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THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
By SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
_On the Life Hereafter_
THE NEW REVELATION
THE VITAL MESSAGE
THE COMING OF THE FAIRIES
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
THE WANDERINGS OF A SPIRITUALIST
OUR AMERICAN ADVENTURE
_A History of the Great War_
THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS—5 Vols.
_Poems_
THE GUARDS CAME THROUGH
_Novels and Stories_
DANGER! And Other Stories
THE DOINGS OF RAFFLES HAW
HIS LAST BOW
Some Latin Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes
NEW YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
THE CASE FOR
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
WITH CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE BY
EXPERIENCED RESEARCHERS
AND PHOTOGRAPHERS
ILLUSTRATED
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1923,
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
[Illustration]
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY. I
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PREFACE
The publicity given to the recent attacks on Psychic Photography has
been out of all proportion to their scientific value as evidence. When
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle returned to Great Britain, after his successful
tour in America, the controversy was in full swing. With characteristic
promptitude he immediately decided to meet these negative attacks by a
positive counter-attack, and this volume is the outcome of that decision.
We have used the term “Spirit Photography” on the title-page as being
the popular name by which these phenomena are known. This does not imply
that either Sir Arthur or I imagine that everything supernormal must
be of spirit origin. There is, undoubtedly, a broad borderland where
these photographic effects may be produced from forces contained within
ourselves. This merges into those higher phenomena of which many cases
are here described. Those desiring fuller information on this subject are
referred to “Photographing the Invisible,” by James Coates.
It was only when editing the matter for these pages that I fully realised
what an overwhelming mass of reliable material we had to work upon. In
restricting this book to the necessary limits it has only been possible
to make use of a small portion of this evidence. Many more cases have
been placed on record and may be published on some future occasion.
Most of the letters accompanying these descriptions display a deep
and genuine affection for the maligned mediums of the Crewe Circle.
Our hearty thanks are due to all those friends who have so readily
co-operated in this work and who are so willing to brave the discomforts
of publicity for what they know to be the truth.
FRED BARLOW.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE BY FRED BARLOW v
CHAPTER
I THE CREWE CIRCLE 13
II SOME PERSONAL EXPERIENCES 21
III EVIDENTIAL TESTS AND THEIR RESULTS 28
IV AN EXAMINATION OF MR. HOPE AND HIS CRITICS 38
V FURTHER DIFFICULTIES CONSIDERED 55
VI THE ATTACK ON MRS. DEANE AND MR. VEARNCOMBE 60
VII THE GENESIS AND HISTORY OF THE CREWE CIRCLE BY MISS
F. R. SCATCHERD 70
VIII EVIDENTIAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF PSYCHIC
PHOTOGRAPHY BY FRED BARLOW 79
IX CONCLUSIVE PROOF FROM MANY SOURCES 96
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Barlow, Mr. H. D., Psychic and Normal Photographs of 127
Burgess, Mrs., with Psychic Picture of Her Uncle 127
Buxton, Mrs., and Daughter, with Psychic Picture of
Her Father 47
Colley, Archdeacon, Psychic Message in the Handwriting of 14
Colley, Archdeacon, Normal Handwriting of 14
Colley, Archdeacon, Photomicrograph of Portion of Normal
Signature 78
Colley, Archdeacon, Photomicrograph of Portion of Signature
in Psychic Message 78
Crawford, Dr. W. J., Psychic Message in the Handwriting of 15
Crawford, Dr. W. J., Normal Handwriting of 15
Crookes, Sir William, with Psychic Face 31
Cushman, Agnes, Psychic Picture of 63
Cushman, Agnes, Normal Photograph of 63
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, and Group, with Psychic Message
from Archdeacon Colley 14
East, Mr. and Mrs. H., with Psychic and Normal Pictures
of Son 47
Foulds, Mrs. R., with Psychic Photograph of Her Mother 110
Foulds, Mrs. R., Normal Photograph of the Mother of 110
Griere, Mrs. A. E., with Psychic Likeness of Husband
and Father 111
Griere, Mrs. A. E., Photograph of the Husband of 111
Jeffrey, Mr. Wm., and Daughter, Showing Ectoplasmic Bag 62
Jeffrey, Mr. Wm., and Daughter, with Psychic Likeness
of Mrs. Jeffrey 62
Maddocks, Mr. S., with Psychic Likeness of First Wife 95
Maddocks, Mr. S., Normal Photograph of the First Wife of 95
Pickup, Mrs., with Psychic Likeness of Husband 126
Pickup, Mrs., Photograph of the Husband of 126
S.S.S.P., Group Photograph with Psychic Face 30
Spencer, Major R. E. E., with Psychic Face 31
Tweedale, the Rev. C. L., and Wife, with Psychic Likeness
of Mrs. Tweedale’s Father 46
Tweedale, the Rev. C. L., Photograph of the Father-in-law of 46
Walker, Mr. and Mrs. Harry, and Friends, with Psychic
Likeness of Mr. Wm. Walker 79
Walker, Mr. Wm., with Psychic Message in Handwriting
of Mr. W. T. Stead 79
Walker, Mr. Wm., Psychic Message in Handwriting of 94
Walker, Mr. Wm., Specimen of Handwriting of 94
THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
CHAPTER I
THE CREWE CIRCLE
An accusation of a damaging, and, as I believe, of an entirely unfounded
character, has been brought forward by Mr. Harry Price against Mr. Hope,
whose name has for more than seventeen years been associated with the
strange phenomenon which has been called spirit photography. I will deal
later with this accusation with which the Society for Psychic Research
has unfortunately associated itself by publishing the report of it in
their official journal. Before touching upon it I should wish to take
a broader sweep and to show the overpowering weight of evidence which
exists as to the reality of Mr. Hope’s most remarkable gift.
If a man were accused of cowardice it would be natural that his defender
should not confine himself to the particular case, but should examine the
man’s whole career and put forward instances of valour as an argument
against the charge. So also if a man is accused of dishonesty a long
record of honesty would be his most complete defence. Therefore in
considering the case of Mr. Hope, and the value of his mediumship, one
must not limit one’s investigation to a single case, where errors of
observation and of deduction may creep in, but must take a broader view
which will embrace an account of a long series of cases, vouched for by
men and women of the highest character, and incompatible with any form
of fraud. If the reader will have the patience to follow my facts and my
argument, I hope to make it clear to any unprejudiced mind that there is
overwhelming evidence that we have in Mr. Hope a man endowed with most
singular powers, and that, instead of persecuting and misrepresenting
him, it would be wiser if we took a sympathetic view of his remarkable
work, which has brought consolation to the afflicted, and conviction to
many who had lost all belief in the independent life of the spirit.
Many speak of Mr. Hope and of the Crewe Circle without any definite idea
of what the words mean. Let me explain, then, that Mr. William Hope, who
is a working-man, discovered, some seventeen years ago, quite by chance,
that this remarkable power of producing extra faces, figures or objects
upon photographic plates had been given to him. In the first instance he
was taking a fellow-workman, and the plate, when developed, was found to
contain an extra figure which was recognised as being a likeness of his
comrade’s sister, who had recently passed away.
This form of mediumship is rare, but from the days of Mumler, who
first showed it in 1861, there has never been a time when one or more
sensitives have not been able to demonstrate it.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.—Impression received upon a marked plate which
never left the author’s hands, save when in carrier. (_See_ p. 21.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.—Specimen of Archdeacon Colley’s writing during his
lifetime. (_See_ p. 22.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 3.—Psychograph in the handwriting of Dr. W. J.
Crawford. (_See_ p. 25.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 4.—Specimen of Dr. W. J. Crawford’s writing during
his lifetime.]
Hope was greatly surprised at his own results, but he had the good
fortune in early days to meet the late Archdeacon Colley, an enlightened
member of the Anglican Church, who tested his powers, endorsed them and
appreciated their value. It was he who gave Hope his first stand camera,
the old-fashioned instrument to which he still clings, and which, with
its battered box and broken leg, is familiar to many of us.
No one knows the story of these beginnings so well as Miss Scatcherd, who
was the intimate friend of the Archdeacon and shared the evidence which
had so impressed him. Miss Scatcherd has kindly consented to jot down her
reminiscences of these early days, that I may include them in the later
pages of this volume.
Suffice it if I say, at present, that Hope has been before the public
for seventeen years, that during that time many special tests have been
demanded of him and have been successfully met, that he has been closely
observed by experts of all sorts—scientific men (including Sir William
Crookes), journalists, professional photographers and others—that he
has patiently submitted himself to all sorts of experiment, and that
he has emerged from this most drastic ordeal with the complete support
and approval of far the greater part of his clients. That he has been
fiercely attacked goes without saying, for every medium has that
experience, but each fresh allegation against him has ended in smoke,
while his gifts have grown stronger with time, so that the percentage
of blanks in his results is, I should say, lower than it used to be. No
medium can ever honestly guarantee success, but it would probably be
within the mark if one claimed that Hope attained it three times out
of five, though the results vary much in visibility and value, being
mere vague outlines in some cases, and in others so detailed in their
perfection that the extra is clearer and more life-like than the sitter.
These variations seem to depend upon the state of health of the medium,
the qualities of the investigator, the atmospheric conditions and other
obscure causes.
In person, Hope is a man who gives the impression of being between fifty
and sixty years of age, with the manner and appearance of an intelligent
working-man. His forehead is high and indicates a good, if untrained,
brain beneath it. The general effect of his face is aquiline with large,
well-opened, honest blue eyes, and a moustache which is shading from
yellow to grey. His voice is pleasant, with a North Country accent which
becomes very pronounced when he is excited. His hands with their worn
nails and square-ended fingers are those of the worker, and the least
adapted to sleight-of-hand tricks of any that I have seen.
Mrs. Buxton, who aids him, is a kindly, pleasant-faced woman on the sunny
side of middle-age. Her mediumistic powers seem to be akin to those of
Hope, and though the latter had all his earlier results independently, he
is stronger when he combines his forces with Mrs. Buxton’s.
They both give an impression of honesty and frankness, which increases
as one comes to know them more closely. I have never met two people who
seemed to me from manner and appearance to be less likely to be in a
conspiracy to deceive the public.
They and all their circle are spiritualists of a Salvation Army type,
much addicted to the hearty singing of hymns and the putting up of
impromptu prayers. Hope, the most unconventional of beings, has been
known in the midst of one of his photographic lectures (which he delivers
occasionally in his shirt-sleeves) to say, “And now, my friends, we will
warm up with a hymn,” in which the audience, unable to escape, has to
acquiesce. It is a type of character which associates itself sometimes,
I admit, with a loathsome form of hypocrisy, but which has in it
something peculiarly childlike and sweet when it is perfectly honest and
spontaneous as it is, to the best of my belief, in the case of the two
mediums in question.
Some prejudice can be excited against Hope by the mere assertion that
he is a professional medium. The public is aware that fraud—sometimes
unhappily real, sometimes only alleged—is too often associated with this
profession. Sufficient allowance is not made for the fact that the papers
only take note of psychic things when they go wrong, and never when they
go right. The dishonest medium is so easily found out that one could
hardly make a living at so precarious a trade.
In a very extended experience, which covers many hundreds of séances,
I have only encountered fraud three or four times. Had I registered
those cases and omitted the others, I would have given the impression
of continued fraud, which is exactly how the matter is presented to the
public who are continually hoodwinked, not by the spiritualists but by
the critics and so-called “exposers” who represent what is exceptional as
being constant.
It is exactly this prejudice which prevents a medium or his friends from
bringing an action for libel, so that the unhappy man or woman becomes a
butt for any charge or any ridicule, the assailants knowing well that
the ordinary legal rights of a Briton are hardly applicable to one who
can be represented as living from a profession which is not recognised by
our laws. This cowardly medium-baiting will cease only when the public
show, by abstaining from the purchase of the journals which pursue it,
that they have no sympathy with such persecutions.
I would wish to point out, however, that Hope is not in a strict sense a
professional medium. I have never met anyone who seemed to me less venal
than he. I am aware of a case where an exploiter approached him with a
proposal to turn his gift into money, but was received in the coldest
possible manner. Twice when I have sat with him at Crewe he has refused
to take a fee, though he could never have known that the fact would be
made public. It is true that on each occasion I disregarded him to the
extent of leaving some remembrance upon the mantelpiece when his back was
turned, but I have been assured by others that he has again and again
refused all remuneration for his sitting, and has charged the ridiculous
sum of 4s. 6d. per dozen for prints from the negatives obtained. This
sum is calculated upon the average time expended at the rate of his own
trade earnings. I do not wish to overstate this side of the question or
to pretend that he would not be open to a present from a grateful client.
Of how many of us could that be honestly said? But my point is that his
gifts have been as open to the poor as to the rich—which all spiritual
gifts should be.
It is, of course, another matter when he comes to London and gives
sittings by appointment at the British College of Psychic Science. That
college is an expensive and most useful establishment, which is run, with
a yearly deficit, through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Hewat McKenzie,
and it is only right that those who use it should contribute an adequate
sum to its maintenance.
To illustrate my remarks upon Hope’s character and the general lines upon
which the Crewe Circle is conducted, I would like to give this extract
from the letter of a miner, Mr. East, of 36, New Street, Port Talbot, who
describes an experience which he had in 1920. After giving an account of
the precautions taken, and of the appearance upon the plate of his son’s
face: [_See_ Figure 11.]
“Hundreds of persons who knew him have seen the photo and
recognised him.” He adds: “When I asked what their charges
were, Mr. Hope replied: ‘Four and sixpence a dozen. For the
sitting, nothing. This is a gift from God and we dare not
charge for what is freely given us. Our pay is often the wonder
and joy depicted on the faces of those, like yourselves, who
have found that their loved ones are not entirely lost to them.
We get all kinds and classes of people here. Some even are
threadbare and too poor to pay train-fare, but we treat them
all alike as we recognise in each a brother or sister.’
“I could not but be impressed by the Christ-spirit of the two
friends, whom we had never seen before that short half-hour,
and not since. And when I read of men who try to make those two
persons appear something detestable I go back in memory to that
day when it was our good fortune to meet them and recall their
more than kind attitude to two bruised hearts. God bless them,
say I.”
With these preliminary remarks I will now lay before the reader a
selection of cases which I have taken from Mr. Hope’s record, and I will
ask him to read them carefully and see if they can be reconciled with
any possible system of fraud. We are, of course, always open to the
objection that a man may be perfectly honest fifty times and fraudulent
the fifty-first. That is undeniable and constitutes the great difficulty
in dealing with isolated cases where no impartial witness was present,
and where both the accusation and the defence are equally _ex-parte_
statements. We can only say in rebuttal that previous honesty must
predispose us to assume that there is no fraud, and remind our readers
that if we can only show one single case, which is absolutely beyond
criticism, then we have for ever settled the larger contention, that
it is possible in the presence of certain individuals, whom we call
mediums, to produce effects which are supernormal and which would appear
to indicate separate intelligences acting visibly quite independently of
ourselves.