< Spiritualism and "Eternal Torments" (continued from page 3-60) >
...
The Animal Soul, again
As A supplement to what has already appeared, we give the detailed statement of Prof. Agassiz, having on one occasion used his name. He says,—“Essay on Classification,” pp. 67-69,—
“The graduations of the moral faculties among the higher animals and man are moreover so imperceptible, that, to deny to the first a certain sense of responsibility and consciousness, would certainly be an exaggeration of the differences which distinguish animals and men. There exists, besides, as much individuality, within their respective capabilities, among animals as among men, as every sportsman, every keeper of menageries, and every farmer or shepherd can testify, or any one who has had large experience with wild, tamed, or domesticated animals.
“This argues strongly in favor of the existence in every animal of an immaterial principle similar to that which, by its excellence and superior endowments, places man so much I above the animals. Yet the principle unquestionally exists, and whether it be called soul, reason, or instinct, it presents, in the range of organized being, a series of phenomena closely linked together and upon it are based not only the higher manifestations of mind, but the very permanence of the specific differences which characterize every organism. Most of the arguments of philosophy in favor of the immortality of man apply equally to the permanency of this principle in other living being. May I not add, that a future life, in which man would be deprived of that great source of enjoyment, and intellectual and moral improvement which results from the contemplation of the harmonies of an organic world, would involve a lamentable loss. And may we not look to a spiritual concert of the combined worlds and all their inhabitants in the presence of their Creator, as the highest conception of paradise?”
Transfiguration of a Medium
Sir,—Mrs. Crocker, a highly respectable medium of Chicago, related the following circumstances to me a few days ago. I made a note of them at the time. Under directions from her spirit-guides she began some months ago a series of seances for developing a new phase of mediumship. These seances were confined to her own family. One night when there was a bright fire in the room, and the moon was also shining into it, so that she thinks it would have been just possible to read ordinary newspaper type, she was transfigured; her face entirely changed its form, size, and character. A heavy dark beard came upon it. All who were at the table saw the same thing. Her son-in-law, who sat next to her, on her turning her face towards him, said, “Why! it’s my father himself,” and afterwards declared that it had been identically his father’s face: his father had passed away. Shortly afterwards, Mrs. Crocker was turned into an old woman with silver hair. She herself is middle-aged, and has dark hair. These changes occurred gradually, and while the witnesses were watching her face.
I never heard of this kind of manifestation before, and it seems to me that it may throw a new light on the Huguet-Firman affair, and tend to show that perhaps Mme. Huguet spoke the truth when she said that there was only one figure in the cabinet. It may also partially explain what occurred at Serjeant Cox’s some months ago.
But if so, why do not these spirits tell us the truth about these things beforehand, instead of getting their confiding mediums into undeserved scrapes?
Mrs. Crocker was perfectly conscious the whole time. She experienced a very vivid tingling sensation all through her body, exactly as though she had been holding the poles of a strong galvanic battery.
Clifton Hotel, Niagara Falls, 27th August, 1875.
Editor's notes
- ↑ image by unknown author. Two padres in front of fruit kiosk
- ↑ The Animal Soul, again by unknown author, Spiritual Scientist, v. 1, No. 7, October 22, 1874, p. 74
- ↑ image by unknown author. Two men moving the boat on the river
- ↑ Transfiguration of a Medium by Joy, A., London Spiritualist, No. 160, September 17, 1875, pp. 142-3
Sources
Spiritual Scientist, v. 1, No. 7, October 22, 1874, p. 74
London Spiritualist, No. 160, September 17, 1875, pp. 142-3