The Spiritualist newspaper > No.157, August 27th 1875

106
THE SPIRITUALIST.
Aug. 27, 1875.
at dark seances, ■which cannot be said to have done much towards
convincing incredulous inquirers.
Equally unfortunate is M. Aksakof’s assertion that Allan
Kai’dec “ ignored ” Mr. Home and the manifestations obtained
•through him ; had he read The Mediums’ Book, he would have
seen that they are alluded to in that work.
M. Aksakof says that Pezzani and Gahagnet upheld the doc¬
trine of reincarnation before Allan Kardec; but why does he
allude only to those two ? In The Testimony of the Ages I have
given a list “ as long as my arm ” of modern writers who have,
as “ precursors,” prepared the way for the fuller presentation of
the law of our successive existences which Allan Kardec was
employed to elucidate by showing it, no longer as a mere
isolated philosophic idea, but as part and parcel of the general
plan of Providential development for all times, worlds, and reigns.
The special work of Allan Kardec, as he himself defines it, is
that of a comparer, collator, compiler ; but it nevertheless pre¬
sents, in its entirety, a philosophic whole, which is recognised as
new, original, unique by all who have taken the trouble to
ascertain for themselves what it really is.
M. Aksakof concludes his article by remarking, very truly,
that “ it is scarcely necessary to point out that all he has stated
does not affect the question of reincarnation considered upon its
own meritsto which admission I add that the momentous
issue, raised by the books which I am wearing out my eyes in
bringing within reach of the English-speaking world, will
eventually be decided, simply and solely, upon its own merits,
despite all the efforts of its adversaries to displace the question
by ignoring the tenor of those books themselves, and substituting
for dispassionate examination of their argument wholesale dis¬
paragement devoid of proof, and the repetition of unfounded or
distorted statements having nothing to do with the question at
issue, originally set afloat by envy and jealousy, and which were
met by Allan Kardec, during his lifetime, with the magna¬
nimity of silent contempt. Anna Blackwell.
Wimille, Pas de Calais, July 15,1875.
CURIOUS EXPERIENCES AT A SEANCE.
Sir,—Kindly allow me space in your columns for a brief
account of my investigation of “ Spiritualism.”
I am not a Spiritualist. I do not believe that spirits of per¬
sons departed this life again take on flesh and become visible,
or communicate with their friends by voice or raps; but some
curious phenomena have come under my notice, and if scientific
men cannot or will not trouble to give a satisfactory explanation
of them, believers in Spirittialism will rapidly increase.
The subject was first brought under my notice in August last
by a friend who related to me his experiences, and as he
appeared to be sane on all other subjects, I arrived at the con¬
clusion that he had been the dupe of some clever tricksters, and
with the intention of exposing the imposture accepted an invi¬
tation to sit at his house.
Seance No. 1 was held in a darkened room, the sitters num¬
bering seven or eight, with a non-professional medium. The
table tilted and moved about, and several raps were heard.
Seance No. 2 was held under the same conditions as No. 1,
and with the same results, only that it terminated by the sitters
accusing each other of having rapped with the knuckles. During
this sitting I contrived to sit next the medium, and at the time
raps were heard on the back of his chair, I found that his
hands were off the table. Accusing him of this he denied it,
although I had positive evidence by touch and hearing that he
was telling a falsehood.
I found my friend quite ready to believe my version of the
affair; but I was not ready to accept his theory that the medium
was under spirit control, and did not know where his hands
were, although now I am prepared to accept an explanation
that he was under control of some kind, and did not wilfully
tell a falsehood.
My investigation of Spiritualism would have ended with this
seance if my friend had not maintained his convictions strongly,
and induced me to read some works on the subject—notably one
by Mr. Crookes.
Satisfied that no ordinary trickery would deceive a scientific
man accustomed to close observation, I determined to continue
my investigation with the view of ascertaining how he had been
deceived; for it was far more easy to believe that there were
persons to be found clever enough to trick him, than to believe
that spirits had been seen, felt, or heard.
My next seance was held on Christmas-day, without the
assistance of my Spiritualist friend and his medium. There
were six sitters including myself, and five of them had not
attended a seance, and wore as sceptical, if not more so, than
myself. The light was excluded from the room so perfectly
that after sitting twenty or thirty minutes not an object, was
visible to any of the sitters. The table did not move, nor were
any raps heard, and we unanimously voted the affair “ hum¬
bug.” We were just going to end the sitting when one of the
sitters exclaimed, “ Something touched me,” and to my astonish¬
ment I found that the sitters were all plainly visible, and the
room illumined with a peculiar light.
Screams and cries of “ Look! Look ! an apparition! ” fol -
lowed by the gentleman who sat farthest from the door
making a rush for it, clearing the harmonium in his way, ter¬
minated the sitting.
About half-an-hour was then spent in calming the fears of a
lady who went into hysterics, and I questioned each sitter sepa¬
rately as to the apparition, with the following result:—
The five sitters agreed that the pdrtion of my body above the
table appeared covered with tiny flames—that a luminous form
rose apparently through the table and floated away to the end
of the room. One sitter recognised the features of the form.
Another saw in addition a second form about two feet high
standing at my side, and rather behind me, which “ resembled a
child covered with a white sheet.”
The five sitters could not be induced to sit again, and conse¬
quently further observation on my part was prevented. I re¬
mained as sceptical as before of the reputed agency of spirits,
but was satisfied that timid persons might have jumped hastily
to a belief in spiritual agency under similar circumstances,
without meriting the appellation of “ fools and fanatics,” for the
phenomena were startling.
If your sceptical scientific readers can explain them without
the aid of trickery, a la Maskelyne and Cook, they will oblige
me.
In your next issue I will, with your permission, give them
another scientific poser. Common Sense.
August 17, 1875.
[Statements of fact, like those in this letter, lose much of their weight
when the name and address of the author are not published.—Ed.]
A DEAD BODY FOUND BY ONE OF CAPTAIN HUDSON’S
CLAIRVOYANTS.
Sir,—In the year 1854 I was giving a course of lectures in
Huddersfield, Yorkshire, on mesmerism and cognate subjects.
During our stay there Sarah Ann Lamb, of Marsden, seven
miles from Huddersfield, after practising singing at the church
school for Christmas (Dr. James, vicar), had to return home.
The night was very dark, and, in having to cross the river
Colne, which was much swollen by the quantity of rain that
had fallen, she appeared to have missed the bridge and to have
fallen into the river. The splash was heard by some young
men, search was made for her, but the water carried her away.
Parents and friends persevered in looking for her for three
weeks. They had some of the mill dams emptied. During the
search they found one boot and some of her clothing. Five
pounds reward was also offered for her body, but all to no pur¬
pose. Her parents were very much distressed, not knowing
what to do, and her poor mother kept the door of the house
open night after night, hoping and expecting her to come in.
Dr. James, the vicar, wrote to me, asking me to try
one of my patients in the mesmeric trance, to see if she
could find her. I had at that time a young girl under
my treatment (Miss Chandler), one of the singers in the
church choir at Huddersfield. The uncle of the girl who was
drowned, and Mr. Farrar, a manufacturer from Marsden, came
and brought the clothes with them they had found in the river.
I told them to take a cab and go for the girl, Miss Chandler.
They brought her back with them. I put her into the coma,
then asked her if she could recognise the clothes in the room,
and where they came from. She shortly answered that they
belonged to the poor girl who had fallen into the river at Mars¬
den. She appeared very much affected. I told her to go and
see where the lost girl was, and to let me know. -In a short
time she said, “ There she is, poor thing ! ” u Will you please
inform us where she is? ” She answered, “ I will tell you. Just now
she lies on the right side of the river going down, twenty yards
above the second bridge at Mirfield.” The uncle remarked with
surprise, “ That is fourteen miles below where she fell in.” The
clairvoyant then said, “ If you had seen how the water swept
her down, you would not have said that. Go,” she said, “ and
you will find her.” I then awoke her. We questioned her on
the subject, but she knew nothing of the affair or what she had
been saying.
The uncle, on the following morning, took two men from
Marsden and two at Mirfield, also a grapnel and some rope.
He cast it into the river, but could not find her. The uncle