The hypothesis of fraud--The hypothesis of muscle reading--"Influence."
When phenomena of this nature are related, the first hypothesis that
occurs to the reader's mind is that of fraud. The medium is an impostor.
His trick may be ingenious and carefully dissimulated, but it is
certainly merely a trick. Therefore, in order to pursue these studies
with any good results, this hypothesis must be disposed of once for all.
Now this is not easy. Most men are so made that they have a high opinion
of their own perspicuity, but a very unfavourable one generally of that
of other men. They always believe that if they had been there they could
have quickly discovered the imposture. Consequently, no precaution must
be omitted; all safeguards must be employed, and it will be seen that
the observers of Mrs Piper's phenomena have not neglected to do this.
Professor James concealed the identity of as many as he could of the
sitters whom he introduced to Mrs Piper. Personally, he was soon
convinced that fraud had nothing to do with the phenomena. But the point
was to convince others. It occured to a member of the Society for
Psychical Research that it would be a good plan to cause Mrs Piper to
be followed by detectives when she went out, and not only herself, but
all the other members of her family. A singular idea, in my opinion.
However, if detectives had not been employed, many people would even
to-day believe that it would be possible to clear up the Piper mystery
in a very short time, in the most natural way in the world. This is why
Dr Hodgson, on his arrival in America, set detectives on the tracks of
Mr and Mrs Piper. Absolutely nothing was discovered; Mr and Mrs Piper
asked nobody indiscreet questions, made no suspicious journeys, did not
visit cemeteries to read the names on graves. Finally, Mrs Piper, whose
correspondence is at all times limited, received no letters from
Intelligence Agencies.
Later on, the method taken to make sure of her good faith was revealed
to Mrs Piper. She was not at all offended; on the contrary, she saw how
absolutely legitimate was the precaution. This is another proof of her
uprightness and intelligence.
Again, the idea that Mrs Piper could obtain the information she gives by
means of inquiries made abroad is _a priori_ absurd to anyone who has
studied the phenomena with any care. Her sitters, whom she received
under assumed names, to the number of several hundreds, came from all
points of the United States, from England, and even from other parts of
Europe. The greater number passed through the hands of Professor James
and Dr Hodgson, and all necessary precautions were taken that Mrs Piper
should see them for the first time only a few moments before the
commencement of the trance. Indeed, they were often only introduced
after the trance had begun. These precautions have never injured the
results. The sittings, at least those which were not spoilt by the
medium's state of health, have always been marked by a large number of
perfectly accurate details.
If Mrs Piper obtained the information through spies in her employment,
these spies would be obliged to send her private details about all the
families in the United States and Europe, since she hardly ever knows to
whom she will give a sitting the next day. Dr Hodgson arranges for her.
Formerly Professor James did this, at least in a large number of cases.
Now the scientific honesty of Dr Hodgson or Professor James (I mention
this only for foreign readers who may not be acquainted with the
reputation of these two gentlemen) can no more be suspected than that of
a Charcot, a Berthelot, or a Pasteur. Then, what interest could they
have in deceiving us? These experiments had cost them considerable sums,
not to speak of time and trouble; they have never profited by them.
Again, Mrs Piper is without fortune. She would not have the means to pay
such a police as she would need. She is paid for her sittings, it is
true; she gains about two hundred pounds a year, but such a police
service would cost her thousands. But there was an excellent way of
putting the hypothesis of fraud out of question; it was to take Mrs
Piper out of her habitual environment, to a country where she knew
nobody. This was done. Certain members of the Society for Psychical
Research invited her to England, to give sittings in their houses. She
consented without any difficulty. She arrived in England on 19th
November 1889, _on_ the Cunard Company's steamer _Scythia_. Frederic
Myers, whose recent loss is deplored by psychology, should have gone to
the docks and have taken her to his house at Cambridge. But at the last
moment he was called to Edinburgh, and asked his friend, Professor
Oliver Lodge, of whom we have already spoken, to receive Mrs Piper in
his stead. Professor Lodge installed her in an hotel with her two little
girls who came with her. The same evening Mr Myers arrived, and took her
to his house next day.
Experiments at Cambridge began at once. This is what Mr Myers says about
them:--[10]
"I am convinced that Mrs Piper, on her arrival in England, brought with
her a very slender knowledge of English affairs or English people. The
servant who attended on her and on her two young children was chosen by
myself, and was a young woman from a country village whom I had full
reason to believe both trustworthy and also quite ignorant of my own or
my friends' affairs. For the most part I had myself not determined upon
the persons whom I would invite to sit with her. I chose these sitters
in great measure by chance; several of them were not resident in
Cambridge, and except in one or two cases, where anonymity would have
been hard to preserve, I brought them to her under false names,
sometimes introducing them only when the trance had already begun."
Professor Oliver Lodge in his turn invited Mrs Piper to come and give
sittings at his home in Liverpool. She went, and remained from 18th
December to 27th December 1889. During this time she gave at least two
sittings a day, which fatigued her much. Professor Lodge gave up for the
time all other work to study her. He enumerates at length all the
precautions he took to prevent fraud. He also declares that Mrs Piper,
who was perfectly aware of the watch kept upon her, never showed the
least displeasure, and thought it quite natural. He wondered whether, by
chance, she might not have among her luggage some book containing
biographies of men of the day, and asked permission to look through her
trunks. She consented with the best possible grace. But Professor Lodge
found nothing suspicious. Mrs Piper also handed over to be read the
greater number of the letters she received; they were not numerous;
about three a week. The servants in the house were all new; they knew
nothing of the family's private affairs, and thus could not inform the
medium about them. Besides, Mrs Piper never tried to question them. Mrs
Lodge, who was very sceptical at first, kept guard over her own speech,
so as not to give any scraps of information. The family Bible (on the
first pages of which, according to custom, memorable events are
recorded) and the photographic albums were locked away. Professor Lodge,
like the others, presented most of his sitters under false names.
Finally, he affirms that Mrs Piper's attitude never justified the least
suspicion; she was dignified, reserved, and not in any way indiscreet.
In short, during the fifteen years the experiments have continued, all
the suggestions made by sceptical and sometimes violent objectors have
been kept in view, that the fraud might be discovered, if fraud there
were. All has been in vain. The explanation of the phenomena must
consequently be sought elsewhere.
As for the trance itself, all those who have seen it agree in saying
that it is genuine and in no way feigned.
The hypothesis of fraud being disposed of, recourse has been had to
another, which it has also become necessary to abandon--that of the
reading of muscular movements. It appears that the thought-readers who
exhibit themselves on the platform accomplish their wonderful feats by
interpreting, with remarkable intelligence, sharpened by long practice,
the unconscious movements of the persons whose wrists they are holding.
Now it is true that formerly Mrs Piper became entranced while holding
both hands, or at least one hand, of the sitter. She kept their hands in
hers during most of the trance. But Professor Lodge says this was far
from being always the case. She often dropped the sitter's hands and
lost contact with them for half an hour at a time. Phinuit, or some
other control, nevertheless continued to furnish exact information.
Shall we say that while he was holding hands he had laid in a provision
of knowledge for the whole half-hour? Seriously we cannot.
But as this objection had often been made, the sitters endeavoured to
avoid contact with the medium. For a long time Mrs Piper has fallen into
the trance without holding anyone's hand. Her whole body reposes,
plunged in a deep sleep, except the right hand, which writes with giddy
rapidity and only rarely endeavours to touch the persons present.
Professor Hyslop, in the report which has just appeared,[11] affirms
that he avoided the slightest contact with the medium with all possible
care, and yet we shall see farther on how exact were the facts he
obtained, since he believes that he has established the identity of his
dead father without the possibility of a doubt. Therefore the hypothesis
of thought-reading by means of muscular indications must also be put
aside.
Finally, Phinuit affirms that the objects presented to him, and which he
touches, furnish him with information about their former possessors,
thanks to the "influence" such persons have left on the articles; and in
a multitude of cases we should be almost forced to admit that it may be
so. But here we are already plunged into depths of mystery. What can
this "influence" be? We know nothing about it. Must we believe in it?
Must we believe Phinuit when he says that he obtains his information
sometimes from the "influence" left upon the objects, sometimes directly
from the mouths of the disembodied spirits? Before reaching that point,
other hypotheses must be examined.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] _Proc. of S.P.R._, vol. vi. p. 438.
[11] _Proc. of S.P.R._, vol. xvi.