THE LAW OF PSYCHIC PHENOMENA
BY DR. HUDSON.
THE LAW OF PSYCHIC PHENOMENA. 12mo $1.50
A SCIENTIFIC DEMONSTRATION OF THE FUTURE LIFE. 12mo 1.50
THE DIVINE PEDIGREE OF MAN. 12mo 1.50
THE LAW OF MENTAL MEDICINE. 12mo $1.20 _net_
THE EVOLUTION OF THE SOUL. 12mo 1.20 _net_
A.C. MCCLURG & CO.
CHICAGO.
THE LAW
OF
PSYCHIC PHENOMENA
A Working Hypothesis
FOR THE
SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF HYPNOTISM,
SPIRITISM, MENTAL THERAPEUTICS,
ETC.
BY
THOMSON JAY HUDSON, PH.D., LL.D.
AUTHOR OF "A SCIENTIFIC DEMONSTRATION OF THE FUTURE LIFE,"
"THE DIVINE PEDIGREE OF MAN," ETC.
[Illustration]
SIXTIETH THOUSAND
CHICAGO
A.C. MCCLURG & CO.
1904
COPYRIGHT
BY A.C. MCCLURG AND CO.
A.D. 1893
UNIVERSITY PRESS, JOHN WILSON
AND SON · CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
TO THE
Honorable Lester L. Bond,
THE COMPANION OF MY YOUTH, THE STEADFAST FRIEND OF MY MANHOOD, MY
MENTOR ALWAYS,
THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
I do not expect this book to stand upon its literary merits; for if it
is unsound in principle, felicity of diction cannot save it, and if
sound, homeliness of expression cannot destroy it. My primary object
in offering it to the public is to assist in bringing Psychology
within the domain of the exact sciences. That this has never been
accomplished is owing to the fact that no successful attempt has been
made to formulate a working hypothesis sufficiently comprehensive to
embrace all psychic phenomena. It has, however, long been felt by the
ablest thinkers of our time that all psychic manifestations of the
human intellect, normal or abnormal, whether designated by the name
of mesmerism, hypnotism, somnambulism, trance, spiritism, demonology,
miracle, mental therapeutics, genius, or insanity, are in some way
related; and consequently, that they are to be referred to some general
principle or law, which, once understood, will simplify and correlate
the whole subject-matter, and possibly remove it from the domain of
the supernatural. The London Society for Psychical Research, whose
ramifications extend all over the civilized world, was organized for
the purpose of making a systematic search for that law. The Society
numbers among its membership many of the ablest scientists now living.
Its methods of investigation are purely scientific, and painstaking
to the last degree, and its field embraces all psychic phenomena. It
has already accumulated and verified a vast array of facts of the most
transcendent interest and importance. In the mean time a large number
of the ablest scientists of Europe and America have been pursuing
independent investigations in the phenomena of hypnotism. They too
have accumulated facts and discovered principles of vast importance,
especially in the field of mental therapeutics,--principles which also
throw a flood of light upon the general subject of Psychology.
This vast array of facts, thus accumulated and verified, and awaiting
scientific classification and analysis, would seem to justify at least
a tentative effort to apply to them the processes of induction, to the
end that the fundamental law of psychic phenomena may be discovered.
In the following pages I have attempted such a classification of
verified phenomena, accounts of which I find in the literature current
on the subject; and I have tentatively formulated a working hypothesis
for the systematic study of all classes of psychic phenomena. It
will be observed that I have availed myself largely of the labors of
others, instead of confining myself to experimental researches of my
own. I have done this for two reasons: _first_, that I might avoid the
accusation of having conducted a series of experiments for the purpose
of sustaining a pet theory of my own; and _second_, because I hold that
substantial progress cannot be made in science until one is ready to
accord due credit to human integrity, and to give due weight to human
testimony.
In conclusion, I desire to say that I claim no credit for this work,
save that which is due to an honest desire to promote the truth for its
own sake. Sincerely believing in the correctness of my hypothesis, I
have not hesitated to follow it to its legitimate conclusion in every
field which I have entered. If at the close of the book I have seemed
to trespass upon the forbidden field of theological discussion, it was
not for the purpose of sustaining any preconceived opinions of my own;
far from it. It was because I was irresistibly led to my conclusions by
the terms of my hypothesis and the inflexible logic of its application.
I cannot but be aware that my conclusions sometimes oppose the
preconceived opinions of others. But no one who accepts my hypothesis
as the true one will be compelled more frequently than I have been to
renounce his former convictions.
T.J.H.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
October 21, 1892.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
PAGE
Necessity of a Working Hypothesis.--The Newtonian Hypothesis.--The
Atomic Theory.--A Psychological Hypothesis
necessary.--Theories of Hypnotism and Mesmerism.--Spiritism.--Mental
Therapeutics.--Liébault's Law of Suggestion.--Duality
of Mind.--A Working Hypothesis for
Psychology formulated.--Its Three Terms 19
CHAPTER II.
DUALITY AND SUGGESTION.
The Doctrine of the Trinity of Man.--The Greek Philosophy.--The Early
Christian Fathers.--Hermetic Philosophy.--Swedenborg.--Duality in
Modern Philosophy.--"Objective" and "Subjective" Minds.--Their
Distinctive Differences and Modes of Operation.--The Subjective
Mind a Distinct Entity.--Illustrations from Hypnotism.--Suggestion.
--Auto-Suggestion.--Universality of the Law of Suggestion 27
CHAPTER III.
REASONING POWERS OF THE TWO MINDS DIFFERENTIATED.
The Subjective Mind incapable of Inductive Reasoning.--Its
Processes always Deductive, or Syllogistic.--Its Premises
the Result of Suggestion.--Illustrations by Hypnotism.--Hypnotic
Interview with Socrates.--Reasons from an Assumed
Major Premise.--Interview with a Philosophic Pig.--The
Pig affirms the Doctrine of Reincarnation.--Dogmatism
of Subjective Intelligence.--Incapable of Controversial
Argument.--Persistency in following a Suggested Line of
Thought 33
CHAPTER IV.
PERFECT MEMORY OF THE SUBJECTIVE MIND.
Confirmed by Hypnotic Phenomena.--Opinions of Psychologists.--Sir
William Hamilton's Views.--Observations of Dr. Rush.--Talent for
Poetry and Music developed by Abnormal Conditions.--Talent for Drawing
evolved by Madness.--Resuscitation of Knowledge in the
Insane.--Extraordinary Feats of Memory during Illness.--A Forgotten
Language recovered.--Whole Pages of Greek and Hebrew remembered by
an Illiterate Servant Girl.--Speaking in Unknown Tongues
explained.--The Result of the Operations of Natural Law 40
CHAPTER V.
SUBJECTIVE MEMORY (_continued_).
Practical Illustrations.--Reasons for Limitations of Subjective
Power.--Its Practical Significance.--Its Application to the Solution of
Problems of Insanity.--The Mental Phenomena of "Genius."--Napoleon
Bonaparte.--Shakspeare.--Poets.--Artists.--Macaulay's Estimate of Poets
and Poetry.--Dangers of Subjective Control.--Lord Byron.--Socrates'
Estimate of Poets.--His Recognition of the Subjective Element in Poetic
Composition.--Occasional Inconveniences.--Unconscious
Plagiarism.--Observations of Holmes.--Improvisation.--Solution
of the Shakspeare-Bacon Problem.--The Subjective in Art.--Madness in
Art.--Great Orators.--Webster.--Clay.--Patrick
Henry.--Incidents.--Practical Conclusions 48
CHAPTER VI.
PERCEPTION OF THE FIXED LAWS OF NATURE.
Three Sub-Classes of Mental Phenomena.--Mathematical
Prodigies.--Musical Prodigies.--Measurement of Time.--Distinction
between Results of Objective Education and
Intuitive Perception.--Zerah Colburn, the Mathematical
Prodigy.--The Lightning Calculator.--Blind Tom, the
Musical Prodigy.--The Origin and Uses of Music.--East
Indian Fakirs.--Measurement of Time.--The Power possessed
by Animals.--Illustrative Incidents.--Hypnotic
Subjects.--Jouffroy's Testimony.--Bernheim's Views.--Practical
Observations.--The Normal Functions of Objective
Intelligence.--The Limitations of Subjective Intelligence
pertains to its Earthly State only.--Its Kinship to
God demonstrated by its Limitations.--Omniscience cannot
reason inductively.--Induction is Inquiry.--Perception the
Attribute of Omniscience.--Conclusions regarding the
Power of the Soul 62
CHAPTER VII.
EFFECTS OF ADVERSE SUGGESTION.
The Subjective Mind incapable of Controversial Argument.--A
Sceptical Audience demoralizes it.--The Presence of an
Avowed Sceptic prevents Successful Exhibition of Subjective
Phenomena.--Labouchere and Bishop.--The Royal
Academy of Medicine.--Its Offer to Clairvoyants.--Failure
to earn Reward.--Harmonious Conditions required by
Spiritists.--The Seybert Commission.--Trance-speaking
Mediums.--How demoralized.--Adverse Suggestion the
Cause of Failure in all Cases.--Possible Lack of Telepathic
Conditions in Bishop's Case.--General Conclusions.--Failure
Consistent with Honesty of Mediums 75
CHAPTER VIII.
HYPNOTISM AND MESMERISM.
Warfare of the Schools.--History of the Science.--Mesmer's
Career.--The Academicians.--The Successors of Mesmer.--The
Royal Academy of Medicine.--Its Idiotic Prejudices.--Dr.
Braid's Discovery.--Re-baptism of the Science.--Effects
of Braid's Discoveries.--Liébault's Theory of Suggestion.--The
Nancy School and the Paris School compared.--The
Fluidic Theory.--The Law of Suggestion the Greatest
Discovery in Psychic Science.--The Significance of
Braid's Discoveries not appreciated.--Hypnotism of Animals.--The
Charcot School.--The Sources of its Errors.--Reform
in Terminology suggested.--The Mesmeric Theory.--Braid's
Processes not productive of Higher Phenomena.--Mesmerization
of Animals.--Recapitulation of Points 81
CHAPTER IX.
HYPNOTISM AND MESMERISM (_continued_).
Mesmeric Methods.--The Fluidic Theory.--Influence of the
Mind of the Operator.--The Early Mesmerists.--Their
Methods and their Effects.--Decadence of the Higher Phenomena
under Braid's Methods.--The Causes explained.--Telepathic
Powers developed by Mesmerism.--Mesmerism
as a Therapeutic Agent.--Method of Operation recommended.--How
to acquire the Power.--The Necessary
Conditions of Success.--Will-Power explained.--The
Fluidic Theory requires Revision.--Distinction between
Mesmerism and Hypnotism sharply drawn.--Mesmerization
of Animals distinguished from the Hypnotization of Animals.--Methods
employed in each.--Tamers of Horses and Wild
Beasts.--Dog-Trainers.--Primitive Man.--His Powers.--His
Immunity from Harm.--Daniel.--The Adepts.--General
Conclusions 105
CHAPTER X.
HYPNOTISM AND CRIME.
Platform Experiments misleading,--Their Utter Inutility as a
Test.--So-called "Tests" described and explained.--Sexual
Outrages impossible.--Auto-Suggestion protects the
Virtuous.--A Willing Subject necessary.--Demonstrative
Experiments.--Modern Authorities cited against Themselves.--Professor
Gregory's Views.--The Elevated Moral
Tone of Subjects when mesmerized.--Successful Suggestion
of Suicide impossible.--The Three Normal Functions of
the Subjective Mind.--Self-Preservation.--Propagation.--Preservation
of Offspring.--Instinctive Auto-Suggestion.--Indifference
on Near Approach of Death.--A Universal Law.--Illustrative
Incidents.--Suggestive Criminal Abortion
impossible.--Premonitions explained.--The Dæmon of
Socrates.--Clairaudience.--The Instinct of Death.--Hypnotism
in Jurisprudence.--Testimony valueless.--Vital
Secrets impossible to obtain.--Doctors must not monopolize
the Forces of Nature.--The Folly of Adverse Legislation 122
CHAPTER XI.
PSYCHO-THERAPEUTICS.
Historical Notes.--Mind Cure in Ancient Times.--Bible
Accounts.--Miracles of the Church.--Healing by the King's
Touch.--Views of Paracelsus and Pomponazzi.--Bernheim's
Experiments.--The Modern Schools.--Their Theories.--The
True Hypothesis applicable to All Systems.--Illustrations
of the Theory.--Producing a Blister by Suggestion.--Bloody
Stigmata.--Letters of Blood.--Objective Control of Subjective
Mind.--Subjective Control of Bodily Functions.--The
Necessary Mental Conditions.--The Precepts and
Example of Christ.--Subjective Faith alone required.--Discussion
of Various Systems.--Christian Science, etc.--General
Conclusions 144
CHAPTER XII.
PSYCHO-THERAPEUTICS (_continued_).
Methods classified in Two Divisions.--Mental and Oral
Suggestions.--Absent Treatment.--Christian Scientists handicapped
by Absurd Theories.--They claim too much.--The Use of Drugs.--Dangers
arising from too Radical Change.--Importance of Favorable Mental
Environment.--Mental Healing requires Mental Conditions.--Treatment
by Hypnotism.--Bernheim's Methods.--Illustrative Cases.--The
Practical Value of the System.--The Illogical Limitations
of the Theory.--Potency of Telepathic Suggestion.--Researches
of the Society for Psychical Research.--Mr. Gurney's Experiments.--They
demonstrate the Theory of Effluent Emanations.--Diagnosis by
Intuition.--Potency of Mesmerism.--Permanency of Cures.--Conditions
necessary.--The Example of Jesus.--Self-Healing by Auto-suggestion 161
CHAPTER XIII.
A NEW SYSTEM OF MENTAL THERAPEUTICS.
Telepathy the Normal Means of Communication between Subjective
Minds.--Perfect Passivity required for Therapeutic
Suggestions.--Natural Sleep the Most Perfect State of
Passivity.--Hypnotic Sleep and Natural Sleep identical.--Phenomena
of Dreams.--Subjective Mind controllable by
Suggestion during Natural Sleep.--Illustrative Incidents.--Passivity
a Necessity on the Part of the Operator.--The Subjective Mind can
be caused to convey Telepathic Messages during Sleep.--Illustrative
Experiments 176
CHAPTER XIV.
A NEW SYSTEM OF MENTAL THERAPEUTICS (_continued_).
Recapitulation of Propositions.--Natural Sleep the Best Condition
attainable both for Healer and Patient.--Demonstrative
Experiments.--Healing at a Distance of One Thousand
Miles.--Distance no Obstacle.--Space does not exist for
the Subjective Mind.--Objective Habits of Thought the
only Adverse Factor.--Diseases treated.--Strabismus
cured.--Mode of Operation.--Not a Good Money-making
Scheme.--It promotes the Health of the Healer.--A
Method of Universal Utility.--Self-Healing its most Important
Function.--The Power absolute.--Within the Reach
of All.--Method of Self-Healing.--The Patient's Credulity
not overtaxed.--The Example of Christ.--Material Remedies
not to be ignored.--Advice to Christian Scientists.--The
Control of Dreams.--Practical Conclusions 191
CHAPTER XV.
THE PHENOMENA OF SPIRITISM.
If a Man die, shall he live again?--The Problem not solved by
Spiritistic Phenomena.--The Phenomena admitted.--Their Supernatural
Origin denied.--Explained by the Hypothesis.--Subsidiary
Hypothesis.--An Intelligent Dynamic Force.--Its
Characteristics.--Limited by Medium's Intelligence.--It is
controlled by Suggestion.--Phenomena fail in Presence of
Scepticism.--Reasons.--Mediumistic Frauds.--The Primary Lesson
in Spiritistic Investigation.--Mediums not necessarily
dishonest.--Their Honest Belief in the Phenomena.--Suggestion
explains all.--Illustrations from Hypnotism.--Convincing Character
of Alleged Communications.--Telepathic Explanations.--General
Conclusions 205
CHAPTER XVI.
THE PHENOMENA OF SPIRITISM (_continued_).
Various Classes of Phenomena.--Clairvoyance.--Its Field not yet
clearly defined.--Telepathy invades its Ancient Domain.--Simple
Experiments in Telepathy.--Their Significance.--Telepathic Power
in Mediums.--Telepathic Visions.--A Typical Séance.--Wonderful
Exhibition of Telepathic Power.--An Affecting Interview of the
Sitter with Himself.--Deductions.--Visions of Inanimate Things as
well as of Deceased Persons.--Spirit of the Jack of
Clubs.--Subjective Memory.--Spirit Identity.--Allan Kardec's
Observations.--His Illogical Conclusions.--His Supreme
Test.--Telepathic Explanation.--Four Ways of explaining his Test
Case 219
CHAPTER XVII.
THE PHENOMENA OF SPIRITISM (_continued_).
Psychometry.--"The Souls of Things."--Professor Denton's
Experiments.--Wonderful Visions of the Ancient Environment of
Geological Specimens.--A Piece of Mortar from Cicero's
House.--Supposed Scientific Tests.--Explanation on Telepathic
Principles.--Experiments in Hypnotism compared.--Clairvoyance
and Telepathy.--Their Boundary Lines in
Transit.--Clairaudience.--Definitions of the Term.--Socrates
and his Dæmon.--Modern Instances.--Mental
Impressions.--Premonitions.--Their Unreliability.--Remarkable
Examples of Clairaudience.--A Lawyer's Experience.--Subject
to the Law of Suggestion.--Insanity sometimes results from
Ignorance of the Cause.--Practical Suggestions 238
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE PHENOMENA OF SPIRITISM (_continued_).
The Planchette.--Modifications.--Easily operated.--Automatic
Writing.--Governed by the Universal Law.--The Planchette without
Spirits.--The Planchette and Telepathy.--Trance.--Ancient and
Modern Superstitions relating to Trance.--Religious Systems
founded on Trance.--Visions.--Swedenborg.--Oriental
Philosophy.--Its Slow Growth and Stupendous Proportions.--Spiritistic
Philosophy.--Its Evolution.--All founded on Trance Visions, in
Ignorance of the Law of Suggestion.--Cahagnet's Mesmeric
Seers.--Their Revelations.--Objective and Subjective
Visions.--Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy.--Visions of the Holy
Virgin.--The Physical and Mental Attitude of Prayer.--The Prayer of
Faith.--Obsession.--Possession.--Casting out Devils.--Devils out
of Fashion.--The Influence of Suggestion.--The Element of
Telepathy.--Dual Personality.--Loss of Identity.--Characteristics.--The
Case of Ansel Bourne.--Possible Explanation.--A Proof of the Dual
Hypothesis.--Multiple Personality 251
CHAPTER XIX.
THE PHYSICAL PHENOMENA OF SPIRITISM.
The Intelligence manifested.--It is a Human Intelligence.--Inherent
Probabilities.--Conditions requisite.--The Best
Conditions.--A Living Organism necessary.--The Laws of Telepathy
and Suggestion prevail.--Slate-Writing.--A Wonderful Slate-Writing
Séance.--Telepathic and Psycho-Physical Power displayed in
Perfection.--Demonstration of its Mundane Origin.--An Unexpected
Phenomenon.--Summary of Results.--Syllogism.--General
Conclusions.--Spiritistic Phenomena do not constitute Valid
Evidence of a Life beyond the Grave.--An Argument for Immortality 271
CHAPTER XX.
PHANTASMS OF THE DEAD.
Ghosts.--Scientific Investigations.--Tentative Classification of
Phenomena.--Power to create Phantasms demonstrated.--Investigations
of the London Society for Psychical Research.--Spirit
Photography.--Projection of the "Astral Body."--Witches.--Conditions
necessary.--The same in all Cases.--Spirit
"Materialization."--Magicians.--Ghosts the Creations of the
Subjective Entity.--Eliphas Levi's Views.--Raising the
Devil.--Crystal Visions.--Propositions established.--Embodied
Thoughts.--Phantasms not Spirits.--Uniform Characteristics.--A New
Classification.--Conditions of Objectivity and Persistency.--Haunted
Houses.---No General Intelligence manifested.--D'Assier's
Statements.--A Remarkable Case.--Ghosts Intensified Telepathic
Visions.--Difference in Degree, not in Kind.--Ghosts not controllable
by Suggestion.--Other Salient Peculiarities.--Ghosts
neither prove nor disprove Immortality.--Mental Atmosphere
of Houses.--Remarkable Cases.--Classification of Telepathic
Phenomena.--Conclusions 286
CHAPTER XXI.
SUSPENDED ANIMATION AND PREMATURE BURIAL.
Facts of Startling Import.--The Case of Washington Irving
Bishop.--Other Instances of Suspended
Animation.--Vampirism.--Catalepsy.--East Indian Fakirs buried
alive for Months.--Fundamental Errors.--Catalepsy not a
Disease.--A Recuperative Agent.--The Law of Suggestion governs
the Phenomena.--Subjective Insensibility impossible.--Suggestion
of Death deepens the Lethargy.--The Appalling Dangers of
Catalepsy.--The Proper Treatment 309
CHAPTER XXII.
PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS.
The Normal Relations of the Objective and Subjective
Faculties.--Their Distinctive Powers and Functions.--The
Infinite Wisdom displayed in their Distribution.--It
constitutes Man a Free Moral Agent.--Limitation of Subjective
Powers and Responsibilities in this Life.--The Kinship of
the Soul to God.--The Limitation of the Powers of the
Objective Mind.--The Transcendent Powers of the Soul.--Errors
of the Old
Philosophers.--The Normal Functions of the Soul in Earthly
Life.--Dangers of Abnormal Exercise of Subjective Power.--Nervous
Disorders, Insanity, Imbecility, and Moral Degradation.--The
Importance of a Knowledge of the Law of Suggestion.--Dangers
of Mediumship.--Trance-Speakers.--Immoral Tendency of Ignorant
Mediumship.--Tendency towards Free Love.--The Causes.--The
Orientalists.--Their Greater Powers, and their Greater
Facilities for Self-Delusion.--Practical Conclusions.--Warnings 321
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS AND PHILOSOPHY OF CHRIST.
The Great Stumbling-Block, Unbelief in the Physical History
of Christ.--Modern Science confirms the New Testament.--Internal
Evidence of the Truth of the History of Jesus.--The
Scientific Accuracy of His Statements.--The Exoteric
and the Esoteric Doctrines.--Parables.--Esoteric Doctrines
reserved for Modern Science to discover.--The Spirit of
Truth.--Jesus the first to proclaim the Scientific Truth.--The
Doctrine of Faith.--Healing the Sick.--Natural Law.--Faith
essential then as now.--Illustrative Incidents.--Jairus'
Daughter.--Seven Scientific Steps.--Secrecy enjoined.--Scientific
Reasons.--Rediscovery of the Science of Mental Therapeutics in
Modern Times.--Nothing discovered that Jesus did not know.--Absent
Treatment.--The Power to heal transmitted to all Future
Generations.--The Conditions.--Conclusions 338
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF CHRIST (_continued_).
The Word _Faith_ in its Application to Psychic Phenomena.--Its
Definition.--An Epitome of the Law of Suggestion.--Subjective
Faith only required.--Illustrative Incident.--The "Spoken
Word."--Jesus knew the Law, and always acted within its
Limitations.--Intuitive Perception of the Laws of
the Soul.--His Manhood and its Limitations.--Our Warranty
of Title as Sons of God.--Christ constantly controlled
by Reason.--His Subjective Powers subservient.--The
Three Temptations illustrative.--The Great Lesson to
Mankind.--The Normal Exercise of Subjective Power.--Simon
the Sorcerer.--Miracle not a Necessary Explanation of the
Power of Christ.--Conclusions 359
CHAPTER XXV.
THE SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY OF CHRIST.
The Necessity of Signs and Wonders.--Christ's Work was for
All-Time.--His Consummate Wisdom.--Signs and Wonders
as Evidence.--His Perception of Spiritual Laws.--The Perceptive
Powers of the Soul.--Propositions.--Presumptive
Evidence of His Knowledge of Spiritual Laws.--Condition
precedent to Immortality.--Faith the Essential Condition.--The
Declarations of Christ.--He meant just what He said.--The
Doctrines of the Church.--Literal Extinction of the
Soul through Unbelief.--Belief essential to Salvation.--Belief
will not avert the Consequences of Sin.--Inherent
Probabilities.--The Conscious Existence of the Soul.--The
Law of Suggestion applied.--Scepticism constitutes a Fatal
Suggestion.--Phenomena of Hypnotism illustrative.--Souls
of Animals have no Conscious Existence; hence
not Immortal.--Christ as a Saviour of Souls.--His Doctrine
new to the World, but scientifically correct 374
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE MISSION OF CHRIST. FUTURE REWARDS AND
PUNISHMENTS.
The Success of Christ's Mission.--Chaotic State of Spiritual
Philosophy in His Time.--The Various Doctrines in Vogue.--Jesus
the first to simplify the Doctrine of Immortality.--He
gave it a Definite Status in Philosophy.--The Doctrine
of Future Rewards and Punishments.--God will "Render
to every Man according to his Deeds."--Spiritual Penalties
for Violations of Spiritual Law.--The Sin against the Holy
Ghost.--The Sin of Unbelief.--The Status of a Lost Soul.--Possible
Reincarnation.--The Means of Punishment for
Sin.--Affections.--Conscience.--Memory.--General
Conclusions.--Scientific Basis of Christianity 389
CHAPTER XXVII.
DEDUCTIONS FROM VARIOUS ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOUL.
The Question of Identity.--Consciousness and Memory.--Identity
considered in Reference to Rewards and
Punishments.--Conscience.--Conflicting Theories of
Psychologists.--Education and Intuition.--Different Standards
of Morality.--The Soul's Perception of the Eternal Principles
of Right and Wrong.--The Instinct of Worship.--Its Abnormal
Manifestations.--The Law of Suggestion.--Universality of
the Sentiment of Worship.--Its Normal Manifestations.--Demonstrative
of the Existence of a God of Love.--Old Arguments invalid.--Socrates
and Paley.--Argument predicated on the Affectional
Emotions.--Syllogistic Deductions.--The Divine Pedigree of Man 400
[Illustration]
THE
LAW OF PSYCHIC PHENOMENA.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
Necessity of a Working Hypothesis.--The Newtonian Hypothesis.--The
Atomic Theory.--A Psychological Hypothesis necessary.--Theories
of Hypnotism and Mesmerism.--Spiritism.--Mental
Therapeutics.--Liébault's Law of Suggestion.--Duality of Mind.--A
Working Hypothesis for Psychology formulated.--Its Three Terms.
Substantial progress in any science is impossible in the absence
of a working hypothesis which is universal in its application to
the phenomena pertaining to the subject-matter. Indeed, until such
an hypothesis is discovered and formulated, no subject of human
investigation can properly be said to be within the domain of the exact
sciences. Thus, astronomy, previous to the promulgation of Kepler's
Laws and the formulation of the Newtonian hypothesis of gravitation,
was in a state of chaos, and its votaries were hopelessly divided by
conflicting theories. But the moment Newton promulgated his theorem a
revolution began which eventually involved the whole scientific world.
Astronomy was rescued from the domain of empiricism, and became an
exact science. What the Newtonian hypothesis did for astronomy, the
atomic theory has done for chemistry. It enables one skilled in that
science to practise it with a certainty of results in exact proportion
to his knowledge of its principles and his skill in applying them to
the work in hand. He knows that if he can combine hydrogen and oxygen,
in the proportion of two atoms of the former to one of the latter,
water will be the result. He knows that one atom, or part, of oxygen
and one of carbon combined under heat will produce carbonic oxide,--a
poisonous gas; that the addition of another atom, or part, of oxygen
will produce carbonic anhydride (dioxide),--a harmless gas; and so on
throughout the vast realm of chemical combinations.
The fact that the literal correctness of a given hypothesis is not
demonstrable except by results, in no wise militates against its
value in the domain to which it belongs. Indeed, it would cease to
be a hypothesis the moment it were demonstrated. Newton's theorem
is undemonstrable except from its results. Its correspondence,
however, with every known fact, the facility with which astronomical
calculations can be made, and the precision with which every result can
be predicted, constitute a sufficient demonstration of its substantial
correctness to inspire the absolute confidence of the scientific
world. No one would hesitate to act in the most important concerns of
life--nay, to stake his very existence--upon calculations based upon
Newton's hypothesis. Yet there are not found wanting men who deny or
doubt its abstract correctness. Volumes have been written to disprove
it. But as no one has yet discovered a fact or witnessed a phenomenon
outside of its domain, the world refuses to surrender its convictions.
When such a fact is discovered, then, and not till then, will there
arise a necessity for revising the "Principia." It is a trite and true
saying that one antagonistic fact will destroy the value of the finest
theory ever evolved.
It is equally impossible to demonstrate the abstract correctness of
the atomic theory. An appeal to the evidence found in uniform results
is all that is possible to one who would give a reason for the faith
that is in him. No one ever saw, felt, tasted, or smelled an atom.
It is beyond the reach of the senses; nor is it at all probable that
science or skill will ever be able to furnish instrumental aids capable
of enabling man to take cognizance of the ultimate unit of matter. It
exists for man only in hypothesis. Nevertheless, the fact remains,
that in all the wide range of human investigation there is not a more
magnificent generalization, nor one more useful to mankind in its
practical results, than the atomic theory. Yet there are those who
doubt its abstract correctness, and labor to disprove the existence
of the atom. If the ultimate object of chemical science were to
demonstrate the existence of the atom, or to seize it and harness it
to the uses of mankind, it might be worth while to set the chemical
fraternity right by demonstrating its non-existence. If the practice of
chemistry on the basis of the theory were defective in its practical
results, or failed in universal application, it would then be the duty
of scientists to discard it entirely, and to seek a better working
hypothesis.
The most that can be said of any scientific hypothesis is, that whether
true in the abstract or not, everything happens just as though it
were true. When this test of universality is applied, when no known
fact remains that is unexplained by it, the world is justified in
assuming it to be true, and in deducing from it even the most momentous
conclusions. If, on the contrary, there is one fact pertaining to the
subject-matter under investigation which remains outside the domain
of the hypothesis, or which is unexplained by it, it is indubitable
evidence that the hypothesis is unsafe, untrue, and consequently
worthless for all practical purposes of sound reasoning. Thus, Sir
Isaac Newton, after having formulated his theorem, threw it aside as
worthless, for a time, upon making the discovery that the moon, in its
relations with the earth, apparently did not come within the terms of
his hypothesis. His calculations were based upon the then accepted
estimate of the length of a degree of latitude. This estimate having
been corrected by the careful measurements of Picard, Newton revised
his figures, and found that the supposed discrepancy did not exist.
The last doubt in his mind having been thus set at rest, he gave to
the world a theorem which rendered possible substantial progress in
astronomical science.
In the field of psychological investigation a satisfactory working
hypothesis has never been formulated. That is to say, no theory has
been advanced which embraces all psychological phenomena. Many theories
have been advanced, it is true, to account for the various classes of
phenomena which have been observed. Some of them are very plausible and
satisfactory--to their authors--when applied to a particular class of
facts, but utterly fail when confronted with another class.
Thus, the students of the science of hypnotism are, and since the
days of Mesmer have been, hopelessly divided into schools which wage
war upon each other's theories, and dispute the correctness of each
other's observations of facts. Mesmer's theory of fluidic emanations,
which he termed "animal magnetism," seemed to account for the facts
which he observed, and is still held to be substantially true by many
votaries of this science. John Bovee Dods' electrical theory--positive
lungs and negative blood--was sufficiently plausible in its day to
attract many followers, as it afforded a satisfactory explanation of
many phenomena which came under his observation. Braid's physiological
explanation of certain classes of the phenomena afforded, in his time,
much comfort to those who believe that there is nothing in man which
cannot be weighed in a balance or carved with a scalpel. In our own
day we find the school of the Salpêtrière, which holds that hypnotism
is a disease of the nervous system, that its phenomena are explicable
on physiological principles, that the suggestions of the operator
play but a secondary _rôle_ in their production, and that they can be
produced, or successfully studied, only in diseased persons. On the
other hand, the Nancy school of hypnotists holds that the science can
be studied with profit only in perfectly healthy persons, and from a
purely psychological standpoint, and that suggestion is the all-potent
factor in the production of all hypnotic phenomena. All three of
the last-mentioned schools agree in ignoring the possibility of
producing the higher phenomena of hypnotism, known as clairvoyance and
thought-transference, or mind-reading; whilst the earlier hypnotists
demonstrated both beyond the possibility of a reasonable doubt. Indeed,
a committee of the ablest scientists of the Royal Academy of Medicine
of France, after an investigation extending over a period of six years,
reported that it had demonstrated the existence of such powers in the
human mind.
Another large class of psychological phenomena, which has been
productive of more conflicting theories than any other, and which from
time immemorial has puzzled and appalled mankind, is by a large class
of persons referred to the direct agency of the spirits of the dead.
It would require a volume to catalogue the various theories which have
been advanced to account for this class of phenomena, and when done
it would serve no useful purpose. It is safe to say, however, that
no two individuals, whether believers or unbelievers in the generic
doctrine of spiritism, exactly agree as to the ultimate cause of the
phenomena. The obvious reason is that no two persons have had exactly
the same experience, or have observed exactly the same phenomena. In
the absence of a working hypothesis applicable to all the infinite
variety of facts observed, it follows that each investigator must draw
his own conclusions from the limited field of his own experience. And
when we take into consideration the important _rôle_ which passion
and prejudice ever play in the minds of men when the solution of
an undemonstrable problem is attempted, it is easy to see that a
bewildering hodge-podge of heterogeneous opinions is inevitable.
Another class of phenomena, about which an infinite variety of
opinions prevails, may be mentioned under the general head of mental
therapeutics. Under this generic title may be grouped the invocations
of the gods by the Egyptian priests; the magic formulas of the
disciples of Esculapius; the sympathetic powder of Paracelsus; the
king's touch for the cure of goitre; the wonderful cures at the tomb of
Deacon Paris and at Lourdes; the miraculous power supposed to reside in
the relics of the saints; the equally miraculous cures of such men as
Greatrakes, of Gassner, and of the Abbot Prince of Hohenlohe; and the
no less wonderful healing power displayed by the modern systems known
as mind cure, faith cure, Christian science, animal magnetism, and
suggestive therapeutics.
One fact, pregnant with importance, pertains to all these systems;
and that is that marvellous cures are constantly effected through
their agencies. To the casual observer it would seem to be almost
self-evident that, underlying all, there must be some one principle
which, once understood, would show them to be identical as to cause and
mode of operation. Yet we find as many conflicting theories as there
are systems, and as many private opinions as there are individuals who
accept the facts. Some of the hypotheses gravely put forth in books are
so bizarre as to excite only the pity or the ridicule of the judicious.
One notable example is found in that system, the basic theory of which
is that matter has no existence, that nothing is real but mind, and
that, consequently, disease and pain, suffering and death, are mere
hallucinations of morbid intellects. Other theories there are, which,
if not equally absurd, are probably equally remote from the truth; and
each treats the persons as well as the opinions of the others with
that virulent contumely which is the ever-present resort of him who
would force upon his neighbor the acceptance of his own undemonstrable
article of faith. Nevertheless, as before remarked, the fact remains
that each of these systems effects some most wonderful results in the
way of curing certain diseases.
What is true of the phenomena embraced under the general head of
mental therapeutics is also true of the whole range of psychological
phenomena; namely, the want of a working hypothesis which shall apply
to all the facts that have been observed and authenticated.
No successful attempt has heretofore been made to supply this want;
nor has success been possible until within a very recent period,
for the simple reason that previous to the discovery of certain
facts in psychological science, the scientific world was without the
necessary data from which a correct hypothesis could be formulated.
The researches of Professor Liébault in the domain of hypnotism,
seconded by those of his pupil, Professor Bernheim, have resulted
in discoveries which throw a flood of light upon the whole field of
psychological investigation. Their field of observation being confined
to hypnotism, and chiefly to its employment as a therapeutic agent, it
is not probable that either of those eminent scientists realized the
transcendent importance of their principal discovery, or perceived that
it is applicable to psychological phenomena outside the domain of their
special studies. The discovery is this: _that hypnotic subjects are
constantly amenable to the power of suggestion; that suggestion is the
all-potent factor in the production of all hypnotic phenomena_. This
proposition has been demonstrated to be true beyond the possibility
of a reasonable doubt. In subsequent chapters of this book it will
be shown that this fact supplies the missing link in the chain of
propositions necessary for a complete working hypothesis for the
subject under consideration.
The general propositions applicable to all phases of psychological
phenomena are here only briefly stated, leaving the minor, or
subsidiary, propositions necessary for the elucidation of particular
classes and sub-classes of phenomena to be stated under their
appropriate heads.
The first proposition relates to the dual character of man's mental
organization. That is to say, man has, or appears to have, two minds,
each endowed with separate and distinct attributes and powers; each
capable, under certain conditions, of independent action. It should
be clearly understood at the outset that for the purpose of arriving
at a correct conclusion it is a matter of indifference whether we
consider that man is endowed with two distinct minds, or that his one
mind possesses certain attributes and powers under some conditions,
and certain other attributes and powers under other conditions. It
is sufficient to know that everything happens just as though he were
endowed with a dual mental organization.
Under the rules of correct reasoning, therefore, I have a right to
assume that MAN HAS TWO MINDS; and the assumption is so stated, in
its broadest terms, as the first proposition of my hypothesis. For
convenience I shall designate the one as the _objective_ mind, and
the other as the _subjective_ mind. These terms will be more fully
explained at the proper time.
The second proposition is, that THE SUBJECTIVE MIND IS CONSTANTLY
AMENABLE TO CONTROL BY SUGGESTION.
The third, or subsidiary, proposition is, that THE SUBJECTIVE MIND IS
INCAPABLE OF INDUCTIVE REASONING.
[Illustration]