Legend
< The British Association (continued from page 10-25) >
I have never been into it; but, no doubt, Mr. Newbould will publish whether the description is accurate. It was given at 9.35 p.m., Sunday, August 24th, 1879.
I see a man named Albert near you, and he says: “How about the jokes we used to crack, and how about the nuts?” He is holding two nuts in his hand, and he is a German.—Recognised.
“Spirits Before Our Eyes.”
The author of this volume* undertakes to do what philosophers and divines have never pretended to achieve. He deals with the subject of the existence of a spirit-world as no longer one to be proved by logic, or propped up by faith. With him it is simply a question of fact, to be established by evidence, which shall remove all doubt—“as strong as any on which men are condemned to death by courts of law.” But, unfortunately for mankind, the evidence is not new, the witnesses to be examined are such as the world has been familiar with since time began. For what age or country has been without its ghosts and apparitions? Since Mr. Harrison comprehends the spiritual manifestations of modern seances in the same class, the artificially worked spirits can bring no further evidence for a life after death beyond what is supplied by such as have appeared spontaneously. The present volume deals almost exclusively with the apparitions of the living and of the dying. A second volume is promised, which will treat of the phenomena of spirit-circles, in order to show that the appearance of spirits is not confined to the moment of death, but that it may take place at any period after death. The argument of the book for a future life will be held to be strong or weak according as the reader estimates the evidence for the objective reality of spirit manifestations recorded in support of it. Whether the evidence is as strong “as any on which men are condemned to death by courts of law” may be doubted. When a witness quoted the statement of a ghost in support of his facts the judge refused to admit it as evidence at all, unless the ghost were subpoenaed and appeared for examination. The evidence of spirits appearing to their friends after death, however well authenticated, is of too shadowy and dubious a kind to convince mankind generally of a life after death, so as to remove all doubt where doubt exists. It may confirm faith where it exists already, and even initiate it in the case of those who are satisfied that spirits have appeared. Other minds, however, will cling to the belief that such appearances are of subjective origin. If we take some of the cases narrated, in which the dying have appeared to their friends, when separated by hundreds of miles, in the very clothes in which their bodies were clad, it will require stronger evidence than any which at present exists to convince ordinary mortals that the material garments could have been in two places at the same time. This involves a palpable contradiction. Evidently, this is no stumbling-block to our author’s faith. He accepts the fact, and proceeds to philosophise upon it, and arrives at this general conclusion —“that clothes, as well as forms, of dying persons are sometimes duplicated and seen at distant places.” Thus he makes no difficulty in swallowing the contradiction, that a thing can be here and there at the same moment. But the argument proves too much; for when Cicero comes in answer to the call of the expert, his appearance not only proves the existence of his spirit, but of his toga and fibula also. Closely connected with this paradoxical conclusion is another, which needs stronger evidence in its support before it can be admitted as one of the proved facts of science. Mr. Harrison distinguishes between two distinct classes of apparitions—one in which spirits make themselves visible “by mesmeric impressions to mesmeric sensitives; the other in which they appear in temporally materialised bodies to the ordinary senses of men. In this case the spirits do not form and dissolve before the eyes of the observer; but they appear and disappear by opening and closing doors and curtains. But the startling fact in such visitations, according to Mr. Harrison, is, that whatever weight these materialised appearances may possess is abstracted from the weight of the dying bodies of those who appeal’. It is difficult to prove or disprove a statement like this. The apparition will not submit to be weighed, and it is difficult to see how “selfregistering scales in hospitals, so that the variations in the weight of patients may be indicated,” can be constructed and applied. But, before making good his ground thus far, telescope in hand, Mr. Harrison begins to survey our territories to be won. He sees in the future the possibility of establishing a new system of telegraphy by means of spirit-messengers, and of the conveyance of small articles— (why small I) —by spirit-carriers from place to place. “There are strong indications,” he says, “that by following up this class of experiments, psychic telegraphy may become a valuable method of communication in the future; also, that it is a rapid method, a few thousand miles causing scarcely a minute’s delay in establishing communication. There are also indications that letters, or small objects of light weight, may possibly be carried by this method.”
The chief interest in the present work lies in the number of cases collected and classified. Many of the stories are well known; but they are here arranged under several headings. There are apparitions seen by one person only; others witnessed by several persons at the same time. Numerous instances are given of death intimations in dreams, and of the appearance of spirits during sleep or trance to their friends. We will quote one of these stories, because it is not so well known, and because it will serve to strengthen and illustrate some of the observations we have made. The narrative relates to Philip Weld, the youngest son of Mr. James Weld, of Archer’s Lodge, near Southampton, and a nephew of the late Cardinal Weld.
On the 16th April, 1816, Philip Weld was drowned in the river at Ware. His dead body was brought baek to the college, and the Very Rev. Dr. Cox, the president, was immensely shocked and grieved. He was very fond of Philip; but what was most dreadful to him was to have to break this sad news to the boy’s parents. He scarcely knew what to do, whether to <... continues on page 10-27 >
* Spirits before Our Eyes. By William H. Harrison, Author of The Lazy Lays. Vol. I. London: W. H. Harrison. 38, Great Russell-street. 1879. Price 5s. 6d.
Editor's notes
- ↑ “Spirits Before Our Eyes.” by unknown author, London Spiritualist, No. 367, September 5, 1879, pp. 114-16
Sources
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London Spiritualist, No. 367, September 5, 1879, pp. 114-16