The Spiritualist newspaper > No.107, September 11th 1874

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THE SPIRITUALIST.
Sept. 11, 1874.
“ Managing Representative,” he further prints that it is con¬
ducted on a “Plan of Association.” This conveys the idea to
the general public and to uninformed Spiritualists in the
provinces, that Mr. Burns is the head of a great organisation
of which he is the representative, whereas he possesses merely
a private business like that of any other bookseller; he is not
a managing representative of Spiritualists, and there is no
association conducting the business. In his advertisements
he further states that the alleged Institution is divided into
the Library Department, the Financial Department, the
Publishing Department, and the General Business Department,
thus further conveying the idea to people out of London that
it is a great public establishment, the truth being that all the
“departments” are comprised in an ordinary little shop,
with a counter about eight or ten feet long. Mr. Burns further
prints in his advertisements—
“ This Institution extends its influence all over the country. At the
Central Office, 15, Southampton-row, are rooms for seances and other
experiments.”
The phrase “Central Office” conveys the idea to readers
that he has other public offices elsewhere—which he has not.
Therefore, in London, it is felt by Spiritualists to be a wrong
thing that Mr. Burns should to some extent commit them in the
eyes of the public, by printing circulars implying that a great
organisation exists of which he is the managing representative,
when such statements have no foundation in truth. He has
no authority for spreading circulars broadcast, implying that
he is the managing representative of London Spiritualists, or
others.
Just as it would be the duty of a newspaper in a country
town to point out the truth, if a local tradesman de¬
scribed himself, in connection with a great public movement,
as the managing representative of an association which had
no existence, similarly is it the duty of Spiritual periodicals
in London to do likewise.
As an example of the scale on which Mr. Burns describes
the various departments of the alleged institution, we quote
the following from the description of the “ Financial Depart¬
ment” in one of his published advertisements:—
“ Financial Department.—Thousands of pounds have been expended on
the work of the Spiritual Institution. A part of this money has been
subscribed by Spiritualists, but the greater part of it has devolved on
private resources, occasioning considerable responsibility to the managing
representative. Last year upwards of 800 individuals subscribed a sum of
5571. 6s. Id.”
This conveys the idea to the public not only that Spirit¬
ualists have appointed a managing representative, but that
they have dishonourably left him to pay their liabilities.
The truth is, that Mr. Burns has published that sometimes
he has received, in the form of free gifts, as much as
£500 a year, in consequence of asking Spiritualists for money
to help him to carry on his private business. He has also
published that, in addition, he has run up heavy debts; once
he printed that he was in debt to the extent of £1,000, and
asked Spiritualists at large to give him money to help him
out. With some of the funds given to him by Spiritualists,
or borrowed from persons who have wives and families, he has
for some years been selling some of his goods under cost price,
thereby inflicting heavy financial losses upon others who had
also to do with Spiritual literature, but whose moral and reli¬
gious principles would not allow them to run into debt or to
beg for money, so were unable to work by his methods. After
a time it was found necessary to point out to the
public the unintended bad effect of their kind-hearted, indis¬
criminate charity upon persons working in a more legiti¬
mate Way; then, in justice, some reparation was made for
the financial injuries which had been unintentionally inflicted.
When a real organisation of Spiritualists was recently
formed, and real representatives elected by vote by ballot, Mr.
Bums refused to print its advertisements in his weekly trade
circular, which reaches the more uneducated among the poorer
Spiritualists who liye in country districts.
Occasionally Mr. Burns would publish letters from persons
residing in remote country places', expressing unbounded
admiration of himself as a suitable person to do public work
in a religious movement, and to satisfy the highest aspira¬
tions of searchers after spiritual truth. Mr. Richmond, of
Darlington, wrote one such letter recently, and Mr. N. Kil-
bum, jun., of Bishop Auckland, has written a great many,
recommending the public to give plenty of money to Mr.
Burns. People living far off in the country have sometimes
responded to such appeals. Information was privately volun¬
teered us by respectable individuals that Messrs. Burns and
Kilburn, who were admiring each other so much in public,
were privately connected by business ties in the shape of
heavy monetary transactions, and when in the public interests
we merely remarked that if the statements were true the
public to whom the appeals were made ought to know it, Mr.
Kilburn wrote a most censorious letter in reply, which we
published. He denied that the commercial connection
existed, or that he had any money claim on Mr. Burns, and as
Mr. Kilburn bears the name of a truthful and conscientious
man, much respected in Bishop Auckland, his word is
sufficient. Still his censorious remarks on ourselves for
merely asking the question, and not stating it as a fact, were
entirely out of place, for there was no ill-will or scandal in
any of those who raised the question as to their business con¬
nection, the more especially because at one time they were
connected with each other by heavy financial transactions, as
shown in the following letter, the statements in which agree
with information which had previously reached us from other
truthful sources:—
To the Editor of “ The Spiritualist ”
Sir,—Probably the cause of the rumour of the existence of a business con¬
nection between Mr. Bums and Mr. Kilburn, that you refer to, having been
afloat since Mr. Kilburn’s urgent public appeals on behalf of Mr. Burns’
business establishment—or, as Mr. Burns prefers to call it, “ Spiritual
Institution ”—was as follows
Some four or flve.years since it was generally believed (and not without
some ground) among many Spiritualists in London, that Mr. Kilbum was
likely to become one of the active managers or partners in that
establishment.
I am sure Mr. Kilburn 'will remember telling me that he had put four
hundred pounds into the concern at 15, Southampton-row, and that he
looked forward with considerable pleasure to the time when the business
there should have grown sufficiently large to require his services. This he
did not tell me as a secret, and he may have told others; at all events
they have got it from some source.
My object in writing this letter is to help to remove any unjust feelings
produced by Mr. Kilburn’s last letter from the minds of those who knew of
his pecuniary interest and his anticipated labours in that establishment.
If persons knew Mr. Kilburn as well as I do, they would not attribute any
sordid or selfish motive to him in penning that letter. He is a warm per¬
sonal friend of Mr. Burns, and would therefore, looking at it from the
lowest point of view, very naturally aid properly like to see him succeed in
business. But Mr. Kilburn was influenced by even a higher motive; I
doubt not a more universal feeling of brotherhood pervaded his mind
when he penned that letter. He is a hard and generous worker in our
common cause, and let us with him strive to promote, each in his own
way, its best interests for humanity’s sake, not finding time to think, much
less to speak an unkind word of any one. T. Everixt.
Holder’s-hill, Hendon, N.W.
When Mr. Burns printed some unfounded attacks upon Mrs.
Tappan’s lecture committee, he suppressed the reply sent to
him by one of the members of the committee. When he
printed statements the reverse of fact about the National
Association, he suppressed and did not publish the contradic¬
tion sent to him officially by the Council through its secre¬
taries. The public are therefore requested to now see whether
he has the honour to print the above letter by Mr. Everitt for
the information of his unfortunate readers, who are chiefly
uneducated {people, or whether he will allow the censorious
letter by Mr. Kilbum to exert its influence uncontradicted by
the statement of all the facts of the case ; not that it matters
much, for truth and a clear conscience form a rhinoceros-like
hide, proof against all the shafts of evil.
There is one other bit of public mischief done by Mr. Bums,
which it is the duty of a newspaper to point out in the public
interests. A National Association of Spiritualists has been
formed, to permit friendly people who dislike dissension, to
work harmoniously together, and to elect representatives by
vote by ballot to do necessary public work. Mr. Bums has
published that this organisation is got up in opposition to him,
conveying the idea that a body of Spiritualists could join
together to injure an honest man in his business. No charge
could be more unfounded. The National Association was not
formed for the purpose of starting an opposition bookshop,
and the question of the desirability of starting a bookshop at
all has never for one moment occupied any attention at any of
its meetings. Tet he has in his weekly trade circular put the
idea already mentioned into the heads of the more uneducated
Spiritualists, whom he is able to reach because the large amounts
of public money he has received, long enabled him to sell his
weekly organ considerably under cost price. Nothing can be
more unfounded than the charge that the honourable people
who compose the National Association, would do such a foul
thing as to try to injure an honest man in his business; their
very names are guarantees that such cannot possibly be the
case. Who are the persons charged with harbouring such
foul designs? On looking down the list of its members
we find the names of Lady Caithness, who has never
done anything but good to the friends of Spiritualism
Dr. Gully, of Malvern, who has advocated the truth of
Spiritualism for half a generation; Mrs. Ross-Church,
the daughter of Captain Marryat, and editress of London