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No., 352.— (V pL. X I V .— N o . 21.) LONDON: FRID AY, M AY 23, 1879. . P u b lish e d . W e e k l y ; P r ic e . T w o p e n c e

Contents.Theosophic Thaumaturgy .........................................................241Ideas about Spirits held by tlie Chinese o f the Straits

S e tt le m e n ts ........................................... 241Tho Moral Teachings o f S p ir itu a lis m ........................................243The P a ll M all Gazette on Clairvoyance ............................... 244The Antiquity o f Spiritualism ................................................ 245The Psychological Society o f Great Britain ....................... 245A Test Manifestation .« .. ................... . . ...................246Interesting Public Seances ........................................................246A Curious Phenomenon well C ertified ........................................246Mesmeric Experiments ........................... 247Practical Lessons in Spiritualism. By Louisa A ndrew s.. 247An Extraordinary Mesmeric Seance ................................... 248A Death-bed V i s i o n .........................................................................249A Letter to a V isitor......................................................................... 250Religious M a n ia ................................................................................. 250Perpetual D ir e c t o r s .........................................................................250Healing M sdium sliip.................................................................... 251Salem W itchcraft.................................................................................251Correspondence- -The Cambridge University Psychological

Society, 251; Sunday Meetings, 251 ; Letters from “ O u tsid ers"........................................................... 251

Paragraphs—A Psychological Society in Sydney, 241; Inner Consciousness, 242; Dr. Slade, 249 $ Dr. Carter Blake 250

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square, London, N .W .Captain R. F , Burton, F .R .G .S ., H . M . C onsul; Trieste,

Austria.A . R . W allace, Esq., F .R .G .S ., W aldron E dge, D uppas-hill,

Croydon.Isa a cB . R icb , E sq ., 9, M ontgom ery-placo, B oston, U .S .A . M dlle. H uet, 173, Rue St. H onoré, Paris.W . S. G odbe, E sq ., Salt Lake City, U ta h ,U .S .A .Dr. Grunhut, W aitzner Boulevard, 67, Buda-Pesth, H ungary. D r. A . E . N ehrer, E porjes, H ungary.J. W . D ay, E sq ., 9, M ontgom ery-place, Boston, U .S .A .Mrs. H allock, 54, D enbigh-street, B elgrave-road, S.W . S ignor Damiani, 2, V ico del Vasto, Palazzo del V asto, Chiaje,

Naples.Dr. Puel, 73, Boulevard Beaum archais, Paris.H err, J . H ., Stratil, M odling , 18, Bruhler-strasso, near

Vienna.M. Cochet, Rue Tangier, A lgiers.Berks T. H uchinson, Esq., 2, New-street, Cape T ow n, South

Africa.M iss Lizzie D oten , The Pavillion, Trem ont-stroet, Boston.H , J. N ew ton, E sq ., 128, W est 43rd-strcet, N ew Y ork .T . B lyton , Esq., 53, S igdon-road, D alston, E.

Allied Societies.The L iverpool P sychological Society. Secretary—Mr. George

W harm by, 45 K ensington , Liverpool.L ’ U nion Spirito etM agnctiquo. Secretary—M. Charles Fitz,

121, Rue do Louvain , Brussels.The B rixton Psychological Society. Hon. Sec.—TI. E , Fr.iccs,

E sq ., 22, Oowley-road, Brixton, S.W .The Spiriter-Forscher Society, Buda-Pesth. Secretary, M. A n ton Prochaszka, Josefstaadt Erzherzog Alexandcr-gasse,

23, Buda-Pesth, H ungary.Dalston A ssociation o f Enquiries into Spiritualism. l io n .

Secretary, T . B lynton, Esq., 63, S igdon-road, Dalston- lane, Dalston, London, E.

Cardiff Spiritual Society. Hon. Sec.—Mr. A . J. Sm art, 22, M oira-placc—Cardiff.

Sociedad Espiritista Española Corventes, 34, 28, M adrid.President— El V isconde de Torres-Solanot.

Sociedad Espirita Central de la R epública H axicana. P resi­dent— Señor Refugio T Gonzalez, 7, Callo de A lm edo,

M exico.Sociedad Espirita di B ogota , Colum bia, South Am orica.

President—Señor Manuel Jose Angarita.

T H E B R IT IS H N A T IO N A L A S S O C IA T IO N O F S P IR IT U A L IS T S .

38,' G R E A T R U SS E L L ST R E E T , B L O O M SB U R Y , LONDON.

This organisation , com prising several hundred m em bers, has public offices, a reading room and library, w ith a secre­tary in attendance to receive visitors and answ er inquiries. Seances can be attended b y recom m endation from a m om ber. F or terms, &c., apply to the Secretary.

Price 5s. 6d.Inspirational Poetry.

“ P O E M S FR O M T H E IN N E R L IF E .”W ith a Preface describ ing the spiritual state o f trance

during w hich som e o f the poem s were given.

CONTENTS.P a r t i .

I. The P rayer o f the Sorrow ing—II. The Song o f Truth__I I I . The Em barkation—IV . K epler ’s V ision—V. Loveand Latin—V I. The Song o f the N orth—V II. The Burial o f W ebster—VTII. The Parting o f S igurd and Gurda —IX . Tho M eeting o f Sigurd and Gurda.

P a rt II .X . The Spirit Child—X I. Reconciliation—X II . H ope for

the Sorrow ing—X III . Com pensation—X IV . The E agle o f Freedon—X V . Mistress G lenare—X V I. L ittle Johnny—X V II.“ Birdie’ s Spirit S ong” —X V III . M y Spirit H om e—X I X

« I still L ivo” —X X . L ife—X X I . L o v e —X X II . “ F or a’ that’ ’ —X X III . W ords o ’ Cheer—X X IV . Resurrexi—X X V . The prophecy o f Vala—X X V I. The K ingdom —X X V II . Tho Cradle or Coffin—X X V III . The Streets o f Baltim ore—X X IX . Tho M ysteries ofG odliness—X X X . Farew ell to Earth,

Also b y the sam e Authoress, a com panion volum e, price’ 5s. ea.

P O E M S OF P R O G R E S S .London, W .C ., Spiritualist N ewspaper Branch Office.

T H E B A N N E R OF L I G H T ; the oldestJ[ journal dovoted to the Spiritual Ph ilosophy in tho w orld ! Issued w eekly, at N o 9, M ontgom ery-place, Boston, M ass. Colby and R ich , publishers and proprietors. Isaac B. R ich , business m anager j Luther C olby, editor ; aidod by a large corps o f able writers. The Banner is a first class, eight- paged fam ily paper, containing forty colum ns o f interesting and instruetive reading, em bracing a literary department report o f spiritual lectures, original essays—upon spiritual, philosophical, and seientific su b jects ; editorial departm ent j spirit m essage department; contributions b y the m ost talented writers in the w orld , &c. Ac. Term s o f subscription, in ad­vance, 16s. per ann um ; Spintualist N ewspaper Branch Office, London, W.C.

M R . 0 . E . W IL L I A M S ,61, L A M B ’ S CON DU IT ST R E E T , W .C .

A t hom o daily from 12 till 5. On Thursday and Saturday evenings from 8 o ’ c lock for reception o f friends.

Address as above.

M R . J. W . F L E T C H E R ,

TE ST M ED IU M A U D C L A IR V O Y A N T ,i , B LO O M SBU R Y PL A C E , B LO O M SBU R Y SQ U A RE ,

LO N DO N.H ours—Tw elve till .Fivo.

M R . F . O M E R IN ,H aving m ade m an y rapid and perm anent cures o f Gout,

Rheum atism , and other painful m aladies, is preparod to visit patients. Address,

MR, OMERIN,5, N O R TH U M B E R L A N D ST R E E T, ST R A N D , LO N D O N

MD L L E . H U E T , good Medium for Raps.A t hom o from 12 till 5 o ’clock. 173, Rue St. H onors,

Paris.

E W . W A L L I S , Tranco Medium, desires• engagem ents to deliver public or private addresses in

L on don or tho provinces. Address, 92, Caroline St., N otting­ham.

MR S . W O O D F O R D E , Developing andH ealing. M edical advice to ladies and children.

Term s m odified to suit circum stances. Days and hours o f business—M ondays, W ednesdays, Thursdays, and Satur­days, from 1 p m . to 5 p .m . SO, Great Russell-street, B loom s­bury, W .C .

MR S. M A R G A R E T F O X K A N E , o f theRochester F ox Fam ily, and w idow o f Dr. K ane, tho

first A rctic ex p lorcrw h o w ent in search o f Sir John Fran k­lin, g ives seances at N o. 4, G renville-stroct, Brunsw ick- squaro, from 2 to 5, every day except Sunday, and every evening from 8 to 10, except Sunday evening. E n gage­m ents can be m ade-by letter sent to the above address.

C H A R A C T E R S F A IT H F U L L Y D E L IN E ­A T E D from H andw riting, Photos, or Blank Taper

M agnetised by the Breath. Fee, 2s. Od. Address, M iss Ross, care o f Mrs. N ichols, 32, Fopstone-road, E arl’s-court, S .W .

CU R A T IV E M E S M E R IS M .— P R O F E SSO RA D O LPH E D1D1ER, Consulting M esm erist (33 years

established), attends Patients, and m ay be consulted daily from 2 till 5 at his residence, 10, Bcrkeley-gardens, Campdon- h ill, K ensin gton . Select lectures and private lessons in the scien ce o f M esm erism are g iven b y appointm ent.

SA M U E L H . Q U A R M B Y , InspirationalSpeaker and H ealing M edium . Address, 21, T rafa lgar­

street, Ash ton-under-Lyne.

MISS M . A . H O U G H T O N , M E D IC A LC L A IR V O Y A N T E and H E A LIN G M ED IU M .

Exam inations at a distanco b y lock o f hair ; sex and ago re­quired. Paralysis, Sciatica , and Rheum atism , Specialities. A t hom o from 12 till 6 p.m . Patients treated at their hom es w hen dosired. 99, Park-street, G rosvenor-squaro,London, W.

ME D IU M S H IP : IT S N A T U R E A N DV A R IE T IE S .— A Pam phlet contain ing useful in fo r ­

m ation for those w ho h old or w ho are about to hold sp ir it eircles in their ow n hom es. Published at The SpiriUudist N ew spaper B ranch Office, 38, Great Russell-street, London, W .C . Price Id . ; P ostfree for 1-R1. ; or six copies post froe for 6d.

E E V U E S P IR IT E , Journal (Tdtudea psycho­logiques, fondé par Allan K ardoc, appears on the 1st

o f every m onth. Price, 1 franc. Published b y tho Société Anonyme, 7, Rue de Lille, Paris. Post-Office orders payable to M. Leym arie.

B y F . J. T h e o b a l d . Socond Edition enlarged. Price 2d.

S P IR IT U A L IS M I N T H E B IB L E C O M ­p a r e d W IT H M OD ER N S P IT IT U A L IS M .

A useful Pam phlet for thoso w ho shriek from Spiritualism w ith the idea that it is unchristian and unscriptural. It show s (w e think successfully) that every form o f m edium ­ship, now so fam iliar to Spiritualists, is endorsed by Biblical rocords o f identical experiences.

A lso I1 EA V E N OPEN ED. Parts 1 aud 2, Gd. each. The tw o bound in one, Is.— These books, jeonsistiug o f messages g iven b y w ritin g m edium ship, contain som e interesting con ­versations held betw een tlie fam ily circle on oarth, and their group o f little ones in their Spirit home.

T h ey are w ell calculated to com fort bereaved and sorrow ­ing parents.

Spiritualist N ew spaper Branch Office, lo n d o n , W .C .

FO L K E S T O N E .— Comfortable Lodgings onm oderate terms. References to Spiritualist i can be

g iven . E . N ew m an, 11, St. M ichael’ s-terrace, Folkestone.

 S E L E C T C IR C L E , holding Séances forphysical manifestations once a w eek, requires a few

m ore m em bers—especially ladies. F or particulars, app ly to R , S. T., careoi^ If^ iffT irko , 38, Great Russell-street, w .C .

S)

i*J\9

Ji I\crorh nf li^ of iljq jltjbntp nnh JHIjiip nfNo. 3 5 2 .— V o lu m e F o u r t e e n ; N ujviber T w e n t y - o n e .

L O N D O N , F R I D A Y , M A Y 23rd, 1879.

T H E O S O P H IC T H A U M A T U R G Y .

T he following paragraph from The Bombay Gazette was j copied into The Friend of India of April 11th last:— . j

“ Strange stories have, for several years, been rife in the j American newspapers about the marvels of Thaumaturgy j wrought by the Countess Blavatsky, one o f the Theoso- j phical party now in Bombay. I f they are credible, the j inference would be that a Simon Magus in petticoats had jj arisen in our days. Some of them stagger belief, as, for j) instance, her causing music to float through the air in the j j absence of any comprehensible cause, the instantaneous dupli- j) cation of documents and articles of clothing, the causing of jj inscriptions in golden letters, of Oriental texts to appear jj and disappear on the furniture, the rendering of herself in- jj visible, the production of paintings and writings on paper by jj the mere placing of her palm upon the same. Yet all these j phenomena and many equally strange have been attested by ;j numbers of eye-witnesses, not Theosophists, not even always j previous acquaintances. Of one of her magical pictures— the j portrait of an Indian yogi— Thomas Le Clear, an eminent ) American painter, and William It. O’Donovan, an equally j distinguished sculptor, affirmed, in a London journal, that no j living artist could, in their opinion, equal it in vigour, jj breadth, and uniqueness, while they were both unable to jj decide upon the nature of the colouring substance employed jj or the manner of its application.” jj

The same paper proceeds to give an account of somewhat j similar feats in Bombay, one “ under the very eyes of an jj assistant magistrate and collector of the North-west Pro- jj vinces.” Another has already been commented upon, in the jj strain naturally to be expected, by several London news- jj papers. A gentleman, known to our readers by his contribu- j j tions to these columns, may perhaps be identified as one of ;j the witnesses to this particular marvel, nothing less than the j j instantaneous transmission of a glove from Mme. Blavatsky jj in Bombay to the gentleman in question in London, who jj received it through the mediumship of a lady, a well-known jj private medium. As, however, he has publicly explained j (while declaring his own entire belief in the fact asserted, jj and confidence in the persons principally concerned as agents) j that in his view the evidence depends for its force on the j personal character of the two ladie3 in question, which the j general public cannot be expected to know much about, we j agree with him that it does not satisfy the conditions which j would make the story suitable for publication. Evidences of j spirit agency or of magical power should bo quite indepen- j dent of such assumptions. To personal friends the integrity j of individuals may be matter of almost or quite absolute j certainty, but for the inexperienced public it is better to j exclude injurious suggestions by strict demonstration that j they are inconsistent with the facts.

Can a Bombay daily newspaper be delivered in London by j occult means on the morning of its publication ? That would jj be evidence adapted to the requirements of the public. ;j

M r . H ensleigh W edgwood will give evidence before the Psycho- jj logical Society next Thursday, about phenomena lie has observed. jj

A P sychological Society in Sydney.— The first regular fortnightly jj meeting of the Psychological Society of New South Wales was held last jj evening at the Temperance Hall, 'there was an attendance of about a jj hundred and fifty members. Mr. E. Greville, M.P.,presided. Mrs. Hardinge jj Britten delivered an eloquent discourse on “ The Powers of the Soul.” A j ( discussion then took place, in which Mr. Harold Stephen, Mr. A . De Lissa, j j Mr. Sinclair, and Mrs. Britten took part. The society numbers about a j) hundred and twenty members. The Hon. J. B. Wilson was appointed jj president; Mr. E . Greville,vice-president; C. Haviland; hon. secretary, and jj Mr. M'Donnell, treasurer. The committee comprises ten, and the council j j twenty members. The society has a good library ; it-meets every fortnight, jj and at the next meeting; Serjeant Cox’s paper on psychology will be read j j and commented upon. Last night’s proceedings closed with a vole of thanks j j to Mrs, Britten for her able address.— Sydney Eiiening News,

ID EAS ABO U T SPIRITS H E L D B Y TH E CH INESE OP TH E STRAITS SETTLEM ENTS.

M r . M artheze bas forwarded us from Singapore an inte­resting book just published there by Mr. J. D. Yaughan, Barrister-at-Law, entitled The Manners and Customs of the Chinese of the Straits Settlements, and from it we make the following extracts :—

SIN CHEW.

“ The following description of Sin Chew, as practised by the Chinese of the Straits Settlements, is taken from the judg­ment of Sir Benson Maxwell in the suit of Choa Cheow Neoh v. Spottiswoode :— .

‘ The word Sin Chew is composed of Sin, which means a spirit, soul, or ghost, and Chew, which means ruler ; and the composite word means the spirit ruler, or spiritual head of the house. When a man dies, his name, with the dates of his birth and death, is engraved on a tablet; this is enclosed in an outer casing, on which a new name, which now for the first time given to him, and the names of his children, are engraved. This tablet is kept either in the house of the worshipper, or in that which has been set apart for the Sin Chew. It issacred, andean be touched only by the male descen­dants or nearest male relatives of the deceased, who alone may look upon the name on the enclosed tablet. It is the represen­tation of the deceased. At certain periods, viz., on the anniversary of his death, and once in each of the four seasons, his son or sons, or if he has none, his nearest male relative, hut never his daughters or other females, go to the place where the tablet is, and lay on a table in front of it a quantity of food, such as pigs, goats, ducks, fowls, fish, sweetmeats, fruit, tea, and arrack. They light joss-sticks, fire crackers, burn small squares of thin brown paper, in the centre of each of which is about a square inch of gold or silver tinsel; they how their heads three times, kneel, touch the ground with their foreheads, and call on the Sin Chew by his new name to appear and partake of the food provided for him. The food remains on the table for one or two or even three hours, during which time the spirit feeds on its etherial savour; and to ascertain whether it is satiated or satisfied, two pitis (Chinese coins) or two pieces of bamboo are thrown on the table or on the ground in front of it, and if they both turn up with the same face, the offering is con­sidered insufficient, and more food is laid on the table. After the lapse of a sufficient time to allow the spirit to partake of it, the same test is again resorted to, and so on, until the coins or bamboos, by turning up different faces, show that the spirit has had enough. The food is then removed, and eaten or otherwise disposed of by the relatives, hut there is no distribution of it in charity or among the poor. Indeed, the Chinese have a repugnance to food which has been offered in this way, except when they are members of the family. The papers which are burnt supply the spirit with money and clothing, the gold and silver tinsel turning into precious metal. No prayers are offered to the spirit; the person who makes the offering of food asks for nothing whatever. The primary object of the ceremony is to show respect and rever­ence to the deceased, to preserve his memory in this world, and to supply his wants in the other. Its performance is agreeable to God, the supreme all-seeing, all-knowing, and invisible being, who assists and prospers those who are regu­lar in this duty; and its neglect entails disgrace on him whose duty it is to perform it, and poverty and starvation on the neglected spirit, which then leaves its abode (either the grave or the house where the tablet rests) and wanders about an outcast, begging of the more fortunate spirits, and haunting and tormenting his negligent descendant, and man­kind generally. To avert the latter evil, the -wealthier Chinese make, in the seventh month, every year, a general

242 T H E S P I R I T U A L I S T . M a y 23, 1879.

public offering, or sacrifice, called Kee-too or Poh-toh, for the benefit of all poor spirits.’ The real Chinaman as well as a few Babas remit money annually to China for the perform­ance of the Sin Chew at the graves of their ancestors.”

WORSHIPPING THE DEAD.

“ Every family goes to the graves of its ancestors twice a year. Eatables of various kinds are placed at the foot of each grave with chop-sticks, and joss-sticks are lighted and stuck into the ground round the grave. Each visitor takes a few in both hands and kow-tows to the ground twice, and sacred paper representing money is burnt; for the spirits of the dead are supposed to require money to buy clothes and food in the other world. After burning the paper the kow­towing is repeated, and while doing so each person says ‘ on such a day we, your descendants or relations, come to worship you; protect and guard us,’ or words to the same effect. In the meantime the ghosts of the departed are supposed to enjoy themselves over the eatables. When they are satisfied, their children return home and demolish the food left by the spirits.

“ The prospect of death has no fears for the Chinese, and they commit suicide on the slighest provocation. A wife will do it to revenge herself on her husband when she goes to the other world, believing that she will have the power to return at any time to vex and tease her refractory spouse. A coolie afflicted with a troublesome sore that lasts longer than he thinks necessary will coolly go out during the night and hang himself on the first tree he comes athwart. Or a trivial dispute with his master will lead a coolie to take his own life to rid himself of the annoyance. For imaginary or tempo­rary evils they commit suicide hastily, but often will endure for years the greatest sufferings with patience and fortitude. The worship of the dead and the attention paid to their wants in the other world by the living must in a great measure conduce to this callousness of death. They have no definite ideas of what their future state may be, but are con­vinced, unless very wicked in this life, that they are sure to be happier in the other world than in this. The Christian’s ideas are somewhat opposed to this view. However good he may be, the terrors of death and the cruel punishments await­ing him on the other side of the grave, inculcated by a false teaching, render him fearful of the change.

“ From the first to thirtieth day of the seventh moon evil spirits, or rather the spirits of the dead, are conciliated or wor­shipped. During this month the spirits are supposed to wander about the earth, and if not propitiated plague the offenders with divers pains and aches and more serious mishaps. Long tables are spread with all the delicacies of the season, and placed opposite the temples, and in other convenient places, exposed to the open air or under rough sheds erected for the occasion. Amongst the food are conspicuous the animals sacrificed to the manes of the dead, chiefly pigs, goats, fowls, and ducks ; which are roasted whole and placed on the tables, in all their hideousness. The. tables are ornamented with artificial flowers, fish, and fruits, and are well worth seeing. The spirits feast during the month to their hearts’ content, and at the end of the ceremony the viands are disposed of by the living.”

SUPERSTITIONS OE THE CH IN ESE .’

“ The Chinese people nooks, corner of roads, trees, rocks, and sundry other places with fays and fairies and goblins damned innumerable, and do them worship to propitiate them. Incense sticks, slips of paper, tinsel ornaments, and other gewgaws may be seen at the most out-of-the-way spots, showing that the inhabitants of the neighbourhood have dis­covered an evil spirit thereabouts.

“ Silk cotton trees have invariably a female demon, called Bantu Buntianak. These creatures assume the loveliest female shapes, and appear on the high roads, especially on moonlight nights, and allure men to their destruction. They are exorcised by driving a few long iron nails into the tree. I f a nail is driven into this goblin’s head she immediately be­comes human. They sometimes appear at feasts, and eat and drink and enjoy themselves like other people, and win the hearts of the young men. .

“ There is a legend that, in Malacca once, a young fellow fell in love with one of these goblins at a feast, and knowing her to be a hantu, got an iron nail and a hammer and sud­

denly drove the former into her skull, and she at once became a real woman and married the young man. They had a son, and years after the goblin, having grown tired of her human existence, told her son to feel in her hair that something had got there troubling her ; he did so and came upon the head of the iron nail that his father had driven in ; his mother told him to pull it out; he did so, and immediately to his astonishment the mother vanished through the roof and was never seen again.

“ There is another demon, very tall and ghastly, called Hantu, Qallah : * he waylays men in out-of-the-way places and takes their heads off. There is one goblin who only has a head and no body-—a cherub, perhaps— who also waylays men and destroys them.

“ I f a man is very ill and other modes fail to cure him, he makes an image like himself in paper, and puts it with some money and food in a paper house, and places it in a tree, and the evil spirit that is punishing him it is supposed will be appeased.

“ Nor is the belief in demons confined to the lowest classes. In the garden of one of the richest men in Singapore, at Passir Panjang may be seen an immense granite boulder, supposed to be the abode of evil spirits, enshrined in a handsome temple in which worship is held to appease the demons. They have a strong belief in persons being possessed with devils. At some of the country temples sometimes dwells a demoniac or two, and they arc consulted by sick persons. A Baba told the writer that he was very ill some years agcqwith dysentery, and all the Chinese doctors in town (Singapore) failed to cure him ; he was advised to visit one of these demoniacs on the Grayalng Road, which he did ; the impostor received him with great ceremony, and suddenly began to shake all over as if moved by some spirit, and he then directed the inquirer to do a lot of nonsensical things which ho said would cure him. The Baba tried the remedies, but without success, and even­tually appealed to an English doctor, who successfully cured him ; so much for science. The Baba’s faith in the possessed has over since been much shaken.

“ This man has a strong belief in the return of the spirits of the dead to the earth. Ho says that if he is tardy in the third and seventh moons to prepare the sacrifices for thebenefit of his departed ancestors the spirit of his father appears to him at night, and upbraids him for his undutiful conduct; and he there and then gets out of bed and slaughters fowls and ducks to satisfy the old gentleman.

“ Nearly every disease a man gets is assigned to the malig­nity of evil spirits. I f the worship of the dead is neglected or improperly performed the spirits are sure to punish the living. To counteract the influence of evil, Babas hang up in their houses sprigs of certain plants—one called jaringo and another of the aloes kind; or they nail over the door a picture of a god or goddess; the keih~ or patpoh, as it is called by the Babas, is also put up for good luck.

“ Babas believe in the use of many Malay charms, and tie them on their arms or hang them around their necks. The belief in the Ubat Ganah— a spell or charm that wins the heart of a man or woman in spite of all obstacles— is uni­versal ; they also believe that the red slips of paper which they buy from fortune tellers, written over with Chinese characters, pasted up on the door-posts of a house, keep away evil spirits. Jade stones are worn as charms ; these are sup­posed to wax whiter when the wearer is about to be unlucky, or reddish when he is to be prosperous ; similar to the super­stitious belief that coral beads change colour as the health of the wearer varies.”

The animal general meeting of the members of the National Associa­tion of Spiritualists will be held at 38, Great Russell-street, next Tuesday, at 6.30 p.m.

Mr . E. W. W allis will give a trance lecture at Mr. Groom’s, 200, St. Vineent-strect, Ladywood, Birmingham, on Tuesday evening next, May 27th, at eight o’clock. After the lecture Mrs. Groom will give clairvoyant tests. Ericnds are invited. Collection towards expenses.

I n n e r C o n s c io u s n e s s .— The more 1 have examined the workings of my own mind, the less respect I feel for the part played by consciousness. I begin, with others, to doubt its use altogether as a helpful supervisor, and to think that my best brain-work is wholly independent of it. _ Its position appears to be that of a helpless spectator of but a minute fraction ot a huge amount of automatic brain-work.— Francis Gallon.

* Hantu, goblin, scieptre.—Crawftlrd.

M a y 23, 1879. T H E S P I R I T U A L I S T . 243

TH E M O R AL T E A C H IN G S OE SPIR IT U A LISM .

T h e f o l l o w i n g is e x t r a c t e d f r o m Miracles and Modern Spiritualism, b y M r . A l f r e d R u s s e l W a l l a c e (1 . B u r n s , L o n d o n ) :—

T h e h y p o t h e s i s o f S p i r i t u a l i s m n o t o n l y a c c o u n t s f o r a l l t h e v a s t a r r a y o f p h e n o m e n a w h i c h c l a i m s t o p u t u s i n t o c o m m u n ic a t io n w i t h b e i n g s w h o h a v e p a s s e d i n t o a n o t h e r p h a s e o f e x i s t e n c e ( a n d is t h e o n l y o n e t h a t d o e s s o ), b u t i t is f u r t h e r r e m a r k a b l e a s b e i n g a s s o c ia te d w i t h a t h e o r y o f a f u t u r e s t a t e o f e x is t e n c e , w h i c h is t h e o n l y o n e y e t g i v e n t o t h e w o r l d t h a t c a n a t a l l c o m m e n d i t s e l f t o t h e m o d e r n p h i l o s o p h i c a l m in d . T h e r e is a g e n e r a l a g r e e m e n t a n d t o n e o f h a r m o n y i n t h e m a s s o f f a c t s a n d c o m m u n ic a t io n s t e r m e d “ s p i r i t u a l , ” w h i c h h a s le d t o t h e g r o w t h o f a n e w l i t e r a t u r e , a n d t o t h e e s t a b l is h m e n t o f a n e w r e l i g i o n . T h e m a i n d o c t r in e s o f t h i s r e l i g i o n a r e : T h a t a f t e r d e a t h m a n ’ s s p i r i t s u r v i v e s i n a n e t h e r e a l b o d y , g i f t e d w i t h n e w p o w e r s , b u t m e n t a l l y a n d m o r a l l y t h e s a m e i n d i v i d u a l a s w h e n c l o t h e d i n f le s h . T h a t h e c o m m e n c e s f r o m t h a t m o m e n t a c o u rs e o f a p p a r e n t l y e n d le s s p r o g r e s s i o n , w h i c h is r a p id , j u s t i n p r o ­p o r t i o n a s h i s m e n t a l a n d m o r a l f a c u l t ie s h a v e b e e n e x e r c is e d a n d c u l t i v a t e d w h i l e o n e a r t h . T h a t h i s c o m p a r a t i v e h a p p i ­n e s s o r m i s e r y w i l l d e p e n d o n h i m s e l f ; j u s t i n p r o p o r t i o n a s h i s h i g h e r h u m a n f a c u l t ie s h a v e t a k e n p a r t i n a l l h i s p le a s u r e s h e r e , w i l l h e f i n d h i m s e l f c o n t e n t e d a n d h a p p y i n a s ta t e o f e x i s t e n c e i n w h i c h t h e y w i l l h a v e t h e f u l l e s t e x e r c is e . W h i l e h e w h o h a s d e p e n d e d m o r e o n t h e b o d y t h a n t h e m i n d f o r h i s p le a s u r e s , w i l l , w h e n t h a t b o d y is n o m o r e , f e e l a g r i e v o u s w a n t , a n d m u s t s l o w l y a n d p a i n f u l l y d e v e lo p h is i n t e l l e c t u a l a n d m o r a l n a t u r e t i l l i t s e x e r c is e s h a l l b e c o m e e a s y a n d p le a s u r a b le . N e i t h e r p u n i s h m e n t s n o r r e w a r d s a re m e t e d o u t b y a n e x t e r n a l p o w e r , b u t e a c h o n e ’s c o n d i t i o n is t h e n a t u r a l a n d i n e v i t a b l e s e q u e n c e o f h i s c o n d it io n h e r e . H e s t a r t s a g a i n f r o m t h e l e v e l o f m o r a l a n d i n t e l l e c t u a l d e v e l o p ­m e n t t o w h i c h h e h a s r a i s e d h i m s e l f w h i l e o n e a r t h .

N o w h e r e w e h a v e a s t r i k i n g s u p p l e m e n t t o t h e d o c t r in e s o f m o d e r n s c ie n c e . T h e o r g a n i c w o r l d h a s b e e n c a r r i e d o n t o a h i g h s ta t e o f d e v e l o p m e n t , a n d h a s b e e n o v e r k e p t i n h a r m o n y w i t h t h e f o r c e s o f e x t e r n a l n a t u r e , b y t h e g r a n d l a w o f “ s u r v i v a l o f t h e f i t t e s t ” a c t i n g u p o n e v e r v a r y i n g o r g a n i s a t io n s . I n t h e s p i r i t u a l w o r l d , t h e l a w o f t h e “ p r o ­g r e s s io n o f t h e f i t t e s t ” t a k e s i t s p la c e , a n d c a r r i e s o n i n u n b r o k e n c o n t i n u i t y t h a t d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e h u m a n m i n d w h i c h h a s b e e n c o m m e n c e d h e r e .

T h e c o m m u n io n o f s p i r i t w i t h s p i r i t is s a id t o b e b y t h o u g h t ­r e a d i n g a n d s y m p a t h y , a n d t o b e p e r f e c t b e t w e e n t h o s e w h o s e b e i n g s a r e i n h a r m o n y w i t h e a c h o t h e r . T h o s e w h o d i f f e r w i d e l y h a v e l i t t l e o r n o p o w e r o f in t e r c o m m u n i o n , a n d t h u s a r e c o n s t i t u t e d “ s p h e r e s ,” w h i c h a re d i v i s i o n s , n o t m e r e l y o f s p a c e , b u t o f s o c ia l a n d m o r a l s y m p a t h e t i c o r g a n i s a t io n . S p i r i t s o f t h e h i g h e r “ s p h e r e s ” c a n , a n d d o s o m e t im e s c o m m u n ic a t e w i t h t h o s e b e l o w ; b u t t h e s e l a t t e r c a n n o t c o m m u n ic a t e a t w i l l w i t h t h o s e a b o v e . B u t t h e r e is f o r a l l a n e t e r n a l p r o g r e s s s o l e l y d e p e n d e n t o n t h e p o w e r o f w i l l i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f s p i r i t n a t u r e . T h e r e a r e n o e v i l s p i r i t s b u t t h e s p i r i t s o f b a d m e n , a n d e v e n t h e w o r s t a r e s u r e l y i f s l o w l y p r o g r e s s i n g . L i f e i n t h e h i g h e r s p h e re s h a s b e a u t ie s a n d p le a s u r e s o f w h i c h w e h a v e n o c o n c e p t io n . I d e a s o f b e a u t y a n d p o w e r b e c o m e r e a l is e d b y t h e w i l l , a n d t h e i n f i n i t e c o s m o s b e c o m e s a f ie l d w h e r e t h e h i g h e s t d e v e l o p m e n t o f i n t e l l e c t m a y r a n g e i n t h e a c q u is i t i o n o f b o u n d le s s k n o w l e d g e .

I t m a y b e t h o u g h t , p e r h a p s , t h a t I a m h e r e g i v i n g m e r e l y m y o w n i d e a l o f a f u t u r e s ta t e , b u t i t is n o t so. E v e r y s t a t e ­m e n t I h a v e m a d e is d e r i v e d f r o m t h o s e d e s p is e d s o u rc e s , t h e r a p p i n g t a b le , t h e w r i t i n g h a n d , o r t h e e n t r a n c e d spe a k e r . A n d t o s h o w t h a t I h a v e n o t d o n e j u s t i c e e i t h e r t o t h e id e a s t h e m s e lv e s , o r to t h e m a n n e r i n w h i c h t h e y a r e o f t e n c o n v e y e d t o u s , I s u b jo in a f e w e x t r a c t s f r o m t h e s p o k e n a d d re s s e s o f o n e o f t h e m o s t g i f t e d “ t r a n c e - m e d iu m s , ” M r s . E m m a H a r d i n g o .

I n h e r a d d r e s s o n “ H a d e s , ” s h e s u m s u p in t h i s p a s s a g e h e r a c c o u n t o f o u r p r o g r e s s t h r o u g h t h e s p h e re s :—

“ O f the nature of those spheres and their inhabitants wc have spoken from the knowledge of the spirits, dwellers still in Hades. Would you receive some immediate definition of your own condition, and learn how you shall dwell, and what your garments shall be, what your mansion, scenery, likeness, occupations ? Turn your eyes within, and ask what you have learned and what you have done in this, the sclioolhouse for the spheres of spirit land. There— there is an aristocracy, and even royal rank and varying

degree, but the aristocracy is one of merit, and as the wisest soul is he that is best, as the truest wisdom is the highest love, so the royalty of the soul is truth and love. And within the spirit world all knowledge of this earth, all forms of seienee, all revelations of art, all mysteries of space, must be under­stood. The exalted soul that i3 then fully ready for his departure to a higher state than Hades must know all^that earth can teach, and have practised all that Heaven requires. The spirit never quits the spheres of earth until he is fully possessed of all the life and knowledge of this planet and its spheres. And though the progress may be here eommenced, and not one jot of what you learn, or think, or strive for here, is lost, yet all achieve­ments must be ultimated there, and no soul ean wing its flight to that which you call, hi view of its perfection, Heaven, till you have passed through Earth and Hades, and stand ready in your fully completed pilgrimage to enter on the now and unspeakable glories of the celestial realms beyond.”

C o u l d t h e p h i l o s o p h e r o r t h e m a n o f s c ie n c e p i c t u r e to h i m s e l f a m o r e p e r f e c t id e a l o f a f u t u r e s ta t e t h a n t h i s ? D o e s i t n o t c o m m e n d i t s e l f t o h i m a s w h a t h e c o u ld w is h , i f h e c o u ld b y h i s w i s h f o r m t h e f u t u r e f o r h i m s e l f ? Y e t t h i s is t h e t e a c h i n g o f t h a t w h i c h h e s c o u t s as a n im p o s t u r e o r a d e l u s i o n — a s t h e t r i c k e r y o f k n a v e s o r t h e r a v i n g s o f m a d m e n — m o d e r n S p i r i t u a l i s m . I q u o t e a n o t h e r p a s s a g e f r o m t h es a m e a d d re s s , a n d I w o u l d a s k m y r e a d e r s t o c o m p a r e t h e m o d e s t y o f t h e f i r s t p a r a g r a p h w i t h t h e c la im s o f i n f a l l i b i l i t y u s u a l l y p u t f o r w a r d b y t h e t e a c h e r s o f n e w c r e e d s o r n e w p h i l o s o p h i e s :—

“ It is true that man is finite and imperfect; hence his utterances are too frequently the dictation of his own narrow pereeptions, and his views are limited by his own finite capacity. But as you judge him, so also ye ‘ shall judge the angels? Spirits only present you with the testimony of those who have advanced m e step beyond humanity, and ask for no credence from man without the sanction of man’s judgment and reason. Spirits, then, say that their world is as the soul or spiritual and sublimated essence of this human world of yours— that, in locality, the spirit world extends around, this planet, as all spirit spheres encircle in zones and belts all other planets, earths, and bodies in space, until the sphere of each impinges upon the other, and they form in connection one vast and harmonious system of natural and spiritual worlds throughout the universe.”

T h e e f fe c ts o f v i c e a n d u n g o v e m e d p a s s io n s a re t h u s d e p ic t e d :—

“ Those spirits have engraved themselves with a fatal passion for viee, but, alas! they dwell in a world where there is no means for its gratifica­tion. There is the gambler, who has burnt into his soul the fire of the love of gain; he hovers around earth’s gamblers, and, as an unseen tempter, seeks to repeat the now lost joys of the fatal game. The sensualist, the man of violence, the eruel and angry spirit— all who have steeped themselves in erime or painted their souls with those dark stain spots which they vainly think are of the body only— all these are there, no longer able to enact their lives of earthly vice, but retaining on their souls the deadly mark, and the fatal though ungratified desire for habitual sin; and so these imprisoned spirits, ehained by their own fell passions in the slavery of hopeless eriminal desires, hover round those who attract them as magnets draw the needle, by vicious inclinations similar to their own. _ But you say the soul, by tempting others, must thus sink deeper into crime Ay, but remember that another point of the spiritual doetrine is the universal teaching of eternal progress.”

A n d t h e n s h e g o e s o n t o d e p ic t i n g l o w i n g l a n g u a g e h o w t h e s e s p i r i t s to o , i n t im e , lo s e t h e i r f ie r c e p a s s io n s , a n d l e a r n h o w to b e g i n t h e u p w a r d p a t h o f k n o w l e d g e a n d v i r t u e . B u t I m u s t le a v e t h e s u b je c t , a s I w i s h t o g i v e o n e e x t r a c t f r o m t h e a d d r e s s o f t h e s a m e g i f t e d l a d y , o n t h e q u e s t io n , “ W h a t is S p i r i t ? ” a s a n e x a m p le o f t h e h i g h e lo q u e n c e a n d m o r a l b e a u t y w i t h w h i c h a l l h e r d is c o u r s e s a r e i n s p i r e d :—

“ Small, and to some of us even insignificant, as seems the witness of the spirit-cirele, its phenomenal gleams are lights which reveal, in their aggre­gate, those solemn truths to us. There we behold foregleams of the powers of soul, which so vastly do transcend the laws of matter. That soul’s con­tinued existence and triumph over death; our own embodied spirit’s power of communication with the invisible world around us, and its various occult forces. Clairvoyance, clairaudience, prophecy, vision, psychometry, and man-netie healing; how grand and wonderful appears the soul invested, even in this earthly prison house, with all these gleams of power so full of glorious promise of what we shall be when the prison gates of matter open wide and set the spirit free! O h ! fair young girls, whose forms of supreme loveliness are nature’s crowning gems, forget not, when the great Creator’s bounteous hand adorned vour blooming spring with the radiance of summer flowers, that He shrined within that casket of tinted beauty a soul whose glory shall survive the decay of all earthly things, and live in weal or woe, as your generation stamps it with beauty or stains it with sinful ugliness, when spring shall no more return, nor summer melt in the vast changeless ever­more. Lift up your eyes from the beautiful dust of to-day, which to-morrow shall be foul in death’s corruption, to the ever-living soul which you, not destiny, must adorn with immortal beauty. Remember you are spirits, and that the hours of your earthly life are only granted you to shape and form those spirits for eternity. Young men, who love to expand the muscles of the mind, and wrestle in mental gladiatorial eombats for the triumphant crowns of seienee, what are all these to the eternal conquests to be won in fields of illimitable seienee in the realms of immortality! Press on through earth as a means, but only to attain to the nobler, higher colleges of the never-dying life, and use moral aims as instruments to gild your souls with the splendour that never fades, but which yourselves must win here or here-

2 4 4 T H E S P I R I T U A L I S T . M a y 2 3 , 1 8 7 9 .

after, ere you are fit to pass as graduates in the halls of eternal science. To jjj understand that we are spirits, and that we live for immortality, to know and j \| insure its issues: is not this, to Spiritualists, the noblest though last bright jji page which God has revealed to us ? Is not to read and comprehend this j) i page the true mission of modern Spiritualism? All else is but the pile- jjj nomenal basis of the science which gives us the assurance that spirits live. \ i This is one great aim and purpose of modern Spiritualism, to know what the >j spirit is , and what it must do— how best to live, so that it may most surely jarray itself in the pure white robes of immortality which is purged of all jmortal sin and earthly grossness.” j

T h e t e a c h i n g s o f M r s . H a r d i n g e a g r e e i n s u b s t a n c e w i t h j t h o s e o f a l l t h e m o r e d e v e lo p e d m e d iu m s , a n d I w o u l d a s k j w h e t h e r i t is p r o b a b le t h a t t h e s e t e a c h i n g s h a v e b e e n e v o l v e d jj f r o m t h e c o n f l i c t i n g d o g m a s o f a s e t o f im p o s t o r s ? N e i t h e r j> d o e s i t s e e m a m o r e p r o b a b le s o l u t i o n , t h a t t h e y h a v e b e e n jj p r o d u c e d “ u n c o n s c i o u s l y ” f r o m t h e m in d s o f s e l f - d e lu d e d j; m e n a n d w e a k w o m e n , s in c e i t is p a lp a b le t o e v e r y r e a d e r jt h a t t h e s e d o c t r in e s a r e e s s e n t i a l l y d i f f e r e n t i n e v e r y d e t a i l , jf r o m t h o s e t a u g h t a n d b e l ie v e d b y a n y s c h o o l o f m o d e r n jj p h i lo s o p h e r s , o r a n y s e c t o f m o d e r n C h r i s t i a n s . \)

T h i s is w e l l s h o w n b y t h e i r o p p o s in g s t a t e m e n t s as t o t h e ] j c o n d it io n o f m a n k i n d a f t e r d e a t h . I n t h e a c c o u n t s o f a m f u t u r e s ta t e g i v e n b y , o r t h r o u g h t h e b e s t m e d iu m s , a n d i n i j l t h e v i s i o n s o f d e c e a s e d p e r s o n s b y c l a i r v o y a n t s , s p i r i t s a re M u n i f o r m l y r e p r e s e n t e d i n t h e f o r m o f human b e in g s , a n d t h e i r j j o c c u p a t io n s a s a n a lo g o u s t o t h o s e o f e a r t h . B u t i n t h e m o s t ) j r e l i g i o u s d e s c r ip t io n s , o r p i c t u r e s o f h e a v e n , t h e y a re r e p r e - j j s e u t e d as winged b e in g s , a s r e s t i n g o n , o r s u r r o u n d e d b y ) c lo u d s , a n d t h e i r o c c u p a t io n s t o b e p l a y i n g o n g o l d e n h a r p s , j o r p e r p e t u a l s i n g i n g , p r a y e r , a n d a d o r a t i o n b e f o r e t h e t h r o n e j o f G o d . H o w is i t i f t h e s e v i s i o n s a n d c o m m u n ic a t io n s a r e \\ b u t t h e r e - m o d e l l i n g o f p r e - e x i s t i n g o r p r e c o n c e iv e d id e a s b y ! a d is e a s e d i m a g i n a t i o n , t h a t t h e p o p u l a r n o t io n s a r e n e v e r ( r e p r o d u c e d ? H o w is i t t h a t w h e t h e r t h e m e d iu m b e m a n , ) w o m a n , o r c h i l d , w h e t h e r i g n o r a n t o r e d u c a te d , w h e t h e r ( E n g l i s h , G e r m a n , o r A m e r i c a n , t h e r e s h o u ld b e o n e a n d t h e 5 s a m e c o n s is t e n t r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h e s e p r e t e r h u m a n b e in g s , . i a t v a r i a n c e w i t h p o p u la r n o t io n s o f t h e m , b u t s u c h a s \> s t r i k i n g l y t o a c c o r d w i t h t h e m o d e r n s c i e n t i f ic d o c t r i n e o f > “ c o n t i n u i t y ” ? I s u b m i t t h a t t h i s l i t t l e f a c t is o f i t s e l f a j s t r o n g c o r r o b o r a t i v e a r g u m e n t , t h a t t h e r e is s o m e o b je c t i v e j t r u t h i n t h e s e c o m m u n ic a t io n s . I

A l l p o p u la r r e l i g i o n s , a l l r e c e iv e d n o t io n s o f a f u t u r e s ta t e ! o f e x is t e n c e , a l i k e i g n o r e o n e i m p o r t a n t s id e o f h u m a n n a t u r e , j | a n d o n e w h i c h h a s a l a r g e s h a r e i n t h e h a p p in e s s o f o u r j p r e s e n t e x is t e n c e . L a u g h t e r , a n d t h e id e a s t h a t p r o d u c e i t , jj a r e n e v e r c o n t e m p la t e d as c o n t i n u i n g t o e x i s t i n t h e s p i r i t ¡ j w o r l d . E v e r y f o r m o f j o v i a l m e r r i m e n t , o f s p a r k l i n g w i t , j j a n d o f t h a t h u m o u r w h i c h is o f t e n a k i n t o p a t h o s , a n d m a n y j> o f t h e h i g h e r f e e l i n g s o f o u r n a t u r e , a r e a l i k e b a n is h e d f r o m jj t h e s e c t a r ia n ’ s h e a v e n . Y e t i f t h e s e a n d a l l t h e a l l ie d f e e l i n g s I j v a n i s h f r o m o u r n a t u r e s , w h e n w e “ s h u f f le o f f t h i s m o r t a l j j c o i l , ” h o w s h a l l w e k n o w o u r s e lv e s , h o w r e t a i n o u r i d e n t i t y ? j> A p o e t , w r i t i n g o n t h e d e a t h o f A r t e m u s W a r d i n The jj Spectator, w e l l a s k s :— j j

. “ Is he gone to the land of no laughter, j j ■;This man who made mirth for us all ? j j j

Proves death but a silent hereafter, i i |Prom the sounds that delight and appal! ji

Once closed, have the lips no more duty, jiNo more pleasure the exquisite ears; jj

Has the heart done o’erflowing with beauty, ) jAs the eyes have with tears ? ” j i

N o w i t is n o t e w o r t h y t h a t t h e c o m m u n ic a t io n s w h i c h t h e jj S p i r i t u a l i s t b e l ie v e s t o b e v e r i l y t h e w o r d s o f o u r d e p a r t e d If r i e n d s , g i v e s u s f u l l a s s u ra n c e t h a t t h e i r i n d i v i d u a l c h a r a c t e r s j r e m a i n u n c h a n g e d ; t h a t m i r t h , a n d w i t , a n d l a u g h t e r , a n d I e v e r y o t h e r h u m a n e m o t io n a n d s o u r c e o f h u m a n p l e a s u r e j a r e s t i l l r e t a in e d b y t h e m ; a n d t h a t e v e n t h o s e s m a l l in c i d e n t s o f t h e d o m e s t ic c i r c le , w h i c h h a v e b e c o m e a s o u r c e o f i n n o c e n t j m i r t h w h e n t h e y w e r e w i t h u s i n t h e b o d y , a r e s t i l l c a p a b le o f e x c i t i n g p le a s u r a b le f e e l i n g s . A n d t h i s h a s b e e n h e l d b y jj s o m e to b e a n o b je c t i o n t o t h e r e a l i t y o f t h e s e c o m m u n ic a t io n s j j in s t e a d o f b e i n g , as i t r e a l l y is , a s t r i k i n g c o n f i r m a t i o n o f j t h e m . C o n t i n u i t y h a s b e e n p r e - e m i n e n t l y t h e l a w o f o u r j m e n t a l d e v e lo p m e n t , a n d i t r e s t s w i t h t h o s e w h o w o u l d j a b r u p t l y s e v e r t h i s c o n t i n u i t y t o p r o v e t h e i r c a s e . T h e y h a v e j n e v e r e v e n a t t e m p t e d t o s h o w t h a t i t a c c o r d s w i t h t h e f a c ts j o r w i t h t h e a n a lo g ie s o f n a t u r e . j

E q u a l l y a t v a r i a n c e w i t h e a c h o t h e r a r e t h e p o p u l a r a n d j S p i r i t u a l i s t i c d o c t r in e s a s r e g a r d s t h e D e i t y . O u r m o d e r n >

r e l i g i o u s t e a c h e r s m a i n t a i n t h a t t h e y k n o w a g r e a t d e a l a b o u t G o d . T h e y d e f in e m i n u t e l y a n d c r i t i c a l l y H i s v a r i o u s a t t r i ­b u t e s ; t h e y e n t e r i n t o H i s m o t iv e s , H i s f e e l i n g s , a n d H i s o p i n i o n s ; t h e y e x p l a i n e x a c t l y w h a t l i e h a s d o n e , a n d w h y l i e h a s d o n e i t ; a n d t h e y d e c la r e t h a t a f t e r d e a t h w e s h a l l b e w i t h H i m , a n d s h a l l see a n d k n o w H i m . I n t h e t e a c h i n g o f t h e “ s p i r i t s ” t h e r e is n o t a w o r d o f a l l t h i s . T h e y t e l l u s t h a t t h e y c o m m u n e w i t h h i g h e r i n t e l l i g e n c e s t h a n t h e m s e l v e s , b u t o f G o d t h e y r e a l l y k n o w n o m o r e t h a n w e d o . T h e y s a y t h a t a b o v e t h e h i g h e r i n t e l l i g e n c e s a r e o t h e r s h i g h e r a n d h i g h e r i n a p p a r e n t l y e n d le s s g r a d a t io n , b u t a s f a r a s t h e y k n o w n o a b s o lu t e k n o w l e d g e o f t h e D e i t y h i m s e l f is c l a i m e d b y a n y o f t h e m . I s i t p o s s ib le , i f t h e s e “ s p i r i t u a l ” c o m ­m u n ic a t i o n s a r e b u t t h e w o r k i n g s o f t h e m in d s o f w e a k , s u p e r s t i t io u s , o r d e lu d e d h u m a n b e in g s , t h a t t h e y s h o u ld so c o m p l e t e l y c o n t r a d i c t o n e o f t h e s t r o n g e s t a n d m o s t c h e r i s h e d b e l ie f s o f t h e s u p e r s t i t io u s a n d t h e r e l i g i o u s , a n d s h o u ld a g r e e w i t h t h a t h i g h e s t p h i l o s o p h y ( o f w h i c h m o s t m e d iu m s h a v e c e r t a i n l y n e v e r h e a r d ) , w h i c h m a i n t a in s t h a t w e c a n k n o w n o t h i n g o f t h e a l m i g h t y , t h e e t e r n a l , t h e i n f i n i t e , t h e a b s o lu t e B e i n g , w h o m u s t n e c e s s a r i l y b e n o t o n l y u n k n o w n a n d u n ­k n o w a b l e , b u t e v e n u n t h i n k a b l e b y f i n i t e i n t e l l i g e n c e s ?

I w o u l d p o i n t t o t h e t h o u s a n d s i t h a s c o n v i n c e d o f t h e r e a l i t y o f a n o t h e r w o r l d , t o t h e m a n y i t h a s le d t o d e v o t e t h e i r l i v e s t o w o r k s o f p h i l a n t h r o p y , t o t h e e lo q u e n c e a n d p o e t r y i t h a s g i v e n u s , a n d to t h e g r a n d d o c t r i n e o f a n e v e r - p r o g r e s s i v e f u t u r e s ta t e w h i c h i t t e a c h e s . T h o s e w h o w i l l e x a m i n e i t s l i t e r a t u r e w i l l a c k n o w l e d g e t h e s e fa c t s . T h o s e w h o w i l l n o t e x a m i n e f o r t h e m s e l v e s e i t h e r t h e l i t e r a t u r e o r t h e p h e n o m e n a o f S p i r i t u a l i s m , s h o u ld a t le a s t r e f r a i n f r o m p a s s i n g j u d g m e n t o n a m a t t e r o f w h i c h t h e y a r e c o n f e s s e d ly a n d w i l f u l l y i g n o r a n t .

I m a i n t a i n , t h e r e f o r e , t h a t w h e t h e r w e c o n s id e r t h e v a s t n u m b e r a n d t h e h i g h c h a r a c t e r o f i t s c o n v e r t s , t h e im m e n s e a c c u m u l a t i o n a n d a u t h e n t i c i t y o f i t s fa c ts , o r t h e n o b le d o c t r in e o f a f u t u r e s ta t e w h i c h i t h a s e la b o r a t e d , t h e s t u d y o f m o d e r n S p i r i t u a l i s m is c a lc u la t e d t o a d d g r e a t l y t o o u r k n o w l e d g e o f m a n ’ s t r u e n a t u r e a n d h i g h e s t in t e r e s t s .

TH E P A L L M A L L G AZETTE O N C L A IR V O Y A N C E .

The Pall Mall Gazette o f M a y 1 7 t h , s a y s o f “ G i p s y ’s ” b o o k , A Marked Life; or, The Autobiography of a Clair­voyante ( S a m p s o n L o w a n d C o . ) :— “ I f t h i s v o l u m e c o n t a in s — as i t is a l l e g e d t o c o n t a in , a n d a s t h e p u b l i s h e r s ’ n o t e p r e ­f i x e d t o i t i m p l ie s t h a t t h e y h a v e a s c e r t a in e d t h a t i t d o e s c o n t a in — a t r u e a c c o u n t o f t h e e x p e r ie n c e s o f a c l a i r v o y a n t e , a s s u r e d l y t h e d i s b e l i e f t h a t a t p r e s e n t e x i s t s c o n c e r n i n g t h i s a n d o t h e r m y s t i c c r a f t s m u s t s o o n d is a p p e a r . S o c i e t y h a s o f la t e b e e n b r o u g h t t o l o o k u p o n s e c o n d s i g h t a n d S p i r i t u a l i s m a s s p e c ie s o f f r a u d n e a r l y a k i n t o f o r t u n e - t e l l i n g ; a n d t h e e x p o n e n t s o f t h e s e a r t s , w h e t h e r t h e y b e s p i r i t - m e d i a w h o e x h i b i t t h e i r p o w e r s a t a g u in e a a h e a d , o r w a n d e r i n g g ip s ie s w h o e x t o r t s h i l l i n g s f r o m c r e d u lo u s m a i d s e r v a n t s , a r e e v e n s o m e t im e s p r o s e c u t e d a n d p u n is h e d . T h e c o n fe s s io n s o f ‘ G i p s y ’ m u s t , h o w e v e r , c o n v i n c e a l l t h o s e w h o b e l ie v e i n t h e m t h a t t h e s e p e o p le h a v e b e e n m o s t u n f a i r l y d e a l t w i t h .‘ G i p s y ’ d o e s n o t , in d e e d , a t t e m p t to a s c e r t a i n o r e x p l a i n t h e o r i g i n o f h e r p o w e r ; b u t i f i t h a s a n y e x i s t e n c e a t a l l i t s u r e l y m u s t b e a t t r i b u t e d t o t h e a s s is t a n c e o f s p i r i t s . B y m e r e l y s h u t t i n g h e r e y e s a n d w a v i n g h e r h a n d s b e f o r e h e r fa c e s h e is a b le t o d i p i n t o f u t u r i t y a n d c o n j u r e u p a t w i l l c o m p le t e v i s i o n s o f c o m i n g e v e n t s . I t c e r t a i n l y s e e m s a l i t t l e u n f a i r t o t h e w o r l d t h a t o n e so g i f t e d s h o u ld h a v e c o n f in e d h e r s e l f t o f o r e t e l l i n g t h e s u c c e s s o f a t h e a t r i c a l c o m p a n y d u r i n g a p r o v i n c i a l t o u r , o r ‘ f i x i n g ’ t h e p o s i t io n o f a c o in w h i c h h a s b e e n h i d d e n u n d e r a s o fa . H o w m a n y c a la m it ie s m i g h t h a v e b e e n a v e r t e d i f o n l y ‘ G i p s y ’ h a d d e v o t e d h e r p o w e r s t o t h e w o r l d ! A f t e r h a v i n g o n c e c o n v in c e d t h e p u b l i c o f h e r g e n u in e n e s s , t h a n w h i c h s u r e l y n o t h i n g w o u l d h a v e b e e n m o r e e a s y , s h e m i g h t h a v e s t a r t e d a s a s o r t o f u n i v e r s a l p r o p h e t e s s , a n d h a v e r e g u l a t e d a l l t h e g r e a t e r c o n c e r n s o f h u m a n l i f e . S h e , h o w e v e r , l i m i t s t h e e x e r c is e o f h e r p o w e r s t o h e r o w n a f f a ir s ; a n d f r o m w h a t o n e r e a d s i n h e r b i o g r a p h y , s h e h a s n o t , e v e n w i t h t h e i r a s s is t a n c e , m a n a g e d t o p a s s t h r o u g h l i f e w i t h o u t e n c o u n t e r i n g m o r e s e r io u s m is f o r t u n e s t h a n f a l l t o t h e l o t o f t h e m o s t c o m m o n p la c e p e p p le . A t t h e a g e o f f i f t e e n s h e e lo p e s w i t h a m a n o f m o r e t h a n d o u b le h e r a g e , w h o d u r i n g t h e i r m a r r i e d l i f e c o n s t a n t l y t h r e a t e n s t o k i l l

M a y 2 3 , 1 8 7 9 . T H E S P I R I T U A L I S T . 2 4 5

h e r , w h o o n c e o r t w i c e s a v a g e l y a s s a u lts h e r , a n d w h o o n o n e y o c c a s io n a t t e m p t s t o c o n i i n e h e r i n a l u n a t i c a s y l u m . T h r e e / t im e s s h e is r u i n e d a n d t u r n e d o u t i n t h e w o r l d p e n n i le s s , I a n d o n c e s h e is b u r n e d o u t o f h o u s e a n d h o m e . H e r h u s b a n d i s n e a r l y k i l l e d i n t h e c i v i l w a r o f A m e r i c a , w h i l e s h e h e r s e l f is w i t h i n a n a c e o f b e i n g d r o w n e d i n a b o a t i n g e x p e d i t i o n o n L a k e E r i e . A t la s t s h e is d i v o r c e d f r o m h e r h u s b a n d , a f t e r h a v i n g s e c u r e d h i s a c q u i t t a l o n a c h a r g e o f f e l o n y ; a n d s h e g o e s u p o n t h e s ta g e , w h e r e , as m a n a g e r e s s , p r o p r i e t r e s s , a n d ( l e a d i n g a c t re s s , s h e a c h ie v e s a b r i l l i a n t s u c c e s s . T i r e d o f j t h i s , s h e le a v e s A m e r i c a f o r L o n d o n , b e i n g s h i p w r e c k e d a n d j a g a i n n e a r l y d r o w n d e d en route. S o m e o f t h e s e a d v e n t u r e s ) a re d is c lo s e d t o h e r i n p r e v i o u s v i s i o n s , b u t h e r s e c o n d s i g h t K d o e s n o t m u c h a s s is t h e r i n a v o i d i n g t h e m . A m o r e a d v e n - jj t u r o u s b i o g r a p h y i f t r u e , a n d a m o r e a u d a c io u s o n e i f fa ls e , i t j ( h a s n e v e r b e e n o u r l o t t o r e a d . T r o u b l e is h e a p e d u p o n j) t r o u b l e i n a m o s t s t a r t l i n g m a n n e r ; a n d t h e s t y l e i n w h i c h |( t h e h i s t o r y is r e l a t e d d o e s n o t t e n d t o in c r e a s e it s v e r i s i m i l i - j ) t u d e . M o r e o v e r , t h e b e l i e f i n s e c o n d s i g h t is to o m u c h a |( t h i n g o f t h e p a s t. I n t h e H i g h l a n d s o f S c o t l a n d a n d i n j) S c a n d in a v ia t h e b e l i e f w a s w i d e l y i n d u l g e d i n a b o u t a h u n - \ \ d r e d y e a r s a g o . B u t a l l f a i t h i n c l a i r v o y a n c e s e e m s t o h a v e \ l d is a p p e a r e d f r o m S c o t l a n d w h e n M a c C u l l o c h w r o t e h is H is - j y tory o f the Western Islands, s i x t y y e a r s a g o ; a n d t h e r e is ]} n o t m u c h p r o b a b i l i t y o f i t s e v e r b e i n g r e v i v e d , e i t h e r t h e r e IS o r e ls e w h e r e — e x c e p t , in d e e d , a s a m e t h o d o f o b t a i n i n g m o n e y u b y fa ls e p r e t e n c e s .” I)

T H E A N T IQ U IT Y OF S P IR IT U A L IS M . jH o t a fe s v a r d e n t f o l l o w e r s b e l ie v e t h a t S p i r i t u a l i s m w i l l i(

b e t h e r e l i g i o n o f t h e f u t u r e ; c e r t a i n l y i t w a s o f t h e f a r ) d i s t a n t p a s t . I n t h a t w o n d e r f u l p e o p le , t h e e n o r m o u s a n t i - ( q u i t y o f w h o s e c o m p l e x c i v i l i z a t i o n is n o w f i r m l y e s ta b l is h e d , j w h o , m o r e t h a n t w o t h o u s a n d y e a r s b e f o r e o u r e ra , h a d i c o v e r e d t h e v a l l e y o f t h e N i l e w i t h w o r k s w h i c h w e c o u ld n o t r i v a l , t h o u g h t h e u n k n o w n G o d a n d L o r d o f L i f e w a s w o r - j( s h i p p e d u n d e r v a r i o u s n a m e s a n d a t t r i b u t e s , t h e p o p u la r L r e l i g i o n a n d h o u s e h o ld c u l t u s w a s a S p i r i t u a l i s m t h e s a m e as | is n o w d e v e l o p i n g a m o n g s t o u r s e lv e s . L a s t y e a r , P r o f e s s o r j M a x M u l l e r o p e n e d t h e s e r ie s o f H i b b e r t L e c t u r e s w i t h a m o s t j v a lu a b le s u r v e y o f t h e R e l i g i o n o f A n c i e n t I n d i a : t h i s y e a r , j M r . l e P a g e R e n o u f h a s u n d e r t a k e n t o s e t f o r t h t h e r e s u l t s j o f t h e la t e s t a n d f u l l e s t r e s e a r c h e s i n t h e C i v i l i z a t i o n a n d j R e l i g i o n o f A n c i e n t E g y p t . O n T h u r s d a y , t h e 1 5 t h u l t . , i n j S t e i n w a y H a l l , o n t h e p l a t f o r m n o w f a m i l i a r t o m a n y L o n d o n j S p i r i t u a l i s t s , h e d e a lt w i t h t h e p o p u la r v i e w s o f t h e s p i r i t u a l j c o m p o s i t i o n o f m a n c u r r e n t a m o n g t h e E g y p t i a n s f i v e t h o u - j ( s a n d s y e a r s a g o . T h i s , i t m u s t b e o b s e r v e d , is n o m a t t e r o f j < s u r m is e o r i n f e r e n c e f r o m a f e w d i s p u t e d p a s s a g e s o r o b s c u r e ) \ t e x t s . T h e E g y p t i a n s h a v e l e f t t h e i r b e l i e f w r i t t e n a t l a r g e j i n e n d le s s i n s c r i p t i o n s a n d r e c o r d s u p o n a l l c o n c e iv a b le s u b - < je c t s a n d i n a l l c o n c e iv a b l e f o r m s , f r o m r o y a l e d ic t s t o p r i v a t e j p r a y e r s a n d m e m o r a n d a . A p r i n c i p a l a n d p e r v a d i n g t e n e t ( a m o n g s t t h e m w a s t h e d o u b le n a t u r e o f m a n . E v e r y h u m a n J b e i n g h a d h is d o u b le , w r a i t h , o r a s t r a l s p i r i t , as m u c h a p a r t ( o f h i m a s h is f l e s h l y f r a m e , a t t im e s a n d i n c e r t a i n c o n - j d i t i o n s , i n d e p e n d e n t l y v i s i b l e a n d p a lp a b le . T h e E g y p t i a n j< n a m e f o r t h i s w a s M r , a w o r d e x a c t l y c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o t h e j L a t i n imago a n d t h e G r e e k c,Sw\ov. T h r o u g h t h i s m y s t i c < c o m p a n i o n i n d i v i d u a l s e p a ra te e x i s t e n c e w a s c o n t i n u e d a n d j c a r r i e d o n a f t e r t h e d i s s o lu t io n o f e a r t h - l i f e , a n d t h e c o m m u - ( n i c a t i o n w i t h i t b y s u r v i v o r s f o r m e d t h e g r e a t e r p a r t o f t h a t j ' a n c e s t r a l w o r s h i p a n d r e v e r e n c e f o r t h e d e a d t h a t so r e - ji m a r k a b l y d i s t i n g u i s h e d E g y p t i a n s o c ia l l i f e . I n d e e d , c o m - j j m u n i o n w i t h t h e d e p a r t e d , c a r e f o r t h e i r r e m a in s , a n d ji e la b o r a t e a r r a n g e m e n t s f o r p r e s e r v i n g t h e i r m e m o r y , f o r m e d \\ t h e p r i n c i p a l o c c u p a t io n o f d o m e s t ic l i f e i n a l l c la s s e s , a n d |< w a s p r o b a b l y c a r r i e d t o a h e i g h t a n d p e r f e c t i o n o f w h i c h ij s o m e r e c e n t a d d re s s e s a n d c o m m u n ic a t io n s i n The Spiritualist ;< a f f o r d a n im p e r f e c t g l im p s e . N o w , w i t h w o n d e r a n d a s t o n i s h - i | m e n t , w e a r e p a i n f u l l y r e c a l l i n g a n d s t r u g g l i n g b a c k t o ji p o w e r s a n d c o n d it io n s t h a t w e r e t h e f a m i l i a r p o s s e s s io n a n d j \ p r i v i l e g e o f a g e s t h a t w e r e g r e y b e f o r e t h e b i r t h o f M o s e s , p T h e n t h e v e i l b e t w e e n t h i s l i f e a n d s p i r i t u a l l i f e w a s t h i n , j t r a n s p a r e n t , a n d m o r e e a s i l y l i f t e d , a n d t h e p a s s a g e f r o m j s p h e r e t o s p h e r e le s s im p e d e d . A n o t h e r p o i n t b r o u g h t f o r w a r d j b y M r . le P a g e R e n o u f w a s t h e f r e q u e n c y a n d r e c o g n i t i o n o f j “ p o s s e s s io n ” i n a n c ie n t E g y p t ; a n d h e c i t e d a l a r g e p o r t i o n j o f a r o y a l i n s c r i p t i o n r e c o r d i n g h o w a p r in c e s s h a d b e c o m e '

p o s s e s s e d b y a n a d v e r s e d e i t y , t o e je c t w h o m t h e h i g h l y s a c re d im a g e o f o n e o f t h e g r e a t g o d s w a s b r o u g h t i n s o le m n s ta te , a n d p la c e d b y t h e a f f l ic t e d p r i n c e s s i n p r e s e n c e o f t h e k i n g a n d h i s a r m y , w h o w i t h a w e a n d t e r r o r — so p o w e r f u l w a s t h e p o s s e s s in g d e m o n — w it n e s s e d t h e e x p u l s i o n o f t h e e v i l in f lu e n c e . P o s s e s s io n a n d o b s e s s io n i n a l l p la c e s w e r e f a m i l i a r a n d r e c o g n is e d p h e n o m e n a , a n d s c i e n t i f i c a l l y d e a lt w i t h . ,

T h e a b o v e is b u t a n i m p e r f e c t r e m i n i s c e n c e o f t h e p o in t s f u l l y t r e a t e d b y M r . R e n o u f , a n d i t m a y b e a d d e d t h a t i n t h e o t h e r p r i m e v a l e m p i r e w h o s e a n t i q u i t y a p p r o a c h e s n e a r e s t t o t h a t o f E g y p t — t h e A s s y r i a n — t h e w o r s h i p o f, a n d c o m m u n io n w i t h , t h e d e p a r t e d , w a s a s l a r g e l y p r a c t is e d a n d as w e l l u n d e r s t o o d as i n t h e N i l e Y a l l e y . T h e r e , to o , b o t h s p h e re s a n d s ta te s o f e x i s t e n c e s to o d n e a r e r o n e a n o t h e r , a n d c o m m u n ic a t io n s a n d p a s s a g e s f r o m o n e t o t h e o t h e r w e r e n o t s u c h m a t t e r s o f w o n d e r , d o u b t , r i d i c u l e , a n d s u f f e r i n g , a s i n l a t e r a g e s ; t h e n , t o o , t h e d e p a r t e d h a d m o r e p o w e r a n d d i r e c t in f lu e n c e , a n d w e r e h e l d i n h i g h e r r e v e r e n c e . I n t h e I s h t a r t a b le t s o f n .c . 2 2 5 0 , i t is w r i t t e n :—

“ I will raise up the Dead, devourers of the living;Over the living the Dead shall triumph.”

A g a i n , i n t h e s a m e r e c o r d , t h e r e a p p e a r s a t r a c e o f t h e o c c u r r e n c e o f “ M a t e r i a l i s a t i o n ” :—

“ The spirit of Heabani, like glass, transparent from the earth arose.”

W .

TH E P SYC H O LO G IC AL SOCIETY OP GREAT B R IT A IN .T he fifth annual meeting of this Society took place at 11, Chandos-street,

Cavendish-square, on Thursday, the 15th inst. 'The president (Mr. Serjeant Cox.) and the hon. treasurer and secretary

(Mr. P. K . Munton) were unanimously re-elected for the ensuing year. _Lord Borthwick, Mr. William Crookes, F .R .S., and Mr. George Harris,

L L .D ., were re-elected as vice-presidents, and the retiring members of the Council were again appointed. The Hon. Percy Wyndham, M .P., was elected to the seat on the Council vacant by the resignation of Mr. Dunlop, C.B. .

W e extract from the hon. secretary’s annual report the following announce­ment as to the Society’s future plan of action: —

“ Several members having intimated their opinion that the debates might now assume a more practical character, the Council have conferred with the Investigation .Committee with the view of arranging a series of discussions not confined to mere theory. I am instructed to say that the labours of the Investigation Committee have been but partially successful, but enough has been eheited to demand further inquiry. It is suggested that this may be better pursued by the common aid of the whole Society; and that such an investigation of psychic phenomena as is demanded in the interests of psychological science can only be satisfactorily made by collecting facts through the direct evidence of competent witnesses on personal examination. The Council therefore recommend that the Society should invite viva voce communications of observations made by intelligent and reliable witnesses of the phenomena presented within their personal experiences, that minute particulars may .be elicited and the accuracy essential to scientific inquiry secured. _

“ The Council propose to devote the greater portion of the next session to the accomplishment of this design— one of great interest and importance if conducted in the spirit of free and impartial inquiry— and to this end they ask all who have evidence to give to proffer it frankly for examination. The plan suggested is as follows:— The business will commence, as now, with written communications of psychological phenomena; witnesses who have volunteered their evidence will then be invited to give it in the formal shape of an examination; questions for elucidation will be permitted; and, at the expiration of a limited time, the taking of testimony will be adjourned, and the remainder of the evening will be occupied with discussions upon any matters suggested by the evidence received. Those who desire to com­municate any psychological facts and phenomena presented within their personal knowledge (hearsay will not be admitted) are requested to notify the same to me, and an intimation will be given when their presence will be required.

“ The first evidence meeting will be held on an early day, and the plan will be continued at each subsequent meeting until further notice. As the attendance of members at this inquiry will probably be large, the rule as to the limited admission of friends will have to be strictly observed, and none hut members will he allowed to put Questions to the witnesses or take pat t in the subsequent discussion.”

T iie following is stated in the letter of a special correspondent of the Philadelphia Times, dated New York, May 4th “ The talk of the town in educational and literary circles is the surprise which Superintendent Kiddle lias executed on his friends and the public. Mr. Henry Kiddle has been for about nine years superintendent of the Public Schools of this city. He grew up in the profession of teaching, and has for nearly forty years been identified in one way and another with the Public Schools. lie is a scholarly n-entleman of about fifty-five years of age, exceedingly courtly in his manners, and a most diligent worker. As an organizer of educational affairs he has probably few superiors. Religiously his affiliations have been with the Protestant Episcopal Church. Mr. Kiddle now astonishes everybody by proclaiming himself a Spiritualist.”

2 4 6 T H E S P I R I T U A L I S T . M a y 23, 1879 .

A TEST MANIFESTATION. ->A t a recent meeting of the Investigating Committee of the .

Psychological Society, a chair was threaded upon the arm of 1 Mr. Serjeant Cox while he was grasping the hand of Mr. , 0. E. Williams, the medium. The chair was afterwards 1 examined, and the joints of it found to be firmly fastened. , When the manifestation was effected, Mr. Serjeant Cox’s arm 1 was below the second of the cross-bars of the back of the , chair, so that if his arm passed through the wood via the 1 top of the chair, it must have passed through two bars,— one , four inches in depth, the other three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Mr. Serjeant Cox asserted positively that he had not released the hand of Mr. Williams for an instant. He took it before the light was extinguished, and when the light was struck again, the chair was there, hanging on his arm.

INTERESTING PUBLIC S E A N C E S .

M e . F. 0. M athew s , test and clairvoyant medium of j Birmingham, was recently engaged by tho Glasgow Associa­tion of Spiritualists, to which he gave nine public séances ; he gave several private sittings in the city as well, and ho sustained the good reputation which had preceded him. His first sitting was given to the Association on Sunday morning, May 4th, at 11.30 a.m. While the members were engaged in singing, he passed into the trance condition, and addressed the meeting at some length, and while doing so left the impression that “ oratory was not his forte.” W e were rewarded for our patient listening by a change of control, and the giving of a series of unmistakable tests to many of the sitters. Mr. Mathews had never been in the room before, and was a total stranger to all present. The medium— whose eyes were shut—turned to a lady near him, and said :—“ Madam, there is a spirit here who wishes me to thank you for your kindness to Mary. Mary is not in the spirit-world. The spirit who communicates is related to you and to Mary, and now in spirit accompanies Mary on her journey.” The spirit was recognised by the person addressed. Her niece, | Mary, had sailed twenty-four years before to America, and the j spirit communicating was Mary’s mother, the departed sister j of the listener. He then walked to another lady and said :—“ Your little girl is here, and says you will know who she is, for you have a lock of her hair in your pocket, where it has been ever since you took it down to look at it.” This was quite correct ; the lady had the lock of her deceased child’s hair in her pocket.

He said to Mr. Walker, the president, “ Good morning, my old friend. Betty says she sits here with a white cap on, grey hair straggling out, and a cane by her side.” Mr. Walker did not recognise the person, and said so. “ Oh yes, you do,” exclaimed the medium ; “ she is offering you a pinch of snuff, as of old.” Mr. Walker then admitted that he knew the spirit well ; at first she had escaped his memory, for Betty was the last “ body ” he should have thought about. Some of his tests were not recognised at the time they were given, but were afterwards verified.

Speaking to a gentleman, Mr. Mathews said :— “ John, your father William desires me to deliver to you a peculiar message to this effect :— ‘ My son, be careful what you are about. You intend to read this book (here the speaker lifted the Bible off the reading desk) through from Genesis to Revelations, and to ponder well its contents. Have a care j that you do not give a false interpretation or undue weight j to the words, Eternal, Everlasting, Sell, and Damnation, and j thereby follow my example and come to a premature grave.’ ” I The gentleman said that the test was wonderfully true ; he i

intended to act as described, and his father had died of j religious mania brought about by fear of eternal punishment.

Speaking to another, the medium said :— “ Sir, you have a heavy payment to make to-morrow, which must be attended to ; the papers connected therewith are now in your pocket.” Many other tests of a most satisfactory description were given.I have had two private sittings with Mr. Mathews, and whether the communications were pleasing or the reverse, they were true ; I have no hesitation in stating that Mr. Mathews is possessed of excellent clairvoyant powers, mani­fested in all degrees from sympathy and mind-reading up to those higher grades, and taking cognisance of the spiritual and material alike. J. Coates.

65, Jamaica-street, Glasgow.

A CURTOUS PHENOMENON WELL CERTIFIED.T he following is from .Mind and Matter (Philadelphia,

U.S.A.), May 10th, 1879Spiritual Conference at Eyrie Hall, No. 25 9 J, North 9 th

Street, April 27, 1879.Report of the Committee appointed by the “ Keystone

Association of Spiritualists ” to investigate tho phenomenon of denominated spirit-writing in Wm. H. Powell.

The Committee was appointed on Sunday, April Gth, 1879, and consisted of W. Paine, M.D., chairman; Reuben Garter, M.D. ; B. F.DuBois, H. II. Clayton, Francis J. Kcffer, John P. Hayes, and A. Lawrence.

According to arrangements, the Committee, in connection with Mr. Powell, met at the office of Dr. Paine, No. 250, South Ninth-street, on Thursday evening, April 8th, 1879.

Mr. Powell passed into a state of soinnambulancy, or cata­lepsy, that he denominates spirit control, when his pulse became more fu ll; respiration increased from 18 to 25, face flushed, the carotid vessels throbbed, and the heart had a laboured action.

In the course of three or four minutes he signified the want of a slate, and commenced to write with his index finger. This finger was then washed with strong soap and water, and the entire Committee examined it to see that there was nothing on it previous to the effort to write.

After writing messages on slates, this abnormal condition disappeared, and Mr. Powell, conscious, talked as freely as before. In order to make a more careful test of this peculiar phenomenon, his sleeves were rolled up, his hands, arms, and faco were washed in strong soap and water, then in a solution of muriatic acid of sufficient strength to destroy any calca­reous substance that might be secreted about him. His finger nails were pared and carefully scraped; perfectly new slates were furnished, and a brilliant light; every possible precau­tion was taken to detect fraud or deception. In a few moments Mr. Powell passed into a similar condition to that previously mentioned, and with his finger extended, in view of all, there appeared a soft, pulpy mass with which lie could write with perfect freedom.

The experiment was repeated seven (7) times, and in every instance with tho same results.

He also took hold of the index finger of a member of the Committee, and there appeared upon the end of his finger a similar substance, with which he could write with his finger, as well as with his own. The moment he lot go of the finger the substance would drop off, but in most instances was retained as long as he had tho finger grasped between his own.

The finger nails of the member of the Committee through which he wrote were also washed and scraped, and carefully observed ; the Committee are positive they did not come in contact with any substance after the washing and scraping, until they wore applied to the slate, where tho substance exuded and writing was executed.

The slates were washed with acid water, and every pre­caution taken so that no substance was on the slate at tho time of the application of the finger. The substance could be seen exuding from the finger while Mr. Powell was in this state, and several pieces wero obtained and subjected to careful chemical and microscopic examinations.

Tho microscopic appearance was that of albuminous cells filled with a pigment. There were also fragments of cuticle and epiphytal structures. Tho chemical analysis showed tho substances were composed of albumen, starch, phosphate of lime, and phosphate of ammonia, with an amorphous pigment . matter without any traces of lead, slate, or other substances ordinarily used for writing on slates. During tho experi­ments the hands were covered with towels, handkerchiefs, &e., and yet the substance would appear through them.

The Committee have also resorted to all other accessible means to account for this phenomenon, on other principles than those claimed by Mr. Powell, and their efforts havo been entirely unsuccessful, so that they are perfectly satis­fied that there is no deception or fraud, and that Mr. Powell is not conscious of the production and nature of the phe­nomenon.

M ay 2 3 , 1 8 7 9 . THE S P IR I TU AL I ST . 2 4 7

We, therefore, submit that it is one of those peculiar physiological manifestations that we cannot account for, and as such respectfully present it.

W m . P a in e , M.D.,B. F. Du Bois,J no. P. H ayes,A lfred L awrence, R euben G arter , M.D., F rancis J. K eefer .

MESMERIC EXPERIMENTS.P eriiavs one of the greatest wants at the present time, is

the resuscitation before qualified observers of the mesmeric experiments so common half a generation ago. Little progress in investigating spiritual phenomena can be made, without re-examining those of mesmerism. Could not the Psycho­logical Society undertake this useful work ? The last chapter of the forthcoming book, Spirits Before our Eyes, will show that the key to the solution of some of the most perplexing problems in Spiritualism is to be found in a particular class of mosmorie experiments.

PRACTICAL LESSONS IN SPIRITUALISM*BY LOUISA ANDREWS.

(C oncluded .)

T he last series of sittings I had with Dr. Slade (no one being present but my sister and myself) took place just before he left for England, and some of them were marvellous in the amount of power displayed.

Persons often object to dark services. I do not myself regard them as by any means necessarily objectionable or unsatisfactory. Although few, perhaps, have seen more in the light, some of the sittings I have had in darkness have been among the most convincing and satisfactory I ever enjoyed. I have talked with seven different spirits in an evening, some speaking (as did William White, of the Banner) in a loud, clear, natural^oice, and others lower— a few with great apparent difficulty. One Indian, speaking his own melodious language, had the most wonderfully beautiful voice I ever heard. It was a delight to listen to it, simply for its musical sweetness, though we could not understand a word.

When very forcible demonstrations were expected, the medium had to be made unconscious, as there was no other way of keeping him still. Either I or my sister, when he leaned back, entranced, in his chair, so that we could not reach his hands, always kept our feet upon his.

Both in theso evening sittings and in some I have had in tho daytime, the house has been so shaken that the pictures swayed upon tho walls. On one evening, especially, this shaking was so violent that the chandelier in the room below had its pendants loudly tinkled in striking together— the doors and windows rattled ns if a high wind were blowing through the house, and the ceiling and floor were jarred as bv tho firing of cannon. This motion lasted so long that it produced with me a feeling of nausea. There seemed to be crowds dancing and pounding upon the floor with bare feet— bands wore loudly clapped, and tremendous blows, as from a mallet, threatened destruction to the table on which our hands rested. The piano, which stood five or six feet from the medium, was strummed upon, and to add to the awful din, one end of tho instrument was lifted and allowed to fall again with heavy thuds, While all this was going on, spirits crowded all about us, their hands grasped our shoulders and arms, drapery was drawn across our faces, garments rustled against us, and dark forms, passing between me and the windows liko pillars of cloud, shut out the light which came between the cracks of tho closed shutters. In the midst of this tremendous demonstration, and while numberless feet were still stamping about the floor, a loud, shrill Indian war- whoop was heard, as if proceeding from some one flying through the air, now close to our heads, and now high up towards the ceiling, now at one end of the long room and then at tho other. These whoops wero repeated in tho shrillest tones, and in literally breathless succession, during many minutes, while all the time voluminous drapery, somo

light and gauzy, and some substantial and heavy, swept over our shoulders and heads, and what felt like trailing tresses of long dry hair fell upon our faces— all this to the weird ac­companiment of thetrembling and quaking, whichnever ceased till silence was restored. Altogether, the power displayed was such that I can really give you no idea of it by attempt­ing to describe the indescribable. I confess that although my nerves were pretty well inured to sights and sounds of this nature, they were, during that sitting, strained rather tightly and thrilled like harp-strings in a storm. Sometimes, in these evening sittings, spirit voices rang close around and above us. Once, what seemed to be a bodiless head passed to and fro, singing, and its long beard swept over my sister’s face. She said, “ W hy ! it feels like a beard.” The singing head replied, “ It is my beard.” A tall form standing behind me, and speaking in deep, clear tones, said, “ Bo not fear me, I will not hurt you,” and placing his hand on my forehead, he bent my head back till it rested on his breast, then, lifting me from the floor, by grasping the back of my chair with one hand and the rung in front with the other, he swung me, with long sweeps, from side to side through the air.

Once, when the form of a man had been for some minutes standing near my right arm and talking, this spirit exclaimed, with some impatience, “ These children interrupt me ! ”

I said, in reply, “ I f they are my little hoys, please let them come ! ” When, in an instant, the pattering of little feet was heard upon the floor, my arm was tightly grasped by small eager hands, and a baby voice called out “ Mamma, mamma! ” while that of the older brother whispered, “ Mother, dear mother! it is I ! Harold.” The sweet chorus, “ Mamma!” “ Mamma ! ”— “ Bear, dear mother ! ” lasted for somemoments, while the feet were dancing about gleefully and the tones of voice expressed the most joyous excitement. I fear to have ■worried you by so much narrative, for I know flowers freshly gathered are not more unlike those pressed in a book, lifeless and dry, than were those experiences to me from the poor bald record of them, which is all I can give to you. But when I hear persons deny phenomenal Spiritualism, I feel little sym­pathy with them, for so many of my most precious treasures have come to me from that storehouse. Ko facts can be more to us, spiritually, than we are willing and able to make them. I f the phenomena remain, to our apprehension, mere sights and sounds, curious and amazing, like empty shells upon the boach, which we pick up idly only to let them fall again when we are weary of looking at them, we cannot, of

|); course, become wiser or better by means of these inanifesta- i ; tions of spirit power. W e cannot grow fat and strong by ji lying in a harvest-field and admiring the grain as it ripens V in the sun. It must be reaped, and separated from the chaff, <: ground into flour, and made into bread, and then eaten and

assimilated, before it can nourish us. And yet all the }; nourishment was stored in those little grains of wheat. It )1 needed only to be got at and made use of to become the staff j of life. What I find most objectionable is, not that physical )\ manifestations, as such, do not take their right and subordi- y nate place with some who have never been in the habit of i thinking deeply on any subject (this is inevitable), but that j so many who consider themselves to have passed beyond the ) : phenomenal stage, and to be no longer in need of learning | i anything through the medium of their senses, let go the sub- /| stance to grasp a shadow, so vague and distorted that neither

Ii they themselves, nor others through them, can possibly be in

any way benefited by their supposed exaltation into the sphere : of philosophy. What they dignify by that name is too often

but the reflection of their own fantastic imaginings, being j devoid aliko of sound common sense and of true spiritual 1 insight. They have left facts behind them, without getting | holcf of truths in their place. In America the (so-called) in- 1 spirational speakers and writers, who prate by the hour of ! the “ beautiful spirit-land,” piling up artificial flowers and

tinsel stars of rhetoric in illustration of its charms, would, in my opinion, bo better employed in striving to understand the

j simplest of the phenomena, studying humbly and patiently j those object lessons which it is not easy tor the wisest to i) i master. There is a mine of wealth yet unworked, and if we \{\ had more earnest, persistent, intelligent seekers after its ! hidden treasures of knowledge, and fewer self-elected teachers,

j it would be better for Spiritualism. When Balaam’s ass : spoke, it was to serve good purpose; but to-day there are, I

* A paper read boforo the National Association of Spiritualists.

248 THE SP IR I TU AL I ST . M a y 23 , 1879 .

am afraid, many inspired donkeys who might have confined themselves to inarticulate braying without impoverishing the world.

This may seem severe, but in America we are so over­whelmed by avalanches of this shallow, trashy, and preten­tious talk that I think a little severity in denouncing it is excusable. Ear be it from me to depreciate those who really teach the world what Spiritualism means. To such we owe a debt of respect and gratitude which I hope we shall all, and always, be ready and glad to p ay ; but the good that able workers in the lecture-field and with the pen achieve would be much greater if there were not so many conceited and in­competent talkers and writers, who weary and disgust those who really desire and seek help and light.

In England people are (very happily in certain cases for you) rather less fluent than with us— for this fluency gets to be mistaken for eloquence, with disastrous results.

Men and women pour out floods, torrents, of words; and there are some who appear content, and even pleased, to sit, like, what Carlyle calls “ passive buckets/' to receive these gushing, inexhaustible streams, being so astonished and be­wildered by the amount they get in á given time that they forget, apparently, to criticise its quality.

Then, besides this class of talking philosophers, there is that still larger one—the men and the women who have their own little private inspirations from exalted sources. I knew an old lady in America who would hardly go out for a walk, or get up to poke the fire, unless Napoleon Bonaparte signified to her inner consciousness his approval of that particular action. This kind of delusion is the most common and the most mis­chievous, as it seems to me, which Spiritualism has to contend against. Facts are facts, and can hardly fail to prove, in the end, more or less instructive to persons who delight in them ; but these superstitions are altogether hurtful and enervating to the intellectual and moral nature of those who take them for spiritual realities. It is the fantasies I dread, and not the physical facts. Facts! are they not Divine truth taking upon itself visible, audible, tangible forms ?

“ Arc not these, 0 soul, the vision of Him who reigns ?Is not the vision He ? though He be not that which He seems ? ”

Our heavenly Father has given us the senses for our teachers in this life, and from them we learn as from no other masters. Logic may deceive, and faith may fail, and in our agonized longing we cry aloud:—

‘ ‘ 0 for the touch of a vanished hand,And the sound of a voice that is still! ”

These reach both mind and heart as no mere argument, no plausible theories and no inspired eloquence can. Spiritual­ism without phenomena would be a soul without a body— a mere form of religious belief, and (judging from present ap­pearances) a peculiarly indefinite form—an amorphous ghost, hard to recognise ! Swendenborg saw, and strove to dissemi­nate, many of those truths which we must value, and which, through Spiritualism, millions have been led to receive and rejoice in ; but he and his followers had only words by which to make these truths manifest to the world— and how few comparatively have come to a knowledge of them through this verbal teaching ! Of one tiny rap— one touch of a spirit hand— one whisper of a spirit voice, we may truly say, as Tennyson says of the little flower:—

“ flower in the crannied wall,I pluck you out of the crannies;Hold you here, root and all, in my hand Little flower— but if I could understand W hat you are, root and all, and all in all,I should know what God and man is ! ”

In our phenomena lie hidden the secrets af spirit and matter, of life, death, and immortality ; and only through the careful study of these indubitable facts can we learn to value the problems that now perplex us : for though the lips of the Sphinx be silent to those who, in the inscrutable face and the weird, hybrid shape, see only a strange, fantastic form, behind which lurks no vital mystery, they are ever ready, and waiting, to whisper in the ears of wise and earnest seekers after^truth, the words of eternal life ; and they who learn to answer rightly the questions thus propounded, will be those who, in the end, shall read the riddle of the ages.

A N E X T R A O R D IN A R Y M ESM ERIC SEANCE.L ast week’s Truth contains a most interesting article about

a public mesmeric seance, held “ not long ago ” at “ Leaming­ton,” in which Mdlle. Lucile'was the sensitive. Last autumn we described one of Mdlle. Lucile’s seances which took place in the Salon Louis Quinze at Paris, and the narrative in Truth alleges that the same facts were observed somewhere, with a few new ones in addition. The writer describes how, as in Paris, a pin was run through the arm of the sleeping sensitive, who thus spiked walked about among the observers, who were satisfied as to the reality of the fact. The writer adds:—

More wondrous things were to follow. Mdlle. Lucile re­ceived orders to stare into the eyes of one of the dandies on the stage, and she did stare so fixedly that nothing he could do would divert the direction of her gaze. He put his hand up; she slapped it down. He tried to turn round, but with a grasp stronger than a man’s she collared him and wheeled him round to the position of “ eyes front.” Another of the crutch gentlemen sought to interpose his body between the pair, hut he was caught round the waist with no more cere­mony than a bundle of linen, and sent sprawling backwards over a chair.

All the others who tried to repeat the experiment were dealt with in the same fashion. After this M. Diablentrain selected the toughest and brawniest of the sporting contin­gent— a stalwart dragoon officer, six feet high— and made him stand back to back with Mdlle. Lucile. From that moment the somnambulist seemed riveted to his shoulder­blades. It was in vain that he struggled, writhed, jumped, ran round the stage, sat down, and tried in every way to rid himself of his burden— the pretty sleeper, with her features set in an immutable expression of serenity, adhered fast to him. Finally, the young giant, streaming with perspiration, lay down on his stomach with his hands spread ou t; but she reclined on the top of him with her hands folded across her breast, coolly, as if she were on a couch.

It is not necessary to recapitulafb all the tricks which M. Diablentrain made his pupil perform. Enough that by the end of the proceedings the whole audience was convinced that thejr had seen physical forces at work which there was no explaining. The eight gentlemen of the toothpick and crutch agreed that M. Diablentrain was a “ rum 'un.” There lingered in them, however, just enough scepticism to make them desirous of seeing M. Diablentrain perform “ off the stage ; ” so having reached their hotel they hovered about the doorstep, resolving to invite the Frenchman and his attractive pupil to have some supper with them, and after­wards to perform a queer prank or two in private.

Now, a Frenchman never refuses an invitation to supper when courteously tendered. When M. Diablentrain de­scended from his fly escorting Mdlle. Lucile, who was closely muffled up, he bowed civilly to the gentlemen who had assisted him during his performance, and gracefully accepted the hint of the dragoon, who acted as spokesman, that cham­pagne ad libitum and other good things would he spread for his entertainment.

So soon as he had got to be thoroughly festive, M. Diablen­train naturally acceded to the proposals which his host made him for giving them a little performance in private. “ Yell, shentlemen,” drawled he, rather unsteadily, “ what you wish me to do ? I send Mademoiselle to sleep again here, and what next ? Shall we stick three pins in her arm, or will a carving-knife-------? ”

“ No, nothing of that,” answered one of the sportsmen. “ All we want to know is whether Mam’selle could do to any chance stranger she met in the streets or in this hotel what she did to us—stare in the eyes, you know, and get stuck to one’s back ? ”

“ You doubt it ? ” asked the Frenchman. “ Hark ! I hear a noise of wheels. Perhaps it is a traveller coming to the hotel. W ill you that Mademoiselle shall go down and stare at this traveller, then stick to his back, notwithstanding his screams?”

“ I f he screams that would be howling fun,” replied the dragoon, and so concurred they all, laughing.

“ Yell, then, silence, shentlemen!” said M. Diablentrain;

M a y 23, 1879. THE S P I R I T U A L I S T . 249

and, obedient to a wave of his band, tbe French girl pushed back her chair and looked hard at him. In a moment the magnetic fluid which this devilish man seemed to possess had wrought its usual effect, and she was asleep.

Now, it so chanced that the Lord Bishop of Leamington coming to hold a visitation of his clergy was the occupant of the carriage whose wheels the mesmerist had heard. His Lordship was arriving to sleep at the hotel after a hard day’s preaching, lunching, and dining in divers parishes of his diocese. Ascending the staircase, followed by his chaplain and an obsequious array of waiters with luggage, the Bishop met half-way the fair-haired, open-eyed, somnambulist, who gazed at him with the fixity of a statue. “ Good evening,” muttered the Bishop, astonished, and he timidly fingered the brim of his shovel-hat; but with a sharp slap Mdlle. Lucile knocked his hand aside, and sent the episcopal headdress flying over the balusters. “ God bless my soul! ” stammered the Bishop as he stooped; but grasping him tightly by the throat, the somnambulist forced his right reverend head up, and stared at him till he hallooed in terror. Of course his trusty chaplain rushed at once to the rescue, but a back­hander, dealt with no feminine lightness, made him stumble down three steps, he bawling, “ Oh, oh, my jaw ! ” Nothing better happened to a pair of waiters who held a portmanteau between them, for this weight upsetting their equilibrium made them roll from the top o f the stairs to the bottom, as soon as Mdlle. Lucile had pushed one of them on the chest. Meanwhile, the noise of this unholy shindy attracting many residents in the hotel, the passages and staircase were soon filled with a crowd of ladies, who recoiled scandalised at seeing their reverend Bishop— a most austere man— struggling and whining on the stairs with a girl who, for greater con­venience, had now grasped him tight by both ears, and held his head at arms’ length like a pitcher of water, or a lamp full of explosive oil.

The gentlemen of the toothpick and crutch had not bar­gained for teasing a bishop, and they thought it high time to stop the fun. But M. Diablentrain had vanished. Op­pressed. by the heat and the champagne, and losing all recollection, he had retreated to his bedchamber and bolted himself in, nor knocks nor supplications could avail to draw him out. “ To-morrow, shentlemen; no more wine to-night, thank you,” he kept on repeating ; and he might have left the Bishop in his unpleasant predicament all the night had not his lordship himself, galvanised by terror, leaped clean out of Mdlle Lucilc’s grasp, and bounded off with the agility of a football, till he reached a room, whose door he locked. The somnambulist followed him, and thumped at the door, but she could not force i t ; and there she remained hammering till M. Diablentrain, having at last been drawn out by coaxings and threats, came out, rubbing his eyes, to break his spell over her.

Leamington has been talking ever since of this queer affair. As for M. Diablentrain and his pupil, they made a pot of money on the next night, and all subsequent nights of their performance at the Assembly Rooms.

D r . S l a d e . — Dr. Slade returned from Sydney about a fortnight since. During his stay there he has been very fully occupied, and his seances highly satisfactory. Among those who have been convinced through his medium­ship is Mr. E . C. Haviland, of The Australian magazine. He accompanied Dr. Slade to Melbourne, and having written and sworn to a cireumstantial aeeount of his experiences with Dr. Slade, he asked its insertion jn The Argus. That journal refusing to insert it as correspondence, he paid for it as an advertisement, audit duly appeared in the issue of the 18th February, occupying one and a quarter columns of small type. From it it appears that although Mr. Haviland’s visit to Dr. Slade was unpremeditated, his late wife immediately communicated to him, and gave him tests of her identity. Subsequently the spirit of his wife’s father, who had been a captain, tied two knots of a peculiar nature in a handkerchief, which knots were identified as corresponding exactly with knots he was accustomed to tie when in the body. Equally startling manifestations occurred when the medium visited Mr. Ilavitand’s own house. Dr. Slade will finally leave Melbourne for Sydney, era route for San Francisco, in the course of a few days. Since his return here he has not given many sittings, his health having suffered from overwork whilst at Sydney; but those he has given have been of a very satisfactory nature, writing between closed slates (in two instances without the slate being touehed by the medium), test messages, the levitation of chairs, table, and walking-sticks without contact, and many other marvellous phenomena. It is Dr. Slade’s intention to pay another visit to Australia in the course of one or two years, when the reputation he now leaves behind him will ensure his meeting with large success, and adding still further to the Spiritualistic ranks.— Harbinger o f lAght (Melbourne, March 1st).

!j A DEATH-BED VISION.! A n old man died the other night— died in his bed. The j papers say he was a poor old man, friendless, living on ; charity, and that his life had been drear and full of bitter­! ness. The old man died alone, the darkness of night hiding i the darkness of death until his eyes opened to the brightest,

| fairest vision human eyes ever beheld. There was a kind and i tender smile on his pale face when they found him dead.

Men wondered at it, knowing how sadly and hopelessly he had fought the battle of life, and women whispered to each other :— “ Perhaps an angel’s hand smoothed down his grey

| \ locks as the dampness o f death gathered on his wrinkled

I forehead.”j There were men there who had given him money, and

women who had fed him. They knew that he was old and weak and poor, but they had not thought of his dying, and his white face shocked them. They had not stopped to think that one could not go on fighting hunger and poverty for ever. The old man’s heart was like a flint. He did not seem thankful for the food given him, and sometimes he was harsh to the children as they blocked his path. But when men, women, and children walked softly in to look upon the dead, they forgave him everything, forgot everything, and said :— “ He was a poor old man, and we sorrow that his life was not full of sunshine.”

It was not strange that the face of the dead wore that i ( smile. When the human heart had been embittered againstj) the world— when an old man has been wronged by men,i f followed by hunger and driven to despair, he cannot die with ! ) j that burden on his soul. Heaven’s gates must be opened a i little to let the glorious light of Paradise shine into the dying j man’s eyes, and soften his heart until he will say, “ Men havei not dealt by me as they should, but I forgive each and all.”j When the old man awoke in the darkness and felt the

I ! touch of death at his heart there were no tears in his eyes,j) and he grimly rejoiced that his aching limbs were to find ; ( i rest at last. He did not care whether any one missed him, m or what men would say when they entered his desolate room j >i and found his corpse on the bed of straw. Then the angels \)\ threw back the gates and the light came. They came with j | i it, singing so sweetly and tenderly that the old man started

I! up in fear that he might lose a single note. They walked j around him, they floated above him, and all the while his | hard heart was growing softer and filling with such feelings | as it had not known for years.

I “ Men have sneered at your grey locks and trembling j limbs, but you must forgive them,” whispered the angels, i “ I can— I do ! ” he replied.| “ Poverty has oppressed you, misfortune has walked with; you, woe and sorrow have been your companions, but you I must not blame the world,” they whispered.| “ I forgive all men,” he answered.j “ Behold the light from heaven—listen to the music which | is never heard outside the golden gates except by the dying I — look yonder and tell us what you see.”

|| Peering into the glorious light, while the film of death | gathered over his eyes, the old man read:— “ None so old I and poor and hopeless that heaven’s gates are shut against | them.”

| A spirit soared away with the flood of light, and it was only clay which the men and women looked upon next day, They wondered at the tender smile on the white face— they had not heard the music nor seen the flood of glory which lighted up the bare old room.— Religio-Philosopkical Journal.

C a p t a i n J o h n J a m e s ’ s book, Mesmerism, with Hints for Beginners, was published last Tuesday.

Dr. Carter Blake’s lectures at tbe British Museum will commence next Tuesday. Supplementary discourses will also be given by H. St. Chad

. Boscawen, Esq., M.A., on “ The Bronze Gates of Balawat, Assyriaby Dr. i)| E. S. Charnock, F.S.A., late president of tbe London Anthropological ! jj Society, on “ The Populations and Antiquities of Cyprus,” and by others.| ( j There is a great want in London, just now, of a medium who obtains j i j manifestations m daylight, and a general desire exists for opportunities of ! ) | examining new orders of physical phenomena. Cabinets are gradually fall- i)i ing into disuse, to the great advantage of mediums, investigators, and :(! Spiritualists. Strong mediums obtain good materialisation manifestations ! j i while they are held by both hands at dark séances, and the chief effect of ! ) i using a cabinet is to expose them to suspicion and to strain the faith of i '1 observers.

250 THE S PI RI TUALI ST. M a y 23, 1879.

A L E TT E R TO A V ISIT O R .(To the Editor o f “ The Spiritualist." ) (

Sib,— A t the risk of again bringing before the notice of Spiritualists a ) personal matter, I beg of you. to publish the enclosed letter received from a (member of Council of the British National Association of Spiritualists, as SI am ignorant how far he was authorised by the Council to write thus to an >occasional caller at the rooms of the British National Association of Spirit- )ualists. _ ( |

M y acquaintanceship with Mr. Bennett was of the slightest and most (! official character; and so far as I remember, this was the first note I ever j; received from him. ) i

As a matter of fact, I have not, as was my custom, frequently visited the I \rooms during the last two months, nor was it my intention to do so, for ( jreasons which are, I trust, intelligible to my friends. I can only call to ( jremembranee two oecasions on whieh I have stepped inside the rooms of the j IBritish National Association of Spiritualists smee the date I have given. /But on those occasions the traditional courtesy was extended to me hy the (officials in charge; and I hope that other inquirers will eontinue to receive (the same.— Yours truly, C. Carter Blake. )

The Mansion, Richmond-hill, near London, April 28th, 1879. )Dear Sir,— There is a feeling among some of the members of the (

B .N .A .S ., and it is shared by more than a few, that the influence of your )visits to the reading-room is to a eertain extent prejudicial to the interests )of the Association. I should feel very sorry for you to feel personally (annoyed by any expression of the kind; and it is with the hope of avoiding this that I venture to send you a few lines, whieh I hope you will kindly >accept in the spirit in which they are intended.— I am, yours faithfully, /'

Edward T. Bennett. /Dr. Carter Blake. '

R E LIG IO U S M A N IA .From “ Mind and Matter ” (Philadelphia), May 10th. (

Oh the 4th instant, public attention was arrested by the announcement ) that Mr. Charles E. Ereeman had, while labouring under religious delusion, ? taken the life of his little daughter, at Pocasset, Mass. Por this insensate, i ( cruel aet, he and his wife were arrested and taken to Barnstable, where they j S were lodged in jail. While under arrest, and on his way to the latter place, j ) Ereeman addressed the passengers in the car, loudly reiterating his eon- U victions that he had obeyed a divine mandate, his wife seconding him, and j i both expressed no anxiety as to the future. A correspondent of The Times, j j of Philadelphia, writing from Boston, says :— \)

“ Ereeman was arraigned at Barnstable to-day, in company with his wife. U Both maintained their composure and insist that God will justify their \l action and relieve them from all human penalties. Ereeman says that for i ( thirty-six hours it had been impressed upon him that he must kill one of his j ) family, but he was doubtful whether it should be himself, his wife; his oldest j) daughter, or the little girl. Finally the Lord made it clear to him that it j( must be the little girl. He did not tell his wife at first. He waked up j' j at half-past two on Thursday morning and told his wife what he was going j j to do. They talked it over together and both agreed that it was right, j ) They then knelt by the bed and prayed. He did not tell his wife at first, i < because Abraham did not tell his wife when he went to sacrifice Isaac. After ! ( they had agreed to kill the child, both went into the room where the two \ j little girls were sleeping together. The man went out to the shop and pro- j / cured a large sheath-kmfe with a long blade, singing all the way out and j j back. He said he never felt so happy in his life. He set the lamp in the ; ( ehair and his wife stood by the bed looking on. He turned the bed-clothes ij down to expose the child, and stabbed her in the left side. She awoke, j > turned toward her father, stretched up her arms, and said, ‘ Oh, father.1 He i i took her and held her till she died, which was in about five minutes. The i I older girl became partially awake, and the mother carried her out o f the ; ( room before she knew of her sister’s death. Ereeman then got into bed !) with the dead child in his arms and stayed until after daylight ; then he I) dressed and went to the station for the mail, whieh he carries. Meeting i ( Alvin Wing there, he asked him to notify the Second Adventists in the j J neighbourhood of a meeting at his house at three o’cloek that afternoon. 1 j The Adventists came, supposing it was a farewell meeting before Ereeman I) went on his tour as preaeher. In the meeting, Ereeman told the story of i ( killing the child, and showed the body to them all. Strange as it may seem, i i they all kept the matter secret, and told no one after the meeting dispersed, i j

“ Great indignation exists against Ereeman and all the Adventists. The j ) latter stick together, and even now have the effrontery to defend Ereeman. 1) Ereeman said before his arrest that if those who do not believe in God l would eome to his house they would see the wonderful works of Almighty ) G od; that the child would be raised on Sunday morning and would help Shim preaeh. The extremest fanaticism, almost beyond belief, seems to (inspire the Adventists. When one of the neighbours first saw Mrs. Ereeman, jshe answered all inquiries about Ereeman by saying: ‘ The Lord will take )eare of that; Abraham’s God will raise her.’ Ereeman says he never felt so )tenderly toward his children as on Wednesday evening when they were put )to bed, and he kissed them before he struek the fatal blow. He hoped that jGod would stay hisjiand, as he did Abraham’s, but since the death of his (child, he says that the revelation has come that the ehild will be raised; if j jshe is not raised by Sunday morning he will despair. Ereeman is thirty-four ) jyears old. Before he became an Adventist he was a Methodist probationer. ( iThe officers have the knife with, which the murder was committed. Mrs. \ |Ereeman is slight in form, and thirty-two years of age. Neither of the two ) Ishow any fear. Ereeman said he had a chance of making a eonvert bv killing j Jhis girl, and thinks he is a second Abraham; says he loves his daughter ) jbetter than himself. Mrs. Ereeman echoes all her husband says. Many of (!the neighbours of Ereeman sustain him in his course, many of them being i 1well-to-do farmers. An effort will be at once made to arrest some of those ) iwho were present at the meeting at Ereeman’s house on the charge of being ( jaccessories to the deed.” ' ) ‘

P E R P E TU AL D IRECTO RS.Seventeen retiring members of the Council of the National Association

of Spiritualists have been nominated for re-election, two other Spiritualists have been nominated hi addition, and the system is such that the members are obliged to elect all the nineteen, whether they like to or not.

_ The reason of this is, that the number of seats vacant is twenty-six, and nineteen candidates only having been nominated, there is no election, and they will walk straight in.

W e do not say that they are not all very suitable persons, but point out the utter helplessness of the members, under the present regulations, to select the managers.

To have brought about a contested election for one seat only, it would have been necessary to have nominated eight more candidates, seven of whom the members would have been obliged to appoint to fill up the twenty- six vacancies, but the additional man would have eaused a contested election for a single seat.

All this arises from a small public body having an enormous Council of seventy-eight members, one-third of whom retire every year, and are eligible for re-election. Most of these are absentees at the meetings, the real government being earned on by twelve or fifteen, who attend regularly, and four-fifths of whom have rendered no publie services of importance to Spiritualism, and are ahnost unknown to the majority of the members.

The remedy would be to reconstruct the Council by reducing it to, say, twenty members in all, after whieh a general election would place in office those in whom the members at large have confidence, and who are known for their publie services.

There is wide discontent with the present system of management among the members. Mr. Martin Smith, Mr. Massey, Mr. Eabyan Dawe, and Mrs. Makdougall Gregory have left the Association altogether, several others have resigned their seats on the Council, being afraid to have their names eommitted to its acts, various private members have written to us express­ing then desire to have a new organization, one or another calls upon us almost daily expressing dissatisfaction, and for three er four months past increase in the number of members has been praetieally at a standstill, in this the best part of the year.

All could be put right, and harmony in an otherwise good organization be established, by placing the whole ease in the hands of the members, and having a general electron, resulting in a Council of reasonable size. But as inaugurating a free and full election would be a “ happy despatch ” on the part of three-fourths the present working rulers, no such highly necessary step is likely to originate in that quarter. Members outside the Council do not care to take aetion, beeause of the iuharmony and abuse which would be incurred in doing such useful work, so there is a dead-lock, and a widespread want of enthusiasm and interest in the welware of the organization. The annual general meeting next Tuesday will probably be a thin one, and the members of-the Council will have it pretty mueh to them­selves. There is no power to do anything at the meeting, no special notices of motion having been given in.

It is a great pity that the members at large eannot put everything right by means of a general election. Something ought to be done to abolish the prevalent discontent and dulling apathy.

In The Spiritualist of May 9th will be found a series of fourteen motions, now entered on the minute-book of the Council and signed by the Chairman, the decisions of the Couneil over all of whieh we have asserted to be opposed to the interests of the members at large.. It was our bounden duty to point this out, aiid the official motions are there for the members to examine for themselves. But the Couneil, in return, is doing The Spiritualist all the harm it conveniently can. After its last meeting, it resolved to cut down its advertisements iu this journal to next to nothing at the expiration of the present term, but had previously made us an offer almost worthless to a weekly journal with a circulation, but adapted at every point to the requirements of a monthly journal with no circulation at all. The offer was probably made to us as a matter of show, for the purpose of being rejected. It also gave us notice to quit the little branch office we have on the Association’s premises, on the ground that more rent would be gained by letting all the rooms together. But now it is not letting them together, and is accepting the same rent as offered for them before and from the same tenant, namely, £ 6 0 a year from Mrs. Maltby. The General Purposes Committee did not even think it necessary to make any explana­tion or to apologise to the Council for the difference between its former estimate of increased rental and the present result of a heavy loss by the departure of a tenant.

D r . Carter Blake.— Dr. Carter Blake, whose British Museum lectures were recently honoured by a notice in the Times, is leeturer on Compara­tive Anatomy at Westminster Hospital, and was formerly Secretary to the Anthropological Society of London. He has often publicly attested the genuineness of the phenomena of Spiritualism, but we believe is in doubt as to their source or sources. He has done a vast amount of honorary work for the National Association of Spiritualists, and recently worked daily for one or two months in drawing up a most useful catalogue of the books in the library of the Association. He frequently took charge of semi-public seances under the direction of the Séance Committee, and in that responsible position helped to satisfy strangeis, quieted enemies, and was always on good terms with the medium. H e has acted on the Research Committee since its formation, and was present when it obtained most of its best tests. He explained to foreigners the objects of the Association ; and when Don Rafael Parga, of the Spanish South Ameriean Society of Bogota, was in London, he received him, and translated his conversation for others. Published papers show that lie has studied Spiritualism at intervals from the year 1856, and he was publicly one of the truest friends of Dr. Slade, attesting in print wonderful manifestations he had seen in his presence, _ standing by him when he was attacked in a pohee-eourt, and volunteering to appear as a witness in his defence. Dr. Carter Blake is a Catholic.

M ay 2 3 , 1 8 7 9 . THE S P I R I T U A L I S T . 2 5 1

H E A L IN G M E D IU M S H IP . jThe following paragraph from The Medical Press and Circular of May i (

1st, is headed “ Spiritualistic Quackery ” : — ‘ j )

“ A sickening exhibition of the most unblushing quackery is being weekly j ( •made in certain so-called Spiritualistic newspapers. These contain, many of ! > them, numerous advertisements from persons who arrogate power of the j) most absurd description to themselves ; one, more believing in the credulity j ( of his victims, or more despicably daring in his pretensions, announces ] ‘ healing by the laying on of Bands,’ and ‘magnetised fabric for the allevia- ji tion or cure of disease, 5s. per packet; renewal, 5s.’ Another advertises, • / ‘ Developing and healing. Medical advice to ladies and children. Terms j) modified to suit circumstances.’ Anything more atrociously disgusting than this array of rascally cheating it would be difficult to conceive ; and in view S of the grave harm that may be daily inflicted on the innocent but super- ) stitious victims of their base deceit, it becomes a pressing duty to devise ) some effectual means of opposing a system vicious in intent, and degrad- j ing in fulfilment. It is a disgrace that the state of our law is such as to ( permit these vampires to pursue their course unimpeded ; but this being so, j it is the more a duty that the profession should in some way expose the ) serious nature of the practices that are carried on by these human leeches. ) W e purpose devoting some attention to the subject in a series of articles and exposures.”

All the mesmeric healers we know anything about have, like the late Drs- ( Elliotson and Esdaile, in many cases cured inveterate diseases by mesmerism where the ordinary medical professors had failed ; they can produce plenty (of certificates of this, and have influential private supporters quite educated jand critical enough to sift evidence and observe facts. The Medical Press, iin its officiousness and want of knowledge, will merely raise a vast amount ,of prejudice against the medical profession among a large body of people if <it begins an attack on healing mediums. Médical orthodoxy is getting (tyrannical, especially in killing children wholesale by erysipelas brought on iby vaccination, and then entering on the certificates used for statistical (purposes “ died of erysipelas,” and omitting all mention of the initial act 1which resulted in death.

W ith one part of The Medical Press paragraph we agree— namely, that about “ magnetised fabrics.” In the first place, magnetism has nothing whatever to do with the subtle forces at work in mesmerism, and, in the second, mesmerised fabrics (supposing them to exert a healing influence on people who arc psychieally sensitive) are so cheaply produced that they might very well be supplied for nothing, instead of by their sale offering tempta­tion to people who possess no healing power, to imitate the financial part of the system, and to defraud the public. For this reason wc have always refused to insert advertisements about “ magnetised fabrics ” when they have been tendered to The Spiritualist. _

Nevertheless, both in ancient and modern times, people have been cured of diseases occasionally, by healing mediums sending “ aprons to the sick.” Doctors know that infectious diseases might be transmitted in this way, but they are ignorant about the transmission of hifcctious health. Erom the scientific interest of the subject we shall be glad if independent observers in private life will send us for publication, with their names and addresses appended, certificates about the cure of diseases from a distance by the method just stated. _

The Medical Press seems to be horror-stricken by the words, “ Terms modified to suit circumstances.” Perhaps the public may not regard the system of charging a labouring man and a millionaire at the same rates, from the professional and trades-union point of view of the critic now under notice.

SALEM WITCHCRAFT.U n d e r the above heading the Newburyport Merrimac Journal of the

5th instant informs us that “ llev. Dr. Eiskc closed a series of lectures before the Athenæum last week with a description of the feeling, humiliation, and bitter remorse which followed the persecution and execution of the (so- called) Salem witches.” The following extract from the discourse will give our readers some idea of the “ repentanee ” that came too late :— j

“ With the change of views came bitter repentance. The judges made j their public confession ; the jury made their confession ; ministers and j churches made their confession. The general court made its confession by j appointing a day for public fasting, humiliation, and prayer hi view of what j had happened. And if was oil that East Day that Judge Sewall, whose conduct especially challenges our respect and admiration, rose in his pew ill the old South Church, in the presence of a large assembly, and proceeding to the pulpit handed to the minister a written confession, in which he acknow- edged and deplored the error into which lie had been led, and prayed for the forgiveness of God and of his people, and earnestly requested the con-

regation to uuite with him in devout supplications that it might not bring own the Divine displeasure upon himself, his family, or his country.

During the reading of this paper the good man stood with bowed head and tearful eye ; and during the remainder of his life he annually kept a day of fasting and prayer, in which he renewed his penitence and eonfession for the part lie took in the great delusion.” _

No wonder “ the sober second thought ” of these people changed their views and brought bitter repentance, when the fact became generally known that twenty-four innocent persons were put to death in Salem (1692) as witches, who were simply spiritual mediums. The heavens are again j opened, and light and knowledge are flooding the earth; yet bigotry isinot j dead, and the poor mediums of this age are persecuted in many ways, j They need defenders more than ever at this very time, for they are martyrs, j more or less, every one of them. Spiritualists) protect your mediums, if j you desire God to protect you.— Banner of Bight.

Cotrespontience.IGreat freedom is given to correspondents, who sometimes express opinions diametrically

opposed to those o f this jou rn a l and its readers. Unsolicited communications cannot be returned; copies should be kept by the writers, Preference is given to letters ihhich are not anonymous.] '■ —....... .......... .. i . * •

THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. * '

Sir,—I desire to thank very heartily, through your pages, the kind friends who, sympathizing with our Cambridge work, have given us help by sending us worthful books and encouraging letters, since my time will not allow me to thank them individually. I long that we may go forward together bearing the shield that Florence bore long ago, parted pale gules and argent, head and heart defending the things that we are certain about, leaving opinions to take care of themselves. Thus and thus only will spiritual knowledge be increased to us, making good use of what we have already. J. A. Campbell.

SUNDAY MEETINGS.

Sir,— 1 see in the report of Steinway Hall meetings, several tests were given to which no response is made. I will, for the benefit of the public, state that they were recognised, and the people came to me directly after service. Many of these tests are of too private a nature to appear, even in print, while many of those receiving tests have a decided objection to having their names brought forward in any way, which is not to be wondered at, since Spiritualism is so little understood.

I will only add that these meetings have been attended by the greatest success from the first, and will continue for the present.

J. W illiam Fletcher.Saturday, 4, Bloomsbury-place, W .C .

LETTERS EROM “ OUTSIDERS.”

Sir,—I read “ Outsider’s ” letter in to-day’s S piritualist with much satisfaction. It so completely embodies my own views, and I believe those of a large number of earnest inquirers standing, as it were, on the “ border­land,” that I can only heartily echo his wish that some of our leading Spiritualists should give us more aid in our search after truth.

Lectures are valuable, especially in arresting popular attention to the subject of“ Spiritualism,” but it seems to me that we require more séances, or circles where, on payment of a moderate fee to cover expenses, they whose attention has already been interested may, on showing “ bona-fides,” attend and judge for themselves.

Outsider asks for “ facts but if I were to give in detail the results of my own limited experienee they would, 1 fear, possess but little interest to many of your advanced readers, who would probably look upon them as the mere A B G of the subject. If, however, you can spare me space to mention briefly a few of the facts that have come under my own notice it will best illustrate the need and present position of myself, and I cannot help thinking many other “ outsiders.”

About two years ago the subject was brought before my notice in con­versation with a friend, in the course of which it transpired that be had seen some most extraordinary phenomena, and was himself—though be had never made any professional use of the fact—a medium. I was greatly surprised, for I knew him to be a truthful, elear-beaded man, and, moreover, I had no right to treat his belief as a delusion, for we were equals in position, I being head-master of a London Board school, and he holding a similar post in a Church school in the same district. He was willing to be tested, and accordingly we arranged a small circle, and met at my bouse. We soon obtained “ results.”

Ineidents that had occurred in my family twenty years before, and which could only have been known to my wife aud myself, were given with names and dates in a marvellously accurate manner by means of a code of signs shown by “ table tilting.”

I was literally “ staggered,” and resolved to follow the matter up.We met after this frequently, and though at times mistakes were made,

always with increasing success. _. One incident I shall never forget. Only three, Mr A------(the medium),

Mr. B------, a gentleman of position in the parish, and myself, were sitting ata small work-table. The spirit of a dancing-girl was said to be present, and after sundry tiltings of the table it began to keep time by tapping on the floor with its three legs, and showing a disposition to cross the room. We allowed it to do so, and followed it, simply keeping our fingers lightly pressed on the top, when it literally danced round the two rooms, keeping time with its “ one, two, three”—“ one, two, three,” in a fashion that would have satisfied the most exacting M.C. Being somewhat suspicious of my friend, the medium, he left the table at my r equest, and sat at tbe lurthcr end of the rooms apparently unconcerned. Still the d nice went on with but littledecrease of vigour, Mr. B------and myself barely touching the table withour fingers until we were obliged to give it up.

After this Mr. B------became developed, as my friend Mr. A------- termedit, into a writing medium. _

At first his whole frame would seem to be convulsed, and he would strike the table so rapidly and violently that _we were sometimes obliged to hold bis arm to prevent his doing himself injury ; and on our plaeing a sheet of paper on tile table and a pencil in his hand, he would strike tire table so fiercely that the lead was literally crushed. After a time, however, his arm seemed to become more under control, until at length wc used to get short encouraging sentences, written in a peculiar jerky hand; and lie assured us (and I who know him well believe him implicitly) that the words were written apart from auy effort of his own will, by some power which seemed to make his hand form the letters required. '

I am sorry to say that these “ sittings” used to exhaust him so much that, acting on advice, he gave them up, and left us with regret. My friend, the “ medium,” accepted a post in another part of England; and I hear from him now and then as to the communion he has with spirits, apart from any connection with table or circle.

252 THE SPIRITUALIST. M ay 23, 1879.

So our little circle was broken up, and I have not amongst my own personal friends those whom I should care to ask to pursue the investigation of the subject in a proper spirit. _

Tor myself, I must candidly confess that beyond a slight, pleasant, thrilling sensation, whieh always seems to pervade my body when at the table, I have only once felt any direct “ control,” and I may say en passant that I am of anything but a nervous or hysterical “ temperament.”

W e had been sitting at the table one evening, when without any apparent cause— for we had been unusually cheerful— I commenced “ crying.” The tears rolled down my cheeks, and (as one of my friends remarked) “ I blubbered like a child.” After the sitting we went for a short walk, when feeling a strange, but not unpleasant sort of influence about my forehead, I stopped, placed my hand on my friend’s shoulder, and again “ sobbed bitterly.” I felt much relieved afterwards, but no clue was given then or since, and the matter has remained a mystery.

Now, Mr. Editor, I am one of the most non-lachrymosal mortals in the world, so much so, that in solemn moments of my life, when my deepest feelings have sought relief, I have been unable to shed a tear.

This, then, is my position. I have passed through the phases in which this subject is treated with indifference, ridicule, contempt, or idle curiosity, and I stand at this stage of my investigation perfectly unprejudiced, willing to accept “ Spiritualism ” as a Divine trutli if I can get further proof, equally willing to accept any sound scientific reasons for such phe­nomena as— although I have given deep consideration to such theories as “ hysteria ” and “ uneonscious cerebration ” — arc at present beyond my ken.

M y anxious desire is to “ go on.”I have read much of the hteraturc of Spiritualism, and as far as I have

gone have found nothing in its doctrines antagonistic to revealed religion as generally received.

But truth is great, and it must prevail; and if in the course of my investigation 1 should find that its doctrines are true, and that they do clash with my present religious convictions, why, so much the worse for my orthodoxy.

As a mere novice, therefore, I place myself beside “ Outsider ” and his friends, and ask for more “ light ” — for more ready means of gaining it from those who have tested the theory of “ Spiritual communion,” and found it to be true. Earnest.

London, E ., May 16, 1879.

Price Three Shillings and Sixpence. Imperial 8vo. Red edges.

“RIFTS IN THE VEIL.”Contains, among various standard specimens of the work of some of the best

, minds in Spiritualism, a portion of the continuation of

THE M YSTERY OE ED W IN DROOD,Purporting to have been given by the spirit of Charles Dickens through a writing medium ; the selections display the humour and genius of Dickens. The hook also contains some

SPIRIT TEACHINGS,Given through the mediumship of “ M .A. (Oxon).”

This hook is one of the cheapest and most elegant works ever published in connection with Spiritualism.

The Spiritualist Newspaper Branch Office, London.

W ill be Published in a few Days,Cloth, Crown 8vo, Bed Edges, Price Five Shillings and Sixpence. Post Free

TH E FIRST VOLUME OF

SPIRITS BEFORE OUR EYES.By W IL L IA M H . H A R R ISO N .

The Book is full of evidence of Spirit-Identity.The Superfine Edition, bound in half calf, Eight Shillings and Sixpence.

The Spiritualist Newspaper Branch Office, London, W .C .

Just Published,SPIRIT-IDENTITY.By “M.A. (Oxon).”

Cloth 8vo, red edges, price 5s. post free.The Spiritualist Newspaper Branch Office, London, W .C.

Price Five Shillings. Post Free. Cloth. i(

A LYRIC OF THE GOLDEN AGE. !)Given through the inspirational mediumship of Thomas Lake Harris, i)

These poems, given while Mr. Harris was in a state of trance, are of rare :) literary excellence. )

The Spiritualist Newspaper Branch Office, Bloomsbury, London. !

Price 3s. 6d. Post Free. Illustrated. Demy 8vo, 407 pp.STUDIEN UBER DIE GEISTERWELT,

B y the B aroness A delma von Y ay (Countess W urm brand).

Also, by the same Authoress, price 2s. 6d., post free,(Illustrated with diagrams)

• GEIST, KRAFT, STOFF.The Spiritualist Newspaper Branch Office, Bloomsbury, London.

Now ready, the Second and Concluding Volume of the

MECHANISM: OF MAN:LIFE, M IN D , SOUL.

a popular introduction to mental physiology and psychology .

By E D W A R D W . CO X, S.L.,President of the Psychological Society of Great Britain.

V ol . II . T reatin ' a or t h e M ec h a n ism in A ction , Price 12s. Gd.Vol. I. may be had, price 10s. 6d. ; the work complete, 22s. Gd.

CONTENTS :P a r t II.— T H E M ECH AN ISM IN ACTION.

Book I .— The Normal Action of the Mechanism of Man.— Chapter 1. Intro­ductory ; 2. The Action of the Material Mechanism in Health; 3. Of Un­conscious Cerebration ; 4. Of Mental Sympathy and Communion ; 5. Body, Mind, and Soul in Health.

B ookll.—The Abnormal Action of theMechanism.— Chaptcrl. Introduction — The Psychology of the Future ; 2. Howto be Pursued ; 3. Objections and Objectors; 4 Precautions in Research ; 5. Prepossession and Dominant Idea ; 6. How we Know ; 7. Scientific Evidence; 8. The Plan Proposed.

Book I II .— Of Sleep and Dream.— Chapter 1. W hat Sleep Is ; 2. The Physiology of Sleep ; 3. The Mental Condition of Sleep ; 4. The Seat of Sleep; 5. Of Dream; 6. The Material Mechanism of Dream; 7. The Psycho­logy of Dream; 8. The Phenomena of Dream ; 9. The Philosophy of Dream ; 10. Conclusions. "

Book IV .—The Phenomena of Delirium and Insanity.— Chap ter 1. Delirium ; 2. Insanity.

Book V . The Phenomena of Somnambulism.— Chapter 1. Introduction ; 2. Somnambulism ; 3. Natural Somnambulism ; 4. Artificial Somnambulism ; 5. The Phenomena of Artificial Somnambulism ; G. The Physiology of Somnam­bulism ; 7. The Psychology of Somnambulism.

Book V I .— Supersensuous Perception.— Introduction ; Chapter 1. The Phenomena of Supersensuous Perception ; 2. The Physiology and Psychology of Supersensuous Perception.

Book V II .— Trance.— Introduction ; Chapter 1. The Phenomena of Trance ; 2. The Physiology and Psychology of Trance.

Book V I I I .— Psychism. — Introduction; Chapter 1. Objections and Objectors; 2, The Witnesses; 3. Psychic Force; 4. The Methods of Inves­tigation ; 5. The Phenomena of Psychism ; G. The Psychic ; 7. The Physio­logy of Psychic Force; 8. The Directing Intelligence ; 9. Phenomena of Psychism; 10. More Phenomena of Psychism; 11. Other Phenomena of Psychism; 12. Communicated Phenomena; 13. The Physiology and Psy­chology of Psychism.

Book I X .— The Argument.— Chapter 1. The Summing up; 2. Conclusions.

LONGM AN AND CO., PATERNOSTER ROW .

J u st P u b l is h e d .

Price One Shilling. Cloth. Red edges.

A CLERGYMAN ON SPIRITUALISM.Narrating how a Clergyman prayerfully and earnestly inquired into Spir:- tuali m, and sitting forth his exporionce.

W ith a dedication to

T he REY. SIR W IL L IA M DU NBAR, BART.,

BY

LISETTE MAKDOUGALL GREGORY,Dealing with some of the difficulties of the Clergy in relation to Spiritualism.

The Spiritualist Newspaper Branch Office, London, W .C .

Now ready. Cloth. Pp. 234. Five Shillings.

A FORECAST OF THE RELIGION OF THE FUTURE.Being Short Essays on some Important Questions on Religious

Philosophy.By W. W. CLARK.

Contents :— The Philosophy of Evil and Suffering— Conscience : Its Place and Function — Religion and Dogma — Psychism and Spiritualism — The Philosophy of Inspiration and Revelation— Christianity: Its Place and Human Elements. __

London ; Trubner and Co., 67 and 59, Ludgate-hill, E.C.

J ust Published.Prico 2s. Gd., Crown 8vo. Cloth. Red Edges.

MESMERISM, WITH niNTS FOR BEGINNERS.By Captain J o h n J a m e s

(Formerly of the Ninetieth Light Infantry).

A text-hook by an author who has had thirty years’ experience in Mesmerism. "

The Spiritualist Nowspaper Branch Office, London.

Prico Two Shillings. Post free. CJoth. Red F.dgcs.

SPIRITUALISM.By P. P. A lexander, M.A.,

Author of Mill and Carlyle, Moral Causation, etc.This work contains among other items of interest a record of phenomona

observed at séances by the author, and a close criticism of some of the writ­ings of Professor Tyndall about Spiritualism.

“ Mr. Alexander is unquestionably a very clever writer. ” — Saturday Review. The Spiritualist Newspaper Branch Office, Bloomsbury, London.

M ay 23 , 1879.

BOOKS ON SP IRITU A LISM , PSYCH O ­LOGY, M ESM ERISM , AN TH RO PO ­LOGY, A N D BIOLOGY.

Representing the English and Am erican Literature o f Spirit­ualism , obtainable o f W . H . H arnson , Spiritu als N ewspaper Branch Office, 38, Great Russell Street, Bloom sbury, Lon don, W .C .

[F o r purposes o f m utual convenience tho above office has been rentod on the prem ises o f the National Association o f Spiritualists, but the Association and The Spiritualist N ews­paper and publishing business are not in an y w ay connected w ith each other.]

R E S E A R C H E S IN T H E P H E N O M E N A O F S P IR IT ­U A L IS M , b y W illiam Crooks, F .R .S . The bost w ork over published to scientifically dem onstrate the reality o f som e o f tho physical phenom ena o f Spiritualism , 5s.

T H E SO U L O F T H IN G S , by W illiam D enton. In this extraordinary book the author, w ho Is a Professor o f G eology in Am erica, em ployed cla irvoyants to reveal to him b y vision events connected w ith the early h istory o f geologica l specim ens. These sensitives thus saw tho M astodon and other extinct animals as i f liv ing and m ovin g before them ; they likewise saw the scenes b y w hich these prehistoric animals w ore surrounded. The author also sent his cla irvoyants to exam ine portions o f different planets, and they gavo descriptions o f the inhabitants, physical geograph y , and vogotation o f each. The book is illustrated w ith num erous en grav­ings, draw n b y the sensitives as tho visions passed before their oyoa. Tho substance o f a review o f this b ook in “ The Spiritualist ” w as to tho effect that thoro is no doubt as to the integrity o f tho author, w ho also possesses sufficient intelligence to solect cla irvoyants w ho w ould not cheat him. Tho question as to tho reliability of tho narratives therefore narrow s itself down to tho question o f tho reliability o f cla irvoyan ce, w hich, ■when oraployed to gain inform ation about distant places on earth, has been found som etim es to g ivo accurate results and sometimes inaccurate results. Tho review further expresses tho opinion that i f over iuterplanctary com m unication should bo established, it will bo by m eans o f cla irvoyan ce o r som e other o f tho latent ami littlounderstood spiritual pow ers in m an. Three vols. Si-is. ; or 8s. per single volum e.

W O R K S M A N D R E W JA C K SO N D A V IS ,

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Tho Physician, V o l. I. Gt. Ila rm onia . . 7 0Tho Teacher. „ II. , , . . 7 0The Seer. ,, 111. ,, . , 7 6Tho Reform er. „ IV . , , . . 7 6The Thinker. ,, V . ,, . . 7 0M agic Staff. An A ntobiograpliy o f A . J. Davis . 7 0Arnbula, or D ivine Guest . . . 7 6A pproach in g C risis; or, Truth v. T h eo logy . . 5 0Answ ers to Evcr-recnrrring Questions from the People. 7 6 Children’s Progressive Lyceum M anual . . 3 0Death and tho Aftcr-L ifo . . . . 3 0H istory and Philosophy o f Evil . . . 3 6H arbinger o f Health . , . . . 7 6llarm on ia l Man ; or, Thoughts for tho A ge , . 3 6Events in the Life o f a Seer (M em oranda) . . 7 6Philosophy o f Special Providence . . . 2 6Free Thoughts con cern in g R eligion . , . 3 6Penetralia ; Coutaining llarm onial Answ ers . . 7 6Philosophy o f Spiritual Intercourse . . . 6 0Tho Inuer L ife : or, Spirit Mj-stcries Explained . 7 0The Tem plo—o n Disoaso o f brains and N erves . . 7 0The Fountain, w ith Jets o f Now M eanings . . 5 0Tale o f a Physician ; or Seeds and Fruits o f Crime . 5 0 Tho Diakka and their Earthly Victim s . . 2 6Conjugal Love, Truth v . T h eology . . . 3 0M orning Lectures . . . . . 7 6

M IS C E L L A N E O U S B O O K S.

Oriontal R elig ion (Johnson) , . . . 2 1 0R elig ion s o f the W orld (L e igh )—A w ell-w ritten littlo

ix x ik , rocom m euded b y T ub S p ir it u a l is t news­paper . . . . . . . 2 6

K eys o f the Creeds . . , . . 5 0Tho W heel o f tho L aw (Alabaster)—A book containing

interesting particulars and legeuds rotating to Buddhism . . . . . . l i 0

H istory o f A m erican Socialism s (N oyes) . . 18 0T b o Rom antic H istory o f Buddha (Beal) . . 1 2 6Catena o f Buddhist Scriptures (Beal) . , . 16 0Threading m y W ay, au Autobiography, b y R obert Dale

Owen . . . . . . . 7 6Tho Nursery T alcs, Traditions, and H istories o f tlio

Zulus, b j ' the R ev H enry G allaw ay, M .D . In six parts . . . . . . . 16 0

Tho Life and Teachings o f Confucius. Translated iuto English, with Prelim inary Essays and E xplana­tory Notes, b y Jam es L ogg o , D .D . . . . 10 6

M yths aud M yth-makers. O ldT alesan d Sopcrstitions interpreted b y Com parative M ythology, b y Joliu Fisko, M .A . . . . . . . 10 6

A w n s -M Iin d ; or, A Voice from the Gauges, by auIndian Officer . . . . . . 5 0

T h o Life and W orks o f Mencius. Trauslated into English from the Chinese Classes, by Jam es Legge,D.H., L L .D ................................................................ ............. 12 0

On Exalted States o f the N ervous System ; an (a llegod ) E xplanation o f tho M ysteries o f M odern Spirtual- ism , Dreams, Trance, Som nam bulism , Vital P h otogiapliv , Faith, W ill, Origin o f Life, Auies- thesia, and N ervous Congestions, by R obert II. Collyer, M .D. . . . 4 . . . 12 6

The D ervishes; or, Oriontal Spiritualism , b y John P. Brow n, Secretary o f the Legation o f the United States o f A m erica at Constantinople . . 1 0

M ythology and Popular Traditions o f Scandinavia,N orth Gorm any aud tho Netherlands, b y Benjam in Thorpe. In threo vols. . . , . 18 0

The K o ra n ; eom m only called tho Aleornu o f Mahom- raod. Translated into English imm ediately from tho orig inal A rab ic , b y G eorge Salo . . 10 6

THE S P I R I TU AL I S T .

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“ M .A . (O X O N ),” on

P S Y C H O G R A P H T .Illustrated w ith D iagram s.

SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS.L ist o f W orks bearing on the subject.Preface.Introduction.P sychography in the Past : Guldenstubbé—Crookes.Personal Experiences in Private, and with Public Psychics.

General Corroborative Evidence.I .—That attested b y the senses1. —O f Sight.— Evidence o f—Mr. E. T . Bennett, a M alvern

Reporter, M r. Jam es B am s, M r. H . D. Jencken.2. —O f H earing.— Evidence o f—M r. Serjeant C ox , Mr.

G eorge K in g , M r. H ensleigh W edgw ood, Canon Mouls, Baroness V on Vay, G. H . Adshead, W . P. Adshead, E , H . Valter, J. L . 0 ’ Sullivan,Epes Sargent, James O’ Sargent, John W etherbce, II. B. Storor, C. A . Greenleaf, Public Committee w ith Watkins.

I I . —From tho W riting o f Langnages unknow n to the Psychic :—

Ancient Greek—Evidence ©f H on. R . D ale Owen and Mr. B lackburn (Slade) ; D utch , Germ an, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Slade) ; Russian—Evidence o f M adam e Blavatsky (W atkins) ; R om aic—Evidence o f T . T . T im a y - cnis (W atkins) ; Chinese (W atkins).

II I . — From Special Testa which Preclude Previous Prepa­ration o f tho W riting :—

Psychics and Conjurers Contrasted ; Slade before the Research Com m ittee o f the British National A ssociation o f Spiritualists. Slade Tested b y O. Carter B lake, D oc. S ci. ; Evidence of—Rev. J. Page H opps, W . H . H arrison, and J. Seaman (Slade) ; W riting within Slates securely screwed together—Evidence o f Mrs. A n drew s and J . M ould ; D icta­tion o f W ords at the Tim e o f the Experim ent—Evidence of— A . R . W allace, F .R .G .S ., H ensleigh W edgw ood , J .P ., R ev . Thom as Colley, W . O xley, G eorge Wylci, M .D ,, Miss K islingbury ; W riting iu A nsw or to Questions Inside a Closed Box—E vidcuco o f Messrs. A dshead; Statement o f Circumstances under w hich E xperim ents w ith F . W . M onck w ere conducted at K eigh ley ; W riting on Glass Coated w ith White Paiut—Evidence o f Benjam in Colcmau.

Letters addressed to T h e T im e s , on tho snbject o f tho Prosccutiou o f llen ry Slade, b y Messrs. Joy, Joad, and Professor Barnett, F R .S .E .

Evidence o f W. H. H arrison, Editor o f The Spiritualist,Sum m ary o f Facts Narrated.Deductions, Explanations, and Theories.The Nature o f the Force : its Mode o f O peration—Evidence

o f C. Carter Blake, D oc. Sci., aiad Conrad Cooke, C.E.Detonating Noises in C onnection w ith it—Evidence o f

H ensleigh W edgw ood, J. Page H opps, and Thomas Colley.Tho Nature o f tho IntellU oneo—Dr. C ollyer ’s T h eory ; Dr.

George W y id ’s T h e o ry ; The Ocnlist’s T h eory ; Tho Spirit­ualist’ s Theory.

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PROOF PALPA BLE OF IM M O RTALITY.. B Y E P E S S A R G E N T .

CONTENTS.

C h a p t e r I .—Tho M aterialisation o f Spirits in the Past— P sych ics—Mr. A . R . W allace on Spirits—Tangible A p pa ­ritions—Tho Materialisation o f Spirits through K ate F ox , J. K oons, the Davenport Brothers, D. D. H um e, and Ferdinand Jencken— Spirit Form s, D rapery, and F low ers.

C h a p t b b II. — Phenom enal Proofs o f Im m ortality— Scientific T heory o f Spirit M anifestations—K an t—Em erson — Socrates—Genesis o f the B elief in Im m ortality.

C u a p t b b I I I .— M aterialisationofSpiritd at|Moravia, N .Y ., and Elsow hcro—T estim ony o f Various W itnesses—M edium- ship o f Mrs. Andrew s, Dr. Slade, and M rs. H ollis B illings— K atie K in g —John K ing.

C h aptb u IV .— Materialisations in E ngland—M edium ship o f Mrs. G uppy, Miss Cook, Mr. W illiams, M r. H ern e—E x­periments—Testim ony o f Various Witnesses.

C h a p te r V .— Scientific Investigation— Experim ents by Mr. W illiain Crookes, F .R . S.— Mr. Sericant Cox—Tho Dialec­tical Society o f London—T heory o f Psychic Force.

C h a p t b b V I.— Spirit and Matter—A ro there Tw o Sub­stances ? — Im m ateriality—Ancient B elief in Spirits — Im m ortality in tho Bible— Augustine—D escartes—Spinoza — Herbert Spencer— Sw edenborg—Proofs o f Spirit Pow er over Matter—T cstim ou y o f S. C. H all—W . H . Harrison.

C h a p t e r V II .—The P riority o f Spirit — The Senses— Testim ony o f Seers—Spirit Photographs—H egelian Doctrine o f N ature— F crrier’ a Abuso o f Spiritualists.

C h a p t e r V II I .— Miss C ook ’s M ediumship — H er ow n A ccount—Testim ony o f Mr. C. F. V arley , Mr. W in. Crookes, Mr. W . II. H arrison, Mr. H. M. D um phy, M r. J. C. Luxm ore, M rs. Ross-Cliurch, Miss K islin gbury—Couclusive Experi­m ents b y Mr. Crookes.

C h a p te r IX .— Phenom ena in Am erica—Testim ony o f Dr. C. Rane, Mr. U. Dale Owen, Mr. A . B . Crosby, Mrs. A . A . Andrew s, Mr. Irvine, Rov. S. W atson, and Rov. R . S. Pope.

C h a p t e r X .— Materialisation Through the M edium ship o f the Eddy Brothers—A m azing Phenomena.

C h a p t b b X I .—Tho Spirit B od y—Trustworthiness o f Secr- sliin —Sw edenborg—H ardee—Chasoray—Cabauis—Coleridge — Bacon — Luther—Calvin — Plutarch—Charles Bonnet— M aterialisation o f Clothing aud Ornaments.

C u a p t b r X II .—Tho Power o f Spirit over Matter.C h a p t e r X II I .—U nity o f F orces and Phenom ena.C h a p t e r X IV .— Relatious o f Spiritualism to B elief iu

God — A theistic Spirits and Seers—Opinions o f M ill, Spencer, Low es, aud Buchner—D esign in N ature—D iviue Personality.

C h aptb u XV'.—The D iviue Nature Triune.C h a p t e r X V I .—Relations o f Spiritualism to M orality—

Tho D irect B earing o f Spiritualism on Morn’ i t y — Sin Punishes Itself — A M oral Creed — The Teachings o f Spiritualism.

C h a p t e r X V II .—Tho Message o f Spiritualism—O ld Revc- latious Mado N ew—N otions o f a Future Life— H m nboldt— Newman— K ant—Strauss—Leon Case—Indifference to Life— Personal Experiences—The M esmerists—Kernel*—Objections to S p iritu a lism — The Satanlo T heory — G uldenstubbe— Jam es Murtineau—V oysey— Sentiment Must Y ield to Facts,

C h a p te r X V III .— Further Proofs Palpable— Spirit Photo­graphs and M aterialisations—The Facts and Inferences— Ooucluding Reflections.

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“ R IF T S IN T H E Y E I L .”

A collection o f choice poem s and prize essays given through m edium ship, also o f articles and poem s written b y Spiritu­alists. A useful book to place in the public libraries, and to present or send to those w ho are unacquainted with Spiritu­alism. I t contains m uch about the religious aspect o f Spiritualism (g iven through the w riting m edium ship of “ M .A . (O xon),” and is one o f the m ost refined and elegant w orks ever printed in connection w ith the m ovem ent,

CONTENTS.

In trodu ction : The P h ilosophy o f Inspiration.I . — “ O! Beautiful W hite Mother Death.” Given through

the trance-mediumahip o f Cora L . V . Tappan-Richm ond.I I . —The Apparition o f Sengireef. B y Sophie Aksakof.H I .—The Translation o f Shelley to the H igher L ife. Given

through the trance-m edium ship o f T . L. Harris.IV . — Gone H om e. G iven through the trance-m edium ship

o f L izzie D oten.V . —The Birth o f the Spirit. Given through the trance­

m edium ship o f Cora L . V . Tappan-Richm ond.V I . —Angel-G uarded.V II . — An A lleged Post-M ortem W ork b y Charles Dickens.

H ow the w ritings w ere produced : The M agnificent Egotist, Sapsea. Mr. Stollop reveals a Secret ? A M ajestic Mind Severely T r ie d : Dwellers in C loisterham : M r. Peter Peck- craft and Miss K eep ; Critical Comments.

V I I I . —The Spider o f the Period. B y Georgina W eldon(Mi38 Treherne) and M r s .--------- .

I X . —M argery M iller. Given throngh the trance-m edium ­ship o f L izzie Doten.

X . —Ode by “ Adam anta.”X L —Sw edenborg on Men and W om en. B y W illiam

W hite, Author o f The L ife o f Swedenborg.X I I . —Resurgam . B y Caroline A . Burke.X I I I . —Abnormal Spectres o f W olves, D ogs, and other

Anim als. B y Emile, Prince o f W ittgenstein.X IV . — To Vou w ho L oved Me. B y F lorence Marryat.X V . — Desolation. B y Caroline A . Burko.X V I . — Truth. G iven through tho m edium ship o f “ M .A.,

O xon.”X V II . —T h y L ove. B y F lorence M arrjat.X V III . —H aunting Spirits. B y the B a ro n e s Adelina Von

V ay (Countess W urm brand).X IX . —Fashionable Grief for the Departed.X X . —The B row n L ady o f Rainham . B y Lucia C. Stone.X X I . —A Vision o f Death. By Caroline A. Burko.X X I I . —A Story o f a llannted H ouse. B y F . J . Theobald.X X III . — “ Love the Truth and Peace.” B y Die Rev. C.

Maurice Davies, D.D.X X IV . — The Ends, Aim s, and Uses o f M odern Spiritual­

ism. B y Louisa Low e.X X V . —De Profundis. B y A nna B lackw ell.X X V I . —Ancient Thought and M odern Spiritualism . B y

C. Carter Blake, D oc. Sci., Lecturer on Comparative A natom y at W estm inster H ospital.

X X V I I. —Die Sehnsucht. Translated b y E m ily K islin g­bu ry from tho G erm an o f Schiller.

X X V II .— The R elation o f Spiritualism to Orthodox Chris­tianity. G iven th iou gh the m edium ship o f “ U .A ., O xon .”

X X IX . —A Seance in the Sunshine, B y the R ev . C. Maurice D avies, D.D.

X X X . —“ My Saint.” By Florence M arryat,X X X I . — The Death-beds o f Spiritualists. B y E pcs

Sargent.X X X II . —The T ou ch o f a Vanished H and. B y the Rev.

C. Maurice D avies, D.D.X X X II I . —Death. B y Caroline A. Burke.X X X IV . —The Spirit Creed. Through the m edium ship o f

“ M .A ., O xon.”X X X V . —The A n gel o f Silence. B y W . H. Harrison.X X X V I. — The Prediction . B y A lice W ortherington

(Ennesfallen).X X X V II. —Longfellow ’ s Position in Relation to Spiritu­

alism.X X X V III . — Spiritual M anifestations am ong the F arirs in

India . B y Dr, M axim ilian Perty, Professor o f Natural Philosophy, B orn e; translated from Psychic Studies (L eipzig) b y E m ily K islingbury.

X X X IX . — The Poetry o f Science. B y W . H . H arrison.X L .—Meditation and tho V oice o f Conscience. B y A lex .

Calder.X LI.— D irge. B y M rs. Eric Baker.X L I I .—Epigram s. By Gerald M assey.X L III .— Som e o f the Difficulties o f tho C lergy in R elation

to Spiritualism. B y Lisette M akdougall G regory.X U V.—Im m ortality. B y A lfred Russel W allace, F .R .G . S .X L V .—A Child’ s Prayer. B y Gerald Massey.

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T H E - , L A Z Y L A Y S

as him self. . . . The poem s are all characterised b y sm ooth­ness and rhythm ical sw ing. , . , T h ew ork is very elaborately bound in cloth and gilt. . . . A gorgeous design upon the cover. . . . I f our readers wish to encourage laziness they have a m ost deserving object in a very clever and versatile m em ber o f the order.”

A N D P R O S E I M A G I N I N G SBY WILLIAM H. HARBISON. _

A n Elegant and Am using Gift-Book o f Poetical and Prose W ritings, Grave and Gay,

The gilt device on the cover designed b y Florence Claxton and the Author.

Coif TENTS. * .P a r t 1.— Miscellaneous Poems and Prose Writings.

1. The L ay o f the Lazy Auithor.—2. The Song o f the News*

gaper Editor.—3. The Song o f the Paw nbroker.—4. The astle.—5. The Lay o f the F at M an.—6. The Poetry o f Science. — 7. H ow Hadji A1 Sbacabae was Photographed. (A letter from Hadji A1 Shacabac, a gentlem an w ho visited London on business connected w ith a Turkish Loan, to A li M ustapha Ben Buckram , Chief o f the College o f H ow lin g Dervishes at

Constantinople.)—8. T h e L a y o f the Broad-Brim m ed H at.—9. St. Bride’ s Bay.—10. The L a y o f the M arket Gardener.— 11 . “ F a stF a llsth eE v cn tide .” — 12. Our Raven.— 13. M aterial­istic R eligion .— 14. The L ay o f the Photographer.—16. H ow to Double the U tility o f the Printing Press.— 16. The S o n g o f the M other-in-Law .—17. Wirbel-bewegung.— 18. “ Poor Old J o e !” —19. The H um an H ive.—20. The L ay o f the M ace- Bearers.—21. A Love S on g .—22. A V ision .—23. “ U nder the L im es.” — 24. The A n gel o f Silence*

P a r t 2.— The Wobblejaw Ballads, by Anthony Wobblejaw.25. The Pu blic Analyst.—26. General Grant’ s R eception at

Folkestone.—27. The Rifle Corps.—28. T on y 's L am ent.—29. The July B ug.—30. The Converted Carman.

O p in io n s o p t h e P r e s s .F rom The Morning Post. s

The Morning Post, w hich strongly recom m ends the book in review nearly a colum n long, sa y s :— “ Com ic literature w hich honestly deserves the epuhet seems to be rapidly becom ing a th ing o f the p a st ; consequently any w riter w ho, like Mr. H arrison, exhibits a genuine vein o f hum our, deserves the praise o f all w ho are not too stupid to enjoy an innocent laugh. N ot that his m use restricts herself only to such ligh ter utterances ; on the contrary, som e o f his poem s touch on the deepest and m ost sacred feelings o f our com m on hum anity. . . . T h e unfortunate H adji's narrative o f his adventures am ongst the m agicians o f W hitechapel is quite one o f the funniest things that has been published for years.. . . The book contains quite enough to ensure it a w elcom e from w hich its tasteful appearance w ill not detract.” The Morning Post sayS o f The Wobblejaw Ballads:— “ N oon e can help laughing at them ,” and it says that the rhym es arc pitched in “ som ething like the same key as. The Bon Gaultier Ballads or The Biglow Papers, w ith an appreciably successful result.”

From The Court Journal.“ All are o f m arked ability. . . . Occasionally w c find verso

o f great beauty, show in g that the author possesses the pure poetic gift.” .

From The Graphic.“ T h osew h o ean appreciate genuine, unforced hum our

should not .fail to read The Lazy Lays and Prose Imaginings. W ritten, printed, published and review ed b y W illiam H. H arrison (38, Great Russell-street). Both the verses and the short essays are really funny, and in som e o f the Jatter there is a vein o f genial satire w hich adds piquancy to the fun. The Lay o f the Newspaper Editor is capital, i f rather severe, and so is The L a y o f the M ace-bearers; but one o f the m ost laughable bits is the Turk ’s account o f how he went to bo p ho tograph cd. ”

F rom Public Opinion.“ A volum e o f rem arkably good verse. . . . Som e o f the

m etrical legends rem ind us o f the w ild ehants that used to be sung at the m eetings o f the Cannibal Club, some ten or fifteen years ago . M r. Harrison, how ever, know s w here to plant his fun, and an accurate scientific m ind like his can m ake jokes with success. . . . To all w h o w ish to read a pleasant volum e m agnificently g o t up as a g ift -b ook , we com m end The Lazy Lays.”

■ ■ F rom The Bookseller.“ A n odd but m ost entertaining assortment o f quaint and

hum orous fancies, some in verse and others in prose, and all w ritten w ith a fluent and not ungraceful pen. The vein o f hum our whieh perm eates them is genuine, rich, and orig inal, and not at all ill-natured.” •

F rom Nature.“ Scientific men and m atters arc in one or two cases

alluded to, and the im print bears that the w ork is published * A.n. 1877 (popular ch ron o logy ); a .m . 5877 (T orqu em ad a ); a .m . 50,800,077 (H u x ley ).' W e believe that our readers m ay derive a little amusement from a perusal o f the volum e.”

From The British J ournal o f Photography.“ The Lazy Lays include m any admirable pieces, som e o f

which a r e .in verse and others in prose, som e scientific,* others social, but all o f them excellent. . . . The Lazy Lays w ill m ake excellent and am using reading for an occasional spare half-hour, . . . They contain nothing unrefined or in bad taste.”

F rom The Dublin University Magazine.“ H ow Fladji A1 Shacabac, an amiable Turk, w as photo­

graphed, is w ell done. . Bound in a cover o f som ewhat pow erful design .” • • •

F rom The Photographic News.“ M r. W . H . Harrison, a gentlem an whose nam e is familiar

in connection with photograph ic and other scientific literature, has considerable, facility o f versification, and deals, in pleasant and hum orous m ood, w ith m any scientific follies w hich are better laughed dow n than gravely dis­puted.” ‘ • - • • •

From The Scotsman. . ■ ■“ In Mr. W . II. H arrison 's Lazy Laysand Prose Imaginings

tlicro is a good deal o f broad hum our and satiric pow er, w ith a due foundation o f solid sense.”

From The Bradford Daily Chronicle.“ Good poetical diction is displayed. Mr. H arrison has

produced a m ost w elcom e book. . . . * H ow H adji A1 Shacabac w as Photographed ’ w ill be sure to m ake every reader roar w ith laughter.”

From The Dundee Daily Advertiser.“ W ith such a free and easy author it is naturally to be

expected that his subjects should bear som e trace o f this pecu liar idiosyncrasy, and indeed they are as free and easy

F rom The Liverpool Daily Courier,“ In his handsom ely hound and griffin -guarded L a zy Lays,

Mr. W illiam H . H arrison provides a g ift-book elegant in its appearance and entertaining in its contents. . . . The author is im bued w ith the true spirit o f hum our, and am uses all w hile offending none,”

From The Western Daily Press (B ristol).“ A volum e from the versatile pen o f M r. W . H . Harrison»

a w ell-know n contributor to the London and provincia l press, and editor o f The Spirituulist. . . . M any o f the hum orous poem s rem inds us o f the Ingoldsby Legends. The L ay o f the Photographer, The L ay o f the Mace-bearers, and some o f The Wobblejaw Ballads w ou ld not have been unw orthy o f Barham himself. Som e o f the shorter poem s are exquisite, and there pervade through the w hole a roligious sentiment and poetic feeling w hich w ill make them acceptablo to m ost readers.”

From the D aily Northern Whig (B elfast).“ The finest th ing in the book is * H ow H adji A1 Shacabac

w as Photographed.’ *- I t is an adm irable addition to our not too extensive com ic literature. The story is one o f w hieh extracts w ou ld not g iv e an adequate id e a ; it is intensely hum orous. . . . Those who w ish to obtain a handsom e gift- book o f an am using nature, w ill find w hat they w ant in The Lazy L ays.”

F rom The Bristol Daily Post.“ A curions collection o f verses and prose essays o f unequal

m erit. . . . The serious and sentimental verses b elon g to the type o f M rs. H cm ans’ s or L. E . L .’ s productions.”

F rom The Kensington News.“ I t is after the m anner o f Barham , Ilood , M ark Tw ain,

or any o f those m erry souls w ho do quite as m uch good in their day and generation as the authors o f the m ost serious

' w orks. The Lays are alw ays orig inal, som etim es serious, generally com ic, but never vu lg a r .”

F rom The Malvern News.“ I t is in itself a w ork o f itself—original, and a cast o f its

author’s m ind. I t is a w ork o f great pow er and beauty ; fu ll o f lively im agin ings and b o ld outspoken thoughts, abounding in tenderness and p a th o s ; sparkling w ith w it and hum our; and one that m ay be read m any tim es over. . . . The get-up o f the book is very handsom e.”

F rom The Folkestone News.“ A num ber o f clever sketches and poems, am ong the latter

being a series o f papers entitled ‘ The ‘W obblejaw. Ballads,’ w hich appeared in the colum ns o f this paper a short time ago, and w hich created such & fu rore at the tim e.” [N .B. A n irate m em ber o f the T ow n Council officially called the attention o f the M ayor and Corporation o f Folkestone to the burlesques in the * W obblejaw B allads,’ but tbo m em bers assem bled laughed at tlio matter, and proceeded to the next business. The M ayor said that he did not miud them .] . . . “ I t contains som e very ehoice poem s and prose ossays, is bound in cloth r ich ly g ilt, and has an original design o f no ordinary m erit on the cov er .”Obtainable, price 7s. Cd., post free, at the Branch Office o f tho

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TH E T R A P P E D M E D IU M ; o r , T H E T W OC L E V E R SC EPTICS. A pam phlet b y . Christian

Reim ers.—This brochure contains a series o f illustrations, setting forth the exciting adventures o f Professor M olecule,F .R .S ., X .Y .Z ., B .I .G .A .S .S ., and his assistant, Dr. P roto­plaster, in their investigation o f Spiritual Phenom ena. It is an excellent little book for distribution am ong scientific m en and disbelievers in Spiritualism genera lly . A review o f it in The Spiritualist new spaper says that the pam phlet displays real genius. Price 6d . ; post free, 6£d. Spiritualist N ew spaper B ranch Office.

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Mrs. P arker’s healing pow er is rap id ly develop ing into cla irvoyance ; she is rep lyin g to sealed questions w hen con ­ditions favour. Office hours from 12 to 6 o ’clock.

P R IM IT IV E C H R IS T IA N IT Y A N D M O D E R N S P IR IT U A L IS M .■ B y E U G EN E CR O W E LL , M .D.

One o f the best books published in connection w ith M odern Spiritualism for m any years, and a standard w ork on the subject. Tho author has studied the faets and phenom ena for a lengthened period, and deals in an intelligent manner w ith the problem s and difficulties presented.

In twro vo ls .,p r ice 10s. 6d. ea ch ; postage 8d. pervolum c.London : Spiritualist N ewspaper Branch Office.

“ T H E S P I R I T U A L I S T ” N E W S P A P E R .V ols. 1 and 2 o f The Spiritualist new spaper (pages tho size

o f those o f The Engineer new spaper), strongly and hand­som ely bound in one, in half calf, red edges. T hey contain records relating to Spiritualism in Great Britain from the end o f the year 1869 to the end o f 1872, and ai t id es and letters b y M essrs. A . R. W allace, W . C rookes, C. F . V arley , The L ord Lindsay, and other able writers. A lso records o f how

; the R oyal Society and British Association for the A dvance- ‘ m ent o f Science com mitted themselves b y rejecting Mr.

C rookes’ s papers cn the physical phenom ena o f Spiritualism , as the R oyal Society did b y re jectin g Franklin ’ s d iscovery o f ligh tn ing conductors. ' Very scarce. These tw o volum es cannot be had separately. Price, carriage paid to any rail­w ay station in the U nited K in gd om , £1 10s,

London : W . H , Harrison, 38, Great Russell-street, W .C .

MTa y -2 3 , 1 8 7 9 .

M ESM E R ISM A N D IT S PH EN O M E N A, 'OR ■ ■

A N I M A L M A G N E T IS M ,

By the late W m . G r e g o r y , M.D., F.H.S.E., Professor o f Chemistry at Edinburgh University.

D edicated b y tho Author b y Perm ission to H is Grace , the D uke o f A rgy ll.

The second and slightly revised and abridged edition , fo r .its quality and size, the cheapest largo w ork ever published in this country in connection w ith Spiritualism . ;

Just published, price 6s., or 6s. 6d. post free ; or five copies post-free for 21s. Copies m ay also be had bound in h a lf ca lf, w ith m arbled odges, price 8s. 6d. per volum e, post free.

C O N T E N T S .C H A P T E R I : —First Effects Produced b y M esm erism -

Sensations—Process for Causing M esm eric Sleep—Tho Sleep or H esm erie State—It O ccurs Spontaneously ..in uSleep- W alkers— Phenom ena o f the Sleep—D ivided Consciousness — Senses Affeeted—Insensibility to Pain. ' * .

C H A PTE R I I :—Control Exercised b y tho Operator over the Subjeet in V arious W ays—Striking Expression o f F eel­ings in the Look and Gesture-^Effect o f M usic—Truthful­ness o f the Sleeper—Various D egrees o f Susceptibility— Sleep Caused b y Silent W ill ; and at a D istance—Attraction Tow ards the Operator—Effect in the W aking State o f Com ­m ands Given in the Sleep.

C H A P T E R I I I :— Sym pathy—Com m unity o f ' Sensations ; o f E m otions—D anger o f R ash Experim ents—P u blic E x h i­bitions o f Doubtful A dvantage—Sym pathy w ith the B y ­standers— Thought R eading—Sources o f Error—M edica Intuition— Sym pathetic W arnings— Sym pathies an d A n ti­p a th ies -E x is ten ce o f a Peculiar Force or Influence.

C H A PTE R I V : —D irect C lairvoyance or L u cid V ision ,• w ithout the Eyes—'Visiôn of N ear O bject: through Opaque

Bodies ; at a Distance— Sym pathy and Clairvoyance in R egard to Absent Persons—R etrovision—Introvision.

CH A PTE R V :—Lucid Prevision—Duration o f Sleep, etc., Predieted—Prediction o f Changes in the H ealth or State o f the Seer—Prediction o f Accidents, and o f Events A ffecting Others— Spontaneous C lairvoyance—Striking Case o f it— Spontaneous Retrovision and Prevision—Peculiarities o f Speech and o f Consciousness in M esmerised Persons— Transference o f Senses and o f Pain.

C H A P T E R V I :—M esmerism, E lectro-B iology, E le c lro - P sych ology and H ypnotism , essentially the sam e—P h eno­m ena o f Suggestions in the Conscious or W aking State— Dr. D arling’ s M ethod and its Effects—Mr. L ew is ’s M ethod and its Results—The Im pressible State—Control Exercised b y the Operator—G azing—Mr. B raid ’s H ypnotism —The A uthor’s E xperience—Im portance o f Perseverance—The Subject m ust be Studied.

C H A P T E R V I I :—Traneo, Natural and A cc id e n ta l; M csm erie—Trance Produced at W ill b y the Subjects—Col. T ow n sen d— Fakeer—Extasis—Extatics not all Im postors— Luminous Em anations — Extasis olten P redieted— M. Cahagnet’ s Extatics —Visions o f the Spiritual W orld.

CH A PTE R V I I I :— Phrcno-M esm erism —Progross o f P h re­n o logy—Effects o f Teach ing the H ead in tho Sleep—Variety in the Phenom ena— Suggestions— Sym pathy—There are Cases in -which these A ct, and others in w hich they do not A ct— Phenom ena Described—The Low er Anim als Susceptible o f M esm erism —Fascination A m on g Anim als— I n s t in c t - Sym pathy o f Anim als— Snail Telegraph Founded on It.

C H A P T E R I X : —A ction 'o f M agnets, Crystals, etc., on the H um an Fram e—R esearches o f R eichenbach— H is O dyle is Identical w ith the M esm eric F lu id o f Mesmer, or w ith the Influence w hich Causes the M esm eric Phenom ena—Odylic or M esmeric L igh t—A urora Borealis A rtificially P rodu ced— M esmerised Water— Useful A pplications o f M e sm e rism - P h ysiologica l, Therapeutical, otc—Treatm ent o f Insanity, M agie, D ivination, W itchcraft, etc., explained by Mesmerism, and Traced to Natural Causes—Apparitions— Second S ight is W aking C lairvoyance—Predictions o f V arious K inds.

C H A PTE R X : —A n E xplanation o f tho Phenom ena A ttem pted or Suggested—A F orce (Odyle) U niversally Diffused, Certainly, Exists, and is P roba b ly the M edium o f Sym pathy and L ueid V ision—Its Characters—Difficulties o f the Subject—Effects o f O d y le - Som nam bnlisn— S u g g e s tio n - Sym pathy— Thought-R eading—Lucid Vision—O dylic E m an­ations—O dylic Traces follow ed np b y Lucid Subjects— M agic and W itehcraft—The M agic Crystal, and M irror, etc., Induce W alking C lairvoyance—U niversal Sym pathy—Lucid Perception o f the Future. .

C H A P T E R X I : —Interest F elt in M esm erism b y M en o f Science—Due Lim its o f Scientific Caution—Practica l H ints —Conditions o f Suecess in Experim ents— Causo o f Failure —M esm erism a Serious T h ing—Cautions to the Student­Opposition to be Expected.

CH A PTE R X I I :— Phenom ena O bserved in the Conscious or W aking S ta te -E ffe c ts o f Suggestion on Persons in an Im pressible State—Mr. Lew is’s E xperim ents W itb and W ith ­out S u g g e s tio n - Cases— Dr. D arling ’ s E xperim ents—Cases— Conscious or W aking C lairvoyance, Produced b y Passes, or b y Concentration—Major B uck ley ’ s M ethod—Cases—Tho M agic Crystal Induces W aking Lucidity, w hen G azed at— Cases—M agic Mirror—M esm erised W ater— Egyptian M agic.

C H A P T E R XIIT Production o f the M esm eric Sleep— Cases—E ight out o f N ino Persons Recently Tried by the A uthor T hrow n into M esm eric Sleep— Sleep Produced w ith­out tho K n ow ledge o f the Subject—Suggestion in the Sleep— Phrcno-M esm erism in tho Sleep— Sym pathie Clairvoyance m tho Sleep—Cases—Perception o f T im e—Cases: Sir J . Fran k­l in ; M ajor B u ck ley ’ s Case o f R etrovM on.

C H A P T E R X IV :—Direet C lairvoyance—Cases— Travel­lin g C lairvoyance— Cases— Singular Vision oi M r. D ,—- Letters o f T w o Clergym en, w ith Cases— C lairvoyance o f Alexis—Other Cases. • •

C H A PTE R X V :—Tranee—Extasis—Cases—Spontaneous M esm eric Phenomena—Apparitions—Predictions,' C H A PTE R X V I Curative A g en cy o f M esm erism —C on­clu din g R em arks, and Summary,

London, W .C . Spiritualist N ew spaper Branch Office.

Printed for the Proprietor b y BrvEitinOE & C o., at the H o lb o m P rinting W orks, Fu llw ood ’s Rents, H igh H olborn, in 'th e Parish o f St. A ndrew -above-Bar and Si. George the M artyr, London, and published b y E. W . A l le n , A ve M aria-lane, London, E.C.