THE nnTiniriiirriT library OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. GIFT OF MR. AND MRS. T. S. BRANDEGEE. 1906 /l^ BRKRY T. S. BRANDEGEE No. CnRARY XX EQi PSYCH. LIBRARY .5»:. -^fW •■4=' I r e^- V^y-Un4^JL/^^C^^^ ^ /V/^f^^^i^c^^^y yTTH^i^ /LZa/ /t iitX^^au^L-^'^-*-'*-' //^^-se.^>t_^?^L<. n <-^^ X^Uc,l;i, /J^fs ■ V %■ V ^ THE ^ ^SiTY ] UHIVERS QF ^'^^ psychics: facts and theories, BY REV. :MIN0T J. RAVAGE. Aicthorof" The Irrepressible Conflict between Two World-Theo- ries^'' " The Religion of Evolution,^'' " The Morals of Evo- hition" " Christianity the Science of Manhood,''' '' The Modern Sphinx,'' '' Bluffton," ''Social Problems,'^ etc. A beam in darkness : let it grow.' Tennyson. BOSTON, MASS. '. COPLEY SQUAEE. 1893. ® THE ^;-T?^RN^^ 53 PS/G.-l LIBRARY Copyrighted, 1893 BY ARENA PUBLISHING CO. A// rights 7'e served. Arena Press. TO WILLIAM JAMES, Doctor of Pliilosophy and Professor in Harvard University. My Dear Professor, — After having worked with you on the problems that Psychical Research seeks to solve, I am glad and proud to associate your name with mine in this little volume. If all seekers 'were as unprejudiced as you are, and the jury for the decision of these questions were as fair-minded, we might hope not only for speedy but for satisfactory results. With affectionate respects, M. J. SAVAGE. Dec. 28, 1892. PREFACE This little volume is made up of certain papers which have appeared in The Areyia^ and of one which was published in The Forum for December, 1889. The latter is re-published here by consent. Since the appearance of these articles a hundred questions have been asked. I propose to take occasion of this preface to answer some of them a little more fully than is j)racticable by letter, and also to save myself the labor of writing the same things to so many different persons. No end of people write and ask if these phenom- ena may not be explained by this theory or that. It may not be out of the way to say that one who has been studying the matter for eighteen 3 ears, has probably considered, with some care, all the theories he could think of. He will be grateful, however, for an}' thing, by way of suggestion, that is not alread}^ long familiar. A word, also, to those who send accounts of experiences. However interesting they may be, or, however conclusive to those immediately con- vi P BE FACE. cernecl, they are generally quite worthless as evi- dence to others. This, for two reasons : First, in most cases, no record is made at the time. So it is always open to an objector to say that the memory is unreliable. And, secondly, they are not accom- panied by any corroborative testimony of others. It cannot be too strongly, or too emphatically said that those who have these experiences should take pains to put their stories into evidential shape, so that they may help in the solution of the great problem. There is a class of objectors who say, " If my friends in the spirit world can come and com- municate at all, why do the}^ not come directl}^ to me ? Why must I go to a medium ? " For reply, I will ask another question. If a man can com- municate with me along a telegraph wire, \\\\y can he not as Avell send the message along a board fence ? I do not know. I only know that elec- tricity will work along a wire, but will not along a fence. Why can I not play the piano as well as Blind Tom, since I may claim, without immodesty, to be more than his intellectual equal ? I do not know. Perhaps it will be as well to recognize facts, and not deny them because we do not know ivhy they are facts. Then there are seekers who seem to me quite as unreasonable as are some objectors. They will go to a psychic and ask to be put in communica- PBEFACE. vii tion with a particular friend inside of five minutes. Now, if my friends are alive in a spirit world, and even if they are sometimes able to communicate, is it quite reasonable for me to expect them to be hanging about the door of any particular " medium " I may take a notion to visit ? Per- haps they niciy have something else to do in the spirit world. I hope so, at any rate. If not, I should not like myself to live there. It ought also to be remembered that failures are quite as satisfactory, sometimes, as successes. If it is onl}^ a clever trick, then there need be no failures. If the psychic is honest, occasional fail- ures are to be expected. For all that an honest psychic can do is to sit and passively await results. One more caution needs to be pointed out. Some person, just interested, starts out and appears to think he is going to settle the matter in a week. Unless prepared for a long, serious and oftentimes disappointing study, people had better let it alone, and leave it to those better fitted for the arduous task. A person needs to be trained and experienced as an observer; he needs to know ^sdiat is good evidence, and what is not ; he needs to know the possibilities and resources of trickery ; and then, perhaps, his conclusions may be worth something. People who propose to visit Boston or XewYork are constantly writing and asking me to give them the address of some "reliable medium." I almost viii PREFACE. always decline. For, first, I know ver}^ few advertising mediums to whom any first-comer can be sent. And, secondly, though I may have had some satisfactory experience, it does not at all follow that it can be repeated or duplicated, to order, in the case of another. Most of my own experi- ences have been in the presence of personal friends to whom I should not be at liberty to send a stranger. I am often asked if I am a Spiritualist. Some Avho hate spiritualism occasionall}^ charge me with being one ; while some Spirtualists express the opinion that I am a sort of Xicodemus, ayIio fears to avow his belief in daylight. I may as well answer that question here. No, in the popular acceptation of that word, I am not a Spiritualist. As the term is commonly used, it covers much which I do not believe, and much which is most distasteful to me. Should I now adopt that name, 1 should be seriously misrepresenting my position. Even though I sliould come at last to hold the theory that communication for the spirit world alone could explain ni}^ facts, even that would not make me what is generally understood as a Spirit- ualist. Spiritualists, for one thing, seem to think that their ism is a new reliirion. This claim seems o to me to be hasty and absurd. The joroof that the " dead " are alive and can communicate with the PREFACE. ix living would only put certainty in the place of hope as to the destiny of man. It would not touch or change any one of the great essentials of my religious creed or life. I certainly liope that con- tinued existence may be demonstrated. But " Spiritualism " is a good deal more than that, and many other things besides that. So, as the term is now used, I cannot wear it. People often ask Avhy, if there is anything in these so-called manifestations, the}" have waited all these ages and have not appeared before. There are stories of similar happenings as marking every age of history; but, as reported, they have been only occasional, and they have not attracted any serious study. Let us note the stages of evolution as having a possible bearing on this point. First, muscle ruled the world. Then came cunning, the lower form of brain power. Xext, the intellect became recognized as king. After that, the moral ideal showed itself mightier than muscle or brain. To-day it is the strongest force on earth. No king- dares go to war without claiming, at least, that his cause is a righteous one. Now it is not meant that either of these has ruled the world alone, for the}" have overlapped each other, as have the advancing forms of life. And as heralding the advent of each new stage of progress, there have been tentative and sporadic manifestations of the next higher, while still the lower was dominant. Is it not then X PREFACE. ill line with all that has gone before, that the next step should be a larger and higher manifestation of the spiritual ? And, in this case, are not the ten- tative and sporadic manifestations reported from the past just Avhat might have been expected ? '' First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." " That was not first which is spirit- ual, but that which is natural ; and afterward that which is spiritual." With these suggestions, I offer the reader the following facts and some discussion as to theories. If the facts force us to the reasonable conclusion that " There is no death, what seems so is transition," why should any one shrink from having proved that which all men hope ? I hesitate, as yet, to say that there can he no other explanation ; but I frankly admit that I can now see no other which seems to me adequate to account for all the facts. If any one can find another explanation, I am read}^ to accept it. For what any reasonable man wishes is only the truth. M. J. Savage. Boston, Dee. m, '92, 'v^aFT^r-^ UNIVERSITY PSYCHICS : FACTS AND THEOEIES. CHAPTER I. I AM to tell some stories ; others are to explain them — if they can. Not that I mean to shirk any responsibility. I am ready with my opinions as to what seems to me reasonable in the way of theory, and what unreasonable, only I do not propose to dogmatize ; and I am ready to listen to the suggested explanations of anybody else. The one thing I k}ww about these stories is that theij are true. T say this advisedly and weighing my words. If in the case of any one of them, I only tliinlv or believe it is true, I shall say so ; but nearly all of them I know to be true — know it in the same sense in which I 8 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. man should tell us that he knew of a country where water did not freeze at 32 ^ Fahrenheit. The scientifically impossible is one thing ; while the improbable, the uncommon, or the super- normal, is quite another thing. The super- normal may be true. While, then, the prob- abilities are against it, the proof may be such as to render it credible. Indeed, it is conceiv- able that the proof may become so strong as to make incredulity absurd and unscientific. The attitude of caution is rational ; but the attitude of those who " know " a thing cannot be true, merely because it is unusual, or because it does not fit into the theory of things which they happen to hold — this is irrational. What looks like proof of certain supernormal happenings has been accumulating so rapidly during the last few years, that public attention has been turned in this direction as never before. Psychic investigation is becoming " respectable." It will be fortunate for it if it does not become a fashionable fad for those who want a new sensation. It is curious, and PSYCHICS: FACTS ANI) THEORIES. 9 would be ludicrous were it not sad, to watch the progress of these things. " You ought to be thankful to me," said John Weiss, one morning, as I met him on Washington Street, " for I have been killed to make room for you." Yes, brave men were professionally and socially killed, to make our religious liberty possible. And now even the "Orthodox" get great credit for being " liberal," and the blood-bought hb- erty is the hobby of snobs. Always some Winkelreid makes way for liberty at the price of fatal thrusts of spears. A world-famous man. Church of England clergyman and scientist in one, said to me one day, " I do not talk about my psychic experi- ences and knowledge with everybody. I used to think all who had anything to do with these things were fools ; and I do not enjoy being ccdled a fooiy But now the danger is that the society fools will go to dabbling in the matter. Said another man to me, a scholar known on two continents, " Suppose you and I should come to believe, it would only be a coujyle more 10 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. cranks !^^ But it begins to look as though the "cranks" might get to be in the majority, when a famous German philosopher can say that " The man who any longer denies clair- voyance does not show that he is prejudiced ; he only shows that he is igiiorant.^^ So much by way of preface to my stories. It seems to me that all these points, at least, ought to be kept in mind by one who reads them and seriously tries to think out what they may mean. Now to the stories themselves. I. Let me begin by telling about some rap- pings. Do these ever occur except in cases where they are purposely produced ? Are they always a trick ? A vast amount of ingenuity has been expended by those who have thought they could explain these things as the work of toe joints or other anatomical peculiarities. It will be something to find out that genuine raps do occur, whatever theory may be adopted in explanation of them. I know a regular physician living not a thousand miles from Boston. His wife, I PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEOBIES. 11 should call a psychic, though she does not call herself so. Neither she nor her husband has ever had anything to do with spirituahsm, nor are they believers. Where they formerly lived they were continually troubled by strange and unaccountable happenings ; but though they moved to their present residence, the happen- ings — ^with one important exception — have not ceased. No attempt has been made to reduce these happenings to order, or to find out whether there is any discoverable intelligence connected with them. The doctor vaguely holds the opinion that they indicate some ab- normal nervous condition on the part of his wife. So far the whole matter has been treated from that point of view. But what is it that happens? Sometimes, for two hours on a stretch, the doctor and his wife are kept wide awake at night by loud rappings on the head- board of their bed. In accordance with his nervous theory, the doctor will hold his wife with one arm, while the hand of the other arm is pressed against the headboard, in the attempt 12 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. thus to put an end to the disturbance. Said the doctor to me one day, " If anybody thinks these rappings are not genuine, I should like to have hiin go through some of my experi- ences." He and his wife will be sitting^ by the draw- ing-room table of an evening. They will be conscious of a stream of cold air passing by them, — an accompaniment of psychic facts well known to investigators, — and then the " trouble " will begin. Sometimes it is only raps. At other times they will hear a noise on the floor of the room above, and will think their boy has fallen out of bed; but on going up to see, they find him quietly asleep. Some- times there will be a loud crash in the corner of the room over the furnace register, as though a basket of crockery had been thrown down and broken. They occupy the house alone, and have no other way of explaining these unpleasant facts than the one alluded to above. I give this case because of the undoubted oc- currence of these thinofs in the house of one PSYCHICS: FACTS ANB THEOEIES. 13 who is not a believer nor even an investigator. There is no expectancy or invitation of them, or any superstitious attitude of mind towards them. They are, in this case, plam, hold, apparent facts, as real as is breakfast or supper, or the existence of a brick in the sidewalk. The "one important exception" referred to above is this : In the house they formerly occupied, the doctor's Avife sometimes saw the figure of a woman. Others were said to have seen it also. It was never visible to the doctor. There is the story of a tragic death which con- nects this woman with this particular house. Those who believe in haunted houses would thus be able to explain why this figure is never seen in the house at present occupied by the doctor's family. Here then are raps not to be ex^ilained as the conscious, purposed work of anj visible person ; nor can they be explained as the result of the shrinking of boards, as the work of rats or mice, or in any ordinary way. Starting with facts like these, many persons have sup- 14 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. posed themselves to get into communication with invisible intelligences who had taken these ways of attracting attention. Nothing of this sort has been even attempted here. I simply set forth the facts and the reality of the raps. II. I will now tell a brief story of one of my own experiences in this line. Until within the past year or two there lived in New York city a lady who, when a girl, had been somcAvhat known as a " medium." But for twenty or thirty years she led a quiet home- life with her husband, a well-known business- man. But intimates in the house told stories of remarkable occurrences. For example, a friend of this family has told me how, when at breakfast, after having spent the night there, raps would come on the table ; and by means of them, how long and pleasant conversations Avould be held with those who once had walked the earth, but now were in the unseen. This is his belief. Having occasion to pass through New York, this friend, above referred to, gave me a letter PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. 15 of introduction, saying he knew I would be welcomed if I called at the house of this lady. I had never seen her, nor she me, but one morning I presented myself with my letter. I was shown into the back parlor. Carpenters were at work on a conservatory opening out of this room where the lady had received me. They made more or less noise, but not enough to interfere Tvdth our conversation. Soon I be- gan to hear raps, apparently on the floor, and then in different parts of the room. On this, the lady remarked, simply, " Evidently there is some one here who wishes to communicate with you. Let us go into the front parlor, where it will be quieter." This we did, the raps follow- ing us, or rather beginning again as soon as we were seated. At her suggestion I then took pencil and paper (which I happened to have in my bag), and sat at one side of a marble-top table, while she sat at the other side in a rocker and some distance away. Then she said, "As one way of getting at the matter, suppose you do this : You know what 16 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. friends you have in the spirit world. Write now a Kst of names — any names you please, real or fictitious, only among them someAvhere include the names of some friends in the spirit world who, you think, might like to communi- cate with you, if such a thing were jDossible." I then began. I held a paper so that she could not possibly have seen what I wrote, even though she had not been so far away. I took special pains that no movement or facial expression should betray me. Meantime she sat quietly rocking and talking. As I wrote, perhaps at the eighth or tenth name, I began to write the name of a lady friend who had not been long dead. I had hardly written the first letter before there came three loud, dis- tinct raps. Then my hostess said, '' This friend of yours, of course, knows where she died. Write now a list of ]3laces, including in it the place of her death, and see if she will recognize it." This I did, beginning with Vienna, and so on with any that occurred to me. Again, I had hardly begun to write the PSYCilUJS: FACTS AND THEOlilES. 17 real name, when once more came the three raps. And so on, concerning other matters. I speak of these only as specimens. Now, I cannot say that in this particular case the raps were not caused by the toe joints of the lady. The thing that puzzles me, in this theory, is as to how the toe joints happened to know the name oi my friend, where she died, etc., which facts the lady herself did not know, and never had known. Certain theories, as explanations of certain facts, are already regarded as demonstrated by those familiar with the results of psychic inves- tigation. Among these are hypnotism, clair- voyance, telepathy, and the agency of the sub- conscious self as active about matters with which the conscious self is not familiar. Can the simplest, genuine rap be explained as com- ing" under either of these? No one has the slightest idea how, and as yet there is nothing in this direction that, even by courtesy, can be called a theory ; but it may be possible that these raps are produced by psychic power. If 'A 18 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES, SO, as in Case 1., the psychic herself does not know even that she does it, much less hoio. Ave they the work of the sub-conscious self ? No sub-conscious self has ever claimed to do it. And if so, from what source does this sub- conscious self, as in Case II., obtain a knowl- edge of facts the psychic never knew ? To ex- plain these cases in accordance with any yet accepted theories, mind-reading must also be introduced. This New York lady must have been able, not only to produce the raps, con- sciously or unconsciously, but also to read my mind and tell me things she never knew before. But these things, if they do no more, reveal such an extension of mental power as to lead us into a world vastly unlike that which is rec- ognized by ordinary scientific theories ; and it may be well for us to be on our guard lest we invent theories more decidedly supernormal than the facts we seek to explain. IV. My next story goes far beyond any of these, and, — well, I will ask the reader to decide as to whether there is any help in hypnotism PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOBIES. 19 or clairvoyance or mind-reading, or any of the selves of the psychic^ conscious, or sub-con- scious. Early on Friday morning, Jan. 18, 1884, the steamer " City of Columbus," en route from Boston to Savannah, was wrecked on the rocks off Gay Head, the southwestern point of Martha's Vineyard. Among the passengers was an elderly widow, the sister-in-law of one of my friends, and the mother of another. This lady, Mrs. K., and her sister, Mrs. B., had both been interested in psychic investiga- tion, and had held sittings with a psychic whom I will call Mrs. E. Mrs. B. was in poor health, and was visited regularly for treatment on every Monday by the psychic, Mrs. E. On occasion of these professional visits, Mrs. B. and her sister, Mrs. K., would frequently have a sitting. This Mrs. E., the psychic, had been known to all the parties concerned for many years, and was held in the highest respect. She lived in a town fifteen or twenty miles from Boston. This, then, was the situation of 20 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. affairs when the wreck of the steamer took place. The papers of Friday evening, January 18, of course contained accounts of the disaster. On Saturday, January 19, Dr. K., my friend, the son of Mrs. K., hastened down to the beach in search of the body of his mother. No trace whatever was discovered. He became satisfied that she was among the lost, but was not able to find the body. Saturday night he returned to the city. Sunday passed by. On Monday morning, the 21st, Mrs. E. came from her coun- try home to give the customary treatment to her patient, Mrs. B. Dr. K. called on his aunt while Mrs. E. was there, and they decided to have a sitting, to see if there would come to them anything that even purported to be news from the missing mother and sister. Imme- diately Mrs. K. claimed to be present ; and along with many other matters, she told them three separate and distinct things which, if true, it was utterly impossible for either of them to have known. PSYCHICS: FACTS A^U THEORIES. 21 1. She told them that, after the steamer had sailed, she had been able to exchange her in- side stateroom for an outside one. All that any of them knew, was that she had been obliged to take an inside room, and that she did not want it. 2. She told them that she played whist with some friends in the steamer saloon during the evening -, and she further told them the names of the ones Avho had made up the table. 3. Then came the startling and utterly un- expected statement, — '^ I do not want you to think of me as having been drowned. I Avas not drowned. When the alarm came, I was in my berth. Being frightened, I jumped up, and rushed out of the stateroom. In the pas- sage-way, I was suddenly struck a blow on my head, and instantly it was over. So do not think of me as having gone through the process of drowning." Then she went on to speak of the friends she had found, and who were with her. This latter, of course, could not be verified. But the other things could 22 F;sr CHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. be. It was learned, through survivors, that the matter of the stateroom and the whist, even to the partners, was precisely as had been stated. But how to verify the other statement, particularly as the body had not been dis- covered ? All this was on Monday, the 21st. On Tuesday, the 22d, the doctor and a friend went again to the beach. After a prolonged search amonof the bodies that had been recov- ered, they were able to identify that of the mother. And they found the right side of the head all crushed in hy a hlow. The impression made on the doctor, at the sitting on Monday, was that he had been talk- ing with his mother. The psychic, Mrs. E., is not a clairvoyant, and there were many things connected with the sitting that made the strong impression of the mother's present personality. In order to have obtained all these facts, related under numbers 1, 2, and 3, the psychic would have had to be, not only clairvoyant, but to have gotten into mental relations with several PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. 23 different people at the same time. The reacl- inof of several different minds at once, and also clairvoyant seeing, not only of the bruised body, but of facts that took place on the Friday previous (this being Monday), — all these multiplex and diverse operations, going on simultaneously, make up a problem that the most ardent advocate of telepathy, as a solvent of psychic facts, would hardly regard as reason- ably coming within its scope. Let us look at it clearly. Telepathy deals only with occurrences taking place at the time. I do not know of a case where clairvoyance is even claimed to see what were once facts, but which no longer exist. Then there must have been simultaneous communication ^\\t\\ several minds. This, I think, is not even clauned as possible by anybody. Then let it be remem- bered that Mrs. E. is not conscious of pos- sessing either telepathic or clairvoyant power. Such is the problem. I express no opinion of my own. I only say that the doctor, my friend, is an educated, 24 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. level-headed, noble man. He felt sure that he detected undoubted tokens of his mother's presence. If such a thing is ever possible, surely this is the explanation most simple and natural V. The only other case I shall be able to find room for in this chapiter is a genuine ghost story, all the better for my purpose because it is simple and clear cut in every jDarticular. It is perfectly authentic, and true beyond any sort of question. The lady who furnishes me the facts is a parishioner, and a distant connection. In the year 1859, Mrs. S. and Mrs. C. were living in two different towns in the State of Maine. Both were Methodists, and the husband of Mrs. C. was a clergyman of that denomination. My brother, at one time, was well acquainted with him, and the family was related to my brother's wife. At this time, in 1859, Mrs. C. was ill with dropsy, and her sister, Mrs. S., was visiting her. They both well knew that Mrs. C. could not live for long, and that this was to PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOBIES. 25 ho their last meeting" in the hody. One clay they were speaking of the then new and strange beHef of spirituaHsm, when Mrs. C. said, " Mary, if it is true, and it is a possible thing, I will come to yon after my death." The day following, Mrs. S. returned to her home, in another part of the state. Some weeks passed by ; it was noAv October 4. Mr. S. was away from home, and Mrs. S. was alone with her two daughters. No one was on the premises except a farm-hand, who slept in another part of the house. As is the common custom in these country towns in Maine, the daughters had gone to bed early, and were asleep. They were both awakened out of their sleep by their mother, who came and told them that their Aunt Melinda was dead, for she had just seen her standing in the doorway, in her nightdress. They noted the time, and it was 9.50 P.M. In those days there were no telegraphs. The mails, even, were very irregular, and the post-office was four miles away. They had 26 PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEORIES. heard nothing to make them think that their aunt was any nearer death than she had been for a long time. Three days after, i. e., on October 7, news came that Mrs. C. had passed away on the evening of October 4, after being dressed for bed. At 9.30 they had left her, for a few moments, sitting comfortably in her chair. At 10 they returned and found her dead, and they said she looked as though she had been dead for some minutes. Of course, when they sent this news, they knew nothing of the fact that, by some subtle express, they had been anticipated by at least three days. I am well aware of the policy of the Psychical Society, and that the attempt is made to explain such appearances by supposing that the dying friend is able telepathically to impress, not ideas only, but images on the minds of distant friends, so producing the effect of an objective vision. Indeed, I am in sympathy with this attitude on the part of the society. Let telepathy and all other well-established theories be strained to the utmost. We will go further for explana- PSYCUICS: FACTS AXD THEORIES. 27 tions only when we have to. But there are some who think that these theories are abeady bemg overweighted. No matter. Let them be. For if they break down at last, and compel us to go further, some other theory will come as a necessity ; and the proof at last will seem all the more forcible because the conclusion was not jumped at, but came when all other explana- tions had proven futile. Here, then, I stop for the present. Not a third of my authentic cases have been even alluded to. Many of the most striking still remain ; for I wished to begin as near the com- monplace as possible, and so advance from the less to the more complex and difficult. If it shall seem best, some more of my stories may be told later on. !N'OTE. — 1 have not thought best to give names, but I am in possession of names, dates, facts of every kind, sufficient to make these what would be called legal evidence in a court of justice. 28 PbYCHiaS: FACTS AND THEORIES. CHAPTER II. Of the truth of what I shall here relate, I am as certam as I am of any fact in my own personal history. I select typical specimens out of a large number. Many, and some of them of the most remarkable kind, cannot yet be told, because they are so very personal ir. their nature ; and yet, to those Avho know these they are naturally the most striking of all. The first case, which I shall now detail, is so profusely authenticated that it would be ac- cepted as absolutely conclusive evidence, even in a matter of life and death, in any court in Christendom. I shall tell the story in my own words, but I have in my possession eight separ- ate accounts of eio lit livino- witnesses. To these accounts are attached the autograph signatures of their authors, and these are witnessed to by others who know them. With two of the PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEOBIES. 29 principal ones I am personally acquainted, and can vouch for both their intelligence and truth- fulness. I shall not give the real names, for all these people are still living, and investigators more zealous than wise might subject them to personal annoyance. The events now to be narrated occurred in the year 1864, and in a town not forty miles from Boston. The persons chiefly concerned are these : A Mrs. C, who had been three times married ; a son, a young man, child of the first marriage (I shall speak of him by his first name, Charles) ; two sons by the second mar- riage, William and Joshua, aged respectively sixteen and thirteen ; and Mrs. D., the one who played the principal part, and who tells the principal story. All these, together with the other witnesses, are still living, with the excep- tion of the two boys William and Joshua, around whose fate the story revolves. On March 25, 1864, Mrs. C. went into Bos- ton for the day. Her son AYilliam had been at work in a wholesale drug house in Boston, but 30 PSTCIIICS : FACTS AXD THEORIES. for some time preceding this date had been engaged with a similar firm in Portland, Me., during the refitting of the Boston store, which had been burned. On this day, while his mother was absent, he came back from Port- land, and was to return to his former position on the following Monday. This day, March 25, was a Friday. He reached home about two o'clock P.M. Not finding his mother, he, with his brother Joshua, started for the station, expecting to meet her as she came out on the five o'clock train. But the mother was de- layed, and did not reach home till two hours later. She was met by a friend of the boys, who told her that William had got home from Portland. But when she reached the house the boys were not there. The last trace that was ever found of them alive was the fact that they had started for the station to meet their mother on the arrival of the five o'clock train. At first the mother consoled herself by think- ing that they must have met some friends, and had been detained by them. But when bed- PSYCHICS : FACTS AND THEOEIES. 31 time came and they did not return, she became very anxious, and passed a sleepless night. At this time her husband, the stepfather to the boys, was in the army, and she had to rely on her own resources. The next morning she and the elder son, Charles, began to make inquiries. They not only searched the town, but drove to neighbor- ing towns, searching every place to which it seemed at all likely that they might have gone. Recruiting camps were visited, as it was thought possible that curiosity might have led them on some such expedition. But about five P.M. (this being Saturday) they returned, and reported to the neighbors that no trace had been found. The neighbors then offered their ser- vices, and started out in various directions, as their own ideas might guide them. But all efforts proved in vain. Then they came to the mother, and asked if she had anything else to suggest. She replied that, if her husband were at home, she should have the pond searched, for she felt sure they must be some- 32 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOBIES. where where they could not get home, or they woiikl not have stayed away so long. But everybody thought it most unlikely that they were in the pond, and this for two reasons. In the first place, they were timid about being on the water ; and in the second place, being in March, it was too cold for them to think of any such thing as swimming or rowing. On Sunday evening, however, to satisfy the mother, and in order that nothing might be left untried, they began to search the pond, and kept on until the darkness compelled them to postpone their labors. On Monday morning early, the engine and church bells were rung, and the citizens were called together to organize a systematic search of the pond. Grappling irons were used, and cannon were fired over all the places where it seemed pos- sible that the bodies might be. Still no trace was discovered. Such was the situation of affairs when, at about ten o'clock in the forenoon, Mrs. D., one of the neighbors, called on Mrs. C, the mother PSYCHICS: FACTS AXU TUEUUIES. 'do of the boys, to show her sympathy and ask if there was anything she could do. By this time every known resource had been exhausted. So, as a last resort, the mother asked Mrs. D. if she would not go to Boston and consult a medium. It is miportant here to note that she was not a spiritualist, but was a believer in Evangelical Christianity, and had never had anything to do with spiritualism. She turned to this as a last desperate resource, because in despair of help from any other quarter. It must also be noted that Mrs. D. had no faith in it, and had never consulted a medium in all her life. So, although she had offered her services as being willing to do anything she could, she tried to beg off from this, as being both a disagreeable and hopeless errand. But as Mrs. C. urged it so strongly, and said she wished her, and no one else, to go, she at last and most reluctantly consented. She reached Boston at twelve o'clock noon. Meantime, and with more efficient grappling irons, the search of the pond was continued, 3 M PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOBIES. but with no results. On arriving in town, and not knowing which way to turn, since she was not acquainted with a single medium, she Avent (as some one had advised her to do) to the office of the Banner of Lights the spiritualist paper. They directed her to a place near Court Street. The medium here was engaged, and could not see her. But the man who answered the door sent her to another one in Dix Place. This one also was engaged, and could not see her. But here they told her to go to a Mrs. Y. on Washinofton Street near Common Street. By this time it was about three o'clock. A sitter was just leaving, and Mrs. Y. said she was too tired to give any more sittings that day. But when she found that her visitor was from out of town, and that the next day would be too late, she said that if she would wait long enough for her to take a little rest, she would see what she could do. Nothino: was said that could give her the slightest clue. Indeed, nothing could be said, for no one had a clue, and it was a clue they all were in search of. It is PSYCHICS: FACTS ASl) TUEOlilES. 35 important here to note another thing. Up to this time Mrs. Y., the medium, had never been in the town where the boys resided. When the medium came again into the room, she walked directly to the fireplace and stood with her back to Mrs. D. Then, before either of them had spoken a word, by way of preliminary, she said, " They went east before they went west." The railroad station is east from the house in which they lived, and the pond is west. Then she added, " They saw the fire, and so went to the water." It was afterwards found that some men were burning brush near the lake. So knowing it would be some time before the next train, it is supposed that, boylike, they were attracted by the fire, and went to see what was going on. The medium then went on to speak of a boathouse with a hole in its side. This was not mind- reading, because Mrs. D. knew nothing of there being any boathouse or boat. She con- tinued and described a boat, — " a narrow boat, painted black." Then she cried out, '^ Oh, 36 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOEIES. dear, it was never intended that more than one person should get into it at a time ! " She told hoAv the boys went through the hole in the side of the boathouse, found the boat, got into it, and pulled out onto the Avater. She said they had gone but a very little way before the younger brother fell overboard ; then the older one, in trying to save him, also fell into the water. Then she added, " The place where they are is muddy, and they could not come to the surface. Why," said she, " it is not the main lake where they are, but the shallow part which connects with the main lake, and they are so near the shore that if it were not this time of the year [March], you could almost walk in and pick them up." She spoke of the citizens' interest in seeking for them, but said, " They will not find them ; they go too far from the shore. They [the bodies] are on the left of the boathouse, a few feet from the land." Mrs. D. then said, " If they are in the water, they Avill be found before I can reach home." The medium replied, " No, they will not be PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. 37 found before you get there ; you will have to go and tell them where I say they are, and then they Avill be found witliin five minutes after you reach the lake." Then she made Mrs. D. promise to go with them to the lake, and added, " They are very near together. After finding one, you will quickly find the other." In spite of all that Mrs. Y. had said, Mrs. D. was still as incredulous as before. But she had undertaken to see it through, and so started for home. She arrived at five o'clock. By this time it was known on what sort of errand she had gone to Boston, and a crowd of the curious and interested was at the station. As she stepped on to the platform, a gentleman asked, "What did the medium tell you?" She replied with the question, " Haven't you found them yet ? " When they said they had not, she delivered her message. Immediately they took a carriage and started for the lake. As they came in sight of the place, Mrs. D. recognized the boathouse, with the hole in the side, as the 88 PSYCHICS: FACTS A^'U THEORIES. medium had described it. The ^^ narrow boat painted black " had also been found drifting in another part of the lake. So by this time, Mrs. D. began to wonder if the rest might not be true. But no one in the crowd seemed to have any confidence in the medium's statements. They felt that they had thoroughly searched the pond, and that the matter was settled. But they went on, and prepared to follow Mrs. D.'s directions. She stood on the shore while tAvo boats put off in Avhich were men with their grappling irons. In one boat was the elder brother, or half-brother, of the missing boys. He was holding one of the grappling irons; and after only three or four strokes of the oars, he ex- claimed, " I have hold of something ! " The boat was stopped, and he at once brought to the surface the body of the older boy, William. In a few minutes more, and close to the same place, the body of the other boy, Joshua, was found. The place was shallow and muddy, as the medium had said ; and, held by the mud. PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD TUEOBIES. 39 the bodies had not risen to the surface, as otherwise they might have done. The bodies were now placed together in a carriage, and before six o'clock they were in their mother's housa At the close of the Boston interview, Mrs. D. asked the medium from what source she o'ot her claimed information, and she said, " The boys' father told me." The boys' father was the second husband of Mrs. C, and had been " dead " for several years, while the mother was then living with her third husband. Here, then, is the story. I have in my pos- session the account as given by Mrs. D., who is still living and is a personal acquaintance. I have the account of her daughter, who well remembers it all. I have also the account of Mrs. C, the mother ; of Mr. C, the father-in- law ; of the elder brother, Charles ; of the sister of Mrs. D. ; of the lady who was at that time postmistress of the town ; of a man who came into Boston after grappling irons with which to search the lake ; and also of two or > »; THE UNIVERSITY 40 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. three other persons whose names, if given, would be recognized as connected with one of the distinguished men in American history. One other item is of sufficient interest to make it worth mentioning. The father-in-law of the boys tells that one day, after his return from the army, the medium, Mrs. Y., visited the town for the first time in her life, and came to his house. She wished to visit the place where the bodies of the boys were found. When within a short distance of the lake, she asked him to fall back. She then became en- tranced ; and picking up a stone, she stood with her eyes closed and back to the water. Then she threw the stone over her head, and landed it in the precise place from which the bodies were taken. Mr. C, as well as his wife, was an Evan- gelical in his creed, and had never had any- thing to do with mediums. Of the truth of these occurrences, as thus related, there can be no rational doubt. As an explanation, telepathy is excluded, for nobody PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEORIES. 41 living was aware of the. facts. Clairvoyance seems to be excluded, for Mrs. D. did not tell the medium where she was fi'om nor what she wanted to find out, and clairvoyance requires that the mind should be directed or sent on some definite errand to some particular place. What, then, is left ? Will the reader decide ? The incidents I am next to relate occurred two years ago this winter. The place is a large city in a neighboring state. The three persons concerned are a doctor, his wife, and one of his patients. The story, as T tell it, was given me by the wife. She was an old school friend of some of my personal friends, who hold her in the highest esteem. Her husband I have never seen ; but a connection of mine was once a patient of his, and speaks of him always with enthusiastic admu^ation, both as a man and a physician. He is a doctor of the old school, inclined to be a sceptic, and had never had anything whatever to do with me- diums. He is not \4sionary, and this was his first experience out of the normal. 42 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOBIES. On a winter night, then, two years ago, he was sound asleep. Being very weary, and in order that he might sleep as late as possible, the green holland shade of his own window was down to the bottom, and there was no way by which any light could penetrate his room. His wife was asleep in a room adjoining, with a door open between. She was waked out of a sound sleep by hearing him call her name. She opened her eyes, and saw his room flooded with a soft, yet intense yellowish light. She called, and said, "What is that light?" He replied, " I don't know ; come in and see ! " She then went into his room, and saw that it was full of this light. They lighted the gas, but the other light was so much stronger that the gas flame seemed lost in it. They looked at their watches, and it was about five full minutes before it had faded aAvay. During this time he explained to her what had occurred. He said he was wakened by a strong light shining directly into his face. At the same time, on opening his eyes, he saw the figure of PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEORIES. 43 a woman stunclm^' at the foot of his bed. His first thought was that his wife had come in and lighted the gas, as he knew she intended rising to take an early train in order to visit his mother, who was ill. Being very tired and needing sleep, he was about to reproach her for needlessly waking hini; vrlien he saw that the figure, from which now all the light seemed to proceed, was not his wife. By this time he was broad awake, and sat upright in bed staring at the figure. He noticed that it was a woman in a white garment ; and looking sharply, he recog- nized it, as he thought, as one of his patients who was very ill. Then he realized that this could not be so, and that if any one was in the room, it must be an intruder who had no right to be there. Tv^ith the vague thought of a possible burglar thus disguised, he cprang out of bed and grasped his revolver, which he was accustomed to have near at hand. This brought him face to face with the fi<>:ure not three feet away. He now sav\^ every detail of dress, com- plexion, and feature, and for the first time 44 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOBIES, recognized the fact that it was not a being of flesh and blood. Then it was that, in quite an excited manner, he called his wife, hoping that she would get there to see it also. But the moment he called her name, the figure disap- peared, leaving, however, the intense yellow light behind, and which they both observed for five minutes by the watch before it faded out. The next day it was found that one of his patients, closely resembling the figure he had seen, had died a few minutes before he saw his vision, — had died calling for Mm. It will be seen that this story, like the first one in this article, is perfectly authentic in every particular. There is no question as to the facts. It only remains to find a theory that wiU explain the facts. Was it a telepath- ically produced vision, caused by the strong desire of the dying woman to see her physician ? Or was it the woman herself coming to him a few moments after leaving the body ? I leave my readers to reply for themselves. I will now relate a death vision that has PSYCHICS: FACTS AlVI) TllEOlUES. 45 about it some unusual features. These visions, of course, are very common. I have known many that were striking ; but generally there is no way of proving that they are not entirely subjective. The dying frequently appear to see and converse with their friends who have preceded them, but how can any one tell that they are not like the imaginings of those in delirium ? I have in my collection two or three that have about them certain characteristics that are hard to explain on that theory. One of the best is the following . In a neighboring city w^ere two little girls, Jennie and Edith, one about eight years of age, and the other but a little older. They were schoolmates and intimate friends. In June, 1889, both were taken ill .of diphtheria. At noon on Wednesday, June 5, Jennie died. Then the parents of Edith, and her physician as well, all took particular pains to keep from her the fact that her little playmate was gone. They feared the effect of the knowledge on her ow^n condition. To prove that they succeeded 46 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES, and that she did not know, it may be mentioned that on Saturday, June 8, at noon, just before she became unconscious of all that was passing about her, she selected two of her photographs to be sent to Jennie, and also told her attend- ants to bid her good-bye. Right here is the important point to be noticed in this narration. Dying persons usually see, or think they see, those and only those that they know have passed away. Edith did not know that Jennie had gone, and so, in the ordinary or imaginative vision, she would not have been expected to fancy her present. She died at half -past six o'clock on the even- ing of Saturday, June 8. She had roused and bidden her friends good-bye, and was talking of dying, and seemed to have no fear. She ap- peared to see one and another of the friends she knew were dead. So far it was like the com- mon cases. But now suddenly, and with every appearance of great surprise, she turned to her father, and cxcbimed, " Why, papa, I am PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD TUEOIUES. 47 going to take Jennie with me ! " Then she added, " Why papa ! Why, papa ! ! You did not tell me that Jennie was here ! " And im- mediately she reached out her arms as if in welcome, and said, " Jennie, I'm so glad you are here." Now, I am familiar with the mechanism of the eye and the scientific theories of vision. I know also very well whatever the world knows about visions. But I submit that here is some- thing not easily accounted for on the theory of hallucination. It was firmly fixed in her mind that Jennie was still ahve, for within a fcAV hours she had arranged to have a photograph sent her. This also comes out in the fact of her great astonishment when her friend appears among those she was not at all surprised to see, because she knew they had died. It goes, then, beyond the ordinary death vision, and presents a feature that demands, as an adequate explanation, something more than the easy one of saying she only imagined it. I have read, of course, a good many stories 48 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND TIIEOEIES. telling of the apparent seeing of " spirit " forms on the part of animals. One such, and a perfectly authentic one, I have in my collec- tion. The friend who gave it me I will call Miss Z. I have known her for seventeen years, and feel as sure of the truth of her narrative as though I had been in her place. Without any further preface, I will tell her brief story. In the spring of 1885, on a certain evening, she was alone in the house. All the family, even to the servants, had gone out. It was about eight o'clock, but several gas jets were burning, so that the room was light through- out. It was in the parlor, a long room run- ing the whole length of the house. Near the back of the parlor stood the piano. Miss Z. was sitting at the piano, practicing at a difficult musical exercise, playing it over and over, and naturally with her mind intent on this alone. She had as her only companion a little skye terrier, a great pet, and which, never having been whipped, was apparently afraid of nothing PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEORIES. -49 in all the world. He was comfortably placed in an easy-chair behind the piano-stool. Such, then, was the situation when Miss Z. was startled by hearing a sudden growl from the terrier, as if giving an alarm of danger. She looked up suddenly to see what the matter was, when, at the farther end of the room, the front of the parlor, there appeared to be a sort of mist stretching itself from the door half-way across the room. As she watched it, this mist, Avhicli was gray, seemed to shape itself into three forms. The heads and shoulders were quite clearly outlined and distinct, though they appeared to have loose wrappings about them. From the height and general slope of the shoulders of one, she thought she recognized the figure of a favorite aunt who had died a few years before. The middle figure of the three was much shorter, and made her think of her grandmother, who had been dead for a good many years. The third she did not recognize at all. The faces she did not see distinctly enough so as to feel in any way sure about them. 4 50 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. The dog, always before very brave, now seemed overcome with terror. He growled fiercely several times, and then jumped trem- blins: from his chair, and hid himself under a large sofa, utterly refusing to be coaxed out. His mistress had never known him to show fear before on any occasion Avhatever. Miss Z. now watched the figures, while they grew more and more indistinct, and at last seemed to fade through the closed door into the front hall. When they had disappeared, she gave her attention to the frightened terrier. He would not leave his hiding-place, and she was obliged to move the sofa and carefully lift the trembling little creature in her arms. Now, the only remarkable thing about this is, of course, the attitude and action of the dog. The " spirits " did not seem to have come for anything. They said nothing, and did nothing of any importance. But — and this is where the problem comes in — what did the dog see ? If his mistress had seen the figures first and had shown any fear, it might PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD TREOEIES. 51 reasonably be said that her fear was contagious, and that the dog was frightened because she was. But the dog was the first discoverer ; the discoverer — of what ? If there had been nothing there to see, the dog would have seen nothing. Are dogs subject to hallucinations ? Even if they are, and though it were a sub- jective vision on the dog's part, Iioav does it happen that Miss Z. also sees it ? AYould she mistake a dog's subjective vision for the figure of her aunt ? Turn it about as you will, it is a curious experience, and one worth the reader's finding an explanation for, if he can. The limits of this chapter will make room for only one more story. The lady who had this experience is the one who gives us the account of it, though I tell it in my own words. She was a schoolmate of my brother, and her char- acter and veracity are beyond question. In June, 1886, she was a patient in the family of a physician in a well-known city in a neighbor- ing state. She was suffermg much from mental 52 PSYCHICS: FACTS ANL THEORIES. depression, feeling assured in her own mind that she had an ovarian tumor. On this par- ticular day, she was lying alone in her room, unusually oppressed by foreboding fears. Ly- ing thus, absorbed in thoughts of her own con- dition, she suddenly became conscious as of an open map of the United States being spread before her. Her attention was particularly directed to Virginia, and then westward to, as she then thought, Ohio. At the same time she heard the name " McDowell." At once she thought of General McDowell, as the only one she knew of by that name. But a calm, gentle voice seemed to reply to her unspoken thought, " No, I am not General McDoAvell, but a phy- sician. I was the first advocate and practi- tioner of ovarian surgery. By the urgent request of your friends, I have examined your case very carefully. Eest assured, madam, your malady is not of that character. In time you will regain your health, but never be very strong." With a feeling of awe, gratitude, and wonder. PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEORIES. 53 which, she says, she could not attempt to express, she rose from the couch on which she was lying, and went at once to the doctor's office in another part of the house. At once she related what had occurred, and asked, " Am I right ? " The physician, a lady, went to her library and took down her Medical Encyclopaedia. From this she read, " Ephraim McDowell, born in Virginia, settled in Ken- tucky. He performed the first operation in ovarian surgery that is recorded in this country." She was correct, therefore, in every partic- ular, except the substituting Ohio for Ken- tucky, and this is quite natural, as it is the next adjoining state. Several points now it is important carefully to note. In the first place, this lady has had many psychic experiences, others of which I hope to obtain. In the second place, until these began, she was a complete sceptic as to continued exist- 54 PSYCItlCS: FACTS AND THEORIES. ence. She tells me that she was a most un- willing convert, and only gave in when com- pelled to by her own undoubted experiences. Again, she has never been surrounded by any atmosphere of belief in these things; for even now most of her friends and relatives are violently opposed to everything of the sort, and she has had to suffer much because she could not help but believe. Once more, I have been in recent correspond- ence with the physician in whose house she was at the time. This physician completely confirms all the facts, and testifies in the most emphatic way to the noble character and un- questioned veracity of her patient. And yet, though she offers no other theory, she is strongly opposed to any explanation that calls for the agency of any supernormal intelligence. This, however, grows out of the fact that she has always been bitterly prejudiced against everything of the kind. And lastly, both the physician and her patient are perfectly assured that the name of PSYCHICS: FACTS AXI) THEORIES. 55 Dr. McDowell and his work as a surgeon were entirely unknown to the teller o£ this expe- rience at the time when the voice was heard. I have many other equally puzzling cases left, but these are enough for the present installment. Who will find a theory that does not lead us into the invisible ? 56 FSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. CHAPTER III. After the preceding chapters I need waste no time in words of preface or introduc- tion. Concerning these I shall now relate, I only wish to say, as I have already said con- cerning all the rest, that I think I know they are genuine. These things took place. They took place in the conditions and in the jn^ecise way which I shall describe. I shall refrain from dogmatizing as to theories of explanation. Such dogmatism never convinces. People will accept a new and unfamiliar truth only when driven to it by overwhelming force of evidence. I seek only to help in the accumulation of evidence ; the truth — whatever it be — will at last make itself manifest to the minds of all reasonable men. PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEORIES. 57 For the sake of variety, and to hint at the breadth of the field now open for investigation, I will begin with a case unHke any of those so far presented. There is a certain class of sensitives or psych- ics who claim to possess what is called psych- ometric power. Suppose it is a lady. She will take in her hand a letter, and, without reading a word of it or even looking at it, she receives from it certain impressions, w^hieh she states. Sometimes she goes into such detail as to the contents of the letter and the character and personality of the writer as is utterly impos- sible on any theory of guess-work. Neither, in my judgment, is it to be classed with clair- voyance; for she does not read the letter nor even seem to see the writer. These phenomena of psychometry seem to constitute a class by themselves. At times it is not a letter that the lady holds in her hands, but any article or substance whatever. But in any case, the article so held appears to give unpressions of so precise a nature that the psychic reads the story 58 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOBIES. of its past, calls up distant persons and scenes — distant both in space and in time. In pres- ence of such facts, one finds himself wonder- ing if even inanimate nature — if any part of nature is inanimate — does not carry with it a record or memory of all that ever concerned it. But I will suppress any tendency to dream, and turn to my fact. On a certain morning I visited a psychom- etrist. Several experiments were made. I will relate only one, as a good specimen of what has occurred in my presence more than once. The lady was not entranced or, so far as T could see, in any other than her normal condition. I handed her a letter which I had recently received. She took it, and held it in her right hand, pressing it close, so as to come into as vital contact with it as possible. I had taken it out of its envelope, so that she might touch it more effectively, but it was not unfolded even so much as to give her an opportunity to see even the name. It was written by a man whom she had never seen, and of whom she had PSYCHIC;S: FACT^'S AXD THEORIES. 59 never heard. After holding it a moment, she said, " This man is either a minister or a law- yer ; I cannot tell which. He is a man of a good deal more than usual intellectual power ; and yet, he has never met with any such suc- cess in life as one would have expected, con- sidering his natural ability. Something has happened to thwart him and interfere Avith his success. At the present time he is suffering with severe illness and mental depression. He has pain here (putting her hand to the back of her head, at the base of the brain)." She said much more, describing the man as well as I could have done it myself. But I will quote no more, for I wish to let a few salient points stand in clear outHne. These points I will number, for the sake of clearness : — 1. She tells me he is a man, though she has not even glanced at the letter. 2. She says he is either a minister or a lawyer; she cannot tell which. No wonder, for he was both; that is, he had preached for some years, then had left the pulpit, studied 60 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. law, and at this time was not actively engaged in either profession. 3. She speaks of his great natural abihty. This was true in a most marked degree. 4. But he had not succeeded as one would have expected. This again was strikingly true. Certain things had happened — which I do not feel at liberty to publish — which had broken off his career in the middle and made his short life seem abortive. 5. She says he is ill as he writes. At this very time he Avas at the house of a friend, suffering from a malarial attack, his business broken up, and his mind depressed by the thouQ'ht of his life failure. Now this lady did not know I had any such friend ; and of all these different facts about him, of course she knew absolutely nothing. She did not read a word of the letter. But (note this carefully) even though she had read it all, it would have told her only the one fact that, as he wrote, he was not well. It contained not the slighteot allusion to any of the others. PSYCHICS: FACTS AXU TIIEOIUES. Gl This case cannot be explained by clairvoyance, for the lady did not possess the power. Was it guess-work ? One case might be so explained. But one does not guess after this fashion very often. So, as I put this case alongside the many others which I know, the guess theory becomes too improbable for one moment's seri- ous consideration. I will now tell the story of my first sitting with Mrs. P., a psychic famous in the annals of psychical research, both in Boston and in London. In one way the incidents are very slight, but for that very reason they were to me all the more striking ; for it seems to me that such incidents are beyond the wildest theory of guess-work. She might have guessed a great many things about me ; but that she should have guessed these particidar things, seems to me most wildly improbable. This sittino- occurred in the winter of 1885. My father had died during the preceding sum- mer, aged ninetv years and six months. Most of his life had been spent in Maine. He had 62 PSYCniCS: FACTS AND THEORIES. never lived in Boston, and there is no conceiv- able way by which Mrs. P. could ever have learned about him any other than the most general facts. But as she had no earthly reason for supposing that I was ever going to call on her^ I do not know why she should have taken the trouble to learn anything about him. Even if she had taken such trouble, there was no one in the city who could have told her these especial facts. They were not known outside of one or two members of my own family, and at this time no member of my family had ever seen Mrs. P. Such, then, was the condition of affairs when, one morning, I called at her house. She soon became entranced. That these trances, in her case, are genuine, there is no shadow of a question ; and when she returns to her normal condition, she has no knowledge of anything that has been said or done. Her " control " said — what is common enough — that many "spirits" were present. Among them he sin- gled out for description an old man. This de- PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOIUES. 63 scription was general only, but correct so far as it went ; for immediately he proceeded to tell me it was my father. Then he added, "He calls you Judson." Soon after this, as though his attention had just been turned to it, he exclaimed that he had a peculiar bare spot " right here." (The hand of the psychic was lifted and laid on the right side of the top of her head, about where the parting of the hair would usually be.) This is by no means all that was said or done, but I single out thus these two tiny facts, so that we may look at them a J' Jle by themselves. As to this matter of the bare spot on his head : Though living to so advanced an age, my father was never bald; but years before I was born, as the result of a burn, this particular place lost its hair. It was about one inch in width and two or three inches long, running back from the forehead towards the crown. He was accustomed to part his hair on the left side, and comb it over this bare place. Gen- erally, therefore, it was entirely unnoticed. 64 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. As I had every reason to suppose that Mrs. P. had never seen hmi^ this struck me as at least worthy of remark. But the other httle matter appears to me still more worthy of notice. When I was horn, away up in the middle of Maine, I had a half- sister, my father's daughter, who was then liv- ing in Massachusetts. She sent home a re- quest that I be named Judson. She was to do for me certain things, provided her request was granted. So I got my middle name ; but she died suddenly before ever returning home, and I have never learned the reason for her wish. The only important thing about this bit of auto- biography is to note the fact that (as I always supposed, out of tenderness for the memory of a favorite daughter) my father, all through my boyhood, always called me Judson, though all the rest of the family uniformly spoke to me, and of me, by my first name ; and (this is worthy of note) my father himself, in all his later years, fell into the habit of using my first name, like the rest of the family. I doubt. PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. 65 therefore, if he had called me " Judson " for as many as fifteen or twenty years before his death. Why, then, does the " control " of J\Irs. P., after describing correctly this " old man," ex- claim, " Why, it is your father ; he calls you Judson? " Neither one of these things was consciously in my own mind at the time, and 1 can im- agine no way by which either the conscious or unconscious self of Mrs. P. could ever have found them out. A very little thing. Yes, and so it w as a very little thing to know that a piece of amber, wdien rubbed with silk, would attract light bodies ; but this little thing had in it the prom- ise and potency of world-revolutionizing dis- coveries. One other thing occurred at this same sit- ting. Towards its close, Mrs. P.'s ^'control" said : '^ Here is somebody wdio says his name is John. He w^as your brother. No, not your own brother ; he was your half-brother." Then, pressing h^r hand on the base of her 66 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOBIES. brain, Mrs. P. moaned and rocked herself back and forth as if in great agony. Then the "control" continued: "He says it was so hard to die, away off there all alone ! How he did want to see mother ! " Then he went on to explain that he died from the effects of a fall, striking the back of his head. The whole de- scription was most strikingly realistic. Now for the facts corresponding to this dramatic narration. I had a half-brother John, my mother's son. (The family was a threefold one, my father and my mother both having been married before they married each other.) He was many years older than I, and in his earlier life had gone to sea. A year or two before this sitting, he had been at work in Michigan, building a steam saw-mill. Some hoisting tackle having got out of gear, he had climbed up to disentangle it. Losing his hold, he had fallen and struck the back of his head on a stick of timber, from the results of which he died. No friend was near him at the time, but afterward we learned that he ha^ PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOBIES. (J7 died talking of "Mother"; and love for his mother had been a most marked characteristic all through his life. John was not consciously in my mind at the time of this sitting, and I cannot even dream of any way hy which Mrs. P. could ever even have heard that any such person had ever Hved. I will now relate a very slight incident, but one which I should like to have somebody ex- plain. The psychic, in this case, was not a pro- fessional. She is a personal friend of many years' standing. Most of her friends do not know that she ever has any such experiences. While interested in these matters, she is modest and undogmatic, and as much an inquirer as I am myself. Her present husband (she has been twice married) is a student in these direc- tions, and so encourages her in such investi- gations. One day at a little quiet sitting, she unex- pectedly became entranced. It was only occa- sionally that this occurred, the " influences " commonly working in some other way. While m PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. thus entranced, she personated half a dozen different people, ranging from a little girl to an old man. Her facial expression, voice, gesture and Avhole being took on and expressed the par- ticular character in each instance. All this was utterly unlike her ordinary demeanor ; for in her normal condition, she is unusually shy and diffident. She would have needed the art of the actress to have purposely assumed and played these various parts. But only one incident of this sitting will I now dwell on. Her first husband claimed to be in control and to be speaking to me through her. He talked over many things of which I knew nothing, and left messages, the purport of which were " all Greek " to me, but which were full of significance to her as I related them when the trance was over. Among other things, he said, " Tell my Avife that the friend she is expecting to visit her will come on Saturday." Then he added, laughingly, " She won't believe that." I knew nothing of any particular friend who PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. 6ose grave they were standing. After falling into conversation, Mr. PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD TUEOBIKS. 81 D., the little girl's father, told him what had brought them there. He straightway became so interested in the matter, that he begged them to go to the old home with him, and see if his wife confirmed the story as Miss D. had told it. He said he noticed them enter the cemetery ; and though familiar with all the place, he could not surely have gone more directly to the grave. They accepted the in- vitation, and, her father having renewed his old acquaintance with what was left of the family, they spent the night there. The sister of Mr. Rockwood remembered all the particulars of her brother's death, and con- firmed all that Miss D. had said. He had died in the chamber she had described ; the funeral was in the house and not in the church ; the bell did toll while the procession was in motion. In short, she had been correct in every detail. This case seems to me a most remarkable one, and one not easily to be classified under any one head. She sees this Mr. Kockwood, and he tells her what she does not know. Her 6 82 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. father knows a part of it, but by no means all. So, telepathy might help us in explanation of some of it; it does not cover all. Another part of it looks like clairvoyance ; and yet clairvoyance, as ordinarily understood, sees only what is going on at the time. But here the past is resurrected; not only persons, but places and events. Let who can undertake to explain. All I will say is that it comes to me so supported by evidence, and first-hand evi- dence at that, that I cannot but accept it as true. One more case shall close this already long story of psychic experience. It occurred on a certain evening in June in the year 1890. The place is a well-known town in one of the New England States. The psychic is a clergy- man who gives me the account, and it is con- firmed by the autograph indorsement of the other principal man concerned. It seems to me to demand the presence and the activity of some invisible intelligence. There were present Mr. and Mrs. B., two or three friends, and the clergyman. Conversa- PSYCHICS: FACTS AXB THEOniES. 83 tion turned on this general subject, when Mr. B. remarked that he wished he could have a satisfactory test. The clergyman, Mr. L., thereupon felt a sudden and very powerful ner- vous shock. This always precedes, in his case, an experience of this kmd. He describes it by saying that this strange sensation com- mences at the cerebellum, and passes down the spinal column, and thence branching to his feet. The feeling is very like that produced by the action of an electric current applied to the base of the brain, and passed downward, espe- cially if the surface of the skin is lightly touched by the sponge. Immediately he saw (it was a subjective vision) the face and form of a gentleman who was a stranger to him. He bore a resemblance to Mr. B., who sat near. In this same subjec- tive way, he saw the name of ^'Edward B." (I give only the initial of the last name, though the full name is in my possession). Then he seemed to have uttered these words : " Tell my brother that a piece of property which I 84 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. once owned, and Avhicli by death fell to my heirs, and is now owned by my brother, is in danger of being lost to him. He must look after it at once, or it will pass out of his hands." The " spirit " was very urgent, and the psychic was very strangely thrilled and af- fected by his presence. Those in the room remarked on the changed character of the psy- chic's countenance, it being shining and appar- ently illuminated. Mr. B. at once replied, however : " It is not possible that this can be true. I have all my tax bills on the various properties which I own in Nebraska. It is a mistake." This Mr. B. is a cautious and careful busi- ness man; so what occurred is all the more remarkable. He w^as not a spiritualist, but was a candid inquirer. In spite of the denial of Mr. B., the "spirit" was very urgent that the matter be looked up at once. A few days later, Mr. L., the clerical psychic (he is still in the active work of the ministry, PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. 85 and not making a profession of this strange power), sailed for a vacation trip to Europe. He was absent several months. On his return he met Mr. B. one day, and he said : " Oh, about that matter in Nebraska. I looked over my papers soon after you went away, and found that one of my tax bills on a certain piece of property was missing. I felt sure that I had received it, but I found that I had been mistaken. I at once wrote to my agent (in Nebraska), and requested him to send the tax bill to me. Several days elapsed beyond those required for an answer, but none came. I wrote again, and peremptorily, telling my agent that he could attend to the matter im- mediately, or I would transfer my business to another man. This letter brought a prompt reply. The agent wrote that, through his own oversight, the lessee had been allowed to pay the tax on tlie property, and had taken as security what is called a tax lien. TheiKiyment of these taxes, and the ta.Mncj of such liens for a certain length of time loill, in the end, 86 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND TREOIUES. entitle the lessee to a warrantee deed of the proiJertyJ' This is Nebraska law ; and many a dodge of this kind is resorted to as a means of swin- dling the real owner out of his property. This seems to be a strikingly clear-cut case. At the time of this message, purporting to come from Mr. B.'s brother, no living man this side of Nebraska had any knowledge of the facts as stated. These facts proved to be correct in every particular. And here is one instance that a " spiritualist " might use in rebuttal of the common charge that the " messages," never tell anything that is of any value to anybody. In this case, certainly, a valuable price of prop- erty was saved by the message whatever may have been its source. The story is authenticated in such a way as would make it good evidence in the hands of any judge, or before any jury in Christendom. l^SYCmCS: FACTS A2^1J THEORIES. 87 CHAPTER IV. No matter what my opinion is, for the pres- ent. The reader is not expected to care. I do not mean to reveal it. I may, however, do so quite inadvertently. Perhaps I shall find it no easy thing to keep it from peeping out some- where between the lines. For of course I have one. I am not the " intelligent juror " who has not heard of the case. And, having studied it for several years, I cannot claim to be entirely free from bias. Should I claim to be, the reader might justly question my compe- tence to form an opinion on any subject. But I can say — and this is all the reader need care about — that I have no opinion which I am not ready to revise or to reject altogether for a sufficient reason. Neither am I like the old Scotchman who said : ^^ I am open to convic- 88 PSYCHICS: FACTS ANIJ TUEOIllES. tion, but where is the man that can convince me ? " I am not able to understand how any man should care to hold or defend any opinion that is not true. Since the truth is the only reality, he who seeks or cherishes anything else is only storing up disappointment for himself. So much it seems needful for me to say. Not that I am egotistical enough to imagine that my unsupported opinion is so important as to concern any one ', but because my point of view, and the spirit in which I enter on my task, may greatly concern all those who be- come interested in this discussion. It is ini- j)ortant that the reader should know that I am not an interested advocate, and that I mil join him in being grateful to any one who shall prove to be wise enough satisfactorily to settle the problem that is to be raised. This prob- lem concerns both the reality and the nature of certain alleged facts that are usually as- sociated with, or that pass under the name of, Spiritualism. The Spiritualists make two claims that need PSYCHICS: FACTS AXU THEORIES. 89 to be noted, only in order that their real posi- tion may be understood, and that the situation may be stated as fairly as possible. In the first place, they say that though there has been an extraordinary and wide-spread de- velopment of these phenomena in the modern world, they are no new thing, and so are not out of keeping Avith what has occurred in the past history of mankind. Intelligent and credible witnesses, they claim, have reported similar happenings in every age. And, in spite of misreports and exaggerations, they further claim that these stories are so in line with then' own experiences as to make the belief entirely reasonable that there are grains of truth in the bushels of chaff. For examj^le, concerning the story of the resurrection of Jesus, few of them would believe that the body which was cru- cified ever lived again. They would say that a spiritual reappearance is a more rational ex- planation than, on the one hand, that the disciples lied, or, on the other, that the story sprang up out of nothing at all. And then 90 PSYCHICS: FACTS AXB TIlEOlilES. tliey point to such Avell-attested reports as those of the extraordinary happenings in the house of the Wesleys in England, and in that of Dr. Phelps in Connecticut. In the second place, they resent the charge that they believe in the supernatural or the mu-aculous. They say that if these things occur at all, they are a part of the natural order ; and that they are none the less so because the persons who are the agents and actors in them are invisible to ordinary human sight. So much in order fah-ly to set forth the situation. And now I must ask the reader's patience for even a Httle longer, while I make a few more prehminary points. As to my reasons for looking into this sub- ject. A minister is expected to be able to help his parishioners in their practical difficul- ties ; and as hundreds of people have appHed to me for advice in these matters, I have felt that I ought to have an opinion for them and not merely a prejudice. Then, while I have always hoped for a future life, and while I have PSYCHICS: FACT.'S AMJ TUE0mE6. b; i'.lCi.S ASIJ THEU1:IL;>, was inclosed in a wire net-work and not touched by any visible hand. I have seen an approach to the same thing. In daylight, I have seen a man hold an accordion in the air not more than three feet away from me. He held it by one handj grasping the side opposite to that on which the keys were fixed. In this position, it, or something, played long tunes, the side containing the keys being pushed in and drawn out without any contact that I could see. I then said : " Will it not play for me ? " The reply was : " I don't know ; you can try it." I then took the accordion in my hands. There was no music ; but what did occur was quite as inexplicable to me, and quite as convincing as a display of some kind of power. I know not how to express it, except by saying that the accordion was seized as if by some one trying to take it aAvay from me. To test this power, I grasped the instrument with both hands. The struggle was as real as though my antagonist were another man. I succeeded in keeping it, but only by the most strenuous effort. PSYCHICS: FACTS AXU THEORIES. 105 On another occasion I was sitting with a " medium." I was too far away for him to reach me, even had he tried ; which he did not do, for he sat perfectly quiet. My knees were not under the table, but were where I could see them plainly. Suddenly my right knee was grasped as by a hand. It was a firm grip. I could feel the print and pressure of all the fino'ers. I said not a w^ord of the strano-e sensa- tion, but quietly put my right hand down and clasped my knee, in order to see if I could feel anything on my hand. At once I felt what seemed like the most delicate finger tips play- ing over my own fingers and gradually rising in their touches toward my wrist. When this was reached, I felt a series of clear, distinct, and definite pats, as though made by a hand of fleshy vigor. I made no motion to indicate what was going on, and said not a word until the sensation had passed. All this while I was carefully watching my hand, for it was plain daylight and all was in full view ; but I saw nothing. lUG PSYCHICS: FACTS ANU THEORIES. If anybody will explain these things I shall be very grateful, whether the explanation take me to another world or leave me in this one. I should like merely to suggest that, so far as we know, the only force that under any circumstances ever opposes or overcomes the force of gravity, is will force, or some power under the direction of intelligent Avill. If, there- fore, a single pin's weight of matter is ever moved contrary to the natural pull of gravity, and the motion is not explainable by any of the known forces of nature, we must in its presence regard ourselves as standing on the border line of some undiscovered power. If the signifi- cance of such a fact is once appreciated, people will hardly sneer at such things as unworthy, undignified, or of no account even if true. And when people ask me why this, and why that, and why not something else, if anything at all is going to happen, I have a ready reply. The three great questions that the world is always asking are, " \yhat," " How," and " Why." Thus, science begins with What ; P S Y CHICS : FA CTS A YD THEORIES. 107 this is observation of facts, the first step in rational inquiry. Some of the world's Hows we can answer : this is the reoion of methods and laws. But Why is a question that very few people are ever able to answer in regard to anything. It is wiser, then, to begin with the What, and we should be thankful if we can get as far as the How. Until I know more about these, I will let the Why rest. 2. In the second place, I will cite some ex- amples of psychic power more exclusively mental. Here I am bewildered with the mass of material. I confine myself, at present, to a certain class of cases — those in which I have been told thinof's which I knew, but which I know the j)sychic did not know. Such instances have been so numerous in my experience that, like the tele- phone and telegraph, they have become almost commonplace. Of course they may be mind- reading — if some one will only tell me what mind-reading is. Since this may be telepathy, I must be brief with them, as I have more important cases still to relate. 108 PSYCniCS: FACTS AXD TIIEOBIES. The first time I was ever in the presence of a particular psychic, she went into a trance. She had never seen, and so far as I know had never had any way of hearing of, my father, who had died some years previously. When I was a boy he always called me by a special name that w^as never used by any other member of the family. In later years he hardly ever used it. But the entranced psychic said : '^ An old gentleman is here " ; and she described certain very marked peculiarities. Then she added : "He says he is your father, and he calls you ," using this old childhood name of mine. On another occasion a friend went to the same psychic, taking an unmarked lock of my hair in an envelope. This envelope was put into her hand after she had become entranced. She not only at once told my name, but also details of many occurrences that had taken place in my study — things that were said and done, the peculiar way in which the lock was cut off, and the like. Nothing whatever had been said about me, and tliere was nothing that, in the mind of PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD TFIEOBIES. 109 the psychic, could have associated the visitor with me. One case more only will I mention under this head. A most intimate friend of my youth had recently died. She had Kved in another State, and the psychic did not know that such a person had ever existed. We were sitting alone when this old friend announced her presence. It was in this way : A letter of two pages was automatically written, addressed to me. I thought to myself as I read it — I did not speak — " Were it possible, I should feel sure she had written this." I then said, as though speaking to her : " Will you not give me your name ? " It was given, both maiden and married name. I then began a conversation lasting over an hour, which seemed as real as any I ever have with my friends. She told me of her children, of her sisters. We talked over the events of boyhood and girlhood. I asked her if she remembered a book we used to read together, and she o-ave me the author's name. I asked again if she remembered the particular poem 110 PSYCTIICS: FACTS AND THEOBIES. we were both specially fond of, and she named it at once. In the letter that was written, and in mnch of the conversation, there were apparent Innts of identity, little touches and peculiarities that would mean much to an acquaintance, but nothing to a stranger. I could not but be much impressed. Now, in this case, I know that the psychic never knew of this person's existence, and of course not of our acquaintance. But I got nothing that I did not know, and so I am not sure that this went beyond the limits of tele- pathy. But, if telepathy, it was entirely un- conscious on the psychic's part. And in this case there was no trance. I could fill a good- sized book with cases of this sort. I Avill, however, only set up an interrogation point and pass on. 3. In the third place, I wish to offer two or three typical cases in which the mystery, to my mind, grows deeper still. In these instances the information imparted was not known, and could not have been known^ either to the PSYCHICS: FACTS AXI) TIIEOBIES. HI psychic or to myself, the only other person present. It was afterward found to be true. These are peculiarly interesting to me, because I do not see how the theory of telepathy can be so stretched as to include them. As in some of the cases already described, I was sitting with my psychic friend, who is not a professional and whose powers are known only to a few intimate friends. I will also say of her that she does not always possess the power, and has over it no voluntary control. She simply sits and waits, and sometimes some- tliino- occurs and sometimes nothino-. On one of these occasions a dead friend claimed to be present. She had one living- sister, married and settled two hundred miles from Boston. After the ordinary conversation, it occurred to me to attempt a little test. I had reason to suppose that, at the particidar time, the married sister was in another town than that in which she resided ; so the bias of my mind was in that way. I note this because a mind-reader could not have given the answer 112 PS Y CHICS : FA CIS AND THEORIES, I received. I asked this supposed " spirit " friend if she knew where her sister was at that hour. The answer came that she did not ; and that she had no way of knowing, any more than I had, unless she should go or send and find out. Then I said : " Can you go or send for me ? " I was told that she would try, and was directed to wait. For fifteen minutes everything was quiet. Then came a signal. I asked what it meant, and got the reply that it was my friend, who had returned. I said : " Have you found out for me ? " The answer was : " Yes ; she is at home in her own house. She is getting ready to go out." The reply was entirely contrary to my ex- pectation, and the psychic knew nothing about either of the parties concerned. I wrote a letter at once to this sister of my dead friend, and asked where she was and what she was doing on this day and at this hour, telling her I would explain later why I wanted to know. In due course the answer came, saying : " I was at home on that particular forenoon, and PSYCHICS : FACTS AXD TUEOlllES. 118 at about the hour you mention I made a call on one of my neighbors." At another sitting with the same psychic friend, again there piu^ported to be present the " spirit "of a lady I had known for years. Her father's family and mine had been intimate when we were young. If still conscious, she knew I was greatly interested in all that per- tained to their welfare. She told me of a sister married and living in another State. She said : " Mary is in a great deal of trouble. She is passing through the greatest sorrow of her life. I wish I could make her know that I care. I wish you would write to her." As we talked the matter over, she explained it to me, telling me at first vaguely, as though shrinking from speaking plainly, and then more clearly, making me understand that the husband was the cause of her sorrow. I had not seen her husband more than once, and had never dreamed that they were not happy. And the psychic had never heard of any such people. In this case, also, I wrote to the lady. I told 114 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOBIES. her I would explain afterward, but for the present asked her only to let me know if she was in any special trouble ; and provided she wasj and the nature of it was such that she could properly do so, to tell me what it Avas. I received a reply, " private and confidential/' confirming everything that had been told me in the privacy of my own study. And she closed by asking me to burn the letter, adding that she would not for the world have her husband know that she had written it. But one more case dare I take the space for, though the budget is only opened. This one did not happen to me; but it is so hedged about and checked off that its evidential value in a scientific way is absolutely perfect. The names of some of the parties concerned would be recognized in two hemisj)heres. A lady and gentleman visited a psychic. The gentleman was the lady's brother-in-law. The lady had an aunt who was ill in a city two or three hun- dred miles away. When the psychic had be- come entranced, the lady asked her if she had PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD TIIEOHIES. 115 any impression as to the condition of her aunt. The reply was, '' No." But, before the sitting was over, the psychic exclaimed: " Why, your aunt is here ! She has already passed away." " This cannot be true," said the lady ; '^ there must be a mistake. If she had died, they would have telegraphed us immediately." " But," the psychic insisted, " she is here. And she explains that she died about two o'clock this morning. She also says a telegram has been sent, and you will find it at the house on your return." Here seemed a clear case for a test. So, while the lady started for home, her brother-in- law called at the house of a friend and told the story. While there, the husband came in. Having been away for some hours he had not heard of any telegram. But the friend seated himself at his desk and wrote out a careful account, which all three signed on the spot. When they reached home — two or three miles away — there was the telegram confirming the 116 PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD Til TORIES. fact and the time of the aunt's death, precisely as the psychic had told them. Here are most wonderful facts. How shall they be accounted for ? I have not trusted memory for these things, but have made care- ful record at the time. I know many other records of a similar kind kept by others. They are kept private. Why ? Sometimes it is for fear of being thought superstitious ; at other times it is because of a wish to avoid wound- ing the feelings of friends who, for religious or other reasons, are opposed to these things. Then, again, the communications are of so personal a nature that they are spoken of only to intimate friends. Psychic and other societies that advertise for reports of strange phenomena must learn that at least a respectful treatment is to be accorded or people will not lay bare their secret souls. And then, in the very nature of the case, these experiences concern matters of the most per- sonal nature. Many of the most striking cases people will not make public. In some of those above related, I have had so to veil facts that PSYCHICS: FACTS AXU THEORIES. 117 they do not appear as remarkable as they really are. The whole cannot be told. Of course I have detailed only successful ex- periments. At many a sitting I have gotten simply notlimg. Many times things have been told me that were not true : many times I could not find out whether they were true or not. Large numbers of so-called "mediums" are impostors, smart knaves, finding it easier to trick for a living than to work for it. Not only is there much of fraud, but there is also a large amount of self-delusion, on the part both of psychics and sitters. There is no end of misinterpretation of things that actu- ally occur. They are made to mean all sorts of things that they need not mean at all. But all this ought not to lead the careful student to disregard one genuine fact, however small it may appear. Each case is to be taken by itself. Scientific men know the value of even slight things. If it be a fact, place must be made for it, and an explanation found if possible. 118 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND TIIEOllIES. When I began this article I intended to offer some carefully-verified cases of visicii on the part of both the dying and the living, as well as some instances of the appearances of those newly dead to friends at a distance. Of the first I have seen some most remarkable, where the dying person, along with those known to be dead, suddenly recognized some one supposed to be still living, expressing the greatest astonishment at seeing this one with the others. Of the second, I have cases occur- ring in the experience of personal friends, which I have so carefully verified that I do not know how to get rid of them or to disregard them. But I must pass them by for the present. I have given only selected specimens out of a large collection. I do not know what they mean ; but I believe that the statements I have made are true. Some reader will doubtless sneer. Some will say " crank." Some will think the writer easily " gulled." But, if not this year, at some time, a wiser person will explain them. Then, if we do not know any PSYCHICS: FACTS AyU THEORIES. 119 more about any next world, perhaps we may have an extension of our knowlecloe about this one. It is a great universe, and a strange one. We are strange beings, and as yet know but little as to our own selves. Only the shal- lowest think they know it all. 120 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND TEEORIES. CHAPTER V. I HAVE now given my readers a large number of facts. But facts are worth little unless one knows what to do with them. Aris- totle was in possession of certain facts, and from them he argued that the earth was a sphere ; but for hundreds of years after his time the wise men of the world came to -quite other conclusions. This was either because they were not wise enough to comprehend their sig- nificance, or, as was more commonly the case, because they were dominated by some bias that led them to adopt a contrary theory. It is this latter thing that stands more in the Avay of truth than does ignorance itself. In religion, in politics, in political economy, in all direc- tions there are facts enough ; but the majority of people are prepossessed by theories which PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOBIES. 121 hinder their seeing the real meaning of the facts. I shall then have rendered a very incomplete service to those who have taken note of my facts if I stop with these. It remains for me therefore to indicate the present status of psychical inquiry, and to point out what seems to me the significance of my facts. I do not claim to be so wise here that my conclusions will be free of all error, but without immodesty I can claim one thing : I am not dominated by any theory, and am under no bias to come to any particular conclusion. Indeed, I have reached a point in my thinking where I find it hard to comprehend how any sane man should even wish to discover anything but the truth. I know there are such people, because they have told me that they were content with their present beliefs, and even though they were wrong, they did not want to find it out. But I do not wish to be even pleasantly fooled. I wish to know the truth and adjust myself to it. I cannot, indeed, agree with those who say l'2-2 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOEIES. that, if there be no other life, this present life is not worth having. For — — When I look upon the langhmg face Of children, or on woman's gentle grace ; Or when I grasp a true friend by the hand, And feel a bond I partly understand ; When niountams thrill me, or when by the sea The plaintive waves rehearse their mystery ; Or when I watch the moon with strange delight Treading her i^athway 'mid the stars at night ; Or when the one I love, with kisses prest, I clasp with bliss unspoken to my breast ; — So strange, so deep, so wondrous, life appears, I liave no words, but only happy tears. I cannot think it all shall end in naught ; That the abyss shall be the grave of thought ; That ^'er oblivion's shoreless sea shall roll O'er love and wonder and the lifeless soul. But e'en though this the end, I cannot say I'm sorry I have seen the light of day. So wondrous seems this life I live to me, Whate'er the end, to-day I have and see ; To-day I thinh and hope : and so for this, — If tliis be all, — for just so much of bliss. Bliss blended through with pain, I bless the Power That holds me up to gaze one loondrous hour ! If, then, this is all, I want to know it and make the most of it. If it is only the begin- PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEORIES. 123 ning, I want to know that, and lay out my life on a scale proportioned to the magnificence of its possibilities. And I can conceive of no knowledge that for one moment matches this in importance. Before treating the present standing of psychical inquiry, it is needful to note certain preceding conditions of human thought out of which present conditions have been evolved. In the pre-critical and unscientific ages, the be- lief in continued existence and some sort of m- tercourse between spirits and mortals was practi- cally universal. In the general ignorance of nat- ural laws, people were not troubled by questions of possible or impossible. All forces and hap- penings were interpreted in terms of Avill or cap- rice ; and the supernatural presented no difficulty because there was, in their minds, no natural order. There being no standards of proba- bility, what to-day is meant by proof was not only not demanded, it was not even understood. The journey of Odysseus to Hades was as be- lievable as was the voyage of the latest Phoeni- 124 PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD TIIEOBIES. cian navigator. The appearance of spirits^ messages from the invisible world, and celestial or demoniac interferences with human affairs were a part of all religions and of daily life. The Bibles of all peoples and all ancient litera- tures are abundant witnesses to these facts. If any one wishes to come in personal contact with this condition of the human mind, he need not go further than to the devout Catholic servants of his own household. As children now are afraid of the dark, the lonely, the mysterious, so it was natural that in the childhood of the world men should be afraid of the invisible. They were in terror at the thought of the possible return of even their most intimate friends. The gods themselves were not regarded as over kind, and their wrath must be placated or their favor purchased by gifts. Perhaps, therefore, it is not strange that these feelings linger still. Most people to-day, like Madame de Stael, are afraid of ghosts even though they do not believe in them ; and there are few who are brave enough to spend a night PSYCHICS: FACTS A XI) THEORIES. 125 alone in the room with the hody of the one they have h)ved best in all the Avorld. This state of mind makes it exceedingly difficult for people to treat these psychical investigations in a rational way. Among those who believe that "the dead'' are still alive, there is a gen- eral impression that the fact of death has pro- duced some marvellous and maoical chancre so that they are real human follvs no longer. The imagination is full of either angels or devils, so that they are troubled with all sorts of theories as to what is fitting or becoming, instead of being ready to note facts first and then see what they mean afterwards. But as one of the results of modern science, there has been, in the minds of the learned, a violent reaction against the superstitions or over-behefs of the past. This is entirely healthy, provided science itself does not become a su23er- stition. But a scientific theory may become as serious a barrier against the acceptance of a ncAV truth as vulgar prejudice itself. Witness the scientific authority of Newton as it blinds 126 PSYCHICS: FuiCTS AND THEOBIES. the eyes of the learned to the truth of Young's theory of light, or note the attitude of Agassiz in the matter of evolution. Professor Huxley has written, with all his power of sarcasm, against modern spiritualism. And yet Profes- sor Wallace, at least his peer in scientific eminence, told me that he had repeatedly tried to get Huxley to join him in investigating these matters, and he would not. To the mind of the ultra-scientist all these stories of the child- hood world are so childish that they are to be rejected in the lump, without being accorded even the dignity of an investigation. I agree with this scientific reaction to the extent of holding that they are all to be put aside and labelled " Not proved " ; that is, the basis on which they rest, whether in Bibles or out of Bibles, is inadequate, and does not in any case amount to demonstration. But it is going away beyond any truly scientific warrant to say that none of them may be true. And if, in the modern world, any similar stories should be scientifically established as true, then it would P PSYCHICS: FACTS ASD TllKOlilES. 127 be fully ill accord with the scientific method to reconsider all or any one of these traditional stories, and estimate the degree of probability in its favor. Ciu'iously various and contradictory have been the positions of different classes of think- ers and of those who do not think in the modern world. One class has held that all these things were childish and superstitious, and that only ignorant or flighty people could take any stock in them. Members of this class smile wisely, not to say superciliously, when any of these matters are mentioned. It is this attitude of the " Unco " wise (for there is an " unco " ^Wse as well as an " unco guid ") wdiicli led a philosopher, known in two hemis- pheres, to say to me : " Well, Savage, suppose we become convinced that these things are true, it will only be a couple more cranks.'" Then there are the ordinary Protestant Christians, who ac- cept such stories as are told in the Bible, and reject all others, whether ancient or modern. Of course this is a matter of religious " faith," 128 FSYCmCS: FACTS AND THEOllIES. not reason. Again, there are the Catholics, who believe not only the stories told in the Bible, but all such as are indorsed by the Church, either in mediaeval or modern times. Once more, there are the Swedenborgians, who accept the stories of their founder. They also believe in the possibility of spirit intercourse to-day, but hold it unwise if not dangerous. Then there are men like the late Professor Aus- tin Phelps of Andover, who "know" that spirits do interfere with human affairs, but believe that they are always evil spirits. Per- haps it is consistent with that theology which he represented, to believe that God will permit devils to overrun the earth, but forbid the good spirits to make their presence known. Such, then, are some of the points of view from which these matters have been regarded up to the time when they began to be approached in a rational and scientific manner. It is doubtless due to the experiments of Mesmer in France, and the Rochester rappings that the era of scientific psychical research has PsrCllICS: FACTS AXD THEORIES. 129 at last been reached. I do uot at all mean to say that the former were the cause, m the ordinary sense of the word, of the latter. I only mean that mesmerism and spiritualism, with their allied phenomena, resulted at last in such a widespread and popular interest in the prob- lems involved as to lead certain people to feel that the question Avas worthy of serious atten- tion and ought not longer to be postponed. The attitude of Professor Henry Sidgwick of Cambridge, England, the great writer on ethics indicates what I mean. In his first address as president of the English Society for Psychical Eesearch, he declared it to be " a scandal " that a matter of so great importance, and in- volving the life interests of so many people, was not scientifically investigated and settled ; and the first time that so significant a thing ever occurred, Professor Ohver Lodge of Liver- pool, in his address as president of the Physi- cal and Mathematical Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, only last year, took similar ground, and chal- 130 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES, lenged the attention and interest of the leading scientific men of Great Britain. Men had come to feel, in vievf of the fact that so many thousands uncritically accepted the claims of spiritualism on the one hand, and so many were hungry for a belief that their reasons forbade, on the other, that the truth, if possible, ought to be known. They saw that either thousands of people were deluded, and that it was worth while to help them out of their delusion, or that something was true which might comfort and help other thousands who stood helpless and hopeless in the presence of ^' the great mystery." It was out of such convictions that the movement for psychical research was born. Every little while, still, some presumably wise scientific man sneers at the whole thing, and treats the search as though it were on a level with the " Hunting of the Snark." A certain class of newspapers also treat it as though it were fair game for the jester's column, classing the " spook " and the sea serpent as equally PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. 131 legitimate prey for the limp-mincled humorist of the " silly season." It will not therefore be time thrown away if we spend a little in con- sidering as to whether psychical research is really a rational scientific inquiry. There are two great universe theories, some variety of one or other of which we all hold. One is the materialistic theory, which teaches that in some way life is the outcome of matter, the product of organization. It is generally supposed to be the necessary consequence of this theory that the conscious life of the in- dividual ceases with the death of the visible body. I have not been quite able to see why, however, for there may be an invisible body ; and if matter is able to produce a conscious, thinking person, who is wise enough to say that this same matter may not be able to con- tinue the life in some invisible form ? For it seems to me that Thomas Paine did not at all exceed the bounds of reason when he said, " It appears more probable to me that I shall con- tinue to exist hereafter, than that I should have V6-2 PSYCHICS : FACTS AXU THEORIES. existence, as I now have, before that existence began." But whatever may be the truth of this, the old, crude theories of materiahsm are anti- quated, and " dead matter " is philosophically and scientifically unknown. Tlie only mate- rialists to-day are a few belated survivals, fossils of a bygone period of human thought. Even Clifford, before he died, was talking of '^ mind- stuff " as connected with matter. Haeckol, the nearest to a materialist of any great living thinker, must have his " atom-souls " in order to account for facts. Schopenhauer must have his ^^ world- will," and Hartmann his " Uncon- scious " with a capital U. Huxley, though the inventor of the term " Agnostic," declares that sooner than accept the old materialism he could adopt the ultra-idealism of Bishop Berkeley. And Herbert Spencer, easily prince of them all, says that the one thing we know, more certainly than we know any isolated or individ- ual fact, is the existence of the one Eternal Energy back of all phenomena, and of which PSYCHICS : FACTS AND THEORIES. 133 all phenomena are only partial manifestations. Materialism, then, is dead, and spiritualism (of course I am using the term philosophically now) is taking its place. This theory puts life back of form, and makes it the cause, and not the product, of organization. This does not teach that man has a soul. That sort of talk belongs to the old theology : — " A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify ; A never-dying soul to save And fit it for the slvy." If man is thouo-ht of as " ha vino- " a soul which he may " lose," it is but a stej) to think- ing of him as a being independent of his soul, and as getting along T\'ithout it. This theory rather teaches that man h a soul, and has a body ; and on that theory, it is purely a rational question as to whether he may not be able to get along without the present and visible body. And here we need to note to what an extent we are the fools of our eyes and ears. It is common to imagine that we can see all that is, lai PSYCHICS: FACTS A^^D THEORIES. if only it is near enough to us, and that we can hear all " sounds " that are not too far away. As matter of fact, it is only the very smallest part of the real world of things about us that we are able either to see or hear. Vibrations that reach a certain number in a second pro- duce an effect on the eye which, when trans- mitted to the brain is, in some way, quite in- comprehensible to us, transformed into vision. When these vibrations pass a certain other number in rapidity, then they lose the power to produce the sense of seeing. It is then only within very narrow limits that we see ; while on both sides of these limits there is a practical infinity that to us is invisible, though no whit less real than that which we speak of as seeing. And all the while it isn't the eye, nor the brain, nor any visible thing that sees even the com- monest object ; it is the I, the self, the soul only that ever sees. A precisely similar thing is true of hearing. It is not science, but only shallow sciolism that assumes that our present senses are a meas- PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEOBIES. 135 lire o£ the universe. Men like Professor Crookes and Nicola Tesla are already on the eve of phys- ical discoveries that promise to reveal to us forms and conditions of matter quite unlike those with which we are already familiar. For anything at present known to the contrary, the soul or the self may emerge from the experi- ence we call death with a body as real and much more completely alive than the present visible body, and which shall yet be invisible, inau- dible, and intangible to our ordinary senses. Indeed " spirit photography," whether true or not, is not at all absurd or scientifically impos- sible in the nature of thinsfs. The sensitized plate can '^ see " better than the ordinary human eye, for it can photograph an " invisible " star. It may then photograph an invisible " spiritual body," provided any such body really exists. As to the possible existence of a " spiritual " world in the neio^hborhood of the earth, I need only quote Young, who lived not long after Newton, and who is the famous scientist who discovered and demonstrated the present uni- 136 PSYCrilCS: FACTS AND THEORIES. versally accepted theory o£ light. Jevons, in his " Principles of Science " (Third edition, Macmillan & Company, 1879), page 516, says, " We cannot deny even the strange snggestion of Young, that there may he independent worlds, some possihly existing in different parts of space, but others perhaps pervading each other, unseen and unknown in the same space." It is not scientific wisdom, then, but only scien- tific ignorance or prejudice that supposes that the student engaged in the work of psychical research need apologize to science. There is nothing which his work pre-supposes that in any Avay whatever contradicts any established principle or verified conclusion of science. In the light of these facts, and considering the character and the learning of those engaged in the work, it is time that the silly attitude to- ward it were given up. The time is passing away when such a remark as the following should be possible. The Reverend J. G. Wood was a clergyman of the Church of England, and a world-famous naturalist. As the result of years PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEORIES. 137 of careiai investigati(3n, he became a firm be- liever in the " spirit "world, and in communi- cation between that v/orld and this. Some years ago he was in Boston, giving a course of lec- tures before the Lowell Institute. In conver- sation with him at that time, he spoke freely of his experiences, and told me stories as wonder- ful as any I have ever heard. He said : '' I do not talk about these things with everybody. I used to think anybody who had anything to do with them was a fool, and " — he added with a look that told of frequent contact Avith the " unco " wise — '' I do not enjoy being called a fooiy It is time, I say, that this sort of thing were o'one by. The wdse man whose whole stock in trade on this subject is an ignorance only less than his prejudice, will soon learn that it is not entirely scientific to " know all about" a matter about which he really knows nothing at all. This, then, is a subject as fairly open to scientific investigation as is the germ theory of disease, or the present condition of the planet 138 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOEIES. Mars. It is purely a question of fact and evi- dence. I had begun a careful study of these questions Avhen as yet there was no English Society for Psychical Research. Before touching on the work that has been done, and the theories pro- pounded since that organization, I wish to say a few things concerning my own personal atti- tude. I do this, not because I imagine that my own motives and actions are of any public importance in themselves ; but in one way they may be of a good deal of unportance to those who may be interested in the work I have done, and the conclusions I have reached in the matter of psychical study. If, in the case of the so-called exact sciences, — like the work of observation in astronomy, — the '^ personal equa- tion " has to be taken account of, much more is it necessary in studies like these, where ex- perience, power of exact observation, motive, and purpose may either practically assure or vitiate results. Since then I have ventured to lay before the public so large a number of PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEOUIES. 139 caseSj my readers have a right to know so much of my personal attitude and methods as will help them to estimate the value of these cases. My evangelical training had prepared me to look upon all these things with suspicion. I believed the whole business to be either fraud or delusion or " nerves." I do not think I traced it to the devil, as so many others did, but I felt sure that it had "better be let alone." I felt towards it as all the "respectable" people of Jerusalem and Corinth and Rome felt towards Christianity — that at best it was "a pestilent superstition." On tlie basis of " invincible ignorance/' I once delivered a scathing lecture against it, and perhaps wondered a little that certain obstinate people still continued to be- lieve in it after I was done. But about seventeen years ago, a year or so after coming to Boston, the father of one of my parishioners died. Soon after she came to me, saying she had been with a friend to con- sult a " medium." As she thought, certain very striking things had been told her, and she 140 psyriiirs: facts axd ttieobies. wished my counsel and advice. Then it came to me with a shock that I had no business to offer advice on a subject concerning which my entire stock of preparation consisted of a bundle of prejudices. Then I began to reflect that this one parishioner was not alone in want- ing advice on this subject ; and I said to my- self, whether this be truth or delusion, it is equally important that I know about it so as to be the competent adviser of those who come to me for direction. I should have felt ashamed to have had no opinion on the Old Testament theophanies or the New Testament stories of spirit appearances or demoniacal possessions. Why should I pride myself on my ignorance of matters of far more practical importance to my people ? As a part of my equipment for the ministry, then, I said to myself, I must study these things until I have at least an in- telligent opinion. Such, then, were the cir- cumstances and motives that led to my pro- longed investigation. Since then I have improved every available PSYCniCS: FACTS AND THEOUIES. 141 opportuiiity to study these things. I have had no prurient curiosity as to any other possible world, neither have I made it my chief object to see if I could oet into communication with personal friends. I have studied these phenom- ena, first, as bearing on the nature and powers of the mind, as here embodied, and then with a view to finding out if any proof could be ob- tained that personal, conscious existence sur- vives the experience we call death. For only a superficial knowledge of the drift of popular opinion is needed to show that if the belief in a future life is to continue as a life-motive among men, it must be based on something more recent and authentic than a shifting ecclesiastical tradition two thousand years old. The Catholic church is wise enough to see this. And the attitude of the Protestant church is a curiously inconsistent one, particularly when one remembers that the " facts " on which it relies are of precisely a similar kind to the modern ones it contemptuously rejects. In my studies I have sought faithfully to 142 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEOBIES. follow the scientific method, which I regard as the only method of knoAvledge. By carefnl observation and rigid experiment I have tried, first, to be sure that I have discovered a fact. Of this fact I have made a record at the time. I have paid no attention to results apparently obtained in the dark, or in circumstances where I could not be certain as to what was taking- place. I have not said that all these were fraud, but I have never given them weight as evidence. I have made a study of sleight of hand, and am quite aware of all the possibilities of trickery. But to imitate an occurrence, under other conditions, is not to duplicate a fact. The larger number of those occurrences which have actually influenced my belief have taken place in the presence of long-tried per- sonal friends, and not with professional " me- diums" at all. When at last I have been sure of a fact, I have stretched and strained all known methods and theories in the attempt to explain it without resorting to any supposed "spiritual" agency. PsrcniCS: facts AXD TIIEOIIIES. 14o I say " spiritual " and not su23ernatural, for I do not believe in any supernatural. In my conception of the universe whatever is, is natural. If "spirits" exist, their invisibility does not make them supernatural any more than the atom of science is to be regarded as supernatural for a similar reason. And when at last I discovered facts which I am utterly unable to explain without supposing the pres- ence and agency of in^4sible intelligences, even then I have not positively taken that step. For the present, at least, I only wait. The facts will keep ; and if the wisdom of the world is able to discover any other explanation, I am quite ready to accept it. Stronger than my desire to conquer death is my desire not to be fooled, or to be the means, ever so honestly, of leading astray any who might put their trust in my conclusions ; but I have discovered facts which I cannot explain, and they seem to point directly to the conclusion that the self does not die, and that it is, in certain conditions, able to communicate mth those still in the flesh. It 144 r S } ^allies : FA CIS A ^'l) Til FOB IE S. may be proper to add here that the leading man in the English Society for Psychical Research, Mr. F. W. H. Myers, has piihlished the fact that, as the result of his investigations, he has become convinced of " continued per- sonal existence and of at least occasional com- munication." The secretary of the American Branch of the English Society, Mr. Richard Hodgson, LL.D., has given to the world a similar conviction. It is time now for me to indicate certain results which I resfard as Avell established. There will be no room here for detail. For illustration, and for cases other than those I have already given, the reader is referred to reports and books published by the English Society. What, then, are some of the results ? 1. Mesmerism, under its new name of hyp- notism, is now recognized by all competent investigators. Not only this, but it is being- resorted to in the treatment of disease by the best physicians of France, Germany, England, and America. It is found that it can be used FSYCUICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. 145 in surgical operations as an anaesthetic, in pia^ o of ether. In the hypnotic state many strange phenomena sometimes appear, such as the dual personality, clairvoyance and clairaudience, that lead the student into other departments of psychical research. 2. Clairvoyance and clairaudience are well estabhshed. This means that, in certain con- ditions, people can see without their eyes and hear without their ears. Facts like these do not take one " out of the body," but they do suggest, Avith somewhat startling force, the query as to whether the mind is necessarily so dependent on our ordinary senses as is com- monly supposed. 3. Next comes telepathy, or mind reading. It is found that communication of thoughts, feelings, and even events in detail, is possible between minds separated by distances ranging from a few feet to thousands of miles. It is suggested that the explanation may be found in the theory of ethereal vibrations set up by the activity of the brain particles whose motion 10 146 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. accompanies all thought and feeling; but in any case the facts are none the less wonderful. 4. Next come what are ordinarily classed together as "mediumistic phenomena." The most important of these are psychometry, ^S'ision" of "spirit" forms, claimed communi- cations, by means of rappings, table movements, automatic writing, independent writing, trance speaking, etc. With them also ought to be noted what are generally called physical i^henom- ena, though in most cases, since they are intelligibly directed, the use of the word "physical," without this qualification, might be misleading. These physical phenomena include such facts as the movement of material objects by other than the ordinary muscular force^ the making objects heavier or lighter when tested by the scales, the playing on musical instruments by some invisible power, etc. I pass by the question of " materialization," because I have never seen any under such con- ditions as rendered fraud impossible. I do not feel called on to say that all I have ever seen PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. 147 was fraudulent ; I only say that it might have been. Consequently, I cannot treat it as evi- dence of anything beyond the possible ingenuity of the professionals. Now all of these referred to (with the excep- tion of independent writing and materialization) I know to be genuine. I do not at all mean by this that I know that the " spirituaHstic " interpretation of them is the true one. I mean only that they are genuine phenomena ; that they have occurred ; that they are not tricks or the result of fraud. I am not saying (for I must be very explicit here) that imitations of them may not be given by fraudulent "mediums" or by the prestidigitator; but that they are genuine phenomena, in many cases, I have proved over and over again. I ought to say a special word here in regard to slate writing. I put this one side, because I know it can be done in many Avays as a trick. More than once have I detected a trick as being palmed off on me for genuine ; but it is only fair to say that I have had experiences of this sort when I 148 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND TLIEOLIIES. could not discover any trick, and in conditions where it seemed impossible. I leave it out of present account only because I do not feel justified in saying I know, as I do feel justified in saying in regard to most of the others. But a thousand experiences of these kinds may occur, and yet find a possible explanation without crossing the borders of the possible "spirit " world. Psychometry, visions, voices, table movements, automatic writing, trance speaking — all these may be accounted for by some unusual activity of the mind as embodied. They may throw great and new light on the powers and possibilities of the mind here, and yet not lead us to the land of " spirits." But — and here is the crucial point to be noted — by any one of these means a com- munication may be made that cannot be accounted for as the result of the mental activ- ity of any one of the persons visibly present. Was the statement made such as was known, or might ever have been known, by any of the (visible) persons present ? In that case, the rSYCHICS: FACTS ASJJ THEORIES. 149 cautious and conscientious investigator will feel compelled to hunt for an explanation on this side of the border. For since mind-reading is a known cause, he ^ill resort to that as long as he can, and only go further when absolutely compelled to do so. But if none of the people (visibly) present ever knew or ever could have known the communicated fact, then what ? It seems to me that the Rubicon, whether ever crossed or not, is here. This, therefore, calls for clear discussion by itself ; but one other point, not yet sufBciently noted, needs to be disposed of first. When enumerating some of the phenomena called " mediumistic," I re- ferred to the movement of material objects in a way not be explained by muscular force, and to musical instruments played on by some in- visible power. Is there any way to account for these without supposing the presence and agency of some invisible intelligence? I frankly confess I do not know of any ; and here let me refer to the opinion of Dr. Elliott Coues. For years he was connected with the 150 PSYCHICS: FACTS AND THEORIES. Smithsonian Institution in Washington ; and a professor there is a personal friend of mine. Pie is, if not a materiahst, an out and out agnostic. I asked him one day as to the scien- tific standing of Professor Coues, leaving out of account what he regarded as his " vagaries " in connection with psychical matters. He re- plied that he was " one of the ablest and most brilliant scientific men in Europe or America." Professor Coues then has said — I quote from memory — " All material objects are under the power of gravity. If, then, any particle of matter, though no larger than a pin's head, be moved in such a way as not to be explained by purely physical forces, this fact marks the bound- ary line between the material and the spiritual, between force and will." But now for a brief consideration of the most important psychical cases with which I am ac- quainted. More than once I have been told by a psychic (and in the most important cases of all the psychic was not a professional) cer- tain things that neither the psychic nor myself PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEORIES. 151 knew, had known, or (in the nature of the ease) could by any possibility ever have known. These communications claimed to come from an old-time and intimate friend who had " died " within three months. The facts were matters which mutually concerned us, and which she would have been likely to have spoken of if it were possible. There was an air of naturalness and verisimilitude about the whole experience, though some parts of it were so "personal" as to render it impossible to publish the whole case, and so make it as forc- ible to others as it was to me. Now, will somebody tell me what I am to do with facts like these ? In one or two cases the facts communicated to me concerned happenings, mental conditions, and spiritual suffering in another state, two hundred miles away. I wish to note briefly the ordinary at- tempts at explanation and see if they appear to be adequate. 1. Guess-work ; coincidence ; it happened so. This mi^lit be true of one case, however extra- 152 PSYCHICS: FACTS AXD THEGBIES. ordinary ; but Avhen you are dealing with sev- eral eases, the theory of guess-work or coinci- dence becomes more wonderful than the origi- nal fact. 2. Clairvoyance. But my friend, the non- professional psychic, has no clairvoyant power; and, besides, clairvoyant power does not ordi- narily reach so far, nor does it deal with mental and moral states and sufferings. 3. Telepathy. But this is based on sympathy between the two persons concerned, and deals with something in which they are mutually interested. But my friend, the psychic, not only was no friend of the parties concerned ; she did not even know that any such persons were in existence. 4. As a last resort, it has been suggested that we are surrounded by, or immersed in, a sort of universal mind which is a reservoir con- taining all knowledge ; and that, in some mys- terious way, the psychic unconsciously taps this reservoir, and so astonishes herself and others with facts, the origin of which is untraceable PSYCHIC.'^: FACTS AXIJ THEORIES. 153 and unknown. But this seems to me explana- tion with a vengeance ! The good old lady, after reading " Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress" with " Scott's Explanatory Notes," said she understood 6 1'^ry^Am^ except the notes. So in this case, it seems to me w^e might conceivably explcdn every thincj except the expikination. No, I must wait still longer. Unless my friend w^as there telling me these things, I confess T do no^ know how to account for them. Here, then, for the present, I pause. Do these facts only widen and enlarge our thoughts concerning the range of our present life ? Or do they lift a corner of the curtain, and let us catch a whisper, or a glimpse of a face, and so assure us that "death" is only an experience of life, and not its end ? I hope the latter. And I believe the present investigation will not cease until all intelligent people shall have the means in their hands for a scientific and satisfa<:'tory decision. ^ m- THE. X UNIVERSITY \ I g4^'F«BH\g£» m^m^ From the Press of the Arena Publish big Company, COPLEY SQUARE SERIES. I. 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