SPIRITUALISM.
"Prosaic after death, our spirits then
Invent machinery to talk with men;
* * * * *
And Shakespeare's spirit visits earth to tell
How he and Washington are very well;
And Lindley Murray, from the body free,
Can't make his verbs and nominatives agree;
Ben Franklin raps an idiotic dream,
And Webster scrawls vile twaddle by the ream;
That splendid knave, Lord Bacon, has turned fool,
And Penn's great soul is busy keeping school.
Well may the living poet heave a sigh
To think his spirit, stooping from the sky
When he is dead, can rap at mortal call,
Bad rhymes and wretched metre on a wall!
Well may the hero shudder in despair,
Whose soul can choose to animate a chair;
And the great statesman, sinking in the tomb,
To rise, and wheel a table round a room!"
[Sidenote: _Spiritualism--A Memorable Meeting on the Subject_.]
One night we had a most amusing spiritualistic meeting at the rooms
where the Society usually met, somewhere near the British Museum. It
was a night appointed for a very great gathering to hear Richard speak
on Spiritualism. The Spiritualists in 1878 were as anxious to claim
him as one of their Chiefs, as the Agnostics were in 1891-2, after
his death. Richard was the honestest, most truthful man I ever knew;
whatever he said he believed, but he believed a great deal more than
he said. He was such a many-sided man, that one individual could not
understand him; they could only see the one light presented to their
eye, and could not imagine the others. He was so anxious to get to the
highest of the high, that he studied everything, and amongst others
every religion, and when he thought he knew it he took the good out
of that religion, and practised it. Now, he thought that if several
manifestations which we had witnessed could be pushed further, and
especially one of which he was one of seven, that we should have a
closer connection with the other world, and for I cannot tell how many
years we pursued this phantom, and the more we saw the more puzzled we
got; for it never came up either to a Roman Catholic miracle, nor the
Sufi's mysticism, which he had practised so long in the East. And in
practical England, where there was generally so much money in the case,
there was three-quarters of a pound of humbug or jugglery to one ounce
of spiritual matter; and Richard at last became convinced that we were
on the verge of a new science, which any one who had time and power
to grasp this will-o'-the-wisp could turn to good practical account,
just as in old days with steam, railways, telegraph, telephones, and
electricity in all its branches. At times he and I together got very
near something, he being the power, and I the medium (this he called
the sixth sense), and then we lost all trace and gave it up. I was not
sorry, because I was always in hot water with my Church every time we
had a _séance_. I think, or rather, I should say, _he_ thought, that
people should not make a religion of it, and only use it for scientific
experiments. He did not believe in the "communion with the dead"
through _that_ medium--if for no other reason, that, as a spirit is
supposed to know all things, the spirits that came were always just as
illiterate as their invokers. They dropped their _h_'s in exactly the
same place where he or she did, and used exactly the same expression,
and were just or rather more vulgar, especially the joking spirits.
We had an excellent example of that, when a doctor, whom I will not
name, provided us with a splendid specimen for clairvoyant treatment,
and the soul of an Italian doctor presented himself and spoke through
the medium, who was evidently unaware that Richard and I could speak
anything else but English; and upon being asked certain questions, he
spoke a little broken English, with two or three words of very bad
Portuguese. We looked at each other, and we talked to him in Italian,
Portuguese, and Spanish; but he knew none of the three, which an
Italian spirit certainly would have done. His coming to was a splendid
bit of acting, and we had to pay our guinea for the medical advice
therein. This night, of which I write, Richard made the following
speech:--
From _The Spiritualist_, December 13, 1878.
"THE BRITISH NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SPIRITUALISTS.
"_The Debate on Captain Burton's Paper._
"The usual fortnightly meeting of the British National Association of
Spiritualists was held at 38, Great Russell Street, on Monday evening,
the 2nd instant. The chair was taken by Mr. Desmond Fitz-Gerald,
M.S.Tel.E., and the rooms were crowded to excess, the paper to be
read being by the renowned traveller, Captain R. F. Burton.
"The Chairman--Ladies and gentleman, I have to go through a work of
supererogation in introducing to you a gentleman with whose reputation
at least you are already well acquainted. I have to introduce you to
a gentleman who of old did great service to Spiritualism by defending
the Davenport Brothers when they were unjustly attacked. I have to
introduce you to a gentleman who, if he believed that Spiritualism
or any part of it were a great truth, would, without any doubt,
unhesitatingly and fearlessly stand up and support his convictions;
I have to introduce you, in fact, to the modern Bayard, our English
_chevalier sans peur et sans reproche_. After paying to him a _devoir_
which sounds like a compliment, but which is not one, I have to say
that I stand here rather anxiously awaiting what Captain Burton has
to say in relation to Spiritualism. I know he is not quite one of
ourselves; I know he is a very hard hitter, and if there are any flaws
in our armour, I know he will make it ring again; but I feel certain
we shall take every observation he may make in good part, being
certain of the honesty and good intent of the speaker. (Applause.)
I feel that I cannot sit down without mentioning the name of Mrs.
Burton. (Applause.) Captain Burton is in my eyes, and I believe I
represent the feeling of all those who know him, or even only know his
reputation, one of the finest specimens of manhood I have ever had the
honour to stand beside, and I must say of Mrs. Burton that I consider
her the finest specimen of womanhood I have ever met. She is a lady of
high birth, but she is something more, something higher than that. She
is a true woman, who has over and over again stood beside her husband
in times of trouble and imminent danger, and it is a great honour
to me to be in the position of introducing you to our distinguished
visitors this evening. With this little preamble, I will at once call
upon Captain Burton to read his paper. (Applause.)
"SPIRITUALISM IN EASTERN LANDS.
[Sidenote: _Richard's Lecture_.]
"I felt highly honoured when your energetic secretary, Miss
Kislingbury, proposed to me a lecture in these rooms. It is, indeed a
privilege; for here we Students may speak out what we honestly believe
to be the truth, without fear of those brother-foes, the Theologian
and the Scientist--the Black Terror and the Red Terror.
"The subject allotted to me for this evening is 'Spiritualism'
(or rather Magnetism, Occultism, and similar matters) 'in Eastern
Lands,' and I would obtain your leave to enter into a personal matter
which may interest Spiritualists. As regards standpoint, it can
matter little to an audience what may be the opinions, spiritual or
unspiritual, psychological or unpsychological, of one whose humble
duty is to collect and narrate a few facts. But it would hardly be
fair to enter upon such a subject without briefly laying down the
standpoint from which it is viewed. Of course the _point de vue_ is
that of the individual who pretends to be right individually, but
who has no pretension to be right either absolutely or relatively to
others.
"The standpoint is intelligent enough. Seen from it, life is nothing
but the innate condition of man's material and sensuous organization;
as the old Materialist said, 'it is the _swabhám_ (nature of things)
which thinketh in man.' Consciousness, concerning which battle still
rages, is not a 'quality of the sentient principle, or, in other
words, the soul;' but a condition of life inexplicable to us at
present--a life itself. The supernatural is the natural misunderstood
or improperly understood--we cannot say where nature either begins or
ends. The superhuman is the superlative of human; we know what our
senses and their 'interpenetration' teach us, but no man--positively,
absolutely, no man--neither deity nor devil--angel nor spirit--ghost
nor goblin--has ever wandered beyond the narrow limits of this
world--has ever brought us a single idea or notion which belongs to
another and a different world--has ever eluded the simple cognizance
of man's five wits. 'I refuse,' says Verax, 'to doff my hat and go
on my knees and strip myself of all that is deemed spiritual in my
being, in deference to an arbitrary negation, which they who propound
it profess their inability to maintain.' Let him keep his hat on, and
point out one single spiritual entity which is not subject to our
animal senses, or rather to the brain which directs them. With such
belief, or absence of belief, I must be contented to remain, as a
facetious friend said, 'a Spiritualist without the Spirits.'
"An Agnostic, who can have no knowledge save that which his senses
bring to him, is necessarily a materialist. By 'matter,' or molecular
structure, or concourse of atoms, or whatever you please to call
it, the Common Sense of mankind, our supreme arbiter of physics and
metaphysics, understands that which is perceptible to, or cognizable
by, the senses. When Berkeley proves logically that spirit only
exists, we admire the ingenuity with which he shows that white is
black and black is white. Like the Hindú philosopher he inverts the
normal mode of definition by calling the invisible prototypes the
only reality. Similarly, when Schopenhauer, the Buddhist of modern
Europe, assures us that 'in reality there is neither matter nor
spirit,' we note that he has adopted the Hindú idea of _Mâyâ_, or
universal illusion; and that he reduces all existence to will and
manifestation--will in motion being force, and force producing matter.
When it is proved to us that matter does not 'exist,' we recognize a
quirk or conceit in the use of the verb 'to exist.' Meanwhile, this
chair, this table, these walls, and all with them are of matter,
material. And that suffices for everyday use.
"We avoid asserting that spirits do not exist; we fear being called
upon to prove a negative; and we students are addicted to 'suspension
of judgment'--a mental operation apparently distasteful to the
multitude. But we affirm that if they do exist, they are material. As
you see upon these walls they allow themselves to be photographed;
therefore, they have substance, shape, and size; upstairs a simple
instrument shows you their connection with weight. We, therefore,
conclude that there are ample grounds for holding these spirits to
be, like ourselves, of the world, mundane, of the earth, earthy. And
when Spiritualists speak of a 'materialized spirit,' I can think only
of a form of speech whose genus is _Taurus_, species _Hibernicus_.
Similarly Lucretius makes Epicurus argue that the soul is material
because all its belongings are of the material world. And Paracelsus,
the mighty adept, declared 'the imagination of man is a seed which is
material.'
"We, a goodly company, thus place ourselves in direct opposition with
immaterial animisers. We regret the term 'psychic force' applied to
zoo-electricity, because it asserts a soul-theory. We claim to know
the genesis of the soul, the place and almost the date of its birth.
The beautiful conception of a refined body-form, denoted by the golden
heart of the mummy, was familiar to the ancient Egyptian who, as Mr.
Bonwick lately told you, had a soul's soul, as well as a body's soul.
And, note, that your modern belief in perispirits and spirit-forms
is that of the heathenry on the banks of the Nile who disbelieved
in Moses. The Hebrews, Moses included, agreed to banish from their
system a Soul-land, a Spirit-land, a Ghost-land, a Kutome, or
Dead-man's-land, as Dáhome calls it; in other words, a future world,
a state of rewards and punishments. Contented with _Ruach_ (Arabic
Ruh), the 'breath,' that is, the sign and symbol of life, these
sturdy materialists wanted no Gentile '_Atma_' (soul) in addition
to '_Mátrá_' (matter). In Asia the fair vision may be traced to the
Guebres, who taught it to the Jews during the captivity at Babylon:
their subsequent teaching, Manicheism, or Dulism, the antagonism of
light and darkness, good and bad, god and devil, positive and negative
electricity is, still, and long will be, a power in the world of
faith. In Europe it arose amongst the fair humanities of pagan Greece
and Rome; as Cupid and Psyche prove, it did noble service to the
poets; while prosaic Pliny declared that 'to seek for other beings
external to him, is not only useless to man, but beyond his power.'
St. Paul introduced into Christendom the threefold idea of a natural
body, which could become a glorified body, of a soul, and of a spirit;
while the moderns remark, 'Our ideas of the soul are not what they
were a century ago; a century hence they will not be what they are
now.' Personally, I ignore the existence of soul and spirit, feeling
no want of a self within a self, an I within an I. If it be a question
of words, and my _ego_, or subject, as opposed to the _non-ego_,
or object; or my individuality, the concourse of conditions which
differentiates me from others, be called a soul, then I have a soul,
but not a soul proper. For some years, however, I have managed to live
without what is popularly called a soul; and it would be hard to find
one violently thrust into the recusant body.
"But why do the Spiritualists so violently rage against us? Why these
wails concerning the 'awful spread of materialism'? The Church hates
the admirable Epicurus above all other heathen sceptic-sages, simply
because he would abolish Churchmen. Is this the standpoint of the
psychologist? Can there be anything less rational than the phrase
which has of late grown popular, 'The dark and debasing doctrines of
materialism'? Listen to the latest words of the learned Serjeant Cox:
'The pursuit of psychology ("_Psyche_," my pretty maid) is certainly
as elevating as that of materialism is degrading. The eyes of the
materialists are fixed upon the earth. Psychology at least looks up
to the heavens (blank sky and air). The regards of materialism are
only for the present; psychology has a future'--let me add, a very
unpleasant future, if Spiritualists say true. Hear, again, the words
of one who was called in his day _l'austère intrigant_--'Belief in
the supernatural is a fact, natural, primitive, universal, and
consistent in the life and history of the human race. Unbelief in the
supernatural begets materialism; materialism, sensuality; sensuality,
social convulsions, amid whose storms men again learn to believe and
pray' (Guizot). Granted to thee, O theologian! a personal Demiourgos,
an anthropomorphic creator, by what right canst thou limit his power,
his omnipotence? Surely the baser the material, the greater the feat
which works it out into the noblest of forms. Far more wisely speaks
an Eastern poet--
'Is not the highest honour His who from the worst can draw the best?
May not your Maker make the world from matter, at His own behest?
Nay, more; the sordider the stuff, the cunninger the workman's hand--
Cease, then, your own Almighty Power to bind, to bound, to understand!'
* * * * *
But man--made, we are told, in the image of God--has returned the
good office by modelling his God after his own very human fashion.
This is the anthropomorphism, the 'theanthropism' of Mr. Gladstone,
concerning which the great master, Aristotle, wrote, 'Men create the
gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form, but
with regard to their mode of life.' Meanwhile, I hold it to be one of
the brightest features of our times--this gospel derisively called 'of
Doubt and Denial.' It shows the firm resolve of mankind no longer to
be fooled with the fallacies of many faiths; his longing to supplant
the fatuous fires of belief by the pure daylight of present reason,
and his determination to shed the lively ray of science upon the dark
deceits and delusions, the frauds, the follies, and the failures of
the past.
"And yet another objection. The scientist, in his turn, is addicted
to laying down terms and bounds to the immeasurable field of human
knowledge in the ages to come. He assures us, for instance, that we
shall never know the connection between the body and the soul--for
there are scientists who still have souls. I would ask--By what manner
of authority can man lay down such a _ne plus ultra_? We hold, under
certain limitations, the law of development--of progress--to be the
normal order of the world. What, then, will be the result when the
coming races shall have surpassed the present as far as the present
has surpassed the man of the Quaternary and, possibly, the Tertiary
ages? Meanwhile the antidevelopists, theological and scientific,
who cling to the obsolete and immoral doctrine of degradation, are
bound to find, sunk deep below earth's surface, vestiges and remains
of ancient civilization in an ever-ascending scale; they must show
us, in fact, water running up to its source. They are bound to
produce, amongst the old stone folk, a cave-man who, by his noble and
symmetrical skull, his delicate jaw, his short forearm, his straight
shin, and, possibly, his 'hyacinthine locks,' shall receive the fading
honours of Father Adam and Mother Eve. Lord Beaconsfield is 'all on
the side of the Angels.' I cannot but hold to the apes. And if he be
a fallen angel, I, at least, am a Simiad that has done something to
develop itself.
"Before entering upon magnetism and occultism in Eastern lands, will
you kindly allow me a few words of personal explanation? In 1876
I addressed to the _Times_ the following note upon extra-sensuous
perception in the mesmeric state, suggesting the universality of the
so-called 'spirit' phenomena:--
"'Sir,--Seeing my name quoted in your columns (October 30, 1876)
as one of those who have "certified to the genuineness of spirit
phenomena," I venture to request the briefest of hearings. The
experience of twenty years has convinced me that (1) perception is
possible without the ordinary channels of the senses; and (2) that I
have been in presence of a force or a power, call it what you will,
evidently and palpably material if, at least, man be made of matter;
but I know nothing of what is absurdly called Spiritualism, and I must
be contented to be at best a Spiritualist without the Spirits.
"'Some such force or power the traveller is compelled to postulate,
even in the absence of proof. He finds traces of it among all peoples,
savage as well as civilized; and it is evidently _not_ a "traditional
supernaturalism." This all but absolute universality claims for it the
right to rank in the "suprahuman category" of the late Lord Amberley,
who did not hold, as I do, the superhuman and the supermundane to
be the human and the mundane imperfectly understood. Even mere
barbarians, as "the Earl" tells us in his last pleasant book, have
learnt to juggle with it; and I fear that many a professional "medium"
has, at times, when the legitimate agent failed him, learnt to
supplement it by sleight-of-hand, pure and simple. In 1835 the late
Mr. Lane startled the public with his account of the Cairo magician
and the drop of ink in the boy's hand; and "Eothen" vainly attempted
to explain the phenomenon as a "tentative miracle." Had the public
read the "Qanoon-i-Islam" by Dr. Herklots, instead of passing over
it as a cookery-book, they would have found the very same process
everywhere utilized in India. Colonel Churchill's 'Mount Lebanon'
(1853) again describes a notable feat performed by a Druze medium,
which distinctly comes under the head of "Materialized Spiritualism,"
to use the "Irish bull" now in vogue,--I am, sir,' etc., etc.
"That 'perception is possible without the ordinary channels of
sensation' is a hard saying. The Press took it up; and, I am
told, the small boys at Norwood amused themselves by shouting to
one another, 'Take care where yer going! yer havn't got Captain
Burton's six senses!' But I meant simply to state my conviction
that the senses--which, little known to us as the 'Laws of Nature,'
after the study of twenty-four centuries, still conceal so many
secrets--sometimes are, and often may be made, independent of their
organs. Who amongst you cannot quote cases of men being strangely
affected by the presence of some animal? You have all heard of Henri
III. and of the Duke of Schomberg, who could not sit in a room where
there was a cat. A notable instance of this occurred in my own
family--a brave soldier who had fought through many a campaign, and
yet who turned pale and faint in the feline presence. He neither saw,
smelt, heard, felt, nor tasted the cat; the fact of its being there was
enough.
"Again, why should not the brain, or the nervous system, or whatever
controls the sensuous processes of man, be able, when artificially
excited, stimulated, exalted--as by mesmerism or somnambulism--to
see, hear, and feel for itself; see, without eyes; hear, without
ears; feel, without fingers? In other words--Why should it not be
capable of clairvoyance and clairaudience? I assert that it does, and
many in this room will support my assertion. A learned physician and
devout Catholic--Dr. F. Lefebre, Professor of Pathology at highly
orthodox Louvain--goes so far as to affirm 'it is possible that the
somnambulists' power of foresight may be raised to a degree far above
the ordinary level, and that they can sometimes penetrate into the
future so far as to excite our utmost astonishment.' In fact, this
honest and courageous scientist confesses his belief in 'second sight.'
Thus the heterodoxies of yesterday become the orthodoxies of to-day.
That sturdy incarnation of common sense, Dr. Johnson, the Philistine
Colossus of English literature, would certainly, had Spiritualism been
developed in his day, have become a thorough-paced Spiritualist. The
theory of extra-sensuous perception of things sensuous is to be proved
or disproved, not by hard words, not by mere logic, but by experiment
and facts. Meanwhile I hold myself justified in believing it to be
true, and others equally justified in believing it to be false. As the
wise man said, 'Different people have different opinions.' And in our
present transitional empirical state of knowledge unanimity appears
hopeless. Half the world of Christendom believes that 'miracles' still
take place; the other half denies their taking place: and who shall
decide between them?
"When my note appeared in the _Times_, that picturesque paper, the
_Daily Telegraph_--whose peculiar gifts are _not_ what it claims,
'logic' and 'common sense'--took up arms. With a war-whoop _à la
jingo_, and a flourish of the tomahawk, which on this occasion assumed
the guise of that weapon so deadly in the hands of a certain Hebrew
Hercules, he proceeded to demolish me (November 14, 1876). 'How,' he
asks, 'can a man _perceive_ a cat in the room without the sensation of
sight?' I am not bound to answer his 'how;' I affirm that man can do
it, that he has done it, and that he still does it. Again, 'How can he
_perceive_ a clap of thunder without the sense of hearing?' Let me
ask, in return, how many there are--some perhaps in this room--whose
nervous systems infallibly tell them, without the intervention of the
'Five Deluders,' that 'thunder is in the air'? After fixing upon me
the term 'Suprahuman,' which I quoted from the late Lord Amberley's
last book, he lectures me upon Eastern jugglery, as if I had never
been out of Fleet Street. He asks, with that mock-humility so well
known of old, in what the medium's 'legitimate agent' may consist? I,
on my side, would inquire what he understands by sanative mesmerism or
somnambulism--is it lawful or unlawful? He would shed a Saurian tear
over my lapse from grace: 'It is melancholy to find a man of strong
common sense indulging in such nonsense as this.' Finally, because I
hold to 'nervous perception,' which may be called a sixth sense, after
the fashion of one proposed by John Stuart Mill, he threatens me with
_hysteria_, which again is not sound physiology, and (horrible to say!)
with 'confirmed insanity.'
"The 'Cairo magician,' whose ink-mirror in the boy's hand startled
the public through Lane's 'Modern Egyptians '(chap. xii. vol. ii. p.
99, edit. 1846), is probably familiar to all in this room. Not so the
account of the same phenomenon, given by Dr. Rossi (_Gazette Médicale
de Paris_, February, 1860). This physician, established at Cairo, has
supplied ample details concerning the methods employed by the Egyptian
sorcerers to produce sleep accompanied by insensibility.
"'In this land of tradition,' writes Dr. Rossi, 'in this country where
what was done forty centuries ago is still done at the present day,
there exists a class of persons who gain their living by the profession
of _Mandieb_.' [The latter is a mistake for Darb el Mandal,[1] as the
Arabs call the process.]
"'The effects produced by them, hitherto spoken of with contempt as
charlatanism, are the same as those lately published by Dr. John Braid
(1843). Still further, as you had foreseen by scientific induction,
hypnotism in their hands is merely the first link of the chain which
ends by the phenomena of "magnetic somnambulism," discovered by the
Marquis de Puységur in 1784. They proceed in the following manner. They
generally make use of a perfectly white platter of earthenware. This is
the luminous object of Braidism. In the centre of this plate they draw,
with pen and ink, two triangles crossing each other,[2] and fill up the
space occupied by this geometrical figure with cabalistic words, the
probable object being to concentrate the sight upon a limited point.
Finally, to increase the brightness of its surface, they pour a little
oil upon it.
"'Generally speaking, they choose a young subject[3] for their
experiments, and make him fix his eyes on the centre of the double
triangle. Four or five minutes after[4] the following effects are
produced. The patient begins to see a black spot in the middle of the
plate; some minutes later, this black spot grows larger, changes its
shape, and transforms itself into different apparitions, which float
(or rather pass in procession) before the subject. Having reached this
point of hallucination, the patient often acquires a somnambulistic
lucidity as extraordinary as that of those who are magnetized.
"'There are, however, some of these Shaykhs who, more simple in their
preparations, without having recourse to geometrical figures or
cabalistic words, cause the simple hypnotism and somnambulism of Dr.
Braid, by making the subject fix his eyes upon one of those glass balls
which contain oil, and serve for lamps.'
"Before these lines had been written, a Member of the Institute, Count
Léon de Laborde, bought from an 'Arab magician' at Cairo, of the
confraternity of Lane's Shaykh Abd-el-Kadir, the secret of apparitions
in the hollow of the hand. Children taken at hazard see with as much
ease as through a _lucarne_ (skylight) men moving, appearing and
disappearing (_Revue des Deux Mondes_, August, 1840).
"Had the learned public been a little better read, they would have
known what Dr. Herklots wrote some three years before Lane's account
caused so much excitement, 'fluttering the doves' that began at once
to shriek 'Necromancy.'[5] In the 'Qanoon-i-Islam' (chap. xxxiii.
pp. 376-378. London: Parbury and Allen, 1837), translated by Dr. G.
A. Herklots, we find Section I. devoted to the 'viewing of _Unjun_
(anjan), or the magic mirror.'[6] The author says, 'For the purpose
of ascertaining where stolen goods are concealed, or the condition of
the sick whenever possessed by the Devil, or where treasure has been
buried, they apply _Unjun_ to the palm of a child or an adult, and
desire him to stare well at it.' This art is practised by Jogis,[7]
Sányasis, and other Hindú devotees, who use it to ascertain the exact
position of buried treasure. The 'Dafínah,' in India, emits fire-sparks
at night, and rolls about like a ball of flame. Our author continues:
'The person to the palm of whose hand _Unjun_ is applied, occasionally
mutters a great deal of ridiculous nonsense. For example, that "at such
and such a place there is a _lota degchah_, or _kurrahee_, full of
rupees, etc., buried."'[8]
"_Unjun_, we are told, is of five kinds, viz.:--
"1. _Urth_ (arth) _Unjun_, used to discover stolen goods. This is
prepared by triturating various roots, for instance, that of the _Abrus
precatorius_, or carat tree, in water. It is thus applied to the inside
of a piece of earthen pot which must be new and pure, and placed
inverted over a lamp lighted with (fresh) castor oil. The lamp-black is
collected, mixed with oil, and applied to the hand of a footing child,
who, we are told, 'particularly details everything regarding what is
wanted.'
"2. _Bhoot_ (bhut) _Unjun_ is similar, but used chiefly for
ascertaining what regards devils, evil spirits, and spirits, and the
condition of the sick.
"3. _D'hunna_ (dhanná) _Unjun_ is composed of a lot of white cloth
dipped in the blood of a cat, an owl, or a 'king-crow;' the eyes,
liver, and gall-bladder are rolled up in it, and it is used as a wick
in a lamp of castor oil. The lamp procured is also mixed with oil and
applied to the hand; hidden treasure is thereby discovered.
"4. _Alop Unjun_, which, if applied to a person's eyes or forehead,
makes him, wherever he be, invisible to others, while they remain
visible to him.
"5. _Saurwa Unjun_ is prepared with the suds of the _Dolichos lablab_.
After staring for two or three _ghurees_ (each of twenty-four minutes)
the subject will say something to this effect: 'First I saw the
Farrásh (sweeper) coming; he swept the ground and departed. Then came
the Bihishti (water-carrier), who sprinkled water on the flower and
went away. The Farrásh reappeared and spread the carpet. Next came a
whole army of fierce demons, fairies, etc., to whom succeeded their
commander, who was seated on a throne. This was, in fact, the king of
the Jinns, into whose presence the culprit was borne and forced to make
confession.
"The Hindi Moslem, from whose manuscript Dr. Herklots' translation was
made, concludes the _Unjun_ section as follows: 'I myself place no
faith in such _unjuns_ and _hazeeruts_ (spirit-summonings). Although
born in this very country (Hindostan), bred and educated among this
race (Moslems); yet, through the blessing of God, and the friendship
of the great, by the study of good books, and by the hearing of sane
counsel, the credibility of the existence of such things has been
entirely effaced from my breast.'
"This conclusion is evidently _ad captandum_. It must be remembered
that the author wrote before 1832, when even European travellers
who feared to be called 'credulous' were compelled to make an
apology for recounting any phenomenon that savoured of the so-called
'preternatural.' Spiritualistic societies have, at least, taught them a
little more boldness in dealing with facts, and courage in affronting
the vulgus.
"I need hardly enlarge upon the antiquity and the almost universal
use of the Magic Mirror: Cornelius Agrippa's crystal and Dr. Dee's
bit of cannel coal are doubtless well known to you. But I would draw
your attention to the curious fact that everywhere, and in all ages,
the vision follows nearly the same ceremonial--the floor sweeping, the
procession, the throne, the ruler, and the person summoned. This is
the phenomenon which deserves investigation. Is it traditional--that
is, taught by one 'magician' to another? Or is it spontaneous--the
mesmerizer's thought reflected by the medium?
"The following description of treasure-raising by magic, given in the
words of a Tunisian notary, shows the popular idea of the process in
Western lands, as opposed to that mentioned by Herklots:--
"'On the evening appointed, the Moroccan and three others, besides
myself, left the city as the gates were closed, and reached the
appointed place when only two hours were wanting to midnight.
"'After a short rest our guide took us to a fragment of ruin on the
southern slope of a hill, where he desired us to remain perfectly
silent, and instructed us not to be intimidated by anything we might
see or hear. He could not tell precisely what would happen; but
"whatever may transpire," he said, "give no utterance to your feelings,
whether of fear or of joy; for if you do, our labour will not only be
in vain, but the treasure itself will have to continue in the bowels of
the earth for another century."
"'He then lit a small lamp, and began his incantations. He stood in the
centre, and we at the four cardinal points of the compass, only about
four or five arms' length from him. Then he blew into a small flame
the coals he had brought in an earthen cruse, and threw a variety of
incense into it. No sooner did the smoke commence to ascend than he
made a last imploring sign to us neither to move nor to utter a sound,
and threw himself flat on the ground.
"'In a few seconds we felt the ground beneath us heave like the
waves of the sea, so that we had the greatest difficulty to stand
erect; tremendous noises, like the sound of thunder, at the same time
assailed our ears. By the dim moon we could discern hosts of cavalry,
in the plain below, galloping up to us, with their guns and lances
aimed at us. They rushed upon us in the most furious and threatening
attitudes; but no sound--not even that of hoofs--could we hear, and
horses and riders seemed to vanish when only within a few yards of us.
But this strange army thickened; the fierceness of their countenances
and their threatening position increased, while at the same time we
distinctly heard the clangour of chains and other extraordinary noises
underground. Although trembling from fright, we stuck to our posts,
and obeyed to the very letter the Moroccan's instructions. But now
huge masses of rock above us began to stagger; and, as if hurled by
some supernatural and invisible force, commenced rolling down with
the utmost velocity in the direction of the spot where we stood,
threatening us with instantaneous destruction. The fear of death
overcame our love for treasure. We fled with the speed of lightning,
and called for mercy at the top of our voice, never stopping nor
looking back till we found ourselves in safety.
"'The Moroccan joined us soon afterwards, giving utterance to the
greatest rage and fury as soon as he could make himself audible; and,
had we not been four to one, he would, I believe, have committed murder
that night. "The work," he said, "was on the eve of being completed,
and the stones opened the gap for us to possess ourselves of vast
treasures. Your cowardice has frustrated all. You might have been
wealthy by this time; but beggars you were when you came here, and,
through your own folly, beggars you return."'
"Dr. N. Davis, who relates what was told to him (pp. 399, 400,
'Carthage.' London: Bentley, 1861), notices other events of this kind.
As an eye-witness he describes (p. 425) the charming of a dangerous
serpent by one Haji Ibrahim, and owns that the fat little Darwaysh
'had a certain influence over venomous reptiles--mesmeric, or of some
other kind.' Elsewhere (p. 404) he tells of a dancing drinking-cup,
that skipped merrily into the middle of the room; the same kind of
manifestation as that produced by Colonel Churchill's Druze mediums.
Tales of this nature may be found scattered through the pages of a host
of travellers: they offer, in fact, no _embarras de richesses_.
"The following is the modern European form of the magic mirror. I find
in a well-known Masonic journal (the _Rosicrucian_, No. 4, April 1,
1877) an article--'Evenings with the Indwellers of the World of
Spirits'--by my friend, Mr. Frederick Hockley:--
"'The pendant of a crystal chandelier destroyed in the palace of the
Tuileries during the Revolution under Charles the Tenth (29th July,
1830), had this evening arrived, and been laid upon the table, and had
not been charged. My seeress, Miss Emma Leigh, taking it up, said--
"'"It is thick; there is a vision in it.
"'"There's a pair of compasses and a square. Now the compasses are
opening; now there is a point on each end of the square, which has
turned sideways. There's a book come underneath--a thick book, bound
in rough calf, with thick bands up the back; now there's a man's face,
very thin, dark, straight hair, quite black, come inside the compasses,
and a thin, very thin hand placed upon the book.
"'"Now the face has come from the inside of the compasses to a small
space outside. The hand has opened the book; the book is very beautiful
inside, it looks like a picture. There are two figures with wings on
each side of a little oval; in the middle of the oval there appear
words or figures beautifully coloured."
"'This remained some time, and as the hour for using the C. A. mirror
was at hand, I tried to dismiss the vision, but it remained. I then
placed the crystal in my cabinet.
"'At eight p.m. I invoked, as usual, the C. A. in his mirror, and the
action lasted till a few minutes to ten, when the C. A. left.
"'Ten p.m.--Immediately Emma took up Mr. Dresser's crystal she
observed: "It is still clouded. The book is there open, and the man's
face and shoulders. He has held his hand up, and the book has opened
just in the same place. It looks very richly illuminated in gold and
colours; there is an arch at the top, and one angel is standing upon a
crushed ball. Now there are clouds of different colours coming up under
the other figure at the bottom--white, like smoke, then purple, blue,
pink, and golden-coloured, which covers all up to their wings.
"'"In the oval the reading is not in English or like letters; it is
large enough to be read. Two or three of the letters look like ducks
with their heads under water."
"'Emma then copied the contents of the oval, and when finished
she said: "Now there's a little slip of paper come underneath the
title-page with words on it."'
"[For the rest of the article the reader must consult the Masonic
journal.]
"In Dr. Herklots we find the word 'Jogi' properly applied to a Hindú
devotee. Some of our modern Spiritualistic writers ('Isis Unveiled')
speak of a 'Hindú Fakir,' which sounds much like a 'Protestant
Franciscan,' or 'Trappist.' These Jogis are familiar, by sight
at least, to every Anglo-Indian, who includes them all under the
comprehensive term, 'holy beggars.' They maintain the possibility
of acquiring, even during life, entire command of our elementary
matter, and all worldly substances. The means are certain ascetic
practices, such as (1) long-continued suppressing of breath, and
inhaling and exhaling in particular ways; some of them are said to
retain respiration for an incredible time; (2) sitting in different
attitudes, of which the Ayin Akbari (ii. 445) records eighty-four
different _asans_, the eyes being generally fixed so as to produce
hypnotism, or Braidism, upon the nose-tip. These austerities affect the
_yoga_ (union) between the particle of vital spirit residing in the
body and that which, being the source and essence of creation, pervades
all nature--in fact, the _Anima mundi_, or soul of the world. Thus
the Jogi, being liberated from his too coarse flesh, can make himself
lighter than the lightest substances, and heavier than the heaviest. He
can become as big or as small as he pleases. He can practise attrobacy,
or levitation, and traverse all space. He can render himself invisible,
and animate a dead body, by transferring his 'spirit'[9] into it. He
can attain all objects, and become equally familiar with the Past, the
Present, and the Future. Finally, he can be united with the sources of
life, the archæal soul of the world, the 'Universal Soul' of Plato, and
the Astral Light of the cabbalists. He now consequently escapes the
pains and penalties of metempsychosis.
"The Jogis are mostly strong in the Zoo-electric force, which Mr.
Crooke's instrument has proved to be material as any other form of
electricity. Its application evidently dates from the earliest ages,
and is by no means confined to the nobly born and civilized races of
man. My cousin, Edward Burton, when serving, about 1840, in the now
abolished Royal African Corps at St. Mary's, Bathurst, Gambia River,
found a self-taught negro magnetizer. 'Tom Tom Jack' wisely refused to
meddle with 'whites' (Europeans), but boasted that he could hypnotize
any black man. My cousin offered five dollars, a large inducement, to
his orderly, 'Charley Ross,' if he could resist the force; but the
magnetizer was successful. I may also state that in my own case the
practice began naturally, long before I had the benefit of books and
teachers.
"Amongst those who have recorded 'Spiritualism' in Eastern lands, we
must include Colonel Churchill.[10] He resided long upon the Lebanon,
and he gained much mediumistic experience, especially from one of
his friends, Bashír Talhúk. The following lines deserve quotation
concerning the Shaykh, who, we are told, 'has devoted his time,
singular as it may appear, to the cultivation of magic; and the stories
he relates of his interviews with immaterial beings are novel and
startling.'
"'At times he will place a jug between the hands of two persons sitting
opposite to each other; when, after the recital of certain passages
taken indiscriminately from the Korán and the Psalms of David,[11]
it will move spontaneously round. A stick, at his bidding, will
proceed unaided from one end of the room to the other. A New Testament
suspended by a piece of string to a key will, in the same way, turn
violently round of itself.[12] On two earthenware jars being placed
in opposite corners of a room, one being empty, the other filled with
water, the empty jar will, on the recital of certain passages, move
across the room; the jar full of water will rise of itself on the
approach of its companion and empty its contents into it, the latter
returning to its place in the same manner that it came. An egg boiling
in the saucepan will be seen to spring suddenly out of the water,
and be carried to a considerable distance.[13] A double-locked door
will unlock itself. _There cannot be a doubt that an unseen influence
of some kind is called into operation, but of what nature those may
conjecture who like to speculate upon such matters._[14]
"'But it is in the more serious cases of disease or lunacy that the
supernaturally derived powers are called into play. Previous to
undertaking a cure, he shuts himself up in a darkened room, and devotes
his time to prayer and fasting. Fifteen and sometimes thirty days are
passed in this state of abstinence and self-denial. At last one of the
genii (Jinn), described by him to be much of the same appearance as
human beings, will suddenly appear before him and demand his bidding.
He then states his position, and requires assistance in the case he
is about to undertake. The genii replies at once that his request is
granted, and encourages him to proceed.
"'The wife of Shaykh Ahmed Talhúk had been for more than two years
afflicted with a swelling, which had been mistaken for pregnancy.
Shaykh Bushír, after the usual preparatory discipline, passed his hand
over her person, and in five minutes she arose perfectly cured. Shaykh
Yúsuf Talhúk was brought before him a confirmed lunatic; in two days
he returned to his home perfectly restored in health and reason.' [You
see how shrewd was the apostle of Allah when he disclaimed the gift of
miracle-mongering.]
"'That the Shaykh stoutly maintained his intercourse with spiritual
agents to be real and effective is unquestionable; and, indeed, the
belief in magic, and in the interposition of an order of unseen
creatures in worldly affairs, at the bidding of those who chose
to devote themselves earnestly to such intercourse, is universal
throughout the entire population of every religion and sect....
Instances could be multiplied in which the most extraordinary and
unaccountable results have been brought about, by the introduction of
individuals who made this communion the subject of their study and
contemplation. _But as the ears of Europeans would only be shocked by
assertions and statements which they would not fail of holding to be
utterly fabulous and ridiculous, the subject is merely alluded to in
these pages to indicate the existence of a very prominent and prevalent
belief in the Lebanon._' [Again I place in italics those words which
supply a Spiritualistic Society with such an admirable _raison d'être_.]
"The notes on Spiritualism which you have this evening favoured with
your hearing are, to use a Persian phrase, only a handful which proves
what the heap is. My friend Dr. Charnock especially recommends 'Le
Spiritualisme Oriental,' by another friend, A. de Kremer (_Journal
Asiatique_, 6 série, tom. 13, p. 105). Also he refers to index tom.
20, in connection with 'Le Sougisme' (Reading-room, British Museum,
2098D). In my 'History of Sindh' (London: Allen, 1851) I have given a
chapter (No. viii.) and its notes to the same subject, Sufi-ism. And,
lastly, in 'Vikram and the Vampire' (London: Longmans, 1870), I have
related, under a facetious form of narrative, many of the so-called
supernaturalisms and preternaturalisms familiar to the Hindús. These
studies will show the terrible 'training,' the ascetic tortures,
whereby men either lose their senses, or attain the highest powers of
magic (proper), that is, of commanding nature by mastering the force,
whatever it be, here called Zoo-electric, which conquers and controls
every modification of matter.
"Nothing remains but to thank you for the patience with which you have
listened to a long ramble, and to hope that the debate will be more
interesting than the discourse. According to the Arabs, 'The lesson is
one; the talk (that follows the lesson) is one thousand.'"
After Richard's speech was over, and the President had duly thanked
him, he asked if any lady or gentleman would like to make a remark.
I had sat below my husband against the platform, and had been taking
notes of his speech all the time. I then got up and said, very modestly
and shyly, that if being the wife of the lecturer was no obstacle, I
should also like to be allowed to make a remark. Then I made my little
speech.
"The Chairman--I have now to call upon Mrs. Burton.
"Mrs. Burton--It appears to me that Spiritualism, as practised in
England, is quite a different matter to that practised in the East,
as spoken of by Captain Burton. Easterns are organized for such
manifestations, especially the Arabs. It causes them no surprise; they
take it as a natural thing, as a matter of course; in short, it is
no religion to them. Easterns of this organization exhale the force;
it seems to be an atmosphere surrounding the individual, and I have
frequently in common conversation had so strong a perception of it,
as to withdraw to a distance on any pretext, allowing a current of
air to pass from door or window between them and myself. There is no
doubt that some strange force or power is at work, trying to thrust
itself up in the world, and is well worthy of attention. When I say
'new,' I mean in our hemisphere. I believe it to be as old as time in
Eastern countries. I think we are receiving it wrongly. When handled
by science, and when it shall become stronger and clearer, it will
rank very high. Hailed in our matter-of-fact England as a new religion
by people who are not organized for it, by people who are wildly,
earnestly, seeking for the truth, when they have it at home--some
on their domestic hearth, and others next-door waiting for them--it
can only act as a decoy to a crowd of sensation-seekers who yearn
to see a ghost as they would go to a pantomime, and this can only
weaken and degrade it, and distract attention from its possibly true
object, science. Used vulgarly, as we have all sometimes seen it used,
after misleading and crazing a small portion of sensitive persons,
it must fall to the ground. I think Captain Burton has selected an
admirable title for it--I allude to Zoo-electricity--until a better
name discloses itself, but I regret to say that I cannot to-night join
in the general applause which greets his lecture. It appears to me to
suit all parties. He gives the Spiritualists a _raison d'être_, whilst
he knows that he does not believe in spirits from the other world
being subject to our uses, calls, and caprices. On the other hand, he
has not exactly offended the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church to
which it is my glory to belong. The greatest anti-Spiritualist cannot
accuse him of violating his own common sense, because he has expressed
no belief, but simply recounted what is practised in the East. I
am sure that I am the only person in this room, perhaps in London,
possibly in the world, to whom the construction that the public may
put upon the lecture of to-night is a thing of vital importance. I
am, therefore, unwilling to leave Captain Burton's real sentiments
on the subject quite so much to your imagination as I think he has
done. He is certainly not a Spiritualist. Like other scientific men
and materialists, he believes in a natural force which has no name,
which he calls Zoo-electricity, but he does not mean the ghosts that
real believers are said to see. I feel he has not done justice to
himself, and this is why I have ventured to add this postscript to his
address, in the fewest and plainest words that I can find. I need not
tell you that he little thought to-night to find his wife amongst his
opponents. I now thank you all exceedingly for having listened to me.
"The Chairman--When Captain Burton sat down, he made an observation to
me to the effect that now he was going to 'catch it.' I told him he
would have to wait some time, but I think he has 'caught it' already.
(Laughter.) Now I think it is high time that somebody should say a
word for Spiritualism as _we_ understand it. I believe there is no
very vital point of difference between us after all. We understand
each other thoroughly. If the Spiritualist would only say--and it
is a question of terms--that the spirits are formed of some kind of
invisible matter which is not composed of any of the elements known
to the chemists, and which has various, very wonderful properties and
qualities, I think a great many of the difficulties and differences
between ourselves and Captain Burton and other honest materialists
might be got over."
[Sidenote: _Some Very Amusing and Instructive Speeches_.]
Then followed all sorts of fun. There were many speeches and
interesting questions, but I annex the most amusing.
"Mrs. Hallock--As no one has touched upon one or two points, I wish
to do so, though I shall not do it very well, I am afraid. I have
been extremely interested in the paper, but do not at all agree with
my friend Dr. Wyld, that because there are so many volumes containing
accounts of these phenomena, we therefore do not need to hear about
them from a person who has read, perhaps, more than we have. It is
much more agreeable to listen to a person who has read and digested
these things than to read them for ourselves; at least, it is in
my case. I am very much afraid that this form of 'Spiritualism
without spirits' is on the increase. I hope no one present will
catch Captain Burton's disease, for I think it is almost a disease.
I think that many of us are getting afraid that we shall believe in
spirits. We think it is so much more fashionable to say there is a
sixth or seventh sense. I do not accuse Captain Burton of not being
courageous. Of course, that would be a very stupid thing for me to
say, but everybody has a wee bit of cowardice--(laughter)--and perhaps
Captain Burton was afraid to say it, and has had to let Mrs. Burton
say it for him.[15] (Laughter.) I know it is getting very late, and
I must not say much; but my quarrel is much more with Mrs. Burton
than with her husband, because she complains of people who think
it is a new religion. It is true there are such people, and I wish
there were a great many more. I think it is not only a new religion,
but a renewal of old things which were laid aside, perhaps, with too
little consideration. I say it is as a religion that Spiritualism
is going to stand. If it is not a religion, it will be remitted to
the position that it held in the East; and if anybody here has any
respect for the state of things in the East, that is more than I have.
(Laughter.) I care nothing for all those phenomena. I consider that
they are trash, although Mr. Massey, who is very much more learned
than I am, thinks them worthy of consideration. I think we have heard
quite as much about them from Captain Burton to-night as they are
worth. (Laughter.) But it is this religion that I want to say one more
word about. It is not only a religion, but it is a science, and it is
because it is a religious science and a scientific religion that we
are going to make it do what it has begun to do--that is, to leaven
the whole world. The future of Spiritualism will be greater than
anything else in the past history of mankind. We are told that history
repeats itself. I think it has repeated itself quite enough in some
respects; and now we are going to have a new future for the world, if
Spiritualists are true to the great mission that is presented to them
from the spirit-world--which is full of spirits, in my estimation.
"The Chairman--It is getting so late that I shall not take up much
of your time. Electricity is a science with a very broad back, and
anything that has been difficult to understand has often been ascribed
to electrical agency. Therefore I am not at all surprised that Captain
Burton has given a new name to what was formerly called the psychic
force. I have never been able to find any evidence whatever that there
is any electricity whatever produced by the human body. If there is,
the quantity is so insignificant in comparison with the great chemical
changes continually taking place, that we must presume that in psychic
phenomena there is an additional agency at play. In regard to the
_raison d'être_ of Spiritualistic societies, I really think we must
claim some other reasons for our existence than that which has been
adduced. We claim, and Captain Burton supports our claim to a very
great extent, I think, that there are very great new truths before us
which are by no means perfectly understood, and that every facility
that can be given for their study is a direct benefit, and one of the
most important benefits that could be conferred upon humanity. Before
asking Captain Burton to reply to what we have said in relation to his
paper, I have only to say that I think if he and Mrs. Burton would
discuss the matter thoroughly together, and arrive at a mean between
their present conclusions, it would be very much the same conclusion
as that which is so popular here. I gather from what Mrs. Burton said
that she is a Spiritualist _par excellence_, only she believes in old
Spiritualism, and does not exactly believe in the new. I feel that her
Spiritualism would be carried a great deal further even than ours; and
if she would neutralize her notions by those of her husband, and if on
the other hand her husband would sink a little of his materialism in
her spirituality, they would then strike out a very valuable average.
(Laughter.) I have now to ask Captain Burton to reply. (Applause.)
[Sidenote: _Interesting Discussions_.]
"Captain Burton--If you will allow me, I will take the objectors in
the order of their coming. Mrs. Burton has informed you that in this
last paper I have been 'trimming.' I think you will own that it is the
first time I have ever trimmed, and I can certainly promise you never
to trim again. _A man's wife knows, perhaps, too much about him._ I
think it scarcely fair to have his character drawn by his wife. I do
not think gentlemen would go to their wives, or that wives would go to
their husbands, in order to know exactly what they are. (Laughter.)
The chairman first remarked that there is very little difference
between my notions and those of the generality of Spiritualists; but
he also alluded to an 'invisible matter, a substance not known to
chemists.' Now, how is the existence of this substance proven? By
spectrum analysis, or by the human mind, or out of the depth of your
self-consciousness?
"The Chairman--By the sight.
"Captain Burton--Then it is not invisible?
"The Chairman--It is always visible to certain persons.
"Captain Burton--Therefore it is not invisible. But I object to your
phrase 'invisible matter, a substance not known to chemists.' Mr.
Wallace has been extremely kind in setting the ball going, and he also
found for the first time how very much I do believe. I believe that
the great difference is that the Spiritualist proper--the complete
Spiritualist--believes that he is conversing with the spirits of
departed beings. That is one of those canons laid down by Mr. Crookes.
"Mr. Crookes--I believe that is one of them.
"Captain Burton--You called that Spiritualism proper; whereas the
belief that it is the work of the Devil you called the voice of
the Church, did you not? (Laughter.) Mr. Wallace was kind enough
to suggest that I should give you some personal experiences, and I
believe the same thing was also mentioned by other gentlemen; but
the fact is, at this hour it would be almost impossible. Moreover,
at the end of this paper I referred you to a number of things I have
written, in which there are my own personal experiences. For instance,
alluding to the practice of Sufi-ism, in my 'History of Sindh,' I
gave an account of a very long training I went through. But I shall
be happy to prepare, as one of the speakers suggested, another paper
if you choose to hear it. (Applause.) Mr. Crookes, in his extremely
kind notice of my lecture, alluded to 'psychic force,' for which I
have chosen to use another word. Psychic force is, I believe, getting
out of fashion, and, if I am not somewhat mistaken, my learned friend
Serjeant Cox proposed to abolish the use of the term altogether, and
to adopt another expression--pneuma. With respect to Dr. Wyld, he
has come to the conclusion, chiefly, I am told, by the experiments
with Dr. Slade, that it is possible for a man not knowing Greek to
write Greek. He also mentions five other languages similarly written,
without telling us, however, whether any one of those languages was
absolutely unknown to every person present.
"Dr. Wyld--Yes, in my own case: not in all cases.
"Captain Burton--That is the most important point of all, because
believing in this Zoo-electricity and the force of will, and believing
also in thought-reading, it is to me perfectly evident that if a
medium is able to read thoughts, it is simply the action of himself
and of those around him. The grand point in question is to know
whether those languages were entirely unknown to any one present, and
also if the latter had never learned those languages, because if any
of them had ever learned the language the knowledge might return.
I am sorry Dr. Wyld alluded to a book called the 'Isis Unveiled,'
because that book is the production of a person who evidently knows
nothing of the subject. (Messrs. Blake and Massey: 'No! No!') It
is a collection of stones, put together without the slightest
discrimination between Mussulman and Hindú, and, in fact, it is one of
those repositories which may be useful to take up occasionally, but
which is not to be quoted as an authority. Mr. Massey very correctly
interpreted me, and I hope with him that the truth will prevail in
this room and everywhere else. Dr. Blake regretted that he could not
agree with me. Now, my friend of many years' standing says that I
go too far, while Dr. Wyld says I do not go far enough. Dr. Blake
quoted some great German names on the subject of idealism _versus_
sensationalism, and very great English names too. In my remarks I was
merely speaking of the matter individually. I warned you, I did not
pretend to any form of truth except what is truth to myself--that
it might be true individually, and at the same time not true either
collectively or relatively. My old friend Mr. Spencer has told us a
long story about a table, and he is right in what he says about the
danger of adhering to Spiritualism. It was only the other day that I
was treated with some disdain by a lady who heard that I was going to
lecture upon Spiritualism. She thought it horrible that I should enter
a room where Spiritualists were. (Laughter.) I understand perfectly
that if there be such a thing as electric force or Zoo-electricity,
it might cause a table to rise without difficulty. We know nothing
whatever of the power. Mrs. Hallock has been kind enough, with that
peculiar frankness which characterizes the sex, to lecture me upon
my 'wee bit of cowardice.' She also seems to have fearful ideas of
'Spiritualists without the spirits,' and she also finds that this
abominable heresy is on the increase. It must be painful to her, as
she evidently looks forward to converting the whole world--not in the
East, because she disdains the East, and I presume that the West will
appreciate her perhaps more than the East. Mr. Harrison has objected
that Zoo-electric force does not exist; that, in fact, the human
body does not contain any electricity. He qualified the assertion,
however, by saying that there might be a little, but not enough to
have much effect. That is a matter of dispute, and a number of French
and American magnetists and mesmerists still assert that it does.
Every one here present understands what 'mesmerism' and 'magnetism'
mean. As a rule, men use the words without attaching any particular
theory to them. I do not think we need to be afraid of going too
far upon those points. I did not venture to include so well-known a
scientist as Mr. Crookes among the red or black terrors. The chairman
very properly remarked, 'electricity has a very broad back,' and wants
it. We all know how electricity has been brought to explain every
mysterious thing. He objects that I have no stronger _raison d'être_
for a Spiritualistic society than that of giving greater boldness to
men in expressing their belief, whether true or false, especially when
their beliefs are unpopular. I consider such a _raison d'être_ as
this amply sufficient. The chairman tells us that the true _raison
d'être_ are the 'new truths' that he finds in it. Without quoting the
old saying about what is true not being new, and what is new not being
true, I very much doubt whether the 'new truths' are so valuable as
the new fact of encouraging men to tell the truth about all things. He
also advises me to discuss the matter with Mrs. Burton, and to settle
our little domestic quarrel at home; in fact, he wants to make me a
kind of primal Adam--'male and female created He him.' Ladies and
gentlemen, I am exceedingly obliged to you for the kindness with which
you have received me.
"The Chairman--I think it is hardly necessary to ask for a show of
hands. Captain Burton hits hard, but open-handed, and we should like
to have some more hits from him. I am sure we should like to reply to
what he says, and in endeavouring to meet him on his own ground, we
shall assuredly strengthen ourselves. _Pro forma_ I will ask for a
show of hands, according him a cordial vote of thanks.
"The proposal was unanimously responded to."
There never was such a meeting as that. The room was crowded, and even
the stairs and the street. We all enjoyed it enormously, and nobody
more than Richard, who often referred to it after.
[Sidenote: _Interesting Letters_.]
Then somebody wrote as follows:--
"That great and intelligent traveller, Captain Burton, a man who
will not flinch from telling the truth because it is unpopular,
wrote to the _Times_ a letter which disturbed the equanimity of that
susceptible organ greatly some time back. In his letter Captain Burton
said: 'An experience of twenty years has convinced me that perception
is possible without the ordinary channels of sensation.' In a leader
of the _Times_ of the date November 14th, 1876, Captain Burton was
answered, and that Journal seemed to imagine it had flung its last
shaft of scorn, when, in reply to the above assertion of Captain
Burton, it cynically, but in all-unconscious sapience, remarked:
'Captain Burton deserves a reward of merit for discovering for us the
sixth sense of perception, which is neither seeing, hearing, smelling,
touching, nor tasting, but something superior to all five.' That is
just what Captain Burton does deserve, but I am sure the _Times_
will be the last to give it to him. And, really, the _Times_ in its
scornful exaltment also a second time spoke above its knowledge; for
this is just what the sixth sense is--it _is_ superior to all the
five senses, because it is less gross; it is psychical and they are
only corporeal; but both categories, I believe, are equally perceived
and real. 'Tell us,' said the _Times_, apostrophizing Captain Burton,
'how investigators could, for themselves, "perceive" this mysterious
entity without recourse to the ordinary channels of sensation.' I
fear that even Captain Burton would have been forced to answer thus:
You must first get the power of a perception before you can make
use of it; and if you do not possess it, or understand about it,
you must, in order to obtain a conception of it, be treated as you
would treat blind men when you try to explain to them the beautiful
mystery, to them, of ocular demonstration. And you must take us on
trust, just as you expect men to take you on trust when you explain
to them honestly and to the best of your ability that which you see.
And what would you think of the blind man who should answer you, as
you, in that article, answered Captain Burton, and said, as you did
to him, 'This, of course, is mere fancy, and if indulged in, develops
itself into hysteria, and finally, as Dr. Forbes Winslow can tell
you, into confirmed insanity'? Why, you would think the blind man
very ungrateful and very impertinent. But I will, in pity, spare you
that last impeachment, and will only call you ignorant, because this
perception spoken of by Captain Burton is not a perception that can be
said to be indulged in; it is like the wind, it cometh when and where
it listeth; and, moreover, can no more appropriately be said to be a
thing indulged in than our natural sight; both have to put the term
indulgence aside and to see that which they come across. Both eyesight
and physical perception are a gift of God, only one is more common
than the other."
* * * * *
"Lowther Lodge, Barnes, S.W., December 3, 1878.
"DEAR CAPTAIN BURTON,
"Your interesting lecture on Spiritualism explains what no one has yet
been able to explain, the verse in the 'Persæ' of Æschylus, on the
conjuring up of the ghost of Darius, v. 683; (Dind.)--
στένει, κέκοπται, καὶ χαράσσεται πέδον.
The effects are _exactly_ what your Tunisian describes, and the
inference is that this Eastern magic is a very old and _real_ power.
One is utterly perplexed, and can only fall back on what seems the
doubtfulness of almost all evidence.
"Believe me, very faithfully yours,
"F. A. PALEY."
* * * * *
"SPIRIT GUARDIANSHIP.
"A _Spiritualist_ was sent to me yesterday, bearing the date 19th of
December, 1879, containing an article signed 'Scrutator.' It contained
a description of two incidents in my Syrian life, in which I was moved
by some power to do things against my will, which had a useful object
in the end. 'Scrutator,' however, says that my husband's farewell
note to me reached me at our house, a mile out of Damascus. If that
had been so, there would have been nothing extraordinary, but quite
natural that I should have joined my husband at Beyrout, as there
was only a quarter of an hour's ride between the Consulate and the
house. But I was thirty miles away, at the top of a mountain in the
Anti-Lebanon, five thousand feet above sea-level, and quite out of
reach of news or communication, save the three lines I received by
a mounted messenger; and my difficulty was to descend the mountain
in the dark, cross the country at dawn, to the probable spot where I
could catch the diligence on the road. The power that moved me was
therefore so much the stronger, and I think it very well accounted
for by 'Scrutator.' However, as I am a Catholic, Catholicism is the
_highest order_ of Spiritualism; what to 'Scrutator' is a force of
spirit, is to me simply my angel guardian, who is to me an _actual
presence_, to whom I constantly refer during the day, and who directs
everything I ask him to. When I sit with other Spiritualists they say
they can see him. I can't; I only feel the power. However, I am quite
sure of one thing, that nothing happens by luck or chance; but that we
are moved by our good and bad angels, and that those who are in the
habit of meditating or reflecting a good deal arrive at a proficiency
in knowing and understanding their calls.
"ISABEL BURTON.
"Trieste, December 26th, 1879."
* * * * *
"An answer--not that you long for,
But diviner--will come one day:
Your eyes are too blind to see it,
But strive, and wait, and pray."
----E. M. HEWITT.
[1] "'Mandal' is, properly speaking, a Persian word, and means the
magic circle in which the necromantist sits when summoning the demons
and spirits of the dead."
[2] "The well-known cabalistic figure known to Moslems as
Khátim-Sulaymán---Solomon's Seal."
[3] "A negro, a boy, or a woman with child, say the Arabs."
[4] "This is not time enough; in India half an hour would be the
minimum."
[5] "It reminded them of the Island of Glubdubdrib, 'where the
Governor, by his skill in necromancy, had the power of calling whom he
pleased from the dead' (Gulliver, chap. vii.)."
[6] "Lamp-black prepared in a peculiar way."
[7] "Of these men more hereafter."
[8] "Various kinds of brass pots and pipkins."
[9] "Read 'Zoo-electric force.'"
[10] "Churchill's 'Mount Lebanon' (London, 1853), vol. i. pp. 146-167."
[11] "This process, like the words of the vulgar 'spell,' was probably
used to concentrate the will."
[12] "The _Korán-gardán_, or Korán-turning of the Persians. Usually the
key is made fast to the book, and its handle rests upon the finger-tips
of the patients, whose nervous agitation and muscular action, unknown
to them, cause the movement. At Goa the Portuguese thus discover
thieves, etc. The gypsies of Spain also practise the rite, the accuser
and the accused singing the Song of Solomon."
[13] "A favourite gypsy trick in Northern Africa."
[14] "The italics are not the author's."
[15] Mrs. Hallock amused him very much.