~ight: A Journal of Psgohioa/, Oooult, and Mystical Research.

'LIGHT I MORE LIGHT !'-Goethe, • WHATSOEVER DOTH MAKE MANIFEST IS LIGHT.'-Paul.

No. 1,595.-VOL. XXXI. [Registered a.a] SATURDAY, AUGUST 5, 1911. [a Newspaper.] PRICE TwOPENOE.

CONTENTS. Noteabythe Way .... - ....... 361 Answers desired to Interesting

Questions.... . .. ...... _ ..... 362 L. S. A. Notices .. • • . • • •• .. .. • . 362 The Hn>otheses of 'Bilocation'

Considered __ ................ 363 Ma.teria.lism a.nd Religion. By

Horace Lea.f ................. 364 Comforting Spiritual Communion364 ' He Descended Into Hell' . . • • . 365

Taught of the Spirit ............ 3(6 Further Communications from

F. W. H, Myers : Who Selects ? 367 Life on 'The Other Side ' ........ 367 A Remarkable S~ance ......•... 368 Man's Spiritual Body and its

Clothing ..................... 368 Huma.n Aura made Visible .••.• 360 Mediums and Psychics . . • • •• .. • 370 Scientific Self-Direction ....... 370

NOTES BY THE WAY.

The attack made upon Occultism by Mr. Edgar J. Saxon in the May number of 'Healthward Ho ! ' has called forth, as we anticipated it would, a number of replies in the June and July issues of that magazine. We take the following excerpt from the reply of Madame Jean Delaire in the latter issue :-

Dealing, as it does, with the still invisible realms-and let us not forget that the invisible of to-day will be the visible of to­morrow-standing, as it. does, on the Borderland between the normal and the supernormal, Occultism is naturally more liable to error than most other sciences ; for the same reason it becomes most easily the prey of the trickster and the charlatan. But if we condemn it solely because of its abuses, what, in all this wide world of ours, shall we leave uncondemned?

What, indeed i We should have been glad, however, to have seen an answer couched in the same vein of wit and humour which characterised Mr. Saxon's attack. We have known some extremely witty occultists who could wield a keen rapier in such a debate. Perhaps we may see one of them take part in the fray.

In the July number of 'The Commonwealth ' Canon Scott Holland has a noteworthy article dealing with the influence of Jesus Christ upon human evolution. We find the following passage particularly suggestive (the Canon is referring to the limitations of' Natural Development'):-

To meet your need something must arrive from the other side ; something must come into play from above to break through the check, and to release the arrested forces. There must l;ie a creative act, a flash of the Will that is, an invasion of new energy, a Divine outgoing, a descent of fire, if the evolution is not to fail, if the long process is to be fulfilled.

While we heartily endorse this conclusion, we do not regard this Divine stimulus to evolution as being in any sense a special and miraculous process, but one which is at work all the time in the form of inspiration and direction from the higher world.

Mr. Frederick B. Smith, an American religious leader and revivalist, has made a notable contribution to the widespread discussion concerning the lack of interest shown by men in the churches :-

More men would be active in religious matters if they were given something t.o do. . . There are plenty of workers in every church. That is the point to what I am saying. Find them jobs, manly jobs, and volunteers will step out from the line, as they do in war, and pledge their strength and lives to the service.

Mr. Smith speaks from practical experience, and we commend his advice to those of our spiritual organisations who have reason to complain of the fia~ging interest of ~~eir JHeJHbersr

\Ve have received a copy of the official programme of the Lily Dale Assembly for the season which commenced on the 14th ult. and will continue until September 3rd next. Lily Dale, as some of our readers will know, is the beautiful health resort in New York State, in which Spirit­ualists and other liberal thinkers hold an annual assembly. During the season are held daily lectures, seances and healing services, and amongst the more secular attractions are music, dancing, bathing, boating, athletic gatherings, theatres and concerts. The programme for the current season, which is of excellent quality, contains the names of many famous mediums and speakers. We trust the Assembly will be in the highest degree . successful, and heartily wish that we could take part in it.

'The Harbinger of Light' (Melbourne) of June 1st contains an excellent portrait of Olive Schreiner-a countenance full of spiritual and intellectual beauty and dignity. The accompanying article by Mrs. Annie Bright is partly biographical, but relates in the main to Olive Schreiner's work on behalf of womankind, with especial reference to her book, ' Woman and Labour,' the first manuscript of whfoh was destroyed by looters during the South African war. All lovers of Olive Schreiner's work will deplore the fact that she has only been able to re-write a portion of it. As to the part to be played by Spiritualism in the advance of woman, Mrs. Bright writes :-

If there is one thing more than another that discloses a Republic of Love and Justice and Law, it is what we learn when we have grown in touch with spiritual spheres. There equality of sex reigns supreme. There all the chaotic conditions of earth life that are brought about by the lust of power, the lust of possession, gi\'e way to the nobler conditions that will peradven­ture prevail in the earth life, as Olive Schreiner predicts, when man and woman are on equal terms, socially and economically,

In the course of an article on ' Spiritual Unrest' in 'The Progressive Thinker' we read :-

The present era has been denominated one of the greatest in spiritual unrest known for centuries-an unrest which is occasioned by the conflict between materialism and spirituality, between the world of science on the one hand, and that of the ideal rather than practical religion on the other.

That is certainly true, although, to our thinking, it applies more to the intellectual than to the social life. The social unrest we are inclined to trace to an increasing con­sciousness of the unsatisfying nature of the purely physical forms of enjoyment-the material pleasures and luxuries to which humanity has abandoned itself to such a deplorable extent of late. The spirit is not to be stifled in this way, and the non-thinking portion of the community are instinc­tively realising the fact.

In 'The World and New Dispensation' (Calcutta), Pro­fessor T. L. Vaswani, M.A., writing on 'The Mystical Message of the East to the West,' says:-

It seems to me that Europe's urgent need is soul-rest. . Europe needs must shape her life from within ; she must recog­µ~se witMµ the Vejl of Ti!-Jle tp-:i Ljf-:i of Eternit;y; she must live

LIGHT. [August 5, 1911,

the Ideal which transcends Time in the processes of life. 'Act in union with the Divine,' says the Hindu Bible, and Europe must recognise this truth. Not the cult of the ego, not tl1e Iove of excitement, but the life of restful character is the piteous need of the world.

It is a true message. We note with especial interest the Professor's remark that 'The world is not an illusion,' which seems to show that he does not share the Hindu attitude on that point. Perhaps the East has learned something from the West in this matter !

Truth being dual, it is easy to undersbtnd that East and West represent two extremes on this subject of Matter and Spirit. To the contemplative CJriental mind, Spirit is the great reality and Matter merely an illusion. To the positive Western mind, Spirit is something of a figment and Matter the only real thing. But the best thinkers of both schools are gradually approaching a great synthesis. Pro­fessor V aswani, indeed, very properly notes that despite the Hindu doctrine that the material world is a deception,

over and over again it is said in the Hindu books that the world is a revefo.tion of the Infinite Energy. ·

Obviously such a reYelation is not to be lightly dismissed as maya, or illusion.

Mr. Arnold Bennett is pre-eminently an 'artist in life,' and we h1tve a grateful recollection of many articles from ·bis pen which have thrown much new light on the problem of human happiness. In one of his latest deliverances on the art of living he propounds two fundamental principles (1) The brain is a servant, exterior to the force of the ego ; (2) In case of friction the machine is always at fault. We cordially endorse his remark :-

If human nature were more perfect than it is, succe~ in life would mean an intimate knowledge of one's St:lf and the achieve­ment of a philosophic inward calm, and such a goal might well be 1·eached by the majority of mortals.

Much of his philosophy has been, and is being, taught by our 'New Thought' writers. The more of it the better, say we!

'The Path ' for July contains a number of interesting and suggestive articles, all written, of course, from the theosophical standpoint. We find the general sentiment of the writers dominated more or less ,by the ancient tradition of a mysterious 'fall' of the human spirit into sin and error -with the result that, through travail and sorrow, the race has to struggle back to its former glory and dignity. This is not an interpretation of life which we are disposed to accept-in any literal aspect, at least-but it has a truth and a meaning for all that, like many other Oriental concep­tions. As in Biblical matters, we must make a large allow­ance for the hyperbole of Eastern thought.

We have received a little pamphlet, 'Contents of the Swedenborg Library' (The Swedenborg Publishing Asso­ciation, Philadelphia), containing a list of the works of the great Seer, with an index of the subjects treated of in the chapters of the various volumes. In a preface to the book, the compiler, Mr. B. F. Barrett, makes a strong claim for Swedenborg's system of Theology as being at once the most comprehensive, harmonious, consistent, rational, scriptural and complete that has ever been given to the world.

Profound admirers of Swedenborg as we are, we can. hardly endorse so exalted a view of his place in the hierarchy of mystics. We had occasion once in these pages to rebuke a distinguished writer on mysticism who described Sweden­borg's visions as ' profuse and bourgeois.' On the other

hand, we have always had the feeling that, wonderful seer and philosopher as he was, Swedenborg was greatly limited by the theological ideas of his time.

We are never surprised when we see the spiritual reformer tempted to despair in his apparently hopeless struggle with materialistic thought and activity. And, indeed, if the issue rested wholly on the labours of the reformers the task would be indeed desperate. Happily for them materialism has within itself the seeds of its own destruction. As Mr. C. D. Larson put it in one of his latest books :-'-

The materialistic mind is the descending mind, the mind that is losing ground gradllB.lly, and that is daily being overcome more and more by its own perverted and materialistic thought habits.

From 'Faith, Medicine, and the Mind,' by Dr. Charles Reinhardt, we take the following as being both true and stimulating :-

When a man learns of the various powers, faculties, possi­bilities and limitations of his own subconscious self be is always ahle to turn his knowledge to the advantage of himself and of others. He realises that the worries, annoyances, and trivialities which perturb his waking consciousness are but as breaking waves and angry ripples upon the shore of the ocean of his soul ; he learns, therefore, to ignore them, and to care for the welfare of his true self rather than only for the small department of his personality which enters into his ordinary waking consciousness.

ANSWERS DESIRED TO SOME INTERESTING QUESTIONS.

Will any of your readers kindly answer the following ques­tions for me 1 Do those who have passed over eat and drink 1 Seeing that. character and inclinations originate to a certain extent from the body (a man's character will often be changed while he is ill), can a man have the same character without bis body 1

While in the body Jack and Jill, who are good people, love each other with that great soul love which comes only once in a lifetime. Force of circumstances cuts them apart, and another man, who is not made for her, marries .Jill. After a time Jill comes to love this man with the love which comes to women through bearing children to -men. Jack does not marry, but remains faithful to Jill, and, soon after her marriage, dies. After a long married life Jill and the man she married die also. How is Jack, in the next life, to regain the place in. Jill's heart which is rightfully his, if that which made Jack take a second place {child-bearing} is not possible in the hereafter 1 If it be said that' elevated spirits look with indifference on such things, I answer that all souls have a beginning, and it is no fault of Jack's if he is not elevated enough to be indifferent. It seems, if the teaching of Spiritualism be true, that he is doomed to suffer for ages through no sin of his until that elevation is reached. How, then, can the Supreme be just if that which Spiritualism teaches is true 1 Yet I suppose such a caee would be one CJf many thousands.

E. R. B.

LONDON SPIRITUALIST ALLIANCE, LTD.

MR. W. J. COL VILLE'S l!'AREWELL MEETINGS. On Tuesday and Thursday next, August 8th and 10th at

3 p.m., Mr. W. J. Colville will give farewell addresses on ~ub­jeJts selected by members of the audiences. Questions will also be answered. Admission ls.; Members of the Alliance free. ·

DRAWINGS OF THE PSYCHIC AURA AND DIAGNOSIS OF DISEASE. -On Wednesday ne:i:t, August 9th, and on th.e 16th inst., from 12 noon to 5 p.m., at 110, St. Martin's-lane, W.C., Mr. Percy R. Street will give personal delineations by means of the colours of the psychic aura of sitters, and will diagnose disease under spirit control Fee 5s. to a guinea. Appointments desirable. See advertisement supplement.

August 5, lJJH.] LIGHT. 863

TfJE HYPOTHESES OF 'BILOCATION' CONSIDERED.

BY ERNESTO BozzANO. Translated from ' Anna.lea des Sciences Psychiques.'

(Continued jr(J'fll, pagB 367.)

CATl!lGORY 3. (Oases whBre the Phant(J'fll, is only perceived by a third party.) Case 6. In this case, which also happened as a warning, the

phantom appeared, in the vision, in the physically and psychically decadent condition which was realised later by the subject of· the duplication. ('Proceedings of the S.P.R.,' Vol. XI., page 446.) The case is recorded by Myers, who knew the percipent (a lady) personally. When the latter wrote the subject was still alive, and this forced Myers to withhold the names. The per· cipient relates what follows :-

In the autumn of 1892 I was in Paris staying with a near relative of mine, of whom I was very fond, and who was a most distinguished and clever man in his profession, that of a lawyer. He had not been quite himself for some weeks, and had com­plained in his letters to me (I was in England at the time) of feeling nervous and unfit for work-in fact, run down. As his letters made me feel uneasy, I wrote and offered a visit, saying a change to Paris would be beneficial to me, and took up my abode in his pretty appartPJment, near the Boulevard Haussmann. My relative was a bachelor and had one servant, a valet, who did not sleep in the appartement, but, according to Paris custom, had a room on the fifth floor ; therefore we two were alone in the house at night. My room was at one end of a passage, and his at the ether, several rooms intervening. A. few days after my arriviil I received a budget of important papers to read, and a request to translate into English an article out of a French medical paper. Not having had time to do this all day, I postponed the translation till after my relative had gone to bed, as he generally retired early. As it was a chilly night I thought I would take the lamp into my room, and work out the translation after I was in bed. I read several letters first, and then started on my ta.sk, aided by a dictionary, as the French technical terms stag· gered me rather now and then. This is to show you my mind was fully occupied, and that not only was I wide awake but that I was not in any way brooding· on my relative's nervous state, nor, indeed, was I thinking of him. As I wii.s writing moat

·energetically, I saw, as one. can see without raising one's eyes, one of the doors of my room slowly open, and, as I imagined it could only be my relative, who was restless and was coming in to have a chat, I said, without even troubling to look up, 'Come in ; I'm not asleep.' Receiving no answer I looked up, and saw a most awful sight. (I must tell you my relative was a singularly handsome man, very tall, and with an intelligent, biight iaee.) I saw, staggering into the room, a likeness of him, but in the last stage of imbecility. He had shrunk down to half his height, his legs seemed semi-paralysed and unable to support his tottering emaciated form. His face was dra'Yn, all character and expression had left it, the lower jaw drooped, and the eyes had no intelligence or recognition in them, nothing but a vacant, hideous stare ! This thing-for I can call it nothing else-staggered across my room, looking round at me now and then, then made for the opposite door, where it groped about aimlessly for the handle, and finally succeeded in opening it, tumbled itself into the next room, and disappeared. I sat up in bed frozen with horror, and gazed at the form till it vanished, then jumped out of bed, and ran along the passage into my relative's room. He was sound asleep in bed, and there was no sign anywhere of the ghastly semblance of himself that I had seen. I could not get to sleep, and this awful sight haunted me for weeks. I naturally spoke of it to no one in Paris, but wrote an account of it, much as I am doing now, to my mother in;England. Some weeks later my relative, feeling his nerves no better, consulted an eminent physician, a specialist for nervous complaints. The doctor did not alarm him, but told me privately that he much feared that creeping paralysis and softening of the brain would set in. His diagnosis was on1y too correct ; at the present moment my poor relative is in. a private hospital ; he went steadily from bad to worse, all the dreadful symptoms of his disease increased visibly and rapidly, and now (autumn of 1895) he is very nearly like the ghastly vision I saw of him in 1892, and which, may be, was sent in some measure to prepare us for the great son·ow in store for us all. My relative was at the time of this incident about forty­three years of age, and as handsome, intelligent, and charming a man as one could wish to see-the very last person for whom one could foresee such a fearful end.

The telepathic hypothesis is difficult of application in this

case also ; it can scarcely be admitted that the subconscious ego of the subject had in sleep the precise perception of the threat­ened illness so that the terrifying vision of the physical and spiritual decay into which he would fall in two years' time could transmit the corresponding hallucination in such a way that it would be made objective and real by the effect of associa­tion. Such are the inductions necessary to the telepathic in· terpretation of this case, indu~tiol18 which I pass without com• ment. The interpretation of the phenomenon by the hypotheeis of duplication presents difficulties which are more admissible than those of telepathy. To make the hypothesis irrefutable, the account should have mentioned additional facts, I mean the circumstances that the phantom opened both doors to the room, one to come in, the other to go out. It is clear that if the per• cipient had recorded that she found these doors open, the thesis thai the phantom was objective would not have needed further proof. This detail of the first importance has not been included, and Myers even did not ask for information on this point, so that it follows from a scientific point of view that one cannot take notice of what is related in this respect, as it ia found in numerous cases of telepathy that phantoms opened doors which were certainly fotmd shut afterwards, by which it is demonstrated that some things in connection with telepathic hallucinations are indeed purely subjective. On the contrary, it is necessary to recognise tha.t if we analyse this case fully, it is easy to find incidents and to advance argu~ents in favour of a real action made by the phantom in regard to· the doors, and this because the percipient, referring to the second door, notes that the phantom stumbled into the other room, where he sudd1 uly disappeared. This describes a real and complex action, that of stumbling into the other room, an action which differs totally from those noted in connection with subjective visions of phantoms in relation to open doors. In the second place, because the circumstance of finding a closed door, which one is sure of having seen open, impresses itself upon the mind of the percipient, hence the supposition that if the percipient in the case in question had found that the doors opened by the phantom had really remained closed, she would not ha.ve failed to notice the fact, especially as she ran out immediately to the bedside of her relative. Consequently the :f/J.ct that this was not noticed acquires under these circumstances some importance, and gives a probable ·value to the idea that the percipient actually found the doors open. Such .are the inductions which the case sug· gests ; they seem to me sufficiently rational and legitimate for record. It is necessary for rue as recorder to ljlly that induc· tions and probabilities do not st1ffice to demonstrate the scientific hypothesis, it merely remains to deplore the omission in the record and pass on. One word further on the perplexities pre• sented by this case. }~rom the point of view of the objective interpretation, one of these consists in this, that in this epi· sode there is not only duplication but at the same time a llOrt

of warning representation to which the fluidic body of the sub• ject has been submitted. This perplexity gives rise to another. Was this submission voluntary or the work of a spiritual being, as the percipient supposes 1 What do we know 1 The time has not yet come to solve certain metaphysical enigmas i it is better to leave them without solution than rashly enter a maze of pre• mature inductions.

The pr~~nt category, which treats of cases where the phan• tom is only perceived by a third person, will be incomplete if we do not refer to some emmplea belonging to a gl'OUP of which there are numerous specimens, of rather !!light .value, which belong to this category, and which include certain f1>rms analogous to duplication, such as those which occur at the bed· side of a dying person, and reveal themselves to sensitives who are cognisant in this way of the process of separation of the fluidic body from the physical organism. If we consider these forms of clairvoyance solely they do not gain an appreciable de• monstrable value ; nevertheless, if we compare them amongst themselves and collllider them in relation to other phenomena, w~ note immediately a hypothetical value, for we see that the visualisations on the one hand, agree with each other in spite of differences of time and place, and in spite of the variable psychic conditions in which they occur.

(To be continued.)

364 LIGHT. [August 5, 1911.

MATERIALISM AND RELIGION.

BY HORACE LEAF.

ProlJably ever since men have been able to reason actively they have held two distinct views of the nature of life. .Along with the ancient philosophers' affirmation of man's immortality comes another equally strong assertion of man's ephemerality ; whilst it is thought that among the existing lower orders of mankind some are to be found who entertain no belief in man's survival of death. The materialist regards mind as an attri­bute of matter and inseparable from it, while the religionist affirms that mind is distinct from matter, and destined to exist after the death of the physical body.

Materialistic thinkers claim that the greatest and most reli­able attribute of man is the intellect, with its power· to reason, and that its greatest opponent, most liable to error, is the emotional attribute which is devoid of reasoning power. It is upon emotion, they declare, that religion is founded, and because of its unreasonableness religion is an illusion, and can be checked in its far-reaching effects by intellectual activity only. But religionists do not admit that this accusation is justified. They claim that if emotion does play a conspicuous part in the existence of religion it is under the control of reason and, in a sense, subsidiary to it. Ebullitions of unrestrained emotion may prevail amongst the unthinking masses who accept religion, but not amongst the leaders who have, and always have had, all the advantages of culture, both intellectual and emotional.

There can be no doubt that ~ore thought has been bestowed on religion than upon anything else. To Christianity a great debt is owed for intellectuality, for probably through her have been scaled some of the loftiest philosophical and metaphysical heights yet attained. But, unfortunately, the main premises of doctrinal Christianity have had to be accepted on faith, not upon reason, and it is from these premises that reason starts. It is now being realised that these premises are wrong, and a great part of her conclusions have to be abandoned as useless.

Religion, per se, is not a system, it is the principle upon which religious systems arc built, and it is so real that whilst systems alter or pass away, the principle remains. This princi­ple is not intellect, neither is it emotion as comll).only under­stood, but something deeper and superior to both, and in which both exist.

The great error of materialism is that it undervalues emotion and subordinates it to a position inferior to intellect. Intellect without some degree of emot,ion is perhaps impossible, but intellect predominant is often a dangerous and harmful and evil thing. . Humanity appears to be more indebted to emotion for happiness than to intellect. The most binding social ties are emotional, whilst intellect does much at times to break them. Patriotism, and the great devotion it is capable of arousing, spring from emotion. Emotion teaches forgiveness, and calls upon the strong to succour the weak ; it prompts the simple smile or tear, as well as the noblest deeds of self-sacrifice, when intellect would argue against their wisdom.

The parent and child are bound together by emotion; intel­lect has parted many, and made many a heart sad, The heart of imaginative literature is emotion; to it we are indebted for Shakespeare and Homer, Milton and Dante, Cowper and Pope. Had Jesus and Buddha been actuated by reason alone, the one would not have been crncified and the other would not have left his palace to search for truth .

.A brief acquaintance with some departments of modem science proves that intellect untempered by emotion is a dan­gerous thing. Without a tremor it can inflict the intensest suffering upon the helpless to no good purpose, and frequently, with the coldest logic and with no intention beyond mere experi­mentation, it can lacerate hearts.

It is in the unity and balance of these two great attributes of the human mind that truth must be sought. It is then found that science and religion are not two, hut one. There is now no exci1se for the most ardent advocate of materialism to deny that mind is distinct from matter, and sub.3ists apart from it, any more than there is for the religionist to declare that religion

must rest upon faith, and not knowledge. There is cause for all to rejoice that reason now supports emotion, and that what man­kind has intuitively felt about life is now supported by evidence, and meets the demands of intellect.

The bridge that at last successfully spans the gulf has been built by modern Spiritualism, which in its early days advanced in the face of both materialism and theology, and now vindi­cates itself by satisfying materialism and supporting religion.

COMFORTING SPIRITUAL COMMUNION.

STRIKING PERSONAL EXPERIENCES IN SPIRITUALISM.

.As the writer of the following interesting account of 'per­sonal experiences in Spiritualism' occupies a high official position on the other side of the Atlantic he stipulates that his name and address shall not be published. He vouches for the entire accuracy of his statements, and our readers may rest assured that we are satisfied that his narrative is a bona fide setting forth of facts as they appealed to him. Our contributor, who has been on a visit to this country for some time past, is well known to us and is one of the oldest subscribers to 'LIGHT.'

(Continued from page 345.)

Paul had occasion to spend a few weeks in New York during the autumn of 1905. At that time there was a local group of earnest investigators, forming a class of fifteen, meeting twice a week at the M.'s (see p. 315) for the :purpose of development and investigation.

Paul, as a special favour, was permitted to join this class after due consultation among the controls, the mediums and its members. The class had been in existence over six weeks, and apparently all its members were so convinced of the genuineness of ·au manifestations that test conditions were entirely over­looked. Paul being a guest, so to speak, could not be very exact­ing in this respect : he had to trust to his own acumen, keep open a critical eye, and analyse suspicious circumstances, should any occur. The seances lasted about an hour and a-half. After the opening prayer and hymn, a white figure advanced towards the organ, and sang, in a voice of fair range, a hymn of Gounod's. Paul writes in his journal : 'This spirit was sup-· posed to be a deceased sister of Mrs. M.'s, but her stature, appearance, and voice suggested a personation more than a real materialisation.' During this performance the light of the lantern behind the sitters was gradually turned on, the degree of light being controlled by a movable shutter, manipulated, so it was claimed, from the cabinet by spirit power. The light was usually sufficient to permit ordinary print or the time on a gold-faced watch to be read.

.Among the controls who manifested was the Indian child 'Pansy.' With regard to her life history it was understood that her people belonged to a Mohawk tribe, settled in the western part of the present State of New York, that she passed away about twenty years ago from a sore throat, to which complaint, it is said, the very noticeable hoarseness of her voice whenever she manifested was due . .At sittings when her medium Mr. M. was present, she was invariably the first to appear. After extending greetings, she usually walked in front of the sitters, addressing every one by name, and inquiring about hi£ or her health, often about private matters-joyful or otherwise-or she wonld refer to intimate home incidents known to the sitter only. Sometimes she would climb on the knees of one of her particular friends, and permit herself to be kissed. This favour Paul was granted more than once. Her clothing was of flimsy white material, in the shape of a child's nightgown, dropping to her feet. There were, however, occasions when this garment showed a luminous or phosphorescent pattern of foliage. She claimed that her task was to assist her mediums in demonstrating to doubting mortals the reality of the after life as well as the possibility of communion with friends already in spheres beyond. Although long since grown up to maturity in spirit life, she found it easier, she said, when she returned to earth life, in these seances, for instance, to manifest as the little child she was when she passed away, and less power was required than w0uld otherwise be needed. As a rule she spoke broken English as one would expect an Indian child to speak,

August 5, um.] LIGHT. 365

but on occasion, in describing some phases of spirit life, or in discoursing on the duties of earth life or on some abstruse sub­ject, her language was correct, her words well chosen, and the thoughts and teaching practical and sublime. One of the most prominent and deeply interested members of this circle was a Lutheran clergyman of Brooklyn. On one occasion, while arguing with 'Pansy' over a verse of the New Testament, he gave the Latin text of it. She replied by quoting another verse in Latin, substantiating her contention and giving the true explana­tion of the clergyman's original quotation. All present applauded the aptness of the retort. While other manifestations were going on 'Pansy' sat in her little chair, apparently amusing her­self with a few Indian toys which were kept at hand for her use. The M.'s had two little children of their own-girls of six and eight. At times these children were present at these seances; they sat with 'Pansy,' and all three would indulge in childish chatter, doll play, &c. During the course of a seance 'Pansy' would appear and disappear three or four times. At times her voice alone was heard, while she remained invisible. She usually materialised within the cabinet, then walked to her medium, who always greeted her with effusion. Then she would address the circle collec­tively and individually. Less frequently she would arise as from the floor ; sometimes she would descend from the ceiling. Her naturally childish ways and speech formed a great contrast to the serious manner and language she would on occasion assume. Her words were invariably of kindness, love and benevolence, yet seasoned with bright wit and mirth. Her quickness of repartee was remarkable; she was fond then of using slang expressions which she had doubtless learnt from the miscellaneous people who frequented M.'s seances. Paul, who on one or two occasions held her on his knees, says that she felt exactly like a living child of about four years of age. She never forgot a name or face of a visitor to M.'s, notwithstanding the many sitters who came there during the eighteen months he remained in New York.

The two other leading contl'Ols had in life been surgeons in the Northern Army during the war with the Confederate States. They explained that they were mediums on the spirit side of life-co-operating with the mortal mediums in producing the materialised forms that were animated during the seance by the spirit friends of the sitters present. It happened, not unfrequently, that they showed themselves in the material form, according to Paul's experience, always together, walking arm in arm up the centre of the circle of sitters, addressing kindly words to some of its members, bowing to others, raising their hats right and left, if they happened to have their heads covered. They seemed to prefer appearing in the army uniforms of their life period. Such visits were most heartily welcome. It was remarkable that these and all other materialised forms who ventured for­ward, perhaps thirty or twenty or less feet from the cabinet, retreated thereto by stepping backwards, and that on no occa­sion did they turn their backs on the sitters. There was some special reason for this, which Paul does not appear to have clearly grasped if it was given at the time. 'Dr. James' invari-

. ·ably closed the seances by a prayer of thanks to the Almighty, uttered through the entranced medium Mrs. M. Another spirit helper was known as ' The Apothecary.' He was an ancient of venerable appearance and fair complexion, wearing a long white beard, and clothed from head to foot in flowing white garments. He never, or very seldom, uttered a word. His mission appeared to be to restore to each sitter the magnetism which had been withdrawn from his person during the seance, and to benefit such as had, real or imaginary physical ailments. Each person was in turn invited to a chair in the centre of the circle. · There the spirit made passes over his head and body, lasting about two minutes. It took ' The Apothecary ' from twenty to thirty minutes to perform his task. The seance was not, however, interrupted thereby, for apparitions continued to come, go, and hold manifestations with their respective friends. On one occasion, while this healing work was going on, a disconcert­ing but curious incident happened. Repeated loud knocking was heard at the seance-room door. Undesirable as it might be to inter­rupt the seance, the urgency of the knocking was such that M. re­quested one of the sitters to see what was the matter. This person opened the door ; it so happened that a bright light was

burning in the hall, a beam of which, streaming suddenly into the seance-room, struck the spirit' Apothecary' and his patient. The spirit fell sideways in a heap as if shot, and immediately melted into nothingness, while the entranced medium within the cabinet uttered a moan and fell into a condition epileptic in appearance, from which she recovered but slowly-in fact, she remained for hours in a highly nervous condition. The seance was, of course, interrupted, but the occurrence, regrettable though it was, was certainly most interesting and a convincing evidence of the genuineness of this particular manifestation.

Several Indian 'braves' and 'squaws' habitually manifested at these seances. They suddenly appeared at the parting of the cabinet curtain-at times two, three or four together. They would march around in front of the sitters attired in their aboriginal costumes. At times accompanied by one or more squaws and papooses (children), they would perhaps squat in circle in the centre of the floor and then go through some mumbling or sing-song or pow-wow. After a few minutes they would all vanish as suddenly as they had appeared. One · indi­vidual might tarry a little longer for the purpose of explaining in words the object of their visit. ' Indian like come help white chiefs and sisters in seance. Indian bring much power, much good vibrations to circle. Indian warrior is good man now ; he loves Great Spirit (God) ; he loves white brother now ; he wants to help white brother. Good-bye, chiefs; good-bye, squaws.' Such visits were certainly well contrived to excite new vibrations, well described by the American slang expression ' rough house,' and some of the lady sitters felt decidedly more at eiise when the 'rough house' had subsided. If an Indian presented himself alone, it was because he was attached to one of the sitters as one of his personal guides ; he would call this person out and converse with him privately.

Such were the controls or mediums on the spirit side of life who worked in conjunction with the mediums M. on the mortal side, which, added to such forces as the sitters in the circle could supply, produced manifestations always interesting, and some­times of a startling character, some of which will be described later. If the M.'s and their seances had been hampered by test conditions such as science demands and exacts, could physical manifestations equal to those referred to have been possible 1 It is doubtful. The effect of test conditions on the minds of the sitters would be to wind up their thoughts and faculties to a pitch of tension-a qui vive, a watching for deception and fraud likely to antagonise the best efforts of the good controls and attract (like attracts like) the presence of tricky, frivolous, unde­veloped, earth-bound intelligences intent on deception, and thus amusing themselves at the expense of, perhaps, honest but unduly suspicious investigators.

(To be continued.)

' HE DESCENDED INTO HELL.'

Mr. James Lawrence, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, writes: 'In "Answers to Correspondents,'' in" Life and Work," a Church of Scotland monthly magazine, with reference to the passage in the Apostles' Creed, " He descended into Hell," there is a passage which well illustrates the breadth of thought and tolerance now becoming quite common amongst those erstwhile dour, narrow, strait-laced preachers. Well may we say with the poet:-

" Out of the shadows of night The world rolls into light, It is daylight everywhere.''

'After mentioning that the word "hell" or "hades" has no reference to punishment or suffering, but to the mysterious region where the dead were believed to be, the Editor says :-

' " Whatever be the correct exposition of the Scripture which tells that our master preached to ' the spirits in prison,' there seems to be the.clear assertion that there was no suspense of his activity after death : though the weary found rest His sweetest rest was in unselfish service. When Frederick Maurice was dying1 and they told him that he would not preach again, he said, If I may not preach here, I may in other worlds.' So Lowell wrote as an epitaph on Channing-

Thou art not idle ; in thy higher sphere Thy spirit bends itself to loving tasks,

And strength to perfect what it dreamed of here Is all the crown and glory that it asks." '

386 LIGHT. [August 5, UH1.

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TAUGHT OF THE SPIRIT.

Ji~ew students of the literature of Spiritualism who have taken up the works of Mrs. Maria M. King can have failed to be impressed by their deep philosophical interest. The 'Principles of Nature,' as given inspirationally by that gifted writer, are indeed a veritable magnum opus. We extend, therefore, a cordial welcome to a book by her .husband, Mr. Andrew J. King, counsellor-at-law, of New Jersey, entitled 'The New Astronomy and Laws of Nature,' which contains an epitome of 'The Principles of Nature.' As Mr. King truly observes in the Preface to this remark­able book:-

In this age of hurry and impatience tbe mass of enlightened men feel they cannot afford the time to study the minutioo of causes, and therefore leave unexamined the most important statements of laws and principles underlying all formation -material and spiritual, from the material and spiritual univers~ of forms--,.-worlds-to that of material and spiritual man. They want the essence of things stated in a few words.

That is quite true, and is in some respects a matter for regret. For ourselves, we may say that we are not enamoured of literary or philosophical pemmican-' Liebig's extract ' of wisdom ! But we recognise, none the less, that in present conditions it is this or nothing-we must be content with what Matthew Arnold in a similar connection calls the 'second best.'

One other consideration also tends to chasten our pleasure in the book. It is rather wanting in literary form and unity. The conservative British reader will hardly relish the ' new spelling ' ; and American phrases-neat and pithy as they often are-are apt to jar on the sensitive literary palate when placed in close association with the lofty diction that rightly belongs to all high teaching. F-0rtunately these objections relate more to the editorial portions of the book than to those in which the inspirations of Mrs. King are set forth.

Having had our grumble at the manner, we turn with unalloyed pleasure to the matter of the book. It impresses us with a sense of the greatness and conviction that belong to truth when clearly and earnestly stated. In its. earlier

. portions the volume summarises the course of cosmic evolution from the birth of worlds-regarding which there are some original doctrines which modern science has already begun to assimilate-to the genesis of man. And withal there are remarka?le teachingil concerning the way

in which in the Divine Economy· of the Universe much "that the superficial thinker regards as waste and deleterious products are worked up and converted to the uses of the great scheme of life. We are shown the wondrous methods by which Nature, informed by the Universal Intelligence, distributes over a planet all the types and species of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and the gradual ancl harmonious unfoldment of all the planetary conditions needed for each expression of life. We are tolu how the directive influence of the spiritual side of Nature is at work throughout providing the life germs for the individual forms of every type and species, ' using physical organisms as the matrices through which to give birth to form and the reproductive impulse as the means of instituting it.' At certain stages · there is a culmination of conditions, a climax is reached, and the germinal elements of a new type are evolved. And so the great work has gone on; is going on, and man having become an individualised, self-conscious being, rises from height to height.

We are, in this connection, greatly impressed by two statementsin the book concerning the law of immortality:-

Mind cannot disorganise ; it adds to its proportions gradually until it can be said to be reorganised in the sense of being constituted of entirely different proportions of the same elements; as atmosphere gradually adds to its proportions until it is so diverse from an undeveloped planetary atmosphere as to be termed a different organisation.

And again:-Mind draws nothing from the grosser man,. save action ;

therefore the spirit being wholly of divine elements, it is self­existent.

The argument for immortality must of necessity be deductive, and we rest confident in the conviction that 'the principle of man's immortality is as fixed as that which determines the eternity of its Father, God.'

Another truth for which we stand-the intercommuni­cation of the two worlds-is dealt with in illuminating fashion. Man in the flesh is the ready recipient, through his mind, of spiritual influence-for the mind presents ' an easy avenue of approach from the unseen sphere.' Indeed, but for the influx from the higher spheres man in the body would be blind to the truths and principles of the universe -even material progress would be impossible.

To the mind of the aspiring reader that portion of the work which relates to the Spiritual Universe will doubtless prove especially attractive. Here we find the 'homes of the hereafter' described in graphic and convincing fashion, the description agreeing in the main with. the accounts given through or by other spiritual teachers. We are told, for example, how the Second Sphere-the first of the spiritual worlds-is formed of the refined forces of the first., how by the higher laws of attraction and repulsion the spiritual elements flow from material worlds te the Second Sphere, where a further refinement of these elements takes place, the grosser parts being eliminated and returned to the material realm for the higher uses of that realm. And then follows thfl significant statement :-

This is all the reincarnation of spirit there is in Nature. This conforms to the law of progressive development.

Deeply interesting are the descriptions of the circles or • grades of development into which the Second Sphere is divided and of the relationship between all and each of them; of the methods by which spirits return to earth; of the laws of spirit communion; and of the spirit's progress through the spheres. We lay· aside the book with a renewed conviction of the sweet reasonableness of the

. doctrines taught by the inspired writers and teachers that represent our movement. . Clear, simple, and easily under· standable, they bear the stamp and impress of truth, for as

,August· 5, 1911.] LIGHT. 36'1

Andrew .Jackson Davis has well said : 'Truth is always simple, while error is compound and generally unintel­ligible.'

We could wish that, for the sake of a hurried and over­wrought generation, more of the standard teachings of our spiritual philosophers could be presented in a condensed form. Meantime we are grateful for this summary of the work of Mrs. Maria M. King.

FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS FROM F. W. H. MYERS.

BY H. A. DALLAS ••

IV.

'WHO SELECTS 1' In a recent issue of ' Proceedings ' Mr. Bayfield supported

the view that Mrs. Verrall's subliminal consciousness was capable of engineering the cross-co1Tespondences which have so greatly perplexed researchers. (See 'LIGHT' for April 1st, p. 152.) It would be interesting to know whether he holds her responsible even for those cross-correspondences in which she apparently played no part. Here is a case in point. Did Mrs. V errall's ' subliminal' impress Mr. Dorr to make the suggestion out of which the following c1'0SS-correspondence was evolved 1 Or, the suggestion being ol'iginated by him, did she merely take advan­tage of it and direct her subliminal energies towards getting the cross-correspondences worked into the scripts of the two auto­matic writers engaged in it 1 These, and other questions of a s1ruilar character, seem to require an, answer from those who accept the theory advanced by Mr. Bayfield.

The particular interest attaching to the following episode is that it is one of the instances in which a suggestion of a subject for a cross-correspondence _made by a sitter is accepted by the controls and successfully carried out as an experiment.

On May 4th, 1908, and again May 8th, 19J8, Mr: Dorr asked the controiS if tliey would try to • make one of the other 'Lights ' give the name of Oon~ns or Gii·ce, or make some reference to the poem, quote some line from it, perhaps.

On May 12th, 1908, he repeated :-l read you ' Sabrina fair, Listen where thou art sitting Under

the glassy, cool, translucent wave.' Perhaps this as a quotation ma.)' help j'O\l to give it to the other Lights. (Vol. XXV., p. 253.)

On Deeember 16th, 1908, this line was reproduced by Mr11. Holland, who wrote :-

The glassy cool translucent wave. Then an allUBion to Miss Verrall was added:­Helen could help. On May 12th, 1908, the Piper controls said that they

would give to Miss Verrall-Caves, nymphs, water nymphs and Maid of the Sea, Maidens

fair twining their golden locks. . -On November 2oth, 19J8, Miss Helen Verrall's script was

a sort of paraphrase of the 4J,tter part of the Attendant Spirit's invocation to Sabrina (in 'Com us') and included the words,

'Caves of ocean,' 'sea nymphs,' 'Mermaids,' 'Lorelei,' and 'naught shall save the fisherman.'

This recalls a ballad by Heine, in which the Lorelei, who lure the fishermen's boat!! on to the rocks, are described as combing their golden hair. This was accompanied by the arrow which often marks a cross-correspondence in the ' V errall scripts.' We see, therefore, that the suggestion made to the controls was

· skilfully carried out by these two scripts of Mrs. Holland's and Miss Verrall's. -And Myers seems to have been aware of the succes.s, for on Decembee 21st, 1908, about a month after this last writing of Miss Verrall's, he stated through Mrs. Piper (then

· in the States) that Mrs. Verrall also wrote, or Helen did, water nymphs, sprite,

recently within three Sabllaths.* (pp. 253-255.)

* ' Sabbath' is a.lways used for Sunday by the Piper controls, and • Light' for medium. ·

· The date is very ·nearly correct, being only out by about a. week.

In a very interesting article on ' The Principle of Selection ' (which should be carefully studied), Miss Johnson points out that it is not merely the fact of correspondences which is im­portant, but rather the differences between the scripts contain­ing these correspondences, for. these differences 'afford some evidence of design,' as the above episode shows.

The evidence of design cannot but seem to some readers very strong and very weighty. In the above case, which is less elaborate than some of the others, we find not only an experi· ment carried out s~ccessfully, but a clear recognition· shown by the controls that this has been done, the approximate date being given.

Is it reasonable to attribute all this to Mrs. Verrall's sub­liminal consciousness, even though there is no evidence that she was ttsed at all in the experiment 1

The incidents touched upon in this and preceding articles have not, of course, exhausted the subjects suitable for review. Possibly at a later date I may retum to them again.

LIFE ON 'THE OTHER SIDE.'

Life on the other side, if the testimony of spirit people is worth anything at all, is, if anything, more real, more active, and more full of interest than it is on this plane. Instead of being analogous to a sleep, as is sometimes rep1·esented, between day-time incarnations in this world, it is much more true that our experiences here more nearly resemble dreams, while life 'over there ' is the blossoming out of consciousness into reali­sations and fruition denied it here.

In a communication to Mr. Stead, written in October, 1908, 'Julia.' referred to the fact that she had learned that the number of the ' dead ' who wish to communicate with the living are comparatively few. She explained the fact by citing the experiences of emigrants, who, at first, when in new and strange surroundings, turning longingly to th.eir old homes, write often and welcome the arrival of letters; but after a little while the pain is dulled, new interests arise, and by and by they cease to write. So, too, is it with those who 'pass on,' save in exceptional cases where the ties are strong and the affections centre on dearly loved ones here. The change, she says, ' is even more rapid, for the new life is even more absorb­ing, and the survivors constantly recruit our ranks. When the family circle is complete, when those we love are with us, why should we trouble to communicate 1 Our life lles on our own plane.'

Spirit people tell us that theirs is· the world of ·light, the homeland, the summerland, and so on. That when they ap­proach our earth its dense psychic conditions look to them like a dark cloud, and spirit circles are like beacons in the darkness, while mediums are often spoken of as 'lights' in that all­enveloping cloud.

To assume that this earth sphere is the only one in which we can obtain practical, educational experiences, develop in self­knowledge, and by self-culture gain power for self-mastery and self-expression is to get the sum wrong and to arrive at erroneous

·conclusions. Purposive effort and successful achievement, con­sciousness of pain and pleasure, acquisition of knowledge and the use of power, growth in goodness, wisdom and love, useful labour arid altruistic services-all these are not only possible in the spirit-world but are actually being experienced by those who are already there. So rich, so varied, so full of interest, charm, opportunity, occupation, and joy, is the world beyond that it is no wonder that those who go theie realise that 'life is full of holy uses' in both worlds. Never yet have we met with a spirit who desired to return to live on this earth. Never one but has expressed the feeling that it would be a retrogression to lose the liberty of the after-death home and resume the bondage and limitations of the flesh. Even repentant, unde­veloped and unhappy ones, when they realise that .progress is possible in the after-death states, are thankful that the lessons of their past earth-life experiences can be learned and utilised without return to this physical plane. Evolution, growth,

368 LIGHT. [August 5, 1911.

unfoldment is the law' of life. Spirits advance, awaken, under­stand, realise and enjoy as they learn to use, to appreciate' and to express the powers that are inherent within them. Evolution is gradual unfoldment as the result of the operations of divine forces, physical and natural-progress is due to purposive effort on the part of the individual who is sufficiently intelligent and enlightened to aspire to l1igher and better conditions and to underetand how to realise them.

Since the inception of Modern Spiritualism the messages from teaching spirits in the beyond have proclaimed the naturalness and reality of spirit life, the human charactei;i.stics of the people of that world beyond, the pathway of progressive develop­ment and achievement open to every spirit that wills to walk therein, and the great law of spiritual attainment and of happi­ness as the outcome of altruistic ministry to others. Love finds wide fields for active service in watchful care and affectionate help to the children, the weak, the oppressed, the needy and the wicked. 'Spirits in prison,' both in the body and out of it, are objects of loving care and assistance, while, on other planes, those who love one another delight to make bright homes, and to adorn them with all that is gracious and sweet-the thought­forms of beaut.y which express the tenderest emotions, the truest affections and most spiritual ideals, and the noblest con­ceptions of the happy-hearted ones whose delight it is to give.

A REMARKABLE SEANCE.

We are indebted to Will Phillips's magazine, 'The New Fellowship,' for the following account, written from Merthyr by Mr. J. T. Thomas, of a remarkable seance :-

The incident I am about to relate occurred last February. Ail you know, we have a finely developed medium, through whose powers we have been and are now having remarkable phenomena. Some of these phenomena take the form of ' metallic raps,' i.e., sounds of two metals colliding. Experi­menting with various metals I have come to a definite con­clusion regarding two metals producing a like sound. Other 'raps' I explained by possible water-hammer in piping, from an adjacent room. On this particular night in February I was giving my observations and explanations of various phe­nomena to our conductor. We were living near each other, and fully one mile and a-half from the home of the medium. On arriving at the seance-room I examined the room, and also the 'plaster casts' and 'wax moulds' (we were sitting for the impression of feet). On the wicker table inside the improvised cabinet there was a glass dish filled with flour, brought for the purpose . of receiv­ing the impression of a hand. We tied the medium to his chair and started to sing a hymn. Soon, however, the medium was controlled by 'Abdullah,' who offered a stining prayer to the higher intelligences, seeking help and guidance in a noble work. We again sang. Within fifteen minutes the table in the cabinet creaked as though some heavy weight were placed upon it. Then the controlling intelligence said 'Got it.' It was a dark seance, and 'lights up' were ordered. I examined the ropes and found the knots intact. Several of the sitters examined the moulds and found two impressions of feet, nine and a-half inches and two and seven-eighths inches in length re­spectively, the feet of a lady and a small baby. We were now told to put out the lights and sing again. About half way through the hymn I felt something lukewarm on my face and hands, and I said aloud, 'Someone is throwing warm water over me.' When the hymn finished we were exhorted not to laugh when the lights were put up. We all agreed. When the lights were put up you can only imagine the noise the other sitters made. I was a mass of flour. I made for the medium's hand, but he was as clean as could be. I examined the other sitters with like result. I was nonplussed. Then the most unkind cut of all came. ' Abdullah' told me, when the laughter had subsided, 'Tom, you have been explaining the way our phe­nomena are produced, I hope you will explain that!' Here's the point. How did anyone apart from the conductor and myself know anything of my explanations ? Was that tele­pathy ? If so, did telepathy throw the flour over me for my explanations ?

MAN'S SPIRITUAL BODY AND ITS CLOTHING.

A p APER READ BY MR. F. PURVIS, AT SA VILLE-STREET, NORTH SHIELDS.

That man while on earth is a compound being, consisting of body, soul, and apirit, is a truth many profess to believe, but few have grasped, as they ought, the real facts of the case. Most men would admit that the spirit is the real man, responsible to God for his actions, but few thinkers are agreed as to man's soul, or what part it really plays in the drama of life. Theo­logians often use soul a»d apirit as interchangeable 'terms, but that is not tnie to fact, for man's soul is his spiritual body. Paul says in I. Cor. xv. 44 : ' There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body.Pi Two bodies-one for time only, the other for both time and eternity. The material body dies and returns to dust. The spiritual body never dies. It only c!J,anges its sphere at death. This spiritual body is not a newly organised or ethe­realised body that will be given to us at 'the resurrection.' It is within us now. The two forms, the material and the spiritual, co-exist ; they mature together ; the spirit, i·ooted in God, is the ' body builder,' it organises these bodies as 'lgencies for its future expression both in this world and the next. The average man needs to be told that he is a spirit functioning on this physical plane by means of his spiritual body, which is his working partner, so to speak, in his everyday earth life. Permit me to make my position clear. The brain, we are told, consists of grey matter : but can matter think ? I should say not. The most that can be said for it is that it is organised matter which can be used by man (spirit) as an instrument to express his thoughts. What the organ is to the organist the brain is to the spirit, which manipulates it by means of the spiritual body. The organ cannot play itself ; it needs an organist. Even so man's brain cannot think without a thinker.

Since I have known the value and importance of my spiritual body, I arrange with it when I have to awake and rise in the morning. I say I must rise at such a time. Having set my hour, I say to my tired and wearied instrument, 'You can npw go to sleep, with the assurance that my spiritual body will awaken you at the set time.' I know this to be fact from my own experience. Try it fairly, and you will soon learn how to become your own alarm Clock, and be able to rise at any hour or time you m-iy fix upon. We all know from experience that the body and brain need rest and slee11, but few are aware that the soul, or spiritual body, does not need sleep. It, how­ever, can rest and be quiescent, and thus let the physical body sleep and be renewed in vigour for the next day's toil. That the soul does not sleep is indicated by those dreams in which the spirit is consciously active, and is at times miles away from the sleeping body.

The spiritual body has eyes and ears ; in fact, all the sense­organs of the material body, with all its own psychical powers as well, in daily exercise. Those who are normally clairvoyant and. clairaudient have the physical and spiritual senses both open at the same time. They can and do hear the music of both earth and heaven. But soul sight and body sight are not identical. I have heard Mr. Rushforth, the blind medium, describe what he saw with the eyes of his spiritual body, and his descriptions were such that I could eagily recognise them. He can describe places as well as persons, and can go straight to anyone in the audience for whom he has a message. He has come direct to me from the platform, thus proving that the sense of sight possessed by the physical body and that possessed by the soul or spiritual body are distinct, for &urely the blind medium must have an inner organism through which he can see and know what is going on around him.

When the physical body is old and infirm, the most merci­ful thing, as it is the most natural, is that death should set free the spirit, with its spiritual body, so that, like the bird liberated from the shell, it may be born into a new world and a better atmosphere. Dr. Richard Hodgson, quoted by Sir 0. Lodge, says that the 'spiritual body is composed of luminiferous ether.' It is, therefore, better adapted to the planes of life in heaven than to eartb. The spirit's faculties cannot expand to their fulness till freed from the earthly body, and the eman­cipated soul can then see and hear and feel and walk and talk

August 5, 1911.] LIGHT. 369

with greater freedom on the higher planes. The world's best and greatest men have been dominated and controlled by the spiritual part of their natures, and thus they have been power­ful for good. Socrates, Plato, Buddha, Krishna, Confucius, and, above them all, Jesus of Nazareth, who in all that is spiritual has pre-eminence over every other human being known to history, unselfishly used their great powers to uplift humanity.

Although death deprives man of the outer body, it does not leave him bodiless ; although it denudes him of· fleshly eyes and ears, and vocal organs, it does not make him sightless, deaf, or dumb. He has still his real spiritual body, with its eyes and ears and powers of speech. In fact these, and all man's essential belongings, such as memory, culture, education, habits, character, and affections, tastes and interests, are retained and go with him into the realm of eternal realities.

It is a significant fact that good deeds done on earth or in heaven brighten and beautify the spiritual body. Those who live to confer benefits on others make to themselves a loveliness that is pleasant to behold. Good conduct and character give sweetness and serenity to the spiritual features. Hence the truly good are for ever spiritually beautiful.

To enforce what I have said, ask yourself 'How could I live and move and have my conscious being in heaven among friends whom I love without a spiritual body 1 How could I either hear or see or have speech with my friends without a spiritual body 1 ' That a life of goodness brightens and beautifies the features of the spiritual body, I realise by what was made known to me by Mrs. Clarke, of Jesmond, who gave me a clair­voyant description of the appearance of my first wife, in her spirit robes. Mrs. Clarke spoke of her as a very beautiful being ; she thought, by her youthful appearance, that she was little more than twenty or, at the most, twenty-two years of age. At the close of the meeting I showed the medium a portrait, and asked if she had ever seen anyone like it. She replied, 'That is the exact likeness in form and features, in fact every­thing but age, of the beautiful young woman I saw.' Mrs. Clarke was astonished when I told her that the lady she had seen was really sixty-five years of age when she passed over to the other side of life. To put on beauty in heaven we must lead a beautiful life on earth ; then when we breathe tlie ether of immortality our cheeks will mantle with eternal bloom. That spirit people are clothed we know, and that their clothing is indicative of their characters we also know, by the experiences of clairvoyants, by the testimony of the spirits themselves, and by the witness of such men as Swedenborg, who, aJcording to Dr. Peebles, was by far the greatest seer of modern times. This seer of heaven's glorious realities, speaking of the raiment of spiritual bodies, says : 'That they ar<t clothed with a variety of garments, I have seen a thousand times.' We know, too, that their clothing indicates the character and intelligence of the spirits, the colours varying from plain white to crystal brightness, ac­cording to the quality and degree of development of the wearer. The archangels have robes so bright that they literally flame in matchless splendour.

The first garments:worn in spirit life are the gifts of love. It is so with infants on earth. As the loving, waiting mother provides the softest and most delicate garments for the expected infant, so tender, loving, maternal angels and guardian spirits, expecting and waiting for their passing over, have, ready pre­pared, garments for their loved ones when 'born again' into the s:Piritual world. We afterwards make our own garments, as we make and perfect our character,· Everything in Nature has its own peculiar atmosphere, composed of infinitesimal particles emanat­ing from itself, em bodying its interior nature, and extending to a certain distance around it. We do not need to be told of the presence of the rose when we breathe its perfume. Man's cha­racter is known by his radiating influences, and on the spiritual plane the sphere of an object in its clothing. Think of the difference between the atmosphere of a public-house and the pure and hallowed conditions of a truly spiritual meeting, and you will realise thls important spiritual truth.

Let each prove for himself the truths of Spiritualism, then try to develop the powers of the spiritual body, and to weave the garments that will be bright and beautiful by thinking pure thoughts, having true pllrposes, and performing loving deeds.

HUMAN AURA MADE VISIBLE.

Mr. W. J. Colville, in a lecture reported on page 344,' gave some account of Dr. W. J. Kilner's method of rendering visible the human aura. A more detailed description of the process adopted has been furnished by a representative of the 'Daily Express,' who attended a series of experiments conducted by Dr. Felkin, an earnest student of Dr. Kilner's discovery. The correspondent says :-

The apparatus, if apparatus it can be termed, consists of a number of what are technically termed 'spectauranine' glass screens, each about four inches in length by an inch and a half in breadth. These screens, which vary in colour to suit the eyes of the investigator, are made each of two plates of very thin glass, between which, hermetically sealed in, is a wonderful fluid that Dr. Kilner has discovered.

The subject was a well-made woman of medium height, and apparently in the best of health. Dr. Felkin first of all told her exactly the nature of the experiments he was about to make. Then, having instructed the 'Express' representative to look steadily at the daylight through one of the spectauranine screens, and s~t the patient standing upright with legs together and hands on hips, about a foot away from a dead, dark background, facing the only window in the room, he proceeded to draw a dark blind half-way down this window. Then from below he drew up a blind of dark serge until it overlapped the upper blind sufficiently to allow light so dim to filter into the room that only the white form of the subject's body could be discerned in the gloom.

'Now turn round,' Dr. Felkin said to the 'Express' repre­sentative, 'and tell me what you see, or if you see anything at all, for there are, perhaps, four or five people out of every hundred who, through some inherent defect in the eyesight, are physically unable to perceive the aura.'

For some moments, perhaps a quarter of a minute, the ouly object that could be made out in the darkness was the subject's form and its outline. Then gradually, as the eyes grew accus­tomed to the darkness, a sort of double mist or halo, the one within the other and the inner one denser than the outer, became more and more distinctly visible. The outlines of this mist exactly followed the curves and the contour of the subject's body. The colour of the outer aura seemed to be a blue-grey ; that of the inner aura was darker-also, apparently, the inner aura was denser. In the triangular space formed by the sides of the body and the angle of the arms, as the subject remained with her hands resting lightly ·on her hips, the halo could be seen most clearly.

Presently, acting upon Dr. Felkin's instructions, the subject raised and extended first one arm, then the other. Then she joined her hands at the back of her neck.• And always the mist of aura followed, as though it were itself an outline of some sort of shadow of the limbs.

The writer of ' Table Talk ' in the ' Daily News ' of July 19th mentions that another development of photography is announced. After referring to the human aura and its alleged ,·isibility through a screen composed of two pieces of glass treated with certain chemicals, he says it is claimed that : 'Until death, the radiation is always present ; at the moment of the dissolution of the spirit it vanishes-not, however, as a gas light vanishes when turned out, but by actually leaving the body and disappearing in the air. This Dr. Patrick O'Donnell, of Chicago, claims to have proved by photographing the aura as it left the body of a man at the instant he died last week in the Mercy Hospital, Chicago. Dr. O'Donnell has no doubt that what he photographed was "the guiding power or current of life " ; but he is not prepared to say it is the soul.'

AT a great Baptist Convention recently held in Philadelphia, U.S.A., it was resolved that as there exists a wide-spread feeling that 'the divisions of the Church, while necessary in time past to secure liberty of thought an_d worship, have largely fulfilled this mission,' the time had come for closer forms of co-opera­tion, and that, 'with readiness to share our apprehension of the truth as it is in Jesus with all his followers, and with both willingness and humility to learn from others any aspects of the way of life which we may not have in due proportion, we will gladly enter into a conference of all the Churches of Christ, looking towards a more perfect mutual understanding.' A committee of five representatives was appointed to act with others to arrange for such a proposed conference. We suppose this is as far as they can be expected to go-at present-and it is assuredly a step in the right direction.

870 LIGHT. [August 5, l~lt.

MEDIUMS AND PSYCHICS.

All mediums are necessarily psychic sensitives, but it does not follow that all psychics are necessarily mediums. Those who are med.iums are consciously or unconsciously influenced­impressed or controlled-by discarnate intelligences, who, through their agency, demonstrate, more or less fully, their per· sonal identity and express their own thoughts and purposes. Psychics, on the other hand, collSciously ' sense ' or psycho· metrically perceive the psychical conditions of those with whom they e.ssociate-and by ' community of sensation ' ' take on ' the mental and other states of persons who sit with them. In some instances this psychical oneness becomes so intimate that, for the time beiug, the sensitive identifies hiinself with the one with whom he comes en rapport and thinks and feels as does that person .. Psychics, therefore, like mirrors, reflect, or give back, the impressions that. are made on them, and are liable to be domi­nated by persons of stronger wills, or of more powerful psychical pe1-sonality than themselves-whether those persons are in the body or out of it. Ther may thus be, to persons in the body, just as much mediums as are those who are responsive to spirit influences. Hero-worshippers are almost invariably psychically over-shadowed, and for that reason are liable to be over-generous in their estimates of their heroes. In all these matters a level head and a discriminating judgment are absolutely indispensable. Principles need to be considered on their merits quite apart from the personalities of those who proclaim them. And it is for this reason that wise spirit teachers invariably prefer to be anonymous-to remam unidentified. The message or teaching is of more importance than is the personality of the message­bearer. Homage to the advocate tends to bias the listener, and now, as always, principles should stand higher than persons in all moral, philosophical, and spiritual matters. ' Truth for authority, not authority for truth' is .the necessary attitude of the earnest seeker. When one sits at the feet of a reverenced. ' master,' 'adept,' 'elder brother,' or 'high angel,' in the attitude of devotee he has voluntarily surrendered his right of private judgment and is in danger of psychical subjugation-:-the dice are loaded and always fall in favour of the special doctrine of the one who a.sSurues, or is credited with, superior-or super­human-attainments.

W. S. M.

SCIENTIFIC SELF-DIRECTION, . In a thoughtful paper in· ' The Modern Churchman,' Alice

Gardner, historical lecturer of Newnham College, discusses some practical applications of 'Scientific Self-Direction.' S~e says:-

Not only are ideals, rules and practices found to differ in different members of the community, but the life of the indi­vidual is often distracted, weakened, and troubled by a simul­taneous acceptance of standards or principles which would work out antagonistic results if any were realised in its entirety. Thus, to take three such pairs of moral antitheses : Ought the individual to make it his main endeavour to live according to i·ight and reasonable principles, or is it his duty to merge his own interests and ideas in those of the community-nation, church, family-to which he belongs 1 Or again, should the practical aim of the self-director be the traming of his character by methods of strict repression, or by the general fostering and ex­pansion of his specially advantageous qualities, whet\l.er physical, mental or moral 1 And in the endeavour to bring one's life under the rule of the law, does the principle 'follow conscience' always hold, or has conscience itself to be trained by occasional resistance and brought into line with general reasonableness 1 In all these conflicts of practical principles most people are reduced to some kind of compromise-between altruism and enlightened egoism, between 11:sceticism and self-development, between conscience and criticism. Generally speaking, perhaps in doubtful cases, we are safer if we adhere to the former mem­ber of each pair, but it is highly desirable to have recourtre at times to the second member. Most people need to become more altruistic than they are, but it is ultimately to the interest of society that individual preferences and individual opinions should be asserted against the tyranny of the social groups, by which the lives of men, and much more of women, are often thwarted and deformed. Asceticism, where it has pre\•ailed, has stifled some of the best growths of social life, and has pro­voked a very undesirable reaction. Again, with regard to our

third point, any tendency to weaken the authority of conscience can only be admitted with great caution. Yet for conscience to become progressive, in the individual as in society, it needs to be revised iu its judgments, from time to time, in the light .of fuller knowledge. . . It would seem that one of the main tasks in self-direction is to maintain in all the relations and ac· tivities of life a certain proportion and harmony, derived from an enlightened view of om-selves and our environment.

This is practically the ' harmonial philosophy 1 of the late Andrew Jackson Davis.

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

We learn from Mr. James Coates, of Rothesay, that he has arranged for Mr. Charles Bailey, of :Melbourne, Australia, to pay a flying visit to Scotland, accompanied by Mr. A. J. Abbott, during the first week in August. A few seances will be held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Coates, at which there will be no •Grenoble tests, and the phenomena will be left to prove them­selves.' ' The circles will not consist of more than fifteen persons-Spiritualists-knowing and having full confidence in each other, and all m\Ult be present at the whole series.'

The Dean of Gibraltar, in a small but able pamphlet on 'War or Arbitration,' which, by the way, should be widely cir­culated, says that. the gigantic forces of religion, labour and humanity have determined that there shall be no vacillation and retreat from the position that has been won in favour of arbi­tration. 'What in war is actually criminal and contrary to reason, morals and religion lies in this-it does not decide in favour of the iight but always of the strong.' Admitting that warfare brings out chivalrous, self-sacrificing, noble character­istics, he suggests that there is at least as much inspiration in a noble life as in an heroic death, and points out that the hero who died for his country might, had he lived, have proved a life-long blessing by his heroic character and influence. Com­bating the idea that warfare develops the virility of a nation, he points to the dwarfed, narrow-chested, diminutive rank and file of the F1·ench Army after the Napoleonic Wars, and to the prowess of the Japanese after six generations of peace. 'In peace the virile and brave survive, with their fair women and manly descendants. In peace children bury their time-worn aged parents. In war parents bury their stalwart bread-winning sons.' Without exaggeration, this question between w.ar 11ind arbitration has become the most im~rt.ant problem that the twentieth century has ·to solve. 'Might was right in the days of our barbarian ancestors. It is no longer so, .and will per­manently cease in the days of our children.' 'So mote it be I'

Mr. John W. Ring, in the 'Suntlowet' (Hamburg, New York), writes : 'A recognition of truth-which is universal­makes us tolerant, liberal and helpful One who loves truth loves his fellow-man. Jesus told us that the unmistakable evi­dence of a true disciple of truth was, and evidently is, love for each other. The realm of truth is so extended that we each may study, investigate and explore as freely as we please, with no need of infringement . on the research of others, and the differences which at present serve as boundaries dividing the human race into sects and denominations are as imaginary as the lines which we establish to sepiirate the nations of the earth. The universal things, such as the air and streams, ignore these boundaries, and, even so, a great soul made free by truth passes mmoticed the limitations which are set up by narrow individuals and recognises the truth as it manifests in absolutely every phase of life.'

Dealing with ' A Psychic Autobiography ' by Miss Amanda T. Jones, t.he 'Occult Review' for August says: 'But decided though she is in her views on spirit intercourse, Miss Jones is certainly not a person to leave the . rudder of her own shiJ> to

· the guidance of other hands, a tendency which is all too apparent among many who cultivate the intuitive at the expense of the rational and more positive side of the individuality.' It is just those who are decided in their views regarding spirit inter­comse, as the result of their own experiences, who are the most earnest in deprecating injudicious reliance on intuition, psychic impressions, or spirit guidance, and who most strongly urge the necessity of maintaining a level head and rational self-possession. We heartily concur with the view, presented by the 'Occult Review,' that 'the development of manhood involves the growth of the ruore positive side, the cultivation of will-powe1· and reason, and all that goes to make up character.' We do this the more readily because we know that the intuitive, or psychical, consciousness can best be developed, and is most trustworthy, when it is allied to an enlightened self-governing intelligence, which knows when and how far to be receptive and responsive tO psychical or spirit influences, and when to assert its own independence.

August 5, 1911.] LIGHT. 371

'It is,' says Dr. Hyslop, in the July issue of the '.Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research,' 'only unintelli­gent scepticism that dallies with telepathy. It might rationally express dissatisfaction with detailed theories of Spiritism, but there is no rational excuse for not frankly admitting that it is a legitimate hypothesis with a thousandfold better credentials than telepatl1y for the same phenomena.'

In a little circular entitled 'The New Era of Christian Thought,' issued by Charles Taylor, the publisher of the works by the Rev. Arthur Chambers, we find it said that 'a new con­ception of tlrnmselves is being formed by men and women,' largely due to modern psychic phenomena. 'The old idea of man was that he is a physical being with a spirit, while the newer and truer idea now being perceivecl is that he is a spirit temporarily inhabiting a physical encasement. The contrast, of course, between the two ideas is enormous. It will make the greatest possible difference to anyone's ideas of himself and of religion, whether he regards himself as already an essentially spiritual being, or only as one who will after death, and at a distant date, develop into that condition. The discarding of the old idea will also very materially alter the aspect of death. A wide gulf of distinction lies between the thought of death, as that which so curtails the being of man as to leave only a some­thing of him which is to he the nucleus of his future restoration to manhood, and the better idea which our extended knowledge is leading us to understand-viz., that death has no power except in the sphere of the physical, and is incapable of affecting man in his essential being. Thus, it is being realised that in the act oi physically dying there is not a curtailing, but an enhancing, of those interior powers which constitute real man­hood.' Thus is Spiritualism winning its way all along the line. ' Truth is mighty, and must prevail.'

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by correspon­dents, and, sometimes publishes what he does not agree with for the purpose of presenting views which may elicit discussion.

Another:successful Sitting with Mrs. Wriedt. Srn,-On July 13th I went with two friends to Wimbledon

to attend a seance with Mrs. Wriedt, of Detroit, U.S.A. We sat just where we wished, and almost before we had time to settle we heard knocks. The trumpet which the spirit friends use to convey their voices and messages was placed in the centre, but without contact from any one of us it toppled over into the lap of my friend who sat next to me. A voice, which I recognised as my father's, called me by name, and I answered; but as the conversation which ensued was of a private nature I do not give it. The message was couched in my father's usual affectionate way, and was indeed very blessed to me. Then, as if to reassure me, he sang a verse of a very favo1uite song, and to my delight his voice had lost none of its former sweetness. Others made themselves known who really are seldom thought of by me now. Whilst I was enjoying these brief moments of delightful intercourse my thoughts reverted to the expression : ' Did not our hearts burn within us 1' That such mediums as Mrs. Wriedt and others of every phase may not only be dis­covered but encouraged, is the earnest prayer of,-Yours, &c.,

A GRATEFUL MEDIUM.

Do Spirit People Eat, Drink, and Sleep?

Srn,-I have been a reader of' LIGHT' for years, and have come to regard it as an old friend to be appealed to when one is in a dilemma. I find in a book called 'The Spiritual World,' that the author, Mr. Howard Spalding, states that, according to Swedenborg, the people in the spirit world eat, drink, and sleep. On the other hand, in those interesting and helpful hooks, 'After Death,' by W. T. Stead, and 'Both Sides of the Veil,' by Anne Manning Robbins, au American lady, the latter consisting mainly of communications through Mrs. Piper, it is said that people in the spirit world do not eat, drink, or sleep, their bodies being sustained by the condition of the elements. It is perplex­ing and very strange that the statements of Swedenborg ou this head should be at variance with communications coming through a lady and a gentleman who seem to be in specially close touch with the unseen. If statements, seemingly irreconcilable, are made regarding a condition of things on the threshold of the invisible world, how can we be sure that other statements re­lating to higher and more spiritual conditions are reliable 1 I shall be thankful if any of your readers will assist me by giving a solution of this difliculty.-Yours, &c.,

w. FRASER. N eilston, Renfrewshire.

A Memorial of the late J, B. Shipley.

Srn,-Last year, after :M:r. J. B. Shipley had retumed from a tour in Norway, he expressed a wish to present a copy of a picture which he had seen in the church at Molde, to the Church for the Deaf and Dumb in Oxford-street. A few friends are carrying out his wish, and will shortly present the picture as a memorial of Mr. Shipley. The picture represents the women at the open tomb, and the title is 'The First Easter Morn.' An angel, clothed in white, sits at the grave pointing upwards, and saying, ' He is Risen.' A photograph of this pic­ture is being prepared by Mr. S. J. Beckett (295, Euston-road), who has the copyright for this country.

The sum of £2 !Os. has been subscribed in small sums ranging from 6d. to 2s. 6d., a:1d if further contributions are made the frame of the picture can be of a better quality, and the size better suited to the position it will occupy. It has occurred to me that. other friends may be glad to avail them­selves of this opportunity to contribute a fitting memorial to one who worked so indefatigably to spread the knowledge of the reality of a foture life. The memorial chosen is particularly suitable, for Mr. Shipley's disabilities in speech and hearing, so bravely borne, doubtless awakened his sympathies in a special manner for those who are totally deprived of these faculties. The picture selected will convey, through the eye, a message of life and hope.

A short service will he held at the Church of the Deaf and Dumb, Oxford-street, on Friday, October 13th, at 5 p.m., in connection with the Association of St. John the Evangelist, of which Mr. Shipley was an active member. The picture will then be dedicated and will be on view in the church.

Contributors and friends of Mr. Shipley will be welcome. Will contributors kindly address their letters to me, c/o Editor of 'LIGHT,' 110, St. Martin's-lane, W.C., and send thetn as soon as possible, as arrangements for framing are to be made at once ? - Yours, &c.,

(Mrss) H. A. DALLAS.

A Spirit Remembers.

Srn,-When my husband left England f..ir South America in 1883, his late mother's only sister lay seriously ill. My husband, being somewhat indifferent regarding the ties of kinship, did not call on her to bid her 'Good-bye,' although I asked him to do so niore than once. When she learned of his departure she was greatly distressed, and wrote me a piteous letter (I have it still) saying that she could not understand how her best-loved nephew could treat her so cruelly as to depart some thousands of miles away without wishing her good-bye, and, most probably, never see her again in this world. I did my best to comfort her, mentioning that he had had only a fortnight to make all preparations for his long voyage. About three months later I visited her, but she still dwelt on her nephew's extreme unkind­ness, as she called it, and told me she could never forget it. Time passed, and eventually I also left for South America. Some two years later I was aroused suddenly one night by a loud shriek. The sound seemed to linger and tremble in the air as I looked round the bedroom, wondering whence it could .have come. My bed was surrounded with white muslin mosquito curtains, which were moving gently in the night breezes coming through the windows. As I looked round, I saw standing at the foot of the bedstead, outside the curtains, a tall apparition, clad in white, loose-hanging garments ; it held up its arm, over which a wide sleeve hung in long folds, almost touching the floor. I leant forward, gazing 11.t ·it. As a rule I have exceptionally strong nerve, but that night fear got the better of me, my heart beating audibly, at least to myself. Dis­tress, grief, the most acute misery filled my soul, and I sat spell­]Jotmd, unable to move. By my side lay my sleeping boy.

One thought was uppermost in my mind, 'How shall I be able to get out of bed without waking him ? ' I looked across the bed, the white form was still visible outside the waving curtains, the lamp burned as brightly as ever, but there it stood. Suddenly I made up my mind to pass the child. How I did so without disturbing ·him I never knew, but I dashed across, opened the curtains, leapt to the floor, and, unbolting the door, rushed across the .sitting-room to my husband's and eldest son's bedroom.

The former was awake in an instant. 'There is a spirit in my room,' I whispered, 'and it will not let me sleep.' I trembled and shivered in the tropically hot night. 'Sit down,' he answered, 'and try to calm yourself ; tell me all about it.'

I told him what had taken place, but suddenly when I ceased speaking I recovered from my agitation, and felt without fear. ' I am all right again,' I said, 'and not a bit frightened ; I will go back to bed.' I did so, bolted my door, and went to sleep almost immediately. Several months passed, I had almost forgotten the incident, when one evening my husband suddenly

372 LIGHT. [August 51 1911.

turned ~o me with the remark, 'Do you remember the 8pirit you saw?'

'Yes, perfectly, now you remind me. Why1' 'And the date­abont ? ' 'Yes, about or in the first or second week of No­Yember.' 'Funny,' came his answer. 'I l1ave had a letter from home. Aunt -- passed almost on the identical date.'

Why did my fear leave me so suddenly 1 Apparently it was the spirit's wish that my husband should know of her visit. Her distress was imparted to me-her sorrow over his neglect ; she never forgot, and wanted me to tell him. When I did so she passed, and with her her sorrow which had enveloped my soul with such terror and anguish. She was a very sensitive, loving woman-one of 'earth's angels,' but, like all, or most, religious people of those years ago, strictly orthodox.

I must add that in one of the many letters I wrote to my husband, I mentioned her great grief over his neglect, and on my arrival in America I gave him her letter to read. However, he never wrote to her, and it was only when the news of her: passing on reached him that he thought of the apparition, its mournful influence, and the cry of sorrow, almost of agony, that I had heard, and although the appearance was too shadowy, seen through the mosquito curtains, to be recognised, he felt sure it was his 'Aunt Fanny,' who wished to tell him of her departure from this terrestrial plane.-Yonrs, &c.,

M. WOODMAN. Freemantle Croft, Four Marks, Hants.

More Quaint Epitaphs. Srn,-It was amusing to read of your 'attitude of pitying

superiority' respecting the epitaph (page 337). Truth always raises a storm, but how generously it clears the atmosphere, and how divinely the birds sing after the rain.

For the benefit of your readers I enclose the following epitaphs (Bandon Hill Cemetery) :-

Side by side with Satisfied

is Waiting for the shout.

Evidently not satisfied. This appeals to me: 'Always Cheerful.'

The following arc also interesting :-Death doth hide, but not divide, They are aafe on Christ's other side.

In heaven's nurseries you will hear for ever, The blessings of the children you have lJlessed.

She has gone a little nearer To the Master of all music, To the Master of all singing !

There are likewise challenges to God to raise people because of their worthiness ; a gentle reminder. One daringly asserts that he is ' faultless before the Throne.' What a boon his definition of perfection would be to struggling beings here. He might favour us.-Yours, &c.,

Sutton. E. P. PRENTICE.

What and Where is the Spirit World? Srn,-Doubtless it would be interesting to others as well as

myself if some of your able contributors would state in 'LIGHT' where Spiritualists in general localise the permanent spirit world. I have read various statements regarding it which are somewhat misleading and confusing. Some declare that it is all around us-that it interpenetrates and blends with ours. According to Swedenborg, the gpirit worlds are planets. Andrew Jackson Davis states they are the stars, and that the intermediate ether is the medium of communication between them. This seeillS to me the proper definition. My belief is that the spirit worlds are planes and the ether the means of communication. I hold that spirits are not permanent dwellers in our midst, iu an interblending world, but are inhabitants of other distant worlds, from which they communicate by telepathy, and mate­rialise on this planet and on others-not as they are constituted there of more tangible substance-but as ether gpirit bodies or simulacrums of their real selves. While in this state of ether materialisation they are more or le~s deficient in memory, and more liable to telepathic influence from other spirits. This would acco1mt for the difficulties experienced by those who hold con­verse with theµi. You have often recorded in your columns the telepathic m1tterialisation, or manifestation, of the human ether body at a distance. Is not this ether body a semi-conscious double (more or less, according to development) of its more tangible owner, who is, perhaps, a thousand miles away 1 If the human consciousness ·can telepathically materialise an ether double at a distance, it is certainly more ·possible for a spirit beinlJ to do so, These ded11ctio11s compel mr belief that e~rt4

spirits are, according to powers possessed by them, perfect or im­perfect materialisations of more tangible beings, who inhabit other spheres which are all in inseverable communication by means of the ether. Please favour us through your columns with a little discussion on these questions.--Yours, &c.,

P. JENKINS. Steyning, Sussex.

Spiritualists' National Fund of Benevolence. Srn,-I have pleasure in acknowledging receipt of dona­

tions to the above fund and regret their paucity. Had it not been for the collection taken at the Newcastle Conference the total amount received for the past three months would not have equalled one month's expenditure.

It has again been suggested that a ' Shilling Holiday Fund ' be opened. I shall be delighted to receive any holiday dona­tions from those who appreciate their good fortune, but the last three years this idea has not worked successfully, although it could easily be carried out without any sacrifice to the giver and with much benefit to the recipients.

The donations received during July were : 'Holiday Shil­ling,' ls. ; Mr. W. E. Bl'Own, 8s. ; Mr. G. F. Tilby, £1 ls. ; Mr. Burnett, 2s. ; Newcastle Conference Collection, £4 l 9s. 4d. ; Birmingham Spiritualist Society, 5s. ; Mr. A. Osborne, 2s. 6d. ; Miss E. L. Boswell-Stone, 2s. 6d.; Result of a tea by the Mothers of the Spiritualist Temple, Blackburn, 10s.--Total, £7 11s. 4d.

9, High-street, Doncaster. A. E. BUTTON,

Hon. Secretary.

SOCIETY WORK ON SUNDAY, JULY 30th, &c.

Prospective Notices, not wceeding twenty-four words, 'TIU1//J be ad.ded to reports if accompanied by st1JJT114's to the value of sixpence.

MARYLEBONE SPIRITUALIST AssoCIA.TION, 51, MOBTilflER­STREET, W.-Oavendish Rooms.-Mrs. Place-Yeary gave success­ful clairvoyant descriptions and helpful messages to a greatly interested audience. Mr. W. T. Cooper presided.-15, Mortimer­street, W.-July 24th, Mrs. Neville's guide gave lucid psycho­metrical readings to members and friends. Mr. W. T. Cooper presided. Sunday next, see advt.-D. N.

SPIRITUAL MISSION: 22, Prince's-street, Oxford-street.-Even­ing, Mr. E. H. Peckham delivered an uplifting address on 'The Evolution of a Soul.'-67, George-sti·eet.-Morning, Mrs. Ord delivered a helpful inspirational address. July 26th, Mr. P. E. Beard gave successful clairvoyant descriptions· with spiritual niessages.-F. W.

KINGSTON-ON-THAMES.-ASSEMBLY ROOMS, HAMPTON WICK. -Miss Fogwill gave a lecture on ' The Psychic Development of Children.' Sunday next, Mr. Horace Leaf will give an addre~s, followed by clairvoyant descriptions.

HACKNEY.-240A, .AMHURST-ROAD, N.-Mr. G. R. Symons gave an earnest address on '.Fellowship.' On July 24th Miss Gibson gave psychometrical readings. Sunday next, at 7 p.m., Mrs. J. Neal. Friday, August 11th, at 8.30 p.m., Mr. and Mrs. Hawes' healing circle.-N. R.

BRIGHTON.-MANCHESTER-STREET (OPPOSITE AQUARIUM).­Mrs. Jamrach gave helpful addresses and good clairvoyant de­scriptions. Sunday next, addresses by Mrs. H. Boddington. Tuesday, at 8, and Wednesday, at 3 p.m., Mrs. Clarke's open circle for clairvoyance. Thursday, at 8, members' circle.

STRATFORD.-WORKMEN'S HALL, 27, ROMFORD-ROAD, E.­Mrs. Webster's impressive address on the 'Restitution of all Things' was much appreciated. Good psychometrical readings followed. Sunday next, at 7 p.m., address by Mr. G. Tayler Gwinn.-W. H. S.

BRIGHTON.-OLD TowN HALL, HoVE, 1, BRUNSWICK-STREET WEST.-Good addresses were given by Mr. W. G. Thomas and Mrs. Curry. Sunday next, at 11.15 and 7, Mrs. Miles Ord. Monday, at 3 and 8, and Wednesday at 3, clairvoyance by Mrs. Curry. Thursday, at 8.15, public circle. 13th, Mr. H. Leaf.

BRIXTON.-8, MAYALL-ROAD.-Mrs. Gordon gave an ad­dress and clairvoyant descriptions. Sunday next, at 7 p.m., Mrs. Neville, address and psychometric delineations; at 3, Lyceum. Circles : Monday, at 7, ladies' ; Tuesday, at 8.15, members'; Thursday, at 8.15, public; Wednesday, at 7, Lyceum.-G. T. W.

PEOKHAM.-LAUSANNE HALL. LAUSANNE-ROAD.-Morning, circle ; Mr. Veitch gave some experiences, and Mr. Abethell clairvoyant descriptions and healing under control. Evening, Mrs. Boddington gave an address, followed by clairvoyant descriptions. Sunday next, morning, circle ; evening, Mrs. Podmore. Sunday, August 13th, at 7 p.m., Mrs. Neville. circles; Tuesdars1 8.151 healin~; Th11rsdar1 8.151 :public,

ight: A Journal of Psgahiaa/, Oaau/t, and Mgstiaa/ Researah .

• LIGHT! MORE LIGHT !'-Goethe, • WHATSOEVER DOTH llIAKlll l\IANIFEST IS LIGHT.'-Paul.

No. 1,596.-VoL. XXXI. [Registered as] SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 1911. [a Newspaper.] PRICE TWOPENCE.

CONTENTS. Notes by the Way •••• - ....... 873 Remarkable ' Direct· Voice • Phe·

nomena. · at Costa Rica. and in London ................... 375

Music a.s a Healing Agent •• _ .. 377 The Flying Man ................ 378 Further Communications from

F. W. H, Myers: The Wonder ofltl ...................... 379

The Practice of Spiritualism .... 380 .

The Hypotheses of ' Bllocation' Considered .. - .. • • .. .. • .. .. •. 381

Tolstoy on the Eternal Trnt hs of Religion .. . .. . .. ............ 382

Life Beyond Death ............. 382 Items of Interest ................ 383 Seven Years' Platform Work, by

John Lobb ................ 383 The 'Newest Science' .......... 383 Insanity and· Obsession ........ 384

NOTES BY THE WAY.

Writing of the 'First Universal Races Congress,' which · has since concluded its work, 'L. J. D.', in 'The Co-Mason' for July, sa-ys :-

If this conference of men from East and West could do a little, not only to increase mutual comprehension, but to make each race aspire to possess something of the virtues of others, it would not be long before a new era dawned on the world. We might then see the smug self-complacency of the untravelled Briton leavened hy the unselfish patriotism of the Japanese ; the inertness of the Hindu stimulated by the restless energy of the American; or the cold-hearted Teutonic races might try to emulate the strong family affection of the Celt, while the materialism of some of the Latin races might be tempered by the unfeigned religious fervour of the followers of Mahomet.

We quite agree with 'L. J. D.' that such a blending of racial traits would greatly assist the evolution of humanity. And we doubt not that such a synthesis is going on all the time in the general interaction of races due to modern facilities of travel. The very restlessness of the age, and the constant agitation of the thought of the time show that a process of assimilation is at work. The introduction into the W astern world of Oriental systems of religion and psycho­logy is significant of much. Undoubtedly the trend of human progress is in the direction of unity. But the operation necessarily involves friction and antagonism before certain conflicting elements can be made to assimi­late. So we must be patient as well as hopeful.

It seems that we owe an apology, or at least an explanation, to 'The Humanitarian' in regard to our 'Note by the Way' in 'LIGHT' of the 29th ult. (page 349 ). The editor of our contemporary points out that the ' Note' in question is liable to convey the impression that 'The Humanitarian ' was relying fodts own argument in regard to :flogging in this instance on an appeal to the Scriptures. The fact is that the 'Note' to which exception is taken was written as an addendum to one on the same subject which appeared in our issue of the 15th ult. (page 325), and we certainly inferred (wrongly, as it appears) that the argument revolved around the authenticity or otherwise of one of Solomon's precepts. ' The Humanitarian,' how­ever, was reflecting in a satiric vein on the folly of appeals to Scriptural authority regarding the use of the birch, the editor being of our own opinion in the matter. While we regret the little misunderstanding, we are glad that it has made clear the real attitude of <.>llf contemporary on this subject,

From Mr. C. T. Colyer, of Asheville, North Carolina, we have received a pamphlet entitled 'A Revelation,' the general purport of which is an attempt to establish the theory that the human race are the 'fallen angels' who were 'hurled from the Paradise of God.' It is an odd production, with strange alternations of clear ideas, ably and even eloquently expressed, and confused and rhapso­dical phrases. Here and there, too, we meet with some very eccentric spelling and punctuation. The author's thought ranges over a wide.area; but although we do not accept its conclusions, we are bound to say the little book contains some suggestive ideas.

' The Stellar Ray' (Detroit) for July contains an article on 'The Astral World,' by Henry Clay Hodges, who explains that-

The astral world is a definite region of the universe sur­rounding and interpenetrating the physical ; it is composed of an extremely subtle form of matter invisible to the physical sight. . . Astral matte1· serves as a vehicle for the one life animating all.

We should say that this was a very good description of what plain persons like ourselves would call the spiritual or psychical world. We are not enamoured of these fanciful terms, but as the Divine William remarked, 'What's in a name1' One may call fair water 'aqua pura,' or 'H20,' but it is water none the less.

New thought (as we have read somewhere) is as intoxicating as new wine. And the saying occurs to us at times when we light upon some of the extravagant and fantastic statements made by enthusiastic adherents of ' New Thought ' philosophies. Thus we read in a contem­porary that, by the practice of what is called 'Newlife Science,' a man 'may live one hundred, five hundred, or a thousand years.' (There is a large and sweeping generosity about the figures which we find extremely stimulating.) Those who aspire to physical longevity may, however, find two of the rules somewhat disconcerting. In the first place, the male aspirant must keep his face shaved clean, and he must always wear white clothing. These are quoted (rather vaguely) as reasons why women live longer than men. W fl doubt the accuracy of this ; for while it is true that women have less hair on their faces than men, it certainly is not true that they are always arrayed in white. And it is generally supposed that their longevity is mainly due to their lives being passed under more sheltered and regular conditions than those of men.

It is thought that the oldest form of a well-known verse made popular by George Macdonald is traceable to a tombstone of the 16th century and in the following form:­

Here lig I, Van der Hildenbrod. Have mercy on my soul, Lord God, As I would, were I Lord God, And thou wert Van der Hildenbrod.

J3ut one mar go n;iuch fa):'th~):' bac}r fo):' a Si!]li}ar sentj-

374 9IGHT. [Angn~t 12, 1911.

ment; as far back, in fact, as the oldest book in the world, the Rig-Veda of India, in which there is a poet's song, part of which Max Millier thus translates:-

If I were lord of as much as thou, I should support the sacred bard, thou scatterer of wealtl1, I should not abandon him to misery, I should award wealth day by day to him who mag­nifies, I should award it to whosoever it be.

Another passage has been translated :-If, Agni, thou wert a mortal, and I were an immortal, I

should not abandon thee to malediction or to wretchedness ; my worshippers should not be miserable or distressed.

A translation of the Sama Veda contains the following explicit reminder to the god :-

When I, 0 Indra, shall lJecome a possessor of wealU1 like thee, then assuredly my singer of sacred hymns shall possess abundance of cows.

Human nature is much the same all the world over, and throughout all the ages.

We are often asked how it is that if spirit-communion is true so few accept it. How do we know that only a few accept it 1 There is a story told of a rustic who was taken by a friend to see the ocean. After gazing at it for a few moments, his friend said, 'Well, what do you think of it 1' He thought a little longer, and then said, 'There is a lot of water there, but I thought there would be more.' ' Ah, yes,' replied his guide, 'but remember you see only what is on the top.'

This is pretty much our position. St. Martin's Lane. exhibits only the top, and not all that. Beneath the surface there is an enormous depth of curiosity or belief, anxiety or wonder, hope or fear. It is oi.1r business to reach as much of this as w~ can. Perhaps, unlike the ocean, we may be able to increase its volume at the top. In the meantime, it is good to remember that the sea is deep.

We are too apt to talk about freedom as though it were something which we had a right to claim, but very few think of it as something which claims them. We say, often enough, 'A man has a right to be free ' ; but we seldom hear it said that it is a man's ditty to be free : and yet, if anything, that is the deeper truth. Only when a man is free can he really think, comprehend, choose and act, and the whole of a man's personal duty is comprehended in those four things. It ought never to be in question whether one should or should not feel free to investigate anything ; for the supreme fact is, not that a man demands his freedom, but that his freedom demands him..

The wise Spiritualist does not vex his soul concerning the personality of God ; nor is he worried with the huge problem of His omnipresence. He is already more than half way to content with the mystery of the Spirit-God by knowing something of the mystery of the spirit­man. Personality, in our crude sense, is a kind of limitation, after all : and, in a sense, the spirit-people seem to be nearly omnipresent. Scoffers go about and jerk out their little posers concerning immortal souls : ' What do they weigh 1 ' 'Why not show us one 1' 'Where are they ~ ' Even so, agnostic argners go about and ask, ' Where is your God 1' But the soul that truly trusts Him can always answer, 'He is here.'

It is said that in Boston (U.S.) there is an old stone which declares it is 'To Boston, three miles.' The city has so grown that it has at last taken in that stone. So in the world of thought and experience : One distant land~

mark after another gets included in the realm of acknow­ledged truth. The heresy of one age (three miles from hospitality !) is the cherished belief of another. The time will come when, even of Spiritualism, the world will say­' Why, of course l '

Are we quite as thankful as we ought to be for our earthly helpers~ and why do we so often wait until they go before we appraise their value and feel their worth 1 Lucy Larcom said, with pathetic penetration, ' We speak with awed tenderness of our guardian angels ; but have we not all had our guiding angels in visible form who kept beside us on onr difficult path until they had done for us all they could ~' It is a homely lesson, but it wants learning. Let us look around and see the truth before it is too late :­before the visible angel in the house becomes the guardian angel of our dream.

The churches of the United States are, it is reported, sufferin~ greatly on the side of finance. Doleful accounts reach us as to the falling-off of contributions from all classes. A writer in 'The American Magazine' who has made a special study of the subject, describes it as a case, not so much of withholding, as of diversion. He says :-

Not only the dollars of the rich but the pennies of the poor have been diverted in large measure from the Church. No one can study even cursorily the Socialist movement, the trade-union movement, the spread of fraternal and mutual-benefit societies without being impressed with the great sums (in the aggregate) which are being given yearly to. maintain these movements.

This writer, after giving his evidence in detail, says :­These facts are of the profoundest significance. Whatever

may be one's opinion of the tendencies shown, or of the new movements which are attracting such generous support, at least the activities outside of the Church must be well reckoned with. Do they mean that there is more of the light of faith and the heat of vital activity outside of the Church than inside ? Are the new enthusiasms worthy 1 Are they religious or irreligious ? In short, what do they all mean 1

Two general lines of growth or experiment are clearly dis­tinguishable. The first is toward new expressions of religious belief ; the second is toward new forms of social and ethical activity. In other words, men are seeking, first, new definitions of their relationships toward God ; second, new expressions of their duties toward their fellow men. . While the critics are at war over the formulation of belief, the practical man is seeking to express in tangible works that 'love of bis brother whom he hath seen' without wl1ich, as the Book says, 'how can he love God whom he hath not seen 1 '

The churches at home, we understand, are in a similar condition, though we do not see clearly that diminished contributions to churches are diverted to ' good causes.' It looks more like a case of diversion to music halls, foot­ball matches and theatres on the one hand, and luxurious Savoy, Gaiety and Carlton banquets on the other.

There is a large and joyous exuberance about the advertisements in some of our American contemporaries. The advertisers are rarely hampered by modesty or self­distrust. 'Our office is in the sun' is the picturesque statement of a tnental healer, who adds that 'the sun is the spirit of the universe,' and that.' light of the universe is the electric light.' After such preliminaries the reference to so many dollars per treatment brings us rather abruptly down from the sun to the earth.

LONDON SPIRITUALIST ALLIANCE, LTD.

DRAWINGS OF THE PsYCHIO AURA AND DIAGNOSIS OF DISEASE. -On Wednesday next, August 16th, and on the 23rd inst., from 12 noon to 5 p.m., at 110, St. Martin's-lane, W.C., Mr. Percy R. Street will give personal delineations by means of the colours of the psychic aura of sitters, and will diagnose disease under spirit control. Fee 5s. to a guinea. Appointments desirable. See advertisement supplement.

August 12, 1911.] LIGHT 375

REMARKAB.LE ' DIRECT-VOICE' PHENOMENA.

BY B. M. GonsAL.

[l\fauy readers of 'LIGHT' will doubtless recollect that during 1910 we reproduced reports from other journals respecting wonderful phenomena said to have occurred at Costa Rica through the mediumship of Miss Ophelia Corrales, and that, in January of this year, we printed a letter from Professor ·willy Reichel denying that he had witnessed and attested the phenomena, as reported byl\fr. J. Yi'. Graham ('LIGHT,' p. 587, 1910). In J nly of last year we mentioned that 'The Annals of Psychical Science' had given repro­ductions of four flashlight photographs of the materialised form and the medium at the same time. It is now ad­mitted that a woman, a former domestic, has confessed that she was induced by the medium to dress up and im­personate the spirit, and we have received from Professor Heichel a translation of her confession. Mr. Godsal, the writer of the following interesting account of his subsequent experiences at Costa Rica, informs us that the photographs were taken during the absence from home of Mr. and Mrs. Corrales, that, in bis opinion, it was a girlish prank on the part of the medium, who had no idea that so much import­ance would be attached to the photographs, and that the puzzle is how the photographers, who were investigators, eould have failed to detect the fact that the supposed spirit was a living woman. Evidently, judging from the very careful experiments made by Mr. Godsal, and the extreme caution with which he sets them forth, Miss Corrales is a medium who possesses considerable power and who, if developed on right lines and judiciously guarded, may becom~ a remarkable instrument for good. We trust that she will be well guided and protected.-En. 'Lrmrr.']

Before bearing witness to facts which, though not very start­ling, would by most men be labelled 'impossible,' it is well, perhaps, to state that during the last three or four of my fifty-five years I have made a study of things psychic, in so far as the reading of reports, articles and countless books on the subject is concemed, but that, in spite of a search extending tu many cities in different foreign countries for a convincing medium, I have nut until uow found any-with Yery slight exception--but what was either incompetent or fraudulent. Thus it will he seen that an earnest desire for proof has not made me easy to be con­vinced; I believe it has had the opposite effect.

Those who know the alternating states of mental exhilara­tion, disgust, and bewilderment induced by psychic inquiry will not be smprised at a considerable sacrifice of time and money in hopes of at last meeting a true medium. By these it will be understood why, when intendb1g a journey from California to England, and having heard that such a medium existed at SanJ ose de Costa Rica in the person of Ophelia Corrallis, I, on April 25th last, took steamer from San Francisco, reaching San Jose on May 23rd, and there devoted four weeks to an investigation of the medium. Afterwards I proceeded by the steamer ' Heredia ' from Port Limon, arriving twenty-three days later at South­ampton-

It is to me, on the whole, a cause for congratulation that be­fore starting for Costa Rica I was in ignorance of the fact that Professor W. Reichel had already investigated this medium and had made a strongly ad verse report ; otherwise I should surely have spared myself so long a journey, and thus have missed nut only the must convincing phenomena I have yet received, but al110 what has turned out to be the pleasant experience uf a long, slow voyage _from San Francisco to Puntarenas, with stops at many interesting places along the coast-line of the different Spanish Republics-Mexico, Guatemala, Salvador, Nicaragua, followed by a visit to Costa Rica, the best of them all.

Anyone not liking Costa Rica at sight must be hard tu plea8e-or perhaps a person who failed to admire scenery of 1mch rare beauty would be easy tu plelllie. The Costa Hicaus, most of whom came originally from Galicia, in the north of 8paiu, differ from other Spanish-Republicans in that they hwe proved themselves to he lovers of peace and quiet and to be capable of wise and stable self-government. Moreover, they possess in an eminent degree the attract,ions which their neigh­bours may be said to share, such as good manners, good temper, and good looks.

San Jose, the capital, is situated high up on the Pacific side of the backbone of the country, about half-way between the oceans, and in this resembles the capitals of the other re­publics, all of which are placed well back from the sea, partly perhaps out of a regard for health, though it is said that the English buccaneers had much to do with determining the sites. It is a city of about thirty thousand people, and is well placed on a low, flat hill in a broad basin formed by mountains rich and green to their tops, with sides marked into irregular patches by hedges (like England), where wonderful lights shine under the clouds on the intensely green 'finkas' of eoft'ee and bananas and sugar.

The climate at this elevation of three thousand five hundred feet is healthful and pleasant-in fact, seems to be all that can be desired. At its hottest it is cooler than a hot day in New York, or even in London, and at its coldest it is as warm as a cool summer's day in either place. During the wet season, which I experienced, the rain seems to be cvnfined to the late afternoon and evening of each day, leaving the mornings entirely per­fect, and so regular is the working of this arrangement that the clock is the only weather-glass needed. Mosquitos called for notice chiefly by their absence.

Bnt without trouble of some kind no earthly paradise would be <;omplete ; and so it is with Costa Rica, where the lesser evils of life seem to be merged into the greater one of earthquakes. The shocks, however, are not so frequent but what a resident may reasonably hope that the penalty, great or small, will be met by a succeeding generation.

It was not until I had become familiar with these delights that I first heard of Professor Reichel's investigation of Ophelia Corrales, as described in the ' Psychische Studien' of March and April last, which I succeeded in borrowing and in getting trans­lated ; and while a condemnation so unsparing quickened my suspicion as an investigator, at the same time it could not but make me feel sorry for a young lady and her family thus severely dealt with, who had already during seven seances given me every freedom of investigation, and by whom ·r had been treated with the utmost courtesy and kindness, in a manner that seems to be truly Spanish.

This account of spirit voices will seem very flat to all those who, having read the early stories of Miss Ophelia's mediumship, expect to hear of transportations, leYitation, materialisations, &c., for I saw nothing of these greater phenomena. It is true that I received several messages in various languages, as well as spirit pictures, all under very fair conditions, yet the conditions were not so perfect as to confer upon these and other phenomena that degree of certainty which would entitle them to be included in this testimony ; and with perfect condi­tions a repetition of the phenomena did not occur.* But I think that this negative rest1lt should not be taken as proving too much against the greater powers claimed to be possessed by the medium. For such phenomena are rare under the most favourable

* Since comin!l' to London I hnve ha.d an experience bearing on these writings which I think should be recorded Jiere. On .T uly 29th I put an envelope containing them into my pocket, intending to show them to the Editor of 'LIGHT.' Later in the day a series of circumstances drew me quite unexpectedly to have a private sitting with Mrs. Foster-Turner. When the •reading,' a very good one, was over I pulled a bunch of le~ters out of ~y pocket to sele_ct one for her to pass j udgrnent upon. As I was turnmg them over m my lap !!he exclaimed, ' You have spirit writing there.' I replied that I was not so sure of that. She then added, 'Yes, you certainly have. I saw an arm stretch down to your lap. Let me put them to my forehead.' I took out the _papers (there were six of them) one by one, folded as they were with the blank side outwards. The first two or three she de­clared to be undoubtedly written by a spirit, but of the next .one ~he said, • '.l'his is different.' When I assured her that if some were genume then no doubt, they all were, she said, 'No, I can trace thought here, we ~ill put this one aside. Hand me the rest.' These she likewise pronounced to be certainly the work of spirits. On examining the rejected pa:per at the window, for the room had been somewha.t dark­ened imagme my surprise at finding that it was a copy w1itten by mys~lf of a German communication, together with the translation underneath by the German to whom I had sent it. Since putting away these writings, more than 1~ month ago, I had entirely forgotten the existence of this copy. Thus Mrs. Foster-Turner not onlv dt>tected the spirit writings while in my lap, but also, and without the slightest hesitation, picked out from among six papers, looking just about 1ilike, the only one that has no claim to be a spirit writing. Could there be a neater and completer test of clairvoyance? Telepn.thy will perhaps be called in to explain, but after my refusing to endorse these writings I can hardly think that my mind :would ~UP,PlY )\'I.rs. Fo.ster-Tur11;er with emphatic asRurance upon a pomt on which it had yrnlded to its proper owner nothing but puzzlement.

1..1GHT. [August 12, 1911.

conditions, whereas my sojourn in Costa Rica was during the rainy season, when conditions, it is claimed, have always been unfavourable. Besides, when the genuineness of mediumship is admitted to the extent that I am willing to concede, then the burden of proof or of disproof becomes shifted somewhat.

As regards the method used in this inquiry, up to a certain point the management of the seances has been left to tl1e medium ; that is to say, I have never demanded that auy particular phe­nomenon should be exhibited then and there. It may be objected that this gives time for preparation. But this is the very thing that is demanded as a necessity, though the claim is made that all preparations are entirely on the other side of the veil. Of course it would be very convenient if at any instant Jne could procure desired phenomena-in other words, if psychic inquiry could be conducted on precisely the same lines as phy~ical experiment. Bnt the very theory to be investigated is that the phenomena are produced by beings in another sphere, after great labour and preparation 011 their part, and it is useless to begin an investigation by denying the thing to be investigated. At the same time, any phenomenon, however startling, produced under conditions not entirely satisfactory, has not been accepted by me as proving anything in particular.

On May 24th, having secured an introduction to Mr. Corrales, I took the Guadalupe tram, which, after running a mile or so, deposited me at the door · of the Corrales' home, situated in perhaps the prettiest suburb of lovely San Jose.

Mr. Corrales received me with a cordiality which I have since found to be unfailing. He was, and always is, very willing to expatiate upon the different phases of his daughter's mediumship, about which he is exceedingly enthusiastic, being obviously a convinced Spiritualist. At the same time he deplores the loss of friends and the estrangement of neighbours brought about by the pitfalls of mediumship, which is regarded by many in Costa Rica, as elsewhere, as trafficking with the d11vil, and by others as merely undetected fraud, while to all it remains an insoluble mystery.

I was then introduced to the medium, the Senorita Ophelia, a young lady of less than twenty summers, pretty and charming and ladylike, who invited ·me to a seance on the following evening. And here I must admit that my lack of Spanish has been a good deal of a hindrance, as the medium knows no other language ; but as lMr. Corrales knows French, which I under­stand indifferently well, and has some slight acquaintance with English, I believe that very little of any impoi:tance has been missed.

To describe the different seances, of which I took notes, would lead to repetition : the first on May 25th v.ill be suffi­cient. Besides myself there was no one present but the Co1Tales family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Corrales, Ophelia, her:younger sisters, Bertha and little Flora, and a nine-year-old boy, Miguel. We sat in a large room, about twenty-one feet by fifteen feet, having three windows and two doors, one of which opened into the garden, the other into the house. The walls of the room consisted of what is known as' bahareque,' that iS, a hollow space filled in with mortar and broken tiles, making a compact mass very impervious to sound. The floor was of tiles resting on the solid ground. There was no other l'Oom above, but the· ceiling consisted of cloth, a corner of which Mr. Corrales was anxious that I should tear down as answer to my questions-a permiSsion of which I did not avail myself, seeing that the sounds about to be described in no case appeared to come from so high up. The windows were guarded by shutters, very convenient for sealing, and I may say that no seance began until I had sealed the windows and doors by sticking adhesive paper across the cracks and drawing pencil lines across the paper and on to the woodwork. Excepting a piano across one corner of the room and a sofa on which we sat there was no furniture that could possibly conceal anything. After I had searched the piano, the triangular space behind it1 and underneath the sofa, we sat in a semi-circle in the corner most remote from t11e piano, at which Mrs. Corrales seated herself. On the first occasion I sat between the medium and hel' father, but 011 other occasions have sat next all the 1nemhers of the family in turn. Having reduced the light to one cn.ndle, l\Irs. Cormll-s began to play, while we waited with our

palms extended towards the piano, for it is a belief held by this circle that thus one throws magnetism to aid the spirits. Within five minutes a man's tenor voice began accompanying the piano, the singer being effusively greeted as' Don Constantino.' The candle was then extinguished, when the voice gained in strength, and was shortly joined by other voices of men and women singing and whistling enthusiastically, but not very musically, in notes shrill and strident, while the family, who were sitting around me, kept up a constant applause and chattering, perhaps to show that it was not they who were singing. When the hubbub was at its height Mr. Corrales struck a match, and, behold, there was nothing to see. But, strange to relate, the singing continued, in spite of the lighted candle, with unabated vigom. I then approached the piano, and stood in the middle of the room, with the family at one end of it and the voices and Mrs. Corral~s at the other ; but on further nearing the piano the voices sank or changed into whistling, which seems to persist longer than the singing, so that on reaching the piano all was silent. The light was not again extinguished. On my return to my seat, Miss Ophelia exchanged places with her mother, when to her accompaniment a man's voice sang a song in Spanish. Later, when the boy played, a girl's voice joined in. And e\•en when I stmck octaves there was a sound as of someone very faintly sounding the note. In my notes of this first seance I read, ' Singing might just possibly have been pro­duced by fraud on part of each player, and in my case by some­one faintly sounding the note.' But, of course, I would not have giv~n all this were there not better evidence to follow.

On first hearing the singing, the thought suggested it.self that I should like to see the effect if Mrs. Corrales would keep her mouth full of water while she played, but not forgetting that I was an invited guest in a private house, where no pay was taken nor even a present of any value accepted, I th01,1ght it. better to wait until I could find someone speaking Spanish who would be able to put the request into polite language. This opportunity occurred at the very next seance, on May 27th, to which I was accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Henry H. Titche, of New Orleans,

Mr. Titche, who occasionally visits Costa :.Rica on- buBinees, and had already attended several seances at the wiSh of hie wife, readily agreed to translate my request. The seance opened with vecy loud singing as of several voices, which continued with unabated shrillness, and in the light, while the medium and I walked outside on the verandah. When Mr. Titche preferred my request Mr. Corrales jumped at the idea. Two glasses were quickly brought, one with water and one empty, both of which remained in my possession throughout the experiment. Mrs. Corrales having filled her mouth, and the light being ex­tinguished aL my request, the voices burst forth with a vigour that seemed intended to show that not thus could their ardour be damp1med. Immediately I called for a light, and while the voices continued in full force I carefully watched the family, who certainly were not singing, and surely were not ventrilo­quising : after which Mrs. Corrales discharged a full mouthful of water into the empty glass. Thia experiment was repeated without the light being extinguished, and with complete success.

It was at the next seance, when Don Philipe Alvarado, Minister of Finance, was also present, that Mrs. Titche herself, when playing the piano, was accompanied hy the voices, llQme­what subdued but unmistakable, while we all sat together fully fifteen feet away in the remotest corner of the lighted room. Moreover, it was at this seance, held at 1.30 in the afternoon of May 28th, that the big outside door was thrown wide open, and in the flood of daylight the voices maintained their' full strength for, perhaps, three minutes. And, to add my one and only piece of hearsay evidence, at noon of the next day, the 29th, when the medium was calling at the Imperial Hotel to bid good-bye to Mrs. Titche, they sat in the public parlour and played, when ' Don Constantino ' and ' Mary Brown' began to sing, but were stopped by the entrance of strangers. This is vouched for by Mr. and Mrs. Tit.che.

But even a better test of t.he voices wa9 secured at the sixth l'!eance,011 June 1st, wheu the Corrales family withdrew, leaving me in a sealed room alone wiLh the medium, who, having filled her month with water, pfayed the piano while I sat hack with

August 12, 1911.] LIGHT. 377

the glasses and the candle. Almost immediately upon ex­tinguishing the light a voice spoke out clearly with the usual precise emmciation of 'Don Constantino,' who, after speaking for about a minute, was fol.lowed by the shrill tones that betok­ened the entity ' Mary Brown,' who likewise spoke with dis­tinctness. .After striking a light the medium discharged the mouthful of water into the empty glass. Thus it will be seen that on this occasion a better test was given than was demanded, because with the mouth foll of water it is even less possible to speak clearly than to sing.

(To be continued.)

BY LIEUT.-GENERAL A. PHELPS.

The following brief account of two seances which I was privileged to attend with Mrs. Wriedt may be of interest to your readers. Though I have seen many curious phenomena, I have never hitherto had any direct message from friends in the next state.

On the 20th July, 1911, I was one of twelve sitters who met at 7 p.m., at Wimbledon, in 'Julia's Bureau'; Admiral Moore was present, but did not sit next me. When the lights were put out he at once exclaimed, 'Something has been put into my hands.' When the lights were turned on the apport proved to be 'Iola's ' portrait, which I had seen on the bookcase about four feet from Admiral Moore's seat. I was astonished when the name of a relative of mine was 8poken and some family information was given, of no interest to the public. His voice went on to say that I should have a surprise soon.

On the 21st, a little before 10.30 a.m., Admiral Moore and I had a sitting with Mrs. Wriedt in the same place. The lights were turned out. The Admiral and the medium saw and de­scribed floating luminous clouds and phantoms ; but I only once saw a floating white cloud. The voices were most distinct, not muflled as on the day before. The speakers were ' John King,' ' Iola,' my wife and her father, Dr. Compton Burnett, and Mrs. Sinnett. As no stenographer was present, I had to make notes directly after the sitting, which Admiral Moore kindly checked, so that they may be looked upon as accurate as far as they go. 'John King's ' voice was unmistakable : once heard, the solemn, sad, steadfast bass voice cannot be forgotten. Referring to a curious incident at the previous seance, he said, ' You ask why those books were put on the tall dark man'.s knee. I looked round the shelves, and found the words "Law and Majesty " on the sides of these books, and I put them on his knee that he might know that he was known for what he was.' I suppose that he was present under a fictitious nnme. To me 'John King' said,' Yes, I remember you at Husk's. He, I am sorry to say, is poorly. Age is telling upon him.'

' Iola ' was present throughout the seance. Her refined voice, expressive of sincere courtesy, was heard from time to time. She spoke to me, recognising me as having looked at her

· precipitated likeness in Admiral Moore's room. She, at my re­quest, described the method of the precipitation of the pigments in painting her portrait, and the other pictures, by the aura of the spirit band. She explained the Chinese look of the pictures by the fact that one of the band-I understood her to say the chief of the band-was a Chinese.

My wife and her father spoke to me ; but what they said would be of no interest to the public. They referred to family matters in a way which was sufficient to convince me of their identity._

Then, in loud, clear tones came the name 'Compton Burnett.' He was my wife's doctor, and I have the deepest respect for his memory as the most brilliant physician I ever met. Much astonished, I asked if he was 'the Magician,' and if he prac­tised medicine over there 1 He replied, 'I am Compton Burnett. No, we don't want doctors over here, we've no broken legs or fevers to trouble us.'

Admiral Moore here saying that he could see a phantom between me and the medium on my right, moving towards a cabinet at the end of the room, I remarked that I could see nothing. Dr. Burnett said, ' You don't see the white clouds or the phantom, because of a small trouble in your eyes. The pupil is back on the lens.' He then went on to describe the symptoms further, referring to 'the state of the iris,' &c., but I 1mve forgotten the

details. He went on to say, 'Your chief trouble is in the lower spinal nerves, at the base of the spine, and the kidneys. The tear ducts are dry, and the tears don't run freely. The eye trouble will be eased by applying soft water-hard water won't do-hal • a glassful, in which half a teaspoonful of salt has been dissolved, say twice a day, externally.' On my asking a question he replied, 'No, sulphur 500 is no use at your age. Yes, rumex is some good.' I apologise for giving these personal details, but they illustrate the nature of the intelligence manifesting.

I then asked how he came to attend the sitting. He said, ' How came I here 1 Why, your wife asked me to come. This is the first Spiritualist sitting I have been to. On that side I thought it all poppycock and nonsense. Now I see it is scientific and important. I hope you will go on for some years yet, and see your grandchildren grow up around you.'

On my asking him if he could describe how the phenomena were produced, he replied, 'No, I don't know a blooming thing about it, nor how Mrs. Wriedt brings it about.' _

He then spoke as follows to Mrs. Wriedt: 'I give you a testimonial as a wonderful woman, the most wonderful woman I ever met, the best psychic in the world. And my testimonial is worth something: is worth having. Good-bye.'

A private message was then given for Mr. Sinnett, and a marvellous sitting came to an end.

A curious misconception occurred about this interview. Mrs. Wriedt, hearing me use the 11a111e by which we used to speak of Dr. Burnett, namely 'the Magician,' because of the wonderful cures which he used to effect, thought he was a conjurer in earth life, and I had to explain that he was the greatest physician I had ever met, a name which all hommopaths will venerate. This was after the sitting; all the time he was speaking'she thought he was a conjurer. Ad1niral Moore had never heard his name. I was not thinking about him.

Edgbaston.

MUSIC AS A HEALING AGENT.

'Reason,' Dr. B. F. Au~tin's little monthly (Rochester, New York), states that Dr. Russell H. Conwell, pastor of Temple Baptist Church, Philadelphia, has for a long time been greatly interested in the subject of the employment of music in healing diseases. Recently, together with Dr. William Hachnlen and members of the staff of the Samaritan Hospital, which is sup­ported by Temple Church, he conducted a series of experiments, the results of which have astonished the medical world. One of Dr. Conwell's experiments was to bring nineteen patients into one ward of the hospital, all kinds of diseases being repre­sented. We read that :-

A young woman with a rich contralto voice was stationed near the ward where all could hear her but none could see her. As the strains of the beautiful hymn, ' I know that my Re­deemer liveth,' left her lips, the doctors noticed a change in every patient. Those under the influence of morphine regained consciousness, with a total absence of the usual nervousness that follows the use of the drug. Others downcast and despondent brightened perceptibly. - The playing of a dead march caused a rise in temperature in every patient in the ward, and the effects of the 'Old Folks at Home' was distinctly soothing. Several of the sick persomi went to sleep. One person who was very dyspeptic because- of nervous prostration, was found to be so influenced by the playing of the 'Old Oaken Bucket' on a violin that she enjoyed hearty meals while the tune was being played in the next room. Another half insane because of an accident, became rational during the playing of 'Dixie.' Typhoid patients were found to be greatly benefited by the playing of Strauss's 'Blue Danube,' and two little children, one afllicted with partial paralysis, the other with St. Vitus dance, were so improved during the playing of 'Auld Lang Syne' that they controlled themselves and were able to walk.

So certain is Dr. Conwell that music is curative, that plans are being completed to institute a system of music which is helpful and inspiring. In some of the prisons of England it has been found that certain chords of music are very helpful in influencing criminals towards reform, and that there are other compositions that increase their passion for crime. In France they have made many interesting experiments along this line, and a musical programme for the reforming of the inmates of French prisons is in use. Dr. Conwell has given the subject so much thought that he has compiled two lists which it is planned will be sent broadcast to medical men and hospitals. 01w is a list of compositions, the playing or singing of which helps the sick to get well. The other is a list of harmful tunes.

378 LIGHT. [August 12, 1911.

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THE FLYING MAN.

A good many years ago, when aeronautic science was still in the balloon and parachute stage, a dear old lady of our acquaintance shook her head gloomily over the pro­ceedings of aerial navigators. They were, she said, 'flying in the face of Providence.' The unconscious humour of the remark produced a smile; but a fatal accident to a would-be flying man about that time seemed to point the moral of her comment-it was so clearly a 'judgment' on the rash experimenter !

Since then the skies have witnessed many strange and almost undreamed-of marvels in aerial travel-journeys of many hundreds of miles on the wings of the wind, accom­plished at a pace at least equivalent to that of the fastest of our railway trains. And the feats thus achieved are prophetic of even greater marvels in the future. Yet the aviator of to-day carries on his work on closer terms with death than would be the case in any other pursuit in which man can be engaged. As a recent writer remarked, the greatest naval and military heroes in history have braved no such dangers as the airman calmly faces. The airman has 'deliberately and serenely adopted death as a profes­sion.' Never was there a more remarkable evidence of the power and persistence of the human spirit in the mechanical world. We see man urged forward by the invisible potencies that impel and guide him (almost always unconsciously to himself) to ever higher planes of action. It is as though material progress had, in a measure, to keep pace with the constant advance made in the realms of mind and spirit. It is perhaps not without significance that in recent aviation contests the French have been in the forefront. Now, it has been a source of wonder and delight to sympathetic observers of French philosophy to notice how closely it is coming into touch with the highest spiritual teachings. The best Ji'rench thought of to-day wholly transcends the limitations of even the most refined materialism. There is a soaring, intuitive quality about it that has carried it fairly into the regions of the spirit Students of the contemporary literature of France will, we think, endorse our conclusions in this respect. It may be a fanciful theory, but we are inclined to trace an intimate parallel between the triumph of the French genius in philosophy and its achievements in the corn1uest of the air. Certainly the power of the aspiring mind is behind each '.1.ttainment.

'\Ve may deplore, but we are in no way surprised at,

the disposition to impress the newly-harnessed powers of the air into the service of war, money-getting and pastime. We can conceive of no scientific discoveries and achieve­ments which at the present stage· would not be degraded to such ends were it possible. If by some strange happening the denizens of the unseen realms were brou~ht visibly into our midst, we can imagine the eagerness with which they would be canvassed to aid the purposes of war, commerce, and pleasure. With what enthusiasm their highly-evolved powers would be enlisted for the construc­tion of more deadly guns, more effective financial manamvres, more sensational entertainments ! But the world is regulated by Divine intelligence, and its powers of perverting its best gifts to low uses are severely limited. This latest and most wondrous attainment of mechanical science, aviation, as we have seen, is hedged round with difficulties and dangers. Slowly and painfully it is perfected as a practical science, and all the time hu~an intelligence is growing. Indeed, we have a comfortmg conviction that by the. time modern science has been evolved to the point of ability to produce the most perfect engines for human destruction, the lust of war and con­quest will have died out and the powers· of science will be wholly devoted to human welfare.

From our standpoint, then, the flying man is a parable and a presage. He symbolises the career of the human spirit advancing ever to more refined spheres of activity, and his triumph is prophetic of the greater achievements in the conquest of matter that lie before mankind. Even in his defiance of death we see a significance. With the progress of science towards the higher realms of being, death is being shorn of many of its terrors. The active, alert minds, the aspiring souls, of experimenters in the higher fields of action in the physical world are outgrowing the influence of the old haunting doubt and terror. · ' .

We have heard thoughtful observers, jealous for the progress and supremacy of the spiritual life in mankind, express regret that the activities of the world are so closely concentrated on planes of purely physical achievement. To these watchers of the times such things seemed to indicate decadence, a submergence of the spirit in material things. But if 'all roads lead to Rome,' it is even more a fact that all paths lead to the Spirit. Some of them, it is true, are roundabout ways, tortuous and difficult. At times they seem actually to lead away from the goal-but only in appearance. Much of the modern advance in the conquest of matter, we should remember, is im1lersonal. It is achieved with no purely selfish motives, but is carried out under the impulse of the great evolutionary forces. And to that extent.it follows out the way of Nature.

The materialism which we have the greatest cause to fear and detest is that servitude to the body which comes of the gross appetites for pleasure and possession and power. And that, we hope and believe, is passing away. Its devotees are finding themselves in a minority and beginning to realise that their devotion to the grosser life of matter numbs and dwarfs and deadens their faculties for real happiness and progress. Who could picture it

bloated sensualist, fearful of death and constantly anxious concerning his bodily comfort and the safety of his posses­sions, mounting the airman's car 1 Not to such is given the nlle of the aviator, for the triumph of the flying man is, in a sense, a triumph of the soul.

n1rn.u.n MARSJ<:Y says that, any clea<l fish can <lriH on wit.h the .~tre11111 : Lut. it takes a live one to swim against the current.. That is why a company of 8piritualists is so singularly lively and alert.

August 12, 1911.] LIGHT. 379

FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS FROM F. W. H. MYERS.

BY H. A. DALLAS.

v. Tm: W o:NDER OF h' !

'Ve have been considering a few communicaLiuus which cuu­tain i11dicati01Ls of the survival of Frederic Myers. The whole uf the evidence for his survival is, of course, but a fragment of the total evidence for the survival of man. It is wise to pause after considering fresh instalments of facts which point to this great conclusion, and take breath, as it were, and remind our­selves of what it all means.

The weighing of facts and the analysis of arguments, sifting the true from false, are only valuable as means to an end ; that end is that each one of us may enter into our inheritance-the Truth : God's Truth, Reality. This is often very different from human opinion and speculation, and it costs an effort to re­Jinquish our presuppositions and illusions, and to accept instead the conclusion to which facts of experience lead. However difficult, it is nevertheless not only necessary but desirable. To exchange our fictions for God's facts is to exchange poverty for wealth, the limited for the infinite, the temporary for the eternal, the unsatisfying and partial for the satisfying and complete.

The glimpse given to us by the evidence which comes from the Beyond may at first bewilder, because it comes into conflict with our preconceptions, and also because we see only as in a mirror dimly. But as we ponder it we gradually realise some­thing of the fulness of the life of which a glimpse has been granted to us. We are reminded of the Logia discovered in Egypt by Dr. B. P. Grenfell :-

Let not him that seeketh cease from his search until he find, .and when be finds he shall wonder; wondering he shall reach the kingdom of heaven, and when he reaches the kingdom he shall have rest. ·

As yet we may have only reached the first stage in finding, the stage at which we 'wonder' ; the further stage at which we shall 'reach' our inheritance and 'rest' in our joy, lies still before us.

We wonder ! It comes to us with a great and beautiful sense of surprise. This apprehension of the truth that the principle on which humanity has been evolved, and towards the fuller realisation of which it bas been growing, namely, the principle of fellowship, remains unaltered by the event of death ; that death is not redly a break, as we supposed, in the reciprocity, the interaction, the exchange of thought, and the deeper com­munion of love. The greatest souls have instinctively felt at moments of insight that this break could not be real or permanent. And now \Ve find that their instinctive belief was, like other instincts, co-relative with tmth. The apparent break made by death is one of the many illusions to which our incarnation subjects us.

. There they are, the great company who have thronged this material earth through countless generations. We saw a small moment in their experience and imagined it to be the whole, or at least it figured so large in our imagination that we could not find room for the vast continuity of which it was but au episode, an important, and probably in some degree a· deter­mining episode, developing character, and fixing it, but not a beginning and end by itself.

There they are ; and here they are. Probably the latter fact is conditioned by their capacity for apprehending i1ossibilities and exerting faculty, just as ours is. For them, as for us, distance is bridged lJy the exercise of inherent powers, and by the discovery of how to apply the forces of the Universe.

We have discovered by the· application of electricity many metl1ods of communication, but there are yet more subtle ways in which space can lJe practically annihilated. They, too, are doubtless discoverers, ancl as they explore the U nseeu realm and we the Seen, great developments heyond our wilclest dreanL~ may he realised, 11nd we auc] they may he able to 11ct increasingly iu two worlds at the same time. Meanwhile let us treasure the know­ledge already gained.

It is minorities that lead the van and do the pioneer work of the Universe. Possibly only a minority of those who have passed over have as yet discovered how to exert their telepathic powers of communication and direct them with full control to those on earth. This controlled exercise of faculty diffel's somewhat from the unconscious and unintentional telepathy, which may be ~ncessant. It differs also from communion, which involves a deeper and more spiritual interblending of spirit with spirit. What these unseen workers, Myers and others, appear to have been attempting is to direct and control the universal current of influence passing from the lil~erated to us who are still flesh· bound, much as an electrician avails him­self of the universal influence of electricity and directs it to a part.icular apparatus which can register its effects in words.

The message thus brought to us out of the Unseen is essen­tially a message of joy.

In the July number ·of ' The Hibbert Journal' there is an inspiring article on 'The Kingdon\ of the Child,' in which we are reminded that growing-up has produced in too many minds a sense of ennui and lack of wonder. 'They have lost the childlike and Godlike sense of elemental joy.' It is precisely this sense of 'elemental joy' which the Myers messages convey. This impression is produced, not so much by any particular statement as by the tone, the emotion, the character which per­vades the messages to which bis name is attached.

There are some who say that this research leaves in their minds a sense of dreal'iness, a feeling of loss. They say, ''Ve can no longer look forward to the thought that at death we shall find ourselves in quiet resting-places, undisturbed by earth-sorrow, with all its problems solved and all effort needless.' So be it : but is it nothing to have exchanged this prospect for a glimpse of a life in which there is close continuity with the past, in which all efforts made here, all knowledge acquired, all faculty developed find their fruition, and are the very materials out of which fresh effort aud knowledge and faculty are cieveloped 1

Is it no gain to find that the friends whose depth of character and richness of faculty were rendered more delightful by the play of genial humour, ai1d the spontaneous sympathy with us in all the lesser as well as the greater interests of life-is it nothing to have learned that these friends retain all their former charm, and that their playful humour is as fitting there as it was here, and can be exercised as opportunely and as well 1

To be 'refreshed in the multitude of peace' does not necessitate the loss of any right faculty, it rather implies orderly development and adjustment of values among all our faculties. When we enter into that kingdom of order and ad­justment we shall again be able to laugh as the little child laughs, and to wonder as it wonders.

M1:;s LrLlAN WHITINU informs us that she will be in London within the next few days. ·We shall hope to see her at the Alliance meetings this autumn .

THE friends of Mrs. Effie de Bathe will regret to learn that owing to ill-health she will leave London in September for New Zealand, and may settle permanently at Sydney, Australia.

Mrns L. LoA'l', secretary of the National Anti-Vaccination League, sends us a detailed criticism of the report issued by the Metropolitan Asylums Board relating to the recent outbreak of small-pox in London. That report lays great stress on the fact that out of twenty-two unvaccinated cases, nine died ; whereas out of forty-six vaccinated cases one died. Miss Loat points out that pro-vaccinists have surrendered the old conten­tion that vaccination protects from small-pox, and now only hold that it mitigates the disease. London, however, has not been alone this year. Outbreaks occurred at Bury, Stalybridge, and Wallasey, but whereas in London we get a fatality rate in the unvaccinated of 40.91 per cent., the rate in these three places was O per cent. Miss Loat examines the London cases in detail, and comes to the conclusion that this astonishing difference is not a question of vaccination or non-vaccination, hut of the condition of each· patient. Those who died in London were eit.her very young, or ill wit;J1 some other com­plaint., or more clclicate than the other patients, and th~sc facts would ctccount for their being un vaccinated. Further, in two instances the un vaccinated were 'successfully' vaccinated after infection, but still they died.

380 LIGHT. [August 121 1911.

THE PRACTICE OF SPIRITUALISM.

The following-paper was read before the members and friends of the Lyceum Club, Paris, by one of the members :-

I am asked if I think the practice of Spiritualism should be encouraged. My reply is 'Yes,' and for two reasons-first, hecause it is a cure for materialism, and, secondly, because it gives conclusive proof of the continuation of life beyond the grave. You may reply: 'The Christian already believes in the immortality of the soul ; why, therefore, wish to do more than to get all the world to believe in the teachings of the Saviour?' Unfortunately all are not constituted alike, and there are many who cannot accept the dogmas and creeds of the different churches which profess to expound the truths of Christianity. The simple teachings of Jesus have, in many cases, been super­seded by forms and ceremonies until there is little left but a sea of doubt for seekers after truth to wade in. Many are fast losing whatever faith they may once have· had in super­natural religion, and are drifting into a mere unintelligent unbelief, which finds its expression in apathy and indifference as regards spiritual principles. Out of this state, seemingly, nothing but Spiritualism, with its vital evidences and personal appeals to the reason, can, or will, arouse them. We may, therefore, confidently believe that it will yet be the saving of true religion. The materialist, living in a world of selfish comfort, and interested only in what appeals to his intellect, becomes painfully conscious as time goes on . of the incompleteness of the evidence of his senses. Spiritualism, with its direct and soul-stirring message, comes with healing to his withered soul. The dogmatic utterances of a Church for ever divided against itself have long ceased to attract him. But his intellect, ever responsive to what is reasonable, is now aroused to interest in the unseen world. From intellect to spirit is but a short cut, once you have conquered the former. Thus Spiritualism with its rationalism succeeds in reaching his soul, while dogma fails.

Now let us consider those around us, the sum total of whose lives, in their search after truth, seems to be made up of doubts, fears, struggles and sorrows. Given the ordinary religious training in childhood, and starting out in life with a conscientious desire to do right, how often are they hurt and disappointed at the seeming failure of all their hopes ! They are contented to remain here only because they look forward to an eternity of bliss hereafter. Now while ultimately they will arrive at their goal, how much more cheerful and bright might their earth lives be did they but know how to walk by sight as well as by faith !

Spiritualism, appealing by its evidences to the reason as well a.s to the spiritual side of their natures, would help them to live much more happily. They would understand the meaning of their present existence, instead of passing so many years of their life in hopeless theorising about the future.

We learn by the aid of Spiritualism that we are now living in eternity, and not going to it. We are already building our future, not going elsewhere to conirnence it. This knowledge helps us to control our environment to a large extent, and to for­bid evil to harm us. We are surrounded by myriads of spiritual beings ready to give us that which we seek from them. If we desire only what is good, we attract only what is good to us. Should evil attempt unbidden to approach us, we can chase it away by the power of the spirit of virtue which is given us. Thoughts of benevolence, purity, love, truth, gentleness and beauty attract only spirits who have these qualities. Thoughts of evil-such as cruelty, hate, revenge, lying, greed, &c.-attract their affinities also. All life sets up vibrations both in the selln and unseen worlds. It is therefore better to understand what is around us, for then we the better know what to attract and what tu shun. But no one should idly or lightly try to pry into the secrets of the unseen world, nor should even serious seekers after truth believe all that they are told even when the state­ments come-or purport to come-from the other side.

An eminent writer on Spiritualism has told us that we Rhould keep our heads level and our judgments clear when dealing with the unseen world. He counsels us to remember that although that great universe contains many wise and dis-

cerning spirits, it also has in it the 'accumulation of human folly, vanity, and error, and that this lies nearer to the surface than that which is wise and good.· We should, therefore, not enter into a very solemn investigation in a spirit of idle curio­sity or frivolity. On the contrary, we should cultivate a reverent desire for what is pure, good, and true. We shall have our reward if we gain only a well-grounded conviction that there is a life after death for which we can prepare ourselves by wisely leading a pure and good life on earth. Dogmas will then cease to trouble us, for we sball be able to walk by sight as well as by faith.

Spiritualism enables us to receive inspiration direct from the Infinite, and clears the soul of doubts and fears. It irradiates the mind with such brightness that we 110 longer walk in dark­ness but in light. The death of the body has no further terror for us, and the cares and depressions of this life no longer assume gigantic proportions. We learn that to overcome here is to earn an asset which we can carry over with us into our next stage of progression. Spiritualism enables us to realise that only the present is ours-the now-in which to live and achieve. With Miss Lizzie Doten we say :-

' Oh ! weary and long seems the time to them Who under Life's burdens bow,

For while they wait for that time to come They forget 'tis a good time now ! '

'Ve learn from Spiritualism that there is no snch thing as permanent failure. What we have struggled to achieve here and have failed to accomplish succes.sfully, will be found not to have been wasted effort. As the athlete is strengthened by training, so we shall find we have been strengthening ourselves for our next environment by the use we have made of our faculties here, although the result may have been seeming failure.

If we fail-no matter! We know we shall go on progress­. ing, and the pain of failure will only serve to stimulate us to fmther effort. As that~ eminent scientist, Mr. Fournier d'Albe, observed in a lecture delivered before the London Spiritualist Alliance, ' There can be no life without effort, no effort without success which spells happiness, or failure which spells pain.' So we see that pain is only another angel working in disguise for our good.

If we study history, sacred or otherwise, we shall find that from the beginning of the world God has communicated His will to man by the aid of His messenger spirits. A few instances will suffice.

When the angel of God spoke to Moses in the fiery bush, and told him he should lead the people of Israel out of bondage, Moses knew by his spiritual sight the meaning of the vision. We have also direct evidence of communication from the spirit world in the story of Jacob's ladder. Again, we read of the angel who gave Abraham the foreknowledge of the son who should be born to him and Sarah ; of the voice which called Samuel in the night to the service of the Lord ; of tlw angel who came to Elijah and fed him when, wearied and long­ing for death, he had cast himself under a juniper tree; and of the 'fourth form' seen walking. in the furnace into which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast.

Then there was the incident at King Belshazzar's banquet, when the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote on the wall, although no body was visible. We are told that the King's loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against the other as he watched the fingers writing. We read of how Daniel came alive and whole out of the lions' den because God had sent His guardian angel to protect him. In the New Testament we have the vision of Zacharias prophesying the birth of John the Baptist, and the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary foretelling the birth of Jesus. We see our Lord in the trans­figuration on the Mount talking with Moses and Elias. We see in the Philippian prison Paul and Silas released from their chains in the middle of· the night by unseen visitants. In mo1·c modern times we see a Joan of Arc sitting in mountain solitudes, and inspired by spirit voices to go forth and lead her country· men to victory. I could quote numberless other instances familiar to you all, of how God has ever used spirit guides Lo reveal Himself to man, but I have said enough, I think, to show

August 12, 1911,] LIGHT. 381

you why I believe Spiritualism, practised rightly, should be encouraged. I believe the time to be not far distant when religion and science will walk hand in hand to explore the invisible worlds.

Death and the unseen are ready to yield up their secrets as soon as we have sufficient courage to demand them. One by one our great men of science are agreeing on this point, and their scouts are already on the frontiers of the next world. So the practice of Spiritualism for all true and divine purposes is good. But for the idle seeker after mere amuse~ent it is bad. If people of ruthless selfishness seek to drag spirits from their seclusion, there is great danger in the practice. ' That birds of a feather :flock together ' is a truism of the spirit world as of this. Unless we are seeking for what is good, we should not attempt to practise Spiritualism.

I think I cannot do better than close my argument for the encouragement of Spiritualism by quoting St. Paul (himself a ·great Spiritualist) on the subject. In 1 Cor. xii., he says :­

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit. To another, faith by the same Spirit. To another, the working of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, discerning of spirits, to another, divers kinds ol' tongues, to another, the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man generally as he will.

And'. there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

SENGA VELYNE.

THE HYPOTHESES OF 'BILOCATION' CONSIDERED.

BY ERNESTO BozzANO. Translated from 'Annales rles Sciences Psychiques.'

(Oontinued from f)age 363.)

Amongst the most famous of those who have seen vIB10ns was Andrew Jackson Davis, who states that he had witnessed the departure of the spirit from the body about thirty times (' Penetralia,' page 196), one occasion being at the hanging of a well-known criminal. His descriptions are always interesting, but as the best of them are far to~ long for our space, they should be read in 'Mr. ·Davis's own works. I shall quote other short examples of this class, beginning with cases in which the visualisations appeared in an elementary form.

Case 6. Mrs. De Morgan, in her book, ' From Matter to Spirit' (page 127), speaks of a woman, J. D., without educa­tion, 'and who certainly had never heard of the varied gradua­tions in which spiritual visions manifest themselves to sensitives' who, having been present during the last moments of a child relates the following :- '

I WM watching the sick child in company with his mother; he was two years and a half old, and was in con­vulsions, which had kept Jiim in bed for three or four days. The mother held one hand under the child's head and I was helping at the other side of the bed. In the fire~ place, sitting in front of me and on the side where the mother was, was a brilliant flame. Suddenly I saw this flame grow dark, because some opaque body had come between me and the light, and something indefinite :floated continually backwards and forwards. I called the mothe1Js attention to this strange fact, but she replied t.hat she could see nothing. During this ~ime the ?onvulsions of the child had ceased ; he lay back mert on his bed, and remained in this state until about ten o'clock, when he ~ed. . I began to notice the opaque body an hour before the child died, and the phenomenon persisted until he breathed his last, then I saw the flame again clear and brilliant. '

Case 7. Mrs. De Morgan gives in the same book (page 128) another incident, when she was a percipient at the same time as a friend more sensitive than she. She writes:-

. Once I was at the bedside of a dyingperRon in company with a friend who I knew was sensitive to spiritual visions. Just 8.'I the lJ1•eathi11g of the invalid was about to cease I saw a white cloud rise from the body and remain two or three inches away. I noticed that my companion was looking at it attentively. Her look, which

always took a strange luminosity when she saw something in­visible to others, was drawn for a moment from the contempla­tion of the sick person to fix itself higher up towards the head of the bed ; then dropping a little, she looked at the void with a close attentfon which lasted more than a minute. I looked ·at her interrogatively, but she was silent; she explained to me later : 'I saw a white cloud rise from the bedclothes-a thing which I had already seen in other circumstances-when my attention was drawn to the head of the bed to a little naked form three to four feet high ; from it came whiteness between daylight and moonlight.· Inside this form there was a still brighter luminosity, which became more and more brilliant in the middle, whilst from the centre to the outside everything appeared in a state of rapid movement. I saw the phenomenon again at the moment when the sick person breathed his last, then it rose and disappeared.'

Case 8. Sarah Underwood, in the book ' Automatic or Spirit Writing' (page 302), refers to a lady doctor who related to her, as follows, a similar experience :-

There was brought to my sanitarium for treatment some time ago a man who was a stranger to me, and so far gone in disease that I had no hope of curing him from the first. He lingered a day or two, and then died while I stood close by his bedside, worried mainly by my inability to help him. As I saw the b1·eath depart, and stood thinking about sending word to his people, I was all at once conscious of a presence by my side, and looking up, I was thunderstruck to see the dead man's counterpart standing close by me, but apparently oblivious to my presence. He was looking down at the body with the utmost worried, mystified, and wondering expression on his face. I, too, turned to glance at tlie stiff, expressionless face of the corpse, and when I turned again to look the spirit was gone. But I knew then that I had seen the soul of a man.

Case 9. Florence Marryat, in her boek, • Spirit World ' (page 124), tells the following story :-

I have a young lady friend, the daughter of a family moving in the highest society, who is a wonderful medium, though the fact is known to no one but her intimate friends. . . Some few years since she had the misfortune to lose her eldest sister, . a beautiful girl of twenty, who died after a few days' illness of pleurisy. Edith (as I will call the young medium) told me that she was with her sister during the course of her illne;is and that she witnessed clairvoyantly the whole process of th~ spirit leaving the body. She said that on the last day of her earth­life her sister was flushed, excited, and slightly delirious, tossing about on her pillows and talking incoherently. About this time Edith observed a film, like a cloud of smoke, gathering above her head, where it gradually spread out until it had acquired the shape, lengthways, of her sister's body, a facsimile, as it were, of the dying girl, only without colouring, and sus­pended in the air, face downwards, about two or three feet above her. As the day wore on, and the delirious restlessness gave way to the weakness of approaching death, Edith could see her sister's feverish colour fade and her eyes grow dimmer whilst simultaneously the vapoury form suspended in the ai~ above her began to b.e tinted, first very faintly, then by degrees more and more, until it glowed with the life that was rapidly departing from the body, The dying girl grew weaker and weaker, until she lay back on her pillows speechless and unconscious. As she did so the spirit above her, which was still bolllld to her brain heart and vitals by cords of light like electricity, became, as it ~ere ~ living soul. As her sister breathed her last earthly bre~th Edith saw the spirit sway from side to side until it stood upright by the side of the bed, very weak apparently, and scarcely able to stand, but still the living presentment of the corpse which now was stretched in death before her eyes. As Edith was watching this wonderful sight she saw the spirits of her father and grandmother, who had also died in their house ap~ear and support the new-~orn spirit between them, passin~ thell' arms between hers, whilst her head rested like that of a fainting person on her father's shoulder. After they had held her thus for a short time she seemed to revive somewhat at which they ruptured with their hands the cords which bo~md her to her b~y, and rising with her between them, passed through the wmdow . ·

Case 10. William Stainton Moses relates the following per­sonal experience. · (\LIGHT,' July 9th, 1887) :-

I have lately had opportunity-the first that has come to me--of studying the transition of the spirit. I have learned so much that I may perhaps be pardoned "if I t.l1ink that I can tL~e­folly place on record what I have gathered. . . It was the deathbed of one ve1·y near to me. The threescore years and ten were passed and another ten had been added to them. No actual disease intervened to complicate the departure of the

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382 LIGHT. [August 12, 1911.

spirit. . . I was warned that certain symptoms, insignificant in themselves, preluded the end, and I came to discharge the last sad duty. My spiritual sense could discern around and over him the luminous aura or atmosphere that was gathering for the spirit to mould its body of the future life. By slow degrees this increased, and grew more and more defined, vary­ing from hour to hour as the vitality was more or less strong. One could see how even a little nourishment, or the magnetic support that a near presence gave, would feed the body and draw back the spirit. It seemed to be in a state of constant tlnx. For twelve days and nights of weary wat(lhing this process of elimi­nation was can·ied on. After the sixth day the body showed plain signs of imminent dissolution. Yet the marvellous ebbing mid flowing of spiritual life went on, the aura changing its hue, and growing more and more defined as the spirit pre­pared for departure. At length, twenty-three hours before death, the last noticeable change occurred. All restlessness of the body ceased, the hands were folded over the chest, and from that moment the work of dissolution progressed without a check. The guardians withdrew the spiiit without any interference. The body was lying peacefully, the eyes were closed, and only long, regular breathing showed that life was still there. With the regularity of some exquisite piece of mechanism the deep inspirations were drawn; but .gradually they became less deep and less frequent, till I could. detect them no more. The spirit bad left its shell, and friendly helpers had borne it to its rest, new-born into a new state.

The body was pronounced to be dead. It may be so. The pulse did not beat, nor the heart, nor could the mirl'Or detect the breathing. But the magnetic cord was yet unbroken, and remained so for yet eight-and-thirty hours. Dming that time I

·believe it would have been possible, under favouring conditions, to bring back the spirit had anyone so willed, and had his will been powerful enough. Was it by some such means, in some such conditions, that Lazarus was recalled 1 • • When the spiritual connection-the cord of life-was severed . . the features, which had shown lingering traces of the prolonged struggle, lost all look of pain, and there stole over them an expression of repose very beautiful and very touching to behold,

(To be continued.)

TOLSTOY ON THE ETERNAL TRUTHS OF RELIGION,

In his new edition of the 'Life of Tolstoy,' Mr. Aylmer Maude gives a translatioll' of a letter, written by Tolstoy to a Japanese, in which he gives what were practically his fimi.l religions beliefs. He says :-

My supposition that you are acquainted with many religions makes it possible for me to answer your doubts in the most definite manner. My answer will consist in referring you to the eternal trutha of religion : not of this or that religion, but of the one appropriate to all mankind, based-not on the authority of this or that founder : Buddha, Confucius, Lao­Tsze, Christ, or Mohammed-hut on the indubitable nature of the truth that has been preached by all the great thinkers of the world, and that is now felt in the heart and accepted by the reason of every man who is not confused lJy false, perverted teachings.

The teaching, expressed by all the great sages of the world, the authors of the Vedas, Confucius, Lao-Tsze, Buddha, Ch1ist, and Mohammed, as well as by the Greek and Roman sages­Marcus Aurelius, Socrates, and Epictetus-amounts to this : that the essence of human life is not the body, but is that spiritual element which exists in our bodies, in conditions of time and space incomprehensible, but of which man is vividly conscious, and which-though the body to which it is bound is continually changing . and disintegrates at death-remains independent of time and space, and is therefore unchangeable. 80 what we call onr life (and this is particullt.rly clearly ex­p1essed in the real, unperverted teaching of Sakya Muni) is nothing but the ever greater and greater liberation of. that spiritual element from the physical conditions in which it is confined, and the ever-increasing union, by means of love, of this spiritual element in oneself with the like spiritual element in other beings, and with tl1at same spiritual element itself­which men call God. . . I am convinced that religion-the very thing that gives man true welfare-is, in its perverted form, the chief source of man's sntl:'e1ings. . . There is but one means of improving human life in general : the ever­increasing· elucidation and realisation of the one religious truth common to all men.

THEirn is truth as well as wit in the following saying : 'Never talk about your ailments. You are only advertising yourself as damaged goods.'

LIFE BEYOND DEATH.

BY HENRY LLEWELLYN.

Spiritualism, rightly understood, meets the materialist on his own grounds, and makes him realise at once that it is not a philosophical abstraction, but a mere matter of evidence for a concrete fact. This is the reason why a Spiritualist everywhere 'knows what he :believes,' whereas the average victim of. the obscurantist creeds does not know what he believes, and is not quite snre what ht! is expected to believe. Indeed, I cannot help thinking that the average religions person is hopelessly at sea regarding the life beyond, because he robs the idea of every­thing this life offers as significant of it. He is the victim of a pitiable know-nothingness, because be refuses to shape his vision of the future life out of the fabric ef his earthly experience, and therefore it is the work of an enlightened, progressive Spirit­ualism to lift the veil of superstition and darkness, and gi \'e him to understand that the unknown is only the farther side of the known, and that the contents of his present consciousness are typical, yea, prophetic, of all that the future holds for us.

If the spider can weave its web out of the tissues of its own body, why not the spirits weave their robes out of a more ethe­real and more evolved organism 1 It is not necessary for me to remind your readers that every claim of the spirit world can be confirmed by analogoll8 facts in the realm of observed science heie and now.

Spiritual things are true enough, spiritually discerned, but no one knows whbre the spiritual, or the material, ends. They do not merely correspond, they are identical, as sight, sound, &c., are one in essence but dual only in their recognition. What if the ultimate fact at the bottom is not obscurantism, mysticism, SpiritualiSm, or materialism, a.'l we know them as limited defini­tions, but etherealism with no conceivable limits, as solid as the rock at one point, and perhaps infinitely more rarefied than the ether!

The idealistic and the materialistic theories of a spirit world end, it appears to me, in a negation of thought ; but the psychical-that is, the extra physical or the etb.,real-meets the demands of experience and clear thinking, harmonising with the recognised law of the correlation of forces emerging out of the physical into the psychical, alike in the objects themselves and in the subject of their perception.·

The writings of Fournier d' Albe, H. Franks, Du Prel, and C. C. Massey have contributed to a Spiritualism which has been well defined in ' LIGHT' as ' the New :Materialism,' which speaks well for its future.

We can give Haeckel and the materialists all they ask for, and, out of it all, build as they want us to build, on the same principles even (without their dogmatic limitations), a grand, an eternal scheme of things that time cannot destroy.

We can beat them on their own ground, and confidently declare that the future is ours, as the past has been, and that all roads lead io Sphitualism.

Whilst substance per se is the same (identical) in both the spiritual and the material worlds, the degree of density is graduated to the evolution of the personality cognising them­an evolution both in subject and object exactly corresponding 'from the physical into the psychical, just as the material world bas evolved and the bl'Ute passed into the human by a law corre­lating it to the advancing cosmic conditions.

The scientific theory of the correlation of forces lends itself directly to a theory of progressive etherealisation, establishes a law of unbroken continuity between subject and object, and an1:1wers the empirical demands of the intellect for a graduated ascent from the material to the spiritual, or, as Paul says, ' first the natural, then the spiritual,' thus saving us from an illusive idealism 01· a gross materialism by making a viit '11tedit.i between the two and answering the logical demand1:1 of the age.

How true does it then appear 'that the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen by the things that are made.' I used to be told that heaven was the opposite of everything on earth, depriving me of the only symbols by which the thought was at all conceivable. How much better to have said, with Milton-

' What if Heaven is likest earth, but vaster 1 '

Angn~t. 12, 1911,] LIGHT. 383

We should tell tl1e man in the street, with his hdcks-and­mortar philosophy, not that he secs wrongly, hut that h'" does 11ot see far enough, and remind him of what J evons said ,in his ' Principles of Science ' :-

There might be here and now passing through U8 and this world some planet invisible to us, with mountains and oceans and rivers, lakes, cities, and inhabitants, and we not know any­thing of it at all.

How luminous is the statement of Dr. Carl du Prcl :-The Beyond• is only the Beyond of our senses, it is the

unknown Here. The line of division is not drawn spatially, but by the threshold of sensibility. The two worlils are not adjacent, but within one another, and existence in the Beyond dof.ls not follow existence here, but is contemporaneous with it.

It may even be that the spirit world itself is not merely correspondent with tl1is, but even identical with it-perhaps the fairer, if the farther, side of it_:_and our loved and lost are their very selves, just as we knew them here, not merely something that corresponds to them. Let ns keep our visions, but let us also materialise them enough to know, like Jacob, that they are real enough to wrestle with.

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

It is one of the amenities of Spiritualists-we had almost written amusements-to watch the transformation scenes in the so-called 'religious world' ; and it is equally entertaining to watch the efforts of some to prevent these transformations. They remind us of the old story of the rustic who, in his distress and anxiety about the weather, tied the hand of the barometer to 'Set Fair.' But the weather had its way all the same.

Our veteran friend, Dr. J. M. Peebles, whose letters are always welcome, sends us, all the way from Los .Angeles, California, a communication dealing with reincarnation. .As the discussion of that subject in 'LIGHT' has closed, we are unable to do more than mention that the good doctor recommends Spiritualists and Theosophists alike to cease debating reincama­tion, and give their 'time and thought to the study and elucida­tion of that broad, liberal, religions, and all-inclnsi ve Spitit­nalism which was in the past radiated to earth through that biblical "cloud of witnesses" and still is radiated tl1rough seers, sages, and mediumistic sensitives of the present from God, who, in our humble opinion, is pure, omniscient, immutable, and infinite Spirit.'

.Although he is over ninety years of age, Dr. Peebles has been lecturing at camp meetings and congresses, is writing up the history of Spiritualism, ancient and modern, and conducting an extensive correspondence. He concludes his letter with the kindly greeting, 'Success to you and your good and grand weekly, "LIGHT.'' '

We have grown exceedingly tired of hearing the word 'vilJra­tion,' and observe with pleasure that a reviewer, Wl'iting in 'The Occult Review ' for .August, of a certain book dealing with 'Immortality' says: 'Needless to say that blessed word "vibra­tion" is greatly in evidence : all self-respecting mystics and occultists should really take a vow to abstain from the use of this word for at least ten years. To call an unknown and un­measured force a "vibration" adds nothing to our knowledge ; it is one of those mystical explanatione which, so far from being really profound, "have not got the length of being superficial." '

Referring to the fact that some of his hearers often feel that 'life seems devoid of God or gracious meaning because of its bmden of sorrow,' the Rev. R. J. Campbell is reported in 'The Christian Commonwealth,' of the 2nd inst., to have said : ' I want any such who are present to know that they are not listening merely to man's wisdom, but to something higher. I could have handled this theme ['The Source of Good'] in quite a different way ; I daresay a different mode of presenting it has occurred to some of you while I have been speaking ; but it was impressed upon me to show you, if I could, the inevitableness of love's triumph, love's deity and infinitude, if only because love has e\•er shown itself in the world at all. So, believe me, your own love, your own yearning after good, your own d'isconteut with and protest against the evil and sorrow of earth, is the best evidence you could possibly have that all the love, and all the good, and all the life, and all the joy you could ever think of or desire, and infinitely more, are reigning eternally in he1wen.'

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by correspon­dents, and sometimes publishes what he does not agree with for the purpose of presenting views which may elicit discussion.

' The Opened Door.'

Srn,-When writing my article on' The Opened Door,' page :3ill, I failed to point out that the letters of the bass clef, G, B, D, F, A, written in Mrs. Holland's script, suggest a play upon the word l,:p,y, This wati pointed out to me by a reader of that article, and has doubtless occurred to many others.-Yours, &c.,

H. A. DALLAS.

Seven Years' Platform Work.

Srn,-It seems hardly possible that seven years have sped their flight since, in August, 1904, my first service on the Spirit­ualist platform was noticed in the London daily and weekly Press. During that period, in no instance have I been kept from the fulfilment of an appointment through a cold or other­.wise, although I have sometimes travelled home all night to

·attend to urgent matters. The provincial Press has been more than kind in its reproductions of my addresses, and very many old subscribers to, and readers of, my various publications have, at the close of my public services, all over the conntry given me most cordial receptionE. My varied experiences in the inner circle of Spiritualism may later on appear in book form, but I may here say that silently, but surely, a grand and really solid work has been accomplished for the philosophy of spirit return by the old guard, who have toiled long and have endt1red much for the cause. My forty-six years' intimate association with the varions orthodox churches, in their pulpits, and through my old journal, 'The Christian .Age,' which reached a sale of eighty thousand copies weekly, g1tve me the opportunity of proclaiming the philosophy of spirit return from Biblical records, and not a few have thereby become truth-seekerd. The publication of my two books, 'Talks with the Dead' and 'The Busy Life Beyond Death,' has resulted in a sale of ten thousand copies. I look back on the past seven years of my busy life with much thankfulness, but, of cour.se, with much regret over error3 of judgment, &c. Having now attained my seventy-second year (August 7th), although I never felt. better in health in my life, I feel that not much more will be heard of me on the public platform. I have another book ready for the press, and will now await the. call from the other side.-Yonrs, &c.,

JOHN Lonn . .August 7th, 1911.

The ' Newest' Science.

Srn,-It must be surprising to Spiritualists to be informed that Menticulture (Concentration of the Mi11d) is something new, as the public are being informed in this month's number of ' The London Magazine.'

.As one who published a letter on the subject in 1906 (February 24th) in the 'Daily Mirror,' advocating it being taught in our public schools, I am amused at the impudence of those who call it 'New.' Why should Spiritualists, who have made use of this particular science for years, be denied the honour due to them? .App:uently, being Spiritualists, any­.thing they do mnst be wrong. Fmrny, i>n't it ?-Yours, &c.,

W. HARRADENCE.

[This subject has been dealt with more or less fully ever since the time of Plato, Socrates, .Aristotle, and Epictetus. We have before us a work by Horace Fletcher, published in U.S.A.. in 1898, copyrighted in 1897, entitled 'Menti­culture: or t.lie .A-B-C of Trne Living.' In this country in 1895, Mr . .Arthur Lovell published a work on mental and bodily vigour, entitled '.A.rs Vivendi,' which was fol­lowed by one on ' Concentration.' Many other books of a similar character have appeared both in .America and Eng­land. Very much of what is now calle:l 'New' thought is, as a witty friend once said, 'only Emerson beaten out tbin.' However, 'The Magic Staff,' given by the spirits to .Andrew Jackson Davis, fully embodies the underlying principle of Menticulture, viz: 'Behold ! Here is thy Magic Staff: Under all circumstances keep an eve11. mind. Take it, try it, walk with it, talk with it, lean on it, believe in it forever.' So that if it became a question of 'honour where honour is due,' Mr. Harradence is not far wrong when he claims a share for SpiriLualists.--En. 'LIGHT.']

384 LIGHT. [Angnst 12, 1911.

Puzzling Experiences.

Srn,-I should be pleased if any reader of 'LIGHT' could give me an explanation of certain experiences for which I am quite unalile to account. Repeatedly when I hear bells ringing I appear to be high above them, tlie sound coming up to me. I then seem, in a ?Vay, to communicate the sound to my physical ~elf, or it ~r~vels like a triangle. Very often I soar right away m the spirit, or what appears to me my real self, quite easily and gracefully. I have a theory on this particular point that if we are our real selves it is easy to carry the physical body, but how far I do not know, nor what connection this may have with my experiences. Perhaps the body may have to be changed into a spiritual body.-Yours, &c.,

46, Hinckley.road, Leicester. P. WAYS.

·~--- ~------

Insanity and Obsession.

Srn,-In your 'Notes by the.Way,' in issue of July 1st you refer to Dr. Carl Wickland's tl1eory that 'insanity in a malority of cases is obsession hy malignant spirits of the dead.' The sainted Catherine of Siena (see Mrs. Josephine Butler's ' Life' of the Saint) on two or three authentic occasions was instrumental in healing insane persons. She had an intense horror of such unfortunates, believing that they were indeed the victims of ob­session, and that the evil spirits could assail herself when ex- · · orcised. Tl1at she was clairvoyant and clairaudient one has no doubt on reading the various annals of her life. She proceeded to ' cast out devils ' in the same way tliat Jesus did, praying first, and then, addressing them as personal entities, she bade them begone in the name of God. But to her it seemed a combat with the powers of darkness that left her physically spent and miserable. The cures, however, were absolute ; the insanity never manifested again in the patient.

I firmly believe that Dr. Wickland is right, aud that a great work of 11ealing along these lines lies before Spiritualist healers, especially those with psychic gifts, who could see and recognise the obsessing spirits.

Your paper is a continual source of interest and profit to me, isolared as I am from all Spiritualistic sympathies.-Yours, &c.,

AN IRISH MANHE-LADY.

Another Prophetic Vision Inexplicable by the Telepathic Hypothesis.

Srn,-Having just read in this issue of ' LIGHT,' in the present article on bilocation, the account of the prophetic visi­tation, or vision, recorded by Mr. Myers, I send you the follow­ing, which was told me a month or two ago by a friend who is Highland Scotch. For this, too, the telepathic 11ypothesis seems an impossible explanation.

The wife of the vicar whose church my friend with her hus­band attended, had been very ill for some considerable time and consequently, although there was a nurse to wait upon the invalid, the daughter had not felt able io leave her mother to go to the church ~ervices. But one Sunday morning, when my friend and her husband were in church, during the service she suddenly saw the vicar's daughter sitting in her accustomed place. Shortly afterwards she saw the nurse from the vicarage enter the church, go up to the vicar, and whisper to him. Then she heard the vicar announce that the service must be discon­tinued, as his wife was dying. My friend was sufficiently im. pressed by what she had thus seen and heard to suggest to her husband upon the conclusion of the service, that they should go round to the vicarage on their way home, to inquire for the invalid. She gave him no reason for this suggestion because of Ms disbelief in psychic experiences.

As he was willing to do so, they went to the vicarage. The daughter herself came to them to answer their inquiry, and told them that her mother was so much better that she quite hoped to be able to attend the service that evening.

My friend and her husband did not go to that service, but remained at home. In the course of the evening a near neigh­bour and friend called in to tell them-well, I need not repeat­just to give them an exact account of all the happenings of which my friend had had perception that morning.

I may mention that I know of other inatances of my friend's participation in the gift of her race. Of one I gave an account in 'LIGHT' sqme years ago. 'rhen she seemed to have impressed her power upon the clairvoyant medium, Mrs. Spring who, in consequence, was able to give her a wonderful sketch of some of the happenings of her life, beginning with her immediate future and continuing through several years. Most, if not all, of these prophecies have come true.-Yours, &c.,

August 5th. MARY MAO!~ WALL,

Experiences with Mrs. Wriedt.

Srn,-By your courtesy I would like to pay a grateful trilmte to Mr. W. T. Stead and Rear-Admiral Moore for the opportunity of making the acquaintance of this remarkable medium. AU honour to them for their loyalty to the cause of truth, and for their courage in undertaking the financial respon­Hibility of bringing her from America.

. I attended two seances at Wimbledon, and was so impressed with the wonderful manifestations and the genuine sincerity of the medium that I invited her to my home, where for a week she has been a most interesting and welcome guest, and during which time I,I along with several friends, have been privileged with six sittings. As a result, I must say that, although I am an old investigator, familiar with nearly every phase of medium­ship, I never received such absolute satisfaction as these seances afforded me.

Some of my friends were simply dumbfounded. Tlie evi­dence that the so-called dead had been holding intelligent con­verse with us, in clear audible voice, was so overwhelming that as one of the sitters observed, 'it 0cha11ged the whole aspect of his outlook.' I could well-nigh fill the columns of 'LIGHT' were I to relate all I have placed on recoi·d of these memorable seances, hut I am debarred the pleasure :if even an abbreviated account owing to the private nature of the communications. I will content myself with one significant remark addressed to me by my father : 'You have held the fort, you have kept the flag high and dry, go on ! '

Our unseen visitors were very human, displaying a keen intellectual interest in material affairs. They inquired after friends hy names known only to the recipient, sent loving mes­sages, gave information of a personal character, reminded us of incidents that carried us back in memory to our earliest years, and revealed such an intimate knowledge of our private lives as to fill us with amazement.

I only wish that Mrs. Wriedt could be induced to prolong her stay in this country, for I am persuaded that thousands of earnest souls could obtain infinite consolation and be won o\·er to the cause through her instrnmentality.-Yours, &c.,

WALTER APPLEYARD. Endcliffe-crescent, Sheffield.

SOCIETY WORK ON SUNDAY, AUGUS]' ,5th, &c.

Proiipective Notices, not exceeding twenty-four w'ords may be added to reports if accompanied bY stamps to the valu~ of sixpence.

MARYLEBONE SPIRITUALIST AssoCIATION, 51, MORTIMER­STREET, W.-Oavendish Rooms.-Mr. W. J. Colville gave an eloquent and instructive lecture on ' Clairvoyant Views of the Universal Races Congress and its Consequences.' Mrs. Leigl1 Hunt sang a solo. Mr. Leigh Hunt presided. Sunday next, see advt.-D. N.

SPIRITUAL MISSION: 67, George-street, rV.-Mr. E. w. Beard gave addresses under control, in the morning on 'The Unfetter­ing of Man,' and in the evening on 'A New Revelation.' Sun­day next, see advt.-E. C. W.

BRIGHTON.-MANCHESTER-STREET (OPPOSITE AQUARIUM).­Mr. H. Boddington gave interesting and histructive addresses. Sunday next, addresses by Mr. E. W. Wallis : at 11.15 a.m 'The Art of Living Well' ; at 7 p.m., 'What Spirits Say about Themselves.' Tuesday at 8, and Wednesday at 3 Mrs. Clarke's open circle for clairvoyance. Thursday, at 8, men~bers' circle.

0ROYDON.-ELMWOOD HALL, ELMWOOD-ROAD, BROAD-GREEN. -Mr. T. Olman Todd's lectures were much appreciated. The concluding lectures will be delivered next Sunday at 11.15 a.m. and 7 p.m.

BATTERSEA PARK-ROAD.-HENLEY-STREET.-' A Practical and Spiritual Life ' was portrayed by Mrs. A. Boddington. Sunday next, at 11.15, circle; 3, Lyceum; al 7, address hy Mrg. Adams, clairvoyance by Mrs. Boddington. Thursday, August 17th, at 8.15, Mrs. Boddington.-N. S.

STRATFORD.-WORKMEN'S HALL, 27, ROMFORD-ROAD E.­Mr. G. Tayler Gw,inn gave an uplifting address on the 'Trans­figuration of Jesus.' Solos were sweetly rendered by Mr. and Mrs. Alcock-Rusb. Mr. E. P. Noall presided. Sunday next, Mr. H.J. Bowens, address.-W. H. S.

HIGHGATE.-GROVEDALE HALL, GROVEDALE-ROAD.-Morn­ing, .Mr. J. Ab.rahall spoke on 'Spiritual Origin and Spiritual DestI?Y'; Miss Jose gave convincing clairvoyant descriptions,, Evemng, Mrs. A. Beaurepaire gave an uplifting address on 'The Healing Power of the Living Christ,' followed by well-recognised clairvoyant descriptions. 2nd, Madam M. Scott ga\•e good clairvoyant descriptions. Sunday next, at 11.15 and 7, Madam Scott, clairvoyance. Wednesday, Mr. W. R. Stebbens. 20th at 11.151 Mrs. Marr Davies; at 7 p.m., l\frs . .f'odmore.-J, f, '

A Journal of Psychical, Occult, and Mystical Research. 'LIGHT! MORE LIGHT!'-Goethe, • WHATSOEVER DOTH lltAKlll MANIFEST IS LIGHT.'-Paul.

No. 1,597.-VoL. XXXI. (Registered as] SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1911. [a Newspaper-] PRICE TwOPENOE.

CONTENTE!. Notes by the Way •••• - ••••••. 385

E~=~=es _ '_V~'.~ .. ~~. ~n:~~.i:e-~ 386 Stilling and the Sphitual Realm 387 Remarkable •Direct Voice' Phe·

nomena ............ - •••••••. 388 Comfort One Another .•••..••••. 389 The • Flaming Sword' ..•••••. 390 The Hypotheses of • Bilocation'

Considered •• - ••••••••••• , .... 391

Comfortbig SpMtual Communion392 Items of Interest •••...••••.....• 393 What and Where is the Spirit

World? .. : ..................... 394 A Word from Mr. W. J. Colville 394 Forgiveness and Progress After

Death-? •• • . • • • • . • . . . ...... 395 Mr. Charles Bailey in Rothesay 395 Reception to Mrs. Foster.Turner396 Society Work., ••••..•••••.•••••. 396

NOTES BY THE WAY.

'The Spiritualist Manual,' issued by the National Spiritualists' Association of the United States, and pub­lished at Washington, D.C., is a really creditable pro­duction containing a 'Declaration of Principles ' ; an out­line of the philosophy of Spiritualism, which impresses us as being well and wisely stated ; Invocations and Readings; Hymns and Poems; Services for Naming Children, for Marriages and Interments ; and much other valuable matter calculated to be helpful to societies and . other assemblies of Spiritualists everywhere. It was, indeed, an excellent idea to compress into a manual so much that represents the faith and meaning of our movement. We note that in the Preface special credit is given to the late president of · the Assnciation (Mr.· H. D. Barrett); Br. George A. Fuller, the Rev. F. A. Wiggin and the Rev. Thomas Grimshaw, who prepared the groundwork of the Manual. Nevertheless, we have reason to regard Mr. Charles R. Schirm, the vice-president, as 'the true begetter' of the volume, and he has our hearty congratulations.

'·rn 'T. P.'s Weekly'-a disfiguring title for an excellent periodical !-we recently came across an optimistic letter on, the subject of pain. The writer contends that pain is only an evil when considered by itself. And he con­tinues:-

A.a a part of our being, it is a necessary part, wholly beneficial. . . Its warning cry tells us when help is needed. It retires when its mission is fulfilled, to keep vigilant guard against any abuse of our bodies. . . Pain is never an enemy.. It is not a malignant process, but the command to be healthy. Remove its effective warning, and you might unconsciously rot. Nature wastes nothing; Nature is wholly rational. Pain for pain's sake would be useless and irrational. It certainly is no part of Nature's order.

Pain is Nature's method of admonishing us. It says not only 'Do thyself no harm,' but also 'Cease to do evil, learn to do well.'

We referred in a Note which appeared in 'LIGHT' of the 5th inst. to Professor Vaswani's protest against the Hindu doctrine that the material world is mere illusion. In 1 The World and New Dispensation' (Calcutta) of the 5th ult., we see that the Professor has returned to the charge. We read that he criticised the views of Schopenhauer, Duessen, Taylor and Lucas . . and declarea that they all had erred in rendering the word maya as 'illusion,' 'deception/ 'sheer deceit.' Maya was not illusion. In the Sacred Books the word was used and meant 'Energy,' 1 the power of the Pivine Spirit latent in the C9WM~uent primoi·dillr' -

Some of our friends who base their philosophy of life on Oriental doctrines may find the point worth noting.

Here is another point. Miss Stephens, in her recently published 'Legends of Indian Buddhism,' says :-

Gautama held that after the death of any being human animal, or divine, 'there survived nothing at all save the being'~ "Karma,'' the result, that is, of that being's mental and bodily actions.'

Professor Rhys Davis, in the new Edition of the Encyclopredia Britannica,' statea clearly, 1 The Buddha did not acknowledge the soul.' Consequently Karma was not a doctrine of the transmigration of souls, but of the trans­migration of character-or what we now call 'heredity.'

In the course of an article in ' The Vineyard,' for August, entitled ' The Heir,' which deals suggestively with the problem of heredity, the writer remarks:-

Scientific dogma is imposed upon the ignorant people who read learned reviews in a spirit not very different from that wherein ecclesiastical dogma a few years ago mind-manacled the pious. The outcome is not very different ; the people are led to believe that their own instinctive experiences, their inheritance from countless ages of physical, ethical and religious experiment, all evolutional in success and failure, count .for little. until corrected or endorsed by a professor or so. · ·

In a word, the dogma of science has tended to replace the dogma of theology. But both have · suffered some damaging blows of late years, and both are becoming more cautious and tentative in their conclusions. A recognition of the extent to which the power of the spirit overrides and sets at naught mechanical doctrines makes for modesty of statement.

The pathetic cry of Sterne's immortal starling, 'I can't get out ! I can't get out ! ' may be said to be answered by an agitation recently started by the Humanitarian League with the object of discouraging and suppressing the cruel practice of caging wild birds. The movement has met with influential support, and, as lovers of bird life under natural conditions, we wish it every success.

Boast as we may of what man has made of this planet, it becomes us to remember that it has all been only manipulation. Man has really created nothing : he has only developed an.d applied alre_ady existing substances and forces : and even the production of himself happened only through processes dealing with the transformations of lower forms. He may deny 'God,' but that may mean only the refusal of a word. He cannot deny that he is only the receiver, user ·and manipulator of Nature's wonderful and mysterious stores. He was not far wrong who said: I Out of the wild rose man_ can in time develop a wonderful variety of roses of every colour. If, however, all roses were once destroyed, no human skill could create a new one,' and a similar remark could be truly made respecting a million things. The truth is that as man advances in wisdom and understanding his modesty wm incr~ase and! with it! his revereµce aµd ~is faith:

386 LIGHT [August 19, 1911.

Few words have suffered so much at the hands of the Philistines as the word ' Substance.' The proper meaning carries us beyond what we recognise as matter, and yet the coarse world has captured it for matter only. The ' practical man' says of a thing, 'That has substance in it,' and he means it is heavy with stuff of some sort ; but the man with the dictionary knows he is utterly wrong. Sub-stance is that which stands under stuff, and Webster, for instance, gives us the true meaning of the word when he says, 'SUBSTANCE. That which underlies all outward manifesta­tions : substratum : the permanent subject or cause of }Jhenomena, whether material or spiritual ; that in which properties inhere; that whiph is real, iu distinction from that which is apparent, · of any existence, in distinction from any accident.; that which constitutes any thing what it is ; nature ; real or existing essence.'

In reality, then, 'substance' is not matter at all, in the usual sense of that word, but that which causes matter for a time to be. 'Substance' is spirit, creative energy, God. In truth, the only Substance in the Universe is God.

Bold and original alike in thought and expression, Jarold Monro dedicates his latest book of verse ('Before

-~Dawn : Poems and Impressions ' ; London, Constable and Co., cloth, 5s. net) to 'those who, with me, are gazing in delight towards where, on the horizon, there shall be dawn.' We gather that the' dawn' for which the poet looks is the promise of the realisation of high ideals, both of manhood and womanhood. The 'Return of .Arthur' is a fine con­ception. The King returns from .Avalon to the modern world to set up a new order of chivalry. Moving invisible

' among men-Often he tarried where in deepest night Manhood lay slumbering, and long would wait Among the twilight regions of a soul To listen for the muffled stir of plumes. Those who with haunted, melancholy eyes WaYered along the corridors of doubt, Would suddenly hear the singing of his blade, Turn startled fronts a moment, then resolve Instantly, brace their armour, lift their brows, And stride from the dull mansion of their doubt Into the clash and splinter of the fight. Or he would sit invisible at feasts, Waiting and watching till the moment came, Then enter as a light into the eyes, And those whom he had singled for his own Would lift in sudden consecrated words Their fearless voicee. Such a vernal glow Passed through the ancient and autumnal world That panoplied in glitter of the dawn, It ran, new-spirited and high-resolved, As though with swifter feet among the spheres, Track upon track of everlasting life.

Thus gathered he his knights, yet in no place Singled aliove all others ; from no feast Sent he them forth, as from the Pentecost : Theirs was the inward token, and they went About the world as all men-but equipped With beauty and invulnerable will. Thus gathered he his Knighthood, and, unseen, Long sojourned as a leader in their midst.

LONDON SPIRITUALIST ALLIANCE, LTD.

DRAWINGS OF THE PSYCHIC AURA AND DIAGNOSIS OF DISEASE. -On Wednesday next, August 23rd, from 12 noon to 5 p.m., at 110, St. Martin's-lane, W.C., Mr. J?ercy R. Street will give personal delineations by means of the colours of the psychic aura of sitters, and will diagnose disease under spirit control. Fee 5s. to a guinea. Appointments desirable. See advertise­ment supplement.

MR. JOSEPH STEVENSON, of Gateshead-on-Tyne, will be in Aberdeen from August 19th to 30th and will be pleased to meet old and new friends interested in Spiritualism. His address will be care of Mrs. Davidson, 41, Osborne-place, Aberdeen.

EXPERIENCES WITH AN ENTRANCED MEDIUM.

BY G. w. MAKIN.

Perliaps the following experiences may be similar to others already recorded, but if so I l1ave not met with them in the course of my reading.

A gentleman called upon me a short time ago to say that his wife was badly indisposed. She has been a medium from childhood, and, as I had previously helped her, he asked that I would again try to restore her to normal health. Knowing that she was easy to put to sleep mesmerically, I was quite will­ing to do my best for her. On the first occasion, June 12th, she was subjected to a control called ' Zousa,' whom I consulted, and who gave me directions as to passes and how be.<>t to make them to suit this case. As he proved so instructive, and his directions seemed quite natural, I continued to operate almost daily until he said that she was better, which she, in her normal condition, confirmed. He advised that I should continue each evening for some time, when she was awake normally, until her mind was relieved from fear and doubt, caused by being so sensitive to the conditions of others. At a subsequent meeting (as the control always came) I asked where the medium was, and was told that she had gone amongst spirit friends to visit fresh scenes and get enlarged ideas of life. As she did not, on waking, remember anything of her spirit travels, I was in­structed, when next J put her to sleep and before the control was effected, to gh-e her the suggestion that, if the control came and she went away, she would on her return remember where she had been, what she had seen, and tell me all about it with­out being asked to do so. When I inquired why she did not remember normally, I was informed that when travelling in spirit she is in a similar condition to that of ordinary sleep, except that in sleep her physical body is not so completely separated from her spirit as when it is controlled hy another being, as it then was.

The control further said that he could not give her the suggestion to reme.mber ; that he could not say wh(lre she had gone, and that she had not any knowledge of what he, the control, was doing, or what we were speaking about. The following con­versation then ensued :-

Does her physical body receive any injury by her absence or ·by your control? No, but much good. I have more interest in my medium's welfare every way than anyone else. Having been with her for years, I have saved her from much, and would have saved her from much more if she had yielded more often to my influence.

Can she refuse to be controlled by you ? Yes, slie has to provide suitable conditions.

Can you explain how you take control ? I stand on one side of the medium until the spirit friends engage her attention and lead her away. As she leaves the body on the side opposite to where I stand, I take her place. It would not do for me to cross her course.

Is she aware that you control her body during he1· absence ? No.

Can you use her body at will as easily as she can when occupying it ? No ; but I could with practice.

Has control any relation to what is termed insanity ? With my control, no, because I will not allow anyone else to interfere.

Can you explain how people in the physical body become insane 1 Yes; there are two principal causes-namely, igno­rance of spirit power and lack of will.

What do you mean by spirit power ? Everyone forms a part of the great world of spirit, incarnate and excarnate, the moving force, called-in the whole-Omnipotence. All who possess physical bodies are subject to influence, as well as able to influence others. Very few are willing to acknowledge this before they come to our non-physical condition. As you haye been taught, 'The.spirit is like the wind,' hut more closely con­nected with you. This is startling at first to new arrivals in spiritland, and is one of the lessons which needs to be studied by spirits, and by those in the flesh, more than it has been. People in the flesh, with a reasonable knowledge of the subject, and a determination to be right and do right, could not become insane from this cause.

Is insanity caused by .malignant spirits 1 Not always ; many people are naturally very sensitive, and not having gained a knowledge of the subject they are liable to be affected by many varying infftiences1 mostly good ones, bttt these inflt1ences are so

August 19, 1911.] LlGHT. 387

mixed and . intermittent that the persons give forth incoherent expression, and fail to understand themselves. Further your doctors think it is the brain that is affected, because they'know so little of spirit.

Cannot well-disposed spirits prevent malignant ones from ~oing mischief 1 Each person receives power to do his own work m the body, and if he is trying to do good, with his whole mind fixed 01;1 it, that is pyayer. The good spirits will help him, but they will not force him. If the good ones dispelled the bad in­tt.u~nce, th~Y. could not prevent the one in the body from again givmg cond1t10ns for the bad ones. This is a big question and we will again speak about it some other time. '

This proved an opportune time to ask for an experiment. Knowing a young man needing the help of good spirit people, I interceded with the control that he would interest his conf1·e1•es and induce them to try and overcome the, as I thought, malignant one. A promise was given, and the young man was quiet for two weeks, but again became as bad as ever. This was disappointing.

At a subsequent.meeting, when the medium was under in­fluence, I expressed regret, in which the control joined. I asked how it was that the experiment had failed, and was informed that it did not fail in the manner that I thought. · I had not calculated upon the nature of my request or realised what it entailed. The control and his confi·eres had spent much time and effort to accomplish what improvement had occurred (to the neglect of their own work) in order to give the young man an opportunity to do his part ; but he had failed, by again giving conditions suitable to evil influences. Then I asked if it would not be possible to keep up the good influence, and was told that it would not, that they ' could not make a prisoner of the young man.'*

After the medium had become normal, she voluntarily said that she remembered going to the hospital, accompanied by friends in spirit. There was already a band of spirit people sunounding the young man (insane). They sang, and he seemed to be soothed, and lay down. The company then travelled (they seemed as though sitting upon a brilliant cloud­like ~terial) and arrived on a magirificent green sward, as. soft as if composed of grass of the fineness of pile velvet. T.here was a sea resembling burnished silver or glass ; everything was calm and quiet, yet brilliant. '!'here were many kinds of beauti­ful flowers, gorgeous beyond description. The calm was dis­turbed only by sweet vocal music. She saw many friends, long since passed to spirit-life.

On June 14th the suggestion to remember was again given to the medium, and on her return to normality she laughed out­right and remarked: 'Now I know that I was told to remember, if I went away, what I saw, &c., but I have not been away.t I have been present liere all the time, and saw "Zousa " speaking through my body.' She correctly described what the three persons present were doing and where they were sitting, and said that there wei'e lots of spirit friends present who were taking quite au interest in the meeting, joining in the singing. She said : 'I joined in with them. They were mostly relations of those present in the body. I could see that my body was healthy. What appeared stl'!lngely funny was that those in the body looked so small. I might have been looking at you through reversed opera glasses. I could not see the furniture or pictures.'

On June 15th, on returuing to ordinary wakefulness, the medium said : 'I have been to a grand place, where there are tremendous hills, terminating in huge, high pinnacles, of a .transparent material, and scintillating with flashes of ·variegated colours as if a brilliant light, composed of rainbow colours, was shining through the whole. The stillness was broken by an invisible choir or choirs, whose singing seemed to cause the light to vibrate in consonance. The air was very buoyant. The flowers were abundant and rich in colour. Spirit friends went about in companies, as if on business. The murmur of their conversation had a musical sound which blended with the sur­roundings.'

* 'rhe young man, who will have nothing to do with what is called Spiritualism, had to be moved for safety to an asylum. 'rhis experi­ment proved the correctnASS of the control's statement.

t After the control came, the question. ·Is medium gone?' was forgotten.

Early on the evenmg of June 16th I put into the mesmeric sleep a patient who sometimes, while in that state, gets into conversation with friends who have passed on. Having to attend to another patient, who does not sleep mesmerically, I left him, whereupon he became disturbed, waved his arms, and exclaimed : 'Go away, I do not know you.' I insisted upon knowing to whom he was speaking, and told him to ask for the name ; he replied that it was ' Zousa,' but that he did not know him. I said, ' Welcome, " Zousa," friend of my invisible helper and companion "Decca."' The patient had often seen and spoken to 'Decca' (when asleep mesmeri­cally ). ' Zousa ' had come to caution me about letting the other patient lie, after being magnetised, and said, 'He must immediately jump up, put some energy into the movements, and cease to think of illness, then he will soon be all right.' I expressed thanks. (This opinion has been repeated several times to this patient by different excaruate individuals.)

When ' Zousa ' controlled his own medium at night he spoke of what he had done in the earlier part of the evening, and repeated the advice given. Then there was a noise of excitement in the hall outside, and my wife was called out of the room. In a strong voice I demanded to know what was the matter. My grandson was in an upper room in bed and his condition had startled my daughter. He was apparently very sick. The control said, 'Wait, I will go and see.' The medium's body sighed. I asked if ' Znusa' had gone and was informed that he had. Shortly afterwards he resumed full con­trol and said that there was nothing seriously wrong with the boy. He instructed me to magnetise his chest transversely, without contact, saying that he and a company of our arisen relatives and friends, who were present, would go with . me to help. I canied out instructions, and the boy settled off into a natural sleep. The medium said that whilst the control was busy she had visited a strange place, but could not give a very good description. It seemed as though the place was all sand, with sand dunes, almost like earth, but sparkling, as if com­posed of diamonds. Everything was serene and peaceful.

No doubt the little disturbance would account for the meagre description.

(To be continued.)

STILLING AND THE SPIRITUAL REALM.

A writer in the 'Hindu Spiritual Magazine' points out that the two most famous of the works of J uug Stilling, the great Germa:n savant, were written under spirit dictation. He says:-

These are 'Nostalgia,' and 'Scenes in the Invisible World.' Of the latter we learn that ' the state of mind which Stilling experienced whilst labouring at this work is utterly indescribable. His spirit was as if elevated into ethereal regious, a feeling of serenity and peace pervaded him, and he enjoyed a felicity which words cannot express.' Of the 'Nostalgia' we are told that in 'the state between sleeping and waking, the most beauti­ful and, as it were, heavenly imagery presented itself to his inward sense. He attempted to delineate it, but found this impos­sible. With the imagery there was always a feeling counected,com­pared with which all the joys of sense are as nothing. It was a bliss­ful season ! ' The 'Nostalgia' was received with enthusiasm. The author found that certain scenes in his work, which he had supposed to be fiction, were actual facts. A great prince wrote, demanding how he had learned the particulars of a certain secret association. Stilling could only reply that the very existence of the association was unknown to him. One day a handsome young man entered his apartment and saluted the author of the ' Nostalgia ' as his secret superior. Stilling utterly disclaimed the imputed honour. 'How then,' said the stranger, 'did you contrive ~o accurately to describe the great and vener­able brotherhood in the East, to point out our rendezvous in Egypt, in Mount Sinai; tn the monastery of Canobiu, and under the temple of Jerusalem 1 ' ' All fiction,' auswC:;red Stilling. ' Pardon me,' cried the other, 'that cannot be ; the matter is in truth and reality as you have described it. Such A thing cannot have come by chance.' And he retired dissatisfied. On July 13th, 1799, Stilling predicted the death of Lavater. In a letter, that day, to Antistes Hess, of Zurich, he informed him that, whilst writing, he had felt suddenly a deep impression that a violent and bloody end awaited the great Switzer. He desired that this might be comunmicated to him. Exactly three mouths later the army of l\fassina stormed Zurich, and Lavater was shot down at his own door. Others of Stilling's presentiment~ proved equally unerring.

398 LIGHT. [August 19, 1911.

REMARKABLE 'DIRECT-VOICE' PHENOMENA.

BY B. M. GoDsAL.

(Continued from page 377.)

It would be well, perhaps, to say here a few words about the entities that control the mediumship of Miss'.Corrales. There are four regular controls, named 'Mary Brown,' 'Don Constan­tino .Alvarado,' 'Don Miguel Ruiz,' and 'Carmen '.; besides two occasional cwntrols named 'Susie Edwards' and 'J ulia.i· .As I understand it, these controls, though they all claim to be spirits who have lived the earth life, give, nevertheless, but scanty accounts of their sojourn in the flesh. ' Don Constantino,' the supreme control of the seances, once lived in Spain. His manner when speaking is courteous, kind, and very dignified. Though a familiar spirit, he by no means encourages familiarity ; in fact, the oldest habitiies of the · circle never presume to address him without the prefix 'Don.' 'Mary Brown,' who hails from Boston, is the medium's closest friend. .As a voice she can speak no English, but when possessing the medium is reputed to speak and write in her native tongue. 'Ruiz,' an .Andalusian, is jovial. 'Carmen' is reported beautiful by those who claim to have seen her. The others I have not met.

When writing about seances, many people shrink from frankly conceding to the controls the style and titles that they claim-in fear, no doubt, of appearing to endorse the Spirit­ualistic theory. But whatever one may call them, one must appear either to endorse or to deny some particular theory, and I wish to do neither.

For instance, there is a modern theory that the different phases of mediumship are nothing more than symptoms of hysteria. Even if one were willing to adopt this depressing theory, I cannot see why even a symptom of hysteria, if it is anxious to be called 'Don Constantino .Alvarado,' should not be humoured to that extent, especially when its request is couched in the politest of language. Besides, the use of terms in strict accord with this theory would seem rather to increase confuEion -as thus, ' One of the medium's symptoms of hysteria then addressed the circle, warning them in earnest tones against the error of materialism, after which another symptom possessing a woman's voice sang the "Marseillaise," in which several others joined, until the room rang with all of the medium's symptoms of hysteria singing in chorus.' The question wouid soon arise, who is it has the hysteria 1 Therefore it seems to me best to leave to these entities the responsibility of describing and naming themselves.

In addition 'to the direct evidence already given of the genuineness of the voices there is the indirect evidence con­sisting of the impression formed by constant and critical obser­vation for which one has ample opportunity, seeing that they form a persistent phase of Miss Ophelia's mediumship. Every seance begins with singing by spirits, in order, it is said, that they may harmonise the fluids. When in darkness, one is per­mitted to strike a match at any time during the singing ; in fact, a box of matches has more than once been pressed upon me for that purpose by Mr. Corrales. The only restriction to the striking of matches, I was told, was during the occurrence of a materialisation, something that I did not witness, when· light would cause suffering .to the spirit, though the medium would be unharmed because not entranced.

The voices seemed quite independent of control. When most desired, as when persons of importance were present, they would, perhaps, maintain an obstinate silence. Sometimes for a whole evening they could hardly be induced to make a sound. But when conditions were good ' Don Constantino ' would come forward under cover of darkness into the semi-circle and give an address. Or perhaps he would address l\.imself to an indi­vidual, as at my fourth seance, when he came up very close to me, just beyond reach of my hands, as it seemed, expressing with his clear articulation his pleasure, &c., while a steady breeze blew front"l1im to me. Moreover, he told me of the work they had done on the medium to prepare her for the advent of spirits superior to themselves, and spoke of the pain and grief pro­duced by stich work in earth's atmosphere. 'Mary Brown' like-

wise approached, and in shrill tones spoke with similar purport. 'Miguel Ruiz,' too, was friendly and complimentary. .At the same seance the medium sang and was accompanied by a man's voice. Moreover, on several occasions the medium would begin to sing in her usual voice, pleasing but not strong, when, becoming controlled by ' Mary Brown,' her voice would increase enormously in volume, and perhaps at the same time her mother, playing, would become similarly influenced, so that the song would end in a crash of sound sufficiently startling if not alto­gether musical.

To criticise the quality of the sounds obtained at these seances seems to me to be foolish, because entirely beside the question, which is, whence do the sounds proceed 1 not, what musical value do they possess 1 .According to the Spiritualistic theory the sounds are produced under exceedingly adverse conditions and their quality may largely be a result of the con­ditions, as, for instance, was the case with the early phonographs, which might receive the best of music but would yield indifferent stuff. It is not to be expected that a medium shall introduce us to the music of the spheres. Nor is it to be desired that she should, for what could more confound human effort than, by a short cut, to import music or poetry or wisdom direct from a superhuman source ~ That would be a reversal of Nature's method.

But in spite of positive proof that Mrs. Corrales when playing ww not also singing, and in spite of the absurdity of supposing that the throat of one small elderly lady could possibly give forth the loud and varied sounds of several voices, male and female, singing with utmost vehemence whilst at the same time ' Mary Brown,' perhaps, would be speaking at the top of her voice, nevertheless it seemed unsatisfactory that the back of the pianist should be turned to the audience, thus hiding if only one mouth from view while sounds so unaccountable and so impossible rent the air. Therefore at one of the later seances I asked Mr. Corrales if he would mind shifting the piano so that, with a lighted candle upon it, the face of the player would be in foll . view. He not only consented cheerfully but offered to put the piano at the other end of the room, or in an adjoining room, or to hold a seance in any house where I might take a room. But I was satisfied with turning the piano half round without changing its location, being quite sure that the room contained no mechanism, because it could not be concealed, nor would it account for voices that travel freely about a big room. The piano having been turned end-on, and the voices nursed to crescendo by a little darkness, I approached, st:cuck a match, lighted the candle on the piano, and while Mrs. Corrales spoke to me, the voices, though lowered, as always by the proximity of a stranger, yet triumphantly re. sisted extinction ; and on returning to my seat they sang out with as much vigour as is usual when unassisted by dark­ness, showing that the larynx of the player was not the source of their being, nor even of their reinforcement.

.After this the piano remained in its new position, and at the last seance I received another test of the genuineness of the voices at a time when conditions were not good, as well as a proof of how, with better acquaintance, I had grown in favour with the spirits. There were present, besides four of the family and myself, three ladies and a gentleman, who were not regular attendants at the circle. The seance began fairly well with singing; but when :Mr. Corrales put a lighted candle on the piano silence ensued. He repeated the operation several times, and in various ways, but was always greeted with obstinate silence. Then the medium herself put the candle on the piano, but even from her hands it proved an effective stopper to the voices. Realising that I could do no worse, and feeling much confidence in the often expressed friendliness and sympathy of the spirits, I took the candle myself and, advancing slowly, placed it on the piano full in front;of Mrs. Corrales' face, while the voices, true to their friendly professions, were able to carry on their vocal existence in the surrounding atmosphere, gaining in force as I retired, as if to join in the applause. that greet.ed me. Later in the evening ' Don Constantino ' explained that the medium had failed because she had not given her mind to them, whereas I, by earnestly concentrating my mind upon the voices (which I certainly did), had enabled them to continue

August 19, 1911.] LIGHT'. 389

singing. But the explanations of spirits are very ready and very plausible, and by no means very consistent.

I will now tell of the entrancement of the medium, because it occurred under conditions that were entirely satisfactory. At the seventh seance, on June 3rd, beside the Corrales family, there were present Mr. Alvarado, Mr. Lindo, and myself. In darkness several controls spoke, saying that as they were preparing for the introduction of superior spirits there would not be much singing that night, hut that for my information they would draw the spirit of Ophelia out of her body and replace it by one of themselves. Lighted candles were then placed one on each side of the medium, who sat in a chair facing me. She quickly relapsed into a state resembling death, her eyes open and staring fixedly while her hands and arms during the period of the trance grew perceptibly colder, in spite of my chafing one of her hands in my own. Sud­denly from the far end of the salon, where certainly there was nobody, a voice resembling her own spoke and sang a little, the voice being immediately recognised as hers by the rest of the circle, all of whom knew it well. Then she rose from her chair, shook hands with each of us, and addressed us in the well­known tones of ' Don Constantino.' With his voice she insisted that I should prick her arms with a needle, and take notice of the condition of her eyes, while from the dusk at the end of the room spoke her own proper voice. Then, having returned to the death-like state, she suddenly jumped up and was again her own self. I was assured that when on similar occasions she is possessed by 'Mary Brown,' she is then able to talk and write in English, but I was never so fortunate as to receive such a striking proof.

As I said before, it was aftE'r this seance that I procured a translation of the last two sections of Professor Reichel's report, and as no concealment was made of the fact it was doubtless known to the Corrales family. Whatever the effect may have been upon myself, it was disastrous to the phenomena. At the next seance, on June 6th, when one other stranger was present, though we sat and waited long, in darkness and in light, the oracle was dumb. We tried music, we played the favourite tunes of the spirits, and with palms outstretched, cried, ' Venga Mary, venga Don Constantino,' but all in vain. When patience had out-waited the last chance of success, I wep.t home, rather earlier than usual, while the other visitor remained. Next morn­ing I was told that immediately upon my departure the voices rang out with their usual exuberance, and that 'Don Constan· tino' explained that they had been unable to appear before, owing to the condition of my mind, into which had been poured suspicions and prejudice, &c.

At the following seance I pointed out to the medium that I had come a long journey in order to see things for rnyself, and assured her that a single observed fact, however small, had more weight with me than all the theories of all the professors in Germany ; after which confidence was gradually restored. But it took several seances to re-establish perfect relations between 'Don Constantino ' and myself, as between man and man. All of which goes to show that whatever individualit.y these spirits may possess, they are largely emanations from the medium.

In answer to my inquiry as to the manner in which the voices commenced, Mr. Corrales told me that about four years ago little Florita first noticed a faint voice accompanying her sister Ophelia as she sang ; later it was detected by the boy Miguel, and afterwards it increased so as to become audible to everybody, and was joined by other voices. The fact that they manifest in darkness better than in light, like all psychic phenomena, gives rise to a belief that they must be the voices of evil spirits or the production of fraud. As a matter of fact, these voices in a sense prefer the light ; that is to say, they themselves call for it whenever conditions are sufficiently favourable. And as regards an occasional need for darkness I have been told by an operator of wireless telegraphy that it often happens that, when in perfect touch with a distant station at early dawn, the conurmnication is cut just as the sun appears above the horizon as if a line had snapped. Yet no one sup­poses, therefore, that a wireless message is conveyed by the devil. No doubt in these cases the difference between darkness and light is a question of physics rather than morality.

It might be supposed that when first one heard these voices springing from apparently empty space one would be filled with an astonishment which perhaps might gradually diminieh with familiarity. But with me the reverse was true. I had often attended so-called 'trumpet seances' in the United States, where spirit voices were supposed to shout through a trumpet. But as these seances were invariably conducted in total darkness I had always accounted for the sounds by the obvious, easy, and no doubt correct explanation of fraud. Thus, when first I heard the Costa Rica voices my wonder was not as at something out­side of -the ordinary course of Nature, but as at something the cause of which -~as not apparent. But when, week after week, the voices continued in every degree of light and under severe test conditions, then, as conviction came, the marvel increased, so that never did I find their effect more astounding than it was at the last seance of all. .

Friends will ask am I myself convinced that these voices are genuine-that they proceed from no human larynx. I should like to reply by making three degrees of certainty as represented by the words, I think, I believe, I know. I 'think ' that which seems to hold the greater degree of probability ; I 'believe 1

that which has withstood a severe but rather complicated in­vestigation ; I ' know ' such things only as are susceptible of crucial and easily repeated tests. in this sense I may say that 1 believe the voices to be genuine, but am not in a position to say that I know them to be so.

COMFORT ONE ANOTHER.

In a recent isstte of ' Reason,' in a sermon on ' Comfort One Another,' Dr. B. F. Austin said :~

A Christian nation ought to minister comfort to its poor and unfortunate, first by removing, as far as possible, all obstacles out of their path in gaining a livelihood and in winning success. Prevention of sorrow and suffering is better than all attempts at cure. No community has done its duty Which does not see to it that every honest labourer can obtain a job and life. Every community worthy the name of Christian ought to see to it that there is some approach to suffi.c~ent wages . to meet a~ least the necessities of equality of opportunities in life, and set its face as a flint against all monopolies of Nature's resources, such as land, minerals, coal, oil, foods, and other prime neces• sities, and also against all attempts to exploit the public through franchises and special privileges. A great responsibility rests on those possessing wealth in ministering to the poor and the unfortunate. Our army of millionaires is rapidly growing ; our national wealth increasing almost beyond computation, and it is simply shameful that people should hunger for food and shiver with cold (in this richest country in the world) because they are out of work. The number of our idle rich is increasing, and people are mad with the lust of money and the love of plea3ure. Multitudes of men and women in the land are squandering their millions in idle dissipation or handing down in some cases ill-gotten gains to curse their children, when they should find in the possession of these millions and in the needs of the world a divine call to comfort and aid their fellows.

There are rich homes all over this country with abundance of room and worldly goods, where one or more orphan children should be taken in and sheltered and given a fair start in life. The childless rich and those whose children are dead or departed, would in a multitude of cases find great happiness and fervent gratitude in this world and the next, by the adoption of some one or more interesting orphan children.

All this, however, is the lesser part of our duty in comfort• ing men. The. greatest comforter of humanity is the truth. Despite all that has been preached and all that has been writ~en a vast number of men still doubt the after-life. Theirs is a gloomy outlook, and when bereavement comes they have no sustaining hope of reunion with their loved and lost. The greatest comfort you can give to these people is in the demon­stration of the continuity of life and the fact of spirit com­munication. The knowledge of this fact is the most potent source of comfort in the world to-day.

READING.-Mr. Thomas 0. Todd will give a series of four addresses at the Reading Spiritual Mission, the New Hall, 16, Blagrave-street, on Sundays the 20th and 27th inst. Subjects: Sunday next, at 11.30 a.m., 'The Temple Not Made with Hands' ; at 6.45 p.m., 'The Prophets in the Temple.' On the 27th, ' Miracles of the Ages' and 'Foregleams of Immortality.' To all young people and those who have theological misgivings, a cordial invitation is given to attend these lectures.

·390 LIGHT.- [Augusb 19, 1911.

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THE 'FLAMING SWORD.'

A short time before the death of Mr. George Gissing­the author of 'New Grub Street,' 'The Nether World,' and other famous novels dealing with the sad and seamy side of life-a journalistic friend of ours paid him a visit. At that time the literary world was keenly interested in what was termed, 'the Novel of Misery,' and in George Gissing, as one of its foremost creators. Curious to learn some­thing of the novelist's personal outlook on the life which he painted in such gloomy colours, we interrogated our friend on the subject. His reply pleasantly surprised us. He reported that the author's views had undergone a great change. Profound reflection had convinced him that even in the midst of poverty and squalor there were compensa­tio~s. There was something_ golden at the heart of the drabbest of humankind-' a soul of goodness in things evil.' Life, he saw, adjusted and adapted itself to the darkest conditions. Always there was something that gave an equipoise to existence.

Having long held (sometimes waveringly, perhaps), the conviction that a Great Beneficence presides over the destinies of mankind, we gratefully accepted the novelist's verdict as yet another testimony to the reality of the optimist's faith in the goodness of life, not necessarily in some golden future but here and now. -

Holding that faith nowadays even more strongly than of old, we are less disposed than ever to accept without question the statements that occasionally reach us concern­ing what we may call 'other-world evils.' We hear (we :ire glad to say less frequently now than formerly) of spiritual vampires, incubi, demons, and what not, preying upon people in this world and working terrible havoc in human life. We hear of places thronged with malicious and obsessing spirits who drive their fellows in the flesh into vice and crime. Listening to some of these melodramatic accounts, one might suppose that the lower reaches of the invisible world were given over to the rule of pandemonium. ·Frankly, we refuse to admit anything of the sort. This world is imperfect enough, as we know, but even here law and order prevail more or less. Society, for its own sake, imposes limits on the more lawless of its members. Are We to suppose that in the next world these checks and limitations are less effective 1

No, we are inclined to think sometimes that some of these reports concerning chaotic and disorderly spiritual conditions have their origin entirely in the disorderly mental conditions of those by whom such reports are made.

It is .oudaith and experience that "other-world order' is absolute ; that misdirected souls, checked and repressed even in this world, are in the next held firmly under the control of the great and wise intelligences who administer the law and justice of that world. And we cannot reconcile with this conviction the spectacle of hordes of spiritual hooligans running riot amongst human kind : insidious and invisible tempters working ruin on sensitive victims in the flesh, or spiritual 'adversaries' banded together to subvert ,the Divine order.

Let us suppose the case of a man who has always dwelt apart from human-kind. He is visited by another man whose career has been passed in crowded cities-a man of sensi­tive mind and undisciplined imagination-who reports to the hermit his experiences of the wor}d. What stories of bloodsuckers and sweaters ! What tales of oppressed and overworked toilers, of myriads of famished and sickly people, of strikes, riots, epidemics, heat waves, cyclones, murders and catastrophes of all kinds! The hermit listens, and rather wonders that the people find such a world worth living in at all. But, in course of time, he resolves to see the world for himself, and makes the surprising dis­covery that the people he meets seem in the main to be fairly happy and contented, having their codes of law and conduct, and being generally peaceable and well dis­posed. Certainly he does not recognise it as the world described by his visitor. And yet his visitor told him no more than the truth. It was merely a ma.tter of proportion and perception and the point of view.

We think this is a fair illustration of what occasionally takes place in connection with the accounts we receive con­cerning certain aspects of life in the beyond.

We are no Pangloss ; we have no desire to gloze over the follies, the sufferings and the inequalities of life. But iri 'this' matter of demonism and unrestrained lawlessness and mischief, whether in this world or the next, we have very deep and abiding convictions. In the old legend we are told that when Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise ' a flaming sword wbich turned every way ' was placed 'to keep the way of the tree of life.' And we believe­we know-that the 'flaming sword' of Divine law is for ever turned against disorder and misrule, and that the 'advarsaries' before whom the timid pilgrims tremble are terrible only in imagination. At the worst they are but as savage dogs that can go no further than the ·length of their chain. In any case, they are human creatures-God's children. Indeed, when we hear or read some lurid account of ' evil spirits,' we think of the 1dnd1y o1d Scottish saying sometimes used to rebuke those who are too censorious of their fellow-creatures-' We are all Jock Thomson's bairns!'

Another aspect of the question which has occasionally obtruded itself on our mind is the extent to which ' wicked spirits ' may fill the role formerly enacted by the Enemy of Souls. He was long a convenient 'stalking-horse' to m:tny of those who shrank from assuming the responsi­bility of their own frailties. It seems a not unreasonable assumption that, with the passing of 'Satan,' 'malignant spirits' were made to do duty in his stead. But putting the case on its lowest level, assuming the existence oi 'principalities and powera' of Evil-beings of the nether world who by some mysterious dispensation are permitted to harry the souls of men-there is always, as we nave said, the 'flaming sword,' even the crudest old-time theology held to that view as a religious necessity. With the progress of spiritual science, however, demonism will infallibly recede into the background. A wider and deeper study of the psychology of the human mind will reveal the

,-

,August· 19, 1911.] LIGHT. 391

true .origin of many an . unreal ' shadow pantomime ' thrown on to the screen that separates one world from another. Many old-time Spiritualists found all this out for themselves. But a new generation is knocking at the door, and we must see to it that, however much we may have discarded,' the old truths remain. ·

THE HYPOTHESES OF 'BI LOCATION' CONSIDERED.

HY ERNESTO BozzANO. Translated from 'Aunales des Sciences Psychiques.'

(Oontinued from page 382.)

To the stories of sensitives already given I shall add a passage from the well-known account by Dr. Wiltse of a personal experience of autoscopy which he observed during the critical period of a serious illness which brought him to the edge of the tomb. Readers will themselves have the means of noticing at what point the phenomenon of the visualisation of the etheric body of another, during the process of exteriorisation, ag1•ees with those which reveal themselves sometimes to the dying, in this p1·ocess of duplication of their own etheric body. The case of Dr. Wiltse was rigorously investigated by Dr. Hodgson and Myers, and is held to be one of the most authentic cases known. It is sufficient to say that the principal witnesses signed before a notary an attestation certifying that Dr. Wiltse re­corded his vision at the moment when he recovered conscious­ness aftei; a state of coma resembling death. I ought to add that during the phenomenon there occurred transference to a distance of the etheric body with true perception of distant situations, incidents which I shall not quote, merely giving here the· pass­ages in which Dr. Wiltse tells what he observed during the duplication of his etheric body. For the whole story I refer readers to the 'Proceedings of the S .. P. R.' (Vol. VIII., p. 180).

Case 11. After having described the phases of his illness up to the moment when, feeling that he was about to die, he bade his final farewell to his relatives and friends, Dr. Wiltse continues :-

1 passed about four hours in all without pulse or perceptible heart-beat, as I am informed by Dr. S. H. Raynes, who was the only physician present. During a portion of this time several of the bystanders thought I was dead, and such a report being carried outside, the village church bell was tolled. . . I lost, I believe, all power of thought or knowledge of existence in absolute unconsciousness. Of course, I need not guess at the time so lost, as in such a state a minute or a thousand years would appear the same. I came again into a state of conscious existence and discovered that I was still in the body, but the body and I had no longer any interests in common. I looked in astonishment and jCJy for the first time upon myself-the me, the real Ego, while the 'not me' closed it in upon all sides like a sepulchre of clay. With all the interest of a physician I beheld the wonders of my bodily anatomy, intimately interwoven with which, even tissue for tissue, was I, the living soul of that dead body. I lea.rued that the epidermis was the outside boundary of the ultimate tissues, so to speak, of the soul. I realised my condition and reasoned calmly thus : I have died, as men term death, and yet I am as much a man as ever. I am about to get out of the body. I watched the interesting process of the separation of soul and body. By some power, apparently not my own, the Ego was rocked to and fro, laterally, as a cradle is t•ocked, by which process its connection with the tissues of the body was hroken up. After a little time the lateral motion ceased, and along the soles of the feet, heginning at the toes, passing rapidly to the heels, I felt and heard, as it seemed, the snapping of innumerable small cords. When this was accomplished I began to retreat slowly from the feet, towards the head, as a n1bber cord shortens. I remember reaching the J1ips, and saying to myself, 'Now, there is no life below the hips.' I can recall no memory of passing through the abdomen and chest, but recollect distinctly wl1en my whole self wae collected into the head, when I reflected thus : I am all in the head now, and I shall soon be free. I passed around the brain as if I were hollow, compressing it aud itR membrane.~ slightly on all sides towards the centre, and peeped out between t11e sutures of the skull, emerging like the flattened edges of a bag of membranes. I recollect dist.inctly how I appeared to myself, something like a jelly-fish as regards. colour and form. . . As I emerged from the head, I floated

up and down, ·and laterally like·a soap~bubble attached to the bowl of a pipe, until I at last broke loose from the body, and fell lightly to the floor, when I slowly rose and expanded into the full stature of a man. I seemed to be translucent, of a bluish cast, and perfectly naked. With a painful sense of em­barrassment, I fled towards the partially opened door to escape the eyes of two ladies whom I was facing, as well as others whom I knew were about me ; but upon reaching the door I found myself clothed, and, satisfied upon that point, I turned and faced the company. As I turned, my left elbow came in con.tact with the arm of one of two gentlemen who were standing in the door. To my 1.nuprise his arni passed through mine without apparent resistance, the severed parts closing again without pain, as air reunites. I looked quickly up at his face to see if he had noticed the cont.act, but he gave me no sign-only stood and gazed towards the couch I had just left. I directed my gaze in the direction of liis, and saw my own dead body. It was lying just as I had taken so much pains to place it, partially upon the right side, the feet close together, and. the hands clasped across the breast. I was surprised at the paleness of the face. I had not looked in a glass for some days and had imagined that I was not as pale as most very sick people are. I saw a number of persons sitting and standing about the body, and particularly noticed two women apparently kneeling by my left side and I knew that they were weeping. I have since learned that they were my wife and my sister, but I had no conception of individuality. Wife, sister, or friend were as one to me. I did not remember any conditions of relationship; at least I did not think of any. I could distinguish sex but nothing further. ' How well I feel,' I thought. ' Only a few minutes ago I was horribly sfok and distressed. Then came that change called death, which I have so much dreaded. It is past now, and here I am still a man, alive and thinking, yes thinking as clearly as ever, and how well I feel, I shall never be sick again. I have no more to die.' . . I disco.vered then a small cord, like a spider's web, running from my shoulders back to my body, and attaching to it at the base of the neck in front.

Dr. Wiltse then tells how he went in spirit from the room and far away ; among other things, he had complex symbolic visions ; then he describes his return to life thus :-

Without previous thought and without apparent effort on my ·part, my eyes opened. I looked at my hands and then at the little white cot upon which I was lying, and realising that I was in the body, in a.Stonishment and disappointment, I exclaimed : ' What in the world has happened to me 1 Must I die again 1 ' I was extremely weak, but strong enough to relate t1i.e above experience despite all injunctions to be quiet. Soon afterwards I was seized with vomiting, severe and uncontrollable.

Such is Dr. Wiltse's story. I shall not.a briefly certain agreements which exist between this auto-observation of duplication and the phenomena reported aboYe and duplication of another person. Neglecting the very evident points of an agreement such as those which refer to the existence of a fluid or aura which comes out of the organism of the dying person in order to make an etheric body identical in form with the physical, I notice that in this story we meet incidents of internal autoscopy analogous to those described by sensitives, as well as the phenomenon of the visualisations of fl.uidic fila­ments, linking the spiritual to the physical body, and also that of oscillation sideways to which the spiritual body is submitted in the process of liberation from the physical body (a detail quite unexpected a piiori). From the point of view of hallu­cination, one cannot understand how the fancy of so many self­deceived people could agree in inventing such an idea. To this phenomenon is connected another incident described by Miss Marryat, 'The spirit swayed from side to side until it stood up­right by the si<le of the bed,' which corresponds to the expres­sion of Dt·. Wiltse, 'I emerged from the head . . and fell lightly to the floor' (that is by the side of the inanimate body}. I shall furt11er note the phenomenon of the retreat of- the spirit towards the head, beginning at the pedal extremity. This phenomenon was thus described by Andrew Jackson Davis on

· the occasion of the death of a lady sixty years of age. ' The brain drew to itself the electric, magnetic, motor, vital, ·sen­sitive elements from all parts of the organism, and in such a way that the head was, as it were, illuminated, and, wl1ilst on the one part the extremes of t.he body became frozen and seemed obscured to my sight, on the other hand the brain had always a special luminosity.' This description corresponds with the expressions of Dr; Wiltse. ' Along the soles of the

392 LIGHT. [August 19, 1911,

feet, I felt and heard, as it seemed, the snapping of innumerable small cords. When this was accomplished, I began to retreat slowly from the feet towards the head.'

Whilst we speak of these points of agreement, it is interest­ing to notice that we find among the traditional beliefs of primitive people stories of identical episodes, which can only make us think that they are founded on real facts. A mis­sionary, retumed from Tahiti, states the beliefs of the natives on this subject, as follows:-

At the moment of death they believe that the soul with­draws itself towards the head, to leave the latter later, and to be slowly and gradually absorbed in God, from whom it cQmes. It is a curious and interesting fact that the people of Tahiti believe that something real goes out in a human form and they b~lieve t.his on the faith of some amongst them who 'are gifted wit.h clairvoyance, who assert that immediately the dying cease to breathe there goes from the head a vapour which condenses a little above the body, and remains attached to it by a sort of cord formed of the same substance. This substance, they assert grows rapidly in size, and assumes at the same time the shape of the body from which it comes, and when at last the latter has become cold and inert, the cord which links the soul to the body dissolves and the freed soul flies away, apparently assisted by invisible messengers. ('Metaphysical Magazine,' October, 1896.)

We have here a description which corresponds in the smallest details to those which our seers give us to-day. It seems to me, therefore, neither serious nor logical to attempt to explain these agreements by the hypothesis of fortuitous coincidence ; and, on the other hand, as the Tahitians cannot have obtained their beliefs from civilised people, and as the latter cannot have obtained theirs from the Tahitians, we must recognise that there is a valid supposition in favour of the objectivity of such phe­nomena. It is useless to add further commentary to the coincidences enumerated, themselves so eloquent and suggestive. It is this fact which leads me to gather in this classification also the phenomena of visualisation of the type with which we are now busy, in the hope that the future progress of psychical study will transform these coincidences some day into valid auxiliary proofs of the main thesis. Although this ex­preasion of prudent expectation is made in connection with this last and quite· special class of visualisation, I tAke the oppor­tunity to extend it over the whole range of study ; also, in finishing this part of my work I deliberately repeat that it was not my intention to give to casuistry a scientific character, but rather solely a psychological interest, although from now on we must not consider these phenomena as devoid of inductive value, provided we take notice of what I have already insisted upon, i.e., the fact of the agreement with which these various forms of phe­nomena all converge towards the same proof, happen simultane­ously in different countries, and repeat themselves in identical fashion in different periods. This deserves at least careful thought, and tends to nullify the conclusions reached by the most eminent contemporaneous psychologists and mythologists­from Herbert Spencer to Goblet d'Alvielle-on the subject of the genesis of primitive animism and religious beliefs in general.

(To be continued.)

MATERIALISM N01' DEAD.-In a recent letter to 'The Spiritual Journal,' Dr. A. R. Wallace asks that a statement attributed to him to the effect that 'Materialism is as dead as priestcraft,' shall be annulled. He says : ' I believe I never wrote or published any such statement, and besides it is totally untrue. Materialism is still rampant, among men of science, both here and in America.'

THE principal feature of 'The Alliance of Honour Record' for July is a full report of a great demonstration in the Assembly Hall, Mile End-road, under the chairmanship of Mr. T. R. Ferens, M.P., and addre8sed by the Bishep of Durham, Bishop Taylor Smith (Chaplain-General of the Forces), Rev. Ensor Walters, Mr. E. Smallwood, and Dr. H. Grattan Guinness president of the Alliance. In the course of his speech th~ · Bishop of Durham read a letter from Lord Knollys conveying the King's warm sympathy with the objects of the meeting and His Majesty's sincere good wishes for a successful issue. The King honours himself by honouring a movement which seeks to unite the manhood of the country in a world-wide effort on l)ehalf of purity and a chivalrous respect for womanhood. The Alliance headquarters are at 112, City-road, E.C., from whence all information in regard to the subject can be obtained.

COMFORTING SPIRITUAL COMMUNION.

STRIKING PERSONAL EXPERIENCES IN SPIRITUALISM.

.A.s the writer of the following interesting account of 'per­sonal experiences in Spiritualism' occupies a high official position on the other side of the Atlantic he stipulates that his name and address shall not be published. He vouches for the entire accuracy of his statements, and our readers may rest assured that we are satisfied that his narrative is a bona fide setting forth of facts as they appealed to him. Our contributor, who has been on a visit to this country for some time past, is well known to us and is one of the oldest subscribers to 'LIGHT.'

(Oontinued from page 365.)

The medium M. at the opening of public seances, and especially when new investigators were present, was always careful to give a short explanation of what materialised spirit forms are supposed to be, the gist of which was that they are made of condensed emanations (for want of a better term), sup­plied by the sitters themselves and the medium, that these emanations are shaped by specialists on the spirit side to repre­sent men, women or children, and that these forms are then caused to resemble the former mortal appearance, dress, &c., of the spirits who desire to animate them for the purpose of holding a short interview with their mortal friends within the circle. To economise time and material not more than six or seven of these forms would be in use during the seance, but each lay figure (so to speak) might be used ten or twelve times· each time the distinctive peculiarities of individuals-age, size: &c.-being added under the supervision of the spirit who would temporarily animate it to facilitate recognition ; but such recog­nition might be difficult if a spirit's memories of his own former earLhly appearance were indefinite. It may be regrettable and also greatly disconcerting to beginners to find the resemblance of materialised forms-to their former selves-not quite satis­factory, but is it unreasonable that this should be the case 1 How many mortals could off-hand draw a fair picture of what they looked like ten years ago 1 A spirit may have been parted for many years from his mortal shell, and have ceased to feef any interest in it, and it may well happen that he cannot reproduce it very faithfully. If he brings corroborative evidence, such as a good memory of earth occurrences, family memories, names, dates, &c., to help establish his identity, these shortcomings in outward resemblance should be overlooked. Therefore, according to M., materialised forms are but mannikins animated, perhaps, over and over again, by a succession of spirits, with slight modifications in each case. M.'s seances were remarkable for the large number of materialised forms­from sixty to a hundred, or even more-which appeared during a seance lasting one hour and a half. This would not have been possible but for the fact that they were really only a few forms appearing and reappearing under various guises. Paul was stmck by the exceptional mental alertness-the facility of holding a sustained conversation-exhibited by all apparitions at these M. seances. With other mediums visited by him in later years he has frequently noted greater perfection of form, of resemblance of features, and of individual personal character­istics-but seldom equal mental alertness. He realised, of course, that with all mediums results are subservient to a mul­titude of favourable or adverse conditions, such as the health of the mediums; the psychic development of the sitters, their com­plete harmony, atmospherical conditions, &c.

When Paul first saw the M.'s, several months before the series of seances at present referred to, his impressions of their work were not altogether satisfactory. Now evidences of genuineness were so strong that his doubts were soon dispelled. Every seance was the occasion of sweet intercourse with 'Adela,' the rehearsing of reminiscences of the past known to their two selves alone, references to. friends and localities of interest to both in the past as well as to recent or actual earth occur· rences-forming ~ mass of proof absolutely convincing as to identity. Yet her features were al ways veiled. At Onset she had been described to Paul by a clairvoyant as wearing a luminous cross on her breast. Here at the M.'s this same luminous cross, in size about 2i by 3 inches, would for a few moments

August i9, 1911.] i..iGH't. 393

appear over her heart ; it would sometimes appear and disappear. On one occasion Paul was granted the favour of touching it ; it was non-metallic, not warmer than the temperature of the living body, its light was distinctly phosphorescent, in appear­ance if not in fact. When questioned about this cross 'Adela ' said that it was not worn by her as an ornament or a religious emblem but" as symbolic of the crosses of her earth life. At every seance she was most effusive in her expressions of love for her friend, of intense joy at the possibility of thus com­municating with him, of sorrow when the time came for her to vanish. At his request she promised to endeavour to procure for him a spirit portrait of herself. A similar feat had been per­formed for a member of the select. circle which Paul had been permitted to join, and ' Adela' hoped that it could be repeated in favour of her lover before he left New York. To their mutual and very great delight the promised portrait was obtained during the seance of December 5th, 1905.

'.!'he readers of 'LIGHT' would, no doubt, like to know how this and a few other spirit portraits were obtained at the M.'s seances. They were produced, it was explained by M., by a nameless spirit artist, whose services were available only on special and rare occasions. The earth materials required were a piece of cotton canvas stretched on an ordinary frame, and faced with white ch·awing-paper ; a saucer containing various pow­dered pigments carelessly mixed together ; and a tumbler of water. On the evening of December 5th, Paul brought to the seance-room a new white canvas frame, measuring 12in. by 15in. He held it in his hands until about thirty minutes before the close of the seance, when he was requested by M., on spirit advice, to place it beneath the chair of Mrs. M., who was en­tranced within the cabinet. With it were placed the saucer of pigments and a. tumbler of water. He returned to his seat and the seance proceeded as usual. . Forms continued to appear and vanish, among them 'Adela,' who declared that the portrait would be a success. . Paul asked if it would be possible for her to be painted in her monastic costume, so that it might be more readily recognised by some of her still living relativ~ She said; ' Oh, do not ask me that, it would wrap me in co~ditions of intense pain.' Fifteen or twenty minutes later Paul was called to the cabinet by M. and he received from his hands a very beautiful pprtrait of 'Adela.' The canvas and the artist's work being still wet, it took a full hour's exposure close to a heater to dry it en.:iugh to permit its removal from the house. In the centre of a slate-coloured ground is seen a three­quarter profile of a young girl of about seventeen, with the bloom of health on her cheek and an expression of kindly and most intelligent .vivacity in her eyes and mouth. Over her head and fastened under the chin, is a veil or drapery. of some filmy or gauzy material, beautifully done. As a resemblance of 'Adela' at that age Paul declares it to .be excellent; it was pronounced a remarkable likeness by her few relatives still in life. There are no known photographs of her at that period of her life. Pattl had none with him, and he neither described nor referred to her personal appearance to anyone. It is true the picture was not produced under test conditions, but if fraud was practised, how account for the perfect resemblance 1 Then, again, within the past five years, in a multitude .. of seances, under many mediums, some clairvoyant and clairatidient, through automatic writing, &c., 'Adela ' has repeatedly referred to this portrait as being the source of great joy to herself in having been able to present it to Paul. Over and over has she referred to its presence in an elegant f~ame in Paul's private apartments, to the fact that Paul touches · it with his lips every evening before retiring to bed, &c. None of these statements can be accepted as scientific evidence, but singly and collectively they demonstrate that the portrait was produced at 'Adela's ' desire, in the manner stated, that she sat for it, that she was perfectly aware of the pleasure it would give, of how it was received, and of how it has been treasured since that happy 5th of December, 1905.

(To be continued.)

' THE revelations made by Spiritualism must tend to aid the human mind in realising God a.<J a Universal Presence and the Universal Source of Life-not only a First Cause, but the ever­present and ever-operant Cause.'-GERALD MASSEY.

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

A correspondent kindly sends us the following quaint epitaph to add to those already published in ' LIGHT.' It will be found in Compton Cemetery, Suffolk :-

' Nineteen days this infant In this world did stay ; .

Disliked it, closed its eyes, And went away.'

A wise infant for its age !

The late Dr. Carpenter coined the phrase 'Unconscious cerebration,' but Dr. Sexton, speaking of it as 'Unconscious consciousness,' characterised it as nonsense, and it died. More receµtly we have .hatl the.' Sub-conscious self' and ' Subliminal consciousness,' on which 'The Progressive Thinker ' observes : ' "Subliminal consciousness" is relied upon by pseudo-scientists to prove Spiritualism false by explaining it. And yet what shall explain " subliminal consciousness" 1 Sometimes it is difficult to take these scientists as seriously as they imagine they should be taken.'

A paragraph in a recent issue of the 'Liverpool Echo 1

states that owing to certain manifestations, such as creaking floors, opening doors, mysterious sounds as of clanking chains and the appearance of a white-robed lady, which have been occurring at a Sheffield suburban vicarage, the family have had to seek another residence. The vicar is said to have seen the apparition, and a plumber, and later, a joiner, who were called in to make a thorough examination of the house, were so upset at seeing the apparition that they fled without concluding their investigations. A well-known baronet, residing in the locality, volunteered to prove the groundlessness of everybody's fears by himself making an examination. However, he was no more successful than the others, and was, in fact, considerably upset by his experience.'

Ezra A. Carpenter, writing in 'The Pro~ressive Thinker,' shows how Spiritualists are made. He says : I was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for seventeen years, believing in a personal God and a personal devil, a located hell and a located heaven, until I was thirty-eight years old. No· one could have been more prejudiced against Spiritualism thari I was, believing, as I did, that, if my friends were in heaven, they were so happy they did not want to come back, and, if they were in hell, they could not come back. However, I went to a seance in order to condemn and make fun of it. The medium was an uneducated farmer's daughter. At that seance my sister came. She told me all about her last illness, what disease she died of, a1so the last conversation she and I had had on earth, and there was not a living witness to that conversation. I have seen her since, and talked with her face to face in the presence of three other persons, or witnesses. I went home thinking as never before. We formed a circle ; my wife, daughte1", and son developed mediumship, as did my sister, her son, and her daughter, and this is what Spiritualism has done for me: It has knocked the bottom out of hell, killed the devil, demonstrated the immortality of the sottl, and taken away the fear of death.'

As the present generation of Spiritualists know little re­specting the Davenport Brothers, and have had to endure the taunts and sneers of those who boldly denounce them as tricksters without the slightest show of evidence, the testimony of so careful an observer as Epes Sargent is worth reproducing just now. In his valuable work, 'The Scientific Basis of Spirit­ualism,' he says : 'At the manifestations of the celebrated Davenport Brothers, as far back as 1850, a full spirit-form would not infrequently appear. Their father, Dr. Ira Daven­port, whom I have questioned on the subject, and whose good faith,no one who knows him can doubt, assured me (1879) that the phenomenon was proved repeatedly in his own house, and through the medial attraction of his own sons, under condi­tions where fraud or delusion was impossible. There have been charges of fraud (by no means conclusive) against the" brothers," but that genuine manifestations were given by them cannot now be disputed.'

Over the signature 'Nordach' a contributor to the. July number of 'Annalee des Science Psychiques' gives his impres­sions of a sitting with Mrs. Wried~ which -he and some friends attended on May 26th at Julia's Bureau. One thing he observed about the speaking trumpet used in the voice manifestations was the rudimentary character of the mouthpiece. ' In that respect,' he says, 'it is not a speaking-trumpet at all, and I defy anybody who wished to do so to 0btain, by making use of such a tiny opening, the voices, at times formidable, and the peals of

---

894 LIGHT. [August 19, 1911.

laughter which we heard. Voices, laughter plaintive cries all gave the absolute impression of being formed :Cit/tin the trum~et.' He also declares that at times he heard simultaneously the voice of the medium proceeding from where she sat, and the voice in the ~ru~pet neat· to himself. The greater part of the com­mumca~1ons took .place naturally in English, but his French compamons and himself 11ad communications in Frencl1, though he feel'i! .that he ought to add that the French was not devoid of an English accent. All he can say is that there seemed to him to b~ good ~vidence of the existence of a force coming from the med1~ o~ m her presence, bnt which is not herself. He scouts ve~triloqUlSm ~ the explanation. of the phenomena, stating that ~1e is .well ac.q~m~d with the eflects of ventriloquism, and that m this case it IS qmte out of the question.

l\Iiss Mary Mack· Wall, whose interesting account of a pro­phetic vision appeared in last week's 'LIGHT,' page 384, sends us . an extra~t from a letter, received from its percipient, which she thmks. may help to substantiate the vision reported by her. The writer of the letter says : 'Many thanks for sending "LIGHT" [of the 5th inst.]. The paragraph marked is most inter­esti~g. It is what we . Highland people call second sight. I don t know what the attttude towards such matters is now up there, but in my small days amongst the country people and old men and women I used to bear numbers of instances of a like nature. I remember my own stepmother telling me that one day she was walking along a country road and seeing a funeral coming, she stepped aside until all the people ~ed by. By the people who were carrying the coffin she guessed it was the funeral of a certain man, which sm-prised her, as she thought . he was alive and well. Making inquiries, she found he ivas alive and well, and there had not been any funel'al on that day. Very soon after the man diil, die, and she went to look at the funeral procession, which was exactly in the order of bet• vision. Now, she was a woman who took no interest in anything psychic -a most matter-of-fact person. Things of that kind used to be told me just as if there was nothing extraordinary or tmllSUal about them.'

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Editor is not resp1Y1&Bt'ble for the opinions B3:;f)r11Bsed by correspon­dents, and sometimes publishllll what he does not agree with for the pu?pose of prllllenting 'l1iew8 which mail elicit discussion.

A Word from Mr. W. J. Colville.

Srn,-As I am now returning to America and believe I am en route to A11Btralia, permit me to express my heartfelt gratitude to the numerous friends all over England, to whom I am deeply indebted for innumerable kindnesses during the past three months. Although I have been incessantly busy and the weather has been hot I have enjoyed excellent health, and feel more vigorous in mind and body as the result of my visit to my native land. It is only the barest statement of fact when I decla1-e that wherever I have lectured I have been most gener­ously treated. I cannot recall a single instance where an audience has been other than kindly and sympathetic, and in most places large numbers have been in attendance. . Speaking of Spiritualist societies and their meeting place9 in particular, I have seen a great improvement over two years ago, and so much more to admire than to criticise adversely, that I am carrying across the ocean tidings of peace and goodwill and also of substantial progrel!.!:, which will encourage workers in other lands to strive as earnestly as their British co11J,.eres. Outside of distinctly Spiritualist societies, I must call special attention to the magnificent work accomplished at Letchworth, Herta, where I. _gave sh: lectures dming four delightful days, under the geniaLand most effective .presidency of Mr. Bruce Wallace, whose broad, humanitarian spirit leads him and his fellow-workers to make the cloisters of the Garden City not only a centre of healthy, simple living, but also of philosophic teaching of the broadest and most spiritual type. London has treated me more than generously,and though there arc many spots on earth around which delightful associations thickly cluster, I can still say truthfully that, despite my extended travels, the British Metropolis, where my public work commenced in my early youth, remains my chief point of attraction on this globe. Friends an<l. business co1·respondents who favour me with com­umnications will kindly remember that my permanent address is-Care of the Macoy Publishing Company, 49, John-street, New York. I am now on my way to the great Convention at Lily Dale (half way between New York and Chicago), where I expect to meet many active workers almost as well known in England as across the sea. Hoping I may soon be again in England, I convey fervent good wishes to all who sec these lines.-Yours, &c., ·

W. J, COLVILLE.

A Disturbed Inquirer Desires Information.

Srn,-In 'LIGHT' of July 22nd, p. 345, you kindly made known the .fact of my having applied to you for the explanation of a certam statement made to me, and attributed to Mrs. Besant. I was hoping your paragraph might have caught the eye of one of your readers who would have thrown some light on the matter, but as it seems not yet to have done so, would you do me the favour of reprinting that paragraph in connection with this letter*, as such a pronouncement if from such an authority as Mrs. Besant, cannot fail to h~ve somewhat of a d_isturbing influence on those who, like myself, are compara­t1 vely new to the sublime and comforting teachings of SpiritualisllL-Yours, &c.,

l\I. HOPI'ER. Walker Gate, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

The Spiritual, or So•called 'Astral ' Body. Sm,-In confirmation of the position taken by Mr. Purvis

in 'LIGHT' of the 5th inst. (page 368), I may mention that Dr. George Wyld, in his 'Notes on My Life,' page 70, relates how having taken chloroform to relieve intense pain, he became un: conscious, and then, he says, 'suddenly I saw, most distinctly, myself as a spiritilal body, standing in the middle of the room in my natural form, robed in a long grey tunic, and looking in­tently on my uncon9cious body as it lay motionless on the bed about six feet away.' A fuller account is to be found in the same writer's' Christo-Theosophy,' which I have not seen. This I imagine to be a case of the sub-conscious mind seeing the spiritual body, and having just time enough to impress the fact upon the mortal mind, as memory, before the latter lost con­sciousness.-Yoms, &c.,

V.L.A.

What and Where is the Spirit World ? Srn,-I was as usual delighted but not suri>rised on receiv­

ing 'LIGHT' by post, for we are holiday-making in our 'cottage nea.r a woo~,' to find 011 page 372 a letter signed • P. Jenkins,' wluch carrled on the very tra,in of thought my husband and I had just been discussing, namely, how in this pure atmosphere, lacking the 'hot, shut-in' feeling, the clairvoyant or even the non-perceptive can with comparative ease commtmicate with the 'other world.' It might interest your readers to hear of an article in 'The Hibbert Journal' of April, 1907, ' Between Life and Death,' where this feeling of the soul melting into space and understanding is beautifully described. I do not think your read11rs will deride me if I speak of the most beau­tiful experience of my life in California. Away there in the mountains, surrounded by a rippling bay, in a silence that can be felt, this clearness of the ethers is a miracle. There the materialisation of our spirit friends is comparatively easy. The eyes first al'e dazzled by seeing through the ether. The 'Througth,' as I have heard Mr. }'!etcher call it, and the spark­ling lights are ably described scientifically by Annie Besant. But after this.! No words can express the dazzling beauty of tlu-ouglt the white into blue, then purple.

I saw the face that we conjure up in our most exalted moments and dreams, and heard words of which I want to write more one day, but when my eyes close in death I need no more than that smile of welcome. Then countless radiant faces sud­denly appeared, the clouds melted, and I saw distinctly the vision of a man with a drawn sword, and of a white horse. These spheres, then, are in inseverable communication. My little son who stood by my side also saw the vision. He is naturally clairvoyant in colours. Again, here we have simul­taneously seen the sword, the white horse, and the figure. Scoffers may say 'dreams and visions,' but it seems as if God did not hurry too fast our knowledge collectively in the world ; but the tremendous simplicity of the prophecies and the explicit manner of revelation, seem to indicate that 'Uran us,' if he is the Michael in the ether of the ta:.uer life, is directing men's minds with sober, earnest effort to pierce the veil, and so complete the human understanding and material life. ·

All the questions of spiritual telepathy and doubled con­sciousne8s and materialisation arc of great interest. When I was on the West Coast of Africa I heard that in the Voodoo and Black Magic incantation dried powders mixed with human blood caused the atmosphere to lighten and the ' dead' to mate­rialise. But of these things it is better almost not to know.­Yours, &c.,

FLORA AMES.

* 'fhe quotation referred to by Mrs. Hopper was as follows : 'Mrs. Besa.nt in her recent work ridicule.9 the seances most exceedingly. She says it is onl;r the lowest forms of spirits who act the pa.rt9 of deceased parsons, m:J.kmg ga.ma of the devoteas for sheer fun.'

Angust 19, 1911.] LIGHT 395

Thoughts on Current Topics,· · Sm,-With reference to the much deplored falling off of

membership and attendances in the churches, perhaps Emerson speaks truly when he says that the lukewarm attitude of church­goers is due to the preachers' lack of enthusiasm-' the soul is not p1'eached.' Make a man sensible that he is undying, arouse in him glorious aspirations and 'a call to arms' will not be needed, for the spirit will then go forth to achieve ; ultimately attaining a God-like attitude. Thinking that 'LIGHT' was exceptionally interesting this week, I handed my copy to a lady, an agnostic. After a slight perusal she said, ' Admitting as you do that such phenomena occur, what. use are they 1 I enjoy life, and, after all, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." ' I replied, 'Are you quite sure of this 1 A realj.sed possession is not al ways as desirable as that that one is seeking, or ignoring. Anyhow, if you had caught a glimpse of a bright-plumaged bird of Paradise, and had heard it pour forth its sweetest song, you would want to draw nearer to the bush where it was singing, aflame with the divine fire of the spirit.' With regard to thought : All you "7rite appeals to me ; only the truth can make us lree, so we need free trade in thought. I hope grand old Emerson won't get · 'beaten ·out' any 'finer,' as I have always considered him unique and not to be beaten ! How wonderfully he urges men to think for- themselves and to walk erect ! Neither old nor new thoughts are necessarily true, but no man can walk erect until he has cast aside his fetters, realising in his service for humanity that ' A life of self-renouncing love is a life of liberty.'-Yours, &c.,

Sutton. E. P. PRENTICE.

Forgiveness and Progress after Death-?

8rn,-Supposing that to an earnest inquirer's intellectual conviction of the truth of the greatest and most fundamental doctrine of Spiritualism-the survival of personality, the un­broken continuity of life presented to his i·eason by eminent Spiritualists, like Sir Oliver Lodge, Professors Barrett, Lombroso, &c., as an absolute fact-were superadded personal knowledge of spirit return, would it not be. quite. natural for him to ask further, What is the afterlife like 1 This is my immediate con­cern for the present, and I shall be grateful for any attention your readers may kind1f give it. . .

In Chapter XI. of There is no Death,' Florence Marryat relates, with all the facile graphicness of an expert noveli~t, the story of a monk. Mr. Eglinton gives a seance nndllr '.Joey's' control, at a house belonging to the thirteenth century, having first informed his friends that he had not been l>rought over for tlwi?- pleasure or edification, bL1t ~hat the purposes ·of a higher power than his own should be accomplished. He enacts what purports to be a horrible scene, as evidenced by a diabolical expression of face, clenched hands, gnasliing teeth, and other lifelike actions ; and all capped by the wielding of an imaginary knife raised now and then as if to strike. As was to be expected, such violent histrionism not only horrifies the spectators (11 family party), but exhausts the amateur actor hinuelf, when, as if to soothe the nerves of all, gentle 'Daisy' takes po3session of him, and gives the company to under3tand that the controlling spirit was a monk or priest. Finally the talented medium is controlled by one of his highest guides, and translates the theatricals into a 'round unvarnished tale' of a beautiful young nun of twenty-three having been murdered by a monk of thirty­five, for not yielding to his sensual solicitations, the guide's most charitable object being to help the distressed spirit (present there) to throw off his ea1·th-bound condition by the confession of his crime through the medium's lips, and by virtue of the prayers of those who had been induced to hold the seance. At the' Salve Regina' and 'Ave Maria' the medium (personating the condemned spirit) lifts his eyes to heaven and clasps his hands, and in the 'Pater Noster' he appea.ra to join ; but directly they cease praying the evil passions return, distorting his face. At last a crucifix is placed upon his breast, he strains it to his eyes, lip3 and heart, falls to repeating the ' Anima Christi,' then a beautiful smile breaks upon his face, and the spirit passes out of him. Trembling and terribly exhausted again, the medium adds the last touch of genius to the inter­esting ;;cene by suddenly exclaiming, ' They are doing something to my forehead! Burn a piece of paper and give me the ashes.' He rnbs them between his eyes, when behold the sign of . the Cross becomes distinctly visible, drawn in deep red line3 upon his forehead. ·

It is necessary to add that the murder was committed in 1498. Florence Marryat's Spiritualistic experiences belong to the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The inferences I feel warranted in drawing from the apparently genuine tale of the monk are:-

1. A disembodied soul may remain earth-bound for five hundred, or, for the matter of that, ft ve thousand years, and be

subject all the while to the same passion.~ as those which brutalised its being iu this world.

2. The discaruate soul niay be relieved of such passions (including that of remorse) by post-mortem repentance, expressed through the lips of an incarnate medium in this world and in the presence of those not at all interested in the affair, the repetition of certain set forms of prayer acting like a potent spell in cl1arming away in a few minutes the life-long pollutions of the flesh and the anguish in which the wretch had w1ithed for five hundred years. Prayer, when ardent, ·opens heaven indeed, for we read that Eglinton's face beamed with the light thereof. The process of purification need not be gradual in all cases. ·

3. The Spiritualist's spiritual entourage reflects his or her religious and intellectual characteristics, and the Roman Catholic Cross continues to be in the world to come more than a mere emblem of vicarious suffering and imputed l'ighteousness.

My question then is, should the aliove be considered the tenets of Spiritualism ?

That Mr. Eglinton was a man who commanded the esteem of Spiritualists is manifest from \Vhat we read of him, that he had been invited in the year 1886 to read a paper before the Lontlon Spiritualist Alliance, anti when one of the Jiiglte11t guides of such a man is directly concerned in the production of those marvellous but unque8tionahle phenomena, the inferences drawn from them must stand. ·

· Well may a poor bqdy like this correspondent of yours MY (with a certain gentleman), 'I have no desire to live this life over again ; I should grow absolutely sick of myself. For a reason of my own : my old carnal self might cling for hundreds or thousands of yeara, f01· aught I can see to the contrary, till brought into touch by the merest chance with the \'icariollll cross.'

A waggish friend, overlooking this manuscript, with the im­pudence of his kintl, whispers roguishly : 'Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits.' ' Ali, my lad, but that is preci9ely my trouble ; I must to "LIGHT." I ha>e been an inquirer for some time, and once, in my anxiety to get proofs of survival that would appeal to me personally, I applied to a certain office opened for the purpose, but nothing came of it except the humiliating consciousness that I had made an ass of myself.'-Yours, &c.,

Amritsar, India. R. ~· WHY!l'E.

Mr. Charles Bailey in Rothesay.

Srn,-As previously intimated would be the case four. sit­tings were held with Mr. Charles Bailey on the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th inst., at Glenbeg Honse, Rothesay. AU present, includ­ing the members of the Rothesay circle, were Spirittialists .. Mr. James Robertson, Mr. and Mrs. James Paterson, Mr. W. T. Thomson, Mr. Galloway and Mr. and Mrs. Bl'own, Glasgow, Mr. and Mrs. Walker, Edinburgh, and Mrs. Ogilvie, Dundee, were the additional sitters. The conducting of the seances and the comfort and care of the medium were principally in their hands. The apports received were two Hindu }Iinnaa birds, one leaf of the Talipot palm, two nests principally 1nade from similar lea\•es, one large dish of rubies and rnby sand, and. one veil, very valuable for its curious and rare coins, such as Egyp­tian native women wear. Corroborating evidences will be sent to 'LmHT' in due conrse.-Yours, &c.,

JAMES COATES. P.S.-Pdrmit me to ar.knowledge, with thanks, the following

sub3criptions towards the abJve-named seances: James Robertson, E~q., £5; John Auld, E~q., £5 ; John Duncan, Esq., £3; Mr. and Mrs. Walker, £2; Mr. and Mr:11. Pater:i!On, £2 ; Mr. and Mrs. Brown, £2; MT:11. Birrell, £1; W. T. Thomson, Esq., £1; -Gal­loway, Esq., £1 ; Mrs. Fletcher, £1 ; Misses Arroll, £1 ; Mr. D., 103. 6d.; Miss P!lyne, 10s. 6d. Total £25 1$.

THE PASSING OF A PIONEER.-' I am "happy, but very busy,' is the characteristic message th1it comes to us to-day from the Snmmerland from our old friend and fellow-worker, Chal'les White, of Rochester, N. Y., U.S.A., and late of Marylebone, Loudon On July 27th he was seized with a fit, and three days later passed peacefully away. A beautiful service was held at Plymouth Church, Rochester, where the Rev. Dr. B. F. Austin presides, and where Mr. White bad recently assisted in the ser­vices. There were numerous floral tributes, and the choir sang his t\VO favourite hymns, 'Angel Footsteps' and 'Lo, in the Golden Sky.' The la.test mail hrings us the news that Mr. White, only a week before his transition, returned from the Lily Dale Camp Meeting, where he had the good fortune to secure several genuine slate messages.-E. A. R.

396 LIGHT. [August 19, 1911.

RECEPTION TO MRS. FOSTER-TURNER AT · ROTHESA Y, SCOTLAND.

---r As Mr. A. J. Abbott and Mrs. Foster-Turner ae:iompanied

Mr. and Mrs. Bailey on their short visit to Scotland, the mem­bers of the Rothesay circle, and the Spiritualists from Edinburgh and Glasgow present at Mr. Bailey's seances on the three previous evenings, agreed to give Mrs. Foster-Turner a reception on the 6th inst. ; and as Mr. Abbott is supporting Mr. Bailey and acting in his protection and interest, without fee or reward, he was included in the reception. Mr. Bailey being indisposed neither he nor Mrs. Bailey was able to attend. Mr. James Coates presided. After a telling and appropriate address by Mr. James Robertson, supported by Mr. W. Thomson and Mr. Galloway, all of whom bore testimony to the convincing nature of the phenomena at :Mr. Bailey's seances, and to Mrs. Fos.ter­Turner's manifold gifts, the chairman, on behalf of' the Rothesay circle, felicitously presented Mrs. Turner and Mr. Abbott with two volumes, and to their care gave two other books for Mr. and Mrs. Bailey, as souvenirs of their visit. Mrs. Foster-Turner and Mr. Abbott briefly replied. Mrs. Trimer then passed under the control of one of her guides, the Rev. Allen Webb, who desc1ibed his passing over and the light which came to him in the spirit world, which modified his former religious views. It was a revelation of the soul's pilgrimage from rigid W esleyanism to a kindlier phase of Christian thought, which emphasised the love of Gld and the ultimate salvation of all. An appeal was made to the mediums present to be faithful to their trust in the exercise of their gifts. They could set Scotland on fire for God, and lift the people out of darkness into light, from matter to spirit, from earth to heaven ! Mrs. Turner, speaking normally, gave an account of her early life, of her people, who were. God-fearing Wesleyans, of how much she suffered from the dread thought of eternal damnation for many, of her first psychic experiences, and how she had been guided and protected and finally led into her present work. This was followed by clairvoyant descriptions and psycho­metric readings. Our friends preferred to be known as Christians and not as Spiritualists, but the facts of Spiritualism were acknowledged and the power of the Spil'it was felt in such a way that all the speakers declared that the meetings were most beneficial and uplifting. .A lady who had never been to a gatherj.ng of the kind had her husband accurately descril;>ed and his pet name given as well Ml'. Abbott, in returning thii'nks for Mr. Bailey (in his absence) and for Mrs. Foster-Turner, related how he became convinced of spirit communion, having seen his own father in Australia the same night that he had ' died ' in New Zealand. Mr. James Robertson expressed his pleasure in being privileged to be present at these sittings, and bore testimony to the good work carried ·an by Mr. and Mrs. Coates-the writings of the former and the .spirit11al gifts of the latter. The con­clusion arrived at by all was that the propaganda of the gospel of Spiritualism has its basis in the private circle and that in the private circle inen and women are best prepared for public work.

VERITAS.

NEW PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

'Psychische Studien' for .August. Verlag von Oswald Mutze, Leipzig.

'Constancia' .for July. 20 cents. Tucuman 1, 736, Buenos .Aires.

L'Echo du Merveilleux' for .August. 50 cents: 19, Rue Mon­sieur-le-Prince, Paris.

THE UNION OF LONDON SPIRITUALISTS.-The first of the Autumn Conferences held by the Union of London Spiritualists will t-ake place at the Masonic Hall, New-road, Camberwell, on Sunday, September 3rd. At 3 p.m. Mr. R. Boddington will read a paper on 'Spiritualism and Politics,' to be followed by discussion. Tea provided at 5 p.m., 6d. each. At 7 p.m., speakers: Messrs. G. T. Gwinn, R. Boddington, G. F. Tilby. South London Spiritualists are invited to make this a record rally.

DoG-LOVERB will find some useful hints for the care of their canine pets in an eighteenpenny brochure, entitled ' The Dog's Cookery Book, or Health without Medicine,' by Agnes and Daisy Wilmer, published by the authors at The Retreat, Yoxford, Suffolk. Holding that the percentage of raw meat consumed by toy dogs is excessive and injurious, the writers dis­cuss the question of suitable substitutes and give a number of recipes for simple and easily prepared dishes, besides offering many suggestions as to the proper ~rea~me)li 9f ~h.~ a~imals l;>o~li lJi l!.e!llth l\Jld djseq~~r

SOCIETY WOIJK ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 13th, &:o.

ProSf'ectwe N oticu, not erec88dMl,g twentv-four "words, 'flWl/I be added to r8jJorts if accompanied bv stam14>s to the value of si:J;Jlmcs.

MARYLEBONE SPIRITUALIST .AssoCIATION, 51, MORTDIEB.· STREET, W.-Gat11endm Rooms.-Mr. A. V. Peters gave a nwn· ber of successful clail'voyant descriptions and spirit messages to a large audience. Mr. W. T. Cooper presided. Sunday next, see advt.-D. N.

SPmITuA.L M1ss10N: 22, Prince's-street, O:l:ford-street.-Even­ing, Mr. E. W. Beard; under influence, gave an address on 'What we think of Your Spiritualism.'-67, George-street, W.­Morning, Mr. G. R. Symons gave an address on 'The Water of Life.'

K1NGSTON-oN-THillEs.-.AssmrBLY Rooxs, HAMPTON WtcK. -Mr. and Mrs. Alcock Rush conducted the service. · Special silllfing. Sunday next, at 7 p.m., Mr. Snowden Hall will speak on Astrology : its Value to Spiritualists.'

FULHill.-COLVEY HALL, 25, FERNHURST-ROAD.-Evening, a successful circle was held. Sunday next, at 7 p.m., Nurse Graham (Mrs. Imison) will give clllirvoyant descriptions; doors closed at 7.15.-W. T.

STRATFORD.-WORJDlEN'S HALL, 27, RoJrlFORD-ROAD, E.-:­Mr. Galloway gave an address on ' Sinners,' followed by psycho­metric readings by Mrs. Hitchcock. Sunday next, at 7 p.m., Mrs. Jamrach, address and clairvoyance.-E. P. N.

BRIXTON.-8, MAYALL-ROAD.-Mr. Tayler Gwinn gave an address on 'The Importance of Man.' Sunday next, 7 p.m., address. Lyceum, 3 p.m. Circles: Monday, at 7.30, ladies'; Tuesday, at8.15, members'; Thursday, at 8.15, public.

BRIGHTON.-MANCHESTEB·STREET (OPPOSITE .AQUABIUM).­Mr. E. W. Wallis gave two splendid addresses. Sunday next, at 11.15 a.m. and 7 p.m., Mrs. Fielding, Tuesday, at 8 p.m., and Wednesday, at 3 p.m., Mrs. Clarke's circles for clairvoyance. Thursday, at 8 p.m., members' circle.-A. M. S.

CROYDON.-ELMWOOD HALL1 ELMWOOD-ROAD, BROAD-GREEN. -The series of eloquent lectures by Mr. T. Olman Todd was con­cluded. Sunday next, Mrs. M. H. Wallis. Subjects, at 11.15 a.m., questions answered; at 7 p.m., 'Social States in Spirit Life.'

· CillBERWELL NEW-ROAD.-SURREY MASONIC HALL.-Morn­ing, spirit teaching was given through Mr. W. E. Long and questions were answered. Evening, an address was delivered on • Inquiring of the Lord.' August 20th and 27th, at 11 a,m. and 6.30 p.m., Mr. W. E. Long.-E. S.

. BRIGHTON.-OLD TOWN HA.LL, HQVE, l, BRUNSWICK-STREET WEsT.-Mr. Horace Leaf gave excellent addresses· and clair­voyant descriptions. Sunday n~xt, at 11.15 a.m. and 7 p.m., Mr. R. Beddington. Monday, at 3 and 8, also Wednesday at 3, clairvoyance by Mrs. Curry. Thursday, 8.15, public circle.

HIGHGATE.-GROVEDALE HALL, GROVEDA.LE-ROAD. - Mrs. M. Scott, under influence, gave addresses on 'Spirit Return' and ' The Material World and the Spiritual World,' and good convincing clairvoyant descriptions. 9th, Mrs. Podmore gave clairvoyant descriptions. Sunday next, at 11. la · a.m., Mrs. Mary Davies; at7 p.m., Mrs. Podmore. Wednesday, Mrs. Mary Davies. 27th, Mr. R. Boddington. Every Sunday, at 3, Lyceum school.-J. F.

PECKHill.-LAusANNE HA.LL, LAUSANNE-ROAD.-Morning circle, Mr. Johnson spoke on the importance of realising the spirit-self and overcoming the lower self. Members gave clair­voyant descriptions. Evening, Mrs. Neville, under influence, gave an address and helpful psychometric reading!!- Sunday next, morning, circle ; evening, Mr. Johnson on 'Eastern Philo­sophy.' 27th, morning and evening; Mrs. A. Webb. Thurs­days, prayer at 7.30, circle 8.15. September 3rd, Mrs. Mary Davies.-.A. C. S.

BRISTOL.-12, Jill.AICA-STREET, STODJ.BOROFT.-Addresses and successful clairvoyant descriptions by Mrs. Powell Williams.

BRIXTON.-84, STOCKWELL PARK-B.OAD.-Mr. P. Smythe gave a good address.-A. B.

BATTERSEA PARK.-ROAD.-HENLEY-STREET.-Short rousing addresses were given by Mr. Adams and Mrs. Boddington.-S.

LITTLE· ILFORD. - THIRD A VENUE, MANOR p ABK, E. -Miss Violet Burton gaYe an address under influence. 9th, Mrs. Jamrach gave an address and clairvoyant delineations.-E. L. V.

LINCOLN.-0DDFELLOws' HALL.-Splendid addresses were given by Mrs. Wadham. Well-recognised clairvoyant descrip­tions followed. Large after-circle.-E. S.

BRISTOL.-16, KING's SQUARE.-Address by the president on 'The Overshadolling of the Spirit.' Clairvoyant descrip­tions by Mr. Eddy.-.A. L.

SouTHSEA.-LESSER VICTORIA HALL.-The Rev. J. Todd Ferrier gave eloquent addresses on 'The Soul's S~rc :Ji for God 1

MJ.d ' The 'fransfiprati911.'-!f, W. M,

ight: A Journal of Psychical, Occult, and Mystical Research.

'LIGHT! MORE LIGHT !'-Goethe, 'WHATSOEVER DOTH MAKl!l MANIFEST IS LIGHT.'-PauZ.

No. 1,598.-VoL. XXXI. [Registered as] SATURDAY, AUGUST 26, 1911. [a Newspaper. J PRICE TwOPENOE.

CONTENTP. Notes by the Way ,, __ ,,,,_,,897 Thought Photographs .......•• 898 The Hypotheses of ' Bllocation '

Considered - - •• . .. • . ....... 899 Experiences with an Entrance<!

Medium - • • .. .. . • .. - .... 400 Thought Forms: As Seen by a

Clairvoyant ............ - .... 40l The Lesson of the Strikes ...... 402 Sir Oliver Lodge on Physical

Phenomena • . .. .. • . .......... 403 Comforting SpMtual Communion404

Telepathy and Spirit Communi· cations ...................... 405

Items of Interest ................. 406 'Do Spirit People Eat, Drink and

Sleep?• .... _ ................ 407 Reylies to ' Some Interesting

Questions ' .................... •o7 Mrs.· Besant's Attitude Towards

Spiritualism .................. 408 A Boy's Prophetic Clairvoyant

Vi>ion ........................ 408

NOTES BY THE WAY.

In a somewhat intemperate letter a correspondent, who is all for the purely intellectual interpretation of life, takes strong exception to the sentiments we expressed (in the recent leader in ' LIGHT ' on ' Mrs. Besant's "Psychology" ') regarding the unity of apparently separated lives. That we are not alone in our views is evident from an article in the July 'Nautilus,' entitled 'The Road to Power,' in the course of which the writer remarks :-

Just as the blades of grass are not separate lives, but one life vitalising many organisms, so men are not separate and intelli­gent spirits, but one Spirit expressing Himself consciously in different forms as He expresses life in the different blades of grass. Man i11 not a soul or a spirit ; he is Spirit.

we can imagine· our critical friends after reading this exclaiming, 'Why, this flatly contradicts your whole attitude. Are you not all the time saying, " Man is a spirit" 1' Quite so, because in a world of sense percep­tions we find it necessary to use terms conveniently adapted to that world. We say also that the sun rises and sets, being quite aware of the fact that it actually does nothing of the kind. To quote again from the article to which we have referred :-

Consciousness unformed is unlimited ; there can be no limit to that which has no form, for if there is no form there are no boundaries. The consciousness of unformed Spirit is nnlimited, but the consciousness of Spirit in any form is limited by the perceptive powers of the forttJ.. Man's consciousness is limited by the range of his perceptive powers, and he can only increase his perceptive powers by thought.

Just so ; and only when he has learned to think him­self out o.f the narrow boundaries of the intellect can he 'rise to the height of this great argument' -that in the Spirit all things are one.

~-~----~~---

All the highest expressions of truth are impersonal. And that applies also equally to Art. All the greatest philosophers and artists seek to give unclouded expressions ·of the Universal, and consequently never obtrude their own identities. It is this fact which has made the per­sonality of Shakespeare such a problem to those who would discover something of the life and character of the poet. When we receive (as alas! we occasionally do) a communi­cation tinged with wrath and bitterness, yet purporting to give us the writer's perception of a doctrine opposed to our own, we reflect that although he may be uttering a truth as he sees it, it is too largely coloured by personal prejudices to be of much value either to us or to himself.

'The Hindu Spiritual Magazine ' (Calcutta), for July, refers to the 'running fire of criticism' to which the

Theosophical movement has been subjected recently in the . Indian Press, and remarks :-

Pet theories now do not appeal to the educated public so much as investigations in the practical field.

And it makes the following significant suggestion :­Cannot the Theosophical Society open a research depart­

ment, and conduct investigations into the truths of Spiritualism 1 This, we doubt not, will make it more popular than ever it was.

It is fair to our Theosophical friends to say, however, that many of them are far from neglecting the practical side of the matter. We know of persons who have graduated in both movements, and who maintain sym­pathetic relations with each, giving to Theosophists the benefit of their experience in spirit phenomena and to Spiritualists the profit of their knowledge of Theosophical teachings. This, to us, is the best evidence that the two schools are divided by no radical differences, and may with advantage live up to the old motto: 'In essentials Unity; in non-essentials Liberty; in all things Charity.'

We have received a remarkable pamphlet by Dr. Charles Stuart Welles, entitled, 'The Millennium and the Constitution of the United States of the World.' It deals with what the author regards as the near approach of a mil­lennial period to be represented by a general federation of the nations of the world. Basing his conclusions on the prophetic sayings of Jesus Christ, Dr. Welles traces in the world of to-day many signs of a spfritual awakening in its political as well as in its social order. And as a means of preparing the way for a system of central world govern­ment he has drawn up and incorporated in his pamphlet a ' Constitution qf the United States of the World ' which if it were adopted would abolish war out of ,hand. It is a 'tall order,' as our American friends would say; but as all great reforms must have their origin in human thought we are disposed to welcome very cordially Dr. Welles' contri­bution to a question of such vast importance to humanity. Dr. Welles' name will be known to some of our readers as that of the author of a remarkable novel, 'The Ell'!oods.'

Our sympathies am entirely with a writer in 'The Modern Churchman' who claims that 'the maintenance of religious habits ought to be far more studied than it is on the psychological side.' He says:-

People often write and speak as if the weakening of religious habits was only the result of the rejection of dogma, and was to be resisted or tolerated according as the rejection of dogma seemed perilous or the reverse. But the necessary loss to the individual of anything to bring home to him the reality. of the spiritual and, still more, the extremely defective way in which most religions services fulfil this function of witnessing to that reality, ought to move to serious thought and to practical suggestions.

There seems to be a growing disposition in certain quarters to regard continued or immortal existence as con­ditional upon certain mental, moral or spiritual states or attainments. Thus, Sir Oliver Lodge, in his work on 'Science and Immortality,' as quoted by Dr. Hyslop, seems

398 LIGHT. [August 26, 1911.

to limit survival to such as 'have risen. to the attainment of God-like faculties.' Commenting on this, Dr. Hyslop shrewdly observes:-

This conception seems to confuse salvation with snrvival. The two are quite different things. Survival does not depend upon attainment, but salvation does. That iil, the persistence of personality depenqs upon the existence of a substance or energy that is not destructible. Progress or salvation depends on attainment.

This is in keeping with what Epes Sargent regards as 'the Spiritualist's theory that life is continuous ; that the · word imrnartal must be taken in its etymological sense as not dying. Continuity of being must then be a natural effect of present causes.' It ·is from this basis that Sargent builds up his claim that Spiritualism is scientific. He says:-

Thus the inquiry into the grounds for a belief in the exist­ence of spiritual organs and powers in our lrnman complex, already manifesting their operation in the earth-life and forming the basis of life common to this state of being and the next, becomes a strictly scientific and experimental process, dealing with the finer and more recondite parts of the science of physiology, or with the psycho-physiological developments of our mixed nature.

It is ill living in a great city, notwithstanding its undoubted social and other advantages. It is almost impossible to entirely Ii ve one's own life there, and to be one's own discriminating self. The cross currents, the coloured lights, the mixture of ethical and other atmos­pheres, are all too powerful for us, as a rule ; and perhaps the best thing that can happen to us, or the most that can be hoped for, is to be aware of what is happening. How few are aware of it !

London in particular reminds us of the good old story about a certain Lieutenant Jones of the Royal Navy who, half a century ago, was put in command of a gunboat com­

. missioned to the China seas. When the craft started on her voyage, Commander Jones called his crew together and informed them that, as no physician had been assigned to the vessel, he should be obliged to perform the duties of

. one. 'I shall have to doctor you myself,' he explained, 'and I don't know much about it; but the Admiralty have

·sent on board a medicine chest, in which there must be something good for every kind of disease.' Thei1 he had the medicine chest brought forward, and ordered all the bottles to be emptied into one big tub. 'Now, my lads,' said he, ··an the stuff is there, and there's bound to be something in it that will suit your complaints ; and if any man gets sick, he shall have a dose of the mixture.' That

·medicine tub is London.

' Sri Ramakrishna's teachings,' as recorded in 'Pra­buddha Bharata,' are often unsuited to our Western modes of thought and speech, but occasionally the Eastern mode is arresting. Here is an instance :-

A certain father had two sons. When they were old enough they were admitted to the first stage of life-the Brahmacharya -and placed under the care of a religions preceptor, to study the Vedas. After a long while the boys returned home, having finished their studies. Their father asked them if they had read the Vedanta. On their replying in the affirmative, he asked: Well, tell me-what is Brahman 1

The elder son quoting the Vedas and other scriptures replied : ' 0 father, it is not capable of being expressed by word of month, or of being known by the mind. 0, He is so and so ; I know it all. ' Then he again quoted Vedantic texts.

The father sai_d, 'So thou hast known Brahman ! thou mayest go about thy business. ' Then he asked the younger son the same question. But the boy sat mute, not a word came ont of his month, nor did he make any attempt to speak.

The father thereupon remarked, ' Yes, my boy, thou art right. Nothing can be predicated of the Absolute and Unconditioned ! No sooner dost thou talk of Him than thou statest the Infinite

in terms of the Finite, the Absolute in terms of the Relative the Unconditioned in terms of the Conditioned. Thy silence is more eloquent than the spouting forth of a hundred Slokas and the quoting of a hundred authorities.'

If this were taken to heart there would be fewer dis­putations about a great many doctrines.

Once upon a time there was a young minister who was 'taken down ' very handsomely by a bright little girl. He had been called upon quite unexpectedly to address a Sunday-school, and, to give himself time to collect his thoughts, he asked a question. 'Children,' said he, 'what shall I speak about 1 ' A little girl on the front seat who had herself committed to memory several declamations, held up her hand, and in a shrill voice asked, ' What do you know~'

We wish that sharp little girl could. ask that question of every young minister, and, for the matter of that, of every old minister. Too often they cite texts, they quote 'The Fathers,' they recite creeds, they cherish hopes: but do not tell us what they know. Surely we have need of straight talk from the pulpit by men who know and understand !

SPIRITUAL PRAYER&

(l!'rom many shrines.)

Revealed art 'fhou in all Thy glory and hidden in all Thy mystery, 0 God I Endless are Thy forms and countless are Thine images, O Lord. Heaven and earth, mind and spirit are all full of Thy glory. 0, whither shall I flee, for Thou has beset us behind and before. Thou hast girt us as the sea the isle. Thy glory sl1ineth in earth and sky, in men and bea8ls. When I retire into myself, lo ! Thou art there. Thou hast made a citadel of my heart and an ark of my soul. Thy light shineth in my mind and Thy wisdom resteth in my speech.. Bless me, our ever-loving Father, From Thee are we born : by Thee are we formed : unt,l Thee are we freed of form. I pray Thee, 0 God, that I may see Thee and feel Thee within and without. 0, shrine Thine image in my heart for ever more. Amen .

LONDON SPIRITUALIST ALLIANCE, LTD.

DRAWINGS OF THE PSYCHIC AURA AND DIAGNOSIS OF DISEASE: -On Wednesday next, August 30th, from 12 noon to 5 p.m., at 110, St. Martin's-lane, W.C., Mr. Percy R. Street will give personal delineations by means of the colours of the psychic aura of sitters, and will diagnose disease under spirit controL Fee 5s. to a guinea. Appointments desirable. See advertise­ment supplement.

THOUGHT PHOTOGRAPHS,

The Paris correspondent of ' The Morning Leader ' of the 16th inst. says :-

At the last meeting of the Academy of Science a thrilling communication was read from Major Darget, who is already known as having photographed rays emitted by living beings. These rays he calls 'V' rays.

Starting from Dr. Charcot's theory of hypnosis that living fluids are transmitted by a person to a subject, Major Darget asked himself whether it would not be possible to register mental linages by photography, whether, for instance, by thinking intently of an object one might under special conditions obtain an image of it on a film.

In a dark room he fixed his thoughts on a bottle, and his eyes upon a plate placed in a bath of developer. He kept his fingers also in the dish. At the end of a few minutes the bottle was reproduced on the plate.

The Major exhibited his photograph to the Academy of Science, and with it a second photograph obtained under similar condi­tions, but in the presence of six witne.~ses. A third photograph was the mental image of a stick. Major Darget c11lls them 'thought photographs.'

1'r has been well said that the tendency of the highest cultnre of the age is to enshrine Art, to idealise Science, and to rationalise Heligion. This is tme, but we may add a prophecy ; that, in the end, the tendency of the highest culture will be to spiri tnalise life.

August 26, 1911~] LI G H.T. 399

THE HYPOTHESES OF 'BILOCATION' CONSIDERED.

BY ERNESTO BozzANO. Translated from ' Annales des Sciences Psychiques.'

(Continued from page 392.)

Naturally for those who have already formed a Spiritualistic conviction based upon the other modes of extrinsication common to mediumistic phenomena the agreement with which these various forms of phenomena all converge towards the same goal attains a degree of probability comparable to an experimental proof, the more so as the casuistry in question is only at bottom the necessary complement, or rather, the essential condition of the existence of a large number of mediumistic phenomena beginning with certain spontaneous forms of post-mortem apparition and ending with the experimental phenomena of materialisation. Indeed, these considerations have as much value for experimenters, who are Spiritualists, as for those who are materialists. However this may be ; I repeat that I am very far from wishing to assign to the casuistry in question any value which in the present state of meta-psychical research it cannot have. My business is with the psychological interest, it is in this latter aspect that it un­doubtedly deserves to be correlated and submitted to competent investigators, it is here that we are faced with the question, What must be done to give it scientific proof 1 Quite simply, this : the reality of the phenomena of duplication of the ethereal body must be demonstrated by means of proofs entirely adequate and convincing. The experimental methods necessary to attain this end-methods which have nearly all been already tested, although tlie process has been for the most part insufficient to allow us to gather the results with confidence-appear to be manifold. However, we may note among these methods those which are worthy of attention and which seem to augur well for the furthering of our research. Thus, for example, doubles have been photo­graphed; among others by Captain Volpi in Italy, Professors !strati and Hasden in Roumania, Colonel de Rochas and de Durville in France, and in Paris of William Stainton Moses while in London.

Photographs have been obtained of more or less phantom emanations at the death-bed of Dr. Baraduc, and phenomena of duplication have been produced experimentally under hypnotism; this is due to the work of de Rochas and de Durville. The latter has even obtained fluorescence on a paper coated with certain substances by introducing it at the place where the hypnotic subject localised the double of another distant person who was for this experiment in the hypnotic state. It is pos­sible to quote in addition examples of doubles who manifest their persons by producing psychic effects, and with Eusapia Paladino there have been obtained at a distance-and this time the fact is indisputable-imprints of her extrinsicated face, i.e., of her ethereal body duplicated and materialised. It is no longer possible to doubt the authenticity of these latter phenomena, and they should be legitimately considered as belonging to science.

With regard to the experimental results enumerated above, w~ must agree that some can be explained by the hypotheses of suggestion and auto-suggestion, while others can be attributed to badly made observations, and others lose value by their lack of detaiils. I do not intend to suggest by this that all these cases should be doubted or dise:redited, but simply that we need much more rigorous methods of research to attain in this matter scientific certainty. We must, however, refer to the well­known experiences of Colonel de Rochas ·and de Durville-first, because they occur under rigorous scientific methods, with men who were fully acquainted with the inherent difficulties of this question; second, because it is not always necessary to stop at the hypothesis of an ethereal body in reference to the phenomena of duplication, but it is convenient sometimes to suppose the exteriorisation of something substantially different.

As is well known, Colonel de Rochas obtained phenomena of exteriorisation of sensibility in persons subjected to the usual hypnotic-magnetic processes ; these phenomena were more marked as these processes were continued until the con-

centric layers of the exteriorised sensibility were, so to say, polarised to the right and to the left of the subject, who saw them in the form of two fluidic columns which were luminous and different in colour. These columns ended by joining together and forming a kind of phantom which repeated with synchronism all the movements of the subject, and the existence of this phantom could be deduced with rough certitude, so that, at the point where the phantom was said to stand, attempts at touch were made, or even if somebody accidentally crossed that region, the subject perceived sensations of contact and pain. Once it happened that the sleeping subject, having •by chance looked at a mirror in front of him, believed he saw the identical phantom to that which was at his side; this was the reflected image of his double.

These are the facts ; it remains, therefore, to ask whether under these circumstances there really is the phenomenon of the duplication of an ethereal body which is, strictly speaking, a spiritual envelope and ought to be inseparable from the spirit (an apparition of a bodiless spirit is not philosophically con­ceivable), or whether, on the contrary, this is really the ex• teriorisation of a fluidic inanimate phantom, and therefore sub­stantially different. A short analysis of the facts leads in my opinion to this last conclusion. First, because the subjects of de Rochas, while they constantly affirm that they see their doubles, never affirm that they see or have seen in spirit their inanimate bodies at a distance ; from which it may be pre­sumed that they have never been in such a condition ; on the contrary, they have never failed to state that they have observed each action and movement of their double. In the second place, because the phantm.ns· repeated their acts automatically and with synchronism, showing thereby that the phantoms were purely inanimate with no will of their own. In the third place, because of the circumstances that the subject feels a sensation of contact each time anyone crosses the zone in which the phantom is. If this demonstrated, on the one hand, the close relations existing between the phantom and the hypnotic subject, on the other hand, it would contradict the hypothesis of the transfer" ence of the Ego into the phantom, since that which feels, acts and thinks is always the hypnotic subject. We must conclude, therefore, that the representative functions of the peripheric sensorial organisms only are transported to the phantom, and not the psychic faculties of perception of sensation, of which the seat remains in the cortical centres. On the whole, everything tends to demonstrate that in these experiences of exteriorisation of sensibility, the conscious Ego does not leave the bodily organism, and therefore we cannot recognise in a phantom of this kind a true phenomenon of duplication of the ethereal body ; and, if the fluidic phantom so formed is by nature different from the ethereal body, we must suppose that it con­sists of something similar, which it will be useful to call (after Reichenbach) the odic fluid. This fluid penetrates the nervous system of all living organisms and serves to vitalise these and make them sensitive. We are concerned, then, in the experiences of Colonel de Rochag with the exteriorisation of the -odic phantom, which differs from the ethereal body by the fact that the first is not capable of being separated by any distance from its parent organism, whilst the second has not such limits of distance ; also the odic phantom is capable of becoming a centre of condensation of matter so as to become visible and tangible, and to give rise to physical effects.

In this connection Colonel de Rochas· tells the following. Eusapia Paladino had decided to permit herself to sleeP. in the presence of. Madame de Rochas :- · · .

She ·rapidly 'Went into ·a· profound hypnotic sleep, and then ·to her great· ·astonishment saw appear on her right a blue .phantom. I asked her if it was John. She replied No, but that it was that which John used. Then she was afraid, and asked Ill(! to wake her up at once, which I did, regretting very much that I was unable to continue research in this class of phenomena. (' L'Exteriorisatiolis de la Motricite,' p. 17.)

This reply of Eusapia's, whilst agreeing precisely with the argument stated above, does not lack inductive value, especially if we reflect that in this special· case the hypothesis of suggestion does not appear probable, as de Rochas did not expect such a reply, and his question was fornrnlated in such a way that it rather suggested an affirmative answer.

(To be continued).

400 LIGHT. [August 26, 1911.

EXPERIENCES WITH AN ENTRANCED MEDIUM,

BY G. w. MAKIN.

Wontilnued from page 387.)

The general course of procedure is a.s follows: The patient sits in a comfortable chair. Pasaes ai'e employed until sleep ensues. Suggestions of health and strength are mentally given tmtil there is a 'vhispered response, acquiescing, Then I take a seat, and sing a verse or two of a hymn or song. The control comes and· bids good evening to each one present, He appre­ciates singing, and tells us that our friends have come and that they are much interested in our proceedings. My wife's family (now passed to the better expression of life) were musical. Fre~ quently, the control says that one of them asks for the. singing of a special hymn, and nil.mes it ; sometimes it is one that they and I used to sing when I was quite a little one at Sunday School. The control often remarks ' That is good,' putting the medium's hands on her ohest. If I lag behind in singing a lively tune the control says, ' Old gentleman does this,' as though beating time quicker, 'and says, "Sing up."' This control, who is said to lie an Egyptian boy, states that there is a gentleman with him who tells him what to say in answer to questions. If the question cannot be answered at once, he replies,·' gentleman does not know, but will inquire.' Sometimes the answer is not given until the following evening.

June 20th. Interesting conversation with the control, who said he was pleased to amwer questions and join in singing. The subject of reincarnation is distasteful to him, and, he adds, to all present. Has asked much about it : cannot hear of any­one having experienced it, except like himself, by temporary control of a medium's body. When the medium woke up she said she felt as though the time occupied had not been more than a few minutes ; actually it was over one hour. Her account of experience was not so clear and connected as on former occasions. She remembered going away, with u gliding motion. She saw one arisen brother, and many others. The scenery was sparkling with scintillations of many-hued light. Companies of arisen ones seemed to pass, either joining in conver­sation or singing as they went. They did not think it strange, neither did the medium, that one, still the owner of a physical body, should mix with those who had discarded theirs. The effect of going away was like a spiritual fillip: Oil return she felt renewed, mentally and physically. Is this the meaning of 'They that wait upon the Lord [spirit] shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint?'

June 23rd. Spent nearly an hour asking questions respect­ing the effect of Coronation excitement on those passed on, effect of explosion of fireworks, &c., modes of understanding languages in spirit life, effect of church services and various musical tones.

The medium, on waking up, describel a visit to a lot of children who seemed to be in charge of foster-mothers, who were teaching them to go thl'Ough peculiar serpentine evolutions, forming various diagrams, such as squares, triangles, crosses, hearts, &c. They were dressed in robes of various colours, and held garlands of flowers which seemed to change colour and shape according _to movement, as though they were made of some kind of light. The movements were accompanied by music, and the whole directed by the foster-mothers, who waved beautiful banners of light.

At a subsequent sitting the medium spoke of visiting a place of indescribable beauty. There seemed to be no flat surface, but pinnacles of varying sizes and colours abounded in all directions. She spoke of it as the ' land of peace.' On another occasion her visit ended at a tremendously high wall, which was covered with red roses, the perfume of which had a delightfully soothing effect.

On July 4th the control seemed anxious to learn how to speak English, so that he could assist the medium at public meetings. His mode of expression and mannerisms are so exactly maintained thronghont the repeated meet.ings that there cannot exist the slightest donbt in our minds as to the actual control of the medium's organism by some extraneous entity.

His customary way of saying yes is 'Zee.' To-night he struggled hard, like a schoolboy, who had an impediment, to pronounce the English word 'yes.' It was quite amusing. After repeatedly saying yish, yesh, or something like that, he would joyfully say 'Zee.'

In answer to the question, '!tow is the medium's body as regards health 1' he said it was 'goods' (corrected by me to 'well'), ahd that when the medium came back I was to make a few passes over her eyes as he directed, to impress her min(j. that all Was well. After awaking, the medium described a glorious refreshing time spent in a magnificent crystal temple, during some kmd of a service of which there remained in her memory only the sensation of delightful harmony, which seemed to strengthen and invigorate her. She regretted having to leave it. She could not tell how the approach or return was made, but said that no effort had been required,

July 5th.-After magnetising the medium for some time the usual sleep ensued. When questioned as to bodily condition she replied that she could observe nothing wrong. I implanted the suggestion to remember that. After a few moments the control took possession and chaffed me for being a poor scholar. He said I had again forgotten. For some time I could not think of having forgotten anything, but I had omitted to request the medium to supply information upon her return. After a conversation and some singing, another control attemptecl to speak, but failed. Original control returned and said the effort would be euccessful another time. Upon regaining normal consciousness the medium could not remember anything but the suggestion of health.

July 8th.--The control, in answer to questions on telepathy, said that what earth people called thoughts were distinguishable by the proficient discarnate as vibrations of colour answering to our words or desires and conveyed by them to their destina­tion much as one might take from a person holding a 1·eel the end a cotton thread to another person for whom it was intended. On being asked 'Why, then, does it fail at times 1' he replied ; ' Because of discordant vibratory conditions with the sender, or the intended recipient, or more powerful intervening conditions, perhaps1 from doubting friends and relations and the non•sensitiveness of the should-be recipient. This is one of the difficulties of the discarnate ; when they wish to do us good by infusing good thoughts (vibratory) we neglect them, and are in­fluenced more powerfully from other sources1 especially by psychical surroundings.

·Having some sweets in my pocket (small aromatic ones), I put one into my mouth and offered one to the control, asking whether, if he made the medium's body .to consume one, the medium would be aware of it oil her return. He replied ; 'Yes, if I leave the taste or smell behind.' The sweet was consumed and he remarked, 'That's gone.'

Enlarging upon telepathy, he said the oftener the thought is experienced the more powerful it becomes, and there is greater likelihood of its being effective.

In reply to the question whether it was right to desire and directly ask for help in material things from unseen friends he said yes, but that sometimes, when our desires were for success at the expense or through the failure of others, those in the sphere of the control would not assist, although there were pereons of all sorts and conditions in the discarnate state. I mentioned a widow who, baffled in every direction to the verge of distraction, had prayed her best and tried everything, likely and unlikely, to get bread for her children. The control replied that he knew the case (through me) and that her supplications had suffered through lack of knowledge. Though her friends were ready to help, her doubts disturbed their vibrations on others on her behalf. Her lack of faith paralysed their efforts. The medium on her return said that she had been feasting her sight upon a gorgeous temple, whose pillars and what looked like walls were transparent, and were draped from top to o

bottom with flowers of the brightest hues, blending in a perfect harmony. A large company of brightly arrayed spirit friends were there, and the floor seemed clear, as though it conld be seen through. There was no roof, except brilliance, whicf1 seemed like a canopy. The medium said that she was almost sure she could taste the perfume and smacked her lips as

August 26, 1911.] .LIGHT. 401

though doing so. She was then told what had occurred with the sweetmeat.

On a subsequent occasion, in answer to a question as to what magnetism is, we were told, 'You have nothing in the physical world more akin to it than what you call electricity, yet it is not that.' I asked : 'When you -in spirit use it, where do you obtain it 1' Answer : 'Everywhere. To us it is little sparks mixed with the atmosphere. We collect them, and put them on the earth-body, which, if sensitive, feels heat from them.'

Question : ' fa it the derangement of the aura of an indi­vidual that causes sickness 1' Answer : ' Yes, hut there are also the deleterious emanations from the physical body which cannot escape, and are held in suspension near the body.'

Question ; ' How is this best rectified 1 ' Answer : ' By magnetic passes, . and shaking the hands in the air after each pass.' Question : 'Would that course of itself make a sick person well ? ' Answer : ' :No ; the sick person must desire health. Healthy thoughts prodttce healthy bodl.es ; but the passes greatly assist.' During her absence the medium had visited a new scene, where all the flowers were perfectly white, and resembled Walt in texture-very cooling to look upon.

THOUGHT FORMS : AS SEEN BY A CLAIRVOYANT.

The far-reaching power of concentrated and purposive thought is being realised by an ever-increasing number of advanced thinkers. These students not only realise its powerful influ~nce in all the works of life, but they are also learning that every thottght, good or bad, takes an actual form and has its own dis­tinctive colot1r. These thought-forms may be grouped into three leading classes : those in which the thought assumes the image of the thinker ; those in which it resembles some material object ; and those in which it takes a shape entirely its own.

The first two need not be enlarged upon, as, after all, they explain themselves, but thought-forms of the third class are of vital interest since they almost invariably manifest themselves on the psychical plane. Nattl.rally, therefore, high and noble thoughts teild to build up a pt1re and healthy spiritual body, and help in a great measure to eliminate disease should it be present.

Let me illustrate my meaning by referring ·to certain of these thought-forms which have come within the range of my own clairvoyant vision.

The white thought-forms which have appeared to me have been most beautiful in shape, and their whiteness was such that those who possess orily physical sight can form no conception of its purity. In this class are inchtded those that appear tinged with exquisite rays of gold, silver, and blne~so beautiful a blend­ing of colour that I cannot find words in which to describe it.

On two occasions I have seen hovering in the air and coming towards me a globe-shaped form of opaque whiteness. It has approached within a few feet, and then slowly opened down the centre, in the manner of a pair of folding doors, revealing a beautifully wrought casket. On the second occasion the lid was slowly lifted and a sudden shower of golden rain issued forth, concealing all else.

All forms of this kind necessarily proceed from a pure and healthy mind, and are wonderfully inspiring to the one who sees them.

Turning to the thought-forms that may be seen in our daily intercourse, that of peace is very beautiful and expressive when it is sent forth by one who has earned the power to give and bless ; while that of anger, sent out by one in a frenzy of passion, is awful and repulsive. Jealousy presents an interesting, though unpleasant, thought-form. Its peculiar Lrownish-green colour unmistakably indicates the feeling of the sender, and its curious shape demonstrates the eagerness with which the object of the jealousy is being watched. When a person is dominated by selfish passions and low desires, such as the craving for drink, the seer encounters forms of a still lower and more horrible type. Keen physical longing shows itself in the hooked

' claw-like protrusions, as though the thinker were eagerly trying to grasp something, to draw it to himself for personal gratification.

To turn to pleasanter channels, I may ref~r to the beautiful spirit forms that I have seen in human shape, presenting them­selves in pure clear shades of white, amber, rose or neutral tints, and holding scrolls, bearing inscriptions, such as 'Purity,' always indicated by white ; 'Chastity,' shown by amber, radiating into pale shades of fawn; and 'Peace,' in some glorious colour· ing that I find it impossible to descriLe.

Many beautiful thoughts are represented by a wonderfol diversity of symbols such as stars, stripes and rings of manifold colouring. Frequently groups of golden balls can be seen, some• times arranged so as to take the form of symbolic signs.

One symbol of deep interest, actually seen, was a curiously chased crown of antique design, probably Egyptian. Suspended in the air immediately over the crown was a sword, also of ancient workmanship.

'rhought-forms pertaining to the intellect are particularly interesting. There is the one thrown off by a person determined to solve a difficult problem, indicating the intentioh to know and understand. It is a green cloudy mass, tlot taking any particular form. An important fact to note is the difference between the above, indicating a genuine desire for knowledge! and that thrown off by an individual putting a question in a spirit of self-conceit, and hoping to displa-v mere smartness of superficial brain-power. A third in the intellectual series is a beautiful yellow, cloud-like form, indicating pleasure at behold­ing some well-executed work of art, or delight in musical ingenuity, &c.

There is an interesting class that may be just tottched ttpon1

viz., the square, solid-looking blocks of single colour, which appear most frequently. With regard to music, M many are aware, sound is associated with colour, and, though this fact is not so generally known, with form. Heavy music, such as marches, &c., will often produce thought-forms of a far more solid appearance than music of a gentle and more subtile character. In some instances these forms issue froru the player! and in others from the vibrations caused by the music, in which case they ruay be regarded as emanating in one sense from the composer himself. .

This world of thought·forins, although so little known, so little com!idered by the great majority, opens to us a realm of wonder and grandeur, and its gloriotts truths will be revealed to those who approach it with true reverence and love.

Let us remember that every thought acts in some degree on all planes~phydical, astral, mental and spiritual. High and noble thoughts will undoubtedly raise the atmospheric conditions around us. Even the physical will be uplifted to a higher and purer state. In consequence the ruental and psy• chical will benefit, and, as we know, it is only by cleansing and purifying these that the great oneness of spirituality can be reached. Above all, let us bear in mind the countless oppor· tunities we have of helping, not only individuals, lmt the whole of humanity. We may not be rich in earthly possessions, but We can be rich in thought, and ttse such riches for the uplifting of our brothers and sisters in all ranks of life. What reforms would be possible through united and wisely directed thought j how many struggling friends would feel their burdens lightened and their faith renewed through the influence of vibrations sent out to them by others ! Realising the widely different results of good and bad thought-influences, we should strive to culti­vate the highest and best in our natures, and thereby help to strengthen the characters of all with whom we come in contact. This will mean, above all, persistent effort for self-mastery and self-expression on a high spiritual plane. But with sttch a noble ideal, no temporary disappointments should daunt us, and no obstacles lessen our determination to conquer all things that are not working for the general good.

E. A. Qu1N10N.

NEX'r week our leading article will be devoted to a notice oi Mr. R. A. Kennedy's remarkable book, ' Space and Spirit.'

READERS of ' L!GH'l',' who are interested in spirit photo· graphy, we are informed by Mr. Leo, of the Connaught Studios, Connaught House, Marble Arch, W., may have the use of his studio at a time to be arranged once a week for research purposes.

402 LIGHT. [August 261 1911.

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 26TH, 1911.

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THE LESSON OF THE STRIKES.

We have passed-we. are passing-through troublous times. The unrest and discontent which have long been fermenting in the industrial stratum of our complex social order have broken out in an eruption of strikes and other disquieting manifestations. And yet, sad and vexed in spirit as he may be, the thoughtful observer will not easily resign himself to the conclusion that civilisation is being hurled backwards ' down the abysm.' He will rather cling to the hope that we are passing through the birth-pangs of a new and better order of things. But it is not a com­fortable thought that something of the fire and earthquake that were needed to weld the physical world into shape are requisite accompaniments to the evolution of new stages of moral and social development. It is a thought to give pause to facile optimists-it argues crudity .and misdirec­tion. It suggests the existence of much which, being angular and intractable, needs to be rudely hammered into shape and forced painfully into its appointed path.

Let us make our position clear at the outset. We are ·neither Individualists nor Socialists. From our standpoint ·each of those schools of thought is in possession of a half­truth, only by the uniting of which can we get the true circle-the complete sphere. And so in this matter we stand for Unity-a principle which has many applications . to the problems of the time.

Nevertheless, we are driven to conclude that this great harmonising conception is at present, in some degree, a remote thing, having only in its interior aspects any immediate bearing on 'the present discontents.' It has not yet been intellectualised. Men here and there feel its influence, but so far it only touches the fringes of the matter. It is an Ideal to which one at present can only hint and point the way. The great fact of the solidarity of the race has, for the most part, to be wrought out in human experience with pain and travail of soul. At

. present it is not 'practical politics.' So, at least, we are told, although in the large issue it is the only ' practical politics ' there is. And let us not forget that Labour is learning the lesson rapidly, uniting trade with trade, move­ment with movement, each acting in sympathy with the rest, and 'striking' for others as well as for itself.

Looking at the matter from another aspect, we see in the present wave of disturbance a symptom of that depar­ture from the ways of Nature to which we have alluded in previous articles. Vv e see humanity, to an ever growing extent, drifting into vast aggregations, in which the pro-

ducers form but a minority, and which rely for the neces­saries of life on complex and artificial systems·of production and distribution.

Even in normal times the means of subsistence are pre­carious enough to great masse;; of the people. Recent events have shown that they may be made precarious to whole communities, rich and poor alike. The 'intellec­tuals '-that band of writers and thinkers who are· every­where working for human betterment--had long perceived the fact. They saw and warned the civilised world that it was drifting ; that it was becoming the helpless victim of mechanical laws and artificial systems; that it drifted into wars-military and industrial-because it thought wars were inevitable ; drifted into extremes of wealth and poverty because it thought that such extremes were in­separable from the constitution of society; drifted into indifference to religion because it thought that religion had no part in practical life. Never was there such an imprac­tical world so fondly pluming itself upon being before all things practical !

And that consideration brings us to another directly arising out of it. We say civilised humanity 'thought' certain things which led to the various evils mentioned. In that phrase is bound up the whole problem-wrong think­ing ! There is the seat and centre of the social disease of our tim~. And one of the most hopeful signs of the newer forces at work to-day is a realisation of the power of thought on human life. We see the evidences of it everywhere-' New Thought,' 'Higher Thought,' 'Menti­culture.' Our readers need no demonstration of the fact from us. At present, for the most part, these systems are related to individual necessities. But their scope and pur­pose are expanding rapidly. When they begin to subserve world-uses we shall see great changes. To thought as the bane will be a.pplied thought as the autidote. Right think­ing will express itself in right living, surely, exactly, and inevitably. The power of the idea has long been an abstract truth, it is now expressing itself in the region of fact.

'We. want new legislation, new systems, new rules,' cry some of the sufferers from the social troubles of to-day. But surely we need none of these things ! Rather we need less of them than we possess already. We have to deal with human souls, which are not to be bound and fettered and hedged in by artificial rules and enactments. Even the horse rebels when driven by an unskilful and timid driver who is constantly tugging at the reins. We do not even need long and tedious expositions of the science of right thinking. We need only, to begin with, a right attitude of mind. The Capitalist who regards the Labourer as a discontented and troublesome drudge-a machine that is constantly getting out of order-and the Labourer who brands the Capitalist as a tyrant and a bloodsucker, are equally at sea. Each is 'a man in a world of men,' each an immortal spirit with the same needs, the same aspirations, the 's11me destiny-'--' members of one body.' ·

The problem, then, is not so difficult as it appears. We have not to hew granite in a quarry or to beat a difficult way through a trackless forest. We have to deal with material far more refined and ductile. It is but to thin,k true thoughts and pass them on. They will germinate and spring into life as surely-,..-more surely-than any seeds that were ever cast into the ground. For humanity in its progress is moving more and more into the higher regions of mind and soul, and responding to an ever growing extent to the influences of the higher worlds. Meanwhile, the stress and terror of the labour war has its meaning and its lesson. It may be one of those discords which Pope said were 'harmony not understood.' It certainly has not

August 26, 1911.] LIGHT. 403

drowned for some of us the eternal melodies of ' the world beautiful.'

Still, from far off, the listening spirit hears .A music of the spheres,

Though heard too close, their sweet accord may round To one gross roll of sound.

Thus war, that with its thunderous gloom and gleam, Storms through our days, may seem,

By peaceful hearts, in some far-coming year, .A music that was discord heard too near.

SIR OLIVER LODGE ON PHYSICAL PHENOMENA.

Sir Oliver Lodge deals in the .August issue of the 'Pro­ceedings' of the S.P.R. with the tendency which exists in some quarters to emphasise the improbability of all abnormal physical phenomena, and ' to oppose the extreme unlikelihood of the occurrence of such things against every testimony and all e'iidence of a positive kind in their favour.' .After admitting that ' up to a point this attitude is legitimate and necessary ' he holds that there comes a time when wisdom lies rather in con­sidering whether our ordinary experience of Nature, and our customary human powers are a sufficiently comprehensive guide, and whether we can imagine any enlarged powers of not too outrageous a nature such as could be supposed capable of achieving some of the results.

With reference to automatic writing, Sir Oliver says : 'The evidence which is accumulating under this head is undoubtedly tending in the direction of substantiating the claim-a claim made by the writings themselves-that they are partly due ta selection and control exercised by the surviving portion of indi­viduals who long ago lived on earth,' but, he says, 'there is not the slightest necessity, and as far as I know there is no exten­sive claim, for attributing merely physical phenomena to the direct agency of departed human beings,' although 'in certain cases there does appear to he a connection . and if once the possibility of any such physical action, however trivial, is admitted, a door is opened which will not readily be closed.'

The moral which Sir Oliver seeks to draw, however, is this: 'Our experience here certainly leads us to assume that where there is life at all, there is likely to be an immense variety and complexity of life, so if evidence. ever constrains us to extend human existence, or an existence akin to human, into what is popularly known as" another world,'' then we ought to make the generalisation, based on our expel'ience here, that not humanity alone but many other orders of being, some higher, some lower, may exist and interact in those unknown surroundings.' He foresees a time when students will he driven to some such conclu­sion, and thinks that if there is any truth in it ' a multitude of phenomena which now appear weird and strange, or frankly impossible, will receive what then may seem their simple and natural explanation.'

That activities of a kind higher than human have been testified to on a basis of direct experience is well known, thus : ' Socrates spoke of his Doomon, Joan of .Arc of her voices, Saints have told of their direct inspiration, poets have assured us that their best work comes from outside themselves,' but this is different from the physical phenomena, although the testimony for these things, if of a less high and notable order, exists and

· has to be reckoned with. Sir Oliver says that it is his desire ·' to urge that the kind of things asserted are not beyond the powers of a group of imaginary beings which science for its own sake has imagined the possibility of and whose powers it has delimited and defined ' ; as, for instance, when Clerk Maxwell imagined such an order of beings for the purpose of showing

- h@w the second law of thermodynamics might be evaded, and Lord Kelvin enunciated a whole category of things which 'Max­well's demons' could achieve, subject to all the perfectly defined physical laws and processes with which we are already acquainted. 'Nothing more is necessary than a power of dealing with mole­cules as we deal with masses of matter; no law of motion-as we call_ it-need be upset, the conservation of energy would hold uudisputed sway, gravitation and all ·the other forces would

be as potent as ever ; and yet what would seem miracl{lous to uninitiated human beings would be capable of achievement.'

While he does not contend that it is necessary to postulate the existence of such creatures in order to account for asserted physical phenomena of a novel kind, Sir Oliver does maintain that 'the existence of such power has been imagined by physi­cists-especially, perhaps, for the region where physics inter­locks with biology,' and he holds that 'if testimony as. to facts of this order ever becomes strong enough to demand ideas of this kind for their elucidation, there will be nothing outrageous or hypE:r-fanciful in the conception, nor anything illegitimate in snch a hypothesis, when it is forced upon us.' If and when it is, he says, ' I, for one, shall take the line, not of denying the facts as grotesquely impossible and manifestly absurd . . but I shall hope to examine them to see whether, by some such extension of human or other power as Maxwell and Kelvin have conceived, we may nut be led a step on into our understanding of a larger Nature. We may, perhaps, thus find that the physical phenomena and the intellectual phenomena are more closely allied than we had imagined ; that they are allied there, indeed, somewhat as they are allied here ; and that one class is a reasonable, or at any rate a real supplement to the other. Those who are even now opening the door to a demonstration of intelligence from beyond the veil may find­will find, as I believe-that they are admitting, along with the intelligence, a mass of supplementary concomitant activity 1

wl1ich will have to be reckoned with, classified, and understood'­and which, 'can with wisdom be neither ignored nor "denied.'

The article which we have summarised above is preceded by a long, critical presentation by Count Perovsky-Petrovo-Solovovo of some of the ' difficulties ' connected with ' the physical phe­nomena of Spiritism,' and Sir Oliver Lodge tells us that he writes, ' not as a protest, but as a counterbalancing presentation -erring, perhaps, on the positive or speculative side as much as some may think Count Solovovo's article lags on the negative or sceptical side.' While we are at one with Count Solovovo, in so far as it is his desire 'to improve the evidence and gradually make it irrefragable, by stimulating experimenters to greater care and exactitude of observation,' as Sir Oliver Lodge genially puts it, we feel that some of his statements require careful examination and are open to serious objections.

We are thankful to Sir Oliver Lodge for his exposition of the fact that there is no antecedent improbability in the occur­rence of physical phenomena, and for his reminder that it is first of all a question of facts. This is jnst what Spiritualists have been saying for sixty years ! We need not follow Sir Oliver in his speculation regarding the existence on the other side of 'orders of beings, some higher, some lower' than humanity-that, too, is a question of fact-but we can and do agree, indeed Spirit­ualism has clearly shown, that 'over there,' within the limits of humanity, there is 'an immense variety and complexity of life,' and this is a fact to be grateful for, because it shows that each one goes to his own place, finds a home and friends, and has opportunities for social and other experiences, which, whether painful or pleasant, are educational, not final. .As regards the 'supplementary concomitant activity,' we neither ignore nor deny ; as Professor W. F. Barrett well said in closing his address on ' Poltergeists, Old and New,' also printed in this issue of the ' Proceedings,' ' Living creatures of different types and varied intelligence may exist in the unseen as in the seen·. Possibly these poltergeist phenomena may be due to some of these, per­haps mischievous or rudimentary, intelligences in the unseen. I do not knpw why we should imagine there are no fools or naughty ch:ildren in the spirittial world ; possibly they are as numerous there as here.'

BELIEF is the expression of the spirit, conditioned indeed by the data of experience and the laws of the human mind ; but yet a thing fashioned from within, and not imported from without. What a man really believes, that he is ; and by that he regulates his cond net, throwing all his experience into the mould of an inner life, and arranging it on the lines of character. We touch ground, so to speak, when we realise that in the last result the forces of wl1ich the human universe is made up are the wills of human beings, and the Divine ·Will which stand.~ over against them and yet works within them. We only know Nature as mirrored in the human consciousness ; we only know the Will of God as our wills find it ont ! '-PROFESSOR PERCY GARDNER,

404 LIGHT. [August·26, 1911.

COMFORTING SPIRITUAL COMMUNION.

STRIKING PERSONAL EXPERIENOES IN SPIRITUALISM.

As the writer of the following interesting account of 'per­sonal experiences in Spiritualism' occupies a high official position on the other side of the Atlantic he stipulates that his name and address shall not be published. He vouches for ihe entire accuracy of his statements, and our readers may rest assured ihat we are satisfied that his narrative is a bona fide setting forth of facts as they appealed to him. Our contributor is well known to tts and is one of the oldest subscribers to 'LIGHT.'

(Oontinued from page 393.)

It will probably interest your readers to be told of a few special incidents occur1ing at some of the remarkable seances attended by Paul. Among the assiduous members of the circle was a man of about thirty, who had lo~t his wife and two children some years before. To witness the appearance of the tall, graceful form of this young woman, bearing on her arm a babe of a year, or slightly more, and with a tot of three or four holding on to the folds of her fl.owing white robe, advancing . from the cabinet towards her husband, he rnshing to meet her, to see them clasped in each other's anus, then the elder child fold its little arms around its father's knee while he took the younger child from its mother's arms to fondle it for a few moments, was a scene never to be forgotten. Then, after a few whispered words, nothing remained, all had vanished except the father, and he was overcome with grateful emotions. After such wonderful and sweet commtmion with one's dear departed, what strange impressions one experiences on leaving the seance room and finding one's self again in a common­place street of New York teeming with every-day life and bustle! How many of the busy people there could or would believe, could or would desire or appreciate the inestimable blessings that their fellow-man, fresh from the seance room, had just expel'i­enced 1 Probably but very few among them could profit by such experiences--they could not bear them as they are not yet ready to receive the truth in such a form.

Apports seldom occurred at M.'s seances ; on the other hand, however, the dematerialisation of fl.owers was of almost nightly occurrence. In fact, most sitters brought fl.owers in the hope that their spirit friends could accept thenL The spirit form, when the time came, would vanish and the fl.owcr or fl.owers with it. Some, however, failed to take them away, and it was claimed by the spirit controls that this was due to lack of power, or that the l'ower was purposely husbanded for some special demonstra­tion later in the evening. It happened on some very rare occa­sions that a spirit was enabled to give its earth friend a lock of its own hair or a small cutting of its garment as a keepsake. Paul was not favoured in this manner, and he was unable to as­ce1tain whether such keepsakes are soon evanescent or are per­manent, but he has recently seen, for the second time, a lock of beautiful spirit hair preserved under glass in a gold locket, which was obtained in his presence, through a medium in Toledo, Ohio, nearly three years ago. It is. not to be supposed that, when happenings of this nature were possible, 'Adela,' would for­get her dear Paul-far from it. On the evening of November 24th, while in sweet confab with him, and while holding his left hand ·in hers, she said, ' Would you lend me your signet ring, I would greatly like to keep it with me a .few days-it would thus become charged with my own magnetism 7 I will retum it to you after a few days. Promise me ~'Qat you will wear it always-it will be a source of protection and benefit to you and it will help to bind us more closely together.' Paul promptly removed the ring from his own left annular finger and placed it on that of his beloved. Faithfully, at the seance on November 26th, she herself replaced the 1ing on his finger. Needless to say that it has remained there ever since-now more than ii ve years ago.

At this time one of Paul's frequeut and highly valued visitors in the seance rooms was spirit Captain Joseph Brant.*

*Known in American histor;r a.a 'Ty!l-ndinagea,' chief of the ~oha~k Indians from about 1776 until his death m.1807. He and most of hiR tnbe remained u113-lterably faithful to King Georg!' during the War ,of American Independence. He wa.s a great warnor and of valued llSSlS·

Paul on one occasion asked this distinguished spirit how it was that he had become interested in him. 'Have you not yourself been interested in me 1' he replied; 'have you not written about me and contributed to keep the memory of my humble deeds before the people 1 I assisted you then in your researches and am happy now to help you personally from this side of life.' This was quite in accord with facts, for Paul had written in periodicals concerning Brant.* During one of his materialisations Brant said to Paul, 'Do introduce me to all these good people and let them know who I am, and see me.' This was done and in an excellent light. He shook hands with some of the sitters and acknowledged the little control 'Pansy' as a descendant of the old Mohawks of his period. He usually appeared clad in a dark-coloured blanket or wrap, and with few, if any, of the usual Indian ornaments ; he expressed himself well and fl.uently in English. At the seance on November 25th he said to Paul, ' You have now seen me several times, but you will not be likely to see me again in the form. You may count on me always as being at your service.' So far he has kept his promise ; he has not materialised again for Paul, but very many times has he communicated with him throUgh messages, or automatic writing, or in 'trumpet ' or clairvoyant seance-even quite recently in London through Cecil Husk. Paul ever counts on him as one of his most valued spirit friends and guides.

Another control or guide of Paul's, previoitsly referred to as 'A. G. B.,' and a few members of his own family defunct for years, were also faithful visitors to him at these seances, but knowing of the mutual devotion that existed between him and ' Adela,' they seldom remained long so as not to exhaust the forces, and thus permit as prolonged interviews as possible between the lovers. ·

The results obtained were so satisfactory and startling that the fame .of the M.'s as mediums spread abroad, and it soon came to pass that their seances became crowded and overcrowded ; the harvest of dollars increased in like ratio. It was then whis­pered that prosperity and renown were having an evil effect on their mediumship. In deference to the pressure of many inves­tigators, and of people whose motives were more curiosity than legitimate seeking for demonstrations of the trutl!.s of the after­life they multiplied the number. of their seances--a.t the ex­pe;se of their psychical and physical forces. It was also said that drugs and other artificial means were used by them in order to allay nervous exhaustion. Promoters of wild schemes, searchers after mineral deposits, people of the 'get l'ich quick' class, induced M. with extravagant promises to accompany them to the West in search of mineral deposits and for that purpose to assist them with his mediumship. The result was foreseen by liis sincere friends-but warnings and advice were of no avail. M. returned from the West a moral wreck, and with empty pockets. His mediumship, having been greatly abused, was now sadly impaired, former results were no more to be counted on, and spurious manifestations were atte~pt~ in order to satisfy the extravagant expectations of s11np1e­minded, but exacting investigators. Detection, exposure and ruin of reputation and business soon followed. Thus two people endowed with the most precious of gifts were lost to the cause of Spiritualism. This deplorable denoztement happened in 1906, the year following Paul's visit to the l\f.'s. It pained him greatly, although he could have no possible doubt of the genuineness of the phenomena. which he had witnessed. 'Adela,' knowing how deeply he would be wounded by this news, most considerately took means of pre­pal'ing liim for the blow fully two months before the M.'s were shown up in the poliee-courts of New York.

The readers of these notes will remember that Paul had made the acquaintance of a certain lady, the wife of a judge, who possessed remarkable mediumship and was a good automatic writer. Through this lady' Adela's' solicitude for Paul's happi-

tance to the British troops in bo.ttle, a.nd a.s ~ scout h.e was rewarded by a. Captaincy in the Army and a full pa.y pension ,for lif~. He was a man of good education, deeply attached to the Anglican fa.1th, tJ:!LIISlator of the Gospel of St. Mark into the Mohawk language and edito~ of t~e Hook of Common Prayer for bis people, a rare 8vo. vol., pnnted m London in 1787, at George IIl.'s expense.

* See also 'Life and Times of Joseph Brant.' 2 vols. Svo., New York, 1838, by Wm. L. Stone.

August 26,ll911.] LIGHT. 405

ness and peace of mind was well demonstrated. About four months after Paul's experiences with the M.'s, experiences which had given him much joy and revealed to him so much concern­ing the other world, and two months. before the discovery of these medium's frauds, he received a letter from Mrs. D., stating that she had been impressed, in one of her moments of trance, to write him the following message :-

March 28th, 1906. MY DEAR ONE,-From realms of Light and Love I come

once more to pour into your hallowed and chastened spirit sweet comfort such as we only, who have passed beyond the portals of earthly care and trouble, can give. Ours is such a placid life of joy and serenity, with nothing to mar its peace, except our knowledge of loved ones still encased in mortal :liesh, beating their wings against the bars of human limitation, longing for fuller, freer soul life of the spirit realms. Dear heart, remember each trial endured, each victory gained, even though it be a seemingly small one, broadens itnd expands your inner life and causes to be brought into action some new trait or power of your being so nothing can ever be lost in the light of spiritual under· standing.

I have never left your side for a long period at a time but watch and wait for your coming. At the same time I am never idle, but grow here in my new home, ever learning and in my humble way helping others as I was helped when I first put off the rope of flesh. I still walk hand in hand with you through the forest and cheer you when inclined to be discouraged. Often I come in the wee hours of the night and lull you to tardy sleep by patting and caressing your face. At such times I nestle by your side and whisper thoughts of love and contentment that all will be and is well. Your work no one else can do, and you have done mitch that you do not realise yet, you shall see it only from this side the vale. Go on and on, al ways sending out good and lovely thoughts to us and your earth fellows, my constant care and love shall be yours; remember I am helped and com­forted also by you, for we are one in spirit. Please remember this always.-Ever I am your constant

WHITE FLOWER. With reg1trd to the signature, 'White Flower,' Paul states

that this pseudonym was always used by 'Adela' when she wished to send him communications through Mrs. D., this for still tmexplained reasons. It originated, perhaps, in the fact that she invariably appeared to Mrs. D. in resplendent white gar­ments, holding a white flower, a carnation, in her right hand. To this day Mrs. D. has never heard of 'Adela's' real name, notwithstanding the many times she has seen her clairvoyantly, and has been impressed on certain occasions, and for a manifest purpose, to write Paul a message.

The purport and tone of the message given above perplexed Paul greatly. Certainly it was not such a one as he might then have expected. He knew of no gloom, of no discouragement, of no disappointment. He had every reason to consider himself blessed far beyond his merits, far beyond the average human being, in having enjoyed precious communion with his loved ones dwelling across the border. Truth had been revealed to him with no shadow of doubt to mar his peace of mind, his absolute contentment in the certitude of an after life, logical and ieasonable, was assured. Not that life pictured and promised by the churches, but one that w'as far more satisfying. He knew and understood that 'Adela' and his other angel­guides were his constant companions and protectors. But the reason of 'Adela's' solicitude dawned upon him a few weeks later, when, first the rumours, then the facts, connected with the M. exposure became known to him. Then he had every reason to become obsessed by gloom. He experienced feelings of bitter disappointment, and the thought that possibly he also had been duped-that the many beautiful manifestations, 'Adela's' portrait, &c., might have been fraudulently produced-dis­couraged him exceedingly. Then it was that 'Adela's' message, and a later one from the same source, were indeed as precious balm to his soul.

(To be continued.)

THE UNION OF LONDON SPIRITUALISTS.-The first of the Autumn Conferences held by the Union of London Spiritualists will take place at the Masonic Hall, New-road, Camberwell, on Sunday, September 3rd. At 3 p.m. Mr. R. Boddington will read a paper on ' Spiritualism and Politics,' to be followed by discussion. Tea provided at 5 p.111., Gd. each. At 7 p.m., speakers : Messrs. G. T. Gwinn,R. Boddington,G. F. Tilby. South London Spiritualists are invited to make this a record rally.

TELEPATHY AND SPIRIT COMMUNICATIONS.

BY HORACE LEAF.

Although telepathy is not . yet g•merally accepted by the scientific world, it is sufficient that such illustrious men as Professors Sidgwick, W. F. Barrett, and Sir Oliver Lodge, after well-devised scientific tests, should declare in favour of it. Those who ignore or deny it probably take the attitude which Faraday took some forty years ago toward Spiritualism, when, in response to an invitation to investigate it, he said : 'They who say they see these things are not competent witnesses of facts ; it would be condescension on my part to pay any more attention to them ' ; or that of Huxley, who, approached by the Society for Psychical Research on the same matter of Spiritualistic phenomena, including the possibility of telepathy, wrote : 'Supposing the phenomena to be genuine, they do not interest me.'

To know that telepathy is a fact is, however, no explanation of its nature. Much more is needed than the bald state­ment that it is the communication of feelings and impressions between persons at some distance from each other by means other than the ordinary. There must be some mtionale, but not even the most accomplished investigator is yet able to furnish it. The favourite explanatory theory is that telepathy is due to vibrations of ether or some other more tenuous medium set . ' m motion by the mind when thinking, and that these vibrations are controllable by the will, so that they can be directed wherever desired, and registered by any mind sensitive enough to receive them. But from a purely scientific point of view this theory is unsubstantiated.

That thought is capable of being controlled and directed by the will has long been proved. That it is an active force with­out the aid of the will, and is sometimes registered by other minds, are facts of fairly common experience, as, for instance, when two persons quite unintentionally think of precisely the same thing arid utter the same words. Some individuals are particularly subject to this, as if possessing a peculiar affinity of mind. · Such persons would do well to experiment together ; their results .might be as startling as those obtained by the Zancigs, who, it is said, have successfully passed severe scientific tests.

Although the exact nature of telepathy is at present obscure, certain definite characteristics have been discovered by various investigators; and, amongst other interesting thillgs considerable light has been thrown upon some of the modes of spirit communication. When Mr. and Mrs. Zancig commenced their development they noticed that two different types of mind were necessary for the production of the phenomena, and that they themselves were each specially qualified with one of these types. Mrs. Zancig showed greater ability to receive impres­sions than her husband, who was, on the other hand, more capable of transmitting them. They wisely decided to accept the situation and develop on those lines.

Sir 0. Lodge, in his experiments in 1884, observed the ex­istence of these two mind-conditions. He noted, further, that transmitters were much more common than receivers. This is, of course, to be expected, as every normal person is constantly thinking and forming mental images, and the ability to be a suc­cessful transmitter appears to depend on concentration.

An important discovery connected with thought-trans­ference, which confirms the e.iw~riences of the early mesmerists, is the fact that it is easiest to transfer thoughts which can be expressed in form. Thus it is easier to transmit the thought of a concrete object, such as a key, than abstract ideas, such as affection or hate. So persistent is this that experienced tele­pathists find it advisable to cultivate symbology so as, whenever possible, to give the thought a form. For the name 'Daisy,' the tl9wer of. that name is thought of; for the name Smith a person of the trade of smith, and so on. It is unfortunate that this process is not capable of wider application, so that errors which often occur might be avoided.

When the Society for Psychical Research was established there were many among its adherents who anticipated, and even fondly hoped, that it would prove that those psychical

406 LIGHT. [August 26, 1911:

phenomena which could not be explained by delusion and fraud could be accounted for by telepathy. Some of the111 ventured to credit telepathy with powers far beyond anything warranted by the results of experiments ; indeed, there are still those who stretch the telepathic theory to cover anything, new or old, which is of a supernormal character. To the unbiassed, however, it soon became clear that telepathy could not cover all the facts ; and that where it did account for them it really ~ucceeded in giving more to the Spiritualistic theory than it took away. For it was realised that if thought could be transmitted. between two living minds, _-there was nothing irrational in the belief that, if individuals do survive death, they would possess the power to transfer their thoughts, not only among themselves, but to incarnate people also.

Symbology is a common method adopted by spirits for com­nmnication, especially when they wish to give their names to, or through, mediums, and one has only to think of the cnrious and complex natures of many of the symlJols employed, often to convey a quite simple fact or message, to see that they are adopted because of some inherent difficulty in the process of transference or some hindrance, presumably in the mental natme of the medium, which they cannot otherwiEc over­come.

It is interesting to notice that the spirit guides of medi nms adopt certain definite symbols and use them as frequently as is necessary. It seems as if practice makes perfect, in this as in other things, and so the spirits adopt the line of least resistance

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

The charge that Spiritualists, as a body, ' are more concerned with the next life than with this' has again been made, this time by our good friend Mr. Will Phillips, who, with the August issue, has discontinued his bright little monthly, 'The New Fellowship.' We sympathise with Mr. Phillips in his feeling of disappointment and fully anticipate .t]lat he will find a more ex­tended sphere for his ardent spirit iii.·wprk for the betterment of the conditions of rxii>tence of the workers in this world. At the same time we cannot help feeling that while there is some truth in his contention, it cannot well be otherwise. The Spirit­ualist movement, as such, is a protest against materialism and the tendency to limit thought and conduct to thi.~ world. Jt is, therefore, necessarily and primarily concerned with the study of ma1i's spiritual nature and destiny and the piling up of the evidence for continued existence after death. While this is true of the movement, it is equally true that individually Spiritualists are keen reformers, progressive thinkers, and ardent workers for human progress and well-being in both worlds. We deeply sympathise with every aspiration after the truer, purer, wiser and better life, and with every intelligent effort to secure happier condiLions of living for all-to, in short, approximately e:>tablish heaven on earth in the hearts and homes of the people every­where. We do not forget, however, that our especial purpose, mission, or service, as Spiritualists, is to emphasise and demon• strate that life is not bounded between the cradle and the coffin, that man does not live by bread alone, that moral values are based on spiritual realities, and that the ideal before us must include the hereafter as well as the here-and, while so many are limited to the here and so few believe or know of the here­after, it is our privilege and duty to largely devote our energies to the work before us-the overthrow of materialism and the proclamation of true spiritual science and religion.

In addition to the experi~nce narrated in ' Items of Interest ' in our last issue, l\Iiss Mack Wall sends us the following incident which further indicates that her friend possesses remarkable prophetic power.· Miss J.\IIack Wall says: 'A mere slight acquaintance of hers became engaged to be married. When first told of this, without knowing why, she felt herself impelled to say, "I wonder whether the marriage will take place." Time passed, the date of the wedding was fixed, &c., and she was being told all the arrangements made, when ag-.i.in she felt 'herself moved to say, "I wmider whether the wedding will take place." On this occasion the remark excited the ire of the person to whom it was addressed. Thii; was especially the case when she could girn no reason for it. The bride-elect went away to pay farewell visits. On the day appointed for her return the bridegroom-elect went to the station to !neet her-to learn, after a period of painful suspense, that she had been killed in the ·Grantham rail way accident.'

Mr. Andrew Lang, in his presidential addre~s to the Society for P8ychical Research, which is now published in the August issue of the 'Proceedil\gs,' paid a well-deserved tribute to Professor W. F. Barrett, who, he said,' introduced what we now call "telepathy" (or thought-transference) to the British .Association at Glasgow as early as 1870.' Further, Mr. Lang said that he could ' think of no work published under the auspices of the Society which contains more stable evidence of the existence of strange neglected faculties in human nature tran Professor Barrett's two papers on "The So-called Divining Rod." . . A faculty which had been dismissed to the limbo of popular superstitions turns out to be a fact, and a serviceable fact. I cannot but regret and condemn the flippancy of my Lord Byron, the poet. His mother-in-law, Lady Milbanke, was a dowser, or water-finder, with the dhining rod. On her regretted demise Lord Byron said that she would find the faculty useful in the place where, according to his theology, she had gone.'

The point of view from which we regard many things largely determines our conclusions. There is a wide difference between truth intellectually perceived and truth emotionally realised. The Theosophists almost always convert their truths into intel­lectual concepts, and can differentiate and analyse ad injinititm ; and he very logical over them withal A kindly corres­pondent writes : ' I remember how a friend once con­founded a controversialist of this type, who had been rail­ing at emotionalism, by inquiring if he knew that but for the emotions he would not be alive at all! So many things are real to the intellect, which to the emotional or intuitive consciousness have only a phantom or phenomenal existence.'

Miss Evelyn Underhill, in her book on 'Mysticism,' says: 'Broadly speaking, I understand it to be the expression of the innate tendency of the human spirit towards complete harmony with the transcendental order; whatever be the theological formula under which that order is understood. This tendency, in great mystics, gradually captures the whole field of conscious­ness ; it dominates their life and, iu the experience called "mystic union," attains its end. Whether that end be called the God of Christianity, the World-soul of Pantheism; the Absolute of Philosophy, the desire to attain it and the move­ment t.owards it-so long as this is a genuine life process and not an intellectual speculation-is the proper subject of mysti­cism. I lJelieve this movement to represent the true line of development of the highest form of· human consciousness.'

In ' The Star,' of Johannesburg, South Africa, for J tt.ly 24th, a correspondent writes : ' Last evening, in the course of a lecture to the Johannesburg Spiritualists' Society, on "Telepathy and Allied Phenomena," Mr. Brittlebank told his hearers : " I have myself seen two live pigeons come into the room. I have seen flowers drop in the dining-room where there was a good light from the hanging lamp ; likewise a chair keep time to the music 9f a violin. The heavy dining-table, seven foet long and about three feet six inches wide, on one occasion moved along at least a foot, and lifted at one corner. My hat has come through into a room on two occasions-once when the door was locked, and I have had the key in my pocket."' The 'Star ' correspondent, in a sad attempt to be funny, confesses to what he calls 'some similar experiences ' in his ' unregenerate days,' on an occasion when he was unable to find his key at all. Comment is needless.

A correspondent of the 'British Medical Journal ' says that his wife has an absolute horror of spiders. In childhood it gave rise to 'fearful screaming fits, lasting until the offending spider was removed.' Recently he was hastily summoned to the bed­room to 'find the spider.' A short search revealed a large spider at rest on a dark patch on the wall-paper. 'The signs by which she tells are a peculiar spinal thrill, and then a kind of mental " aura" proclaims the presence of the spider. . . I have never needlessly been summoned, and, moreover, she can tell at once in an absolutely dark room on which wall it'is probably. crawling-at any rate which of the four corners it is nearest. Her father's sister suffers from a similar faculty.' We <ire reminded of the nursery rhyme 'there came a big spider and sat down beside her, &c.' We have always .had doubts as to the wisdom of teaching children to · ]Je afraid of spiders~ indeed of anything.

An offer of a thousand pounds has been made for satisfactory proofs of thought-transference. The 'Daily News '· very aptly remarks: 'The advertiser is a solicitor ; the identity of the jury is not disclosed. Presumably they have agreed upon a standard or criterion of "proo'f" ; for, as we all know, there are some among us who would never admit, conviction in such matters. They would distrust all evidence, dispute anybody's word, refuse to believe theh- own senses, and deny every imaginable form of demonstration.'

August 26, 1911.) LIGHT. 407

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Editar is not responsible for the opinions expressed by correspon­dents, and sometimes publishes what he does not agree with for the purpose of presenting views which may elicit discitssion.

Mrs. Wriedt's Acknowledgments.

Srn,-At the close of my visit to Julia's Bmeau, and as a small acknowledgment of the kindness of Mr. Stead and Admiral Moore, I wish to express my warmest thanks t0 those gentlemen for my introduction to English investigators in Spiritualism. During my nine weeks' stay in London I have given seances to several hundreds of sitters, of many different nationalities. I am also greatly indebted to Mrs. and Miss Harper for their kind hospitality when in their home. I shall carry back with me to America a fond recollection of the new ties formed during this memorable epoch in my life. I wish to assure all those friends who have so kindly made known through 'LIGHT' their personal experiences at my circles of my sincere appreciation, and to thank Mr, T. Harper for his careful and accurate note-taking, by which an almost unbroken record of the evening sittings has been obtained.-Y ours, &c.;

ETTA WRIEDT. Detroit, U.S.A.

' Do Spirit People Eat, Drink and Sleep?'

Srn,-In 'LIGHT' of the 5th inst. Mr. W. Fraser asks if spirit people eat, drink and sleep, a,nd quotes some seemingly irreconcilable statements made by those who write about the spiritual world. To reconcile these statements we should con­sider what we understand by the words. Eating and drinking are necessary to sustain the body, but we should bear in mind that in certain sicknesses the body can be fed, or nourishment can be assimilated, in other ways than through the mouth.

After physical death the spirit is associated with and ex­presses itself through the spiritual, or 'astral,' body, which certainly requires for its maintenance a supply of similar etheric matter, or substance, which must be partaken of or ab(lorbed in some way. Now it is easy to suppose that one individual may characterise this function, according to his knowledge, or with regard to the understanding of his hearers, as eating and drinking, while another individual may deny that this assimila­tion is similar to our earth practices. I think each view has its confirmation according to the standpoint from which we consider it.

As regards sleeping, I can imagine that some individuals in the spiritland have need of sleep, or of periods of repose corresponding to what we call sleep. It depends always on the ability each one possesses to strengthen his capacities. And in this direction, in my seances, I have often been assured by the manifesting spirits that they awoke just as they appeared through the medium. This is a sign that many, if not all, who pass on, are sometimes in a somnolent state from which they awake; earlier or later, and into which they rnmetimes fall again. Therefore I think we can accept both statements without diffi­culty if we try to regard them from the standpoint of the writer or speaker.

Sure are we that we must continue our life after death with the experiences which we gather in this life, and I believe that this is not a matter of much importance, unla'!S we are content to be but an eater, drinker and sleeper, then these material habit!! will pursue us further, and fetter us in some directions.­Yours, &c.,

OEDOEN NEREI. Budapest, Hungary.

Srn,-Iu answer to Mr. W. Fraser's question on page 371, 'Do Spirit People Eat, Drink, and Sleep 1' permit me to relate the following incident : When qnite a yonng girl I used to 1:1pend a couple of months every year in Copenhagen, in the house of my mother's only sister, who was the wife of a gentle­man of great intellect and ability. They had three sons, also very gifted, all of whom have now passed to the great beyond. The sons must have been interested in Spiritualism, for I re­member that the second eldest once asked me to read Allan Kardec's book on 'Mediumship.' The work was ' Greek ' to me. I only understood 'faith' as preached in our orthodox Lutheran Church. My aunt was, I know now, a believer in the return of the departed, for she once related an experience which, I remember, made a lasting impression on my mind. It was as follows : A very dear friend of my aunt was lying ill unto death. l\fy aunt visited her regularly every week, but once, owing to her many social duties, she failed to do so. Two nights later she was suddenly roused out. of her sleep. By her bedside, as

she opened her eyes, she beheld the figure of her friend, clad in l1Cr dressing-gown. My aunt possessed a splendid nerve. In no wise disconcerted, she addressed the apparition, as far as I now rememlier, in these words: 'Oh, my dear, why have you come here 1' ' Oh, Louise,' came the despairing voice, bl1t in distinct accents, ' I am so hungry, so lmngry, and they will not give me anything to eat ! ' My aunt raised herself up in bed, but as she did so the figure vanished. She woke her husband, but he resented the disturbance, muttering something about 'nonsense,' and relapsed into sleep.

The next morning my aunt drove to her friend's house. She was met in the hall by the nurse, who told her that the patient 'died' during the night, and, she added, 'Before she died she begged me to give her food, but I would not. I was afraid anything solid would hurt her. There were two cold par­tridges left from the late dinner ; she knew it, and enti'eated me to let her have a taste.' The reader may draw his, or her, own conclusions.-Yours, &c.,

M. WOODMAN. Freemantle Croft, Four Marks, Rants.

Replies to 'Some Interesting Questions.' ..

Srn,-I will endeavour with your permission to reply very briefly to the questions of ' E. R. B.' on page 362.

'E. R. B.' asks, in the first place,' Do those who have passed over eat and drink 1 '

A disembodied spirit does not eat and drink. Eating and drinking belong to a purely physical condition, and are only: needful for the sustenance of a physical body. Once ·the physical body is laid aside by the change, miscalled ' death,' the spirit, set free from the environment of the body, at once functions on another plane under other conditions, and we may safely conclude that it has no need of that form of nourishment which appertains only to the physical and lower part of man's nature.

To the second question, 'Can a man have the same character without his body 1' the answer would seem to be that a man's character is not in his body but in his soul. The body is merely an em·elope in which the soul functions during its sojourn on the earth ; it is a medium for the soul's progress heavenwards. Man is a dual combination, and unless we understand how to separate his elements, we lose ourselves in wondering. We must try to realise that the body is physical, transitory and mortal, and that we shall cease to need it when we have left this earth plane.

The character, then, is the signpost of the development of the soul, not of the body. The body is only a seconrlary attribute ; it follows the dictates of the will ; it can do nothing of itself.

To the question referring to the relativity of love in the hereafter, let me urge that again we must clearly draw the dis~ tinction between the physical and spiritual parts of man, be­tween t:\J,e permanent and transitory, between the mortal and in1ti1ortal ·

Jack and Jill loved with the spiritual and squl part of their natures. This love took its rise in the higher conscious­ness of both of t;hem ; thus it blossomed, so to speak, in the s<ml element or permanent part of them, and, like the soul; was immortal. When Jill married the other man and became the mother of his children, and loved him, she loved him afte1'. the manner of her material and lower nature. There was nothing wrong in her love for this man ; it might have been a soul love, but for some reason it was not, and so, not having its founilation set in the ideal part of her, not taking its rise inthe soul, it was a love that perished. It belonged to the mortal, and therefore was laid aside with the mortal form. Jack, in the meantime, passed on to the bourne that lies beyond. There in the bright light of the angelic world, he began to see, to know and to understand. The lady of his dreams, the lady of his love, was still a cherished vision, but on the angelic plane his knowledge was extended ; he realised that personality and separateness belong essentially to the earth plane. His soul, opening out to a greater comprehension of the great cosmic love, the cosmic consciousness, understood that all love loses itself in the great oceav. of love.

Jack therefore loves Jill with a more intense affection than he ever knew before, but an affection so great, so pure, so god­like, that no physical thought of sex-union can desecrate it. Later, when Jill goes to him pure and lovely, the union which she contracted on earth with the other man will fade into the dim distance ; it will gradually dissolve and cease to be, as all that is mortal and transitory must cease to be. When the souls of Jack and Jill have more experience they will know that individual love is given us to teach us to understand the great cosmic love. We are all little children learning to love, and by and by, when we are grown up, we shall know what love really is in its folness, in its divineness,-Yours, &c.,

LAES,

408 LIGHT. [August 26, 1911.

A Boy's Prophetic Clairvoyant Vision.

Srn,-The following may be interesting to the readers of 'LIGHT.'

A few evenings ago a friend arranged a special circle at his home on account of two English visitors who were interested in the spirit work, at which a wonderful clairvoyant vision was given to my little boy, eleven years of age. He described a ship in course of erection (on the stocks) with a great number of men working on it, one of them, a young man, falling a considerable distance and being killed.

The name of the firm and name uf the yard in which the ship is being built were shown to him in large round letters on the wall. My friend who invited llB is employed with this firm of shipbuilders. Inside of twenty-four hours in the same firm's yard and ship a young man was killed just as the boy bad de­scribed it. I append the names and addresses of the friends who were present and who can vouch for the accuracy of this report.-Yours, &c.,

ROBERT ARDIS. 29, Clifton Drive, Belfast.

Mrs. Besant's Attitude towards Spirit~alism.

Srn,-In reply to Mrs. Hopper's letter in 'LIGHT' of August 19th, respecting Mrs. Besant's attitude to Spiritualism which repeats in a footnote a statement made to Mrs. Hopp~r by a correspondent, that 'Mrs. Besant, in her recent work ridicules the seances most exceedingly, &c.,' I should like to pofnt out to Mrs. Hopper-as, sir, you yourself indicated in 'LIGHT' of July 22nd-that it is difficult to contro\'ert such a very loose statement. It is not first band,. and even the name of the book in which Mrs. Besant is said to have 'ridiculed the seances most exceedingly ' is :not given. May I suggest to Mrs. Hopper that before writing to 'LIGHT' on the matter it would ha\·e been wiser to have addressed herself to her friend and obtained a defi: nite proof, the book and page being indicated, that Mrs. Besant did what she is accused of doing. It is rather a serious matter, for the accuser, not for the accused, to bring against a religious teacher remarkable for her liberality of thought and of opinion the accusation of ridiculing anyone's religious beliefs. Fron~ my personal knowledge of Mrs. Besant, I know. how very careful she is in both her lectures and writings to avoid hurting any­one's religious feelings, which she believ~s are sacred. Ridieule is not one of her weapons of attack. She relies rather on first­hand experience, logic, reason.

In one of Mrs. Besant's most recent works, 'Psychology ' I find Mrs. Besant, in the chapter entitled 'Proofs of the Exist~nce of the Soul,' p. 53, writing: 'We shall get the next definite proof from the experiments of our Spiritualistic brethren or of such men as Professor Crookes.' She says (p. 57),' It is foolish to deny these facts [i.e. of Spiritualistic phenomena]. They are on record and if you choose may be re-verified if you are doulitful. • . . . Such events do occur, and anyone who goes into it knows that they. occur ; and I say that although I do not approve of that line of investigation, although I think it dangerous and mischievous, none the less, if a person be a materialist and bas been led up to the point that we reach by the study of hypno­tism and by the study of dreams, he may very well then clinch a~ it were, ~is growing convfctions by getting, or much better b; himself trymg, some experiments along these lines. I do not advise you to do this unless you are a materialist. If you are it is worth the risk for the certainty.' .And this fa a view of Spiritualism I have heard Mrs. Besant assert again and again. - Yours, &c.,

ELISABETH SEVERS.

Seeing the Spirit Leave the Body.

Srn,-Having read the interesting articles in your paper on the 'Hypotheses of Bilocation,' I should like to contribute a curious experience of my own at the passing away of my father on August 19th three years ago.

I was watching by the bedside with a brother and sister through the night. My father had been unconscious all day and t?wards the end his breathing kept stopping, so that w~ sometimes thought he had passed away. Just after midnight he gave a gr!,1at sigh of relief and triumph, and, a moment afterwards, I saw a faint shadowy figure spring up from the body near the head. I saw it for only a second or two but it w~ ~mpressed so vividly o~ me that. I can see it still' in my mmd s eye. The strange tbmg about it was, that it was a young fi~1re, and not like that of a very old man, as my father was tliough yet like him-the reason for this being, I think, that m; father always had a young soul. Though he lived to the age of ninety-one, to within a fortnight of his death he kept his intellect as fresh and vigorous as that of a much younger man. .The shape

that I saw was misty, greyish, anil seemed to sprilig up with arms uplifted, as in triumphant joy and relief at being released from the poor, worn-out body. The other watchers by the bed could not believe for a minute or two after that my father was really gone, and the nurse felt the pulse and lield a glass to the lips. But I felt convinced that he had passed away at the moment I i;aw that triumphant figure spring up. I never mentioned what I had seen to anyone, being afraid I should ])e laughed at and disbel~eved. I felt no surprise at the time ; and while I was watclnng by the bedside I never expected anything like that having no conscious thought in my mind at all, my whole powe; ])eing concentrated in watching my father's face, which, I sup­pose, put me into a clairvoyant state.-Yours, &c.,

D.M.

SOCIETY WORK ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 20th, &c.

P1·0.~pective Notices, not exceeding twenty-four words, mDl/I be added to reports if acclJmllanied by stam@s to the value of sixpence.

MARYLEBONE SPIRITUALIST .A.ssOOIATION, 51, MORTDIER­STREET, W.-OW1Jendish Rooms.-Mrs. Place-Yeary gave many successful clairvoyant descriptions to a large audience.-15, Mor­timer-street, W,:_On the 14th inst. Mr. A. V. Peters gave con­vincing clairvoyant readings to many members and friends. Mr. Leigh Hunt presided at both meetings. Sunday next, see advt.

SPIRITUAL MISSION : 22, Prince's-street, Oxford-street.-At 7 p.m. Mr. G. R. Symons delivered an address on 'White Robes.' -67, George-street, W.-At 11 a.m. Mr. E. W. Beard, the presi­dent, gave an address under control on 'Blessings: Small and Great.'-E. W.

STRATFORD.-WoRKMEN's HALL, 27,· RoMFORD-ROAD, E.­M rs. J amrach's address on 'Is Spiritualism a Religion ? ' was followed by successful clairvoyant descriptions. Sunday next at 7 p.m., Miss Violet Burton. '

BRIXTON.-8, MAYALL-ROAD.-Nurse Dyer gave her first address for Spiritualism. Sunday next, Mrs. Boddington at 7 p.m. ; Lyceum at 3 p.m. Circles: Monday, at 7.30, ladies'; Tuesday, at 8.15, members'; Thursday, at 8.15, public.-G.W.

KINGSTON-ON-THAMES.-ASSEMBLY ROOMS, HAMPTON WICK. -Mr. Snowden Hall gave an instmctive address on 'Astrology.' Miss Brown sang. Sunda.y next, "27th inst .• at 7 p.m., first visit of Miss Florence Morse, of Manchester, who will give an address and clairvoyant descriptions.

BRIGHTON.-0LD TOWN HALL, HOVE, 1, BRUNSWICK-STREET WEST.-Excellent addresses were given by Mr. R. Boddington. Sunday next, at 11.15, public circle ; 7 p.m., addresses and clair­voyance by Mr. W. G. Thomas and Mrs. Curry. Monday, at 3 and 8, Wednesday, at 3, clairvoyance. Thursday, atB, circle.

BRIGHTON.-MANCHESTER-STREET (OPPOSITE AQUARIUM).­Mrs. Fielding gave very interesting addresses and a few good clairvoyant descriptions. Sunday next, at 11.15 a.m. and 7 p.m., Mr. Tayler Gwinn. Tuesday, at 8, and Wednesday, at 3 p.m., Mrs. Clarke's open circles for clairvoyance. Thursday, at 8 members' developing circle.-A. M. S. '

CROYDON.-ELMWOOD HALL, ELMWOOD-ROAD, BROAD-GREEN. -Morning and evening, Mrs. M. H. Wallis gave answers to questions and an address, followed by clairvoyant descriptions. On August 27th harvest festival services will be held at 11.15 a.m. and 7 p.m. Mr . .Alfred Vout Peters will give addresses and clairvoyance.

PECKHAM.-LAUSANNE HALL, LAUSANNE-ROAD.-Moming the tlBual circle was held; evening, Mr. Johnson delivered a~ instructive address on 'Eastern Philosophy.' A good after-circle. Next Sunday.morning, circle; evening, an address. September 10th, 7 p.m., Mrs. Mary Davies.. September 17th, Mr. H. Boddington. Healing circle on Tuesdays, and prayer meeting and public circle on Thursdays.-.A.. 0. S.

MANOR P ARK.-CORNER OF SHREWSBURY AND STRONE­ROAD.-Mrs. Roberts gave an address on 'Sheaves' and Mr. Roberts gave some clairvoyant descriptions. Thursday, 17th inst., Mrs. Mary Davies spoke on 'Thought Power and its Vibra­tions,' and gave clairvoyant delineations. Sunday next, at 7 p.m. }fr. Karl Reynolds, and on Sunday, September 3rd, at 7, Nurse Grabam.-C. W. T.

HIGHGATE.-GROVEDALE HALL, GROVEDALE-ROAD. - Mrs. Mary Davies' uplifting address on 'The Brotherhood of Man' was followed by clairvoyant descriptions. Evening, Mrs. Pod­more gave an inspiring addre~s on ' Love,' touching on the present unrest, and gave clairvoyant descriptions. 16th, Mr. W. R. Stebbens gave psychometrical readings. Sunday next, at 11.15, Mr. J. Abrahall; 7 p.m.; Mr. R. Boddington. Wednes­day, Mrs. A. Jamrach. September 3rd, Mr. G, R. Symons, Lycet1m every Su:nday at 3.-J. F.