Further consideration of the difficulties of the problem--George
Pelham--Development of the automatic writing.
Phinuit's empire remained uncontested till the month of March 1892. He
sometimes yielded his place to other controls, but rarely through a
whole sitting. However, in March 1892, a new communicator appeared, who
imposed his collaboration on Phinuit, with the latter's consent or
without it. This newcomer called himself George Pelham,[52] and asserted
that he was the disincarnated spirit of a young man of thirty-two, who
had been killed four or five weeks before by a horse accident. However
that may be, this new control had more culture, more moral elevation,
and a greater love of truth than the so-called French doctor. The latter
benefited by the companionship; he tried to be more truthful, and seemed
to make fewer appeals to his imagination; in short, all the sittings
improved, even those in which Phinuit appeared alone.
The newcomer did everything in his power to establish his identity. His
success is still a matter open to discussion, in the view of some
persons, and their doubts at least prove that, in order to solve this
greatest of all problems, it is not enough that the communicators
should give us numerous details which would seem at a first glance to
establish their identity, though the few cases in which identity appears
to be proved furnish us with a strong presumption in favour of survival
after death. If George Pelham is what he says he is, future generations
will _owe_ him profound gratitude; he has done all that he could, under
circumstances which are, it appears, very unfavourable, although we are
not in a position to understand the difficulties.
It is not always easy to prove identity, even between the living.
Imagine a man in England, at the end of a telegraph or telephone wire;
imagine that a certain number of his friends at the other end of the
wire, in France, refuse to believe him when he says he is So-and-so, and
say, "Please prove your identity." The unfortunate man will be in
difficulties. He will say, "Do you remember our being together in such a
place?" The reply will be, "Nonsense; somebody has told you of that
incident, and it does not in the least prove that you are the person you
say you are." And so on, and so on. One fact is incontestable, however;
there is somebody at the end of the wire. The telepathic theory asserts
that, in spite of appearances, there is no one at the end of the wire,
or, at least, that no one is there but the medium, temporarily endowed
with powers as mysterious as they are extraordinary. But to return to
George Pelham.
Pelham is not his exact name. The last syllable has been slightly
modified, from motives of discretion. He belonged to a good family in
the United States, which counts Benjamin Franklin amongst its
ancestors. He had studied law, but when his studies were finished he
gave himself up exclusively to literature and philosophy. He had
published two works, which brought him much praise from competent
judges. He had lived for a long time in Boston or its neighbourhood. The
last three years of his life were passed in New York. In February 1892
he fell from his horse and was killed on the spot.
He had interested himself in Psychical Research, though very sceptical
about the matter. He was a member of the American Society, and later of
the American Branch of the Society for Psychical Research. Dr Hodgson
knew him very well, and liked to talk to him on account of the soundness
of his judgment and the liveliness of his intelligence. But neither time
nor circumstances had allowed ties of affection or real friendship to be
established between them.
Two years before George Pelham's death, he and Dr Hodgson had a long
discussion regarding a future life. George Pelham maintained that it was
not only improbable, but also inconceivable. Dr Hodgson maintained that
it was at least conceivable. After much exchange of argument, George
Pelham ended by allowing so much, and finished the conversation by
saying that, if he should die before Dr Hodgson, and should find himself
"still existing," he would "make things lively" in the effort to reveal
the fact.
George Pelham, more fortunate than many others who, before or after him,
have made the same promise, seems to have kept his word. That many
others have been unable to do so proves nothing. The means of
communication are still definitely rare; Mrs Piper is an almost unique
medium of her kind up to the present day. It may be that the great
majority of the inhabitants of the other world are in the same position
as the great majority in this, and are ignorant of the possibility of
communication. Even if those who promise to return know of this
possibility, the difficulty of recognising their friends must be great,
since they do not seem to perceive matter. Their friends who are still
in the body should, it appears, call them by thinking intently of them,
by presenting to good mediums articles which belonged to the dead, and
to which a strong emotional memory is attached, and by asking the
controls of these mediums to look for them.
When these precautions are not taken, the survivors are wrong to blame
their friends' failure to keep their word, or to conclude that all is
ended with the death of the body.
George Pelham may have been enabled to manifest himself by particularly
favourable circumstances. He knew of Mrs Piper's existence, although,
most probably, Mrs Piper did not know him. In 1888 the American Society
for Psychical Research had nominated a commission for the investigation
of mediumistic phenomena; this commission asked Mrs Piper for a series
of sittings. I do not know whether George Pelham was a member of the
commission, but he was present at one of the sittings. The names of all
the sitters were carefully kept private, and nothing happened of a
nature to draw the attention of the medium to George Pelham, who in all
probability passed unnoticed.
Dr Hodgson thinks he can affirm that Mrs Piper only quite recently
learned that George Pelham had been present at one of her sittings. The
name of George Pelham must have been revealed to her considerably later
on, for, in her normal state, she is quite ignorant of what she has said
in her trance state; she learns it, as do all those who are interested
in these questions, by reading the _Proceedings of the Society for
Psychical Research_ except when Dr Hodgson thinks proper to tell her
anything.
With the appearance of George Pelham there arose a new method of
communication--the method of automatic writing.
It was only on March 12, 1892,[53] that it was granted to Dr Hodgson to
be present for the first time when this writing was produced; although
it had occurred on rare occasions before. Phinuit was serving as
intermediary for a communicator who called herself Annie D. Towards the
end of the sitting Mrs Piper's arm rose slowly till the hand was over
the top of her head. The arm remained rigid in this position, but the
hand trembled very rapidly. Phinuit exclaimed, "She's taken my hand
away," and added, "she wants to write." Dr Hodgson put a pencil between
Mrs Piper's fingers and a block-book on her head. "Hold the hand," said
Phinuit. Dr Hodgson grasped the wrist and stopped the trembling. Then
the hand wrote, "I am Annie D. I am not dead but living," and some other
words; then Phinuit murmured, "Give me back my hand." The arm remained
contracted and in the same position for a short time, but finally,
slowly, and as though with much difficulty, it moved down to the side.
During the following sittings the writing was produced in the same
inconvenient position. But on April 29, 1892, Dr Hodgson arranged a
table so that Mrs Piper's right arm could rest comfortably on it; then,
seizing the arm and commanding with all his power, "You must try to
write on the table," he succeeded, by using not a little force, in
getting the arm down. Since then the writing has been produced with the
arm resting more or less on the table. When a control takes possession
of the arm to write, it is seized with violent spasmodic convulsions.
The block-books, writing-books, pencils, and everything on the table are
thrown in confusion on to the floor. Sometimes considerable force must
be employed to keep the arm still. Then a pencil is placed between the
fingers, and the writing begins. Sometimes, but rarely, the writing is
interrupted by a spasm; the hand is firmly closed and the wrist bent,
but after a few seconds the spasm disappears, and the writing begins
again.
On most occasions, since the automatic writing has become easy, two
controls have manifested simultaneously--one by means of the voice, the
other by writing; Phinuit continuing to use the voice, according to his
former custom. George Pelham, although he also uses the voice
occasionally, prefers writing. On the 24th February 1894 a control
wrote, "There is no reason why various spiritual minds cannot express
their thoughts at the same time, through the same organism." This is
really what happens. The voice may keep up a conversation with a sitter
while the hand keeps up another in writing with someone else on a wholly
different subject. If the sitter who is talking with the hand allows his
attention to be distracted by what the voice says, the hand recalls his
attention by its movements. When anyone is speaking to the hand control,
it is necessary to speak to the hand, and close to the hand, or there is
a risk of not being understood. In short, one must behave as if the hand
were a complete and independent being.
Observation of this phenomenon suggested to Dr Hodgson that by using the
left hand he could perhaps obtain three communications on three
different subjects. He tried and succeeded, although imperfectly; no
doubt because, in the normal state, the left hand is not used to
writing.
Formerly Phinuit used to protest when the hand was seized, and asked at
once that it should be returned to him, as we have seen above. Since the
automatic writing has been developed the hand may be used by one control
without the fact being perceived by the control who is using the voice.
One day Phinuit was talking with a sitter about his relations, when the
hand suddenly, and so to say surreptitiously, wrote for Dr Hodgson a
communication supposed to come from an intimate friend, and treating of
a subject altogether different from those of which the voice was
speaking. Dr Hodgson adds that it was "precisely as if a caller should
enter a room where two strangers to him were conversing, but a friend
of his also present, and whisper a special message into the ear of the
friend without disturbing the conversation."[54]
Phinuit seems to prefer not to notice what the hand is doing. He talks
as long as he has an interlocutor, but, when the messages given through
the hand distract the attention of this interlocutor, Phinuit often
says, "I'll help him." What does he mean by this? It is a mystery. But
if it is wished to continue the conversation with him, the ear must be
addressed directly he is ready to resume. All this does not interrupt
the writing; the head and the hand do not interfere with one another.
The observers of these strange phenomena, especially Dr Hodgson,
maintain that the controls write without consciousness that they are
writing, as, no doubt, they speak without consciousness that they are
speaking. According to what they say, these controls perceive in the
body of the medium two principal masses of the mysterious fluid, the
unknown energy which appears like light to them, and which they call the
"light." One of these masses is in the head, the other in the hand. The
controls think "in" this light, and their thoughts are transmitted to us
automatically through the organism.
The automatic writing differs according to the controls. They do not
always succeed in reproducing the characteristics of their handwriting
when alive. George Pelham has tried to do so at least once, and did not
succeed. But this should not surprise us; we do not work as well with
other people's tools as with our own. In any case this difference in the
handwriting is a presumption the more in favour of the difference of
individuality.
The writing often looks like that on a lithographic stone, and can only
be read when reflected in a glass; this writing, which is called
mirror-writing, is produced as rapidly as ordinary writing, though Mrs
Piper, in her normal state, would be unable to write in this way. This
mirror-writing has been often observed in subjects who write
automatically; the cause for it is still to be found.
On other occasions words are written backwards. Thus for _hospital_,
_latipsoh_ will be obtained. With certain mediums not only words but
whole sentences are thus written. To read them, they must be begun at
the last letter and read backwards to the first. Syllables are also
often misplaced in Mrs Piper's automatic writing; thus _hospital_ may be
written _hostipal_. I remind the reader that I am referring to facts
well attested by competent men, about which there can be no question of
fraud.
There exist detailed minutes of many of the sittings, copied from
stenographic notes. An attempt was made to introduce a phonograph.
Phinuit jokingly felt the mouth with his hands and asked, "What is this
thing with a tube?" The attempt to explain its use to him was
unsuccessful. However, the phonograph recorded the sitting fairly well,
but the experiment was not repeated--why, I do not know, for the
intonations of the controls would have been an interesting study.
I have often used expressions of affirmation in this chapter, and the
reader might therefore conclude that the existence of spirits is no
longer a hypothesis in my eyes, but a reality. I have already warned
him, and warn him again, that I speak thus only for convenience' sake,
and that the existence of spirits is still as hypothetical to me as to
anyone else.
FOOTNOTES:
[52] Not the real name. _See_ p. 78, _Trans._
[53] _Proc. of S.P.R._, vol. xiii. p. 291.
[54] _Proc. of S.P.R._, vol. xiii. p. 294.