< A Retrospective View of Spiritualism in 1877 (continued from page 7-13) >
once great medium, that, having been out of work for a long season, he seems to have joined our new, though undesirable, acquaintances, the elementaries; and has taken active service under that old and well-known employer of idle hands. But while the idiosyncrasy of Mr. Home is well understood and accounted for, what shall we say concerning the persistent assaults of that ancient foe to Spiritualism, Dr. Carpenter. Afraid of losing his laurels in the field of mental philosophy, he has been unusually busy during the year, plunging wildly, again and again, into the very vortex of the strife. Pierced through and through by the lances of several knights, hotly pursued, flung down, and trampled on, he has been left on the field signally wounded. Will he rise again to the combat? Has he good grounds for all his rash and venturesome proceedings? Is he not impeding the march in the discovery of nature’s truths? Are her secrets not worth unravelling? May not his opponents be right after all? A wise man would ponder well on all these things. The real man of science cares little for victory, and much for truth; and the best victory for Dr. Carpenter, if he can accomplish it, would be the triumph over himself. As is said of a good many other feeble folk, he seems to suffer from monomania, However this be, he certainly owes the Spiritualists of this country, and of the United States, some amends for all his remarkable statements. Will he have the courage and the patience to make full enquiry? Will he not, in reason, admit that every champion of materialism is bound in honour to know something of Spiritualism before he publicly undertakes the office of tormentor of Spiritualists? Either he cannot be the robust man of science, who resolutely follows truth, or he resembles in this particular his medical contemporary, who obtained a sudden, unenviable, and short-lived notoriety, by his astounding assertions as to the insanity of Spiritualists. It will be remembered that Dr. Forbes Winslow had publicly stated u this form of delusion (meaning Spiritualism) is very prevalent in the United States, and the asylums contain many of its victims; nearly ten thousand persons having gone insane on the subject are confined in the public asylums of the United States.” Pandering to popular prejudice he did not hesitate to throw out, with all the recklessness of a madman, a statement exaggerated more than a hundredfold; and which, however distant from the truth, was caught at most greedily by the newspapers and made the most of. But what are the facts on this very important point? Early last year we had the gratification of receiving from Dr. Eugene Crowell, of the United States, a full and exhaustive account of the question. The gratitude of Spiritualists is due to this good friend for his exertions in collecting and marshalling the facts which have so signally overthrown Dr. Winslow. The whole number of insane patients of all classes and denominations, Non-Spiritualists and Spiritualists, inhabiting 87 asylums in the year 1876, was under 30,000, and of these there were only 76 Spiritualists: less than one to each asylum. What a crushing defeat for poor Doctor Winslow. A further circumstance deeply interesting to society, ascertained by Dr. Crowell, is that insanity from both religious excitement and Spiritualism, was diminishing, from the fact that under the influence of Spiritualism, more correct and consequently less irrational and revolting ideas were being disseminated concerning the doctrine of future punishment, its nature and extent. I do not know whether Dr. Winslow has in any manner apologized for his perverse display. I venture, at all events, to remark it may not after all be surprising that the keeper of an asylum for lunatics should himself occasionally appear to have his wits paralysed by hallucination; and therefore it would only be fair to attribute the escapade, however wanton and malignant, to the influence exercised on his mind by the unfortunates under his charge.
Turning from this guardian of intellectual dwarfs, let us! pass on to notice the attitude towards Spiritualism of a most renowned leader of men; one of the highest types of humanity. In May last the Right Honourable W. E. Gladstone placed on record one of the most impartial and unbiassed opinions ever uttered by an outsider; and from which I extract the following words: “I know of no rule which forbids a Christian to examine into the signs of preternatural agency in the system called Spiritualism.... If the reviews and facts of the day have in any way shaken the standing ground of a Christian, is it not his first and most obvious duty to make an humble but searching scrutiny of the foundations? I speak as one who is deeply convinced that they will bear it, and that God has yet many a fair plant to rear in this portion of His garden.” Such are some of the thoughts of the greatest of living orators and statesmen. Never did he act with more magnanimity than when he penned these few words to a Liverpool journal. The most popular man in England to speak thus of the most unpopular of systems marks him as the noblest of men, for his mind undazed by the height on which he stands, is in harmony with nature whose sacred interests he is ever ready to uphold whenever challenged or assailed: ever furnishing a bright example of wisdom and fortitude in a world distinguished for evasion, trimming, and petty man oeuvres. The ex-premier undoubtedly felt that there was sound reason for examining the foundations on which our religion was built, if that could be done. Like a wise builder he would, if possible, in this most sceptical age have a survey of the ground on which the edifice of belief rests, and he evidently perceived in the philosophy of Spiritualism, a path capable of affording a, sufficient solution to so deeply interesting a problem. And he is abundantly justified. For what after all is Spiritualism? What if not primitive Christianity made positive to our apprehensions; brought with certainty to our homes; presented with startling force to our, alas! too dull and obtuse senses. And all this not by miracle working the supernatural, but by plain revelations of nature. That some material elements issue out of the side of a medium, assume a form and become a visible and walking entity; capable of eating, talking, and writing; that this entity after a while disappears by being absorbed into the medium’s body is most astounding. Such a transaction would make the idea of the resurrection of Jesus cease to be inconceivable; and the most critical mind might fairly accept it as an interpretation of the truth. The chief item of the Christian creed would no longer be denounced as a gross fiction by writers of speculative treatises however ingenious. The accounts of Messrs. Blackburn, Colley, and Stainton-Moses, added to those of Mr. Crookes and others, throw immense light on this stupendous subject; and there is reason to hope that we shall in time fully understand that there is no supernatural interference with the reign of law; that nothing in this is opposed to nature, but all in harmony thereto. The day is perhaps nigh, when it will be evident that a ton of speculation of the most cunning theorist is of less value than an ounce of the Spiritualist’s facts. Now, if all this be true, why should Christians shrink from Spiritualism which is identical with that which is professed and taught by the Church? Why do they not act in accordance with their profession? Are they alarmed because they never knew the truth with power? Is it that, while they deal in words, the Spiritualist deals in things? While they follow the shadow, he grasps the substance. This has made him familiar with some of the great truths relating to humanity. Verily and truly, instead of the fast vanishing hopes of some, and the annihilation schemes of others, the Spiritualists have good cause for congratulation, for the firmness of the ground under them is real. Of life beyond the present we continue to gather ideas from a variety of sources, and have abundance of evidence in the materialisations in London, Newcastle, Paris, and elsewhere. These manifestations become more and more remarkable. The abolition of the use of cabinets has greatly improved these highly interesting phenomena, and more important results are obtained. It seems, however, a pity there should be any necessity for exclusiveness in these seances, and that the example of Slade in inviting all to a thorough investigation is not, or cannot, be universally adopted. Less stringent rules, I venture to think, might with safety be made, and more attractive methods employed than now obtain; and thus all appearance of mystery would cease, for wherever there is the least evidence of such design it creates suspicion. To the informed in these matters all this is, of course, unreasonable; but we have a world to convince and conquer, In support of this view, I would here quote the closing words of an instructive paper, read last November by Mr. Stainton Moses, in this room, on Form [Manifestations—“The thing itself is there, but by what method it has been formed, what its source and object, whether it is an animated statue, or a spiritual being entrusted with molecules of matter? Whether, if so, it be of our race or not, and, most important of all, what is the power that lies behind it? What the formative intelligence that can create and destroy in this wise? These are questions which remain for solution, and which will be solved, not by wild guesses or enthusiastic <... continues on page 7-15 >
Editor's notes
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