 |
vol. title: vol. period: 1881 pages in vol.: 439 |
< Clairvoyance and Spiritualism (continued from page 11-239) >
...
A correspondent at Allahabad signing himself "Native"..
...
Materialisation Manifestations
How is it that we see so little in your paper now regarding materialisations? No doubt our pseudo-scientific adversaries are well contented at having displaced us from the commanding position we once occupied, and at having struck, as they imagine, a vital blow at Spiritualism. Those of our own members also, who, have never had the advantage of developing the rarer gifts of mediumship among their own intimate relatives or friends, must feel somewhat uncertain of the truth of their belief, in this the most wonderful and important phase of Spiritualism, the culminating point not only of our modern revelation, but the sum and crown of scriptural teaching.
Too much space is taken up, I fear, by those who, having “rid themselves of human conceptions and religious side issues, are rejoicing in the possession of the tremendous, but unfortunately undefined powers of Chaldean Sages, Persian Magis, Greek Theurgists, Egyptian Hermetists, Buddhist Rahats and Indian Yogis.” We dwellers in the benighted West, however, though we may not possess the logical acuteness to refute their subtle sophistries, are forced to confess that all this mighty array of learning, has not only failed to satisfy one single yearning of the human heart, but has actually mocked it, by pelting with stones those who had humbly asked for bread. What then remains for us? Koot Hoomi and the mystic brothers have effectually entrenched themselves in their Himalayan fortresses. The “gospel according to Mr. Sinnett” seems to belie that signification-while the apostles, Blavatsky and Olcott, refuse to slake the thirst of moat of their unsatisfied followers and adherents
What is to become of the Spiritualists of the 19th century in England? Of those who, acknowledging the mighty spell and grandeur of antiquity, fail to see in it any especial merit except where it illuminates the present-fail to see how its conceptions of aesthetic culture, its noble maxims, laid down in the utterances of Buddha, of Zoroaster, of Socrates, or <... continues on page 11-240.1 >
Inlay
< Materialisation Manifestations (continued from page 11-240) >
of Confucius, either embody the essence of the Christian life or produce the same form of testimony to a future age?—testimony which proclaims the truth as distinctly this day in England, as it did eighteen hundred years ago in Jerusalem, but which to the outer world remains still inscrutable, impossible, incredible as to the sceptics and Pharisees of old! But, though our plodding, humdrum efforts may not possess the glamour and brilliance with which the inventive imaginations of some have invested the dexterous and diabolical Spiritualism of the East, our testimony is still worth something in the eyes of a few; some of our names, though neither romantic nor classical, are still respectable; some of us have still the power to put forth a few weak utterances in defence of a cause both precious and sacred, and if we cannot startle the world by the manifestations in which India is alleged to be so rich, we can yet bear testimony to that which our own eyes have seen and our ears heard. True, our testimony is not generally believed, but what of that? Who among those of the clergy even, who preach Christ daily, would not laugh at Him if they saw Him entering Jerusalem this day in the manner recorded in the gospels? And what right have those who are confessedly looking forward to and praying for His second advent to say, that He could not come in 1881, the same Christ, despised and rejected now, as He was despised and rejected then? They imagine it more suited to our modern notions of religion, to give Him a seat on floating clouds with thunder and lightning as His heralds; but nothing is clearer than that He never sought to produce any startling effects, but rather refused to bear the Pagan insignia of Godhead, in order to wear a garb characteristic of meanness, poverty and suffering; and that He not only refused to coalesce with worldly ideals, but showed a positive antagonism to them. Now, leaving charmed serpents. and obedient alligators, and the Himalayan Brothers to those who especially care for such things, let us seriously ask ourselves to what point the manifestations which more especially concern us, the manifestations recorded in the Bible, lead? Why spoke those supernatural voices, why wrote those mysterious fingers, why prophesied the fire-touched lips of the prophets? What were those good news to man, that Gospel, of which so much is said, and so little comprehended? Was it simply a communication to assure him that he was saved from a hell of fire and brimstone, which his God-bestowed powers of reason could neither comprehend nor conceive-that he was washed clean in a fountain of innocent blood, which if my sensations go for anything, was about as painful and unpleasant an allusion as he could either literally or figuratively receive? Was it not rather that, in the materialized form of the risen Christ, that crowning manifestation for which mankind had for ages been steadily and slowly educated, it was shown once and for all time, clearly and finally, not to the worldly and the arrogant, but to the sorrowing and the heavy laden, that the conquest of the grave was over, the terror of death gone? And those who have happily arrived at this knowledge, either by sudden enlightenment or by such painful and arduous and thorn-clad paths as some among us have trodden, can echo the words that the Church proclaims with jubilant voices and beating drums, and still confess their faith in Him the ideal of Spiritualist and of Christian.
Cujus regni non erit finis. And they can confess it the more triumphantly because they no longer only believe, but know that which is written of Him is true, and that the same sort of testimony is existing now in their midst. Every day additional evidences reach us from unlooked-for quarters, and among some of those received by myself I will here select one which may no doubt prove of interest to some of your readers.
I passed last winter in the North of France, and the newspapers from England did not reach me regularly. It was not therefore, for some months that I heard of the death of our friend, Mr. J.C. Luxmoore. I was greatly shocked, for he appeared well and strong when I last saw him before my departure; so, being anxious to obtain the particulars of his decease, I called at the house he had. lately occupied, and sad it was to see everything in the same condition as of old, the same old servant at the door, the sun shining cheerily in at the open windows, only the poor, kind, hospitable master lying in his distant grave. The butler gave me the address of a lady who had been much with him in his last illness, and the residence of this lady I found with some difficulty; however she was out of town, and I could only leave my card. The circumstance of Mr. Luxmoore’s death had almost begun to pass from my mind among the many other cares and distractions of life, when I was agreeably surprised one day by a visit from the lady alluded to. She was never a Spiritualist, and had certainly no faith in materialisations, though I have often met her at Mr. Luxmoore’s seances, where she seldom however expressed an opinion either one way or the other. After an interesting conversation regarding the illness and death of our friend, we got on other topics, and discussed the different seances and meetings at which we had seen each other. Presently my visitor said, “Well you know I don’t believe in Spiritualism, hut I must tell you of a most extraordinary thing that has happened to me. Do you remember those curtains that separated the seance room from the drawing room, in Mr. Luxmoore’s house at Gloucester Place?”
I replied that I remembered them well, they were the curtains behind which Florence and my daughter had been seen at the same moment, as published in the Spiritualist by Mr. Henry M. Dunphy of the Morning Post, the curtains from which issued the form of “Katie King,” when tested by Mr. Varley. “Oh yes, I remember them” I replied. “Well” she went on to say, “A year or so before his death, Mr. Luxmoore, who had given up any active participation in the Spiritual movement, having grown weary of the unsatisfactory sort of testimony adduced for materialisations, was re-arranging his house, and seeing the curtains said, ‘Oh! I shall never want them any more, for there will be no more seances here now. Will you accept of them, if so pray have them taken away?’ I took them away,” she added, “and they lay unused in my room for months. Mr. Luxmoore died during the very cold weather of January. I saw him in his coffin the day before his funeral. I placed about him the flowers and wreaths sent by his friends, and then taking a last look round the room, left the house. The weather was bitter and cold, and my mind dwelt painfully on the scene I had just left. On entering my own house I experienced a shivering sensation, and called up my landlady to get me a glass of port wine negus. She prepared to comply with my request, but before doing so, suggested that some means should be taken to keep out the draught. We could not suggest anything at first; but at last she said ‘There are those curtains, Ma’am, let me get a few nails and nail them up.’ This was clone, and the landlady left the room to prepare the negus. No sooner was! she gone,” added my visitor, than the curtains were gently divided, and there stood before me, clearly, distinctly, livingly, the form of Mr. Luxmoore. The very ring he constantly wore was clearly discernible on one of the hands that held the" curtain. He looked at me steadily and gravely for more than a minute, then the curtains fell together, and he was gone.” I have had a good deal of hesitation in publishing this testimony, but it appears to me that the cause of Spiritualism demands it, and to the minds of some at least, it will go some little way to show that materialisations possess more significance than we have been disposed to accord them.
For my own part I desire nothing better than that my testimony, however weak, may serve the course of Christian Spiritualism. I cannot always follow it out, but I know and feel that a supernatural belief demands a supernatural life. If we would have (not devils), but Christ and His angels in our midst, we must live so that He would approve our lives.
Meanwhile let us be brave and true to our cause, and endeavour to fight out as far as possible the battle that He fought, not only against the grosser sins, for to them He was merciful, but against worldliness and hypocrisy.
He has sounded forth a trumpet, |
Editor's notes
Sources
-
London Spiritualist, No. 473, September 16, 1881, pp. 134-35