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{{Style S-HPB SB. Restored|You see I am telling you stories so wonderful that it is quite impossible for any one to fully credit them without the corroboration of their own personal experience. Believe me, I would not tell them at all—for no man desires to have his word doubted—unless I knew perfectly well that such phenomena have been}} seen hundreds of times in nearly every land under the sun, and can be seen by any one who will give time to the investigation. Despite my disclaimer, you may think that I am taking it for granted that you are quite as well satisfied as myself of the reality of the mediumistic phenomena, but I assure you I do not. I am always keeping in mind that, no matter what respect an auditor may have for my integrity and cleverness, no matter how plainly he may see that I can have no ulterior motive to deceive him—yet he ''cannot'' believe without himself having had the same demonstrative evidence as I have had. He will—because he must—reflect that such things as these are outside the usual experience of men, and that, as Hume puts it, it is more reasonable to believe any man a liar than that the even course of natural law should be disturbed. True, that assumes the absurd premises that the average man knows what are the limitations of natural law, but we never consider our own opinions absurd, no matter how others may regard them. So, knowing, as I have just remarked, that what I describe has been seen by thousands, and may be seen by thousands more at any time, I proceed with my narrative as one who tells the truth and fears no impeachment. It is a great wonder that we are having shown us in our days, and apart from the solemn interest which attaches to the problem whether or not the dead are communing with us, the scientific importance of these facts cannot be undervalued. From the first—that is to say, throughout my twenty-eight years of observations—I have pursued my inquiry in this spirit, believing that it was of prime importance to mankind to ascertain all that could be learnt about man’s powers and the forces of nature about him. | {{Style S-HPB SB. Restored|You see I am telling you stories so wonderful that it is quite impossible for any one to fully credit them without the corroboration of their own personal experience. Believe me, I would not tell them at all—for no man desires to have his word doubted—unless I knew perfectly well that such phenomena have been}} seen hundreds of times in nearly every land under the sun, and can be seen by any one who will give time to the investigation. Despite my disclaimer, you may think that I am taking it for granted that you are quite as well satisfied as myself of the reality of the mediumistic phenomena, but I assure you I do not. I am always keeping in mind that, no matter what respect an auditor may have for my integrity and cleverness, no matter how plainly he may see that I can have no ulterior motive to deceive him—yet he ''cannot'' believe without himself having had the same demonstrative evidence as I have had. He will—because he must—reflect that such things as these are outside the usual experience of men, and that, as Hume puts it, it is more reasonable to believe any man a liar than that the even course of natural law should be disturbed. True, that assumes the absurd premises that the average man knows what are the limitations of natural law, but we never consider our own opinions absurd, no matter how others may regard them. So, knowing, as I have just remarked, that what I describe has been seen by thousands, and may be seen by thousands more at any time, I proceed with my narrative as one who tells the truth and fears no impeachment. It is a great wonder that we are having shown us in our days, and apart from the solemn interest which attaches to the problem whether or not the dead are communing with us, the scientific importance of these facts cannot be undervalued. From the first—that is to say, throughout my twenty-eight years of observations—I have pursued my inquiry in this spirit, believing that it was of prime importance to mankind to ascertain all that could be learnt about man’s powers and the forces of nature about him. | ||
What I shall now relate about my adventures at the Eddy Homestead, in Vermont, America, will tax your indulgence more than all that has preceded. For some years previous to | What I shall now relate about my adventures at the Eddy Homestead, in Vermont, America, will tax your indulgence more than all that has preceded. For some years previous to 1874 I had taken no active interest in the mediumistic phenomena. Nothing surpassingly novel had been reported as occurring, and the intelligence communicated through mediums was not usually instructive enough to induce one to leave his books and the company of their great authors. But in that year it was rumoured that at a remote village in the valley of the Green Mountains an illiterate farmer and his equally ignorant brother were being visited daily by the “materialised” souls of the departed, who could be seen, heard and, in cases, touched by any visitor. This tempting novelty I determined to witness, for it certainly transcended in interest and importance everything that had ever been heard of in any age. Accordingly, in August of that year, I went to Chittender, the village in question, and, with a single brief intermission of ten days, remained there till the latter part of October. I hope you will believe that I adopted every possible precaution against being befooled by village trickery. | ||
<center>(''To be Continued'')</center> | <center>(''To be Continued'')</center> | ||