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vol. title: Vol Four of The Theosophical Society of The Arya Samaj of Arya-wart vol. period: Sept 1878 – Sept 1879 pages in vol.: 350 |
Cabinet and Council
Sir,—It is long since I have read anything in The Spiritualist which has commanded my so general and hearty concurrence as the letter of Mr. Stainton-Moses on “Form Manifestations by the Light of Recent Events,” this week. It is by taking such counsels as his to heart, and acting upon them, rather than by sham investigations to formulate foregone conclusions, that we shall purify, if ever, that which we are pleased to call Spiritualism, from abuses that too notoriously belong to the trade in physical manifestations. Our Association might have done good service if it had made this wretched Amsterdam incident the occasion for some general declaration on the subject of cabinet seances for so-called materialisations. Not that I would abolish them for all purposes. With very select investigators—persons who are present to study and observe, not to believe and wonder, or to disbelieve and “expose,” or to doubt and dissemble—the cabinet may be often useful for the solution of quite different and very difficult problems, of the psychological, rather than of the physicalorder. And I am glad to take this opportunity of testifying that there are mediums who sit out of sight, and whose manifestations sometimes suggest the doubts to which I am now referring, who yet are, I believe, sincerely and liberally tolerant of those doubts, who do not demand that friendly feeling should take the form of blind acquiescence, and who, if treated on a footing of equal intelligence and sincerity, and not merely as instruments for the demonstration of what is perhaps not, or not always, a vera causa, could and would help us with a record where we too hastily assume there is a blank. If we would only recognise mediums as investigators like ourselves, if we could only cease from hypocrisy towards them, not with the view of getting them to submit to “tests” (for the whole system of prearranged “tests” I believe to be a thoroughly false and crude method of investigation, except, of course, for mere beginners), but for the establishment of what I may call a scientific confidence between us and them, I am sure, from some experience in this direction, that it would greatly facilitate our progress. In that case we need not fear the cabinet, and might often find it useful. But this is only for private circles, where there is a perfectly frank and friendly spirit, and none of that pretence of believing without evidence which to an intelligent medium ought to be, and, I believe, sometimes is, as offensive as the rudest scepticism. But for the general public circle, let us by all means declare against the cabinet altogether, and for the reasons so cogently put forth by Mr. Stainton- Moses, and enforced by yourself. Our Council is composed of persons all, probably, more than commonly conversant with the facts of Spiritualism, and whose expressed judgment ought to carry weight. A collective denunciation of the “cabinet” from such authority would be a record to which every Spiritualist might appeal to distinguish representative opinion in. the movement from the credulity which is the nutriment of fraud, and which would stop at least fair and well-informed opponents from fastening future “exposures” of this description upon us to the discredit of our cause. But to pass judgment on individual cases not occurring on our premises is, in my opinion, quite beyond our province, and that whether the judgment is pronounced with or without the pretence of an “investigation,” which could not possibly satisfy the conditions of a fair and sufficient inquiry. My use of the term “judicial inquiry” was objected to at the Council last week; but the object of the special committee either was or was not to arrive at the truth of a matter of fact by means of evidence. If they had no other evidence before them than the letters which had been already published, and the statement of the accused, which was also known to everybody, I don’t see how, even with the additional privilege of the sight of a darned rag, they had better materials for decision than any other reader of The Spiritualist. Every bit of “evidence” before them would have been properly rejected in any English court of law. I venture to say with the utmost confidence, and without the least imputation on any of- the witnesses, that no two of them, separately examined, would have told the story exactly to the same effect, or exactly as it appears in the statement signed by them all, without material divergences therefrom, or material additions thereto; and any lawyer in the world would share my assurance on this point. It is always found to be the case that witnesses, in volunteering evidence which has led them to a certain conclusion, tell only what they think material, omitting, or forgetting, till it is recalled to their often reluctant minds by the process of cross-examination, many circumstances which to the tribunal may seem highly important. Be this as it may, what I wish to point out is that this committee has added just nothing to our knowledge or to our justifiable assurance. The chairman, Mr. Dawson Rogers, replying upon me at the Council, amusingly betrayed his own consciousness of this. He rather significantly observed that there was not a member present who did not believe that the committee had come to a right conclusion. I do not think Mr. Rogers meant this on the ground of our unlimited confidence in his committee. But if not, his remark assumed a conclusion that was quite independent of the so-called “investigation.” And, indeed, one of the members of that very committee had already, before its appointment, proposed a resolution which recognised the truth of the charges. Whether we agree with it or not, I cannot conceive a document more absolutely worthless, for what it professes to be, than the report which was adopted by a large majority of the Council last Tuesday. And I fear that its adoption, and the whole action of the Council in this matter, is in a great measure due to a feeling expressed by one of its best, ablest, and most esteemed members, that “a medium stood in relation to Spiritualism much as a minister stood in relation to his church, and if any charge is brought against a minister, his church is bound, in self-defence, to inquire into it.” I presume the Church of “Peter.” I am not a member of it.
Temple.
How the Rose Turned Red
A white rose grew on a tall rose tree, |
Spiritualism Abroad
To the Editor of the Banner of Light:
A great event of the season to London Spiritualists took place on the evening of Oct. 25th, at Langham Hall, under the leadership of J. Enmore Jones, of Enmore Park, who invited a large party of Spiritualists and friends of the cause to convene there to meet D. D. Home and Mrs. Katy Fox Jencken, for the purpose of expressing their appreciation of the wonderful gifts of these illustrious mediums, and also to review the past work done for the cause.
Upon the platform, which was tastefully decorated with flowers and plants, were seated Dr. Carter Blake, Major Thomas Gales Forster, Mr. Thomas Shorter, and one or two gentlemen connected with the press, whose names I cannot now recall. The hall was crowded from base to gallery with a fashionable and intelligent audience, and a feeling of joyous excitement seemed to pervade the whole assembly.
Mr. Jones presided with great ease of manner, and diffused around a happy influence, which made the reception pass off with great eclat, notwithstanding the absence of Mr. Home, who, though visiting at the house of Mr. Jones, was too ill to attend.
Major Forster, whose genial countenance and noble form made him the center of observation, was called upon for the opening address, and acquitted himself with great honor, being frequently interrupted by applause, and magnetizing the whole audience by his eloquence and the impassioned earnestness of his statements. The Standard, of Oct. 26th, had a very favorable notice of the meeting, and quoted from Major Forster’s speech, to the exclusion of others, thus: “He observed that they had assembled for the purpose of manifesting in some degree the high esteem which they, as Spiritualists, entertained for all mediums and exponents of their glorious faith. He felt most truly that they, as Spiritualists, never had been—and he feared they never would be—sufficiently grateful for the sweet beneficence of such soul-service”; thus crowding a whole sermon in his ten minutes’ speech.
Mr. Jones caused a hearty applause by allotting ten minutes more than the prescribed period for a speech to Major Forster, “because he was an American!”
At the solicitation of Mr. Jones, Mrs. Katy Fox Jencken made her appearance on the platform for a few moments, and during her stay the raps were loud enough to convince any unbeliever of the unseen power. The famous Mrs. Weldon sat next to Mrs. Jencken, and your humble servant was invited to take a seat on the platform, but diffidently declined.
In the audience were several Americans, among whom were Mrs. Forster, Miss Grimes and pretty Miss Norton of their party; also Mrs. Dr. Hallock, of New York, and her talented daughter, Miss Ella Dietz, whose recitations have been attended with marked success throughout England.
Dr. Carter Blake, a fellow of the Royal Society, made a speech leaning toward occultism; and the meeting enthusiastically closed with thanks to Mr. Jones.
I observe there is a strong tendency among English Spiritualists to accept the doctrines of reïncarnation and occultism, so prevalent on the continent, as explanatory of the spiritual phenomena, considering it, I suppose, a more intellectual belief than the pure doctrine of individual spirit control.
One of the pleasantest visits we have to record in our travels was made to the home of Signor Damiani and his bright, agreeable English wife at Naples, and we came away thoroughly instructed in the reïncarnation theory. The Signor related to us with evident belief all the various phases of life through which he had passed for some hundreds of years, till finally he had assumed his present form ; and a truly desirable form it is, for Signor Damiani is in appearance “the noblest Roman of them all.” He is at the head of the society for prevention of cruelty to animals, an organization so much needed in Naples, where the braying of the poor donkeys as they are beaten through the streets would waken the dead, so human is their cry for mercy. Signor Damiani, as a gentleman of intellectual ability and culture as well as social position, advances the cause of Spiritualism in Naples (his home) as also throughout Italy. But this belief, it appears to me, would destroy all the loving relationships of this and the spirit-world, and work confusion dire among mankind. But I await further developments. Meanwhile I trust if we are not what we seem to be, that we are something better, and I believe that neither occultism nor any spirit of darkness can explain the light of Spiritualism.
The friends of Major Foster and wife will be glad to hear that he has given a new impetus to Spiritualism in London, and is warmly received wherever he goes. To his loving and gentle wife I owe a debt of gratitude for the love and sympathy she has bestowed upon me, and to the Major for the interest he has taken in our new work, The Next World.
37 Powis Square, Bayswater, London.
☞ Some time since we published an account of the cremation of the remains of the deceased Baron de Palm. The ashes of this distinguished theosophist were committed to the diffusive waters of the sea off Governor’s Island, New York harbor, on the evening of Nov. 20th, appropriate services, participated in by Col. H. S. Olcott, Madame H. P. Blavatsky, and others, accompanying the act.
Editor's notes
Sources
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London Spiritualist, No. 324, November 8, 1878, p. 248