Spiritualism in Preston, York, and Liverpool
Penwortham, the place of abode of Mr. Billington, is a village near Preston, the station at which the London and North Vestern Railway Company gives an opportunity for its passengers by fast trains to Scotland to dine. The Great Northern Company does the same at York, in a room under the management of Mr. Kaye; the dining station of the Midland Company is at Normanton, under the well-known good management of Messrs. Spiers and Pond. The room at Preston, under the management of Mr. Kyte, has good accommodation at moderate rates, and has special attractions for winter passengers. Hot water pipes are beneath the whole length of the tables for the benefit of their feet, there is a blazing fire at one end of the dining hall, joints are kept hot by steam at the other, and an adjoining lavatory has never-failing supplies of boiling as well as cold water. It is well managed. York is also a creditable place; there however seem to be too few waiters at busy times; they therefore fly about in a way discomposing to the nerves, and habitually cry out “coming” when they are visibly “going.” One of them, in allusion to the clerical look of some of his companions, assured me in answer to a leading question, that they were mostly York clergymen with limited incomes, who made a welcome addition thereto by coming on duty there for a few hours during the busiest part of the day.
Mr. Foster, of Preston, who truly describes himself as “a Spiritualist and an enthusiastic one,” tells me that there is a considerable number of Spiritualists in the town, and that Preston has some good private physical and trance mediums. Mr. Bishop, the con juror, was showing his tricks there last Friday in opposition to genuine psychological phenomena, and Mr. Foster states that he was bound so securely by a committee that he could not free himself by conjuring, consequently his confederates had to cut him loose.
In York there is no outward and visible sign of the presence of Spiritualism. I was informed that perhaps a dozen families are studying it in strict privacy, and that they have a medium or two whose powers are not of a particularly striking or convincing nature. Some time ago, a man there who was violently opposed to Spiritualism became a medium himself, and at first was intensely interested thereat, but so many untruthful messages were communicated through his own writing mediumship that he gave it up.
I have been studying the Salvation Army in York, but must defer a report thereupon.
At Liverpool, where Spiritualism is very strong in point of number of adherents, the movement, as I learnt from Mr. Chapman last Monday, is in a disorganised state; from his description, matters here seem to be much the same as in London. To-night I have had the pleasure of spending some time with Dr. Walter Heurtley, whose daughter was so heartlessly swindled by the two Fletchers from America, who practised upon her affection for her departed mother to obtain all her worldly possessions. Dr. Heurtley has long been exceedingly well-informed on the subject of Spiritualism, and is not prejudiced against it because of the acts of a few blacklegs and enthusiasts among its camp followers. His judgment as to the good and evil in it is well-balanced. Mr. Miller, the solicitor with whose firm the Fletchers once attempted to transact some of their business relating to Mrs. Hart-Davies, is here in Liverpool.
A "Daily Telegraph" Statement Considered
The Daily Telegraph, in its article reproduced in this number of The Spiritualist, says, “The common-place ghosts of to-day” ….. “bring no criminal to justice.” This circumstance may be the fault of the newspapers as much as the fault of the ghosts. For instance, in the case of the apparition at Church Stretton, mentioned on another page, if the police do not adopt the common-sense line of action of clearing out the pit in search of evidence, it I will be from fear of the ridicule of the populace and of the newspapers, at their so far recognizing the reality of the apparition. It is considered clever to deny the reality of spirits, although ancient and modern history teems with good evidence of their having been seen. The wonder is that a woman with money about her having disappeared in the vicinity, the pit near Church Stretton was not cleared out long ago.
Persistent apparitions rarely, if ever appear, except on the scene of some great crime, therefore if the newspapers had properly educated. the public and the police in these matters, a thorough search of such localities as that at Garstang would be made by the constabulary, without fear of ridicule. The wood at Garstang should be explored in search of human remains, ponds dragged, ditches examined beneath the overgrowth of nettles and bushes, and so on. There is no ditch worth the name or capable of concealing any trickster on either side of the road frequented by the Gars tang apparition, except just at one spot, near a gate, and the evidence of the postman and others is conclusive against trickery. But for other reasons the ground for some distance on both sides the road should be thoroughly searched by the police, without their being subjected to the. ridicule of the ignorant.
<Untitled> (The Spiritualist organisation...)
The Spiritualist organisation at 38, Gt. Russell-st, has appointed Mr. T. P. Barkas, F.G.S., to represent it at the forthcoming Church Congress at Newcastle-on-Tyne, when the subject of Spiritualism will be considered.
Editor's notes
- ↑ Spiritualism in Preston, York, and Liverpool by unknown author, London Spiritualist, No. 473, September 16, 1881, pp. 142-43
- ↑ A "Daily Telegraph" Statement Considered by unknown author, London Spiritualist, No. 473, September 16, 1881, p. 143
- ↑ The Spiritualist organisation... by unknown author, London Spiritualist, No. 473, September 16, 1881, p. 143
Sources
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London Spiritualist, No. 473, September 16, 1881, p. 143
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London Spiritualist, No. 473, September 16, 1881, p. 143