they had lost all power of distinction.
M a y title
Miss K. C. was examined in good light before the
scaneo. She had remarked while out walking with me that red
and yellow tulips appeared to herns grey. Examined with
the coloured wools -red, dark red, blue, dark blue, light blue,
yellow and blue-green were all called grey. A seven-inch
m in u s glass corrected the achromatopsia completely. W hen
using the double image prism she saw but one ring with the
left eye, but with the minus glass added she saw both rings.
When a beam of polarized light from a Ni cols prism was passed
through plates of selenite and the double image prism added to
complete the combination, she saw the double beam in comple
mentary colours with the right eye, its normal appearance, but
to the left eye it showed as a single colourless beam. This was

true for the blue-yellow selenite, and also for the red-green,
or, more properly, blue-red and yellow-green ; a single colourless
image was in all cases perceived. When, however, the left eye
was armed with the seven-inch minus or concave glass, the
vision of the left eye was exactly the same as the right. After
the seance (and I may remark that all the stances here referred
to were satisfactory in the way of manifestations of extraordinary
activity), she could not Bee at all with the loft eye ; neither
colour nor ray vision remained. The glass so marked before in
its effect did not, restore the colour of the wools, which were all
described as greys.
A check experiment was then tried. On overlapping one of
the images of a piece of green glass, looked at through the double
image prism, on one of those of a piece of rod glass placed near
it, both being held up against the light, she did not perceive the
change that under ordinary circumstances is duo to the super
position of lights of different colours, she simply experienced the
sensation of redness, the green being entirely absent from her
apperception. The images of bluo and yellow glass overlapped
a grey " without any change being noticed. The eye was then
reinforced by a strong convex glass, and she saw all the ooloured
objects when brought to a distance of four inches from the eye
the green required to lie brought, nearest. Outside of that
distance the red alone was seen as a diffused light rod. When
tried with the selenite plates she saw the red-violet and
yellowish-green os violet ^nd yellow, using her sound loft eye,
lmt with the right eye, that which was the peculiar one, shosaw
only the red or red-purple shade, the yellowish-green comple
mentary being entirely absent.
Thin young lady was examined after the stance, during which
she was fora short time entranced. It was found that she
had lost, all colour sensation on the left side. The double image
prism showed double images without colour, tho wools wereall grey | to the left eye. She remarked that the double
images of a pencil mark ring as seen by the loft eye appeared
much larger than those seen by tho right eye. They had to be
brought much nearer to the eye before their ciroumferenoes
touched than in tho case of those seen l>y the right eye I say
about five inches in the former case, and ten in the latter.

instances of the young ladies here referred to ; while the nose

bleeding and the aggravation of visual defects in them gave
direct evidence of congestion or stasis of blood in the brain and
probably also of anaemia in varying and unknown degrees, the
latter supposition being supported by the trains of objective
nervous symptoms so commonly seen in the case of mediums
during manifestation.
3rd.The actual occurrence of extraordinary psychical
evonts being provisionally granted for the sake of an applica
tion of physiological theory, it appears very probable that the
relationship of the cerebral cortex to the muscular system is
profoundly modified, and to such an extent that psychical states
find other modes of expression than those depending upon the
mechanical influence of a visible and tangible intervening sub
stance, tho nervous system being thereby placed in a more
direct relationship with the space content.
The correlation of tho visual and muscular systems being
found by observation and experiment to have been interfered
with, it is allowable to speculate upon possible manifestations
of psychical activity in which heat does not play so prominent
a part on the physical side of tho sequence, other modes oi
vibratory action taking its plaoe, with a corresponding cluing0
in the psychical chain. There is a complete analogy afforded
in the region of mechanical philosophy when physicists attempt

January 28, 1893.]

LIGHT,

the direct transformation of latent energy without the inter

vention of the steam (heat) engine, muscle being a heat engine,
and the most economical that we know of.
The vast importance of these last conclusions seems a
very valid reason for giving prominence to this piece of
scientific research.

SUSTENTATION FUND.
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or little. Remittances should be sent to the Treasurer, Mr. H
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QUESTIONS AND ANSW ERS,

Under this heading we propose, at the request of several sub

scribers, to give from time to time such questions as may
reach usprovided we deem them of a profitable character
with a view to their being answered, not necessarily by
the Editor, but preferably by our readers. Both questions
and answers should be stated clearly and succinctly, and in
the replies the questions should be indicated by the number.
We shall be glad to receive from our readers replies to Questions
5 and 6 which appeared in our last weeks issue.
We are struck with ;something supposed to be great in
power, in intellect, or in goodness. We anticipate important
effects to follow; as we do so corresponding feelings rise, and
surge, and swell. When the objects or consequences are good
admiration and wonder may become moral in their nature. They
may become a veneration for all that is excellent towards the
aged, the ancient, the grand. The nil admirari school may
seem very wise, and may boast that they are never deceived,
but, as they have no beau ideal, they never accomplish anything
truly great. Wonder opens our eyes, and fixes them on some
thing high, to which it would elevate us. It is an essential
element in all truly exalted characters, and leads on to reverence
8 | (i/we. It enters largely into the admiration and worship
which we pay to God.McOosh.

45
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Editor is not responsible fo r opinions expressed by correspondents,

and sometimes publishes what he does not agree with fo r the purpose
of presenting views that may elicit discussion. ]

Dreams and Visions.

Sir ,Some of your readers may find the following account

interesting. I dreamed I saw a beautiful garden, which I
supposed to belong to me, and that two strange horses, having
strayed into this garden, were trampling down the flowers,
tearing up the shrubs, wandering about the lawns, and com
mitting havoc generally. I went into the garden, threw stones
at them, and drove them out. This finished the first dream or
vision. The next was this. I thought I had a severe kind of
ulcer on my arm, black and dreadful to look at. I put it into
some clear water, and it immediately changed; all the evil was
washed away, and it healed up. The interpretation is this. I
had got a number of strange Arian notions into my head, and
for the last six months had been studying and examining these
ideas. I then came to certain conclusions respecting them,
believing these Arian notions to be false, and wishing to know
if I were correct or not, I prayed to Jesus to let me understand
if I were right. The garden represented my mind, the dark
horse the fallacious ideas, and the other, a kind of iron grey,
false and correct ideas mixed, and the expulsion that I was
correct in getting rid of them. In the second, the pure water
means the living water, or the truth of the Word, by which the
erroneous ideas had been cleared away. After this I came to
myself, and heard the spirit rappings on the furniture of the
room. This was to call my attention to their source and import
anceby an undeveloped medium.
H. C.

The True Church of Christ.

Sir , Will you allow mo to say that in using the words I did

in regard to Madame de Steigers supposed wishes, I only meant

by enforce to teach strongly, using magic as a means ? I have
no fear whatever about the people of this country ever again
being subjected to authority in regard to religion, much as
thousands of religious teachers wish it, Madame de Steiger
amongst the number, according to her own words in her first
letter to you on the subject. What I do fear, and see going on
around me in very many cases, is the re-action from authoritative
teaching about Gods wrath and eternal punishment leading to
too great licence by those who reject it, while those who honestly
accept it are made sad, and in many cases driven into lunatic
asylums or suicide.
I am glad to learn that Madame de Steiger can appreciate
Mrs. Pennys profound and intricate discussion on The Image.
I tried hard to understand it myself, but gave it up at last as a
bad job, muttering to myself something about darkening
counsel by words without knowledge, hut then I am but a
wayfaring man, who does not object to being taught by others
(see Madame De Steigers letter, January 14th inst.), provided
it is something worth knowing, and expressed in language that
can be understanded. Paul taught the Corinthians that
God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, whilst his Master declared that out of the mouth of
babes and sucklings God hath perfected praise, and I, though
thought a fool by some I know for doing so, teach that which
Moses did, viz., ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my
judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them ; I am the
Lord, and as I have elsewhere said, His commandments are
not grievous, nor hard to be understanded of the people, and
therefore require neither wise men, nor magicians, nor priests
to enforce them by dogma and doctrine.
T. L. H enly.

Astral Influences.
Sir ,One feels grateful to O.C.M. for his answers to
questions 1 and 2, as, in fact,for all he writes in L ight ; and,
if not trespassing on his time and good nature, one would like
to ask him if he can suggest an explanation as to the reason
why, astrologioally, the place of birth so materially affects the
character and destiny of a child.
In answering question I, 0. C. M. says: The perisprit or
fluidic body is conceived as microcosmically qualified by all the
influences of the spirit of Nature prevailing at generation. These
influences proceed from their foci, the planets and stars, their
combined character at any given moment being astrologioally
ascertained by the figure of the heavens at such time.
To minds not experimentally acquainted with astrology
these remarks may imply that the differences in the nature and

Lig h t .

46

composition of the ]u n-quu " were solely dependent upon the

ever vavvmg olumfeos i f 'ho planets and stars aniongsl 'homsolves,
Vloui which conclusion i| would follow that a child
born at a given moment in any latitude or longitude oil the
earth's surface thus becoming an embodiment (astmlly) o|
''tin- influences of the spirit of nature (then) prevailing/
would acquire the same character if horn in one place as it hovn
in another. Whereas it is found that foot/ time, which gives
tlie iw\sittons of the planets and -stars in irhi/ion to a definite
locality on the earths surface, is a more potent factor, if one
,-ia\ so speak of it, than the ditlovent aspects of the heavenly
bodies anion.: themselves. For 1 take it that the figure
of the heavens by means of which we ascertain the combined
character, a: any given moment, of these influences," refers to
the usual astr.'looieal horoscope a purely local constructioti as
to its most important hearings in the child then horn.
oOo, Intake road, Sheffield.
0 . J . B aRKHR.
|\ S . As the figure fov th e time of the hirth of a human
being is more easily obtainable than the figure for the time of
vneration one may be perm itted to take the former in pre
ference to the latter as an example. The principle involved is
identical in both.

In replv to the above. 1 would first submit that the terms of my

answer in L ight, which was made as brief as possible,
sufficiently refer to the nuHlifieavion of astral influences by
the 'mundane" positions of the planets, dre. For that is
what 1 meant, and could only moan, by saying that their
combined character is 1 a s t r o l o g i c a l l y ascertained by the
ri j-oi of the heavens." There would be no occasion for a
*figure if wc considered only the zodiacal positions of
the planets, infer sc.
Hut. the tiguro is of course
different at the same time in different places.
Tlie 11 nest ion now put is, Why, astrologically, the
phi-:-- of birth so materially affects the character ami destiny
of a child ?
Answer.Astrology, as practised, does not recognise
the influence of the place of birth, otherwise than as the
place determines the figure of birth or horoscope. A child
bora in Glasgow, N.B., for instance, at noon on any day
would have about the same figure of birth as one bom in
Moscow nearly three hours earlier (which would be noon at
Moscow), and the judgment of the two horoscopes would be
the same, allowing, of course, for the differences of longitude
of sun. moon, and the lighter planets, represented by tlie
difference of time. Their mundane positions, or
meridian distances, would be about the same in both
cases, except the moon s. But supposing the question to
refer to the specific influence of the horoscope, the explana
tion is to be found (1), in the special qualification of the sign
and even degree ascending; (2), in the division of the
twelve houses" representing different interests and re
lations of life. But the only succinct explanation I can give
of these matters is contained in the two words, Miorocosm-ic
Correspondence. C. C. M.
T he T roubles o f a Would-be Neophyte.
S ir ,Grave doubts and difficulties in almost all cases assail
the early and perhaps enthusiastic inquirer into Spiritualistic
matters, and these doubts and difficulties often persist after
lengthened study and correctly-attempted development.
First, there is the doubt concerning the motive- of the
medium. This motive metetj frequently is found to be a pecuniary
one, for the stances are, as a rule, well attended, and a fee (not
always inconsiderable) is demanded. Many mediums indeed
profess not to make any fixed charge, but intimate indirectly
that each person present is expected to contribute a certain sum.
The medium may, however, be strictly honest, but still human
nature being wlmt it is, there is always considerable danger of
the perversion of that honesty to lie feared. Perhaps after all,
they (the mediums) should be well paid, considering that, serious
results as to health occur to mediums in later life. This
difficulty might Iks met by a Spiritualistic Society paying a fair
salary to trustworthy mediums, and thus securing to its members,
and the public generally, reliable information (if possible) and
precise means of investigation.
Another motive is t-lie love of notoriety, and of the admira
tion gained by the possession of so-called supernatural qualities.
True, it may serve as a pastime and as a means of enlargement
of their social circle, but does it advance our general know
ledge 1

[Jiumary 2s,

But. given a thoroughly reliable honest medium, with no

reason for favouring deception,;! doubt, thou comes ns toll),,
trustworthiness of statements made through his agency. Ai,fl
public stance the trance clairvoyant gives long, and whal. would
appear to ho, accurate descriptions of two, three, or more spirit
forms, assert.ed to he connected somehow with each sit,tor
present. Of these the recognition probably would not exceed
one it! twenty. Why is this? Is it. inaccuracy of description
by the control, or stupidity, or forgetfulness on the part, of lln>
inquirer? There is, no doubt, a want of consensus amongst, tlie
different; controls appearing through mediums as to actual farts
connected with the mix), world. Why should this he? How
frequently are future events incorrectly foretold ! Why arc
they told at all if there is any uncertainty ? If one prognosti
cation proves untrue, how can another be relied upon 1 Look
at a few of the various excuses given for incorrect answers:
The conditions were not. favourable, or wore upset, by tlie
presence of sceptics," a good all-round excuse, because in
capable of proof. Again, All are liable to make mistakes;
spirits are not infallible. Where, then, is the superiority of
Spiritualistic prophecies over earthly ones? Have they no
greater weight/ than those of phrenology, palmistry, or
astrology? The very fact; that excuses are necessary raises
serious doubts in tlie mind.
Next comes the momentous question of identity. Has it
not occurred to all inquirers that on test questions being put to
the communicating spirit they could not bo answered, and so it.
has been discovered that the name given was a false one, and
that there was impersonation ? If tile test questions happened
to ho correctly replied to, this has been considered to ho
sufficient identification, not only for that time, but also for all
subsequent meetings, although the matter of impersonation is
known to bo common. Such blind confidence in the face of
these facts is hardly wise or commendable. The doubt of
identity, then, must greatly affect the reliability of statements
made.
And lastly comes the doubt of utility. Read the published
reports of seances held evening after evening, where similar
manifestations are repeated again and again. One is bound to
ask, where is the advantage gained or useful knowledge acquired
to compensate for the time spent? Tim e oftentimes is the
Scriptur.il ta le n t committed to our care. How have we
used it ? Could it not have been used more profitably than in
seeking after mysteries, which seem destined to be wrapped in
the darkest uncertainty and doubt, and to .avoid any successful
solution?
A D ispir ited S piritualistic I nquirer .
[This is inserted, as it probably represents the state of mind of J
a good many people ; nevertheless some acquaintance with
the best literature of the subject might be of advantage.
E d . L ight . 1___________ '

The Substance of Existence.

S ir , Your correspondent, Mr. Edward Maitland, is obliging

enough to favour with a metaphysical contribution the more

philosophically minded of your readers, among whom l cannot
even pretend to be classed, as I fail altogether to appreciate the
solution of the problem with which he deals, although he
himself seems completely satisfied with i t ; in fact, his elucidation
is to me confusion worse confounded.
He starts with the astounding fallacy that manifestation and
generation are synonymous with creation!a metaphysical
argumentative outrage that vitiates the whole of his argument.
Surely generation and manifestation are very distinct from
creation, as before anything can generate it must first ho
created. Permit mo further to analyse your correspondents
obscure explanation. First, wp are told that the source of all
things is original unity ; but in the next sentence it appears
that nothing can he produced without an original duality.
j Duality subsists m the unity ; therefore I presume that
original unity, being the primary source, must take pre
cedence of original duality, which is consequently sub
ordinate to, and not co-ordinate with, original unity. But
we are told that duality which subsists in the unity consists
of force and substance. Hero wo may rightly inquire, What
aro force and substance? Surely they are themselves
products of creative power; and as far as Mr. Maitlands views
extend, for he says nothing to the contrary, they may he merely
blind, unreasoning, unintelligent somethings; and those prin
ciples, forsooth, are set to work to create a universe I
Substance is not matter, but matter is the appearance or
phenomenon produced by the operation of force upon sub-

4
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January 28, 1893 ]

LIGHT.

stance. I would ask, What is phenomenon 1 Is it substance

or I inflow i It must be one or the other. Is there not
material substance as well as spiritual substance | If force
acts upon substance, we are bound to consider them to be
two distinct existences. If they arc distinct, how did they
severally originate ? We cannot admit that one produced the
other. Again:
Sinco substanco is spirit, matter is definable as spirit
projected by Divine Will into conditions and limitations, and
made externally cognisable.
External to what? Conditions and limitations. Where
did they come from ? Evidently from some source independent
of the substanco which they modify; and the faculty which
cognises them is surely another independent potentate. Once
more:
Being spirit, matter is capable of reverting to the condition
of spirit, ceasing to be matter.
This ipse dixit I flatly and categorically repudiate. There is
not a particle of evidence to show that matter ever ceases to be
matter. It may bo disintegrated, evaporated, rendered invisible,
hut in some condition matter will remain to all eternity, so far
as we have any knowledge.
Mr. Maitland asserts that this reversion of matter to spirit
is wrought through the operation of force, the direction only
being changed from outwards to inwards, &c.; but he omits to
informua how the change of direction is effected, and we
are lamentably in the dark to understand how a meie change
of direction can produce such a marvellous result as that of
converting matter into spirit.
Mi-. Maitland appears, to my simple mind, to be rather
shaky in his ideas of entities. He tells us that force and
substance are the two first principles in every entity, but at
the conclusion of the same paragraph it is asserted that force,
substance, aud phenomenon are one entity.
All this mental entanglement might be avoided by accepting
the great truth which can be understood by every intelligent
mind, that in the grand march of cause and effect the supreme
place is occupied by the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent
Almighty God, the Creator of all things. He made spiritual
substance and material substance ; by His everlasting laws He
regulates and governs His creations, and gives to His intelligent
creatures the power of utilising the forces of Nature, which He
alone originated, and He also grants to us sufficient revelations
of His will to enable us to conform our lives to His Divine
guidance. More than this is idle speculation. As I have
already discussed this subject more fully in my essay on
Transcendental Vagaries, I need not occupy more of your
space on this occasion.
London, January 24th, 1893.
N ewton Crosland.
Re-incarnation.
Sir,Your correspondent Equality states that Re

incarnation is the only key which meets every problem

presented by human existence. I should very much like to
know how it accounts for, if I may so put it, what is
allegorically termed the first sin, and why man should give way
so to vice and crime ; also how re-birth again on this earth in a
human frame can eradicate from the spirit of one who has led
an evil life here before, the perverted conception of the why
and the wherefore of this existence which was impressed upon
it by the acts of its previous life, without total annihilation.
The stumbling-block of most Re-incarnationists is, I think,
that they do not grasp the fact that the difference between this
world and the next is not one vast jump from one end of
existence to the other, but simply a step forward in that
direction.
Further, Equality says that the principles of Theosophy
rest, not on blind assertions, but on the concurrent testimony of
generations of trained seers. By Theosophy I presume he
means the present Buddhistical system and its seers, the
Mahatmas. If so, several things have to be proved ; first, that
these seers exist, for the Society for Psychical Research has
given us cogent reasons for doubting their objective reality;
secondly, their claims to infallibility ; thirdly, why the con
current testimony of generations of trained seers is to be
accepted, for we know that one powerful mind can influence
another. This also applies to his attempted methods of veri
fication. Fourthly, as these seers are trained, how do we know
that they have been trained to represent the truth 1
I thank those who have so kindly answered my query, but
I should like to make a few remarks on Mr. Maitlands reply.

47

Ho says bhul the original u n ity is dual, for generation is

not of ono but of twain. I must say that T fail to soe the
application of this aphorism to spirit, for pure spirit is uncreated,
solf-oxistent and formless, possessing absolute potentiality. Its
first, action is nooossarily thought, which I think I may
consider as representing his duality," for thought is
equivalent to, or rather i m p l i e s , vibration, which moans attraction
and repulsion or aotion and reaction. This thought is as
formless as spirit, but is not allied to it in any other manner,
I though it is often called by that name.
Charles Htranoe.

S ir , Equality says that I seem not to be aware that

Re-inenrnatkm is taught through many mediums. I recognise
the fact, but do not consider such teaching conclusive on either
side.
When we pass out of the oarth-life some of our erroneous
opinions are likely to persist for a time without rectification;
and, especially with regard to this subject, we could not expect
to speak from observation very soon after entering the next
stage of existence. Your correspondent asserts that the
principles of Theosophy rest on the concurrent testimony of
generations of trained seers, who have proved that they possess
extraordinary powers of psychic perception; also that R e
incarnation may be verified through acquaintance with those
who remember past lives. Whether this is so or not, the
persons to whom the remarks are addressed have no such
evidence before them not even as to the actual existence of
the seers referred to.
If there is such evidence, surely it is due to the great body
of earnest inquirers to produce i t ; no one is expected to
believe in psychical or Spiritualistic phenomena on secondary
testimony of this vague character. Moreover, the supposed
recollection of past lives by certain persons would require
corroboration to render it of value. When watching some
occurrence, or visiting a place for the first time, it is not very
unusual to feel that one has been through it all before at some
bygone period, but obviously Re-incarnation would often fail to
explain this impression, as, for instance, in the case of a concert
at the Albert Hall.
Then, again, if the teachers from whom these doctrines
emanate are infallible, how is it that the leaders of the move
ment have to some extent modified their views since the
publication of the earlier treatises on the subject ? This is so,
especially as regards the possibility of actual communication
with the true Ego during the first few years of posthumous
existence.
I must say that Equalitys rather lame argument, th at
animals do not suffer nearly as much as mankind, is no reply to
my objection. Apparent injustice must be accounted for wholly
or not at all. But then, he says, there is the law of evolution
and compensation, and nothing suffers in vain. Yery well, but,
in that ease, whence the necessity for the hypothesis of
Re-incarnation 1
Referring to the Devachanic state, he says it is far more real
to those who enter it than physical life. This general statement,
which has been made so often, is, however, entirely out of accord
with the particular teachings which Theosophy lays down
respecting it. We know that ordinary dreams are real to the
dreamer, but we consider the state much inferior to waking life.
In reply to C.O.M. I admit that I might have chosen a
better illustration than the line through space. I would say
that a thread of substance having a beginning but no end, or
motion from a certain point and continuing for ever, is not an
impossible conception, and that by analogy we may assume the
possibility of immortality without pre-existence, or a t least
without pre-existing individuality.
Of course, it might be necessary to postulate some superior
; or antecedent force to cause or preserve such motion, but I am
contending merely that the inseparableness of pre-existence and
immortality is not a self-evident proposition.
G. A. K.
S ir ,I notice that the advocacy of the above in your very
ably conducted paper is in full swing once more. And I see a
fresh theory is started by Equality, viz., re-embodiment.
There is a class of mind that is never satisfied with the
simple and the most apparent reason for things ; it is only the
far-fetched and the unprovable which appeals to it, and, in fact,
seems to have a fascination for it.
Before advocates for repeated lives spent here write so
dogmatically as does Equality, surely it would be wiser for

48

[January 88, inrin.

L IG H T .

them to have tv IUtlf proof of the truth of whul they talk about
ho earnestly,

Again, in addition to Wing objectionably dogmatic, there !h

it very strong tondouQy on their part to assume an air of
superiority, itttii to trout- those who WtVllt fact# tirst, as lining
inferior in inlolloot. mid ns not. yet having niio/in/ their lnvnl of
thought. It may bo gratifying to their |>ridi> to ussuinn this
superiority, Imt. they must not. expect others to grant it until
they lm\o shown more reasonable elaitn to it than the mere
raparity for theorising.
It seems to mo to be very materialist ie, this argument for
repeated return to the imporfool slate of exist,enee here ; and
the surprising part is that, if is entertained by some who have
had the advantage of eommuniealion with the world beyond,
and have had opportunities of knowing what that, life is like.
Why should spirits be dragged bark to the undeveloped
conditions of life here, to be bulleted about century after
century, ignore at of all post ex'fii'l'ieuce | Those who have had
the advantage of next world experience say that a spirit retains
all that constituted individuality, and that, it can advance much
.pucker and easier hy being released from its physical counter
part with its earthly tendencies. What sense is there in
..ringing down the most advanced scholars tn the A It 0 class
again and again to work their way to tho top? Whore is tho
progress ?
After all it seems to bo Love's labour le s t endeavouring
to convince these people of the error of their ways. Tf it gives
them pleasure, it does no ono any barm, except to this extent. th at a considerable amount of valuable space in L ight " is
apparently wasted.*
Nottingham.
J . F r a s e r H e w eh .
* We entirely agree, ai nd therefore beg that tho correspondence may
cease for the present.Kn. " L uiut, 1

SOCIETY WORK.
C o rresp o n d en ts who sendusnotic.es of the work of the Societies with which
th e y a re asso cia ted will oblige bp writing as distinctly as possible
a n d bp a p p e n d in g their signatures to their communications. Inat
te n tio n to these requirements often compels us to refect their contri
b u tio n s. N o notice received later than the first post on Tuesday is
su re o f a d m iss io n .]

18, Clarendon-road , W althamstow. An interesting dis

course hy ono of Mr. Brailoys guides on No Night T h ere
was given on Sunday evening. Several musical friends also
contributed solos. Sundays at 8.45 p.m .W. ID, B railey .
L ondon

S piritualist F ederation , F ederation

H alt.,

subject, "M odem Conjurers and Spiritualism ." Mr. .Inm,.,

Hums gave his lant ern lecture at, t he Workmen's Hall, Sl.mtfnwl
on Saturday last to all audience of 100 persons, all creeds tttkf
denominations lining well represented, 'I he lecture was listniio||
to with rapt attention, no dissentient voice being hoard <luring
its delivery, Mr. Carlyle Potorsiloa kindly gave SOttWi illusion]
selections front the great masters on tho grand piano, which
Wore heartily appreciated and applauded. Mr. Iturns and M|>,
Potursiloa both aekuowleilged I,bat this was the largest anil ivi'oat
appreciative audience I bey bad met in London, vvliieli gives uiij.
president, Mr. ). Allen, and (.lie committee much gratilicaUun.
The committee tender their hearty thanks to Mr. . 1 . Ihirns aiul
In Mr. Iotorsiloa for their valuable services,- .J. H ain now,
lien, Sec,
C aiiihkk. On Friday evening, 20th inst,, Mr. F. It,
Chadwick delivered an aide address before the Canlitf Photo,
graphic Society on the subject, of " Spirit Photography." .After
eonsidorable dillioiilty Mr. Chadwick had collected for tho
occasion a numher of specimens, and these were eagerly
scrutinised.
Mr. (Iliadwick has previously addressed thin
society on the same subject, and as their present, attitude
towards it is a liberal one it. is ipiito probable th at steps will ho
taken by the Card ill' Psychological Society towards .'tilling them
to obtain such photographs at first band for thenuiolvuB,
which they arc desirous of doing. A hearty vote of thanks was
accorded Mr. Chadwick for liis interesting lecture.- --Du Win
-2nd iirnt. Mr. It. 0 . Daly gave an interesting address to tlm
Psychological Society upon tho " Present Status of Psychical
Inquiry, showing tho im portant advances recently made hy
many em inent thinkers in tlmir statem ents of opinion on IfliuHo
mattors. There was a good audience. An interesting afterHdtanee was bold, in which Mrs. Kolk and Miss F. Dunn kindly
assisted.E. A.
T he SmuTUALisvH1I nternationai. Corkeskonigno Society.
-Information and assistance given to inquirers into Spiritualism.
L iterature on tho subject and list of members will be sent on
receipt of sta^ .

y of tho following International

Committee :America, Mrs, M. Palmer, 3101, North Broadstreet, P hiladelphia; Australia, Mr, Webster, 5, Pcokvillcstreet North, Melbourne ; Canada, Mr. Woodstock, " Waterniche, Brookvillo ; Franco, P. G. Loymario, 1, Hue Chabaimin,
P a r is ; Germany, .ID. Schloshaur, (55, KiiniggriLt/.oi- Str., Berlin,
S.W . ; Holland, F. W. II. Van Straaton, Apeldoovn,
Middollaan, 682; India, Mr. Thomas Hatton, Ahmodabttd.i
Now Zealand, Mr, Graham, Huntley, W aikato; Sweden, B.
Fortenaon, Ado, C hristiania; England, J . Allen, Hon. Sec., It.
Borkley-torraco, W hite Post-lane, Manor Park, E ssex; or
W. C. Robson, French correspondent, 16(1, Hyo Hill,
Newcastlo-on-Tyno. Tho Manor P ark branch will hold tho
following meetings at .14, Borkley-torraco, White Post-lane: Sunday, at 11 a.m., students meeting ; and the last Sunday in
oaoh month, at 7 p.m., inquirersmeeting. Friday, at 7-36 p-'R.,
for Spiritualists only, " The Study of Spiritualism- And at I,
Winitred-road, Tuesday, at 7.30 p.m., inquirers meeting. Also
tho first Sunday in each mouth, at 7 p.m., inquirers meeting.

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359, E dgwaue- road, W. N ext Sunday, at V p.m., Mr. Dover
Summers will lecture on Spiritualism. On Sunday, February
5th, at 11 a.m., Mr. A. M. Rodger will commence a series of
Sunday morning stances. Those who wish to join will please
NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS.
write to nve at the hall.A. F . T indall , A.T.O.L., Hon. Sec.
14, Orchard- road, Askbw -uoad, S hepherd s B ush, W .
On Sunday last, Mr. J . T. Dales, of Dulwich, delivered a very I nquirer . Please send name and addressin strict, oonlidcnoo. .
instructive discourse upon Planetary Influences, a Key to the J . M aokay.If tho *'publisher of the book by .Hut,ter on 1
" Human Electricity is sent, wo may be able to maku I
Mysteries of tho Bible, with diagrams. Sunday next at 7 p.m.
inquiries. Wo know of no other work on Human Electricity.
Mr. Wyndhoe. Tuesday at 8 p.m., Stance, Mrs. Mason.
W ith tho present knowledge of the science, such works j
February 5th, Mr. II. Towns.J. H. B., Hon Sec.
would probably be useless.
* S outh L ondon S piritualist S ociety, 311, C ameerwell
N ew -road, S.E .Next Sunday anniversary stances and service G lasgow. Wo beg to assure tho friend who writes us 1
anonymously from Glasgow, that wo have no knowledge
at 11,30 a.m. ; stance, Mr. G. D. Wyndhoe, at 3 p.m. ; seance,
whatever of the matter to which he refers. No loallots art; ;
Mrs. Bliss, of Forest Hill, at 7 p.m. On Tuesday, January
over inserted in copies of " L i g h t with our sanction, and1
31st, tea and social meeting at 7 p.m. Tickets 6d. oaeb. A
in the oases to which ho alludes, the act is no doubt 1
hearty invitation to Spiritualists to participate in tho days
attributable to a newsagent through whoso hands tho 1
exercises.W. E. L ong, Conductor.
journal passed.
S piritual H all, 8(5, H igh -street, M arvledone . This
hall was well tilled on Sunday to hear Mr. Carlyle Petersiloa on
To preach morals without mercy, ethics without atonement,
"T h e Fallacy of Re-incarnation, and "W h y I am a Spirit
ualist. Tho former was a reading from liis own works, written progress without pardonthis is to eroato a dreamland out of
automatically. Miss Evoritt kindly gave a solo, "T h o Gate of present day fancies.R ev. S( P earson, M.A.
T he w ill of tho weak man is not froo ; hut tho will of tho
Life. Wo were pleased to see Mr. and Mrs. Sadler, from
Cardifl', and Mr. J . Robertson, of Glasgow, present. Sunday strong man, tho man who has got tho habit of preferring hoiiho
next, at 1.1 a.m., Mr. H. Towns, stance; 7 p.m., Mr. J. to nonsense and virtue to vice, is a freed will, which one might, t
Robertson, of Glasgow, or Mr. Cooper. February 5th, local vory w ell spend all ones energies in achieving. W. Dean
H owells.
speakers.C. J . H unt.

P kckiiam S ociety ok S piritualists , W inchester H all,

33, H igh -street .Tho President, in opening tho service on

Sunday, remarked upon tho acute criticism on religious sub
jects, such as " I s Christianity Played O u t? Tho Now
Spiritualism, and the "M orality of Spiritualism, being dis
cussed in the papers. Mr. Edwardss lecture on the Life and
Work of Thomas Paine was listened to with interest and
attention. In the morning Mr. Veitch opened the discussion
on "Solar Myths and Christianity. Sunday next, "T ho .New
Spiritualism."J . T. A udy.
T he S tkateoud S ociety ok S piritualists, Workmans
H all, W est H am -lane , S tkatkoiu>, 1.Service each Sunday
a t I p.m. Speaker for n ext Sunday, Mr, C. Jlardinghani ;

T he springing up of Spiritualism and Theosophy on grounds

burnt over by the (ires of tho orthodox boll, and right in tho
tooth of tho oast winds that blow from tlm uIiooi'Ichh soiih of
doubt, testify to the hunger of men for soniu assuranco that Ilie
loved and departed are not also the lost. M inot S avage.

T
S P H O IA L

TTO T IO H .

Wo beg to remind those Subscribers to "L ight" and tho

London Spiritualist Alliance who have not already re
newed their Subscriptions for 1803, that they should
forward remittances at onco to Mr, B. D. Godfrey, 2
Duke Street, Adolph), W.C.