The Spiritualist > No.2, December 3rd 1869

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THE SPIKITUALIST.
Dec. 3, 1869.
and partition ; and at length the usual signal, though
somewhat after the time. I had never heard it before,
but knew it by the description my daughter had given me.
It was much like the turning about of a windmill when
the wind changes. When the servants returned, I went
up to the company, who had heard the other noises
below, but not the signal. We heard all the knocking
as usual, from one chamber to another, but at its going
off, like the rubbing of a beast against the wall. From
that time till January the 24th we were quiet.
“ Having received a letter from Samuel the day be¬
fore relating to it, I read what I had written of it to my
family; and this day at morning prayer the family
heard the usual knocks at the prayer for the king. At
night they were more distinct, both in the prayer for
the king, and that for the prince: and one very loud
knock at the awen was heard by my wife, and most of
my children, at the inside of my bed. 1 heard nothing
myself. After nine, Eobert Brown sitting alone by the
fire in the back kitchen, something came out of the
copper-hole like a rabbit, but less, and turned round
five times very swiftly. Its ears lay flat upon its neck,
and its little scut stood straight up. He ran after it
with the tongs in his hands ; but when he could find
nothing, he was frighted, and went to the maid in the
parlour.
“ On Friday, the 25th, having prayers at church, I
shortened, as usual, those in the family at morning,
■omitting the confession, absolution, and prayers for the
king and prince. I observed, when this is done, there
is no knocking. I therefore used them one morning
for a trial; at the name of king George it began to
knock, and did the same when I prayed for the prince.
Two knocks I heard, but took no notice after prayers,
till after all who were in the room, ten persons besides
me, spoke of it, and said they heard it. No noise at
all the rest of the prayers.
. Sunday, January 27. Two soft strokes at the morn¬
ing prayers for king George, above stairs.
Addenda.
“Friday, December 21. Knocking I heard first, I
think, this night; to which disturbances, I hope, God
will in His good time put an end.
“ Sunday, December 23. Not much disturbed with
the noises, that are now grown customary to me.
“ Wednesday, December 26. Sat up to hear noises.
Strange ! spoke to it, knocked off.
“ Friday 28. The noises very boisterous and dis¬
turbing this night.
“ Saturday 29. Not frighted with the continued
disturbance of my family.
“ Tuesday, January 1, 1717. My family have had
no disturbance since I went.”
KEICHENBACH AT A SPIRIT CIRCLE.
In the new work on Spiritualism, The Planchette, by
Epes Sargent, are the following statements about
Baron Reicheiibach:—
“ At first distrustful of the spiritual significance of
certain phenomena, Reichenbacb, if we may believe
Mr. D. Hornung, of Berlin, now entertains views not
opposed to Spiritualism. While in London in 1861, at
the residence of Mr. Cowper, son-in-law of Lord
Palmerston, he attended a spiritual circle.
“ ‘ On that occasion,’ says Mr. Hornung, 4 two
media, Mrs. Marshall and her niece, were present, who
did not understand a word of German. Reichenbach
therefore, after the rapping had commenced, put his
questions intentionally in German; and they were
answered correctly by raps on the table, and he had the
names of several members of his family correctly given.
In regard to one name, however, he began to doubt the
capacity of the table to give it; the name to be spelled
being ‘ Fredericke,’ while it spelled the letters ‘ R. I.’
But when the name ,‘RICKE’ was completed, the
baron was much surprised, as his sister had been wont
to be called ‘ Ricke.’ ”
“Now comes the most remarkable part of the per¬
formance, and I give it in the Baron’s own words. He
says, ‘ The answers were rapped by the foot of the
table in a brightly lighted room. I wished to ascertain
whether the rapping could not be prevented, and for
this purpose I leaned with my breast against one of the
feet of the table, taking hold of two others with both
hands, and pressing them down. The rapping of the
feet ceased; but the rapping continued above me, on
the top of the table. All at once, by a sudden jerk,
the table dragged me forward, with the carpet on which
it stood ; and I lay prostrate in the middle of the room.’
“ This experiment convinced the baron that, besides
the emanation of the odic element, higher spiritual
powers can manifest themselves; and these he now no
longer ignores, but recognizes them as facts of
experience, for which, however, be as yet knows no
explanation.’ He regards ‘ the great influences of od
upon the human spirit ’ as the mere ‘ physical side of
the matter,’—‘ the roots by which it adheres firmly to
the ground;’ and he is thankful to see the day when all
his former discoveries show themselves as the portal
through which it is possible for him ‘ to go forward into
the spiritual department.’ ”
Sports of iilmmgs.
EAST LONDON ASSOCIATION OF SPIRITUALISTS.
On Tuesday evening, Not. 16th, Mr. John Jones, of Ehtnore-
park, South Norwood, gave a lecture in connection with the
East London Association of Spiritualists, at the Stepney
Temperance Hall, Mile-end-road, E. It was the same lecture
as the one given in Clerkenwell, and reported in the last
number of The Spiritualist, but he stated a few additional
facts. He said that once in his own family, he had had a
prescription written out by spirit agency, which prescription
was taken to a chemist, who pronounced it to be all right,
and made it up for the invalid accordingly. He stated as
a curious fact, that neither Mr. nor Mrs. S. C. Hall could
singly get spirit writing by the aid of the planchette, but
when the former placed his hand over that of Mrs. S. C.
Hall, the most exalted sentences were written out. The Bib¬
lical narrative that an angel opened the doors of the prison
where Peter lay, showed that in ancient times the spirits could
move solid objects. He knew of a case where the spirits
had predicted beforehand the time and the details of a certain
event, and the prophesy' proved true.
There was a large attendance at this lecture, numbers
being unable to obtain admission.
Mr. James Burns gave a lecture at the same place on
Thursday, Nov. 25. the subject being “ The Evidences of
Spiritualism.”
Mr. S. E. Goss lectured last Tuesday at a meeting of the
Association, on “ The Harmonial Philosophy of Spiritualism.”
In highly poetical phraseology, he described some of
the teachings of a large section of the American Spi¬
ritualists, headed by Andrew Jackson Davis. The sub¬
stance of the lecture was to the effect that Spiritualism
teaches that it is a duty in every way to perfect the body,
mind, and reasoning faculties, and to remove all obstacles to
such development. He said that one great obstacle is the
accumulation by unjust laws of the wealth produced by
labour, into the hands of those who labour not, so that the
great bulk of the population live on earth in never-ending toil
and suffering, while others live in idleness and selfishness
upon the wealth produced by their labour. These privations
have the effect also of causing the industrious classes to prey
upon each other. This philosophy teaches man to remove
such evils and to perfect his body; also it teaches him to per¬
fect his mind, more especially the reasoning faculties. It is a
deadly foe to priestcraft of every kind—to men who employ
reason to teach their followers that reason may not be trusted.
His own preacher was reason, the flower of the spirit, and his
temple the wide universe on which God has written His
eternal laws. He said that the great reformers of all ages,
always met with opposition from those who had the bulk of
the people under control, and use them to serve their own ends.
The Preacher of the Sermon on the Mount was crucified be¬
cause His doctrines were anti-Moses ; Martin Luther was pro¬
nounced anti-Christ because he helped to free people some¬
what from the power of the Roman Catholic Church, and
similar denunciations were hurled by all sectarians at geology
and astronomy, because they found no place in the universe
for a hell of fire and brimstone, and proved that the world
turned round, also that it was but one little world out of
millions of others. Sectarianism, he said, teaches eternal
punishment, which Spiritualism does not. Sectarianism
teaches that wars come from God, whilst Spiritualism teaches
that they came from man’s bad education and misdirection.
Spiritualism teaches also that man and woman are equal, and
that the one is at present unjustly placed in a worse position
on earth than the other. Sectarianism hates philosophy and
science, whilst Spiritualism receives these noble gifts of intelli¬
gence with open arms. Spirits in prison are those who dare
not think for themselves, and who are kept in subjection by a
gloomy fear of the death, and of the world beyond. Spirit¬
ualism removes all this, and proves that the art of commui-
cating with the higher world has not been lost, although penal
laws were passed in the early days of English history, to kill
out such communication on the part of the general public.
In the course of the lecture the words “ electricity ” and
“ magnetism ” were often misapplied to unknown spiritual
forces.
Mr. W. Cresswell proposed a vote of thanks to the lecturer,
and added that Spiritualism was gaining ground in East
London, in evidence of which a quiet peaceable evening had
just been passed, whereas a few years ago they were mobbed
and interrupted at such gatherings. He said that the St.
John’s Association of Spiritualists was an offshoot from the
East London Association.
Mr. Lambert seconded the vote of thanks, and the pro¬
ceedings closed.
THE DIALECTICAL SOCIETY.
At a recent meeting of the Dialectical Society, Mr. Holy-
oake was present, and made a long speech attacking Spiritual
phenomena, which speech is published in the Spiritual Maga¬
zine of last Tuesday. At the next meeting a gentleman
made a speech in reply, and he has sent ns the following copy
of it, accompanied by the request that the initials of his name
only be attached thereto :—
Mr. J. S. B., a member, said—“ One would have thought the
histories of some of the greatest of modern discoveries would
have prevented a man like Mr. Holyoake from casting a slur
on a subject because ‘ it had not arrived at either dignity or
decency in its procedure, nor certitude in its results.’ I have
a story to tell of a discovery which at its birth was, to use Mr.
Holyoake’s own words, undignified, indecent and uncertain, yet
which has proved to be one of the greatest blessings of modem
days. An old woman sat cooking her husband’s dinner, it
consisted of dead frogs’ hind legs, a pair of these legs jumped,
she told her husband, but he, unbeliever as he was, tried his
own conditions, put the legs in a plate, watched for hours and
never got a single jump. Weary of this and hearing that with
more willing inquirers his wife was more successful, he gave
in, and after several watchings, at the kitchen dresser,
midst knives and spoons, he succeeded in seeing a jump,
with a lot of witnesses. He goes before a society (I forget its
name, we’ll call it the Old Dialectical), and is there told by
a Mr. Holyoake sen., that his wife and his maid’s mental capa¬
cities and attainments must first be ascertained before their
evidence can be taken, and as for himself he must be mooney-
minded, otherwise how could he believe that a dead frog’s legs
could move when dead legs never moved before ? He asks for
investigation and is told by the same Mr. H. that he must
accept certain conditions, and adds Mr. H. ‘ I have been pre¬
sent at some of these experiments and I saw how it was done,
the frog was touched—I mean shoved—with a steel knife. Sir,
your phenomena have not attained either dignity or decency in
their procedureor any certitude in their results, but if you will
have it then you must accept my conditions ; I will not enter
your kitchen, I have been there three times, and have seen
nothing ; a scientific man, sure of his results, would give me
light; here, sir, under this gaslight’s glare I place a plate, no
spoons, no knives; I will not have your frogs— I have one
that has been dead six weeks, try him; or stay, I’ll tell you
what will satisfy me—if by your process, or any other, I care
not what it is, you do what I wish, you make a dead man
walk, you make my grandmother come in here then—I don’t
say I’ll believe you, but I’ll pay you very proper respect. But
really, sir, it is impossible to look at those remnants of zoology
—that old woman, and that dead frog, and believe that they
are heralds of a new blessing to man : there never were two
more unlikely philosophers than your wife and the hind legs
of a frog. To tell you the truth I am unfriendly to the entire
theory that dead legs might possibly be made to move by a
new dodge : the dead are better where they are, and it would
hurt me to think that my legs might some day be made to
dance a horizontal jig to the tune of some tbeery student.’
What would Galvani have said to Mr. Holyoake ? Poor
Galvani 1 Not having yet discovered the exact conditions,
but feeling sure he was dealing with a new force, to have such
arguments hurled at his head, and then upon asking for
further investigation, to be told by a rising, perhaps risen
engineer, of the Quelchian school, ‘ Have we not something
better to occupy ourselves with ? The jumping of kettle-lids,
the rubbing of amber, the flying of kites, the idiotic uncertain
movements of frog’s hind quarters, are nice amusements for
women and children ; but we who have humanity’s welfare at
heart have better and more practical things to study; take
for example the means of transporting our bodies more
rapidly, and our thoughts and wishes less tardily than by a
stage-coach.’ Now all that has been said against an inquiry
into any phenomena, even those called spiritual, has in effect
been said against every discovery, and these discoveries
obtained and mastered, not by dint of dialectic argument, but
by careful and constant observation,, have given their oppo¬
nents the lie. The undignified, indecent, uncertain frog phe¬
nomenon, heralded in by very unlikely philosophers, has given
us the greatest of modern marvels, the galvanic battery, and
hence the electric telegraph. Having said as much in Mr.
Holyoake's own language, let us be serious, and see whether
his suggestions are worth any more than his observations.
To teach, one should at least know the lesson oneself, but in
pretending to give laws for investigating unknown phe¬
nomena, Mr. Holyoake has shown his utter ignorance
of any scientific investigation. There can be no laws,
the process is a tentative one. Taking as an example the
frog’s legs, not knowing what produced the movement, we
should have to wait patiently till constant experiments and
good luck gave us an opportunity of seeing the movement, we
should then, if we conformed to every possible condition, aye,
even the position of a spoon, perhaps get another movement,
and then by repeated trials we might—there is no certainty
in it—have the good fortune to hit upon the cause. Every
scientific man has some story to tell how by accident he hit
upon the cause of a phenomenon that had been bothering him
for years. And this I take it, is what the sub-committees
should do; obey every condition, no matter what, get the
phenomena at any price, and by tentative processes—argu¬
ments are useless—they may arrive at something, they may
possibly arrive at what produces them, or at any rate what
conduces to their production. And here I will remind you of
what you have heard before i.e., the way in which Mr. Yarley
(a strictly scientific man) made one of his experiments with
reference to this subject. A gentleman, a Mr. Pears, made at
the last meeting the unwarranted statement that Mr. Yarley
had not tested the phenomena scientifically, and absurdly
wished to know whether he had tried them in the same way
he would electricity ! Mr. Yarley’s experiment was this. At
a seance one of his coat tails happened to move ; he won¬
dered whether the other would move, at that moment it did
so. This looked like coincidence; he tested for it by thinking
of his collar-flaps—first one side, then the other, then both,
and so dodging about till he was satisfied that it was no
coincidence, but that in reality his mind had something to do
with the phenomenon, and consequently that intelligence was
an element in the conditions. And here I must pause, for this
is very important; for if the mind has something to do with
the phenomena, the state of the mind may have also something
to do with them, consequently it is not so very unreasonable
to be told that your mind must not be in too actively oppos¬
ing a state. Imagine a man disbelieving the possibility of
getting communications from his brother by telegraph across
the Atlantic, going to the instrument room at Yalentia with
a magnet in his pocket, and saying to the electrician, ‘ Now
then, if there is anything in it, ask my brother to tell you
what his wife’s name is.’ The message is sent, and instead of
an answer, the instrument is out of range. The electrician
declares there is something wrong in the conditions, he can’t
tell what, to the intense delight of the sceptic. At last he
asks, ‘ Have you a magnet about you ? ’ 1 What has that to do
with you ? I’ve come to test, not to be examined. Well, I’ll
tell you I have a magnet.’ {Then I can’t get an answer. Will
you please to put an armature on ? ’ ‘ Not I; I want an answer,
and you can’t give it me ; you say the magnet interferes. I
tell you I can’t see what my magnet can have to do with my
brother in New York, especially as it is in a brass box, so you
must be a humbug.’* No sooner is the sceptic out of the room
than the answer begins to come, he is shouted after, and told
that it is coming ; but he only waits to say, ‘ Of course it does
when my back is turned,’ and goes away as ignorant as he
was before, while a compliance with the conditions, a mere
putting on of the armature, would have shown him what he
professed he wished to see. This example speaks, I think, for
itself. Then, as to taking evidence, I would say to the sub¬
committees, no matter how Mr. Holyoake or anybody else may
laugh, proceed with your examinations. Mental attainments
have nothing to do with the observation of facts ; Mr. Holy¬
oake says so himself. He says jugglers do not like children,
not on account of their mental capacities, but their power of
observing facts. If a sailor were to tell a naturalist of a new
fact—that he had seen a fish fly, he had seen it hundreds of
times, but could not believe it till he caught the fish in the
act—what would you think of your philosopher, if he told
you that he would not listen to the man because his
mental attainments were below par, and because he was'
unacquainted with the breathing apparatus of the fish.
Facts remain facts whether they are comprehensible or not
and what in the name of wisdom is there that is comprehensible
* Messages by the Atlantic Telegraph are read off by means of Professor
Sir 'William Thomson’s reflecting galvanometer, an instrument so sensitive
that a strong magnet in the room 'will disturb its indications.—Ed.