< A Voice from Laodicea (continued from page 10-334) >
with a circle of intimate friends. The results most convincingly proved the possibility, under certain conditions, of mind influencing mind without the ordinary means of communication. The evidence for this particular phenomenon, the spelling out by the table of words which were in the thoughts of one of our members, who would be away, and sometimes even out of the room, was most conclusive. It was all the more so, because in this particular instance the chances against mere coincidence were capable of exact calculation. The probability of our guessing individual letters correctly, I have calculated at about 1 in 15, say 7 per cent. Now in upwards of a hundred trials, the successful guesses were nearly 40 per cent. These results, from my own notes made during the progress of the experiments, seem to have had a profound effect upon us at the time. But in looking over these records a few weeks ago, together with my chief coadjutor—a man whom I can as little accuse of prejudice as of want of intelligence—I was astonished to find that while the impression left on my own mind was a very slight one, my friend appeared to have retained hardly any recollection at all of these experiments.
In the summer of 1876, I went to see Dr. Slade. I had with him a sitting neither more nor less successful than the common. Of this séance I remember writing to some friends, on the day following, that it had finally solved my doubts as to the truth of Spiritualism. In an account of the same séance written about a fortnight afterwards, and published in the October number of Human Nature, my enthusiasm had already begun to abate. Not only are my assertions more cautious, but my belief appears more forced than spontaneous. Still, I find recorded several very anomalous occurrences, such as slate-writing, the movements of a chair at a distance, and the appearance of a hand, not that of the medium, And I have stated my emphatic belief that these phenomena were incapable of explanation by fraud or trickery, and my strong inclination to attribute them to spirit agency. In looking through this article last December, I found that of all the remarkable phenomena which I appear to have witnessed on that occasion, previously to reading the account again, I could only recollect that I had seen some writing on a slate, and that I did not see how it was done.
In 1877, I went with two other persons, to take a child for treatment by Dr. Mack, the mesmeric healer. The child’s knee when he was carried into the room, was swollen to twice its natural size, inflamed, and so tender that he refused to allow Dr. Mack to touch it, or to remove the stocking. In twenty minutes we three spectators saw, under that magical treatment, the inflammation wholly disappear, and the knee restored to its natural size and colour; it could now be freely handled, except in one spot, and the child walked round the room with greater ease than he had done for months. Through no fault of Dr. Mack’s—for the case was not a medical, but a surgical one—the knee returned to its former condition in two or three days, but the effect at the time was undoubted. Of this incident I have a very clear recollection, but, in describing the treatment under which the injured limb was eventually healed, I have not heard either of my co-witnesses make the slightest allusion to the half-hour spent at Dr. Mack’s, and from occasional conversations I have every reason to believe that the occurrence has almost entirely faded from their memory. I myself, though I can have no doubt of the facts having actually taken place as I have narrated, yet feel very little assurance that my own is not a unique experience in the history of the world. Though I have seen such wonderful results in this particular instance, I find it impossible to believe in any of the cures effected in the same manner, of which I am constantly hearing, and I trust Dr. Mack will forgive me for saying so. It is not that I am unwilling to believe: it is a comforting belief for one who is not over-fond of drugs; I would gladly believe in the healing power of mesmerism if I could—but I can’t.
I am continually hearing from intimate friends detailed accounts of abnormal phenomena—mesmeric, clairvoyant, psychic, and the like. I do not doubt the accuracy of the narrator, still less do I suspect him of any intention to deceive me. Often the facts of the case are such as to preclude the possibility of his having been himself deceived. And yet, I do not believe a word of what he tells me. Some four years ago, a lady of good social position and undoubted intelligence, communicated to me the following incidents from her own personal experience. Of the date I am not positive; it was before telegraphic communication existed between Ireland and this country. My informant was then living in a Midland town. A little boy, who was staying in her house, fell ill of scarlet fever one Thursday morning. The child died at day-<... continues on page 10-336 >}