The Spiritualist newspaper > No.393, March 5th 1880

March 5, 1880,
THE SPIRITUALIST.
117
told the girl to put her hand over her right eye, and
asked her if she could open the other. “ Oh, yes, I
can open it mamma.” “But what do you see out of
it, my child?” “Nothing, mamma.” The poor
woman sighed, and said “ Take your bottle then, and
put on a little more of the holy plaster,” which the
poor child did, but without obvious restorative effect.
However, I am deviating into “ investigation.” To
return to the chapel. For a radius of some twenty
yards from the west front, the ground has been churned
up by countless feet into a sea of mud of the filthiest
and clammiest description. All over this men and
women were kneeling, regardless alike of the steady
rain and the filth into which they were sinking. Some
more fortunate than others had put a couple of stones
together to kneel on. Other provident individuals
had brought a wisp of hay with them for the same
purpose. But the great majority were kneeling simply
in the mud. The crowd was thickest just under the
wall. A well-dressed woman who was kneeling there
begged me not to come too near her, as her foot was
disabled. Here were lame men, blind men, poor un¬
fortunates half paralysed or otherwise withered or
deformed. A cross had been erected here, across the
centre of which ran the inscription, “It is important
that any miraculous cures wrought here would be made
known to the parish priest.” Below this was a box for
alms, into which contributions were freely dropped,
and on this box stood, when not in use, a little cross,
in white china, and an article of pale blue china, which
looked like the stump of a candlestick, but which, I
suppose, had originally either a cross or some figure at
the top of it. Round the lower part of the cross a
sort of umbrella-stand had been contrived, which was
simply full of crutches, sticks, and the like, all left by
cripples who had gone away miraculously cured. The
little china cross was hardly ever out of use. The people
would take it up, touch the forehead with it, make the
sign of the cross over the body, then kiss it, then make
the sign of the cross again, and so on a number of
times. One poor man I noticed particularly—a fine,
handsome, but dreadfully pale face, with eyes sadly
dimmed by severe ophthalmia. He took the little cross
with unusual fervour, touching his eyes with it as
number of times, and breathing a fervent “ Hail
Mary ” as he did so. I wish I could think that the
poor fellow’s intensity of faith would have its reward.
I had not come to scoff, and I did not regain to pray ;
but I should not envy the man who would regard such
fervour of devotion in a fellow-creature wholly unmoved.
The transition was, however, easy from such tragedy
as this to that element of farce which is never totally
absent from the gravest scene in Ireland, The beggars,
regular professionals, had gathered in crowds, and
were having a fine time. A sturdy blind beggar was
continually roaring in a stentorian and commanding
voice for alms, “As you wish the Blessed Virgin to
be gracious to you, give me a copper,” was this
gentleman’s refrain, which followed one with dismal
iteration wherever one went. There were plenty of
others besides himself halt and lame and maimed, who
were swelling the chorus, but none of them had lungs
like his. I gave a trifle to a poor woman who had no
fingers to take the alms with, but closed two withered
palms together to receive it—a gruesome spectacle.
Immediately all the beggars in the place came after me.
I had fairly to take refuge in the chapel, and even
there a brat of a child came shrieking behind me,
“ For the love of Q-od and the blessed Virgin.” I am
told that the church has not yet spoken about the
Knock miracles, but if it gives them its sanction there
is every prospect of the place becoming the Irish
Lourdes.
MEDIUMS AND MATERIALISED FORMS.
BY A. J. CRANSTOUN.
In that curious hook “ The Dervishes, or
Oriental Spiritualism, ^ by J. P. Brown (page
403) there is a curious story.
u During the Mijra i Shereef(or the Ascension)
of the Blessed Prophet, he beheld a lion in the
seventh heaven of so terrible an appearance
that it was perfectly indescribable. He enquired
of the angel Gabrail what lion it was, and was
informed that it was not a wild animal, but was
the ‘ spirituality ’ of the Imam Alee; adding
1 O friend of Allah, remove your ring from off
your finger, and cast it in its mouth,5 which
he having done, the lion with great humility
and many caresses, took and held the ring in
its mouth. On the day following the Ascen¬
sion, the Prophet gave an account of the same
to the Ashhbs ; and whilst relating the fright¬
ful appearance of the lion, and the matter of
the ring, Alee who was also present, withdrew
the latter from his own mouth, and handed it
to him, greatly to the surprise of all the
spectators.55
I should not have thought it worth while to
copy this story, of what appears an incom¬
prehensible occurrence, had not I myself,
along with four other persons, seen a some¬
what analogous phenomenon, which took place
through the mediumship of Dr. Monck in
London, in December, 1877.
At a stance held in my house, the material¬
ised form called the Mahedi, remained with the
circle, and with the medium, Dr. Monck, in the
same room, with sufficient gas-light to see
clearly everything that took place. Among
other curious phenomena which occurred was
this; the Mahedi drank some water out of a
glass, and the moment after he had done so,
the water came into Dr. Monck5 s mouth ; the
same thing occurred when the Mahedi ate part
of a biscuit, and also the Mahedi went to the
fire, and took a piece of coal out of it, and in
the same moment the coal was found in Dr.
Monck5 s hand.
By what mysterious law takes place this
instantaneous transmission of matter from the
form to the medium ?
Whatever explanation may eventually be
given of this strange phenomenon, it would at
all events appeal' to bear some analogy to, and
throw some light on, the present distressing
case of Mrs. Corner, as proving how identified
the medium and the form really are.
In Dr. Monck’s case, however, the
phenomenon was peculiarly interesting, as all
the facts occurred in the same room, medium