Although the subjoined letter has been published in various channels,
as well as in a separate pamphlet, I deem it proper to record it in
this work, as, otherwise, many who may see the one might not see the
other. It will be perceived that the substance of my second letter has
been already incorporated in the preceding pages, (714 to 776.) Of
course it is to the first letter that I now allude, and which I intend
to record here.
_Letter from Dr. Hare to the Clergy of the Protestant Episcopal
Church, offering to lay before them the New Evidence of Immortality._
(_Submitted to the late Convention, Philadelphia, May 15, 1855._)
REVEREND AND DEAR SIRS: Having, from my youth, been on friendly terms
with the clergy of the Episcopal Church, within the pale of which I
was born and christened; having, in fact, had among the clergy of that
church some excellent friends and relatives,—it has been a source of
regret that I have not been able to see doctrines deeply affecting
the happiness of mankind in the same light. I am, however, fully
sensible of the kindness and courtesy with which I have been treated
by clergymen in general, and especially by those of the church above
designated. I have always been under the belief that in no part of the
globe, nor at any period of human history, has a priesthood existed
as moral, as sincere, and truly pious as those of my country; and
among that priesthood, I believe, none have stood higher in these
qualifications than such as are of the Episcopal Church.
It is happy for me that of late I have, in one respect, found myself
more in accordance with the Christian clergy: I allude here to the
awakening of perfect confidence in the immortality of the soul.
There was on this subject, heretofore, this difference between my
sentiments and those of my clerical friends, that while I hoped for
a future state, I was no less skeptical respecting the evidence of
witnesses who lived some thousand years ago than of those who have,
in modern times, alleged themselves to have witnessed supernatural
manifestations. I required in the former case, no less than in the
latter, intuitive proof; or the consistent testimony of independent
observers having sufficient sense, knowledge, and integrity to make
reliable witnesses.
Happily, in the case of Spiritualism, both of these tests have been
afforded to me, so that I now believe in a future state no less firmly
than the orthodox Christian.
Like St. Paul, in the case of Christianity, I entered upon the
investigation of Spiritualism with a view to refutation; but the very
instruments which I contrived to accomplish that object produced the
opposite effect.
If human testimony is not to be taken when advanced by contemporaries
known to be conscientious, truthful, and well informed, how is it to
be relied on with respect to those of whom we know nothing available
beside what their own writings mention?
I am prepared to submit a communication respecting the spirit world
from my father, sanctioned by a convocation of spirits, whose
approbation was manifested by means which no mortal could pervert.
The practical influence on my mind has been to make me far more
happy, to remove all fear of death, and to render me more watchful as
to my deportment in life. I know that my sainted parents, and other
relatives and friends, my children who died in infancy, are around me,
witnessing every act and exercising a limited power over my safety and
my health.
Mourning for the dead now seems to be groundless, and at all events
can be indulged only upon selfish considerations. But who would grieve
deeply at a transient separation, even for years, from friends made
happier by the change, when sure of a happy reunion ultimately?
No evidence of any important truth in science can be shown to be more
unexceptionable than that which I have received of this glorious fact,
that heaven is really “at hand,” and that our relatives, friends, and
acquaintances who are worthy of happiness, while describing themselves
as ineffably happy, are still progressing to higher felicity; and
while hovering aloft in our midst, are taking interest in our welfare
with an augmented zeal or affection, so that, by these means, they may
be a solace to us, in despite of death.
As the reverend clergy of the Episcopal Church are about to meet in
Philadelphia, I deem it my duty to afford them an opportunity of
hearing the evidence on which I rely; and which, with _due effort_,
they can have subjected to their own intuition.
Should the clergy deem it expedient to listen to my exposition, I
shall be ready to answer any queries which may be made.
I am aware that there may be considerations which may justify the
clergy in declining to hear me. I have never, in my own case, deemed
it wise to seek abstract right at the expense of practical evil. I
would not urge persons in certain official stations to become converts
to Spiritualism, lest it should, by consequent unpopularity, interfere
with their usefulness, as in the case of Judge Edmonds; and a like
objection must arise as to the conversion of clergymen, so far as
to bring their convictions in competition with their professional
vocation. Orthodox Christians are generally educated to believe not
only that the revelation on which they rely is true, but that no
other can be justifiable. Hence they are evidently displeased that
spiritualists should allege themselves to have come by other means
to that belief in immortality which is admitted on all sides to be
the greatest comfort under the afflictions to which temporal life is
liable.
There is, moreover, this discordancy in doctrine: Agreeably to
Scripture, man is placed here for probation, and is liable to
be _eternally_ punished if he prove delinquent. According to
Spiritualism, man is placed here for progression, and when he goes to
the next world, still will have the opportunity to progress, however
wicked he may be when he departs this life.
It is conceived by spiritualists that if, as the orthodox allege,
God be omnipotent, he can make his creatures to suit his will; if he
be omniscient, he must know what they are when made; and if he be
prescient, he can foresee what they will be, and consequently cannot
have the smallest conceivable motive for exposing them to probation.
I foresee that it may not be deemed expedient to take any notice of
this letter; but whatever may be the result in this way, does not
interfere with the propriety of my putting it in your power to avail
yourselves of my offer; since I have a sanction from a higher source,
the spirit of the immortal Washington, the proofs of whose communion
with me I am prepared to submit to any respectable inquirers.
I am aware that this language would, a few years ago, have made
me attach the idea of insanity to the author; but this cannot,
nevertheless, in the slightest degree, be deducible from it now, from
the notorious fact that the same monomania is never entertained by any
two persons, and in _my hallucination_, if it _be such_, there are a
multitude of participators. That is to say, there are a multitude of
persons of every grade who believe that they have communicated with
their spirit friends, as I have with mine; and who, like me, have
believed themselves to have held communion with the spirits of some of
the most distinguished men who have departed this life. A faith in the
miracles of the New Testament may as well be adduced as insanity as
belief in spiritual manifestations under these circumstances.
The fact that manifestations have been made and truthfully described
has been admitted by the Catholic Church, but are ascribed to Satanic
agency.
Let the doctrines of Spiritualism, and those of the church in
question, be compared, in order to determine which owes most to Satan.
The existence of a devil being admitted, was there ever a more fertile
source of diabolical intolerance than the idea that a peculiar belief
being necessary to save men’s souls from hell fire, any temporal evil
to which mortals might be subjected to coerce belief, would be as
justifiable as the forcible extirpation of an incipient cancer from
the body of a child unwilling to submit to the operation? If ever
there was a devil’s agency, it may be seen in the auto-da-fé, the
Inquisition, and the massacre of St. Bartholomew’s day.
Of the same devilish character was the execution of Servetus by
Calvin, or the persecution of the Quakers and witches by the Puritans.
Respectfully, your well-wisher, ROBERT HARE.