Legend
A Good Test Seance
Allow me to report a very satisfactory seance, under strict test conditions, with Mrs. Elgie Corner, at the Dalston Association Rooms, on the afternoon of Friday last, the 23rd. A friend of my own profession, who is as rationally exacting in the matter of evidence as any one I know, and who concurs with me in this account, and in entire satisfaction with the results, was the only other sitter besides myself. We arranged for a series of seances, but I confine myself to the latest as yet held, because the remarkable results were obtained under conditions which, in our opinion, left nothing to be desired. Your readers may judge. We placed the medium in a chair in the back room, at such a distance from the curtain, dividing it from that in which we sat, that she could not reach the curtain without moving some distance towards it. She sat sideways to the curtain, the back of her chair to the locked door leading into the passage, and about four and a half feet from it. We passed a strong piece of tape tightly round her waist, knotting it with the utmost care and security behind her. As the test entirely depended for its efficacy on the inability of the medium to slip through this band, I must ask your readers to understand that we took care that the tightening should be as much as could be borne without extreme discomfort; and in fact we afterwards ascertained by measurement that it was greater by about an inch and a half than would be the case with ordinary consideration for comfort. (To exclude obvious suggestions, and with a view to this report, but certainly not for the satisfaction of any doubts of our own, I yesterday called unexpectedly on the medium, and being allowed to take the measurement as I then found her, I ascertained it to be exactly the same as when it was taken after the seance.) Having tested the security of the knot, which we did not seal because from the tightness of the tape round the waist we could not do so without burning the dress, or spilling the wax over it, we passed one of the tapes which came from the knot (it was all one piece) several times tightly round the side bar of the chair back, carrying the end to the handle of the locked door behind the chair. We found this to be quite firm and irremovable, and wound the tape two or three times tightly round it, then knotted it, and sealed the knot securely upon paper, impressing one of our signets upon the wax, so that it could not possibly be removed without breaking the seal and untying or cutting the knot. (All our knots we had afterwards to cut.) The other end of the tape we carried and made fast in like manner with knot and seal to the brass bracket which supported the window curtain at the opposite angle of the room, nearly eleven feet distant, having ascertained this also to be a firm fixture. (I should add that though for the reason above stated we could not seal the knot at the medium’s waist, we did in fact impress a seal on the tape about an inch and an half from the knot, so that no loosening was possible without mutilating the impression.) The effect of these arrangements was that the medium could not move at all laterally without breaking one or other of the lines extending from her, while in a forward or rather oblique direction towards the curtain there was, as we found by trial, only slack enough for an advance of a few inches, leaving her quite unable to reach the curtain with hand or foot, without getting free from the tape. The curtain had no opening in the middle, and had to be drawn away at either of the sides for anything to be visible. From the side of the curtained doorway nearest her the medium was more than three feet distant, from the other side more than five feet, after allowing for the nearest advance. (I should mention that the exact measurements of these distances I took myself, not at the time, but subsequently, from accurate recollection of relative positions.)
We then left her in the darkened room and took our seats, one on each side of the curtain in the front room. On no other occasion in my experience, except on one, a few days before, with this medium, has anything like the degree of light we sat in been permitted for a (so-called) materialisation stance. It was perfectly sufficient for accurate observation, being daylight, that we neither could nor were very solicitous to shutout. We conversed for a short time with the medium quietly, without singing or music, till her voice was changed for that of “Marie.” This was quickly followed by a hand and forearm extended through the doorway, and plainly visible, with flexible fingers, which rapped the wood, first on the side of my companion and then on mine. We asked for an arm at full length, and one was put out, bare, and nearly up to where it would join the shoulder if there were one. Next the curtain was drawn away on one side and the other, showing at each successively a full-length figure, enveloped in ample masses of white drapery, and which spoke to us (the voice being “Marie’s”) from the places at which it appeared, moved, and gave undoubted evidence that it was not a “dummy.” But as it was within the shade of the dark room we could not distinguish features, so we asked it to come out to us. It promised that the attempt should be made, and professed to retire to the medium “to gather power.” We heard Mario tell the medium she was “going out.” But the latter partially awoke, asked for water, and complained of fatigue; so we agreed to put an end to this stance on this occasion, being well content with the results we had obtained for the present, and to defer even greater successes to another day, when Mrs. Corner (who had passed a sleepless night with a sick child) might be better able to endure the possible strain upon her system without injurious effects. On re-entering the room, where we found her seated on the chair in the same position as before, we first ascertained that the tape was fast knotted round the waist, and then cut it, releasing her, while we, having lit the gas, examined everything at leisure. Knots and seals were all intact. We went carefully over every inch of the tape, to be sure that it had not been anywhere cu; and re-joined. Nothing had been tampered with, all odious possibilities were excluded, and we were left, not being quite orthodox Spiritualists, in doubt between the several hypotheses which seem debatable. Certainly “Marie” has never, in my experience of her, made any claim to represent a departed spirit, perhaps because she despairs of convincing me.
One word about these trying tests. I think there are investigators who would on no account inflict physical pain on a medium, who do not consider sufficiently the irritability and discomfort which may be generated by certain modes of trying not in reality one whit more secure than that above described. These feelings, if excited, have usually been found to hinder manifestations. The very time occupied, and the fuss of elaborate precautions, are probably prejudicial. The medium knows that any expressed objection will be secretly set down to a dishonest cause, and submits with annoyance more or less suppressed. Consistently with security, the utmost liberty of movement should be allowed. I can myself conceive few positions more irritating than the consciousness that one cannot move head, hand, or limb without danger of rupturing some ligature, on the safety of which one’s character for good faith depends.
In the case of a lady medium, I would commend to investigators, who will only just consider the human figure, our simple tie round the waist, with a good knot, the ends out of reach, and without, slack, as combining the advantages of simplicity, facility, rapidity, comfort to the medium (who usually hates to be much meddled with), and absolute security.
Temple, May 26th.
The Last Witch-burning in Europe
The last Witch-Burning in Europe—It is generally stated that the last witch was burned in Europe in 1793, in Prussian Poland. But this has now become a mistake. She was burned Feb. 26th, 1879, in Vratshevo, in the government of Novgorod, Russia. Her name was Agrafena Ignatieva. She was a soldier’s widow, and seemed early in life to have acquired fame for her skill in various secret arts. The name once acquired, she profited by it. Without working, she had plenty of good things, for the peasants of the neighbourhood stood in great awe of her, and sent to her house the best of their harvests. But at last Nemesis overtook her. Fits of epilepsy became uncommonly frequent in that part of the country, and they were invariably attributed to Agrafena’s evil eye. In the beginning they increased her reputation, but finally the fear of her grew into terror, and the instinct of self-defence awakened. One day a young girl in a fit of epilepsy mentioned Agrafena’s name, and a few hours later the whole population of the country gathered around her hut, and among them the justice of the peace and two members of the Representative Assembly of the Government. There was a short parley between Agrefena and the crowd, then she was driven into the house; doors and windows were closed, the house was set on fire, while the unhappy woman cried, screamed, and prayed for her life; the crowd stood unmoved, looking on to the last, and sang hymns in praise of the Saviour who had delivered them from Satan.—New York Times.
Editor's notes
Sources
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London Spiritualist, No. 353, May 30, 1879, p. 258
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London Spiritualist, No. 353, May 30, 1879, p. 260