HPB-SB-8-19

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vol. 8, p. 19

H. P. Blavatsky Scrapbooks

from Adyar archives of the International Theosophical Society

vol. 8 (September 1878 - September 1879)

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< Spiritualism in Hull (continued from page 8-16) >

plained how it was done—it was “animal magnetism” that did it. Yet such experiments, simple as they appeared, were the thin edge of the wedge of the Spiritualism which was to break through the creedal logs of English theology, and the heavy timbers of materialism, and let the light of spirit penetrate their midst.

About two years subsequent to the “table-turning” experiment referred to, he dated his commencement as an investigator of Spiritualism. He sat with a friend patiently, for a considerable period, and the result of the investigation might be stated thus.; He found it was not necessary to join hands to form an imaginary “circuit”; the table sometimes moved without contact.'' The information received was superior and beyond the knowledge of the circle, and the “force” which moved the table also answered questions, and claimed to be “spirit.”

Such was the undoubted evidence obtained in twenty-six years’ patient inquiry; he knew it was spirit—disembodied human spirit—and now he could say he was a Spiritualist in head and heart, in deed and in truth, and he would strongly recommend the investigation of Spiritualism to their consideration. It would teach them to be patient in hope, to have higher conceptions of duty, it would banish the dark clouds of materialism, unfetter them from creeds, dispel the fear of death, aid them to work out their own salvation and to worship God in spirit and in truth. The lecture was well received.

The Hull Spiritualists inaugurated a series of Sunday services and public lectures, commencing on Sunday, the 17th of March, at Foresters’ Hall.

James Coates

The National Association of Spiritualists

Sir,—May I ask you kindly to allow space for a few lines in reference to two matters in your report of the last Council meeting of the British National Association of Spiritualists?

First,—In the permission given to Dr. Peebles due regard was paid to the wish of several members of the Association that their names should not in any way become public. This was specially guarded against when the subject was before the Council. In the absence of any reference to this in your report, and especially as no mention is made of the object for which the permission was granted, it might seem as though the Association was guilty of what might result in a breach of faith towards the members in question.

Second.—As to the Agenda. The “five or six” should refer to the number of extracts from letters which I read. I think I mentioned that the number of persons, members of the Association and others, who had offered to take copies for distribution was much larger; it was, in fact, over twenty.

I shall be much obliged if you will find room for the above.

Edwd. T. Bennett.

Richmond, March 17th, 1878.

[Endless petty details at meetings we do not report; they have no interest to the public, and would fill a dozen journals. The subscribing of about eighteenpence a head per month, by a few anonymous persons is not of public interest. We should imagine that if Mr. Peebles is furnished with the names of those who do not want their names known, or if he should exhibit to anybody the larger list given him confidentially, there would be a breach of faith.— Ed.]

“Isis Unveiled.”

Sir,—Mr. Gerald Massey, in the late hysterical effort to rid himself of some of his apparently indigestible and uncomfortable knowledge of the subject of Egyptian culture, in the pages of The Spiritualist newspaper, has fallen into an error which I proceed to point out in the following brief extract from page 415 of Lempriere’s Bibliotheca Classica, revised by William Park, M.A., librarian of the University of Glasgow. Speaking of the statue of Memnon, Lempriere says: “It had the wonderful property of uttering a melodious sound, like the snapping of a harp string, as soon as the first rays of the morning fell on it; but at the setting of the sun, and during the night, it uttered very lugubrious sounds. Cambyses, king of Persia, during the havoc which he made amongst the temples of Egypt, when he invaded the country, wreaked his vengeance on the person whom this statue represented, by causing it to be broken and thrown upon the ground, but its wonderful power of speech Still remained, and the superstition of the people was more firmly riveted to it than ever, when even in its mutilated state it did not cease to welcome the first smile of its beautiful mother, nor to bemoan her absence during the gloomy watches of the night. This extraordinary phenomenon was witnessed by some of the most exalted and illustrious men in the world.” “The upper part of the statue,” he adds, “may be seen in the gallery of the British Museum.”

Without pretending to lay claim to any of those “literary qualifications” which Mr. Massey very properly “fails to recognise,” but of which, if the idea were not too preposterous, and he were not writing of me, I should judge that, almost unconsciously to himself, he felt somewhat jealous, it may be remarked, that I have even had the inconceivable presumption to precede Mr. Gerald Massey in that field, where, to imitate his own questionable style of writing, he appears as yet to be wandering in “Egyptian darkness;” and the History of Religions, of which I was not the author, but the humble translator, commended itself for its profundity and impartiality, even to the mind and judgment of “Mr. Bradlaugh,’’ in whose presence Colonel Olcott has had the temerity, according to Mr. Massey, to avow himself “a Spiritualist of seventeen years standing.”

Mr. Austin Holyoake, who staid with me for several weeks at Teignmouth, and frequently mentioned the attention that I was only too glad to show him during his illness, in the pages of the National Reformer for 1872, would have been only too happy were he now living, to inform Mr. Gerald Massey that I am just about the last person to find ault with another on the score of his religious proclivities. Had any anther, in attacking the Hindoos, been as unjust to them as Madame Blavatsky has shown herself to be towards the Christians, I would have defended them equally to the best of my poor ability, whenever permitted to do so, and it is because of my detestation of fanaticism among believers of all faiths, that I find such fault with Madame Blavatsky for endeavouring to awaken and nurse in Spiritualists the feeling that she is professedly denouncing in Christians. As you tell me you wish the discussion on Isis brought to an end, I will only add that the greater part of the second volume teems with abuse of the Christians, and at p. 9, Vol. I., in the chapter headed, “Before the Veil” (of the Saitic Isis, by the way, it is inscribed “My veil hath no mortal ever raised”), we find Madame Blavatsky talking of our “unspiritual, dogmatic, too often debauched, clergy.” Well, some of those gentlemen who occasionally use the pages of The Spiritualist newspaper—

A. B. and D. D., Doctors and proctors of every degree, Bishops in partibus, Masters in artibus,

best know how far their order merits this sweeping condemnation. They certainly manage to keep their debaucheries very quiet, so perhaps those Thibetans, Hindoos, and Egyptians, with whom, to quote Madame Blavatsky’s own words, Vol. L, p. 42, “The Theosophical Society has established relations, in order to furnish authenticated reports of ecclesiastical crimes and misdemeanours,” will not derive so much benefit and satisfaction from the subject, after all.

Frederica Showers.

193, Seymour-place, 16th March.

<Untitled> (Sir,—Without doubt...)

Sir,— Without doubt the Indian Browns, Joneses, and Robinsons were clever fellows four thousand years ago, but to adopt as a creed for life’s guidance what sprang from the inner consciousness of those “Browns,” with a dark age intervening, seems to me throwing brains away. If we are to have creeds at all, better take to the one accepted in these parts, which also had a dark age intervening between its origin and its latter end.

G.

A Materialised Spirit

Sir,—I am anxious to add my testimony to the very careful and correct account given by Mr. Herbst of a seance held in Lamb’s Conduit-street, in your issue of March 8th, page 116.

John King first proposed to me that he would show himself and the medium (Mr. Williams) together in the cabinet. However, as he had given me this test in my own house several times before, he gave precedence to the stranger so lately arrived in this country. After returning Mr. Herbst to his seat, John King took me by the hand, threaded me through the chairs in the pitch darkness, and, leading me into the cabinet, threw a brilliant light over himself, displaying his features and bis dress from head to foot. He then threw his light over the entranced medium, not only giving me a full view of him, but desired me to pass my hand over him, which I did, from his head to below his knees, and can bear testimony that Mr. Williams was himself bodily there.

I have been so often met with the following remark when I have described, as I have seen in my own house, the entranced medium and John King standing over him with his light, “Oh, you may have seen only the clothes of the medium lying on the sofa; your eyes may have deceived you.”

Now, I have been privileged to add touch to sight, so that in this case the remark is inadmissible.

Charlotte Fitz-Gerald.

19, Cambridge-street, Hyde Park-square, London.

<Untitled> (Dr. Eugene Crowell is in California...)

Dr. Eugene Crowell is in California, but will shortly return to New York.

The article of Dr. Maurice Davies, on Devotional Spiritualism, has been reprinted from these pages in the Memphis weekly spiritual periodical, recently established in the Southern Stated of America.

The Rev. J. Tyerman, formerly of Manchester, but latterly one of the most prominent and faithful advocates of Spiritualism in Australia, is about to visit the United States.

In engaging professional mediums, it is important to ascertain how many seances they have had previously the same day. The more they have had, the weaker are their manifestations, in consequence of the previous exhaustion of their vital power.

Alleged Clairvoyance in a Dog.—The Religio-Philosophical Journal (Chicago) of February 2nd, 1878, says: “A small dog of ours who was a cross of the water-spaniel, beautiful in appearance and marked with large brown and white spots, and was a great favourite in the family, had been taught as many tricks as a showman’s monkey. What we are about to relate of him, is with the view of showing that he was clairvoyant as well as intelligent and revengeful. Upon one occasion he, being rather pugnacious, caused a large Newfoundland dog to turn upon and chastise him for his rashness. This punishment he never forgot, and upon every occasion that offered he was ready to attack his overgrown enemy. We often wondered how he knew the dog was in the neighbourhood. Upon one occasion, however, the reason became very evident, for he was asleep behind the stove in our back office, when all at once he became uneasy, sprang to his feet, and barking furiously, ran to the front window (which was low enough for him to look out), and continued to bark as if he saw the dog. Upon going to the front door immediately we observed that the Newfoundland dog had just passed the house, and was trotting up the pavement some houses above. We were careful at the time to notice that the wind was averse to his getting any scent of his antagonist, and as the front door was closed, and he being asleep, it was impossible for him to scent or see the dog—unless he did so clairvoyantly. But the idea of a dog being clairvoyant may seem ridiculous, yet we are satisfied that it was impossible for him to get his information in any other way than by the reaching out of his faculties clairvoyantly while asleep.— Wm. B. Fahnestock.”

Editor's notes

Sources

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  London Spiritualist, No. 291, March 22, 1878, p. 143