ON THE COSMIC RELATION Cooks bp ftcnrp Ipolt CALMIRE. Man and Nature. Sixth edition revised. STURMSEB. Man and Man. Third edition re- vised. ON THE COSMIC RELATIONS, a volt. ON THE Civic RELATIONS. Being a third edi- tion of " Talks on Civics " rewritten from the catechetical into the expository form, and re- vised and enlarged. HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON AND NEW YORK ON THE COSMIC RELATIONS IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. II ON THE COSMIC RELATIONS BY HENRY HOLT l| VOLUME II BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY CambriD0e COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY HENRY HOLT Published November 1914 Reprinted February, 1315 CONTENTS VOLUME II. CHAPTER XXXIV. HODGSON'S SECOND PIPER REPORT (Con- PAGE tinued) HODGSON'S CONCLUSIONS 513 XXXV. PROFESSOR NEWBOLD'S REPORT . 531 XXXVI. FARTHER NEWBOLD NOTES 552 XXXVII. PROFESSOR HYSLOP'S REPORT . 597 XXXVIII. MR. PIDDINGTON'S REPORT ON MRS. THOMPSON 602 XXXIX. THE THOMPSON-PIPER-JOSEPH MARBLE SERIES 629 XL. THE THOMPSON-MYERS CONTROL . 637 XLI. HETEROMATIC SCRIPT: MRS. HOLLAND . 647 XLIL HETEROMATIC SCRIPT: MRS. VERRALL 672 XLIII. THE PIPER-HODGSON IN AMERICA . 685 XLIV. THE PIPER-HODGSON IN AMERICA (Con- tinued) 713 XLV. THE HODGSON CONTROL IN ENGLAND 737 XLVI. THE ISAAC THOMPSON SERIES IN 1906 . 749 XLVIL CROSS-CORRESPONDENCES .... 761 XLVIII. THE PIPER-MYERS AND THE CLASSICS . 774 XLIX. THE PiPER-JuNOT SITTINGS . . : . 785 BOOK III ATTEMPTS AT CORRELATION L. RELATIONS OP THE MEDIUM'S DREAMS WITH OTHER DREAMS . 830 LI. THE MAKING OF A MEDIUM 848 LII. FINAL GUESSES REGARDING POSSESSION . 864 LIII. PROS AND CONS OF THE SPIRITISTIC HY- POTHESIS . 870 LIV. THE DREAM LIFE r . 881 LV. DREAMS INDICATING SURVIVAL OF DEATH 914 LVI. FINAL SUMMARY . 931 ON THE COSMIC RELATIONS BOOK II, CONTINUED CHAPTER XXXIV HODGSON'S SECOND PIPER REPORT, 1892-5 (Concluded) IV. Hodgson's Conclusions CARRYING to an extreme the principle that half a loaf is better than no bread, I will now give a few slices and some crumbs from Hodgson's masterly presentation of the consid- erations which led him, from a fuller knowledge than has yet been possessed by all other men put together, to put a spirit- istic interpretation on Mrs. Piper's phenomena. I give these extracts, however, with considerable reluctance, because they cannot fall far short of being a positive injustice to the cause he had so much at heart, and to his presentation of it. To get the full force of his arguments sometimes requires pretty hard reading. Occasionally, to facilitate quotation, I trans- pose a word or two, or bracket in a phrase unencumbered with my initials, but never so as to affect the sense. (Pr.XIII,323f.) : " Thia recognition of friends appears to me to be of great importance evidentially, not only because it in- dicates some supernormal knowledge, but because, when all the circumstances are taken into consideration, they seem to point, in G. P.'s case, to an independent intelligence drawing upon its own recollections At the outset of the communications from G. P., he was particularly anxious I describe it as it seemed primd facie to be to see the Howards and his father and mother for the purpose of clearing up some private matters On April 29th came tbe explanation from G. P. about the diffi- culties involved in tbe act of communicating, and I believe that I emphasized the importance of his always recognizing any friend of his who happened to attend a sitting, no matter what other communications he might wish to make. From that time onwards he has never failed to announce himself to, and to recognize, with the appropriate emotional and intellectual rela- tions, the sitters who were known to G. P. living, and to give their names in one form or another, with one exception. This exception, however, seems to me to be as noteworthy as if the 513 514 Hodgson's Second Piper Report [Bk. II, Pt. IV recognition had been complete. ... At Miss Warner's second sit- ting . . . January 7th, 1897 ... G. P. asked who she was. I said her mother was a special friend of Mrs. Howard. " ' I do not think I ever knew you very well. (Very little. You used to come and see my mother.) I heard of you, I suppose. (I saw you several times. You used to come with Mr. Rogers.) Yes, I remembered about Mr. Rogers when I saw you before. (Yes, you spoke of him.) Yes, but I cannot seem to place you. I long to place all of my friends, and could do so before I had been gone so long. You see I am farther away 1 do not recall your face. You must have changed (R. H. : Do you remember Mrs. Warner?) [Excitement in hand.] Of course, oh, very well. For pity sake are you her little daughter? (Yes.) By Jove, how you have grown. ... I though so much of your mother, a charming woman. (She always enjoyed seeing you, I know.) Our tastes were similar (about writing?) Yes. . . . Ask her if she remembers the book I gave her to read. (I will.) And ask her if she still remembers me and the long talks we used to have at the home evenings. (I know she does.) I wish I could have known you better, it would have been so nice to have recalled the past. (I was a little girl).' " [R. H.] The very non-recognition seems to me to afford an argument in favor of the independent existence of G. P., as con- trasted with the conception of some secondary personality depend- ing for its knowledge upon the minds of living persons " There are thirty cases of true recognition [mine may make thirty-one. H.H.] out of at least one hundred and fifty persons who have had sittings with Mrs. Piper since the first appearance of G. P., and no case of false recognition The continual man- ifestation of this personality, so different from Phinuit or other communicators, with its own reservoir of memories, with its swift appreciation of any reference to friends of G. P., with its ' give and take ' in little incidental conversations with myself, has helped largely in producing a conviction of the actual pres- ence of the G. P. personality, which it would be quite impossible to impart by any mere enumeration of verifiable statements. It will hardly, however, be regarded as surprising that the most impressive manifestations are at the same time the most subtle and the least communicable." At the first sitting of his most intimate friends, the How- ards, on April 11, 1892, some six weeks after his death (Pr. XIII, 329f.), " using the voice directly, he showed such a fullness of private remembrance and specific knowledge and characteristic intel- lectual and emotional quality pertaining to G. P. that, though they had previously taken no interest in any branch of psychical research, they were unable to resist the conviction that they were Ch. XXXIV] G. P. Acts out Intentions when Living 515 actually conversing with their old friend G. P. And this convic- tion was strengthened by their later experiences. ... At one of his early communications G. P. expressly undertook the task of rendering all the assistance in his power towards establishing the continued existence of himself and other communicators, in pursuance of a promise of which he himself [i.e., his control? H.H.] reminded me, made some two years or more before his death, that if he died before me and found himself ' still exist- ing,' he would devote himself to prove the fact, and in the per- sistence of his endeavor to overcome the difficulties in communi- cating as far as possible, in his constant readiness to act as amanuensis at the sittings, in the effect which he has produced by his counsels, to myself as investigator, and to numerous other sitters and communicators, he has, in so far as I can form a judgment in a problem so complex and still presenting so much obscurity, displayed all the keenness and pertinacity which were eminently characteristic of G. P. living. " Finally, the manifestations of this G. P. communicating frave not been of a fitful and spasmodic nature, they have ex- hibited the marks of a continuous living and persistent person- ality, manifesting itself through a course of years, and showing the same characteristics of an independent intelligence whether friends of G. P. were present at the sittings or not . . . [From early in 1892] up to the last series of sittings which I had with Mrs. Piper (1896-7), in a sitting which Evelyn Howard had in November, 1896, and in a sitting which Mrs. Howard (just then returned to America after between three and four years' absence in Europe) had since my departure from Boston in September, 1897, the same persistent personality has manifested itself, and what change has been discernible is a change not of any process of disintegration, but rather of integration and evolution " But there were also failures [see Pr.XIII,331f .] which do not, however, seem to me to afford an argument against the ' identity ' of G. P. I refer to prophecies and to descriptions of events occurring in our world after his death, and to attempts to find objects that were lost Nor, so far as I know, is there any indication in these groups of incidents that the wrong state- ments made depended telepathically upon the expectations of living persons. " There is another type of incident yet [relating to the doings of absent people. H.H.] where G. P. made at least two notable failures and two notable successes These incidents point to a failure of supernormal power to see what is going on in our world as we see it. and suggest rather some form of perception of scenes in the subliminal consciousness, perhaps of telepathic na- ture On the whole this group of incidents appears to me to strengthen the evidence pointing to G. P.'s ' identity.' " The failures were with average friends; the successes were 516 Hodgson's Second Piper Report [Bk. II, Pt. IY with his closest friends and his family. Hodgson very prop- erly says (Pr. XIII, 335) : "That Q. P. could get into some closer relation with his father and the Howards than with Miss M. or myself is intelligi- ble; but it is not so obvious why Mrs. Piper's secondary person- ality should "G. P. seemed to be able to distinguish much better than Phinuit which communicators were friends of a sitter, and which were, for the time being, outsiders, and he \f6uld, as it appeared, sometimes tell such outsiders to go away and not interrupt, and at other times make it clear that they were not connected with the sitter, and would give their messages in an ' aside,' as it were, to me." (Pr.XIII,341f.) : " I know of several instances where other communicators have had the opportunity of frequent communi- cation through Mrs. Piper's trance during a course of several years, and at many of these sittings I have been present. The^ have strengthened my conviction that primarily depended upon the communications from G. P., but the sitters regard them as too personal for publication. The best things can obviously never or very seldom be reproduced ; if they could be, they would prove themselves, by that very fact, to fall short of being the most convincing. And hence all one can offer is a few dry bones in- stead of a living and breathing personality, to use the words of the lady who prepared the following account. I shall call her Mrs. M " ' It is very difficult for me to explain as Mr. Hodgson has requested me to just what general effect the " sittings " have made on my mind. If I had never had a " sitting " with Mrs. Piper, and this report had been written by someone else, I am sure I should say : " There's not enough evidence here to prove that the living personality of the man called Roland ever reached his wife through Mrs. Piper's ' mediumship ' ; there is little beside coincidence, suggestions unconsciously made by the sitter to Mrs. Piper during the highly susceptible condition of her trance state, incidents that can be fully explained by thought- transference from living persons," etc., etc. I am quite sure I should never be convinced by any such report as this of the reality of " spirit return." Yet I am convinced of it, but it is because there is much in my " sittings " which might help to convince a stranger, which is of too personal a nature to quote, and perhaps the most convincing thing is the accumulation of little touches of personality which make the " sittings " so real to me, but which it would be almost impossible to reproduce in print. Peculiarities of expression in the writing and of manner in that wonderfully dramatic hand of Mrs. Piper's. Anyone who has had a good sitting with Mrs. Piper will know exactly what I mean. One feels the hand is alive with a distinct personality Ch. XXXIV] Hart's Prompt Manifestation 517. very different from " Phinuit " (who has " controlled " the voice in all my sittings). The behavior of the hand when it is con- trolled by my husband or my brother is as distinct and as charac- teristic of the two men as anything of the kind could possibly be. " ' There is a great difference in the quality of the sittings ; at some of them no irrelevant matter would be written, and at others much which sounded, as I have before said, like the odd scraps of conversation one might hear over a telephone wire. I have generally found that the poor sittings were on days when either Mrs. Piper or I was not up to our normal physical condi- tion.' " Was all the dramatic arrangement of the following a put-up job ? If it was, who was the great dramatist that did it ? If it was not, what was it ? Hodgson writes : (Pr.Xni,353f.) : " The friend whom I have called Mr. Hart, to whom in the first instance G. P. manifested [in 1892. H.H.] . . . died in Naples on May 2nd, 1895. ... I heard incidentally on May 3rd [of] the death of Hart. My assistant Miss Edmunds went out to Mrs. Piper at my request to arrange a sitting for me for the next day I did not tell Miss Edmunds the reason, and she made a totally erroneous conjecture concerning it. The an- nouncement of the death however, with the place, and cause of death (inflammation of the heart), appeared in a Boston evening paper on May 3rd. At the sitting on May 4th, after a few words from Phinuit, G. P. wrote and gave several messages from friends, and then asked what he could do for me. I replied that I had something for him to do, but could not tell him what it was. He made a brief reference to his father and mother, and then to a friend of my own, and then came the following : " * Hold, H. See all of these people bringing a gentleman. [R. H. thinks this is unintentionally written, and doesn't repeat the words aloud.] " ' Read ... do you see them, H. ? (No.) He is coming here. I think I knew him. [R. H. can't decipher after think.'] That I knew him. Come here and listen, H. He has been here before and I have seen him since I passed out. (Who is it?) John. " Do you see me, H.? " He says this. (No.) " What about my health, Oh George, I am here, do not go away from me," . . . not to you, H., to me. (Yes, I understand.) " I thought I should see you once more before I came here." (What is the full name?) John H. (Give me the second name in full.) Did you speak? (Write the second name in full.) Hart. (That's right, Hart, old fellow.) " Will you listen to me, Hodg [Much ex- citement in hand, and letters jumbled over. G. P. writing throughout, but at times apparently much perturbation intro- duced.] George knew I was here and met me but I was too weak to come here and talk H." . . . Yes, H., but the dear old fellow is short breathed. ..." I expected to see you before I came here, H. 518 Hodgson's Second Piper Report [Bk. II, Pt. IV (Yes, I hoped to have met you in the body again) but you see I was failing. How are you?" What [apparently from G. P. to Hart.] " I brought Ge here first 1 am a little dull, H., in my head." (Isn't the light good to-day?) Yes, but it is I, H., my (you mean you are not in good trim, George ?) No no I Hart no, H. I Hart (I see, Hart is dull, Hart can't do so well.) [H. is the initial of Hart's real name. 1898. This date, often repeated, is of additional annotations made shortly before pub- lication. H.H.] [Thump with fist. Much thumping with fist during sitting indicative of assent at different times.] . . . Will they send my body on to New York? (I don't know.) I hope they will. They are now talking about it." [I learned later that the desirability of taking the body to America was discussed.] ' " When I asked, ' Why didn't George tell me to begin with ? ' he replied, ' because I told him to let me come and tell myself.' This was like Hart, and so was the statement quoted above that it was he who brought G. P. first." It will be remembered that G. P. first appeared to Hart as sitter. It is worth noting that as G. P. had in the "other world " no intimate friend in the habit of communicating, it took a month to put in an appearance here through Phinuit, but Hart, on arriving there, at once communicated through hi8 intimate friend, the practised communicator G. P., to his other intimate friend Hodgson, and apparently was enabled or as- sisted by G. P., to communicate himself. This fits in with the general drift of suggestion. In time we may know what weight to attach to it. It certainly raises the sort of pre- sumption that invites a faith that the " evidential " difficulties will sometime be explained. Hodgson resumes : (Pr.XIII,357f.) : " In my previous report on Mrs. Piper's trance (Proceedings, Vol. VIII) in discussing the claims of Phinuit to be a ' spirit ' and to be in communication with the 'deceased' friends of sitters, I urged that there were almost insuperable objections to the supposition that such ' deceased ' persons were in direct communication with Phinuit, at least in anything like the fullness of their personality I am now fully convinced that there has been such actual communication through Mrs. Piper's trance, but that the communication has been subject to certain unavoidable limitations, the general na- ture of which I shall shortly indicate. . . . With the advent of the G. P. intelligence, the development of the automatic writing, and the use of the hand by scores of other alleged communicators, the problem has assumed a very different aspect. The dramatic form has become an integral part of the phenomenon. With the hand writing and the voice speaking at the same time on differ- Ch. XXXIV] Distinctness and Continuity of Controls 519 ent subjects and with different persons, with the hand writing or. behalf of different communicators at the same sitting, with dif- ferent successive communicators using the hand at the same sit- ting, as well as at different sittings, it is difficult to resist the impression that there are here actually concerned various differ- ent and distinct and individually coherent streams of conscious- ness. To the person unfamiliar with a series of these later sit- tings, it may seem a plausible hypothesis that perhaps one sec- ondary personality might do the whole work, might use the voice and write contemporaneously with the hand. [" If you believe that, you'll believe anything." H.H.] ... I do not, however, think it at all likely that he would continue to think it plausible after witnessing and studying the numerous coherent groups of mem- ories connected with different persons, the characteristic emo- tional tendencies distinguishing such different persons, the ex- cessive complication of the acting required, and the absence of any apparent bond of union for the associated thoughts and feelings indicative of each individuality, save some persistent basis of that individuality itself." (Pr.XIII,360) : " I do not find any evidence tending to show that the bond of continuity in the case of the most successful communicators depends for its existence upon the minds of liv- ing persons The mixtures of truth and error bear no discern- ible relation to the consciousness of the sitters, but suggest the action of another intelligence groping confusedly among its own remembrances. And as further light appears in this confused groping, the bonds of association appear more and more to be traceable to no other assignable personality than that of the de- ceased. It is not this or that isolated piece of private knowledge merely, not merely this or that supernormal perception of an event occurring elsewhere, not merely this or that subtle emo- tional appreciation for a distant living friend, but the union of all these in a coherent personal plan with responsive intellect and character [Italics mine. H.H.] that suggests the specific identity once known to us in a body incarnate." (Pr.XIII,361f .) : " Why,' they [objectors] will say, ' if dis- carnate persons are really communicating, do they not give us much more evidence ?... Take the communications as a whole, and we find them coming very far short indeed of what we should expect from the real friends who once lived with us.' " It may well be that the aptitude for communicating clearly may be as rare as the gifts that make a great artist, or a great mathematician, or a great philosopher. [Why not a great medium ? H.H.] ... It may well be that, owing to the change connected with death itself, the ' spirit ' may at first be much confused, and such confusion may last for a long time If my own ordinary body could be preserved in its present state, and I could absent myself from it for days or months or years, and continue my existence under another set 520 Hodgson's Second Piper Report [Bk. II, Ft. IV of conditions altogether, and if I could then return to my own body, it might well be that I should be very confused and in- coherent at first in my manifestations by means of it. How much more would this be the case were I to return to another human body. . . . Now the communicators through Mrs. Piper's trance exhibit precisely the kind of confusion and incoherence which it seems to me we have some reason a priori to expect if they are actually what they claim to be. And G. P. himself appeared to be well aware of this. Thus he wrote on February 15th, 1894: " ' Remember we share and always shall have our friends in the dream-life, i.e., your life so to speak, which will attract us forever and ever, and so long as we have any friends sleeping in the material world; you to us are more like as we understand sleep, you look shut up as one in prison, and in order for us to get into communication with you, we have to enter into your sphere, as one like yourself asleep. [Is this the twaddle that so many friends say G. P. could not have talked? H.H.] This is just why we make mistakes as you call them, or get confused and muddled, so to put it, H. [R. H. repeats in his own lan- guage.] Your thoughts do grasp mine. Well now you have just what I have been wanting to come and make clear to you, H., old fellow. (It is quite clear.) Yes, you see I am more awake than asleep, yet I cannot come just as I am in reality, independently of the medium's light. (You come much better than the others.) Yes, because I am a little nearer and not less intelligent than some others here.' " (Pr.XIII,37lf .) : " The complex mass of manifestations falls into systematic order if we relate them to the supposed still ex- isting personalities of the dead, and they fall into no systematic order in relation to the consciousnesses of the living. There are perturbations in the results which vary according to the invisible personalities who claim to be there, and not according to visible liring persons " The sitter who hopes for a communication from a ' deceased ' friend can scarcely expect to get it unless his thoughts and emo- tions are directed towards that friend with longing sympathy. [I got at least the semblance without any thought of who was to communicate, and shut off any communication that threat- ened to come from anyone specially dear to me. But perhaps I did not need any ' longing sympathy,' as Phinuit says I am a medium. H.H.] It may well be supposed that such a friend though living in ' another world ' may be conscious of such an appeal, but it would be unreasonable to suppose that the ' dead ' are perpetually waiting upon the living, whether the latter are longing for their presence or not. And it may even be that the state of mind of some persons is actually repellent to the efforts which their ' deceased ' friends make to communicate, as I have witnessed, I believe, on more than one occasion Ch. XXXIV] Controls not in Sitters' Minds 521 " There are of course many cases where communicators appear who were not in the conscious minds of the sitters, and these taken together point as a group to the existence of independent intelligences. . . . [Once as] Mrs. Piper was coming out of the trance, the voice shouted excitedly, ' Tell Aleck Bousser [pseudo- nym] . . . not to leave them alone.' Miss Edmunds [the sitter] knew nothing of Aleck Bousser, but he was well-known to me. . . . I sent the message immediately to A. B., and received the follow- ing reply: " ' There certainly do happen to be some people I just was hap- pening to have been debating about in my own mind in a way that makes your short message perfectly significant and natural. I am sorry thus to be obliged to feed your credulity, for I hate your spirits.' " That Madame Elisa should select some significant cir- cumstance in connection with living friends or relatives is in- telligible ; but to suppose that a fragment of Mrs. Piper's person- ality selects it is not intelligible, it is not explanatory, and suggests no order." Of confused communications from persons who had had long illnesses or disordered minds, he says (Pr. XIII, 375f.) : "To suppose that the mass of facts associated in my mind, Bupraliminal and subliminal, with A., and bound by strong sym- pathy, should result in incoherencies of expression from ' A.' when contemporary communications from other persons were clear, is not explanatory. The circumstances suggest a confu- sion in the actual communicator A., and when we remember that his head frequently troubled him for some years before his death, and when we find a similar confusion manifesting itself in con- nection with other communicators who suffered for a long time under confusing bodily conditions, the facts begin to fall into order Prolonged bodily disturbance, especially if associated with mental disturbance, in the communicator while living, seems invariably to be followed by confusion in his early attempts at communication "In all these cases the confusion persisted through varying conditions of Mrs. Piper's trance, and while clear communica- tions were received from other persons; and yet, so far as the sitters' minds were concerned, there seemed no assignable reason why the communications were not clear originally, or did not soon become clear, if dependent upon living persons We get all varieties of communication; some of them, purporting to come from persons who when living were much mentally dis- turbed, suggesting the incoherency of delirium ; others of them, purporting to come from persons who have been dead very many years, suggesting a fainter dreaminess; others, purporting to come from persons recently deceased whose minds have been clear, showing a corresponding clearness in communication. . . . 522 Hodgson's Second Piper Report [Bk. II, Pt. IV My own conclusion as to what might be anticipated in such cases, where the communicators when living suffered from pro- longed bodily weakness or extreme mental disturbance, is a late induction of my own, forced upon me by experience, and strengthened by various statements of the communicators them- selves concerning the causes of confusion." (Pr.XIII,377f.) : " Again, that persons just 'deceased' should be extremely confused and unable to communicate directly, or even at all, seems perfectly natural after the shock and wrench of death. Thus in the case of Hart (p. 517), he was unable to write the second day after death. In another case (Pr.XIII,440) a friend of mine, whom I may call D., wrote, with what appeared to be much difficulty, his name and the words, ' I am all right now. Adieu,' within two or three days of his death. In another case, F., a near relative of Madame Elisa (Pr.XIII,335), was unable to write on the morning after his death. 1 On the second day after, when a stranger was present with me for a sitting, he wrote two or three sentences, saying, ' I am too weak to articu- late clearly,' and not many days later he wrote fairly well and clearly, and dictated also to Madame Elisa, as amanuensis, an account of his feelings at finding himself in his new surround- ings. Both D. and F. became very clear in a short time. D. com- municated later on frequently, both by writing and speech, chiefly the latter, and showed always an impressively marked and char- acteristic personality. Hart, on the other hand, did not become so clear till many months later. I learned long afterwards that his illness had been much longer and more fundamental than I had supposed. " * [NOTE.] The notice of his death was in a Boston morning paper, and I happened to see it on my way to the sitting. The first writing of the sitting came from Madame Elisa, without my expecting it. She wrote clearly and strongly, explaining that F. was there with her, but unable to speak directly, that she wished to give me an account of how she had helped F. to reach her. She said that she had been present at his death-bed, and had spoken to him, and she repeated what she had said, an un- usual form of expression, and indicated that he had heard and recognized her. This was confirmed in detail in the only way possible at that time, by a very intimate friend of Madame Elisa and myself, and also of the nearest surviving relative of F. I showed my friend the account of the sitting, and to this friend, a day or two later, the relative, who was present at the death- bed, stated spontaneously that F. when dying said that he saw Madame Elisa who was speaking to him, and he repeated what she was saying. The expression so repeated, which the relative quoted to my friend, was that which I had received from Madame Elisa through Mrs. Piper's trance, when the death-bed incident was of course entirely unknown to me." (Pr.XHE,380) : " There is often a confusion in result which Ch. XXXIV] Confusions. Children Clear. Surnames 523 is not the confusion of the communicator's mind. . . . Thus when 'Mrs. Mitchell' was requested to repeat words which we had difficulty in deciphering, she wrote: " ' No, I can't, it is too much work and too weakening, and I cannot repeat you must help me and I will prove myself to you. I cannot collect my thoughts to repeat sentences to you. My darling husband, I am not away from you, but right by your side. Welcome me as you would if I were with you in the flesh and blood body. [Sitter asks for test.] ... I cannot tell myself just how you hear me, and it bothers me a little . . . how do you hear me speak, dear, when we speak by thought only ? But your thoughts do not reach me at all when I am speaking to you, but I hear a strange sound and have to half guess.' " [H.] Of such confusions as I have indicated above I cannot find any satisfactory explanation in ' telepathy from the living,' but they fall into a rational order when related to the personali- ties of the ' dead.' " (Pr.XIII,382f.) : " Much light seems to me to have been thrown upon Phinuit's mistakes and obscurities and general method of trying to get at facts, in what were on the whole bad sittings, by comparison of the results obtained from the various communicators writing directly or using G. P. as amanuensis; and I feel pretty sure that much of Phinuit's ' fishing ' was due to the confusions of the more or less comatose communicators whose minds had let loose, so to speak, a crowd of earthly mem- ories. And in cases where we should a priori be led to expect that the communicators would certainly not be confused, or, if they were confused, the confusion would not make much differ- ence, Phinuit was particularly successful. These cases, in which there was also a little direct communication with the voice, seem to me to afford a special argument in themselves in favor of the ' spirit ' hypothesis. They may be contrasted with the type of extreme failures which I have connected with chronic morbid habits or disruptive dominant ideas. The cases I refer to are those of little children recently deceased." This seems to me a very strong point. Its force will be realized by most of those who read the Sutton and Thaw sit- tings. Phinuit, "the preposterous old scoundrel," is emi- nently " the children's friend." (Pr.XTII,390) : " In very good sittings of the old type, the sitter's surname was rarely given. What is it, then, that in the G. P. communications happened to give the surnames of the particular group of persons known to G. P.? What is it that selected the thirty persons recognized as G. P.'s friends and knew their appropriate relations with G. P. living? Why should the supposed Mrs. Piper's telepathic power succeed so strangely with these G. P. recognitions, and be so failing and uncertain in 524 Hodgson's Second Piper Report [Bk. II, Pt. IV the case of so many persons who happened to be unknown to G. P. living? What was it that picked out the old associations of Marte and the club with Mr. Smith, and yet, with all this supposed telepathic capacity failed to recognize Miss Warner, who had changed so much that G. P. living would probably not have recognized her, but who knew well herself, as I did also, that she had met G. P. in years gone by ? ... It suggests the ex- istence of something which has the perceptions and memories of G. P. . . . Otherwise we must make some such extraordinary sup- position as that all G. P.'s friends were good telepathic agents with Mrs. Piper as percipient, and . . . that they showed this united telepathic capacity only as regards their relations with G. P." (Pr.XIII,367) : " It will be obvious, I think, upon such con- siderations as these, and similar ones, that the confusion and failure which we find in Mrs. Piper's trance communications, are so far from being what we should not expect, that they are exactly what we should expect, if the alleged spirits are com- municating." Hodgson, sums up his conclusions as follows (Pr. XIII, 391f.) : " The persistent failures of many communicators under vary- ing conditions; the first failures of other communicators who soon develop into clearness in communicating, and whose first attempts apparently can be made much clearer by the assistance of persons professing to be experienced communicators ; the spe- cial bewilderment, soon to disappear, of communicators shortly after death and apparently in consequence of it; the character of the specific mental automatisms manifest in the communica- tions; the clearness of remembrance in little children recently deceased as contrasted with the forgetfulness of childish things shown by. communicators who died when children many years before, all present a definite relation to the personalities alleged to be communicating, and are exactly what we should expect if they are actually communicating under the conditions of Mrs. Piper's trance manifestations. The results fit the claim. " On the other hand these are not the results which we should expect on the hypothesis of telepathy from the living. That persons who must be assumed on this hypothesis to be good agents otherwise, should fail continuously and repeatedly with certain persons as ' communicators ' ; that first communicators of a clearer type should show, especially when themselves pro- fessedly directly communicating, the peculiar strangeness which they do even to experienced agents who are familiar with the modus operandi of the communication; that there should be a special temporary bewilderment shown in cases immediately after death and that this should be followed in a few days by a comparatively complete clearness in various cases where there is Ch. XXXIV] Failures and Successes Favor Spiritism 525 no assignable change in the agent (unless it were a diminution of his telepathic power) ; that there should be specific mental automatisms which suggest, not the mind of the supposed agent, or the mind of the supposed percipient, but the mind of the ' deceased ' person ; that memories of little children recently de- ceased should have a special telepathic agency, such results we have no reason to expect from what we know or have reason to surmise concerning telepathic action between one incarnate liv- ing person and another. " Further there are certain kinds of successes with particular communicators connected with their knowledge and recognition of friends, shown most notably in the case of G. P., but exhibited to some extent by others also (e.g., Madame Elisa and Louis R.) which suggest the recollections and continued interest in per- sonal friends living which we should naturally expect from the alleged communicators themselves, but for which there seems to be no adequate cause in Mrs. Piper's percipient personality. " In general, then, we may say that there are on the one hand various limitations in the information shown through Mrs. Piper's trance, which are primd facie explicable on the assump- tion that it comes from the alleged communicators, and for which we can find no corresponding limitations in the minds of living persons; and on the other hand, that there are various selections of information given in connection with particular communicators, which are intelligible if regarded as made by the alleged communicators themselves, but for which discrimination there is no satisfactory explanation to be found by referring them to Mrs. Piper's personality. With one class of deceased persons Mrs. Piper's supposed telepathic percipience fails; with another class it succeeds; and it fails and succeeds apparently in accordance with what we should expect from the minds of the deceased, and not in accordance with what we should expect from the minds of living persons acting upon Mrs. Piper's per- cipient personality 1 do not think that there is evidence enough producible to make this pointing a certainty. But, so far as it goes, it suggests that the ' natural grouping ' of the facts affiliates them to the personalities of the dead " If the information given at the sittings, both in matter and form, was limited by the knowledge possessed by the sitters, we should have no hesitation in supposing that it was derived from their minds, telepathically or otherwise; but enough examples are cited in this report alone to show that the information given is not so limited. We must then make the arbitrary supposi- tions that Mrs. Piper's percipient personality gets into relation with the minds of distant living persons, (1) who are intimate friends of the sitters at the time of the sitting (e.g., Pr.XIII, 297, Hart's sitting and references to the studs and the Howards, etc.), and (2) who are scarcely known, or not at all known, to the sitter (e.g., MacDonough messages, p. 340, and Aleck Bousser 526 Hodgson's Second Piper Report [Bk. II, Pt. IV message, p. 372). And many of these distant living persons had, so far as they knew, never been near Mrs. Piper. These cases then compel us to assume a selective capacity in Mrs. Piper's percipient personality, and not only selective as to the occur- rences themselves, but discriminative as to the related persons; that is to say, attaching the various pieces of knowledge respec- tively to the fictitious personalities whom, if real and living, the events in question would have concerned. If now we widen this supposed percipient personality of Mrs. Piper, and differentiate its parts so as to cover all the various successes of the com- municators described in this report, with the verisimilitudes of the different personalities of the ' deceased,' and so as to cover also all the types of confusion and failure, and so as to allow for the yet increasing number of new communicators, we reach a conception which goes as far as the ' spirit ' hypothesis itself." To the point touched before the liability of the sympa- thetic sitter to be fooled Hodgson contributes as follows (Pr. XIII, 396) : "If the investigator persistently refuses to regard the com- munications as coming from the sources claimed, he will not get the best results. If, on the other hand, he acts on the hypothesis that the communicators are ' spirits,' acting under adverse con- ditions, and if he treats them as he would a living person in a similar state, he will find an improvement in the communica- tions To describe it as it appears, the ' spirit ' in the attempt to communicate seemed like a living friend wandering in his mind owing to an accident. To clear such a person's mind we should soothe him, not bother him with questions, but let him unburden his mind of whatever his dominant ideas were, remind him of strong associations that were dear to him, express sym- pathy, etc., etc.; but to ask him one question after another, to put him through a cross-examination and expect him to have all the answers ready at once, would obviously not be conducive to anything but a worse confusion. And having tried the hypothe- sis of telepathy from the living for several years, and the ' spirit ' hypothesis also for several years, I have no hesitation in affirm- ing with the most absolute assurance that the ' spirit ' hypothesis is justified by its fruits, and the other hypothesis is not." (Pr.XIII,398-9) : " Since Phinuit's * departure ' [explained be- low] the voice has been used on a few rare occasions only, and almost exclusively by communicators who purported to be rela- tives of the sitters, and who had used the voice before Phinuit'a ' departure.' . . . But there never seemed to be any confusion be- tween the personality using the hand, whether this was ' clear * or not, and the personality using the voice." This consideration and those before associated with it seem. Ch. XXXIV] Imperator & Co. Again 527 to me more for the spiritistic hypothesis than any others which we have met so far. I may have occasion to quote farther from this Hodgson report. We have seen the explosion of the Imperator gang. We now have the honor to assist at its reconstruction. Make out of it what you can : it's too much for me. The puzzle is that the thing worked. Hodgson thus refers to Professor New- bold's sittings (Pr. XIII, 408f.) : " In the summer of 1895, when a friend of mine was having a series of sittings with Mrs. Piper . . . statements were made by G. P. denying the so-called ' obsession by evil spirits.' My friend referred to the alleged ' Spirit Teachings ' published by W. S. Moses, and . . . later on W. S. Moses purported to communicate. . . . He was confused and incoherent . . . gave entirely wrong names . . . concerning the real identity of the Imperator, Doctor and Rector mentioned in his ' Spirit Teachings/ and failed later ... to answer test-questions Later still, however, he did fur- nish some private information unknown to the sitters and after- wards verified "I pointed out to G. P. the importance of making W. S. Moses ' clear.'. . . The final result was that W. S. Moses professed to get the assistance of his former ' controls,' who . . . demanded that the control of Mrs. Piper's ' light ' should be placed in their hands ' Imperator ' claimed that the indiscriminate experi- menting with Mrs. Piper's organism should stop, that it was a 'battered and worn' machine, and needed much repairing; that ' he ' with his ' assistants,' ' Doctor,' ' Rector,' &c., would repair it as far as possible, and that in the meantime other persons must be kept away Phinuit's last appearance was on Janu- ary 26th, 1897. Later on, other alleged ' communicators ' were specified as persons who would not injure the ' light ' . . . and various persons who have had sittings in previous years with Mrs. Piper had opportunities of being present, and . . . were all struck by the improvement in the clearness and coherence of the communications. . . . Most remarkable has been the change in Mrs. Piper herself. . . . Instead of the somewhat violent contor- tions . . . when Phinuit ' controlled,' she passes into trance calmly, easily, gently; and whereas there used to be frequently indica- tions of dislike and shrinking when she was losing consciousness, the reverse is now the case; she seems rather to rejoice at her ' departure,' and to be in the first instance depressed and dis- appointed when, after the trance is over, she ' comes to herself ' once more in this ' dark world ' of ours Various attempts by these new ' controls ' to describe contemporaneous incidents oc- curring elsewhere in this world have been notable failures. On 528 Hodgson's Second Piper Report [Bk. II, Pt. IV the other hand there have been a few cases . . . where opportunity has been given for tests purporting to come from recently ' de- ceased ' persons . . . the results as a whole have been much clearer and more coherent than they were in similar cases formerly. ' Imperator ' occasionally purported to produce the writing, not, however, as amanuensis for any other person, and seemed to be free, in a way that no other communicator was free, from 'writing' the disturbing thoughts of other communicators. [This accords with his claim to superiority. H.H.] The chief amanuensis now purports to be ' Rector.' G. P. would occasion- ally write a little, making some personal inquiries, etc." Regarding Imperator and his companions, James says something which goes to the root of the whole business, and which, though it is episodic to the Hodgson narrative, may as well be considered here (Pr. XXIII, 3) : "Dr. Hodgson was disposed to admit the claim to reality of Rector and of the whole Imperator-Band of which he is a mem- ber, while I have rather favored the idea of their all being dream- creations of Mrs. Piper, probably having no existence except when she is in trance, but consolidated by repetition into per- sonalities consistent enough to play their several roles. Such at least is the dramatic impression which my acquaintance with "the sittings has left on my mind. I can see no contradiction be- tween Rector's being on the one hand an improvised creature of this sort, and his being on the other hand the extraordinarily impressive personality which he unquestionably is. He has mar- velous discernment of the inner states of the sitters whom he addresses, and speaks straight to their troubles as if he knew them all in advance. He addresses you as if he were the most devoted of your friends. He appears like an aged and, when he speaks instead of writing, like a somewhat hollow-voiced clergy- man, a little weary of his experience of the world, endlessly patient and sympathetic, and desiring to put all his tenderness and wisdom at your service while you are there. Critical and fastidious sitters have recognized his wisdom, and confess their debt to him as a moral adviser. With all due respect to Mrs. Piper, I feel very sure that her own waking capacity for being a spiritual adviser, if it were compared with Rector's, would fall greatly behind." " With all due respect " for Professor James's opinion, I think I do " see ' a ' contradiction," and I see the contradic- tion because, with . Professor James, " I feel very sure that her own waking capacity for being a spiritual adviser, if it were compared with Rector's, would fall greatly behind." If the Imperator band were merely, as James suggests, Ch. XXXIV] Dramatization Beyond Medium's Power 529 "dream creations . . . consolidated by repetition into per- sonalities/' and if in " her own waking capacity " " compared with Kector's" she would "fall greatly behind," how could she make anything " consolidated by repetition " so superior to herself? How can she do better as Eector than she can as herself? The whole scheme seems to me akin to the DuPrel and Myers scheme of making a man lift himself higher than his head by his own boot-straps ; and beside it the spiritistic hypothesis seems simplicity and probability them- selves. But this does not prove the spiritistic hypothesis the correct one, though it does add probability to the hypothesis of the cosmic soul with telepathy of varying degrees between its individual components. Considerable study of reports of seances, and a little experi* ence with Foster and Mrs. Piper, have failed to give me any reason to believe that Mrs. Piper, in either the normal or the trance state, manifests, from her own mind, a power of char- acterization equal, if not superior, to any other ever mani- fested on earth, and a fertility certainly unequaled. She has either been the mouthpiece of actual characters, or has made many more characters than Shakespere did, including the Eec- tor whom James so praises all of them individual, distinct, and vivid. I fail even to see any adequate reason why, in her trance state, she should, of herself, manifest powers so im- measurably superior to any that she shows in her ordinary state. The simplest individual, incarnate (or discarnate?), of course manifests himself in a way that the most skilful dramatist could not equal, and it may well be questioned whether it is not more rational to assume that the hundreds of alleged personalities dramatized in the words and gestures of Mrs. Piper are manifestations by the personalities themselves, than that they are creations of some as yet unknown kind of genius residing in some layer of Mrs. Piper's consciousness, and getting its material from fragments among her own memories or those of other living persons, present or remote. Hodgson closes his report (Pr. XIII, 409) : "It has been stated repeatedly that the 'channel is not yet clear,' that the machine is still in process of repair; and it has been prophesied that I shall myself return eventually to America and spend several years further in the investigation of Mrs. 530 Hodgson's Second Piper Report [Bk. II, Pt. IV. Piper's trance, and that more remarkable evidence of identity will be given than any heretofore obtained." He did return and continue his beloved work for several years. We shall meet him again in the second instalment of Professor Newbold's notes heretofore unpublished. (Chapter XXXVI.) After that we shall know him only as an alleged denizen of the spirit world, and perhaps his testimony in that capacity was part of the " more remarkable evidence of iden- tity" promised. CHAPTER XXXV PROFESSOR NEWBOLD'S REPORT IN 1891-5 Professor William Romaine Newbold of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania had twenty-six sittings with Mrs. Piper, and investigated the details of seven others held on his behalf by Hodgson. They are reported by the Professor in Pr. XIV. The report is given as Part II, Hodgson's report in Pr. XIII being Part I. It is short and attractive in both material and editing, and therefore makes Part XXXIV of Vol. XIV peculiarly available for a reader who wants merely a good specimen at first hand. Professor Newbold says (Pr. XIV, 7) : " With regard to the origin of the information given, I hare no theory to offer. I can frame none to which I cannot myself allege unanswerable objections Even without resorting to the assumption of a telepathic relation between the sitter and the ' medium,' no one who has seen how readily an acute ' medium ' will construct an appropriate ' spirit ' message upon the sugges- tions furnished by a sitter's looks and words will be easily con- vinced by any such record as I here offer. " This is a legitimate objection, and to some extent impairs the .value of the evidence. . . . The alleged spirits of those who had but recently died, or who had died a violent death, or who had been bound to the sitter by strong emotional ties, nearly always display great excitement and confusion." This fact is of course not restricted to Professor New- hold's sittings, and it may make a little for the telepathic hypothesis, as, other things even, the sitter's vivacity would be greatest regarding those most recently living. But there are obvious reasons why it makes even more for the spiritistic hypothesis. Remember this when you come to the Hodgson control. Professor Newbold continues (Pr. XIV, 9) : " Individual scraps of information may be ascribed with some show of plausibility to a telepathic or clairvoyant origin, the arrangement of these scraps into mosaics of thought, which, 531 532 Professor Newlold's Report [Bk. II, Pi IV however defaced, still often irresistibly suggest the habits, tastes, and memories of some friend deceased for this I know of no telepathic or clairvoyant analogy. For example, the demand made by ' aunt Sally ' that I should identify myself by expound- ing the significance of ' two marriages in this case, mother and aunt grandma also/ admits of no satisfactory telepathic explana- tion. The fact was known to me and might have been got telepathically. But why is the dream personality of the only communicator who died in my childhood the only one who seeks to identify me ? " In this case of "Aunt Sally" G. P. says (Pr. XIV, 34f.) : " ' Your aunt ... at first she could not make you out. . . .' [Here come confused statements.] Finally the hands stops writing and motions to me. After several changes of position, which seem unsatisfactory to G. P., I get on my feet and the hand feela around the lower edge of my waistcoat, pausing to write] excuse this uncanny procedure [finally presses firmly on median line about the lowest button of my waistcoat and writes] ask mot[her?] she remembers this, Will. . . . [My aunt died of the effects of an operation for the removal of an ovarian cyst.] " There is or was two marriages in the elderly lady's family. [' Sally ' was gray when she died] which they do not seem to be able to unravel just now (I understand, Mr. Pelham.) O. K. . . . just say this for their satisfaction so they may be quite sure you understand them and that you are you. [I explain that my pater- nal grandfather was twice married, that his second wife had a younger sister whom my father married many years after his father's death ; she is my mother. The elder sister is still living, and is therefore both my aufit and my step-grandmother.] Yes, yes, yes, O. K. now you know what the aunt grandma meant to- gether: aunt and grandma if you recall were given at the same time. [This is a very interesting incident. My grandfather died more than forty years ago, only eleven months after his second marriage. We only recognize the tie of blood, and many persons do not know that my aunt is also his widow. The sup- posed speaker was another sister.] " Regarding all this Professor Newbold asks (Pr. XIV, 9-10) : " Why does she allude in so indirect a fashion to the mode of her death ? Certainly no stratum of my personality would have felt hesitation in alluding to so commonplace a matter as a laparotomy, or would have lacked suitable language in which to express the allusion. . . . Why was the faded personality of this almost forgotten maiden aunt evoked at all ? I was not ten years old when she died, and she had been dead twenty years. . . . Why Ch. XXXV] Inconsistency with Telepathy 533 were these dim memories so clearly reflected, while others, far stronger, produced no effect? Why were my memories, in process of reflection, so refracted as to come seemingly not from my masculine and adult point of view but from that of a spin- ster aunt who could not at first recognize me with confidence, and who, taking it for granted that her little nephew of ten had not been informed as to the precise cause of her death, expected him, although grown to man's estate, to convey a very obvious allusion to his mother for interpretation without himself know- ing what it meant ? " Evidence of this sort does not suggest telepathy, it suggests the actual presence of the alleged communicators, and if it stood alone I should have no hesitation in accepting that theory. Un- fortunately it does not stand alone. It is interwoven with ob- scurity, confusion, irrelevancy, and error in a most bewildering fashion. I agree with Dr. Hodgson that the description given by the writers themselves of the conditions under which they are laboring would, if accepted, account for a very large part of this matter. But, even after the most generous allowance on this score, there remains much which the writers cannot explain. Easily first comes their almost total inability to observe and re- port the phenomena of the material world, coupled with their reiterated assertions that they can and will do so. Second should be put, perhaps, the unaccountable ignorance which they often betray of matters which upon any theory should have been well known to them. [This tends to exclude telepathy. H.H.] In the third place, the general intellectual, as distinguished from the moral and religious, tone of the more recent communications is far lower than we would expect of beings who had long enjoyed exceptional opportunities for the acquisition of knowledge. Con- crete descriptions of the other world can be had indeed ad infinitum, but of organized, systematized, conceptual knowledge there is little trace." Perhaps their opportunities are overestimated, and perhaps it is not in the system of things that such knowledge, even if possessed by them, should reach us. " From such inconsistent material one can draw no fixed con- clusions. But there is one result which I think the investigation into Mrs. Piper's and kindred cases should achieve Until within very recent years the scientific world has tacitly rejected a large number of important philosophical conceptions on the ground that there is absolutely no evidence in their favor what- ever. Among those popular conceptions are those of the essential independence of the mind and the body, of the existence of a supersensible world, and of the possibility of occasional com- munication between that world and this." Of course there could be no direct evidence of the existence 534 Professor Newlold's Report [Bk. II, Pt. IV of a supersensible world, but I hope the presumption, even as presented in the first book of this humble treatise, is not too insignificant to be worth taking into account. I may say the same of the ultimate independence of the mind and the body as suggested in my early chapters. Professor Newbold continues : " We have here, as it seems to me, evidence that is worthy of consideration for all these points. It was well expressed by a friend of mine, a scholar who has been known for his uncom- promising opposition to every form of supernaturalism." When people say they don't believe in " the supernatural/' what do they mean? No intelligent person would mean that there is nothing knowable in the universe but what we already know. This has been contradicted by each new acquisition of knowledge, from the amoeba's first recoil from a contact, down. The only other possible meanings seem to be the infre- quent one that there is no intelligence but the incarnate one we know, and the more frequent meaning that human intelli- gence can have no communication with any other intelligence than the incarnate. Poets, musicians, and nature-lovers are not apt to admit the claim. An " opposition to every form of supernaturalism " is a pretty big undertaking. Professor Newbold goes on (pp. 10-11) to say that his friend, who was opposed " to every form of supernaturalism," " had a sitting with Mrs. Piper, at which very remarkable dis- closures were made, and shortly afterwards said to me, in effect, * Scientific men cannot say much longer that there is no evidence for a future life. I have said it, but I shall say it no longer; I know now that there is evidence, for I have seen it. I do not believe in a future life. I regard it as one of the most im- probable of theories. The evidence is scanty and ambiguous and insufficient, but it is evidence and it must be reckoned with.' " The alleged spirit of a friend, " F. A. M.," said to Pro- fessor Newbold (Pr. XIV, 14) : " ' Billie what are you doing here.' [hand reaches up and feels my face, strokes, and grasps my beard, pats me appreciatingly, and writes] changed a little. [I had seen F. A. M. only once in about five years. Prior to that I wore a mustache only. On that one occasion we took dinner together and I then wore a beard. The hand throughout betrayed a great deal of emotional excitement which, as well as the affectionate expressions, was very unlike the F. A. M. whom I had known.] " Ch. XXXV] Mrs. Piper( ?) does not Recognize Hodgson 535 I have an impression that the controls generally show much more affection than their professed originals did in life. G. P. certainly did with me. It reminds me of a phenomenon I had often noticed: at the clubs, on returning to town after the summer, you can generally tell which men have been abroad, by the unusual effusiveness of their greeting. This seems to make for the genuineness of the controls. At a sitting two days later, says Professor Newbold (Pr. XIV, 16) : "While G. P. was writing Phinuit was talking to me [i.e., the medium had two controls at once. See p. 462. H.H.] Several times he made remarks such as, 'Now, don't be in a hurry, you'll have plenty of time to talk soon,' which I could not understand. I asked him what he meant, saying that I was not in a hurry and never said I was. To this Phinuit replied that he was talking to a young man in the spirit who was in a great hurry to begin communicating." After much interesting matter, the young man says (p. 17) : "'Do you know, dear fellows, you will ever be rewarded for helping me to reach you in this light and trying to free my poor imprisoning mind. [R. H. explains this remark to us. Writer is struck with his ready comprehension.] Yes. . . . Yes, exactly, sir, who are you ? I cannot touch you sir, or reach you, sir. [R. H. moves his head forward; hand feels his head.] Do not know you sir.' [It is explained who R. H. is.] " The idea of Mrs. Piper not knowing Hodgson strikes one as very funny. Those who call the whole exhibition fraudu- lent would at least admit this to be very good play-acting. The same young man continues (p. 17) : " ' Ever since then I have been trying to reach you, Dick. [Brother present. H.H.] I saw a light and many faces beckon- ing me on and trying to comfort me, showing and assuring me I should soon be all right, and almost instantly I found I was. Then I called for you, and tried to tell you all, where I was . . . after all)) after all, sir, put this)) after the word all) [N. guesses at meaning.] Not at all ... after the) after the) [mean- ing understood, viz, comma after all.~\ Yes, I never used to write badly, what's the matter with me now, Dick, don't I write well ? ' ' Perhaps these trivialities may be more apocalyptic than they seem: for they indicate pretty strongly that there is something more than telepathy at work. The sitting con- cludes : 536 Professor Newlold's Report [Bk. II, Pt. IV " ' Oh, Dick, I did not mean to do anything wrong . . . stick . . . yes, sir, I will go in presently. (R. H. : You mean out.) Out, sir ... Dick . . . lore to Ma . . . Dick, God bless you and B. always . . . must I go ... good bye . . . not good bye . . . not good bye. I'll see you again ... fid ' [find?] P [ ?] H. [Hand takes pencil again later, and writes Pistol.] [D. M. : Death resulted from a pistol shot.] " Is this drama telepathy? At a later sitting on June 26, 1894, Phimrit said (Pr. XIV, 25) : " ' Oh, Hodgson, if you only knew what people said of you here! (What do they say, doctor?) They say you are a brute, Hodgson. I tell you that lady [a control. H.H.] won't come back for you now. Why did you speak so roughly to her. [H. expresses his regret and says it was necessary that she should go and she did not do so when asked, etc.] You ought to coax and not drive her away. George and I have been trying to coax her to come but her feelings are hurt and I do not believe that she will.' " Is this telepathy ? CASE IX. (Pr.XIV,36f.) W. Stainton Moses. "[At the sitting of June 19th, 1895, (Present: W. R. N.) George Pelham was telling me how the future state of the soul is affected by its earthly life] It is only the body that sins and not the soul (Does the soul carry with it into its new life all its passions and animal appetites?) Oh no indeed, not at all. Why my good friend and scholar you would have this world of ours a decidedly material one if it were so. (Do you know of Stainton Moses?) No, not very much. Why? (Did you ever know of him or know what he did?) I only have an idea from having met him here. (Can you tell me what he said?) No, only that he was W. Stainton Moses. I found him for ' E.' and Hodgson. [E. was the alleged spirit of Edmund Gurney. Why couldn't he find Moses for himself? My old friend George Pel- ham seems to have succeeded Mercury as general messenger about the last function I should have expected him to venture. H.H.] (Did you tell Hodgson this?) I do not think so. (Did he say anything about his mediumship?) No. (His writings claimed that the soul carried with it all its passions and appe- tites and was very slowly purified of them.) It is all untrue. (And that the souls of the bad hover over the earth goading sinners on to their own destruction.) Not so. Not at [all] so. I claim to understand this and it is emphatically not so. Sin- ners are sinners only in one life. " [The next day, June 20th, I said] (Can you bring Stainton Ch, XXXV] Stainton Moses Hard to Find 537 Moses here?) I will do my best. (Is he far advanced?) Oh no, I should say not. He will have to think for awhile yet. (What do you mean?) Well, have you forgotten all I told you before? (You mean about progression by repentance ?) Certainly I do. (Wasn't he good?) Yes, but not perfect by any means. (Was he a true medium?) True, yes, very true. (Had he light?) Yes. (Yet not all true?) Yes, but his light was very true, yet he made a great many mistakes and deceived himself. [The reader is advised to have in mind these qualifications. H.H.] [At the close of the sitting I said:] (I want to see Stainton Moses.) Well, if I do not bring him do not be disappointed, because I will if I can find him. " [On the 21st, I asked again about Stainton Moses.] I can- not bring Stainton Moses because he is not in my surroundings yet. (Can you explain this further?) Well, of course I cannot bring every known person here just when you wish. (How about your surroundings?) This is a large sphere. I have the doctor after him now. [To some forgotten question] No, wait patiently and I will wake him up when he arrives. (Is he asleep ?) Oh, B you are stupid I fear at times, your mind is like a lightening . . . machine ... I do not mean wake him up in a material sense. (Nor did I.) Well then, old man, don't be wasting light. (I'm not wasting light but I'm bound to find out what you mean.) Well, this is what I wish also. (Stainton Moses has been nearly three years in the spirit a long time.) Yes. (Do you mean to say that he is not yet free from confu- sion ?) No. (Do you mean that he will be confused in getting at the medium?) Certainly, a little, this is why I use the ex- pression, wake him up. " [On the 22nd, Phinuit said], do you know Billie, George is talking to such a funny looking man ; he has a long double coat with a large collar and cape, a long beard, large eyes with droop- ing lids, [fairly shouts with laughter] [i.e. Phinuit does. H.H.] " And now who should turn up but our old friend Stainton Moses? The description just given, and what follows, left me with the impression of an almost comical figure of an eccentric recluse. That figure was not out of accord with what I knew before, or with the strong and almost majestic portrait of Moses after death, in Pr. IX. Judge my surprise, then, on getting over a copy of Moses's Spirit Teachings, to find the portrait of Moses which serves as frontispiece that of a man turned out by a very good tailor and very good barber, with a gardenia in his buttonhole. The book contains also a portrait of him at about G. P.'s age at death. Since I wrote that last sentence, I have received an argu- 538 'Professor Newbold's Report [Bk. II, Ft IV ment for spiritism beside which all others I know seem, for the moment at least, to sink into comparative insignificance, and all against it to impotence. I took the younger portrait to my wife, who is a remarkable judge of likenesses and draws them well, covered the lower part of the long beard with my hand, and asked her whose portrait it was. She said : " Hodgson." I said : " No : look again." She said : " It isn't George Pelham, is it?" I said: "No, but it's much more like him than Hodgson : it has George's softer and more contemplative expression, and lacks Hodgson's air of resolu- tion." She answered: "Yes, perhaps you're right." The difference of expression prevented my being reminded of Hodgson at all. The three most prominent alleged delegates, then, from the world beyond our present ordinary senses to the world of sense, are the alleged discarnate souls of three men who, when here, looked so much alike that a portrait of one of them was thought by an expert to be a portrait of either of the two others. The implication is so startling that at first I find it confusing, as perhaps the reader will, and he there- fore may not think it banal for me to try to put it in terms. Suppose a body of explorers to be divided in a storm. Communication would be restored by those having certain qualities of voice, and certain ingenuities in the construction and use of signals fires, torches, heliographs, etc. The men having these qualities would inevitably have certain qualities of countenance in common, and the more the qualities re- quired for the special means employed are peculiar, arduous, and pervasive of the entire character, the more alike the inevi- table effects of character on countenance. It does not then seem a forced conclusion that if the methods employed were very peculiar and difficult, the few men able to use them would have extraordinary points of physiognomical resem- blance. Now if bodily death is but a separation of discarnate spirits from incarnate, and if communication between the respective bands is difficult so difficult as to be possible to but a few, and through a few mediums, we would have in that regard just the conditions of our separated explorers a few "spirits" able to communicate, and a few persons able to Ch. XXXV] 'Suggestive Resemblances in Portraits 539 act as mediums for the communications. Moreover, the few communicators would have in common a rare and marked set of psychical characteristics which, during their earthly careers, would have been attended by marked physiognomical char- acteristics in common they would have looked alike. Now that characteristic of the men on earth was so marked in the faces of Moses, George Pelham, and Hodgson, that, as already remarked, an expert says that a portrait of any one of them serves well for either of the others. Does this not lead directly to a presumption that the communications alleged to proceed through Moses here, and from him and G. P. and Hodgson hereafter, the latter communications abounding in the characteristics which marked the men here, are really what they purport to be? Does telepathy or teloteropathy or a medium's divided personality offer credentials nearly as strong as this one ? Is not the force of all apparent objections to the communications being what they profess, materially dimin- ished by this circumstance ? I confess that it throws a heavy weight into the spiritistic side of the scales that I have been holding with varying ups and downs for many years. Since writing the foregoing, I have shown my wife another portrait, first covering an unusually heavy mustache. She said : " Well, I suppose it's another one of Hodgson or George. But of course I'm sophisticated in saying that, after what you have just told me about the first portrait. But according to the clearest judgment I can form, it would do for either George or Hodgson, or the original of the portrait you showed me before." It was Foster! Some hours later I showed her another portrait, asking her if it reminded her of anybody. " Why, Hodgson ! " she exclaimed. It was Stainton Moses the frontispiece I have already described. I had, you remember, previously shown her only the younger portrait. She knew Hodgson, by the way, long before his death, and had not seen him during his last years. The resemblance of the other men to Foster, of course adds to the probability of all being genuine communicators, but I have not learned of Foster's alleged spirit communicating from the other side. His failure to show up may have some- 540 Professor Newlold's Report [Bk. II, Ft. IV thing to do with the fact that at his death all his faculties had disappeared in connection with softening of the brain. But one rebels at the idea that if there be a survival of death, his strange genius and kindly nature should not have a part in it a greater part than that of commonplace souls. I should add that the resemblance between these four men is more marked in the black-and-white portraits than it was in life. Hodgson was sandy-haired before he grew gray, and burly. His eyes were bluish. Foster was burly, dark-haired, dark-eyed. George Pelham was small and slight, with dark hair and light eyes. Moses was burly. I have often wondered why, of all people who have died since G. P. reached maturity, he should have been the one to show up through, or be shown up by, Mrs. Piper. In habits and appearance he was an exceptionally unobtrusive person- ality. In a roomful of people he was perhaps the last one to impress a stranger or be engaged with a friend, except as his presence became noticed through his ingenious and tenacious support of some theory opposed to the convictions of the ma- jority. If the room were not full, but shared with him by only a few congenial persons, his presence would at once be felt as of value. Had he lived longer, his literary and philosophical tastes might have made him widely known. He had a few close and warm friends in intellectual circles in both New York and Boston, but to the world in general he died un- known, and to the average members of the more intelligent polite world who were friends of his exceptionally prominent family historic on both sides, he was the retiring, somewhat eccentric, comparatively unknown member. If the men of his grade of intellect in New York and Boston had been called upon to pick out the one of them- selves most apt to be determined by natural selection for the place he has filled in the annals of Psychical Eesearch, he would have been as apt as anybody to be at the foot of the poll. And now the mystery of his being placed by Nature in the first rank, has been provisionally explained : his resemblance to Moses, Hodgson, and Foster shows that he had the same qualities which made them leaders in that mysterious depart- ment on earth, and has continued either reflections of them Ch. XXXV] Phinuit and G. P. Bring Moses 541 (with the exception of Foster) or their surviving personalities, as leaders since they departed from the sight of men. What, then, are the implications from their common resemblance and their common alleged communications after death with sur- vivors ? One theory is that, although G. P., as above explained, did not usually impress himself at all, that type of man does so impress himself upon virtually everyone he meets that hardly one of them can sit with the " medium " who happens to have lately been first, without making her act as if she were herself the man of that type with whom the sitter had come into contact or, more improbable still, that although Mrs. Piper had seen G. P. but once (when probably she didn't see him, being in trance most if not all of the time that he was present), after his death, years later, there was a period of still more years during which hardly anybody could be near her in trance without making her act and talk like G. P. Between these positions on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the position that a surviving G. P., and not the sitter or her memories, was the cause of Mrs. Piper's phenomena, there seems as yet no other position visible. Eegarding which is the less strained of the positions that are visible, the reader will have his impressions, as I have mine. But suspension of judgment is still in order. To return to Professor Newbold's Piper-Moses stance. Phinuit continues (Pr. XIV, 37f.) : " ' George is shaking his fingers at me. He sent me after that gentleman. I found him in another part of our world. (Far away?) It would be a long way to you Billie but not so far to me. George had difficulty in having him come but they had a long talk and George made it all right with him. He didn't understand what we wished of him. (Who is he?) I don't know his name. George called me and sent me after him you understand Billie said : " You go and find him for me, doctor." (How did you know whom he wanted?) He said, " I want you to find a friend of mine who used to be a medium in the body," used the light, you know. Oh he has a great deal of light, more than anybody. (Do spirits have light too?) What d'you mean Billie? Spirits are all light. (I mean does a person who has light in the body have in the spirit also more light than others?) Yes indeed. (Tell me how George made you know whom he wanted.) He described him. (And his influence?) Of course. 542 Professor Newbold's Report [Bk. II, Ft. IV (You know it's very hard for us to believe in spirits at all. Do you remember your life on earth, doctor ?) Oh yes, but I've been here a very long time. (Did you believe in spirits while you were on earth?) [Phinuit gives a short derisive laugh.] Not much. Not I. (Then you should sympathize with us.) Oh, I can't put myself in your place.' [The above description of S. M. answers to the notion I had of him at the time, derived from portraits.] " Professor Newbold had apparently seen portraits made under the auspices of a different tailor and a different barber from those concerned in the frontispiece of the latest edition of Spirit Teachings. " [G. P. writing :] ' Here is Stainton Moses, do you wish to see him? (Yes.) Well, now let me give you a bit of advice. Speak slowly and distinctly, making sure that you articulate properly, or in other words well. (I know my articulation is very bad.) Yes, then he will answer to me all questions dis- tinctly. You see he is talking to me now. Fire away. (Tell him I have read with interest his book, Spirit Teachings, but find in it statements apparently inconsistent with what you say, and I would like to know his explanation of the fact.) Believe you in me and my teachings? [Moses has taken hold, or G. P. repeats for him. His quaint phraseology peters out before the end of their interviews. H.H.] (I was much impressed with them, Mr. Moses, especially as your statements and Mr. Pelham's agree in the main. But how about the inconsistencies?) Con- tradict the genuine statements made by our friend Pelham, whom I am delighted to meet. (I did not say contradict, al- though it appears so. Can you explain them?) I do not under- stand your question. (Will you explain these seeming contra- dictions?) What are they, please sir? (You taught that evil Bpirits tempt sinners to their own destruction.) I have found out differently since I came over here. This particular state- ment given me by my friends as their medium when I was in the body is not true. (The second is that the soul carries its passions and appetites with it.) Material passions. U N true. It is not so. I have found out the difference. (Thank you.) Not at all. (Would you like to make any other corrections in your book?) There are a few. One is I believe that our thoughts were practically the same here as in the body, i.e., that we had every desire after reaching this life as when it ... but I find that we leave all such behind, in other words it dies with the body. You will understand I do not mean thoughts, but only evil [thoughts]. [All this corresponds with G. P.'s statement to me, and several others. H.H.] (Are you willing to give me as tests the names of your ' guides.') Guides, well I object to the expression. [He uses it himself freely four days Gh. XXXV] Moses Boggles Imperator Names 543 later. H.H.] (Indeed.) I do now, yet I did not before. (These names have never been made public since your death. If you are willing to give them I would be glad to know.) I will give you one. [I hand a new pencil. Hand turns and twists it some moments before writing.] Pencil well, well oh I see. (Who was ' Rector ?') Dr. (I repeat, Dr. ?) Yes sir. Rec- tor applied for convenience instead of Dr. (You mean the true name of the spirit Rector was Dr. ?) I do mean just this, but I had no authority to speak of Rector as Dr. (But there was another spirit known as Doctor.) I was obliged to distinguish one from the other according to their wish. (Who was the spirit 'Doctor'?) X [X supplied by me, as the dashes alone were confusing. H.H.] (Indeed. No one will be told of this save Mr. Myers and Dr. Hodgson.) Thanks. (May I tell the latter?) Certainly sir, if he is reliable. (He is.) I'll ask Mr. Pelham. . . . Certainly sir. X was a very good man sir and was always with me. Have you these? Did you hear me? (Yes. Now are you willing to tell me the name of 'Im- perator ' also ?) Well, I have never divulged this name to any- one. I'll think it over and let you know. [Moses professed to have divulged it to Myers. H.H.] (These names have never been made public and they will afford excellent proof of your identity.) I understand sir. ... I know Albert ... I do never mind . . . this had to do with . . . understand . . . (How about the physical phenomena produced through you?) It was not done by any effort of mine or on my part. (Could such be produced through this medium?) [They never have been. H.H.] Oh I do not know sir. Generally the intelligences have their cwn phases sir and work accordingly. (In your book, Mr. Moses, you made certain statements about some historical personages, such as Abraham, Moses, the Prophets, and Jesus Christ. Do you wish to modify any of these?) Not at all (All are true?) To the letter sir (You recollect nothing else in your book that you would desire to change?) Not at all sir (Have you any mes- sages to send to friends?) I have had a wonderful experience here sir and I am extremely happy and I consider myself ex- tremely fortunate sir to have been brought here by this gentle- man . . . Spear [I spell it, spear. Hand writes] e (Oh you mean s p e e r ?) Certainly . . . letter . . . my thoughts are not quite clear, sir, yet . . . Speer ... I have a friend . . . recollection of speer [Writing is growing dreamy. I say] (You mean Charl- ton T. Speer, the musician?) [Cf. p. 189. H.H.] [Excitement and pounding.] Yes, yes, why certainly, give my love to my affectionate brother worker in the body, my dearest love, love . . . yes sir, I do wish to give it very much this reaches every chord in my soul sir. (Do you remember Mr. F. W. H. Myers?) Oh I think I do sir. Are you he? (No. I am a stranger to you. He is editing and publishing some of your MSS.) Good, good, good. ... I think I do ... thanks sir for giving me this inform*- 544 Professor Newbold's Report [Bk. II, Pi IV tion regarding my book (I wished those names as proof of your identity.) [Question misunderstood] Certainly I am Stanton [only one stroke for n] Moses. (Do you remember Richard Hodgson?) No, I think not sir, are you he? (No. But he was a member of the Council of the Society for Psychical Research while you were.) [At or about the word ' Society ' the hand displayed great excitement.] [It will be remembered that Moses broke with the society. H.H.] Of course I remember him. (He went to America.) Yes, I remember he went there some time ago. (You are now in America, near Boston.) Well, I longed to go to America and this will open up a great field to me. (Good-bye. Will you come again and speak to Dr. Hodg- son?) I am of course a little strange here, yet nothing would give me greater pleasure than to prove to the world my identity I am sure. I was a great sufferer physically and I could not do altogether as I wished in consequence, yet I am strong and well here and as I can see through this light clearly I should be pleased to help you all. (You will come again?) Yes sir. (And then explain the reason for your mistakes T) Certainly sir. Oh I am so pleased to return.' [Further writing, on personal mat- ters, by G. P. At the close of the sitting Phinuit returns. Speaks with difficulty] ' George has been teaching that man a lesson, showing him how to use the light.' " " [Sitting of June 24th, 1895. Present: R. H. and W. R. N. Mrs. Piper goes into trance easily, without the usual struggles. [Suggestive, as she is coming under the control of a powerful influence, that she should do so with special ease. H.H.] R. H. remarks that this is a new control. Her hands move aimlessly about, touching her eyebrows and temples with the finger tips and feeling Hodgson's face. Gasps, peculiar rattling in her throat, her face is very much contorted. [These are not "the usual struggles." H.H.] Ineffectual attempts to speak, finally gasps out] ' Moses [Hodgson encourages communicator. Head nods] (H. : I'm Hodgson.) [Head nods, she groans and grunts, hands move about. Right hand begins to write. R. H. asking questions] I am W. Stainton Moses I am he in reality. Oh my dear sir I am so very delighted to find this bright path to earth. (I'm very glad indeed.) I am here in every organ of a human body. (Yes, you're occupying the medium's body.) I am a medium also. (Yes, we know.) I did see my spirits plainly. How strange you look. Are you still in the life on earth? (Yes.) You must necessarily be I am sure. (Yes.) Do you remember one of our friends and fellow workers Dr. Wal- lace? (You mean Alfred R. Wallace?) Certainly, very well, my friend Wallace. (In the body?) Yes, give him my love. (I will certainly.) Also Myers (Yes indeed) whom I remember well. [Four days before, he said: " I think I do." H.H.] (Yes I certainly will) all right. I had a spirit once named Wallace. You never knew did you ? (No I didn't.) He was one of Ch. XXXV] Moses Boggles Imperator Names 545 my guides when on earth. (What name did you give him, i.e., .) Rector, and not Dr. as I had explained to some friend of yours. Rector was ( ?) Yes distinctly, he was Rector. (Who was Doctor?) Not Wallace, but a Dr. whom I used to know at college. [R. H. pronounces and spells the name over.] Yes sir. It is very singular how the names of my former friends and guides run in my mind . . . run through my mind just now, at this moment. (Mr. Moses, I wish to tell you something that will interest you. Mr. F. W. H. Myers, whom you knew) quite (has been publishing a full account of your life experiences in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research.) Viz., S.P.R good ... oh glad I am to meet you here ... I will help you in your work. (We shall be glad indeed. I wish to ask you one important question) let me clear up all my thoughts and I will help you. (Do you wish to write your own thoughts or answer questions?) I would like to become acquainted with these conditions. (Good.) Myers what about Myers. (Myers has been publishing a record of your experiences and has referred to Rector, Doctor and Imperator, but explains that the persons whom these names represented are not to be mentioned.) Private. (But I understand that Myers knows.) Yes, he must. (We are not going to publish them.) Do not. (But you understand if we tell Myers who Imperator is, it will be strong test of your identity.) Yes . . . Rector ... I know . . . the name was taken expressly for distinction, i.e., to distinguish one from the other, and Dr. was Dr. whom I knew very well at college. (Could you tell us, if it will be kept private, who Imperator was?) I should hope so. Question, I did not catch sir. (Can you tell us who Imperator was?) Certainly, a young lady friend of mine. (Are you sure? I mean the famous com- municator from the spirit world whom you spoke of as Im- perator.) Oh no, but she in my spirit teachings is mentioned. (I mean the Imperator also mentioned in your Spirit Teach- ings.) Yes. Yes. Must I tell you who it was. (Let me ex- plain. I wish you to use your own judgment. Mr. Myers knows) he does (and we do not know. Nobody in the United States knows. If you tell us and we send it to Myers privately, it will be a very good test of your identity, being information to him which nobody possesses on this side of the water.) Y . [Initial supplied by me. H.H.] (Y ?) Certainly. (Y ?) Yes. Now I know wherein I speak. I never during my illness when being helped by him told or divulged his name to anyone and I only left it written (Y ) in my MSS. (Very good, Mr. Moses. This will be a splendid test) in or among my pri- vate papers. (Good. That's first rate.) No more sir. (You are getting exhausted, aren't you?) fllere the left hand becomes convulsed and rubs Mrs. Piper's right cheek in a manner char- acteristic of Phinuit.l I wish to change my position sir if you please. (Yes, do so.) Help me to remain here I wish very 546 Professor Newlold's Report [Bk. II, Pt. IV much to continue my remembrances. (Yes, we shall be very glad too.) I remember Mrs. Speer very well.' [While the last sentence was being written Phinuit remarks to Newbold:] [Viva voce ? H.H.] ' That gentleman's a nice fellow, he's a clergyman.' * Give my love to all on earth. . . . yes . . . who can deny my existence ... oh my existence I say, who can deny that I exist? (We do not.) Stainton Moses. (Can you write your full name ?) What Stainton ... W ... Moses always Stainton Moses and always will be ' " (Now we wish your explanation of certain things. What was the origin of this mistake about evil spirits taking possession of men and leading them on to do wrong?) 'Experience here has taught me the difference. This was more my own theory. (You mean that when you were in the body you misunderstood the communications ?) Yes often, especially when I was not feeling well. (The thoughts of the communicating spirit got confused with yours?) I mean of course to go back to the body i.e., to go back to my earthly experience Yes and not so much that altogether as that I misunderstood. (You misunderstood your- self, so to speak.) Certainly, materially. (You had your own theory and misinterpreted the communicator's meaning?) Yes exactly, as I thought this very strongly I felt sure of having been told this. (Were all those physical phenomena that you got due to spirits ?) No not all. They were due to material causes, etc. as well. (Do you mean persons in the body produced them?) Not at all, I mean to say that from the energy which they took from my own body, medium power etc. they were moved. (Were they moved by the action of spirits ?) Action of spirits ? Oh yes. (I'll state my impression. Certain spirits used the ' electrical ' in connection with your body to produce the physical move- ments.) Yes, this is what they did. Objects etc. raps . . . (If you have anything special to say to us we shall be glad to hear it, but if not, we have something especial which we wish you to do for us.) Well [writing begins to look dreamy] I must say that I will have many things special to say to you, but I am forced to admit that this is all new to me now and it seems very strange indeed ... I am (we shall be grateful to you for help in proving to the world the truth of spirit communications.) Yes, glad I will be to be able. (Can't read that word) enabled to communi- cate, giving tests etc. in my own language. (Do you think you could translate some Greek into English?) Do what? Greek . . . why I used to be as familiar with Greek as English. (Better wait for next time.) Well, yes. (Think up your Greek and the next time we will give you some to translate. Everybody knows that the medium does not know Greek and if you could translate some for us it would be good proof) what could a medium have to do with me and my Greek. [R. H. explains further that proofs must be got that the medium's manifestations are not fraudu- lent.] Well I suppose they said the same of me. (Mr. Moses, Ch. XXXV] Self -Contradictory Evidence Negligible 547 aren't the conditions getting strange? Don't you think you had better go now and come to us another time ?) Yes I do [scrawls] auf wiedersehen ' (auf wiedersehen.) " Professor Newbold comments : " In this case we have the difficulties which attach to the spir- itistic theory brought out in the highest relief. The general tenor of the communications, the allusion to Mr. Speer, the re- ception of the names of Myers and Hodgson, have an air of veri- similitude. The communicator then gives us, with the most solemn asseveration of their accuracy and with apparent con- sciousness of the importance of his statements to a cause which he had in life much at heart, three names which the real Mr. Moses must have known and which of all possible things would seem to be the hardest for the spirit to forget the names of the spirit friends who, as he claims, opened his eyes while still on earth to the realities of the eternal life. And not one of those names is true or has the least semblance of truth ! Furthermore, of all the points touched upon during the sitting this was the only one that was unknown to both the sitters another item in favor of the telepathic theory. To my mind this failure on the part of the alleged Moses is an obstacle to the acceptance of the spiritistic theory which has not as yet been set aside and which must be satisfactorily explained before that theory can be re- garded as meeting the requirements of the case." My theory, if you care to know it, is, as before stated, that we are not yet, if ever in this life, going to have absolute verification. But if the case for survival were before any court, the part of Moses' evidence relating to Imperator & Co. would simply be " stricken out " as self-contradictory, and the jury would be directed to decide on whatever evidence might be left. The fact of his self-contradiction would probably be held to weaken, but not to destroy, the rest of his evidence. This of course would include what is not self-contradictory, and that would have weight where it is backed up by such witnesses as are cited for most of the occurrences I have re- ported from Moses. Moses was a man living more than most other respectable people of recent times, in imaginations and, probably, illusions. Such a man's testimony may be good or may be bad. A court would consider it when corroborated, but no court would pay any attention to it when respectably contradicted, especially by himself. Is it not possible that the psychical researchers pay too much attention to that part of it in the Imperator case ? 548 Professor Newbold's Report [Bk. II, Pt. IV Professor Newbold's notes continue : CASE XIII. (Pr.XTV,45f .) Apparent Knowledge of Foreign Languages. " At the sitting of June 22nd ... I asked G. P " (Will you translate Greek for me ?) ' Certainly Greek. (You remember it ?) I ought to. [I then said the first scrap of Greek that happened to come into my head: Ildrep fauv 6 kv Tolf ovpavoif.~] (Did you catch it?) No, not exactly, slowly, (ndrcp), Parter ... I say . . . Pae . . . Pater . . . pater . . . good ( fa ) hemon . . . [illegible] he ... hemon . . . urano is ... and translation . . . Good . . . love [ ?] [illegible] Love [ ?] Love [?]... father is in . . . that is right . . . (All right but go ahead.) I cannot quite, catch that B . . . yes . . . Patience . . . well you have it B . [Throughout, both Mr. O and I frequently repeated the words and spelled them both in Greek and English.] Father is in ... tois ou ou nois our . . . B . Patience my boy . . . Father is in Heavens. (One word is left out, George.) Spell it slowly. (Greek or English?) Greek of course. [We do so, fain.] Father is in the Heaven ... I [do] not catch [it] . . . slowly now, speak those letters separately my boy ... ae ... emon. (Rough breathing, now, fauv. ) Heaven . . . Yes . . . too bad old chap . . . [I read bad as ' hard.'] Bad I say, I'll catch it. [Hand points to O .] Now you say it, let me see if it will reach me any better. [O says it. Hand gesticulates and twists so as to get O 's mouth close to outer side of hand just below the root of little finger.] My ear. [I explain he means that his spirit ear is located there.] Certainly, my ear . . . E M O . . . that is what bothers me . . . Father is ... was . . . now ... no ... Father . . . our. [Quickly and with excitement.] OUR O U. [Then slowly and reverently, in capital letters.] OUR FATHER ISINHEAVEN. (Good.) [We all shake hands over it.] (W. N. : We generally put it, ' Our Father who art in Heaven.') [Excitement.] Yes, I remember that too. Well, if you only knew how difficult it is to catch the sound of your voices you would wonder how I could speak at all to you because I have difficulty in making you hear also, when a thing is very clear to me. (Shall we try another?) One more (Shall it be in Latin?) ...yes. (What pronunciation did you use, Roman, English, or Continental ?) Roman. I asked for Greek, but never mind old chap . . . wait ... I am not quite satisfied . . . But you mentioned the fact which I wished to explain. (Go ahead then and ex- plain.) [Slowly.] WHO ART IN... OK. fire away...' [We have scarcely given the new sentence Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior Ho before G. P. changes the subject by intro- ducing two or three Latin and French words which he knows will be significant to me but not to Mr. O . He then asks that Mr. O should go out, and begins writing upon a topic which he does not wish him to know of.] " This case is more significant than the others because it does Ch. XXXV] G. P., Moses, and GreeTc 549 seem that the writer has some knowledge of Greek, whereas the familiar phrase before used might be picked up by anybody. It is also difficult to explain this translation by the telepathic the- ory. The writer seems not to recognize the familiar words but to translate afresh from the words he hears; if it were merely reflected from my mind one would hardly expect it to take this new form. [Italics mine. H.H.] "In order to test G. P.'s knowledge of Greek still further I wrote a sentence, making the first three words give the keynote of the whole, using very simple and familiar words, and pur- posely choosing the thought from the group that was upper- most in the minds of the writers. The sentence was: Owe Iffri Qdvarof al yap ruv QVTJTUV ^f^ei C"^" <->oiv addvarov, aidiov, fiandptov. We first gave this to G. P. at the sitting of June 25th, 1895 [Present: K. H. and W. R. N.]. At our suggestion G. P. calls the alleged Mr. Moses to help translate it. The result is con- fusion worse confounded. Apparently the writers cannot hear what we say, QdvaTof is at first written fanois. In this confusion words and sentences occur which appear to emanate from Moses, such as * I could in time recall all the Greek I ever taught and why should I not,' ' It seems like awaking from a dream to recall this to mind.' When the writer finally gets the word OVK he translates it ' light,' apparently from association with the Latin word 'lux.' On June 26th and 27th, further unsuccessful at- tempts at translation were made. G. P. said that he remembered his Greek well enough when he was away from the ' light ' but the effort of communicating confused him and drove it out of his head. On July 1st, at a sitting at which Dr. Hodgson only was present, and in the midst of a communication from G. P. upon another topic, the following interruption occurs : "'Who said there was no death? [Hand moves forward as though ' speiring ' into the ' vacant space.'] Moses (Ask Moses what he means by that.) Well, you interrupt me. Well, I must say old chap (I did not mean to interrupt you.) No not you H . . . Moses . . . Ouk esti thanatos. Moses (that's first rate. Is this Mr. Moses translating?) Ouk esti thanatos. There's no death. Repeat it to me in Greek Hodgson for him. [R. H. re- peats, says it is correct and suggests getting the rest of the pas- sage translated.] Come H. Come here a moment. Hurry up H. [R. II. repeats the rest of the passage.] " ' Again . . . Good oh good may God preserve you always H., and keep you alive on earth until you have accomplished a thor- ough work. I'll help you in every way possible (Shall I repeat the Greek again?) Yes, something new . . . Yes he's listening . . . too fast H . . . wait . . . ready he has it very nearly . . . not the last H ... no before . . . yes . . . not quite . . . got it. [R. H. had been repeating the first five words only several times.] I'll go now and translate it and return sir.' " This promise was never kept and we heard no more of the 550 Professor Newlold's Report [Bk. II, Pt. IV Greek. At later sittings other matters came to the front and Moses did not reappear to complete the translation." But that sudden " Ouk esti thanatos," a dozen lines back, shows that there is a real mystery, and not a plain failure. On the Piper manifestations up to this time, Podmore had an article in the same volume with Prof. Newbold's report Pr. XIV, which he, if alive, probably would not write to-day. Like everything of his, however, it is well worth reading. I have space for but a few extracts. (Pr.XIV,50) : " Is it not conceivable that the whole of the information given in the trances may have been acquired by normal means, either by unconscious elaboration of hints unde- signedly furnished by the sitter, or by a deliberate system of private inquiry ? " No, gentle spirit, it is not. The day when you wrote that is past. I find that I was crass enough, when I first read it, to write in the margin : " Comical." It was not so comical when written several years before. Podmore's essay contains an interesting account of Alexis Didier, a clairvoyant of seventy years ago. He intimates that certain remarkable manifestations "only prove . . . that Alexis's Intelligence Department was up to date." Opposite this I find my comment : " This explanation is more credu- lous than faith in telopsis." While I have tried to keep an open mind, I have not succeeded in keeping free from similar impressions regarding some views of many critics, not only of telopsis, but of most of the phenomena described in the Pr. S. P. R. The genuineness of those phenomena has passed the examination of many of the best contemporary minds, and whatever may be their ultimate explanation, in regard to them in general it is too late for other fine minds to waste themselves over the hypothesis of fraud. Podmore goes over the performance of several other noted telopsists, and compares them with Mrs. Piper as follows (Pr. XIV, 78) : " On the almost inconceivable hypothesis that Mrs. Piper has obtained all this information fraudulently, we can but view with amazement her artistic restraint in the use of proper names; her masterly reticence on dates and descriptions of houses and Ch. XXXV] Dramatization Most Convincing 551 such concrete matters, which form the stock-in-trade of the common clairvoyante ; the consummate skill which has enabled her to portray hundreds of different characters without ever con- fusing the role, to utilize the stores of information so labori- ously acquired without ever betraying the secret of their origin." " The consummate skill which has enabled her to portray hundreds of different characters without ever confusing the role." Here, while showing himself profoundly impressed with Mrs. Piper's telopsis, he barely touches, but with a master touch, upon what impresses me as of vastly more importance than all the other features of her manifestations put together. This feature has also been little more than touched upon by the other commentators with the exception of Hodgson, and later Sir Oliver Lodge. The neglect of it by so many who have paid close attention to the matter seems strange. But it is touched upon by all, just as the cosmic soul and its inflow, which seems to me the funda- mental correlator of all the phenomena, is touched upon by all and applied throughout by none. The details of the so-called " evidential " matter bearing on the survival of death seem to me so nearly balanced for and against, that, so far, they are hardly worth taking into account that is, hardly worth taking into account unless we include among them the dramatic quality. If that dramatic quality is regarded as a mere manifestation of human capacity (even when the question is begged by calling it subliminal), and that capacity in a woman otherwise of but average quali- ties, it is, to me at least, a marvel so overwhelming that, with one exception, the suggestions to account for it are by contrast less than pigmy. But that excepted suggestion is equally overwhelming: it is the so-called spiritistic manifestation aa a function of the cosmic soul. Telopsis, telakousis, dreams, possession the whole business give evidence of it. And beside its solitary and majestic adequacy, the "evidential" obstacles to it often appear to sink into nothingness. CHAPTER XXXVI FARTHER EXTRACTS FROM PROFESSOR NEWBOLD'S NOTES Introductory PROFESSOR NEWBOLD has most kindly volunteered to place at my disposal the original notes from which he prepared his paper in Pr. S. P. E. XIV that served me as the basis for the preceding chapter. That paper embraced but a small part of the notes of the sittings : some of them were deferred be- cause of private considerations which time has partly removed, and I have found not a little of the unpublished portion now available for publication, and well deserving of attention ; but of course the best parts are, as usual, unpublishable because they are too intimate. These notes are the only full ones (except those of my own sitting) that I have ever seen. Of course, compared with the parts selected for printing, the sittings as a whole are poor. But the long stretches of confusion and seeming twaddle have given me a stronger impression than I ever had from the more coherent and significant portions printed, that much of the matter does come, but under difficulties, from some source outside of either medium or sitter or other incarnate intelli- gences. I shall have occasion to refer to these notes several times, and will allude to them as the Newbold Notes. The deferred matter of the Newbold Notes is interesting mainly from the alleged appearance of George Eliot and Walter Scott as controls, and from more detailed expressions by the Imperator controls than have yet been printed in the Pr. S. P. R. To my taste the Eliot and Scott matter savors very little of the reputed authors. And yet assuming for the moment that our great authors survive in a fuller life, pre- sumably they would have to communicate under very em- barrassing conditions : for not only would they have to cramp 552 Ch. XXXVI] The Alleged George Eliot 553 themselves to produce work comprehensible here, but that Sys- tem of Things which I am forced to harp upon, would have to limit them lest their competition should upset the whole system of our literary development, or rather would have in- volved a different one from the beginning. To me most of the Imperator matter is trash, but, as we have seen a couple of chapters earlier, Hodgson did not so regard it, and he was a man to be reckoned with; and if I were a clergyman of the Methodist Church, or perhaps some other, I might regard it very differently. My first reading of the alleged George Eliot matter inclined me to scout it entirely. It is certainly not in all particulars what that great soul would have sent from a better world if she had been permitted to communicate anything more pro- found than we have been left to find out for ourselves, or even if she had had the commonplace chance to revise her manu- script. But on reflection I realized that, although the matter came through Mrs. Piper, it could not have come from her, wherever it came from; and that if George Eliot were com- municating tidings naturally within our comprehension, and merely descriptive of superficial experience as distinct from reflection, and were communicating, through a poor tele- phone, words to be recorded by an indifferent scribe, this material would not seem absolutely incongruous with its alleged source, and to a reader knowing that the stuff claimed to be hers, might possibly suggest the weakest possible dilution or reflection of her. Yet she calls Imperator " His Holiness " and says he is " of God " and holds communion with God daily and passes along results, etc., etc. all of it the sort of anthro- pomorphism that might be expected from the average medium or average sitter, but not from George Eliot. And now, since writing the last paragraph and going through the notes half a dozen times more, I have about con- cluded, or perhaps worked myself up to the conclusion, that if a judicious blue pencil were to take from them what could be attributed to imperfect means of communication, and what could be considered as having slopped over from the medium, there would be a pretty substantial and not unbeautiful resid- uum which might, without straining anything, be taken for 554 Farther Extracts from Newbold's Notes [Bk. II, Pi IV a description by George Eliot, of the heaven she would find if, as begins to seem possible, she and Moses and Hodgson and the rest of us, have or are to have heavens to suit our respec- tive tastes. But what would have to be taken out is often ludicrously incongruous with George Eliot, and taking it out would certainly be open to serious question. Yet whatever may be the qualities, merits, or demerits of this " George Eliot " matter, what character it has is its own, and different materially from any I have seen recorded from any other control. What is vastly more important, despite the lapses in knowledge, taste, and style, which negative its being the unmodified production of George Eliot, it neverthe- less presents, me judice, the most reasonable, suggestive, and attractive pictures of a life beyond bodily death that I know of: it is not a reflection of previous mythologies, it is con- gruous with the tastes of what we now consider rational beings, and might well fill their desires; and it tallies with our ex- periences in dreams. Yet it is not a great feat of imagina- tion, but in recent times no great genius has attacked the sub- ject, and George Eliot would not have been expected to devote her imagination to it, which raises a slight presumption that what is told is really told by her from experience. If I had to venture a guess as to how it came into existence, it would be something like the guesses I make below with a better basis of fact, regarding Scott, and would give some backing to a conception which perhaps we will find worth considering later (in my last three chapters) that the future life is a continuation of the dream life we know here. In this case, I guess that somebody within range, possibly Mrs. Piper herself, had been reading George Eliot, or about George Eliot, and the muskmelon pollen had affected the cucumbers. Some real George Eliot influence may have flowed in too, though I don't state this as a conviction that any did. I cannot say even as much for the Walter Scott matter, though I would say something of the same sort, which it is not worth while to repeat. The Scott dreams are still less characteristic of the alleged author, contain a much larger proportion of absurdities, and are in every way even less sat- isfying and suggestive. And yet the individuality of the style, Ch. XXXVI] Individuality of Controls 555 such as it is its difference from the alleged George Eliot style, is obvious. The more I read of all this mediumistic literature, the more I am impressed, despite the wishy-washi- ness of most of it, with the fact that each control has " thon's " own style, whether it is worth having or not, and has it to a degree whose creation would tax the most ingenious dramatists or novelists perhaps even be beyond them. This is an im- portant point, and I am not apt to do too much to impress it. I have just happened to read a criticism of a translation made many years ago not the one soon to appear of Gobineau's Renaissance. The book is made up of imaginary conversa- tions, something like Lander's, between Savonarola, Caesar Borgia, Julius II, Leo X, Michelangelo, and all sorts of con- temporaries. The critic objected that the vocabularies of all the speakers were the same. This is a striking illustration of the difficulty of giving variety to characters. To assume that Mrs. Piper and Mrs. Thompson and several other mediums themselves create the distinct individualities they portray, would be the height of absurdity. Now if they don't, who does ? That a variety of sitters, each with distinct recollections, should be able to do it, is far less absurd, but still presents grave difficulties. But supposing it true, who under the sun made Phinuit ? Moses may have made Imperator and Rector, but not the Rector we have seen described by James. James and " sundry critical and fastidious sitters " made him, unless God did. Mrs. Piper certainly did not. My vote, if I must vote, is for James and the sitters. But I can't vote that the sitters made G. P. and Hodgson (whom we will meet as a control later) or perhaps anybody that I know once had a personality. Scott takes Newbold and Hodgson on imaginary journeys through space ; describes the planets, calling the sun one, and speaking of "Heaven" as another; gets into Saturn without displaying any consciousness of its rings, talks nonsense about them when reminded of them by the sitter; says there are monkeys in the sun, and explains it away when challenged ; vindicates his claim to being a Scotchman by saying " bonnie " once, and " good-morrow " habitually ; and does give perhaps a very faint suggestion of Sir Walter's narrative style, but none whatever of his sense of humor. With our present knowledge, the rodomontade attributed to 556 Farther Extracts from Newlold's Notes [Bk. II, Ft. IV Scott provokes a ready hypothesis. Whether the future will confirm it is another matter. Hodgson, the sitter, tells the Scott control that he had lately been much absorbed in Scott's life and letters. This, apparently, had telepathically set the medium going. Who composed the story of the journeys to the planets is also another matter : it hardly reads like Scott, and is not to be thought of as Mrs. Piper. But Hodgson was entirely up to it, and in the absence of farther knowledge, my guess would be that he involuntarily reeled it off telepathically through Mrs. Piper. This does not preclude my also guessing (I don't say believing) that a Scott influence of some kind more than a reflection and Hodgson's memories may have flowed in too. The style of the production is as far as possible from Hodgson, and much more suggestive, or rather I should say, less unsuggestive, of Scott. Stainton Moses turns up several times, and apparently a result of his appearing in the Newbold sittings was the later appearance, through Mrs. Piper, of controls claiming to be the old Moses-Imperator gang. Imperator discoursed ad nau- seam on Old Testament matters, denying many statements and taking others extra-seriously, harped constantly on Melchi- zedek, and hinted that Melchizedek and Mrs. Piper are " two of a kind." All this harping can hardly be attributed to Hodgson, Newbold, or Mrs. Piper. It seems as if the post- carnate Moses must have taken a hand : it is a very hard nut to crack. Imperator also uses " evolute " as a verb, and inflects it. And here is a very suggestive point. There are some half a dozen controls in the series of sittings from which I am now quoting alleged to be persons living at various periods, and of various varieties and degrees of culture, and virtually all of them, even George Eliot, employ that noun " evolute," as a verb in place of evolve, although the two words have no legiti- mate meaning in common. That so many of the real persons the controls professedly represented should have been guilty of such a solecism, is out of the question. Plainly Mrs. Piper had an attack of it, just as she apparently had an attack of Walter Scott through Hodgson, and just as we all occasionally get an attack of some word or other; and she, as we all do, mixed it in with her dreams. Ch. XXXVI] The Walter Scott Control 557 The later sittings of this series abound in predictions re- garding the war with Spain then impending. The details had little if any relation to the events that actually occurred. One of the consequences was to be " the greatest purification and spiritual growth that the world has [will have? H.H.] known since the birth of Christ." These controls generally indicated the primitive theory of Possession. Phinuit, despite his having once said to some control : " You come in by the hands and I'll go out by the feet/' claims to go out and in by a spiritual umbilical cord, such as that by which various persons dreaming themselves to have left the body, still see themselves connected. Alleged Communications from Sir Walter Scott I have already expressed my guess as to the source of these. The introduction of this Scott control was peculiar and suggestive. As already stated, Hodgson was absorbed in Scott's Life and Letters. On June 25, 1895, appeared (os- tensibly) Hodgson's cousin Fred H (see Chapter XXIX) to the following effect. I introduce him for various reasons, but here especially for his assertion, at the end of the extract, regarding his residence. That seems to provide Scott with a topic. June 25, 1895. " ' Say, how you was, how was you ... do you see me . . . H ...(R. H.: Hello Fred, what's the news?) [Fred H , cousin of R. H. killed in Australia about 1872 by fall in gymna- sium fracturing spine.] Your mother, Aunt Margaret, is not at all well Dick (What's the matter?) Yes, write her a line, will you, . . . she had an abscess or something like it but is getting on a little better now (H. : Have you been there?) Yes, I have just returned from Australia (Did you have a good time?) Good time ? Yes, I saw Annie [R. H.'s sister.] [N. makes some remark] who was that said yes [Hand H.H.] [pounds]. (H. : My friend here said something.) Not much (H. : Oh some spirit spoke to you ?) Yes, said " say yes this way " [pounds again very heavily] How are you Dick any way how are you? (H. : First rate, taking a little exercise, bicycling lately.) What is that (Something like what you and I called ' bonesbaking ' riding on two wheels.) Oh, fly the garter, [a game at which F. H. was unusually expert] well I'll beat you at it. (H. : Have you got track of my affairs?) Got, well I should smile you have not half lived out your happy days (I wish I were over there with 558 Farther Extracts from Newlold's Notes [Bk. II, Pi IV you so that I might give proof of my identity) What! over here Well it is all right where you are. . . . Well Dick you dear old Bunt . . . Bump . . . Got it ... t ... yes . . . yes Bunto [ ?] Yes our word of ... Well you do not really signify one . . . yet I recall it ... hear . . . you are not so insignificant as a Bunit, Not at all. I do not say BUNT I do not . . . Bunyet ... Oh there is the cow . . . Pull her tail Dick . . . [when boys F. H. once in- duced R. H. to do it and he was of course kicked over.] [Isn't this an out-and-out dream ? H.H.] . . . Well you old Bunyet . . . yot . . . why can't you think . . . B (H. : You mean Bunyip the bugaboo of the Australian natives?) [Violent pounding and scrabbling] Did I not say yet . . . You look like one just now as I see you . . . yes . . . why did ? (H. : How are they all in Aus- tralia?) First rate (Ella, Harry and all) everyone ... yes ... yes . . . (H. : My mother will not pass out now?) No no Star [They had spoken of this before] (Oh you mean you live in a star?) Yes, Mars '" June 25, 1895. After other communications handwriting changes, becomes small and proceeds slowly: " ' Scott, Scott, Scott, I am extremely happy to be with you sir I just strayed in here (This is Sir Walter Scott?) Yes sir, I strayed [Then H 's allusion to Mars apparently takes effect. H.H.] . . . for a moment lend me your attention when you wish to hear anything concerning Mars do not for- get to call for me. I am ... I have met Mr. Pelham and I am enchanted with him, intellectually (Yes, he's a splendid fellow) very . . . wonderfully clever sir [of N] (This is a friend of mine Sir Walter, Dr. Newbold) Pleased to meet you sir ... Brain [we read this Bone and ask if he is writing Latin] No sir, Scotch B R A I N . . . a fine . . . (You mean he has a fine brain ?) Yes, sir meaning Mr. Pelham. [Funny to descant on the brain of a post-material personage ! Yet amid all the phantasmagoria appear many indications of second and sublimated editions of bodies, including brains, I suppose as vehicles for thought, just as they are here. H.H.] . . . well, naturally charming (Will you not come to-morrow and talk to Dr. N. ?) Yes sir. I would be pleased indeed. (N. : I would be much indebted to you Sir Walter if you would.) Oh I should be most happy to do any- thing possible for you or the assistance [Does he mean this in the French sense ? If so, it was not Mrs. Piper. H.H.] . . . any information regarding our existence. I am somewhat interested in your friend here whom I have heard mention my name upon several occasions. (H. : I have been much interested in your life and letters.) life and letters, indeed. (Yes, they have been recently published and I was especially impressed by that you wrote to a lady proposing marriage.) This might be why I am Ch. XXXVI] Scott Control Describes Mars 559 so much attracted to you. (I felt a strong feeling for you.) I have clearly been in a way connected with you (In what special way?) Feeling, circumstances, etc. (In all this work?) I have also assisted you in writing your ideas. (You mean you impress your thoughts upon me?) Yes sir (I hope you will continue to do it) pardon . . . yes sir I will be pleased I assure you (Is not the light growing dim?) Yes sir good morrow (Please tell Dr. N. to-morrow about Mars and the condition of your life over yonder) good morrow Walter Scott. [With a dash a new sprawling script.] ' ' June 26, 1895. Present: W. R. N. "To G. P.: (Send in Sir Walter.) 'Yes certainly, with the greatest pleasure my boy Well this is a cool reception (What do you mean ?) Well I am only talking to Scott We will leave the question of Pantheism [Hand beckons to invisible Sir Wal- ter. Some initial convulsion, then the Sir Walter Script be- gins, Hand writes steadily, uniformly, without show of emotion, in a very small faint script [Counter to the general Piper prac- tice. H.H.], and when it raps assent does it in a gentle manner very unlike the vigorous blows given by other writers.] ' ; " ' We turn our air ship towards the planet Mars and as we draw nearer and nearer, we begin to see objects and people. We then look again down upon the earth and then into Mars and see what comparison [N. doesn't decipher] comparisons . . . (comparisons?) No not 8. leave it out... we can make as to its inhabitants with those in Mars a strange looking lot of people, very dark in color. They seem to be very intelligent yet not altogether like our friends on earth. They are more like the animal in shape (Do they stand upright?) Oh yes, are you not with me, sir (I'm simply writing my question so as to know the meaning of your answer) Oh pardon . . . well of course you have my idea, that we are sailing, you as a man on earth, I as a spirit in heaven, sailing through the spirit world together, only I am illustrating it to you as being in the sky, do you understand ... yes sir... (Can you describe the inhab- itants more closely?) Ah yes we see these people as it were half man half animal yet wonderfully advanced with their in- ventions (What are the canals in Mars?) I have described the roads, walks, the icebergs (You haven't described them to ns) Oh not ... no ... you don't understand sir (I beg pardon for the interruption), not at all I say I have not ... oh well I understand from my friend, Mr. Pelham that you have dis- covered canals. Yet they were termed . . . what did you term them (canals) Yes, but what meaning did you convey to the word (None at all, I simply use the word to indicate the appear- ance of the parallel lines seen on the surface of the planet) Oh spots on the sun oh reflection only . . . reflection from the sun.'" 560 Farther Extracts from Newl old's Notes [Bk. II, Pt. IV June 27, 1895. " [G. P. writes, Ph. still talking.] How are you B tell Ph. to keep quiet, you see I do not wish to be interrupted. I have many things of importance on my mind and wish to clear them. You forgot to call me back old chap. (I know it George, but the light went out before I thought of it.) I saw my friend Scott speaking to you. Did he make himself understood ? (Yes indeed. What he said was very interesting and he promised to continue it to-day.) Oh and he will. He has a charming char- acter and has had a wonderful experience of very long duration. ...OUK...OUK... Now . . . Down ... N o ? ... yes ... N O R . . . O U K [I keep repeating the phrase ouk esti thanatos and spelling each word from time to time.] ' ' G. P. boggles over the phrase until W. E. N. suggests: " ' (Go out and think it over or ask someone while Sir Walter talks) I do not need to do this. I will go out and recall, I never need ask 1 say, B here comes Scott, Adieu. [Writing changes to characteristic Scott hand as used in former sittings.] [Was Mrs. Piper not only a great dramatist, but also an expert in changing handwriting? H.H.] Good morrow my friend I am now prepared to finish my discourse or description of spiritual beings, existences, etc. Do you remember where I left off? It was, that is to say we were, in the planet Mars. The lines by the way sir, come with me again, are you ready Well the lines or spots, so to speak, are not satellites. They are reflections from the sun. (Reflections of what ?) [hand ignores the question and pursues the calm and even tenor of its way.] Well now we wish to see something of the habitations of the gentlemen who inhabit this planet. Their houses are similar to those on earth yet more modern and much less complicated in structure. Do you wish to speak to me sir as we pass ? (Yes. Of what are they made and how?) They are made from various kinds of material such as brick, stone, etc. (These are the houses on the planet Mars of which you are speaking?) I am, yet we do not compare them exactly with those on earth. They are made according to natural causes and such atmospheric conditions as it is necessary from such materials. (Tell me more about the atmospheric conditions.) I think that I have done so upon other occasions sir, and were you the gentleman to whom I gave them? (Not to me, Sir Walter but to a friend of mine. I have read what you said, and I think you did not say anything of the atmosphere.) Well, pardon me sir, I will then. The planet, as we see it materially is rather cold. For instance there are icebergs and many of them on this planet i.e. on some parts of it; in others it is warmer and enough so to produce vegetation. There are some very beautiful trees, flowers, etc. (Is the climate Ch. XXXVI] Scott Control Describes Jupiter 561 fair or cloudy ?) Very fair, it is in the torrid zone. (You mean it is fair in the torrid zone of Mars?) Yes, this only (Are there inhabitants in other planets?) Such as Jupiter? WeU let me ask what you are dreaming about sir [I misunderstand and think writer is reproving me for asking such a question of Jupiter since I knew well that he was not in a condition to support life. So I say] (I said nothing of Jupiter, Sir Walter; I merely asked whether there is life in any other planets.) There was a little misunderstanding I think, as we are now riding through the air. (I beg your pardon; go on.) we now leave the planet Mars and we wish to visit others. First we think of Jupiter. Well as we ride we begin to discern [for pencil] Thanks something which to us looks like a dark jagged ball or rock. Well as we draw nearer we seem to discover smoke as it seems, then still more of the darkness. Now we are nearing the planet. As we draw nearer we begin to see sparks which reminds us of fire. Now we pass through a tremendously stifling atmosphere (Not stifling to you?) Oh no sir, I am the spirit or life, you are the material man whom I am taking with me as my guest. You seem choked, and yet you ask me to go on. Well, now we wish to pass through this fog of seem- ingly smoke, fire electricity, as Mr. Pelham terms it. I bor- rowed the phrase sir, [Electricity cut no figure in Scott's earthly life. Evidential touch! H.H.] and now we begin to reach the planet Jupiter. We pass around the surface peeping into it ... onto it ... and we see nothing of any importance except the continual sparks, so called, which conglomerate together and as yet are in a very unsettled state (Take me further.) This all seems to us strange and interesting. We see all in one mass a conglomeration of atmospheres which when settled in one body looks like a planet. (Then Jupiter is not solid?) Not at all solid. (Take me elsewhere, especially where there is life.) What is the general idea of Jupiter on your planet sir? (I know little astronomy Sir Walter, but I think Jupiter is believed to be a red hot solid surrounded by dense clouds.) But it is not at all solid as we can pass through it.' " This is probably distinctly incorrect, but nothing else seems to be, so far as it goes. It is a little strange that he did not speak more definitely of the superficial aspects displayed in all the pictures. There are perhaps a dozen pages of this sort of thing, going through the rest of the planets. We have room for only a scrap or two more. There is no more than a fortuitous cor- respondence with the little astronomy I know, and a propor- tionate share of contradictions, and it ends up with (Professor Newbold resuming) : 562 Farther Extracts from Newbold's Notes [Bk. II, Ft. IV " (Take me where there is life.) ' Venus (Good) so termed is inhabited [Medium's head falls from the cushion. I say] (Wait a moment Sir Walter while I fix the head of the medium in place.) Yes sir [Hand stops writing until the head is again firmly set in place. Phinuit thanks me in stifled tones. I ask whether the light is going out. Hand replies] The light so called ? No sir Venus you will remember on earth looks like a very beautiful and bright star. . . . We pass through a long . . . of light, so called sky and we pass on very rapidly until we begin are you tired sir? (No indeed. Go on.) to feel very much pleased with the atmospheric conditions We smell the most delightful odors possible for the human mind to under- stand or sense. Now all is life, light, the air is as balmy and soft as a spring morning on earth . . . insects of all kinds and descriptions, birds of every known [hand hesitates for some time and then writes] description (You had species in mind, had you not ?) species, yes sir, this was exactly the expression which I wish to express or use their plumage is to you something magnificent and indescribable. We see them flitting about from one place to another, apparently in space, yet as we move on we begin to realize that we are approaching something more tangi- ble. Now we see the heavens aglow with light, the perfume heavenly. The atmosphere warm, balmy, beautiful, too much so to put in words and express. Now we feel a slight breeze and we are wafted through the outer rim as it were into a perfect little heaven by itself. Nothing ever realized on earth could compare with this. Now we see no one, i.e. no living being so to speak, only these beautiful creatures the trees like wax, the flowers like the true soul as it were, they are so really beautiful, the fields are one mass of green . . . yet we see not a man anywhere. We wonder where they all are, we travel for miles and miles, yet we see nothing but insects and birds i.e. living. We wish to ascertain why this is thus . . . yes sir ... why . . . why . . . because of the marvelous atmosphere. They are sensitive to this and cannot survive it. (Did they ever exist?) Oh no, sir (You mean then that Venus is passing through a stage analogous to the carboniferous era on the earth?) I do, only it is more perfect and real at this stage . . . when the time comes for the flowers to decay they simply droop, wither and fall, then immediately others spring up and fill their places. Now we stop for a moment. . . . Now we must go ... pass ... on and leave this beautiful godlike heaven [Would Sir Walter com- pare a place to a sentient being? H.H.] or planet as it were [my hand is resting on the paper. The writing collides with it, stops, feels it, finger by finger, writes:] What is that please, sir? (My hand.) Best not disturb me [I misunderstanding explain that I lift the writing hand while I turn the pages of the block book] Oh thanks not that sir ; it was here [tapping the spot where my hand had rested] it's all right sir, pardon me if you please. Ch. XXXVI] The Sun, and Monkeys in It 563 " ' We move out of Venus, slowly, unwillingly, yet on we pass until we have reached the outer sphere again. Now we move on towards the sun, but at first we feel extremely un- comfortable . . . yet we begin to become accustomed to the atmos- phere and now on we go ... in our air vessel towards the sun . . . and as we move on we still continue to feel uncomfortable until we reach this planet, when the atmosphere begins to clear a little. Now we, excuse the mixture of nouns and pronouns, sir, we then reach the sun, and we feel cold (cold?) Yes sir we have passed beyond the limit of the former planets and we feel the various changes as we move. Now the extreme change takes place and we feel intensely hot ... we do not wish to move on, so now we find this one center of heat (Can you a spirit feel the heat ?) [Finger points deliberately at me, then hand writes,] You, yet I [I express comprehension] pardon, yes sir, yet I wish you to imagine yourself a spirit well now (Sir Walter is the sun all fire, or has it a solid core ?) The word is not familiar to me, sir. [I explain.] Oh, there is a solid body, sir, which I am now going to take you to see. . . . Well now we move on to- wards this fire, now reach its borders and notwithstanding the extreme heat we pass through it and we find ourselves upon a solid bed of hot clay or sand. This is caused by gravity under- stand where we are we have now reached the limit, we find it very warm and deserted like a deserted island. We fail to find its inhabitants if there are any i.e. if it has any. Now we see what we term monkeys, dreadful looking creatures, black ex- tremely black, very wild. We find they lire in caves which are made in the sand or mud, clay etc.' " Touching this remarkable piece of Natural History, Pro- fessor Newbold says (Pr. XIV, 48) : " In 1895, as the alleged Walter Scott was concluding a sitting he told me that there were monkeys in the sun. That night while writing up the sitting at Dr. Hodgson's rooms, ten miles from Mrs. Piper, Dr. Hodgson and I fell to laughing over this preposterous statement; so loudly indeed did we laugh that I finally cautioned Dr. H. that we would be wakening the whole block. The next morning the writer, without my saying any- thing about it, explained that he did not mean to say there were monkeys in the sun; the light of the medium was failing him and gave rise to this error. He meant to say that we would follow the light of the sun as far as the tropic of Capricorn and there we would see the monkeys flying in and out of sand caves. I do not see that this explanation betters the matter very much. A little later on, as the writer was professing to show me the moon, the hand suddenly stopped: " ' Excuse me sir, a moment. Who was the gentleman with whom I saw you seemingly laughing over my journeys with 564 Farther Extracts from Newbold's Notes [Bk. II, Pi IV you ! Actually laughing . . . yes sir ... and roaring enough to split the canopy of space. [I confess I was much taken aback by having my sins thus unexpectedly brought to light; I ex- plained who it was and how absurd the statement about the sun had seemed to us. I begged the writer's pardon.] Not at all, sir, thank you sir ... exceedingly kind sir. No intelligent spirit would convey for a moment this impression. Well now we have had a nice long trip, and we wish now to visit ... no [hand strikes put ' visit '] leave the actual planets and visit our own planet, i.e. Heaven. Well, sir, come with me and I will take you through it with me.' " The sun and heaven "planets"! Evidently Mrs. Piper had as bad an attack of the word, as she had of " evolute." My eliminations indicated in the foregoing extracts from Sir Walter are of pure surplusage; yet you. will agree that enough in all conscience is left. June 27, 1895. Sitter: W. R. Newlold. " Phinuit speaks : ' There are a lot of great, what do you call them, famous, eminent men here but they are too far advanced in their sphere to come back through any light. Don't you believe these mediums when they say great men come to them. Don't you absorb any such mysteries. (But Dr. some great men have professed to speak through this light?) [Phi- nuit seems taken aback] Who have, Billie? (Well that gentle- man who was here last time [Walter Scott. H.H.] He's a great man.) Oh that friend of George's. He's here now with George, waiting for you to get through talking to me. He's a writer you know. (What does he look like?) He has a high fore- head, and hair drooped down over his ears, aquiline nose [I have examined three portraits of Scott with reference to this. In two the nose is unmistakably straight; in one it is possibly aquiline. H.H.], broad forehead, a little bit of hair on the sides of his face here [feels my cheek, stops, pulls at my beard] you look as though you were covered with hair Billie rest of his face is shaven. (What is his name?) I don't know. We call people here mostly by their Christian names, we don't use the other names much. (What is his Christian name ?) Walter. . . . Who was the other great man Billie that came through this light? (Darwin.) Darwin, who's he? (A great man Dr. too long a story to tell.) . . . I've been hanging around this light ever since it was a little one : . . . I've been with this body ever since it came into the material; I've been following, following, following it all these years. (Had you been long in the spirit when you first saw it Dr.) No I'd just awaked in the spirit, just been called [N.B. This is Mrs. P.'s 36th birthday.] Do Ch. XXXVI] Phinuit does not Know Washington 565 you know Billie, I've taken this body when very ill and treated it. (I wish you'd do as much for me Dr.) I can't belong to everybody Billie There are lots of people George talks about, he reaches them in thought but not in contact A French gentle- man asked me about George Washington, and whether I'd ever . seen him. Do you know who he is, Billie? (Oh yes.) He said he was a governor or somebody. Is that true? (Yes he was a great man with us.) Well I never saw him. Some [i.e. pro- fessional mediums] are not altogether frauds, they have good lights, but have too much imagination. Do you know what I mean Billie? (Oh yes.) Well, here comes George, but before I go I must give a message to these little girls' mother [Mrs. Thaw. H.H.] There are two little girls here with their grand- mother Ruth and Margaret and they wish to be remembered. The little one says " Pretty pussy." ' The foregoing contains nothing " evidential," but I hope to learn how capable seekers of the evidential account for it. If it is an attempt of the alleged " cunning " " subliminal self " of Mrs. Piper or somebody else, or of somebody's supraliminal self, to make an amusingly ingenuous Phinuit, it is over- drawn : for an educated French physician living early in the nineteenth century could not have had all this professed ignorance of Washington. The same objections hold against its being a genuine Phinuit, unless you apply the usual handy gloze of " dimmed and confused recollections." It seems simply an unaccountable dream jumble. " There are others." July 3, 1895. Present: E. H. " [Sir Walter Scott writes.] ' I am with you, sir. Have you followed me all the way through our heavenly world? Do you grasp all I desire? (I try to realize as far as it is possible for mortal.) I am extremely anxious that you should disentangle every muddle should there be any, by questioning me. (Can you tell me about the planets beyond Saturn ?) Oh yes, sir, all of them. You know they were distinguished one from another by names . . . [illegible] ... in Latin, such [ ?] as Latin . . . yes, which ... I had no doubt you would understand me printed or otherwise known as (Latin names given to the planets?) Yes, sir. "'The spirit is happy and eminent [?] on high into all planets can instantly fly. You have not got the meter right, sir (Oh, it's in meter.) Yes, sir. (You are quoting some poetry?) Yes, sir. (Try again.) Realms world? 566 Farther Extracts from Newlold's Notes [Bk. II, Pt. IV with [?] its several [?] wings to various planets can instantly fly . . . yes, I ... [illegible] it. The trouble is you do not catch all of my words, sir. The spirit is happy and in... ne, dwells in heaven on high No, not right, sir. Our spirit is happy in heaven on high With wings ethereal . . . . . . sir, you have it our. (Our spirits are happy in heaven on high With wings" is that it?) to the various planets we fly. Similar . . . yss, sounds so, sir. (Have you just composed these lines?) I brought them here in thought, sir. (You wrote a great many lines of poetry when you were in the body.) Oh yes, sir, yes, some very fair, and others very bad, I am sure.' " Sir Walter goes on to write about the planets beyond Saturn, to the effect that Uranus has no inhabitants but fish, though Neptune, much less likely to be inhabited, holds a preternatu- rally intelligent and moral community of man-like dwarfs, who believe in the Trinity. They also " evolute." When they die, they go to a part of Sir Walter's " planet " heaven, " not far from us." He doesn't know whether the inhabitants of all the planets go there or not. If I remember rightly, he leaves only a third planet with human-like inhabitants to question about; but all inferior conscious beings he very lib- erally (and not unreasonably, me judice) declares immortal. He speaks of " Heaven " several times as a planet (instead of, like Boston, a condition) and constantly uses the primitive notion of going " up " to it. Then he goes into descriptions of what is seen and heard there, vastly inferior to those we shall see later attributed to George Eliot, and of relations to friends there and on earth. But despite lots of drivel, it seems to possess a certain worth- whileness in sharing the experience that to wish for anything is to realize it, which is the most " heavenly " notion I have yet encountered, and which is (I'm a little surprised to find myself saying) so well illustrated in the George Eliot com- munications. All the wishes given by " Sir Walter " are, it should be superfluous to say, innocent ones; and in response to an inquiry whether he reads or studies, he implies that do- ing so would be superfluous, as he experiences anything in Ch. XXXVI] "Phillips "(Pseudonym) the Astronomer 567 which he feels an interest. That strikes me as rather heavenly too. With these Scott sittings, as with the Eliot ones, I have had more noticeably than with others, one experience which per- haps I ought to own up to. At the first reading, as already stated, neither set seemed worth attention ; but at each of the half dozen subsequent readings, not only has the Eliot set presented more and more points that seemed worth noticing, but even the Scott set has not seemed so utterly negligible as at first. The old-fashioned courtesy and diffuseness certainly suggest some Scott influence. This may all be because I want to find something in the utterances, and because therefore, do my best, I cannot divest myself of bias, and so must warn you against me. Yet my increased idea that there may be some- thing in them may be due to better reasons. Here is a suggestive episode, or " put-up job," as you please to look at it. Or you needn't look at it at all as explaining anything. I don't. On July 8, 1895, Sir Walter Scott is alleged to be talking to Hodgson some impossible lingo about Neptune and its in- habitants, when Present: B. H. " [Hand points beyond. ' Who is this gentleman, sir (H. : Is it Mr. Phillips [pseudonym] ?) No sir ... Dr. A. T. M . ex- cuse [I introduce Sir Walter Scott and Dr. A. T. M to each other!] pleased to meet you sir. He wishes me to say that there's nothing serious in regard to the child's illness. Give this to F [pause] (to Fred?) F. H. M. sounds sir very like F H M (I understand.) thanks sir. I am very grateful . . . good day, never mind, I am pleased to do anything for you.' " Scott when asked if they live in houses says, " Not at all." George Eliot says they do, and describes many. Other con- trols have done the same. Sir Walter's fantastic stories of the planets make the sitter want to know what Phillips (pseudonym) the astronomer would say. He asks G. P. and Phinuit if they can get him, and on July 3, 1895, he turns up rather absurdly it appears to me. Present: R. H. " [As Mrs. Piper began to lose consciousness, her head 568 Farther Extracts from Newbold's Notes [Bk. II, Pt. IV peered forward as it were, her eyes seemed fixed, and she mur- mured 'Phillips Phillips I see Phillips listen, listen In the front of your eye forms a lens which collects the rays of light which project from an object and it registers itself upon the retina. That's how you see me.' There may have been some additional words. Mrs. Piper then went into trance under what was obviously a ' new control ' i.e. other than Phinuit. The attempts to speak failed; then the hands and arms made movements as if holding a telescope, looking through it, direct- ing it upwards, turning it in a sweep, drawing it out, adjusting it, turning round the eye piece, working a side screw, etc. I suggest writing. Hand feels my head and fingers.] [Phillips writes.] [Scrawls.] Phillips [scrawls.] [Phinuit takes con- trol. Hand becomes more perturbed. Ph. says,] ' there's a gen- tleman there. I saw him talking to the light of the medium.' [I give Phinuit a hat lining of deceased person to find details about while I am talking to Phillips.] ' What's the . . . help. [I hold the hand by the wrist gently but firmly and keep it near the table.] Oh thank you sir, Oh thanks. I used to study and teach astronomy. (Are you Mr. Phillips?) Yes, sir, Phillips. (I heard you lecture once in England.) [Much ex- citement in hand. Wild scrawls.] England well I know England very well England. Oh England how sweet to hear the sound of England and be able to discriminate the difference between the immortal and the mortal. I wished to have had someone to see me (here?) . . . (Do you wish to free your mind of anything, or will you answer some questions?) Well, sir, I first shall have to become accustomed to the working of this magnet before I can express my thoughts scientifically (You think perhaps you'd better not try to answer technical questions at present.) [Perturbation] I feel like a person in mortal body having an attack of nightmare, sir. I am all in a whirl (Perhaps you'd better not stay too long.) No, sir. I wish to have you [illegible] understand . . . recognize me as being what I ... [illegible] am, a scientific man. . . . My thoughts are somewhat clouded, consequently I am not in the best pos- sible condition to [illegible] to you much valuable informa- tion . . . Consequently I prefer to wait until I can express myself naturally, sir. I'll bid you good day, sir. (I hope you'll come again, Mr. Phillips.) Most assuredly I will, sir, thanks.' " Alleged George Eliot Communications " George Eliot " comes in abruptly to Hodgson, on Feb- ruary 26, 1897. It is Professor Newbold's impression that she( ?) first put in an appearance some time before, at an un- published sitting of an old friend. Spiritists would account for it by her surviving personality naturally seeking him both Ch. XXXVI] Speculations Regarding Controls 569 as an old friend and as a prominent psychical researcher and spiritist. Podmore would probably have accounted for it by the friend's having voluntarily or involuntarily telepathed his interest in George Eliot, and virtually everything that was said, to Mrs. Piper to her " subliminal self " or unconscious self or something else that was hers. My guess would agree, with qualifications, with both views, expressed somewhat thus : Mrs. Piper being very sensitive, the sitter, probably without conscious intention, hypnotized her with his interest in George Eliot, and very possibly this invited and facilitated influences, perhaps unconscious, from George Eliot's surviving psyche (one is sometimes afraid to say "soul" these days). That influence did not "get in strong," the expressions are very little like George Eliot, but without the influence that (today at least) I incline to think did come from her, the manifesta- tion might have been even less like her. However these alleged personalities may have been intro- duced to the medium, there may be much significance in their tendency, after being introduced, to return again, even when the sitter is changed, and to various sitters. If George Eliot was nothing more than a construction by a friend, through Mrs. Piper, why should she return to Hodgson who was no friend at all ? Why should he summon up in Mrs. Piper even a recollection of the friend's George Eliot? Hodgson had enough else to do regarding friends of his own. Similarly, if the Imperator group is only the production of Moses, and the postcarnate Moses himself (?) a production of Newbold, why should they come to sundry other sitters? After G. P. is introduced with his friend " Hall," he comes to pretty much everybody. None of them restrict themselves to their earthly friends. Later the controls purporting to be Hodgson and others connected with the Society present themselves to many sitters, but, so far as I can recall, unlike Phinuit and G. P., to none but those interested in the S. P. R. or to personal friends. Several of the controls have had no earthly association with some of their sitters, or memories in common with them. This does not look like telepathy from the sitter; and still less does the fact, which seems general, that the controls who appear to strangers are mainly or only those professing interest in promulgating knowledge of a future 570 Farther Extracts from Newb old's Notes [Bk. II, Pi IV. state. Children never so appear, neither, so far as I recollect, do any women but George Eliot and Kate Field, who are also, so far as I can recollect, the only women-controls professing an interest in propagating the faith. All this is worth think- ing over. Very consonantly with this, " George Eliot " says (February 26, 1897), in response to a remark of Hodgson's on her dislike of and disbelief in spiritism : " ' You may have noted the anxiety of such as I to return and enlighten your fellow men. It is more especially confined to unbelievers before their departure to this life.' " This remark and G. P.'s persistent efforts seem to my un- tutored mind strongly " evidential." George Eliot is made to say, at various times : "I was sent again because I was desirous of so doing;... Friend, it is impossible to convey to you the exact idea to your mind ; in fact it is indescribable 1 am not sufficiently strong enough to remain longer with you ; " And even the impeccable Imperator propounds: " May he ... abide with thee [sic] one and all." Now these apparently straightaway and deliberate violations of grammar, of which these are not the only specimens I give, on the part of such personages, may be due to defective re- porting, or even defective communicating; but at least they " must give us pause." But to return to " George Eliot." March 5, 1897. Hodgson sitting. " [G. E. writes :] ' Do you remember me well ? . . . I had a sad life in many ways, yet in others I was happy, yet I have never known what real happiness was until I came here 1 was an unbeliever, in fact almost an agnostic when I left my body, but when I awoke and found myself alive in another form superior in quality, that is, my body less gross and heavy, with no pangs of remorse, no struggling to hold on to the material body, I found it had all been a dream ' R. H. : ' That was your first experience ? ' G. E. : '. . . The moment I had been removed from my body I found at once I had been thoroughly mistaken in my conjectures. I looked back upon my whole life in one in- stant. Every thought, word, or action which I had ever ex- perienced passed through my mind like a wonderful panorama as it were before my vision. You cannot begin to imagine anything so real and extraordinary as this first awakening. . . . Ch. XXXVI] George Eliot. Changes of Controls 571 You must not think, my friend, from anything you may have heard or known of my life that I was not a thinker. Should you think this, you would be mistaking me altogether.' R. H. : 'I have always had the most profound admiration, not merely for your psychological work in fiction, but for your clear philo- sophical insight and originality.' G. E. : ' Thanks to you my friend. ... A few days I had a feeling of remorse, but it did not last long. When this passed away I began to feel happier than I had ever been through the whole course of my earthly exist- ence. ... I immediately sang songs of love, realizing that I was a part of love itself. I cannot tarry much longer with you, my friend, but if you would have me say more of my life here, call for me in spirit, that is, in thought My life while in my body is filled with love to ... No woman on your planet to-day ever expressed more. Love is spirit; love is everything; where love is not, there nothing is 1 may not be visible, that is in body, but I am determined to blow the bugle so long as I can reach a friend. George Eliot is not one to be embarrassed by the loss of a word. She would cling to her friends for ever and anon. Many are the walks [talks ? ?] she had in life, and many are those she is taking now, and one she must take is at this present moment ' " Here is a queer muddle which under one perfectly natural interpretation seems proof positive of spiritism. On the same day with the foregoing, Mrs. Piper in trance said : " I shall never be able to remember that," and then recited, as if attempting to recall, what seemed to be a couple of lines of verse, though Hodgson did not catch them clearly. Then " George Eliot " says to Hodgson : " I was speaking to a lady whom I saw passing over the boundary line; I was reciting poetry to her." Now Phinuit, in sundry places, insists that when he "takes possession," Mrs. Piper does go out, and " passes over the boundary." The converse would, if true at all, naturally be true of George Eliot, and the foregoing would seem to indicate an exchange of ideas between the two in- telligences as they were passing each other. There are several accounts given of the experiences of Mrs. Piper's soul while in its alleged frequent temporary excarnate states, and of hers and Phinuit's changing places in her body. These rather material expressions may be statements in the only language we yet have, for spiritual happenings. Certainly that appar- ent allusion to an interchange of ideas en passant between " George Eliot " and Mrs. Piper is too incidental to be a piece 572 Farther Extracts from Newlold's Notes [Bk. II, Pi IV. of deliberate deceit, and is so natural as to seem evidential. And of course the next thing we happen upon will point just as clearly in the other direction ! March 6, 1897. " ' Is it not high time that the old dogmas were being rooted out, and this fear of passing out from the crude material dis- posed of altogether. The passing out of the spirit is like drop- ping off into a profound slumber for a while, then waking to a life that is real and not a dream or horrible nightmare. The life on earth at its best is nothing more 1, at first, was fear- ful of leaving my body, as I oft times repeated to myself when alone, for where, oh where, am I going I know not. . . . When the final thought passed through my throbbing brain something within me seemed to say " all is well." That was the last earthly thought I ever had. When my eyes were blinded and my ears ceased to hear, I felt a shadow of darkness passing over my whole frame. I was no longer conscious, but I was passing out, and yet I knew it not. This lasted for a few moments, and I awoke in a realm of golden light. I heard the voices of friends who had gone before calling to me to follow them. At the moment the thrill of joy was so intense I was like one stand- ing spellbound before a beautiful panorama. The music which filled my soul was like a tremendous symphony. I had never heard nor dreamed of anything half so beautiful. . . . The voices of my friends sounded like the soft and mellow strains of a silver lute " ' Another thing which seemed to me beautiful was the tran- quillity of everyone. You will perhaps remember that I had left a state where no one ever knew what tranquillity meant. Now my friend, for my own satisfaction, kindly state to me whether or not you can realize anything of this ? ... It is a satisfaction to us to know and feel from our crude descriptions you are in the least able to conceive anything of what it is like We are trying to enlighten our friends as much as possible and comfort them.'" On March 13, 1897 : " ' I was speaking about the songs of our birds. Then the birds seemed to pass beyond my vision, and I longed for music of other kinds. . . . This thought, however, was only a fleeting one, when, to my surprise, my desires were filled Just be- fore me sat the most beautiful bevy of young girls that eyes ever rested upon. Some playing stringed instruments, others that sounded and looked like silver bugles, but they were all in harmony, and I must truly confess that I never heard such strains of music before. No mortal mind can possibly realize anything like it. It was not only in this one thing that my Ch. XXXVI] To Desire is to Have 573 desires were filled, but in all things accordingly. I had not one desire, but that it was filled without any apparent act of myself. Every thought was complete; my mind was clear; my thoughts free. As you must know, this bevy of young girls remained before my vision until my soul had its desire filled. Then the panorama changed, and I actually saw their bodies take wings, [Hand indicates motion as of rising away] passing through the beautiful clear ethereal till they were lost to my vision.' " (Do you mean that they moved swiftly, or that they seemed to be wearing wings?) " ' They moved swiftly, the actual wings were not. Not only in this, my friend, were my desires filled ... I saw everything I wished. I only had to think about it and it would immediately present itself " ' I longed to see gardens and trees, flowers, etc. I no sooner had the desire than they appeared. I was standing in a flash in the center of one of the most beautiful gardens I ever beheld since the first thought of George Eliot. Such beautiful flowers no human eye ever gazed upon. It was simply indescribable, yet everything was real. There was no mistaking it, none whatever. I walked and moved along as easily as a fly would pass through a ray of sunlight in your world. I had no weight, nothing cumbersome, nothing. My body was light and free to move at my own will. I passed along through this garden, meeting millions of friends. As they were all friendly to me, each and every one seemed to be my friend 1 then thought of different friends I had once known, and my desire was to meet some one of them, when like every other thought or desire that I had expressed, the friend of whom I thought instantly appeared.' " Apparently a " spirit," like a thought, can be in any number of places at once. Why not through telopsis, telakousis, etc. ? How much all this is like dreams ! My motive in harping on this so often will appear in Chapters L and LIV. Mean- while, please, yourself be on the lookout for similar in- dications. " March 27, 1897. (A good deal of confusion, out of which appears) ' He [Rector. H.H.] will insist upon calling me Miss, but let him if he wishes. I am very much Mrs. Never mind so long as it suits him. ... I have met my mother, one friend whom I prefer not to mention " ' I have a desire for reading, when instantly my whole sur- rounding is literally filled with books of all kinds and by many different authors When I touched a book and desired to meet its author, if he or she were in our world, he or she would 574 Farther Extracts from Newbold's Notes [Bk. II, Ft IV instantly appear, [Is this purely incidental reiterated claim for female authors, by one of them, " evidential," or was Mrs. Piper ingenious enough to invent it? H.H.] . . . Then I wish to leave them all and pass on onto new surroundings. This I desire to do not alone, but accompanied by one of the persona who had so interestingly and mysteriously presented themselves. . . . We simply passed out from the present debris of books, papers, etc., to ... (Confusion) I will be obliged to leave this until there is more light, friend.' " March 2, 1897. " ' Through some we may be able to speak directly, while through others we must send messages to our friends through a controlling spirit, and in this case it is never as clear. Neither can we see our friends as clearly. (Says of G. P.) He is going on with a higher life. We are sent here to fill his place and try and clear ourselves as he has done.'" The change of the instrument below is a specially dream-like touch. March 30, 1897. " ' I wished to see and realize that some of the mortal world's great musicians really existed, and asked to be visited by some one or more of them. When this was expressed, instantly sev- eral appeared before me and Eubenstein stood before me playing upon an instrument like a harp at first. Then the instrument was changed and a piano appeared and he played upon it with the most delightful ease and grace of manner. While he was playing the whole atmosphere was filled with his strains of music.' " On the same day " George Eliot " tells of meeting in prompt response to her wishes, great poets and musicians of the past, and hearing the latter play. But as she compares a woman's beautiful voice to a silver lute, which George Eliot was too good a musician to do, perhaps an initial f was omitted from the lute. But probably it was not, because she keeps on comparing things with " a silver lute," which is a great deal more like Mrs. Piper than like George Eliot. March 31, 1897. " G. E. : 'I expressed a wish to see Rembrandt or any other artist of repute known to me when in the body . . . when, without any further effort on my part beyond expressing the wish, R presented himself to me, and not only himself, but the most exquisite works of art. Beautiful landscapes, heads of many spirits well known to me as a mortal. They appeared before my Ch. XXXVI] Paradoxical Musical Ideas 575 vision like a beautiful panorama, ever changing, and each picture more beautiful than the previous one.' " April 2, 1897. " (George Eliot.) ' Very well now, after having had those wonderful experiences I thought I would further like to know whether I could hear a full symphony of musical instruments. . . . Now, friend, all I did was to express this wish and my eyes were opened as it were, and before me sat some thirty musicians, in fact, a whole orchestra and instantly they began to play, and the whole spiritual universe as it were seemed to be one beauti- ful symphony of music. They played for me the most beautiful selections of music I ever heard in my life, and the various notes were r,o distinct and clear that there was no mistaking that I was listening to a symphony in heaven . The music was music, not a material sound of jumbling discords as those which are sometimes played upon your earthly instruments, but the most exquisite melodies produced from the instruments which were held before my eyes "April 7, 1897. 'I listened to the harmonies of symphony, my whole spirit being in rapport with the delightful strains. I listened until desires were filled. Then I longed to be alone where I could think it over. The leader first acknowledged my presence as a listener, then each member of the orchestra. Then each one in his own turn smiled sweetly, bowed, and each one slowly vanished from my vision. They were gone. I was left as I desired, alone. ... I have, of course, wished to know whether there were artists, musicians, trees, birds, flowers, love, friend- ship, hope, sympathy and tenderness as I had ofttimes experi- enced when in the body They exist each and every one of them. A most stern reality indeed.' " George Eliot was a remarkably good musician. If she wanted an orchestra, she would have wanted at least sixty, and probably more than a hundred. Perhaps they do these things with more limited resources in Heaven? Such an incongruity as this, and the inane dilution of the writing, make a genuine George Eliot control hard to predicate, and yet this control, like virtually every other one, is an individu- ality, and is less unlike George Eliot than is any other control I know. Will difficulties of communication or any other tertium quid, make up the difference ? I first read the record with repulsion, and now find in it some elements of attraction. June 3, 1897. " (G. E. writes) ' Now then I had had other desires, among which was a desire to see some of the children whom we had heard called angels. ... I expressed the desire in precisely the 576 Farther Extracts from Neivbold's Notes [Bk. II, Ft IV same way in which I had done before. ... I had no sooner ex- pressed the earnest thought than they appeared as so many others had done before. A very large group of children ranging in years from one to twelve I should say stood before me in rotation. Friend it was to me one of the most exquisitely beautiful sights that up to that moment had met my vision. Then they began to smile. Such expressions of sweetness you cannot imagine. Their little faces were like golden beams of the most radiant sunlight. Their eyes beaming with delight and with the pleasure they seemed to realize they were affording me. They each one and in fact all of them together clapped their tiny little hands with delight. I then spoke to them and asked them to come closer to me and try and see if they could not let me touch them. They advanced towards me and one little sunny haired child placed a little golden harp at my feet. Another advanced and drew a slight (line ?) across the strings of it and as she did this the most exquisitely beautiful sounds seemed to arise and the whole atmosphere was instantly filled with music. I glanced about me and to my surprise those sweet children were accompanying those two younger ones by singing . . . (Sitter: Are all very young children of the order of little angels ?) No, I find they are not all. There are some who have not reached this realm. (S. : Earthbound children?) There are in some few cases. It is not so frequently the case however with children. They are generally accepted here at once and are not denied because of their lack of knowledge of sin when in their environment. It was the most indescribable scene I had ever witnessed. I am sorry indeed that such as yourself should not be allowed to come here for a time and witness just such scenes as I have described and then return to earth. (S. : But how dissatisfied we should be.) Exactly, but yet the ex- perience would be worth all.' " Telepathy from the sitter will hardly account for the fol- lowing, especially the strange turn at the end. " ' I being fond, very fond of writers of ancient history etc. felt a strong desire to see Dante, Aristotle and several others. Shakespeare if such a spirit existed. [An odd bunch of " writers of ancient history " ! H.H.] As I stood thinking of him a spirit instantly appeared who speaking said " I am Bacon." . . . As Bacon neared me he began to speak and quoted to me the fol- lowing words " You have questioned my reality. Question it no more I am Shakespeare." ' June 4, 1897. " ' I had no sympathy with spiritualism, none whatever, and when I finally left the earthly life, of which I was extremely fond, I felt for the moment that I would like to hang my head in shame, in repentance for my incredulity. . . . Speak to me for Ch. XXXVI] Regarding Lewes. Imperator's Diploma 577 a moment and if you have anything to say in the nature of poetry or prose would you kindly recite a line or two to me. It will give me strength to remain longer than I could other- wise do. (R. H. recites a poem of Dowden's beginning, " ' I said I will find God and forth I went To seek him in the clearness of the sky,' etc. Excitement.) G. E. : ' I will go and see G. and return presently (R. H. : Who says that ?) I do (R. H. : I do not understand what you mean by G.) I do My husband. Do you not know I had a husband? (R. H. : Do you mean by G. Mr. George Henry Lewes?) [Hand is writing Lewes while I am saying George Henry] Lewes. Yes I do. Oh I am so happy. And when I did not mistake alto- gether my deeds I am more happy than tongue can utter (R. H. : I never dreamed otherwise than that you were alto- gether right.) Thank you very kindly for those warm expres- sions of consolation.' [As bearing on her feeling for Lewes not many months after his death, the foregoing does not correspond with some widely credited but unpublished allegations. H.H.] " Meanwhile, April 1st (auspicious day!) Imperator has given " George Eliot " a first-class diploma. Nevertheless the phraseology is not that of Mrs. Piper or of Hodgson, who was sitting. " (Rector writes) ' I, Imperator, do hereby in consideration of many kindnesses, bestowed upon us through the congeniality and influence of our friend and co-worker, George Eliot, hence- forth and forever pronounce her worthy and capable to manage through her clearness of thought, this light, and I now place her at the head of our circle. She is to be counted as the leader of the band of lady communicators. She will in any and all cases take and deliver all messages taken from either our side or yours. . . . We will never allow so long as there is a mor- tal covering to this spirit [i.e. Mrs. Piper? H.H.] which we so easily remove from its abiding place, any other than the best and most pure spirits to enter. We are all a pure and high- minded band of spirits, and we have been attracted here through the earnest desire of a friend of yours, also by yourself, and since we see clearly your earnestness and sincerity in giving us the right, we were only too pleased to accept your offer and profit thereby. Do you at this moment know to whom we refer?' (H. suggests Pelham and Myers, with negative results. Then suggests W. R. N.) " We now reach an intimation that Professor Newbold, having made the acquaintance of the Moses control, as we have seen, had asked him to bring back his friends of the Imperator group, and that they want him to take up the work. 578 Farther Extracts from Newb old's Notes [Bk. II, Pt IV " ' Yes, it is so. He expressed a special desire that we should take up our work through this light, clearing up as much as possible all confusion and disturbances " ' We are not in the region of earth, we are far beyond it. We find it difficult in reaching you clearly in consequence of our being so remote We were wandering about your abode several hours previous to your visiting here. We see some things which attract us there, and not ourselves personally, but friends and relatives of your own . . . (in re attempt to give messages in London). " ' Identical words are always difficult to carry. Our own work is carried on in this way in our own world in ideas, not in words, as we did of old when in mortal body " (H. tries to explain the mechanism of writing. Writer finds difficulty in understanding.) " ' We hear of ttimes your voice in the same way, indistinctly, at times the words sound very distant, and we do not grasp what you are saying.' " Imperator & Co. This has brought us unworthy, again into association with His High Mightiness and his entourage Rector, Doctor, Prudens, and, I believe, some more. They appeared soon after their godfather and possible father, Stainton Moses, had appeared to Professor Newbold; and, as explained by Hodg- son in his second report (Chapter XXXIV), they ousted Phinuit, took control of the medium and of Hodgson too mind, body, and estate, and bossed things generally with much benefit to everybody's health and the communications from the other world. All of which reminds me that " God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform " ; for while the gang are decent enough fellows in most ways, they have an amount of priggishness, pomposity, and defective grammar amid the most hifalutin talk, that all seriously interfere with a due appreciation of their virtues at least on the part of the present scribe. The standard of taste they show through Mrs. Piper is not what they showed through Stainton Moses, as manifested in Spirit Teachings or in the Myers papers in the Pr. S. P. R. All this powerfully supports the theory that all these manifestations are a blending of medium, sitter, and apparently other rills from the cosmic ocean, which can be traced only in proportion to the indications left by them while incarnate, in the memories of survivors. The Imperator gang Ch. XXXVI] Imperator & Co. "Redivivi" 579 have left no such traces, and their presentation through Moses seems to me to be plainly all Moses. They were the sort of people an Anglican clergyman would be apt to create, and Moses had a peculiar facility in creating archaic names witness his orchestra. There is no indication that any of them ever existed on earth. He alleged, and probably believed, that after they introduced themselves under their nicknames, they gave him a set of names of people who had existed on earth; and for Imperator, hints of the Old-Testament Moses, St. Paul, and St. Augustine appear; but as we know, Moses' alleged spirit did not give the same names to Professor New- bold that he, in the flesh, did to Myers. The Piper-Imperator gang seem to be the unconscious crea- tion of Mrs. Piper and Hodgson, with perhaps some involun- tary initiative and assistance from Professor Newbold. Hodg- son seems to have been wrought up to do his share in creating them by involuntary telepathic influence on Mrs. Piper's dreams, springing from his spiritistic faith and his reading of Moses' writings. Moreover, apparently Mrs. Piper's dreams were colored by Moses' books, which, Professor Newbold tells me, Hodgson had given her. The unsuccessful struggles with the thee-and-thou form of expression were more apt to be hers than Hodgson's. But now we are apparently approaching more ticklish ground. What was the Piper-Moses? Professor Newbold does not remember whether he had imagined Moses the quaint and mistaken figure that Mrs. Piper dreamed when Professor Newbold sat. It looks, however, as if he was that figure in Professor Newbold's imagination, and as if he was something of the sort in Mrs. Piper's too : for the then editions of Spirit Teachings did not, I believe, contain the portrait I spoke of in my last chapter. So far, then, the control was apparently Piper and sitter. There was quaintness in the language too, which may have been part of the unconscious construction of those two. But it rapidly disappeared at later sittings. Why ? My gamble is that in the complex stream there was an inflow of Moses himself, and that as this rill became wider and deeper "stronger" (in the terminology that has naturally grown up around the phenomena) the language become more that 580 Farther Extracts from Newlold's Notes [Bk. II, Ft IV of the Moses personality. We see things like this in the pres- ent life: one of the family or a close friend conies in, and you say : " You've been with so-and-so " : turns of thought and expression have flowed from one personality into the other. Nay, even something like teloteropathy shows itself in the same way. Your friend need not have been out at all, for you to say : " You're talking like so-and-so, or you're thinking like so-and-so." Yet in most of these cases, but by no means in all, the phenomena are due to memory. There is more, however, to the guess I'm expounding. Moses had been dead some years when Professor Newbold and Mrs. Piper evoked him from the past, and for some time in their talks with G. P. and Phinuit, they had been imagining and desiring and sending for him: so when he did appear (Don't ask me for precise language here: consider all this symbolic if you want to) what came was very largely the Piper-sitter construction. And now arises a voracious guess, but see if it doesn't fit. It is a guess, not an assertion, that there was a Stainton-Moses surviving consciousness, and that it or he got wind of these proceedings, either through his own telepathic perceptions, or, if you please, through Professor Newbold's invitation through G. P. via Phinuit, to come and see him, and that he very naturally did so. Now I'd better leave the anthropomorphic metaphor (it seems rather tight-fitting for a postcarnate individuality) and get back to the cosmic ocean one. When the trickle of Moses consciousness got to the Moses stream of Piper-sitter consciousness, the trickle wasn't strong enough to dilute away the color of Piper-sitter language: but as more and more of the Moses consciousness flowed in, the Piper-sitter stream became not only relatively less, but positively less, because the consciousnesses from which it sprang were more and more impressed (the metaphor is getting mixed, of course) by the increasing Moses influence; and so the Piper-sitter stream gradually ceased to contribute to the alleged Moses stream, as the actual Moses stream increased. Now contrast the talk of the alleged postcarnate Moses at the outset, in the last chapter, with this later talk (which I will quote a few lines below), after his stream had established a line of least resistance in the medium. (We have been led, Ch. XXXVI] Controls First Await Congenial Sitters 581 by the way, to the exact metaphor with which Spencer starts his exposition of psychic lines of least resistance.) Now, if you please, anticipate the course of the Piper dream, and skip to Chapter XLIII and see how Hodgson, who was well acquainted with hoth medium and sitter, and so had lines of least resistance in both, made his first appearance as control; or turn back, if you please, to Chapter XXXI and see how G. P., who had a special line of least resistance in the sitter, made his. Bear all this in mind when you come in regular course to Myers and Hodgson redivivi. This string of guesses regarding the controls is probably the most mature that I shall present. The present chapter is an insertion after the book was in type. But in fact the guesses are by no means consecutive in the rest of the work, as you will have seen, and will see. As the book progressed, the mind would of course revert back now and then, and brace up and qualify here and there. This is true, or should be true in any book; but it is specially true in a book whose material is so foggy ; and mentioning it may be of occasional use in explana- tion. When you come to write a book on these subjects, you will find perhaps have already written and have found that it grows in the writing, even in parts after they are first written, more than a book on a subject that you or some- body knows more about before starting. If I were to write the whole book over for the sake of con- secutiveness, I should probably but repeat the same experi- ences on a larger scale. And mind, I don't call all those guesses, beliefs. On March 24, 1897, Moses wrote: " ' I have passed through so many stages since I came to this life, that to return through the light of the medium and recall all the names of friends is an impossibility until, at least, I have become fully accustomed to everything, viz., light, medium, yourself, surroundings, articles, etc. It is a strange and in- teresting experience at first I can assure you. At first we see the imprisoned spirit of some friend on earth but very vaguely, and at the moment we wonder what it all means, and before we can realize where we are or to whom we are speaking, our thoughts become a mass, as it were, of confused half-registered and incoherent (pause) ... It is not painful, however, to our- selves, but we see that it is distressing to those to whom we 582 Farther Extracts from Newbold's Notes [Bk. II, Ft IV. are trying to speak. Why H., my dear fellow, you have no conception of what it is like, and how earnestly, truthfully, and sincerely we are struggling to reach our friends.' " The following item bears on Moses's relation to telekinetic phenomena as explained in Chapters VIII-X. This could not well be given in those places, for lack of sundry explana- tions since incidentally arising. February 18, 1897. " (Rector) ' Now supposing the whole compartment were filled with ether from our own clime, I could enter, drawing mean- while chemical energy from the medium, and act so strongly on some of your objects as to move them from one place to another, and I have done so with my medium here, now with me here [i.e. Moses] ... it is not easy to act on matter in this way, and we are liable to be misunderstood, because persons to whom we manifest ourselves in this way do not accept our real presence; ... I dislike, however, to make myself manifest in this way by the moving of objects; it must necessarily injure the medium more or less, besides giving the wrong impression of our friends ' " But let us return to Imperator and his followers. The sort of George Eliot (?) that managed to get through Mrs. Piper was not affected as I am by them. She discourses thus of the great man( ?) himself (Feb. 26, 1897) : " ' When his messages are confused and imperfect, he feels every pang of yours. Every feeling of regret or disappoint- ment; yet as he is of God he accepts it and bears the sorrow patiently, enduringly, and goes through it all with your own soul. Yet he teaches them to be patient, not hurry, make every sound audible [presumably through the medium. H.H.], every expression as perfect as possible [here is George Eliot implying degrees of perfection! H.H.], assuring them that they will be able in time to deliver his messages clearly. Should you know what his work is, you would not feel your own. Every word, thought and deed of your own is understood by him. He sees your patience, he sees the struggle you are having with these messengers, your disappointments, the little despites [sic! H.H.], Aid all. When he appears himself, he is in constant communication with the Most High, and as he labors with the machine he only asks for help and goes on in loving trust in Him who governs all things wisely. He ... is a saint and was a martyr of God when on the earth, and as you are enduring many things which in part make man a higher spiritual being, he despairs not. The road is rough and stony for you both, yet it is His Holy Will that it will not last long.' " Ch. XXXVI] G. P. and Rector on Imperator 583 G. P. too was disposed to take Imperator seriously: he writes (March 10, 1897) : " ' How is His Holiness getting on, Hodgson ? He is very high: farther from the earth than anyone who comes here. (H. : He talks as if his mind were different in some way from ours.) [I agree thoroughly. H.H.] Well if you could see him as I do, you would say it was. In what way does it seem differ- ent H. ? He is nearer the sight of God. [H. explains that Imperator does not talk to him as straightforwardly as he would like, and does not go into detail.] He will in all probability if he returns a few times in succession. He is a good deal with your friend Moses and talks with him in the same way. " '[H. speaks of Moses's lack of scientific training and of G. P.'s and G. E.'s possession of it, to which G. P. assents. In re Imperator] He cannot, neither can Moses, nor any of the rest of them give you the scientific knowledge which you wish Hodgson. ... I know they are much higher and far beyond George Eliot and G. Pelham, but they cannot handle this machine as we can They are very high and religious and this is my path 1 know you will get better things of the kind you wish in time . . . but do not forget me. Yours ever, G. P. George Eliot is in England, working like . . . under the light.' " Next day (March 11, 1897) Eector thus dilates and dilates and dilates for Imperator: " ' We are not near to your planet. We are far from it. You must accept our teaching, otherwise you will be lost. We come from a long distance to speak with you, friend of earth. We are called upon to do your bidding from the far off lands, and at a very late day When we return to your earthly plane we must, and do, take on more or less the conditions into which we pass. However, we are a goodly and honest band of spirits, who would under no circumstances, no matter how material or unpleasant the conditions, mislead or deceive you in the least. We are struggling as it were to make a clear pathway to your earth. For years and years a continuous line of communica- tors more or less near the earth has had access to this light. Unfortunately, in one sense it is true, in another it has been a very good thing. [" Good thing " is good in the midst of such lofty language! H.H.] It has been the means of convincing those who perhaps would have remained in darkness otherwise. Yet it does open the way for many interruptions that would not occur under other circumstances ' " Of course such modest gentlemen as Imperator and his gang were entirely too high-toned to keep company with that 584 Farther Extracts from Newbold's Notes [Bk. II, Ft. IV. " preposterous scoundrel," dear old Phinuit, who was a better gentleman than any of them. But they seem to have put up a job to make a prig of him. Rector says (March 19, 1897) : " ' We have removed the former leading control to a much higher plane, and he has passed on from the earthly condition to a higher sphere altogether. We have prayed and earnestly worked for his salvation, and although he has been ofttimes misjudged, he was not of the highest. We have allowed a spirit sent to show him a much higher and nobler life than he had known before. It is not wise to allow lower minds to receive communications from a spirit when first controlling, who brings all such into the conditions of the earth, earthy.' " On May 24, 1897, the Muck-a-muck himself dilates some more: " ' We propose to substitute instead of the rough, inharmoni- ous and uncultivated dialect a softer melody Instead of per- mitting such messengers as some who have hitherto brought messages using such dialect as we have described we propose to keep all such in a state of penitence and servitude. We pro- pose to render our services to all such and prepare them for the higher and better life rather than to permit them to return to thee or to other minds of exalted science. . . . We are referring chiefly to the earthbound spirit Dr. Schliville He was not exactly of the earth earthy but bound here by the attractions of earthly minds. . . . Say to thy medium the following [the medium was in trance, remember, and on waking had very little recollection of her dreams. H.H.] Take exercise in the open fields which God the Most High hath prepared for such. Cast out all unpleasant thoughts. Ask him to give help and it will be given. Say to her the pure in heart shall see God Let not the trials of life burden the soul. Ask Him to assist thee and throw thyself in all confidence upon Him and He will. Have faith in Him, cast thy burdens upon Him. Friend, light, strength, happiness and all good will, if these instructions are obeyed, follow ; otherwise may God have mercy upon the soul.' " " (June 1, 2, 1897.) ' In regard to thy former acquaintance and assistant viz. Schliville he hath been taken by us to the higher and better life. No one could possibly need such help more than he did. [Messages from H.] It is well. We will take thy messages of kindness to him personally. We know well his condition. We know well the whys and wherefores. We understand it all. In him there was no intentional evil. Never. But he lingered for so long a time just beyond the realm of the higher life it ofttimes misled him, i.e. his condi- tion, meeting with so many who were of the earth earthy, those Ch. XXXVI] Removal of Phinuit. Puzzle of Imperator 585 who never knew anything of God, those who as we have said were of the earth . . . explains a good deal.' " Perhaps they did him good, and I am confident that even they couldn't spoil him. April 27, 1898, Mr. D. writes: "'Nothing but good exists here [In the medium? H.H.] now that Phinuit is removed. It was a mistake to leave him here so long. He did exist as we do, but he was earthbound, and deteriorated first of all by the light's being in contact with lower minds as it was at first, and that drew him to it strongly and held him there. But now since the elevation of the light [By Imperator & Co. taking charge and selecting the sitters. H.H.], only the best and purest conditions exist here.' " Amen! May 31, 1897. " ' t Friend we will caution thee once more to be wary. Trust few, love all [Now this really is good, and the rest of the pas- sage is not more than half bad: all of which deepens the mys- tery. H.H.] Let all live, disturb them not. Each may have his or her own mind which lieth not with the power of mortal man. to change. Leave all such to Him who governs all things wisely. Go not among pernicious circles unless thou canst do such good Let each one rest content and assist them not for the sake of cultivating curiosity. To the intelligent and pure in thought such as thou dost chiefly associate with throw all light possible.' " On seeing the MS. (or rather TS.) of this chapter, my kind friend Professor Newbold asks whether, as the controls G. P. and (later) Hodgson take Imperator and his party seriously, I do not, in treating them in a spirit of levity, show less con- fidence in the G. P. and Hodgson controls than I really feel. I wish somebody would tell me how much I really feel. And if he tells me on Sunday, I wish he would tell me again at the end of the week. Sometimes I feel a good deal, and some- times I don't. This state of mind would Beem to be a healthy mysticism, if such a thing is possible; and as knowledge accumulates, it will of course be outgrown, and give place to the same state of mind on new manifestations from the Unknown. A lead- ing psychical researcher holds that it is a student's business to make up his mind on this subject, and stick to it until new discoveries change it. That, perhaps minus the qualifications 586 Farther Extracts from Newlold's Notes [Bk. II, Pt IY regarding new discoveries, is the state of mind of the danger- ous mystic, and probably has impeded the usefulness of the eminent researcher who holds to it. Imperator & Co. don't look to me as nearly genuine as the controls who are known to have lived. There seems the same difference that there is between a painting out of an artist's imagination, and a portrait from a real model. Of course if Moses and Mrs. Piper and her sitters created them, they were not in the assumed " spirit world " for G. P. and Hodgson and " George Eliot," to become acquainted with and so their allusions to them must come from meeting them in the medium's mind. I have already given my guess as to George Eliot's place there. But whatever I may feel regarding the genuineness of the controls, does not traverse what I feel regarding their theo- logical views and tastes: I have absolute confidence in the genuineness of the Pope, but in his theological views and tastes, he has the misfortune to differ from me, and even probably would endure that misfortune with equanimity if he were aware of it. Now the idea that as soon as anybody gets into the other world, he " knows it all," is about played out ; and the fact that a control does not " know it all," and is sub- ject to some of the aberrations he was subject to here, is to me no detraction from genuineness, but is even beginning to take on, in my perverted terminology, something of an " evi- dential " look, and to my homely emotions, rather a comforting one. I have several valued friends whose hands are rough and not always clean, who would feel very uneasy if they had to go to court, but who are going to Heaven if anybody is. Now if, according to the old conceptions, they were to go to the court of the Most High, it would take a miracle to make them at ease there. But miracles too are played out since evolution came in, and I expect to find, in the next world, these friends and my old friends G. P. and Hodgson, very much the same sort of good fellows they were here, with all their lovable faults, but somewhat relieved from their unlovable ones ; and if their lovable ones include believing in such characters, real or imaginary, as Imperator & Co., so much the better for Imperator & Co., and not a whit the worse that I can see for the genuineness of G. P. and Hodgson. I know*a good many Ch. XXXYI] Inconsistencies regarding Impemtor 587 substantial people who believe in a good many characters whose existence is exceedingly doubtful, but that belief does not weaken my faith in the substantiality of those who hold it. But G. P., and Hodgson later as control, profess to be seeing and talking with these people constantly ! So did Moses when he was here, and he was genuine enough here. He may have been fooled, but if he was, he lost none of his own actuality. And if the controls G. P. and Hodgson are fooled in the same way, I don't see how it affects their genuineness, any more than it affected the genuineness of Moses incarnate. " But it's not a very inviting state of affairs over there, if they could be so fooled ! " Perhaps we hadn't better attempt to pass on the state of affairs from any one feature : its com- plexities and possibilities, even from the little some of us sup- pose ourselves to know, are beyond us. But don't some researchers seem inconsistent in accepting the modern idea of the interchangeable fluidity of mind, and still applying a rigidity in questions affecting the controls that they would not apply even regarding living men? The whole subject, however, is, so far, little more than a mass of inconsistencies. Miscellaneous Items These notes contain an account of a haunted house, where the idea is given that controls can manifest in such places only when one of the occupants happens to be a medium. I have not made room to treat specifically of hauntings, but some little light may be thrown upon them incidentally in what I have been able to say of telekinesis and visions. That there is enough in the subject to justify more attention than it has received, I am confident. The notes contain many declarations of the desire of "spirits" to open communication through anybody whom they find having " light." There is abundance of such little by-plays from the con- trols as : " I heard you particularly well then," or : " Say that again, please ! " I don't consider these " put up," and am crass enough to give them some " evidential " weight. Some control, not worth while to hunt up again, says that the soul originates at the union of the ovum and the sperma- tozoon. The Law, I believe, regards that compound as a 588 Farther Extracts from Newbold's Notes [Bk. II, Pt. IV human being having rights, and the control's dictum may have been telepathic or teloteropathic ; but the dictum is somewhat arbitrary, and not entirely in accordance with what I have quoted and suggested in Chapter III. The notes also contain some rather striking instances of the control " knowing better " than the sitter, but I have prob- ably quoted enough elsewhere, though now while writing, for this belated insertion, what may be the last words of my long task, I wish that I had devoted more attention to that feature, and hope that some of my readers may. It is perhaps as evi- dential as anything we have, at least of inflow from the Cos- mic Soul, which comes very near to meaning immortality in some mode of life beyond our clear appreciation and our anthropomorphic preconceptions, and, not impossibly, beyond our broadest desires. The following scraps are suggestive as well as amusing suggestive mainly of chaos, however, it seems to me. June 25, 1894. " Present : R. H., W. R. N. Phinuit appears. As he comes H. calls into his [the medium's. H.H.] ear: " ' One-ery, two-ery, ickery am Fillazy, Follazy, nicholas jam Queeby, Quawby Irish man Tickle'em, Tackle'em Buck. [Phinuit recognizes Billie, but is puzzled by this token of H.'s presence] ' Billie, have you turned into Hodgson ? ' (R. H. : Hello, Dr., I was only playing a joke on you, and that's where you got left too.) [Phinuit laughs heartily and evidently ap- preciates the joke as well as anyone.] " " [G. P. writes] ' How are you, H. how are you my good friend [shakes hands] . . . got something for you ... all right . . . tell Dr. to keep quiet H. while I am hearing voices.' " June 19, 1895. " [Phinuit and W. R. N.] (You know, Doctor, most scientific men don't believe in you spirits at all.) ' I know that. But what do they think I am? Don't they believe in me? (They think you're just one of the medium's dreams. She gets to sleep and dreams she's a French Doctor.) Oh my [with infinite disgust], people had better say it again. I'm individually, distinctly, absolutely my own self, I have nothing at all to do with that woman: the body is light to me, it is illuminated. (Are you talking 'to the light?) I'm right inside the body. (But Mr. Pelham says he isn't.) You see my hand [holding Ch. XXXVI] 'PUnuit on Q. P. 589 it up], that's my hand. When George comes I'll go out to keep the people away and hold the machine. When I take the hand[ ?] you can divide the light. He takes that part of the light and uses it. I'll tell you another thing. While George talks to you, if it was not for interruption I could talk at the same time. George's thoughts have no more to do with mine than yours have. (Can you read my thoughts?) I know your whole thoughts. [Elsewhere Phinuit denies this flatly several times, and here he goes on to compromise. H.H.] I can't tell the individual thoughts as well. [To George] You keep quiet, George, you'll have plenty of time to write. That George, he says you seem more clear than before as if your body was double and your mind was acting rapidly. Your spirit looks light. Do you see my friend Captain in the body, Billie? (You mean Prof. Lodge?) Yes. (No, I don't know him.) Won't you give my warmest love, and tell him I'd like to hear from him, like to have a message from him, and anything I can do for him I'd be glad to do, or give him advice. Here's George whistling around, he wants to write. [Hand has been twitching for some time. I ask Phinuit if George is coming in.] No, he's only walking around the light and just whistling and singing and talking to himself. (How does he make the differ- ence between writing and talking?) He can talk closer than I can, he has no ties and no weight to hold him down, like this [indicating body of medium]. Very wonderful and bright, that fellow George. You tell the Captain and Fred I wish they'd send me a message besides what I see from their thoughts. I want everybody to be good and true to themselves; then there are no regrets here, but the soul is weak.' " Last Clear Glimpses of G. P. The following bits of chaff are not what some people con- sider evidential, though some other people may: June 25, 1894. Hodgson and Newbold sitting. " (N. : Mr. Pelham, I wish to find a lady to whom this book belonged. It is important.) [Shows book.] '. . .important . . . I'll see ... [to H.] Would you do this for me were you here (R. H. : I think I would, George.) Do you think so H. would you, what rubbish H. you are too fond of your old body you old rascal but this is the time I caught you napping [H. and N. laugh.] (H. : Are you sure you aren't napping yourself, George?) not much. . . I like it when they get out of my way I don't mind much I would not have your body anyway, not much (N. : Well, I think it's a pretty fair sort of body.) Yes but this is a joke on him because I haven't one just now (H. : Well, you needn't talk, George, your body is a puff of gas, a sort of gaseous mass.) Well I like it and I won't swop with you H. Adieu. [Phinuit reappears grumbling] I never 590 Farther Extracts from Newlold's Notes [Bk. II, Ft IV saw the like of that fellow George. There's another here trying to say something but he gave no chance at all. When he gets hold he keeps hold I tell you Hodgson. (R. H. : Dr. take this book won't you and find the person whose influence is on it.) All right, Hodgson, I'll surprise you both next time . . . she taught in the body. I'll find her Hodgson and talk with her and tell you all about her. Oh Billie I never saw a fellow like you. Oh you have so many here that want to talk to you. Every day there is a new one ... a perfect crowd (N. : Give them my love Dr. and tell them I hope to come over myself and see them after a while.) [Phinuit bursts into a harsh laugh] Oh Billie don't you worry about that. That's just one thing you can be sure of. You can't help coming Billie no matter how much you want to [Continues chuckling] You've got to go through what we've all gone through. Never mind, Billie, you'll never be sorry you came.' " June 17, 1895. Newbold sitting. G. P. in control. " (How do you make a difference between writing and talk- ing?) 'I do not understand. [Question repeated.] There seems ... is no difference to me. I only know that I am writing by having been told so by Hodgson. (So that is purely acci- dental?) Certainly. Did you not see me bow my head to H ? (When H. went out?) Certainly. (But George you didn't bow, you waved your hand?) Don't you understand the difference between a fellow's head and feet for instance? (Did you try to bow ?) Did. Certainly, bowed my head of course, so. [Hand rises and bends towards imaginary Hodgson.] (Well it did not look like a bow here.) What then? That's my head, you goose. [We both laugh.] (Well, in fact the medium's band rose up and bowed or waved.) Well, I'll be hanged, if that doesn't get me. . . . Well, I'll have to give this up as beaten . . . I am beaten. (Never mind, we understood.) Well, you are clever, if it looked that way Well I am glad to know you any way. Question ? (What is Phinuit about while you talk to -the light?) Phinuit? He's talking to John H. and a little million others at the same time helping me hold them back and keep them from interrupting me. " * (What sort of conduct in this life prepares best for ihe other ?) Conduct ? . . . They should lead the best and high- est, purest and noblest life when in the protoplasm body [If you don't believe (I'm not sure I do) that G. P. was talking, ask yourself : How does Mrs. Piper reserve this use of " protoplasm " for G. P. among all her characters? H.H.] or else there is a distinction after the ethereal ego leaves it, in other words they are earth bound or drawn to earth in thought more than they would be otherwise. For example, see how I have lingered, yet I cannot say that I am unhappy, because I wish to enlighten the world on psychological subjects as much as possible, and I Ch. XXXVI] a. P. Bids Farewell 591 could not have done so had I been a perfect man. (Does not that seem rather hard?) hard, not to me. I enjoy it. (Sup- pose a perfect man wanted to do the work you are doing, what then?) Well, there are no perfect men. (No, but more perfect. Suppose they wished to come back?) Well, they would but not to the extent that I could for instance. Then that does not explain it all by any means. Some are . . . how can I say this ? [Note as he goes on, the touch of modesty! This, of course, was "put up" by Mrs. Piper(?) H.H.] (Suppose you leave it until to-morrow, and think how to put it.) Some are more intellectual than others, some have greater and more interest in these subjects than others, some have more friends here than others, also some are more intense, have more feeling and are, in other words, more intense . . . have more intense feeling for friends than others, such was the case with yours truly under- stand?'" June 21, 1895. " [G. P. writes] ' I am here with you Say old chap, I suppose you think that I am only [left hand has clenched a fist and is slowly approaching right] tell John H. to keep out please. [N. grasps left hand and says ' Mr. H., George says kindly go out for the present as he wishes to talk.' Left hand relaxes; right hand writes, feebly], all right, to please you George I will.' " April 23, 1897. Hodgson sitting. " (Rector) ' We would warn you not to rely too much upon the statements made as tests so called by your friend George. He is too far away from your earth now to be clear in regard to tests, test conditions, etc. His spirit is pure, his mind sin- cere, his whole life here is one of honor and one to be respected by us all. Yet we would speak the truth and say his work in your field is done. No one whom we know is more active or more sincere, yet friend let us say once more that while his intentions are the very best, the conditions are such as to render it impossible for him to reach you as he would like. He has passed beyond '" May 20, 1897. Hodgson sitting. " ' No spirit should ever be allowed to use the voice of any medium unless they have passed beyond the earthly sphere (By so doing injury is likely to be wrought on the medium's physical?) Yes, unmistakable harm. Friend, we have nour- ished, tended and protected this body from the earliest moment of our attraction, also thine own. Let us ask if thou hast not seen greater improvement from thine observation (H. Says he has, both Mrs. P. and he are better etc. that he could not have stood the drain so long otherwise etc.) No friend it would not have been possible because of the conditions. They were so unsettled and inharmonious with the higher intelligences. It 592 Farther Extracts from Newbold's Notes [Bk. II, Pi IV was high time that the higher activities were called upon. Much harm had been carried on for many years i.e. to the physical due to the undeveloped condition of the leading con- trol, yet to repeat the ancient adage, " No great loss without some small gain." Thou couldst have gone on for years with the same results had not thy friend (G. P.) appeared upon the scene to lend a helping hand yet he (Phinuit) was ofttimes misjudged and not infrequently perplexed by the baser and lower minds of mortals We never fail to offer up our thanks to Him for the privileges he allowed thy friend Pelham " ' He is still holding thy interests at heart. He never fails to speak of thee and about thee in the most tender and endear- ing terms. . . . He is now going on to the higher and happier realm where in due time he will be well rewarded for his never ending patience, persistence and sincerity. (G. P. is represented as sending messages to his friends. H. replies in like manner and sends also love from W. R. N.) Friend thou knowest not the happiness these expressions coming from the human hearts of mortals will give to him.' " June 8, 1897. " (G. P.) ' I am still with you but oh so changed. I may not have the pleasure of seeing you in this way for a long time [i.e. much longer. H.H.] I am here now for the purpose of clearing up my own messages Give my love to Billie (Newbold) and tell him that his interests will always be mine. I am glad to see him so happy. (Messages to many friends) ... I will try and reach you through the second light [Beginning of pass sentence] Do not accept anything as coming from me unless I give you this. I have been trying to tell Billie for some time and hope to yet. He has light. (I know it.) ' ' G. P. reappears after a long absence. Nov. 24, 1898. Hodgson and Newbold sitting. " ' Give heaps of love to Billie and tell him I have a great deal to tell him and tell him how grateful I am. I have a great deal to thank him for (Apparently for work in earlier sittings under difficult conditions. W. R. N. tells H. all is clear sailing for him now. H. says I do not know that anything is abso- lutely fixed.) We do. We do but you do not, so we laugh ah ah ah. (Well, who is it that laughs?) I do. Q. does. Fred smiles and John H grins. So we are all happy and pleased.' " Hodgson's Family and Friends A couple of lines back is an allusion to " Q," who can now be frankly designated as Hodgson's early love. She first appeared in Chapter XXIX. There also appeared his cousin Fred, who also " smiled " with Q and the other friends in the Ch. XXXVI] Hodgson's Intimates as Controls 593 above paragraph, and from whom, a message is given in an early page of this chapter. Hodgson refrained from publishing other alleged communi- cations from these friends, and some from members of his family. Now that he is gone, and presumably past any care for reticence, his executor authorizes me to give the few that are accessible. His second Piper report has generally been taken to base his conversion to spiritism on the G. P. utterances. It cannot be doubted that the withheld matter also had its influence in enabling him not only to overcome the negative implica- tions of the Wilde and Myers letters, but to take seriously much in the manifestations of Imperator and Co. which seems to me preposterous. It must not be forgotten, however, that there was much else in those manifestations for which even such a critic as James had great respect. Before you judge Hodgson, try to put yourself in his place. The following purports to be from a nephew : May 27, 1897. " We bring to thee a little child who is desirous of speaking. He is a relative of thine own. Come here Uncle Richard and tell me about those large, very large balls and where they are. (Those you had in the body?) Yes, and I cannot find any of them. They must all be lost in the garden. [Gives name of ALERIC should be ERIC.] (Did you not talk to me before?) Yes, once, but not as I do now. I told brother Leigh to say my words for me. [H. Mentions cap, drum and horse, which are recognized with excitement.] My whistle My picture book. Richard and Robin were two brave men. They sleep in bed the clock strikes ten. (Who used to say that?) I did for Leigh. " Grandpa is here and such a good kind man. He tells us long stories about God [Says he helps his sister Enid to write.] (Tell me more about the nursery book.) I forgot who tore it. I threw it down behind my little bed but I did not tear it Uncle Richard. I saw tbe Old Woman who lived in a shoe in it and do you forget Primrose Hill was dirty? What is that big black thing you wear Uncle Richard? (Where?) All over your pretty white body. (Do you mean my clothes?) Is that what you call it? Well, they must be very heavy clothes. (Perhaps you mean my heavy body?) Does it pain? (Because it is so heavy?) Yes, I think you cannot run very fast. (Not as fast as you. How do you move?) I walk about all over the gardens here, and sometimes I run very fast Mamma 594 Farther Extracts from Newbold's Notes [Bk. II, Pi IV wears a heavy thing like you. . . (All the people in my world wear them, don't they?) Yes. Why don't they take them off and come into this light place, Uncle Richard. . . Tell my Mamma I love her so much, also my sister. I cannot think any more now. Don't let her pull my hair when she brushes it. Nance. Goodbye. Catch me now. Aleric. A bright lad that but memories will linger." The following claims to be from a cousin: June 9, 1897. " Do you recall her ? (Yes, indeed.) She is here beside (What is her first name, Rector?) Ellen, E. V. E. V. Osborne as she speaks it if I heard it distinctly. Speak to her kindly. (Is this Mrs. Osborn or Miss Osborn?) Mrs. [?] (Is that Mrs.?) Speak kindly. [Question repeated] Miss. Miss. No Mrs. I do not get a distinct sound as yet. Wait a moment. Yes, Miss. (Miss?) Yes Miss. (Where did) I used to know the mortal man here. (Whereabouts?) I used to know Australia Well (Did you visit at our house!) Yes, help me to reach you and I will help you. (Is this Gertrude Osborn?) [Much excitement] Yes, Yes Yes Yes I know Miss [Q] I am with her now. [Excitement then calm.] " Where and what place is this to which I have come and to which I am so strongly attracted. Oh friend you know very little as yet. What a change has come over me. Oh what a change! My soul lives, my body lies in clay. My thoughts go flying through a world of space. My soul is so free. I feel like a bird on its wings flying everywhere, seeing everything yet recalling few. Oh, what a beautiful place this is, so light, so really light, so very light and I am so free. Who will miss me? Ah, no one should. I have no pain. It was all a dream a huge delirium, I am free. Oh, do you know why I come here. I found the portals open. I glided through. But oh, it made my head whirl so terribly. I felt for the moment that I was going through it all again. I never was so free before. What can I say? what can I do? Oh, I hear them singing and all to comfort me. I am so free, I am so free." About 1895 " Q " began ostensibly to manifest through Mrs. Piper, and Hodgson devoted a large share of his modest income to personal sittings. The reports of these were prob- ably seen by only very few of his friends, but are, I under- stand, in the possession of the S. P. R. Touching the appearance of Q after so many years in which, so far as we know, she had made only a couple of faint manifestations in Hodgson's early sittings, one ration- Ch. XXXVI] Hodgson and the " Q " Control 595 alistic interpretation would of course be that during the period when Hodgson had no faith in Q's continued existence, and sought the love of " Huldah " for what he assumed to be the score or two of his remaining years, his mind did not contain much that would telepathically provoke from Mrs. Piper reactions simulating Q. When he first sat with Mrs. Piper, of course, Q had enough of a place in his mind to awaken some reactions from Mrs. P., but after his dis- appointment with " Huldah," and amid the strong sugges- tions of a future life starting in the G. P. experience, that place greatly expanded : his mind followed the course through which "on revient toujours a ses premiers amours/' and Mrs. Piper echoed his stronger longings for Q. On the other hand, the spiritist and teleologist would perhaps put the matter something in this way: Life is a discipline. Hodgson's early loss of Q was part of the dis- cipline. Q did not want to interfere with it, perhaps could not, before it had done a certain measure of its "perfect work," but in the fullness of time, she appeared. If I had to form a tentative opinion, it would be in the shape of a guess that both these theories may be right a guess which will have more meaning if you finish this book, than it can have now. Whatever may be the interpretation, one friend to whom Hodgson showed the reports of the sittings, and for whose judicial-mindedness I can vouch, says that they were " most impressive and often very touching," and believes that it was really they, more than the G. P. sittings, which converted Hodgson to spiritism and, in the words of another friend, already quoted, " made him a saint." If, then, in this pragmatic age, the sittings with Q are to be known by their fruits, their genuineness has heavy claims. Plainly relations had ostensibly been resumed before the following. It is all that I find in the notes of that period now in possession of Professor Newbold. The fragment, however, throws many suggestive lights on the whole experi- ence, even upon Hodgson's view of Imperator, and makes at least one of that personage's scoffing critics look upon him for the moment with respect. 596 Farther Extracts from Newbold's Notes [Bk. II, Ft IV Mch. 6, 1897. U Q. writes. Refers to violets, little white lilies, pinks, and asks after large red flowers. Very red in color with little stripes through it. Assents to tulip. R. H. put in his room four days before, violets, pansies and one tulip, intending them for Q. The tulip wilted very abruptly. " Imperator ... I send thy friend to thee. May the blessing of God be upon her dear head, and God in His mercy protect thee, my friend, and keep thee in holiness. tl.SJX" CHAPTEE XXXVII PROFESSOR HYSLOFS REPORT PR. XVI consists entirely of reports and comments by Professor J. H. Hyslop, late of Columbia University and moving spirit of the second American S. P. R. The reports are mainly of sittings with Mrs. Piper and experiments bear- ing thereupon. These accounts, like those of almost all medi- Timistic communications, contain little or no verifiable matter that cannot be explained by telepathy from some incarnate intelligence. But this consideration loses much of its weight in face of the standard question how a communication could be verifiable if the knowledge were not in some incarnate mind. The communications almost all relate to the ordinary ex- periences of Professor Hyslop's immediate ancestral family persons of more than average intelligence and character, living in an average Western rural community. This material is of course not in itself as interesting as that proceeding from London, Boston, and the universities in both the Cambridges. The rural material, however, is far from lacking in evidential and dramatic features, though for obvious reasons I do not draw from it as freely as from the other. In reading it, probably because of admiration of an occasional dramatic glow over the gray background, I for the first time realized that if the medium gets her material from the sitter's mind, it seems at least as probable that he works it into dramatic shape as that she does; and the alternative is not merely between the spiritistic hypothesis and the hypothesis of the medium having dramatic power more exact and comprehensive (not more poetic, of course) than that of Shakespere or Sopho- cles, but also the harder hypothesis (the difficulty increasing geometrically with each successful sitter) that, for all we know, each sitter is as much entitled to be credited with this power as the medium. The improbability of this may well be 597 598 Professor Hyslop's Report [Bk. II, Pt IY weighed against the improbability of the spiritistic hypothesis. Professor Hyslop has studied his sittings with an interest rivaling that of any other investigator, but the result, while of value to the student, is not stimulating reading for the average man. I shall extract a few specimens, however, for special reasons. The first thing out of the ordinary which I come across, is a weakness in the stilted phraseology of Eector (Pr. XVI, 311) : "May God be with thee both." Then Prudens takes a turn at the same thing (p. 312) : " Good morrow, friends of earth. We greet thee again." Then Eector turns up again with similar grammar (p. 324) : " Good morrow, friends of earth. We hail thee once more." And again (p. 335) : " Good morrow, friends, we meet thee once more." All about as superfluous as ungrammatical ! I don't know whether to take this bad grammar as evi- dential or not. It is about on a level with their sentimental bombast, and tends to make them appear consistent individu- alities. So far as I know, there's nothing unusual the matter with Mrs. Piper's grammar, and certainly nothing with Pro- fessor Hyslop's. But on this subject, G. P. and Professor Hyslop make some interesting remarks (Pr. XVI, 441) : S. = Professor Hyslop. H. or R. H. = Hodgson. " [G. P. communicating] : ' Mr. Hyslop and his wife is here, are here [S. points at the is and are] and ... if I fail grammat- ically, H., it is owing to the machine. Hear. Cannot always make it work just right.' (R. H. : Yes, I understand, George.) [This consciousness of a grammatical mistake and the correc- tion of it are no less astounding when you are able to watch the conditions under which they occur, than the readiness with which the change of personality takes place. Besides, they fit in so nicely with what we know of G. P.'s intellectual tastes and habits. J.H.H.] [See Pr.XIII,363.] " This passage referred to, in Pr. XIII, is as follows : " G. P. [After a reference to Mr. Marte.] ' Cosmical weather interests both he and I me him I know it all. Don't you see I correct these. Well, I am not less intelligent now. But there are many difficulties. I am far clearer on all points than I was shut up in the prisoned body. (Prisoned? prisoning or im- prisoning you ought to say.) No, I don't mean to get it that Ch. XXXVII] Frequent Dazing of Controls 599 way you spoke perhaps I have spelled it wrong. Prisoned body. Prisoning. See here, H. " Don't view me with a critic's eye, but pass my imperfections by." Of course I know all that as well as anybody on your sphere. (Of course.) Well I think so. I tell you, old fellow, it don't do to pick all these little errors too much when they amount to nothing in one way. You have light enough and brain enough I know to understand my explanations of being shut up in this body [the medium's now, his own alluded to above. H.H.] dreaming as it were and trying to help on Science.' " Other controls have attributed bad spelling to the illiteracy of their mediums as well as to the general difficulties of the situation. The first of the foregoing remarks by G. P. came during an interlude when Professor Hyslop's father had been speak- ing. (It is most convenient in the accounts of sittings to name the alleged dramatis persona as if they were what they purport to be. No opinion on that point need be inferred. Probably I've said this before, and probably shall say it again.) The following had occurred (Pr. XVI, 440-1) : "(S.: Who is speaking now?) R. [Rector. H.H.] : 'It is father who is speaking now. (Yes.) But he seems a little dazed.' G. P.: 'I am coming, H., to help out. (R. H. : Thanks, George, we shall be glad.) How are you? (R. H. : First rate. We shall be glad to have your help.) All well. . . .' [This interruption by G. P. during a few moments' respite for my father is an interesting feature of the case. J.H.H.] " I copy this bit partly because it illustrates a frequent oc- currence the apparent dazing of the control perhaps by the novelty of the situation, perhaps by the clamor of other controls around him, perhaps by fatigue of either control or medium, perhaps by slackening of the trance and the inter- vention of somebody, most frequently G. P. or Rector, to help things along. Professor Hyslop's remarks on the subject I think worth careful attention (Pr. XVI, 211f.) : " In these sudden interruptions G. P. appears as an interme- diary to interpret, correct, or transmit something which Rector, the amanuensis does not ' hear,' and by signing his own initials to the message, or statement, he reveals just the evidence of another personality and independent intelligence which would be so natural on the spiritistic theory, but not to be expected a priori either of the telepathic hypothesis or of its combination with secondary personality 600 Professor Hyslop's Eeport [Bk. II, Pt IV "The statement of my father on May 29th (Pr.XVI,419), 'I am speaking to some other man who is speaking for me/ might possibly imply the presence of G. P., though possibly Rector was intended. But on May 30th my cousin, Robert McClellan, gives G. P.'s full name George Pelham (pseudonym) and remarks that he is assisting. A moment later, right in the midst of a communication from my cousin, whose messages were badly con- fused, G. P. suddenly interjects the statement: 'Look out, H., I am here. G. P. -|~ [Imperator] sent me some moments ago.' (Pr.XVI,428.) Then again a few minutes later, while Rector was struggling to get the name McClellan clear and could only get Me Allen, G. P. shouts out, so to speak, as an intermediary to aid Rector, ' Sounds like McLellen. G. P.,' and my cousin acknowledges its correctness by saying: 'Yes, I am he.' " At the close of my cousin's communications G. P.'s presence and influence are evident in the sentence declaring : ' The ma- chine is not right, H.,' which Dr. Hodgson took to refer to the need of a fresh pencil, and he accordingly gave one. This occurs in the interval between the departure of my cousin and the arrival of my father (p. 429) [i.e., in Pr.XVI. H.H.]. " In the same sitting (p. 434) the name of my half-sister was given. There was considerable trouble with it on Rector's part, as he stumbled about between the false attempts ' Abbie,' ' Ad- die,' and ' Nabbie,' until G. P. suddenly interrupted him with the statement : ' Yes, but let me hear it, and I will get it. G. P.* He then gave the name ' Hattie ' and followed it with ' Harriet,' when I acknowledged that it was nearly correct, alluding to the 1 Hattie ' in particular, but without saying so. I asked that it be spelled out. Then immediately was written : ' Hettie. G. P.,' spelling it in capitals, and I expressed satisfaction with it, recog- nizing that this was the proper nickname for Henrietta, which she was always called. But as if still uncertain about it, the fact being that father never called her ' Hettie,' G. P. continued : *Ett[?] Hettie. G. P.' " Again in the sitting of June 6th, before my father appeared, and just as Rector had explained how we should ask certain questions when my father should announce himself, G. P. sud- denly interjected a greeting and some questions directed to Dr. Hodgson, the colloquy being as follows : ' H. how are you ? I have just been called upon to lend a helping hand. You see I am wholly isolated from you. (R. H. : Good, George, were you here last time?) For a few moments. I helped a man named Charles, but I did not get a chance to say How de do, H. ? (R. H. : All right, George.) I am going after the elderly gentle- man. Look out for me. (R. H. : We will.) Got those theories all straightened out yet, H? (R. H. : Pretty fairly.) I am going. Auf wiedersehen. G. P.' (p. 468) My father then appeared with the appropriate message, ' I am coming, James.' "Another sudden interruption, signed by G. P.'s initials, Ch. XXXVII] G. P. Helping Hyslop Controls 601 occurred on June 7th. It was in the midst of the confusion incident to the attempt at giving the name of my stepmother. My father, evidently appreciating his difficulty in the situation, remarked : ' I feel the necessity of speaking as clearly as possible, James, and I will do my best to do so.' G. P. probably fearing that my father was not yet clear enough to do what he wished, suddenly cautioned him with the advice : ' Wait a bit,' and as Dr. Hodgson interpreted the word ' wait ' as ' said,' G. P. re- \ peated the phrase, signing it: 'Wait a bit. G. P.' Father then proceeded with his explanation of the mistake about my step- mother, all the parties on the ' other side ' assuming, apparently, that he was clear enough for the task. " In all these interpositions of G. P. the marks of an indepen- ent intelligence are very indicative. There is in them nothing like the character of either the inexperienced communicator or Eector, the amanuensis, nor is there any definite resemblance to either secondary personality in general or to intercommunica- tion between two personalities in the same subject. They are the interference of a spectator and helper on his own responsi- bility, when he sees that he can effect a clear message that is misunderstood or not clearly obtained by Rector. Such dramatic play, involving the personal equation of the real individual G. P. as known when living, and here kept distinct from that of Rector and others, is a characteristic not easily explicable on any but the spiritistic theory, especially when it includes the trans- mission of evidential data." CHAPTEE XXXVIII MR. PIDDINGTON'S REPORT ON MRS. THOMPSON ABOUT the time we have been considering, in 1899 and 1900, there took place at Hampstead, London, England, with Mrs. Edmond Thompson, a series of sittings which are re- ported in Pr. XVII and XVIII. Mrs. Thompson has not given nearly as many sittings as Mrs. Piper, or any profes- sional ones; consequently the range of her phenomena is not as wide, but I don't know a more entertaining piece of lit- erature from which to get an idea of mediumistic phenomena (or from which to get a couple of hours' good reading) than Mr. Piddington's admirable account of Mrs. Thompson's sit- tings. Part XLVII of Pr. XVIII is well worth the inter^ ested reader's procuring. It was preceded in Pr. XVII by reports of the same medium from Myers, Dr. van Eeden, Messrs. J. 0. Wilson and Piddington, Dr. Hodgson, Miss Alice Johnson and Mrs. Verrall, which, though excellent, are much briefer and less studied than the one in Pr. XVIII: so our limited space can probably be best utilized by quoting mainly from Pr. XVIII. At the period reported, Mrs. Thompson, daughter of an architect and wife of an importer, was a little over thirty years old, in fine health, a good mother and housekeeper, fond of bicycling and the theater and the other amusements of young English ladies in comfortable circumstances, and without any external characteristic indicative of her extraor- dinary powers powers which Myers declares (Pr. XVII, 69), and few if any students will differ with him, constitute "a trust placed in the hands of individuals selected by some law as yet unknown." Yet this vigorous, sprightly, common- sense young woman was in the habit of seeing writing on walls, pictures in crystal balls, " spirit-like " visions ; of writ- ing automatically, and, without the slightest provocation, tum- 602 Ch. XXXVIII] Mrs. Thompson's Physical Phenomena 603 bling into trance and delivering heteromatic messages by pen or voice. Of the crystal ball visions Myers says (Pr. XVII, 70) : "Sentences sometimes appear; which, oddly enough, look to Mrs. Thompson (who alone has seen them) just like scraps of coarse printing; as though a piece of newspaper were held beneath the ball." This is exactly my own experience in dreams. The sen- tences are not incoherent, but have had no significance that I remember. So far as I can recall, the Pr. S. P. E. contain no report of physical phenomena from Mrs. Thompson. But Podmore, in The Newer Spiritualism, published in 1910, says that this was due to the objections of Mr. Thompson, who, in 1910, was no longer living, and whose death was regarded as removing the ban of secrecy. Podmore thereupon gives accounts of mani- festations by her of virtually the whole range of physical phe- nomena, including even materialization and elongation, but not levitation. He uses reports prepared by Mr. F. W. Thurston, M.A., at whose house, in 1897 and 1898, most of the sittings occurred (New. Spir., 186f.) : "In a dim light in which we could just distinguish one another," Mr. Thurston's dead sister Clare distributed flowers, touched the persons present, and used "the direct voice" which " as her power increased . . . gained strength and timbre . . . loud but sweet, and with a mannerism of utterance noticeably distinct from that of Mrs. T. . . . All this while Mrs. T. was in full consciousness, but she kept exclaiming that she felt ' all hollow'; and another thing she noticed was that whenever ' Clare's ' fingers touched anyone she distinctly felt a pricking sensation in her body, very similar to her experiences when she had been placed once on an insulating stool and charged with electricity, and persons had touched her to make sparks come from her " While my sister ' Clare ' was still touching my hand and talking to me, ' Nelly's ' voice was suddenly heard by her father's side, saying, ' I am here ' ; and both father and mother were in raptures to feel the touch of the vanished hand of their little daughter caressing them." This is corroborated by Mr. and Mrs. A., who were present. Touching materialization and even elongation, though I 604 Piddington's Report on Mrs. Thompson [Bk. II, Pt. IY have suggested considerations in Chapter X that may account for them, my judgment is in suspense, and the attribution of them in the dark as usual to Mrs. Thompson, detracts just a shade from my confidence in her heteromatic speech and writing ; but even Podmore does not let her physical phenom- ena prevent his saying of the other phenomena (New. Spir., p. 198) : " There seems, indeed, little doubt that Mrs. Thompson must be placed in the same category as Mrs. Piper, and that the ex- planation that will eventually be found to fit the facts in the one case must be applied to the other also." Hodgson had six sittings with Mrs. Thompson in 1900. There was nothing in them as interesting as I shall report from other sitters, and he thought that there was fraud. This was during his skeptical period, before the G. P. manifesta- tions converted him to spiritism. Touching these sittings, Mr. Piddington remarks (Pr. XVIII, 105-6) : " I am not at all surprised that Mrs. Thompson's trance should not have impressed Dr. Hodgson as genuine. So easy, and sud- den, so entirely unannounced, as a rule, is the transition from the medium's waking to her entranced state, and, except on rare occasions, so free from any, at least apparent, physical discom- fort, and so alert her attention and behavior during the trance that to one accustomed to Mrs. Piper's trance Mrs. Thompson might well appear to be shamming. 1 "But not only to one accustomed to the deep and dramatic form of trance displayed by Mrs. Piper might Mrs. Thompson's trance be unconvincing, but also to one who, having had but little experience of mediumistic trances, was biassed by precon- ceived notions of what a trance ought to be. " [NoTE. x In his recent work, Hypnotism : Us History, Prac- tice and Theory, Dr. J. Milne Bramwell maintains that, in some cases where only the very slightest hypnosis has been induced, and even where no certain trace of it has been detected, sugges- tion yields therapeutic results as striking as in the case of patients who have been deeply hypnotized. Thus the view that the exercise of supernormal faculty need not be accompanied by either profound or even slight trance [Foster apparently had none at all. H.H.] would fall into line with Dr. Bramwell's ob- servations if, with Myers, we attribute both response to curative suggestions, and supernormal faculties generally to the activities of the subliminal consciousness.] " Ch. XXXVIII] Authorities on Mrs. Thompson 605 Other authorities have expressed themselves as follows first, Sir Oliver Lodge (Pr. XVII, 62) : "It has been the wish of Mrs. Thompson herself that every- thing, whether favorable or unfavorable, should be impartially published Anything in the nature of suppression, either of suspicious circumstances or of hostile criticism, would be re- sented by her." Myers prefaced his accounts of her sittings (Pr. XVII, 69): "For what follows, therefore, I claim entire genuineness. I believe that there has been no attempt whatever to exaggerate any incident, but an honest desire on the part of both Mr. and Mrs. Thompson to utilize for the benefit of Science a gift which they fully recognize as independent of personal merit." Also Dr. van Eeden, in his report on Mrs. Thompson, said (Pr. XVII, 78) that certain facts "excluded all fraud or coincidence," and (p. 80) : " To explain all these morbid phenomena as the work of the unconscious or subliminal mind, or of a secondary personality, often seems forced and insufficient. Moreover, considering the matter philosophically, are the terms : ' unconscious,' ' sublimi- nal,' ' secondary personality,' clearer and more scientific than the terms demon, spirit, or ghost ? Is it not often a simple question of terms? What difference is there between a secondary or tertiary personality and a possessing demon ? " Mr. Piddington (Pr. XVII, 136) : " I fail to see how any hypothesis involving conscious fraud on Mrs. Thompson's part can provide a solution." Miss Alice Johnson (Pr. XVII, 163) : " I had, and have still a distinct impression of her entire sin- cerity in the matter." Mrs. Verrall (Pr. XVII, 218) : " That Mrs. Thompson is possessed of knowledge not normally obtained I regard as established beyond a doubt; that the hypothesis of fraud, conscious or unconscious on her part, fails to explain the phenomena, seems to be equally certain; that to more causes than one is to be attributed the success which I have recorded seems to me likely. There is, I believe, some evidence to indicate that telepathy between the sitter and the trance personality is one of these contributory causes. But that tele- 606 Piddington's Report on Mrs. Thompson [Bk. II, Pi IV pathy from the living, even in an extended sense of the term, does not furnish a complete explanation of the occurrences observed by me, is ... my present belief." Mrs. Thompson's principal "control" is, ostensibly, her daughter Nelly, who died as a baby, and has been growing up into as amusing a little minx as there is on record as amusing in her way as Phinuit is in his. I simply believe that it is not in human capacity to turn out either of them day after day off-hand. Nelly has a pal, Elsie, a friend of the family, who died when six years old. An appearance was frequently put in, too, by the alleged spirit of Mrs. Cartwright, the proprietor (not teacher) of a school attended in girlhood by Mrs. Thompson. She was a remarkable contrast to Nelly, and almost equally amusing in her own way, as the following passage from Mr. Pidding- ton illustrates (Pr. XVIII, 132) : "The following effort of a modern lady novelist might have been written by Mrs. Cartwright, and would certainly have met with her approbation : ' The burnt child is proverbially a dis- senter from the form of religion established by Zoroaster.' " The following extract from Mr. Piddington's report ap- pears to indicate either remarkable dramatic power on the part of the medium, or distinct personalities communicating (Pr. XVIII, 173) : " Mrs. Cartwright and Nelly spoke in turns, and a most amus- ing scene ensued, Mrs. Cartwright casting reflections on Nelly's way of doing her work, and Nelly bobbing in and out to mimic Mrs. Cartwright's pompous and platitudinous manner and dic- tion, and to complain of her dictatorial airs. Nelly, as usual, wound up the sitting, and put in a parting shot : ' Mrs. Cart- wright thinks I'm illiterate.' ' She always thought life not worth living, if you weren't obeyed.' ' Mrs. Cartwright says I'm to come before I talk " insipid nonsense " (mimicking Mrs. Cartwright's voice and accent). Her compliments come thick and fast.' " Mrs. Thompson remarked on waking : ' I've been back to my old school at Wenlock, where Mrs. Cartwright was. I saw Mrs. Cartwright.' " Isn't this exactly like a dream? Compare Mrs. Piper's seeing G. P. so that she picks out his photograph. Mr. Piddington farther comments (Pr. XVIII, 132) : Ch. XXXVIII] Individuality of Controls 607 " Two grammatical slips made by that otherwise immaculate stylist, Mrs. Cartwright . . . occurred at the sitting which had been enlivened by the tiff, and at which Nelly, who was very sore, complained that Mrs. Cartwright had criticised her cul- ture : ' Mrs. Cartwright says I'm illiterate.' Nelly's grammar, it is true, is not above reproach, but, in spite of her choice diction, no more is Mrs. Cartwright's. I had handed to the medium a cap, and Nelly failed to give more than one, though that a very essential, fact about its owner, so Mrs. Cartwright undertook to come to the rescue, and expressed her intention as follows: ' With regard to that cap, Sir, I'm not prepared with any in- formation about it; but I will [sic'] be able to fathom it out for you.' " And later, speaking of Archbishop Benson, Mrs. Cart- wright says (Pr. XVIII, 133) : " ' It is only us [sic] higher spirits who do not have to make use of material objects in order to obtain information.' " Mr. Piddington continues : " Though Nelly's speech is slangy and incorrect in keeping with her character, for she is half Puck, half gamin, though entirely lovable not only is Mrs. Thompson's language vastly more refined and accurate than Nelly's, but the ' Mr. D.' control [another of the many cases where a woman's secondary person- ality( ?) is a man ! H.H.], who has occasionally spoken with great fluency and ease in my presence, talks as good English as one can wish to hear. The occasional mistakes of Mrs. Cartwright are not at all difficult to reconcile with the theory that she is the spirit of a middle-class woman of imperfect education (it should be borne in mind that she was not a teacher, but the proprietress of a school), who piqued herself upon her superior command of language; but it is not quite so easy to explain them if she is a secondary personality ; for if ' Mr. D.' can be made to speak cor- rectly, why not Mrs. Cartwright also ? " There had been a break in the trance Shortly before the medium was re-entranced she said she thought Mrs. Cartwright might be coming to control. Later on Mrs. Cartwright did con- trol; but she was preceded by the control whom I call here ' Mr. D.' This control spoke only a dozen words, and disap- peared. Nelly then came on the scene for a moment to say that Mr. D. had made a mistake, and added that Mrs. Cartwright would explain better than herself what had happened. Mrs. Cartwright's explanation was that she could not explain Mr. D.'s sudden and confused intrusion ; and then the matter dropped. But the episode was an interesting one to witness, for the change of controls was effected very rapidly and with complete ease, 608 Piddington's Report on Mrs. Thompson [Bk. II, Pt. IV] only a moment's silence between the going away of one and the arrival of the next; the medium displayed no symptoms of physical discomfort, and the alterations of personality, occurring as they did within the space of a minute or two, brought out into strong relief the distinctive features of these the three prin- cipal controls. Mr. D.'s intrusion was most lifelike and natural, his behavior and slight discomposure were just like those of a person who has entered a room by mistake and found a stranger in it." Compare sundry changes of control in the Piper trances sometimes just as easy, sometimes difficult. This easy ap- pearance of controls is at variance with much that has been said about the extreme difficulty of communication. As far as we have got, pretty much everything seems to contradict pretty much everything else. But there may be reconciliation when we know more. On December 4, 1899, Nelly said to Dr. van Eeden (Pr. XVII, 99f.) : " ' If you say, " Now, Nelly," I'll come if I can.' Van E. : ' Will you come in my dreams ? ' Nelly : ' But you've got cur- tains round your bed. [This is a telopsis in Holland or tele- pathy from van E.'s mind. H.H.] I don't like them. They are old-fashioned now.' [Bed curtains are becoming rare in Holland. Van E.'s sleeping-room being at the same time his study, he has a drapery hanging before his bed.] Van E. : 'If you saw better you would see why I have curtains.' Nelly : ' Because it's got a thing to hide it. Because you don't want all the people to see. You are funny.' Van E. : ' What's the matter ? ' Nelly : ' I don't know.' Van E.: 'I put the curtain up at night.' Nelly: 'I don't know if I am in the right house. It's got a shiny floor. There's a cupboard with little drawers.' [There is a cupboard with little drawers in van E.'s house and a floor with mattings.] . . . Nelly (to Mrs. Verrall) : ' Perhaps I'll talk secrets when you go away. I shan't call you doctor (to van E.), though the old gentleman does. I can't oblige you and call you doctor. You have not enough bottles, you don't smell enough of disinfectants. [Van E. does not practise medicine much now.] . . . Your real name is foreign savant. I'll forgive you for saying Spain to mother.' [On walking away from the house with Mrs. Thomp- son after his first sitting, when his nationality had not yet been discovered, van E. had talked to her about Spain, not without some intention of seeing if Nelly would follow up a wrong hint.] " Dr. van Eeden soon thereafter returned to Holland. Here is an extract from Ch. XXXVIII] Nelly in Van Eeden's Dreams 609 Sitting of January 5th, 1900. (Pr.XVII,H2-3.) "Present: Mrs. , Mrs. F., Hon. E. Feilding, and J. G. Piddington. " Nelly (to J. G. P.) : ' Tell Dr. van Eeden he kept calling me last night (i.e., Jan. 4-5). He was inside those curtains I went to him and I think he knows it. He told me so, and he is waiting to hear if you send my message. He was asleep. " Now, Nelly, you come to me and remember," he cried out. His wife was stout He was in bed alone, not with his wife, he was by himself. He had had a hard day's work, yet was sufficiently awake to call me.' " J. G. P. sent a transcript of the above to Dr. van Eeden and received the following reply: " ' WALDEN, BUSSUM, Jan. 10, 1900. " ' Dear Mr. Piddington, " ' In the diary of my dreams I find on January 3rd that I had what I call a " clear dream " with full consciousness on the night of [Jan.] 2-3, between Tuesday and Wednesday. In those dreams I have power to call people and see them in my dream. I had arranged with Nelly that I should call her in the first dream of this sort, and I did so on the said night. She appeared to me in the form of a little girl, rather plump and healthy-look- ing, with loose, light-colored hair. [Note that at sitting on Nov. 29, 1899, Nelly had described her hair as black and curly, in van E.'s hearing. J.G.P.] She did not talk to me, but looked rather awkward or embarrassed, giving me to understand that she could not yet speak to me; she had not yet learned Dutch. This was the second dream of the sort after my stay in England. The first occurred on Dec. 11. In this dream I also tried to call Nelly, but it was no success. Some grown-up girl appeared, who spoke Dutch, and as my consciousness was not quite clear, I had forgotten that she was to be English. " ' The particulars are true. I slept alone, in the bed with the curtain, or rather drapery, hanging before it. I was extremely tired, and slept deeply and soundly, which is always a condition for that sort of dream. " ' The mistake about the date does not seem very important, as it was probably the first sitting you had after Jan. 3. [It was the first sitting since Dec. 18, 1899. J.G.P.] . . . Tell Nelly next time she was right about my calling, and ask her to tell you again when she has been aware of it. But let her not make guesses or shots. I shall try to give her some communications. " ' Yours very truly, " ' F. VAN EEDEN.' " Nelly made no reference to Dr. van Eeden at sittings held on the 10th, 12th, and 16th of January." 610 Piddington's Report on Mrs. Thompson [Bk. II, Pt. IV Sitting of January 18th, 1900. (Pr.XVII,113.) " Present : Mr. J. O. Wilson (pseudonym) and J. G. Pidding- ton. " At end of sitting J. G. P. asks Nelly : ' Have you been to see Dr. van Eeden ? ' Nelly : ' No. I haven't. This is a mixture. Dr. van Eeden has summoned me twice, and Elsie,' (here J. G. P. interrupted Nelly to ask who ' Elsie ' was, not having heard her mentioned before) ' a little girl that used to talk before I came Elsie Line came to me and said " Old Whiskers in the bed is calling you."' J. G. P.: 'When was that?' Nelly: 'It was before the sitting with ' (Nelly then proceeded to describe the personal appearance of a lady and gentleman, both unknown by name to Mrs. Thompson, who had attended the sitting of Jan. 16). 'Both times was before that' (i.e., before Jan. 16). ' I said : " Bother Whiskers ! you go instead of me " and very likely she did go. I hope he didn't think she was me. You want my description. I haven't red hair. It's as light as mother's not red more look of brightness like mother's and then I've nicer eyes than mother . . . dark, wide open eyes. I'm fat, and look as if I was seven ; I am older.' " Unless the brat got knowledge and a vocabulary in the other world a great deal faster than they can be acquired in this, she was not genuine. But on November 29, 1899, she had said (Pr. XVII, 90) : " ' I'm going to materialize one day for father to show him the color of my hair black curly hair, not light like mothers.'. . . J. G. P. several months later pointed out to Nelly the incon- sistency of these two descriptions, and Nelly explained that the description given on January 18th, 1900, should apply to ' Elsie.' 1 " [NOTE. x After reading the proofs of this record, Mrs. Thompson . . . told me that the personal description ascribed by Nelly to Elsie is not in accordance with the facts; for Elsie. . . had colorless lightish brown hair cut short and straight across her forehead. Elsie died at about six years of age. Nelly, who died when only four months old, had very dark brown curly hair, most unlike her mother's.]" [Such hair often grows light later. H.H.] Here is an account, badly mutilated in necessary condensa- tion, of a suicide, which might all be telepathic if one could account for its dramatic quality on that basis: Sitting of June 2nd, 1900. (Pr.XVII,104f.) " Van E. : ' You have not told me the principal thing about this man' (parcel). Nelly : ' The principal thing is his sud- den death [R.] [= Right. H.H.] . I can tell you better when she Ch. XXXVIII] Van Eeden's Friend the Suicide 611 (Lady X.) is not there. It frightens me. Everybody was fright- ened, seeming to say " O dear ! good gracious ! " . . . This gentle- man could shoot. He was rather an out-of-doors man. What a funny hat he used to wear. Round with a cord around. He had a velvet jacket. You have a velvet jacket too, but not real velvet, and like trousers [R.]. But that gentleman had real velvet jacket. [References to dress. D.] [= Doubtful. H.H.] I can't see any blood about this gentleman, but a horrible sore place: somebody wiped it all up. It looks black [the bullet wound probably]. I am happy because that man is happy now. He was in a state of muddle. And when he realized what he had done, he said it is better to make amends and be happy.' Van E. : ' How did he make amends ? ' Nelly : ' When any people want to kill themselves he goes behind them and stops their hands, saying, "just wait." He stops their hands from cutting their throats. He says, " Don't do that : you will wake up and find yourself in another world haunted with the facts, and that's a greater punishment." He's got such a horror that anybody would do the same thing, and he asks them to stop, and it makes him so happy. [He cut his own throat, but recovered; and afterwards shot himself.] (To van E.) You don't seem to have any whiskers. I don't see your head properly. Someone covers up your head. He covers up your head to show how his own head was covered up. O dear, isn't it funny? You must not cut off your head when you die. [The suicide's head was cov- ered up when he was found dead.] . . . How do you pronounce Hendrik ? ' Van E. : ' Very good, it is Hendrik.' Nelly says good-by to everybody, and to Lady X., ' I like you.' . . . [Note by van E. I did not quite remember the name of the suicide, and thought it might be Hendrik. A few days later I dreamt about another friend of mine called ' Sam,' and I called out, ' Sam ! Sam ! ' in my dream. I remembered then that the name of the dead man was also Sam, or Samuel.] " At the next sitting Nelly says (Pr. XVII, 108) : " ' This matter (the suicide of the cap-man) was all in the newspapers. But he is sorry, because there was a mis-statement of facts in one newspaper. This grieves him, because it was already bad enough for his friends. [The facts of the case were misrepresented in the newspapers to the detriment of the de- ceased man's friends, but van E. could not find out what partic- ular newspaper was more to blame than the rest.] He wants to know why his life is to be talked over in a foreign country.' " Sitting of June Wi t 1900. (Pr.XVII,108f.) "At Mrs. Thompson's house. Present: Mrs. Thompson, Dr. van Eeden. " Since the last sitting on June 5th Mrs. Thompson has had a 612 Piddington's Report on Mrs. Thompson [Bk. II, Pt. IV peculiar cough quite unusual to her. It was like that of the suicide. [Mr. Myers writes : ' Mrs. T. independently told me that this huskiness began when she first saw van Eeden on this visit of his to England, and continued throughout his stay, and went off half-an-hour after his departure. She had no cold.'] " For forty years I have remembered a similar cough that bothered me for some days when a sensitive was visiting me, and the sensitive was bothered by it too. I did not think of the coincidence until I read this. I cannot attach any meaning to it now. " Nelly : ' That gentleman that made my mother have a sore throat, he came and tried to make mother write. He wanted to say something about the name of that place.' Mrs. Thompson showed van E. what she had written on a sheet of paper after the last sitting on June 5th, in a state of trance. It was Notten Velp. [First name unknown to van E.] [Then where did Mrs. Thompson get it? H.H.] Velp is a well-known village in Hol- land. Van E. does not know if his friend had ever been there " (Mrs. Thompson's hand tries to write with pencil on paper. Writes : ' Wedstruden ' again. Long silence. Mrs. Thompson seems very restless, feeling her throat with her hands.) Nelly: ' He wants you to speak Hollands, Hollands/ (Van E. speaks a few words in Dutch, asking if his dead friend heard and under- stood. After this comes a very expressive pantomime, during which Mrs. Thompson takes van E.'s hands firmly as if to thank him very heartily, making different gestures.) Nelly : ' He understood. I was not talking through mother then. . . . He could not talk better. All the time he is nearly in possession of mother. That's what makes my mother's throat so. (Rummag- ing in the parcel) [of the suicide's clothes. H.H.] I am trying to get a fresh place in the parcel. What's " Vrouw Poss "... " Poss." ' Van E. : ' Vrouw Post Ik versta je.' [This was the exact pronunciation the final ' t ' being but slightly sounded in Dutch of a name very familiar to van E. Vrouw (= Mrs.) Post is a poor workwoman who used to come to his house every day.] (When van E. repeated the words and said ' ik versta je ' (I understand) Mrs. Thompson laughed very excitedly and made emphatic gestures of pleasure and satisfaction, patting his head and shoulders, just as his friend would have done.) Nelly: ' He is so glad you recognized him. He is not so emotional usually. What is Wuitsbergen . . . Criuswergen ? ' [This is very nearly the right pronunciation of the word Cruysbergen, the old name of van E.'s place, Walden. Van E. writes : ' It is remarkable that it was not at all like the pronunciation of the word as if read by an English person, but as if heard. This name is still Ch. XXXVIII] Van Eeden's Friend the Suicide 613 in use among us, and my dead friend used it always '] Van E. : ' Ih weet wat je zeggen wil, zeg het nog eens.' (' I know what you mean, say it again.') (Nelly tries again and says ' Hans.' She then says that she is going away for two minutes. Mrs. Thompson awakening says ' I smell some sort of anesthetic stuff like chloroform. I can taste it in my mouth. I was dreaming about being chloroformed, and your trying to wake me up.') [' This is very remarkable, the taste being prob- ably that of iodoform, which was used in healing the wound in the throat of my dead friend. Mrs. Thompson, in reply to in- quiry, said that she did not know the smell of iodoform.' Note by van E.] "4.45. Trance came on again suddenly in the middle of con- versation. Nelly : ' That gentleman was pleased and delighted.' Van E. : ' Why does he not give his name ? ' Nelly : ' It is like Sum, Thum, or like Sjam. Not quite this. Please, do you pro- nounce it properly.' Van E. : ' Yes, indeed, it is Sam.' Nelly : ' That is it. He says it sounded like Sjam through his bad throat. . . .' Mrs. Thompson appeared now to be completely under the control of van E.'s dead friend, and began to speak in a low hoarse voice.) Sam : ' Head muddled mine was. When I was regrettable thing. I must know where friends. Success for me.' Van E. : ' Zeg den naam van je vriend.' (' Say your friend's name.') (Different gestures to show that the words must be drawn out of the mouth and pressed into the head, gestures expressing great difficulty.) Sam : ' Max . . . Frederik make progress. People shall read and read and re-read and your plans shall be carried out after you. [This points clearly to van E.'s social plans.] Truth. Do not (...?...) away the truth. I shall talk in our own beloved Dutch. In the sleep helps to clear out that woman's head.' Van E. : ' Welke vrouw ? ' (' Which woman ? ') Sam : ' This woman. (Mrs. T. presses her own breast.) I shall speak more clear. (Hoarse voice.) Why try and make me live? Not come back.' (Van E. asks, always in Dutch, after the friend, who imitated his suicide. Violent gestures of disquiet and horror. Mrs. T.'s hand takes the cap and shows it.) Sam : ' When I was in England greatest disap- pointment. I went to England just before. [He never was in England.] Did you think dreadful of me ? ' . . . Nelly : ' Did you understand what was " Wedstruden " ? ' Van E. : ' O yes. But what is it in English?' Nelly: 'I cannot find out.' (It must be understood that van E. spoke the few Dutch questions with- out translating and got answers immediately.) " Dr. van Eeden says (Pr. XVII, 81f.) : " ' During the first series of experiments, in November and December, 1899, I felt a very strong conviction that the person . . . was living as a spirit and was in communication with me 614 Piddington's Report on Mrs. Thompson [Bk. II, Pt. IV through Mrs. Thompson. . . . But when I came home [to Holland. H.H.], I found on further inquiry inexplicable faults and fail- ures. If I had really spoken to the dead man, he would never have made these mistakes. And the remarkable feature of it was that all these mistakes were in those very particulars which I had not known myself and was unable to correct on the spot. ... I came to the conclusion that I had dealt only with Mrs. Thompson, who . . . had acted the ghost, though in perfect good faith " ' But on my second visit, in June, 1900, when I took with me the piece of clothing of the young man who had committed suicide, my first impression came back, and with greater force. I was well on my guard, and if I gave hints, it was not uncon- sciously, but on purpose; and... the plainest hints were not taken, but the truth came out in the most curious and unex- pected ways " ' The following described very exactly both his character and his attempt at suicide. " He would not show me any blood on his neck, because he was afraid I should be frightened." This is quite like my dead young friend. He was very gentle and al- ways tried to hide his mutilated throat in order not to horrify children or sensitive people. " ' Up to the sitting of June 7th all the information came through Nelly, Mrs. Thompson's so-called spirit-control. But on that date the deceased tried, as he had promised, to take the control himself, as the technical term goes. The evidence then became very striking. During a few minutes though a few minutes only I felt absolutely as if I were speaking to my friend himself. I spoke Dutch and got immediate and correct answers. The expression of satisfaction and gratification in face and gesture, when we seemed to understand each other, was too true and vivid to be acted. Quite unexpected Dutch words were pronounced [Mrs. Thompson, I believe, did not understand Dutch. H.H.], details were given which were far from my mind, some of which, as that about my friend's uncle in a former sit- ting, I had never known, and found to be true only on inquiry afterwards " ' And here, I think, I may make a definite and clear state- ment of my present opinion, which has been wavering between the two sides for a long time Every phenomenon or occur- rence of a very extraordinary character is only believed after repeated observation. ... At this present moment it is about eight months since I had my last sitting with Mrs. Thompson in Paris, and yet, when I read the notes again, it is impossible for me to abstain from the conviction that I have really been a witness, were it only for a few minutes, of the voluntary mani- festation of a deceased person.' " Ch. XXXVIII] Sundry Suggestive Incidents 615 Sitting of February 1st, 1900. (Pr.XVII,126-7.) " Mrs. Thompson, Medium. Present : J. G. Piddington, alone. " Nelly : ' When in the Express Dairy I nearly controlled mother then. Express Dairy near the Marble Arch.' J. G. P.: ' Why did you ? ' Nelly : ' Because I wanted to be preparing her to tell you about all these things.' [After trance Mrs. T. told J. G. P. that when in a tea-shop at the end of Park Lane earlier in the day she had been nearly entranced." In one of Mrs. Verrall's sittings came this strange and significant circumstance (Pr. XVII, 201) : " Nelly said that a piece of hair which I gave her when she was in my house was the hair of a very delicate baby, so delicate that it ' makes mother's hand cold ' ; Mrs. Thompson's hand, which she gave to me, had suddenly become very cold. 1 " [NOTE. l On another occasion, when speaking of a person who had died suddenly from an accident, in full vigor of health, Nelly drew my attention to the heat of Mrs. Thompson's hand, due, according to her, to the extreme vitality of the person in question." Cf. Mrs. Piper and Hodgson, bottom of p. 412. Sitting of July Wh, 1900. (Pr.XVIII,U5f.) " Mr. and Mrs. Percival's first sitting. Mr. Myers recording. " [P-] [This series in Pr.XVIII, it will be remembered, is edited by Mr. Piddington. H.H.] ... A book that had belonged to W. Stainton Moses was handed to the medium, but nothing came of this except that the medium's hand wrote ' William Stainton,' and that subsequently Mrs. Cartwright said that she saw little chance of getting at Moses, who was in a different part of the spiritual world. She also denied all knowledge of the Imperator group. " Mr. Myers asked what had first interested Mrs. Cartwright in the subject of spirit communication, and she replied as fol- lows : ' I abhorred the subject of Spiritualism when on earth. Yet I could not help thinking about it, and I made up my mind that the first thing I would do on the other side was to see whether there was any truth in it, and then, if possible, come back and tell people it was all nonsense.' Mrs. Cartwright's meaning is clear enough, but her manner of expressing it sug- gests that she must hare had more than a drop of Irish blood in her veins." Later Mr. Piddington says (Pr. XVIII, 149) : " Nelly intimates that skepticism is not confined to this side of the veil, and that in her efforts to forward the cause of 616 Piddington's Report on Mrs. Thompson [Bk. II, Pt. IV psychical research she has to incur the invidious charge of being a Paul Pry. If nay memory serves me well, Phinuit likewise has complained of the odium into which his inquisitiveness into the affairs of strangers has brought him." Mr. Piddington also remarks (Pr. XVIII, 166-7) : "I believe that Nelly has sometimes spoken of things which the normal Mrs. Thompson would not have mentioned to me Some of the more marked instances of Nelly's artless epanche- ment occurred in the earlier sittings when Mrs. Thompson and I were comparative strangers to one another. I do not mean to suggest that Nelly was very much of an enfant terrible, but she told some tales out of school for which a child less privileged and one not removed from the sphere of material punishment would, I fancy, have had to suffer. . . . But about Mrs. Benson's relations and my own she has expressed opinions the reverse of complimentary and in a style quite foreign to Mrs. Thompson's courteous nature." Sitting of January 11th, 1901. (Pr.XVIII,l76-7.) " [P.] ... A control which purported to be Professor Sidg- wick appeared for the first time, and then the control whom I call Mr. D. spoke and wrote for about half an hour, and brought the sitting to a close without Nelly reappearing. When Mrs. Thompson awoke she said : ' I'm sure that was Mr. D.' I asked why. ' Because I feel so different,' she replied. I then asked if she remembered anything, to which came the answer : ' No. Oh ! yes, I do. I remember hearing Professor Sidgwick stuttering, and I thought to myself he might have dropped the stutter when he got to heaven. He was dressed in just ordinary clothes.' " [All this is just like ordinary dreaming. H.H.] Mr. Piddington points out (Pr. XVIII, 180) that " while Dr. Hodgson believes as the result of his long, acute and searching investigation that Mrs. Piper ' is entirely ignorant of what occurs during trance ' [she certainly remembers during the " waking stage." How about recognizing G. P.'s portrait ? H.H.], the same cannot be said of Mrs. Thompson. Again ' Phinuit is, or pretends to be equally unaware of the knowledge possessed by Mrs. Piper, and of the incidents which happen to her in her ordinary life.' Nelly neither is, nor pretends to be similarly ignorant." Mrs. Thompson's Account of a Teloptic Vision. (Pr.XVni,183-4.) "May 24th, 1900. "'On Monday, May 7th, 1900, about 7.30 in the evening, I happened to be sitting quite alone in the dining-room, and thinking of the possibility of my " subliminal " communicating Ch. XXXVIII] Mrs. Thompson's Teloptic Vision 617 with that of another person no one in particular. I was not for one moment unconscious. All at once I felt someone was standing near, and quickly opened my eyes, and was very sur- prised to see clairvoyantly, of course Mr. J. G. Piddington. I was very keen to try the experiment: so at once spoke to him aloud. He looked so natural and life-like I did not feel in the least alarmed. " ' I commenced : " Please tell me of something I may after- wards verify to prove I am really speaking to you." J. G. P. : " I have had a beastly row with " [naming a specified per- son]. R. T.: " What about? " (No answer to this.) J. G. P.: " He says he did not intend to annoy me, but I said he had been very successful in doing so, whether he intended to or not." After saying this he disappeared, and I began to wonder if there was any truth in what I had heard from what appeared to me to be Mr. Piddington. I did not like to write and to ask him if it was so. On May 24th, I had an opportunity of telling him, and was very surprised to hear it was the truth. I also told him I had guessed at the subject of the "beastly row." My conjecture was quite accurate. "'(Signed) ROSALIE THOMPSON. ' ' P. 8. People often ask me how I talk with Nelly : just as I talked with Mr. Piddington on May 7th. I seem to see and feel what they are saying. The lips appear to move, but they make no audible sound. Yet unless 7 speak aloud they do not seem to understand me. I have tried Nelly when she appears to me by asking mental questions, but she does not understand unless I speak aloud and very clearly. R. T.' " Mr. Piddington thus supplements Mrs. Thompson's state- ment (Pr. XVIII, 184) : "Writing to Mr. Myers on May 30th, 1900, I expressed my- self as follows: " ' I entirely indorse Mrs. Thompson's account. I made her describe the incident in full before saying whether the story corresponded in any way with actual facts. " ' One point I think Mrs. Thompson has omitted from her account. I feel nearly certain that she described herself as hav- ing been aware that the quarrel was conducted by correspond- ence, as was the case, and not viva voce. The correspondence took place between April 28th and May 1st. Mrs. Thompson's experience was on May 7th I think it highly improbable that Mrs. Thompson could have had any knowledge of the " beastly row " in an ordinary way, and of the fact that my correspondent professed to have had no desire to annoy me, and of my observa- tion thereon, impossible. I do not remember, and have no means of recalling, what I was doing about 7.30 P.M. on May 7th probably dressing for dinner.' 618 Piddington's Report on Mrs. Thompson [Bk. II, Pt. IV, " It was this experience of Mrs. Thompson's which compelled my belief in her supernormal powers. At the time I saw no way of getting round it and I see no way now. But to my great regret I do not feel myself at liberty to disclose all the circum- stances. The case must accordingly lose much of its evidential value, and I therefore cannot hope that it will produce on others the same conviction that it has on myself." Prof. Moutonnier and Mrs. Thompson (Pr.XVin.194-200) : " [P.] Professor C. Moutonnier, formerly Professor at the Ecole des hautes Etudes Commercials a Paris, sent to Mr. Myers the following account of how he made the acquaintance of Mrs. Thompson, and also a record of a sitting which he had with her " ' On February the 10th, I received from Prof. C. Richet an invitation to attend some psychical experiments which were to take place at his chateau at Carqueiranne, together with Profes- sors Myers and James I was then on a visit at my daughter's at Monte Carlo, with my family, quite unaware of Mrs. Thomp- son being at the same place, as I did not know her, either by name or sight. " ' On the 1st of March, between 10 and 11 A.M., I was sitting on a bench with my wife, in one of the most retired spots of the gardens. ... I saw coming up to us three persons, a gentleman accompanied by a lady and a little girl, eleven years old. The lady addressed us in English (without knowing our nationality) as old friends, and in such a familiar way as only those already acquainted with the subject could take any interest in her con- versation. She told us, ex abrupto, and without being ques- tioned, that she came from a chateau at Carqueiranne belonging to Professor Richet, where she had been staying for some time with the Professors Myers and James . . . that she had been guided to me by her little spirit-girl, notwithstanding that her husband insisted on going by another alley; and that, as soon as she perceived us, she saw written before her eyes the word " Carqueiranne." . . . Great was her surprise when I told her we were intimate friends of Professor Richet, and greater still my joy on learning that she was one of the two mediums I was to meet at Carqueiranne " ' Our next meeting took place on the 13th of March, at the same spot and the same hour. . . . After about a quarter of an hour chatting on different topics, Mrs. Thompson without los- ing consciousness was all of a sudden taken hold of by her spirit-girl, who spoke through her in the following manner and terms, written down word by word as uttered from the lips of the medium: " ' 1. " The lady who is standing back of you says that you have a ring of hers, and you should give it to me. Ch. XXXVIII] Mrs. Thompson and Prof. Moutonnier 619 " ' 2. " She mentions that Long Henry wants to send a mes- sage to the one who was a little girl. "'3. "The lady had white hands, long fingers, and finger- nails like nut-shells. i ti Y OU have something that belongs to Harry in your pocket. " ' 5. " Long Henry was very weak, and suffered from the stomach, which caused him to stoop a little. " ' 6. " It seems to me that he died in a foreign country ; you remember when you last saw him, he wore a kind of a black coat and a black tie. " ' 7. " The lady died and she left a little girl, and she is going to have the ring, but in a long time to come. " ' 8. " There is someone related to Long Henry, and he asks if you are still teaching, as you could not very well take care of the babe and do two things together. "'9. "When the lady died she left a little carved box, you know, to put trinkets into it; you don't know but the painting lady knows all about it. " ' 10. " Harry says that you have a stud that belongs to him. It is not to make you feel bad ; but he is very funny, you know ; he is rather reserved, dignified, and wants to be somebody. " ' 11. " He was very fond of stretching out his legs, when he was seated; he liked also sticks and had some very funny ones " ' 13. " It seems to me that he died very unfortunately, when his prospects were at the highest. It was as if it were a pre- mature death. " ' 14. " He knew you to* be very kind, but never thought you would have done so much for his babe, as it was a very weak and miserable one " ' 17. " You have some hair in your pocket ; I wish you gave it to me. " ' 18. " There is a Marie connected with it. The hair was first brown and then chestnut color. " ' 19. " The lad y died ; she was quite well and was not to die < 21. " There is also a George connected with it. He is in a foreign country and alive " ' 23. " It seems as if ' the hair ' had been in the hands of another medium ; there is an influence of a stout lady " ' 25. " Harry says that the chestnut hair was that of his darling wife." "Explanatory Notes. " ' 1. The ring mentioned here was my daughter's " ' 2. Long Henry was an intimate friend of ours He was rery tall and liked my granddaughter then a little child very much. 620 Piddington's Report on Mrs. Thompson [Bk. II, Pt. IV. "'3. My daughter's hands were of a beautiful shape, white, long and tapering. " ' 4. I had in the left inside pocket of my coat a little picture of Harry my son-in-law " ' 5 Henry's health had always been very poor, and his tallness caused him to stoop a little " ' 6. When we last saw him in Paris at luncheon he wore a black cut-away coat and a black necktie. " ' 7. Both my daughter and her husband died leaving a girl then six years old, their only child. " ' 8. The person alluded to by Long Henry is myself. I was then a professor at the Ecole des hautes Etudes Commerciales at Paris. " ' 9. After my daughter's death we found many little boxes, where she kept her jewels. I, of course, was ignorant of the fact, but my other daughter, her sister (mentioned by the me- dium as being the painting lady, and who is in reality an artist painter) very likely knew all about it. " ' 10. On the very day of the seance I had on my shirt, hidden under my neck-tie, and invisible to anyone, a diamond stud be- longing to my son-in-law. I must say that I was quite unaware of having it on that day. Harry was rather a dignified and very ambitious man. " * 11. Like all Americans when at leisure, he used to take an easy position. He was very fond of sticks and had kept one of the funniest you can imagine in a trunk in Paris that belonged to him " ' 13. He was only 41 years old when he died, and he had indeed a great future before him; being very intelligent, active and ambitious. " ' 14. He died first and his little girl, my grand-daughter, was then very delicate and weak " ' 17. I had in the left inside pocket of my coat wrapped in paper and in an envelope a lock of my daughter's hair " ' 18. My daughter's hair was of a chestnut color. " ' 19. My daughter Marie caught the influenza from her sister and was taken away in the course of five days by the dreadful plague, February, '92, in the prime of her life, at the age of 29 " ' 21. The person mentioned by the name of George is the Christian name of my other son-in-law, Mr. Healy (the husband of the painting lady) who lives at Chicago and is still there. [This is probably G. P. A. Healy, one of the few American paint- ers whose portraits hang in the Uffizi collection. H.H.] " ' 23. Never did my daughter's hair go out of my posses- sion " ' 25. The hair, as said before, was my daughter's. " ' Psychometry, clairvoyance, mind-reading, telepathy Bay the men of science; but I would rather call it spirit infiu' Ch. XXXVIII] Sister Dorothy and BoWy 621 ence, a tie of union between all the worlds of the universe. . . . The message was given in a child-like way, and with the genu- ine accent and pronunciation of a child.' " The remaining extracts in this chapter are from Mr. Pid- dington's report: (Pr.XVIII,213) : " Nelly had said that she got * an influence connected with the lady at your house called Dorothy.' In spite of my denial of there being any person so named connected with my wife, Nelly stuck to her statement, and the next day I discovered that the name of a hospital nurse who had come to attend my wife the day before the sitting was Dorothy." , (Pr.XVIII,216-7) : " The next sitting at which I was present was on December 18th, 1899. Towards the close of it I asked Nelly for more news about Dorothy. Nelly was annoyed and testily replied : ' Oh, don't bother me about Dorothy. She's a Tery unimportant person; only a kind of servant.' 'Well,' I said, ' if she is so unimportant, why did you get a message about her ? ' ' Because,' answered Nelly, without the least hesitation, ' because she has a little dead brother, who wanted to send a message. We call him Bob Bobby. He's got something wrong with him in the neck and ear, and it made his head a little bit sideways.' " I wrote to Sister Dorothy to inquire if there were any truth in this statement. Her reply was to this effect : that she had no dead brother named Bobby, but she remembers a little boy in her hospital of that name, rather a pet of hers, who had a diseased bone in his neck " Let us suppose that a little spirit-child, Bobby, was cog- nizant of Sister Dorothy's presence in my house. He tells Nelly during the seance on November 29 : ' A lady connected with that gentleman has got Sister Dorothy at her house.' Nelly repeats this information in a parrot-like way: misunderstands the use of the term ' Sister,' and imagines that because Bobby talks of ' Sister Dorothy ' Bobby must be Dorothy's brother." (Pr.XVTII,219-20) : " Nelly, who is ready enough at all times to volunteer the statement that she is ' getting things out of people's stomachs ' [See solar plexus, p. 137. H.H.] which is her definition of the telepathic theory would not offer that explanation here. The source of her information she main- tained was a spirit-boy, who had apparently dropped in as it were at a sitting, attracted thereto by the presence of someone at whose house his ' Sister Dorothy ' was staying " Altogether the incident is a most complicated and perplex- ing one: hard to account for in my view by telepathy alone. The way in which the details dribbled out suggests the hap- hazard interchange of information between intelligences like 622 Tiddington's Report on Mrs. Thompson [Bk. II, Pt. IV ourselves rather than the successful ferreting out of facts by means of the purposeful exercise of a telepathic faculty." (Pr.XVIII,222) : " Nelly at least does her work more or less blindly and automatically. More than this, I believe she re- gards the whole thing as a game or puzzle which it is good fun to solve. Nelly is no glum archangel; she never displays any consciousness of being engaged on a serious mission, nor in- dulges in prayer, pious ejaculations, or sanctimonious discourse; and is, in fact, a downright, unsentimental, debonnaire being. She is prepared to play the game under what she considers the proper rules ; but if these are overstepped . . . she protests and is inclined to sulk." (Pr.XVHI,214) : " For a short time after his death Nelly de- nied with obstinacy that Mr. Myers was dead; though the fact was of course known to Mrs. Thompson, and although the Sidg- wick control was represented as perfectly cognizant of it." (Pr.XVIII,231-7) : " One curious point about the script is that Nelly will not accept any responsibility for it Thus on January 3rd, 1901 . . . Nelly said : ' You don't think Mr. Myera is so ill ; he's much worse.' ' Yes,' I replied, ' but you wrote to the contrary.' 'I don't care what I've written,' retorted Nelly; ' don't put it down to me.'. . . January 8th, 1901. ' It's not me that writes. It's always somebody else that's writing. Not me, even if I tell you so.' " The Sidgwick Script ". . . But it cannot be said that Mrs. Thompson's automatic script presents any specially interesting features as a general rule. It is not the chief method of communication as in Mrs. Piper's case. Still to this rule there is one exception, and that a most important one ... a control which purports to represent the late Professor Henry Sidgwick, whom Mrs. Thompson had met sev- eral times. This control communicated directly by the voice, but also by means of writing On December 20th, 1900 . . . Mrs. Benson brought with her to the sitting a paper-knife that had belonged to her brother. . . . On January llth, 1901 ... a good deal of script was done . . . purporting to come from the Percival control. Across this script and intermingled with it were written in a different handwriting, though in a handwriting showing no trace of resemblance to that of Professor Sidgwick, the words ' Trin y Henry Sidg.' The first five letters seem like an attempt at ' Trinity,' and suggest that a reference was in- tended to Trinity College, Cambridge. On another page . . . was the word 'paper-cutter.' This was written I should say in Mrs. Thompson's natural hand No paper-cutter had been pre- sented to the medium at this sitting, and it is therefore fair to conclude that the appearance on the same sheet of paper of an Ch. XXXVIII] 'Sidgwick, Gurney, and Myers Controls 623 obvious attempt at the name 'Henry Sidgwick' and of the word ' paper-cutter ' was not accidental " I asked Nelly if Mr. Gurney was present. Nelly made the cryptic answer : ' About the trio.' ' Who are the trio ? ' I asked. ' Henry Sidgwick, Edmund Gurney, and Mr. Myers,' replied Nelly. ' Henry Sidgwick is here.' The Sidgwick control then made its first appearance, and, though the words spoken were few, the voice, manner and style of utterance were extraordinar- ily lifelike: so much so indeed that, had I been ignorant of Professor Sidgwick's death and had happened to hear the voice without being able to tell whence it was issuing, I think I should have unhesitatingly ascribed it to him. " The next sitting was on January 21st, 1901, and directly trance came on and before the sitters entered the room, Nelly be- gan: 'Where's Henry Sidgwick? He's coming to talk after the sitting.' As soon as the sitters left the Sidgwick control made an ineffectual effort to speak. Nelly then came to the rescue and gave the following message : ' Mr. Piddington, he can't talk. He wants to write himself, when you're not thinking of him She will write it at 4.30.' ' Who,' I asked, ' will write it? The medium?' 'Yes,' said Nelly. The Sidgwick control then took Nelly's place; and again the impersonation was most extraordinarily lifelike. The only two occasions on which I have been emotionne, or have experienced the slightest feeling of uncanniness during a spiritualistic seance, or have felt myself in danger of being carried away, were during these two manifestations of the Sidgwick control. I felt that I was indeed speaking with, and hearing the voice of, the man I had known; and the vividness of the original impression has not faded with time. "After Nelly had explained that her mother was to be pre- pared to receive an automatically-written message the same afternoon at 4.30, the Sidgwick control spoke as follows : ' He's not with me.' (The ' He ' undoubtedly meant Mr. Myers. This sentence and the next were spoken with great emotion.) J. G. P.: 'Is he resting?' H. S. : 'He's not within range at all.... Alice* will know that it's me [sic] that's written it. She'll recognize it. She'll know it's my writing. Tell her to compare it with the others.' " ' Didn't Frederic Myers leave it to the Society ? The books not those for you I will write it. You always thought me old and shabby, but I'm shabbier now.' " The final sentence was apparently got out with immense effort, and then the personation stopped with a snap. It was *Pr. XVIII. 238 says: "Miss Alice Johnson ... (as Mrs. Thompson knew) has been Mrs. Sidgwick's private secretary for many years, and therefore had every opportunity of becoming. . . familiar with Professor Sidgwick's handwriting." 624 Piddington's Report on Mrs. Thompson [Bk. II, Pt. IV just like the swift and unexpected withdrawal of a magic-lantern slide." Shortly after was given much writing, ostensibly from the Sidgwick control. Several fac-similes of it are given in Pr. XVIII, 238-43. Mr. Piddington continues: (Pr.XVm,242) : " [P.] Mrs. Sidgwick, in a letter addressed to Sir Oliver Lodge, speaks of ' the unmistakable likeness of the handwriting ' ; and Mrs. Benson in a letter addressed to me after examining the various sheets containing the script, says of them : ' The more I look at them, the more I am struck with the likeness.' " I showed specimens of the script to one or two people who were well acquainted with Professor Sidgwick's handwriting, without of course giving any hint of what answer I was expect- ing, and asked them to cast just a cursory glance at them, and then say whose handwriting it was. In each case the answer came without hesitation, to the effect that it was Professor Sidgwick's writing .As evidence for identity the script, re- markable though it is, seems to me worth little or nothing. I am not much of a dreamer, and at best am not a vivid one, and I am about as poor a visualizer as could be found, yet in my dreams I have more than once dreamt that I have received let- ters from a friend or acquaintance, and in the dream-letter the characteristic handwriting of my dream-correspondent has been depicted to the life. If so poor a visualizer as myself can in sleep summon up so clear a picture of another's handwriting, it is reasonable to suppose that Mrs. Thompson in trance enjoys at least an equal capacity, and there seems to me to be but a small step between such capacity for visualization and the power of making a graphic reproduction of the visual image." All the difference in the world: for Mrs. Thompson did not know Professor Sidgwick's handwriting. Does Mr. Pid- dington mean that she got a telepathic vision of it from him (P) or a teloteropathic one somewhere else? Even Podmore says of these writings (New. Spir., p. 203) : " They bear a very striking, and indeed quite unmistakable, resemblance to the writing of Mr. Henry Sidgwick. Mrs. Thompson states that she had never seen his writing. But, of course, there may have been opportunities for her to see it un- consciously." Isn't this a little " thin," especially in view of some recent reason to doubt that observations lie latent ? Wasn't it Mr. Piddington's business to prove that she had Ch. XXXVIII] Nelly's Script, Gloom and Prophecies 625 seen the writing, or is the whole burden of proof on the proponent of the extraordinary ? (Pr.XVIII,243) : " In spite of Nelly's denial of responsibility for any of the automatic script, there is one instance where it is extremely difficult to suppose that she was not the author of it. ... A lady had entered the seance-room . . . and after Nelly had made one or two slight references to her, the following sentences were written : ' Don't ask me any more questions. I hate the blue blouse.' The lady in question was wearing a blue blouse. Now, throughout this sitting there was not the slightest indica- tion that any control other than Nelly was concerned in the communications ; and, even apart from that fact, the context in- disputably shows that the ' I ' must refer to Nelly. The phrase- ology, too, is characteristic of her. . . . The simplest explanation ... is that she wrote, instead of spoke ... in order to avoid giving offense." (Pr.XVIII,246-51) : " The dominant note of a large propor- tion of Nelly's prophecies is their gloom, their appalling gloom. I have noted in all 25 predictions in the series of sittings under discussion, and out of these eleven are of a lugubrious character . The most inspiriting one that I can find is to this effect, namely, that someone who is dead would have been better off (i.e., would have come in for money) had he lived. Nelly takes the most dismal views of people's health. On several occasions she has shown anxiety to number my days; not that I've ever allowed her to get so far, because happily I have fore- seen what was coming (I have learnt to recognize the sympa- thetic voice and manner with which she prophesies evil things), and stopped her in time He gives several of her prophecies and concludes with the following very wise remarks: " This ends my list of Nelly's gloomy forebodings, and so far for not one of them can success be claimed. One is almost tempted to deduce from them a law (' Nelly's law '), that if any- thing unpleasant is foretold it is sure not to come off. " I may be accused of treating this part of the subject with undue flippancy. If my flippancy will only induce a flippant attitude in the victims of pessimistic prophecies, its object will hare been attained. . . . The bad effects that predictions can pro- duce on nervous people are too obvious to need insisting on. A man sound in body and mind might listen unmoved to a pre- diction of the date and cause of his own death, mock at it, and disregard it. But illness comes and upsets the healthy bodily and mental balance, and what then? The prediction which sounded so absurd a few months back has now become rather disturbing, until at last it grips the man's imagination and thus 626 Piddington's Report onMrs. Thompson [Bk. II, Pt. IV may well secure its fulfilment. Or, another possibility, X. is told that he will be involved in a bad carriage accident. Some time after he is out driving, the horses are frightened by a pass- ing motor-car, the prediction suddenly flashes across X.'s mind, his nerve is momentarily shaken by the recollection, he loses his head for an instant, and an accident results, which, but for the paralyzing effects of the prediction, would have never occurred." Mr. Piddington does not take much stock in Nellie's prophecies. Here are a couple of average specimens : (Pr.XVIII,257) : " On December 20th, 1900, Nelly predicted who would be the sitter at the next sitting. ' I'm going to see you with that spectacled gentleman the next time. I don't know who it is. Put it down for the truth.' " I put it down for the truth, and took no measures either to help or to impede the truth coming true. " Unhappily, instead of a spectacled gentleman, the next sitter was a lady wearing pince-nez. Nelly pointed out the failure herself : ' The gentleman with the spectacles I told you he was coming. You see it isn't a gentleman with spectacles on.' She was not in the least disconcerted, nor did she try to explain away the non-success of her prediction. In fact the failure of her predictions does not seem to worry her; I suppose she has the good sense to set no great store by them." (Pr.XVIII,258-9) : " January 3rd, 1901 . . . Nelly said:' Mr. Ernest Bennett you know who I mean. I'm talking to you (i.e., J. G. P.).... He's going to tell you a lot of things What made me think of it (this in answer to a question asked by J. G. P.) was I saw a lot of people dressed up like ghosts, and then I could hear you and Mr. Bennett laughing and then and then you seem to have indigestion after.' J. G. P. : ' Is it future or past?' Nelly: 'After; it's what you've got to come to.' "I went straight home. Being overtired, and as a conse- quence of the over-fatigue suffering from indigestion, I lay down on my bed. ... I had been resting some twenty minutes or so when Mr. Ernest Bennett called to see me. I had no idea he was going to call, nor did I know any particular reason why he should Of course, as soon as I was told that Mr. Bennett had called, Nelly's prediction came into my mind Mr. Bennett at once explained the object of his visit, which was to tell me of his experiences at a haunted house in the West of England. . . . I had not any notion what he could be coming to talk about; and also when Nelly spoke about Mr. Bennett and people dress- ing up as ghosts it suggested nothing to my mind Mr. Ben- nett . . . expressed the opinion that one of the alleged phenomena was due to a servant's practical joke " I think Mrs. Thompson either knew or knew of Mr. Ernest Ch. XXXVIII] Nelly on Babies 627 Bennett, and if so, I cannot attach much importance to Nelly having said : ' Then I could hear you and Mr. Bennett laughing.' Mr. Bennett will, I hope, forgive me, if I say that, as a rule where he is, there too is laughter, and often 'laughter holding both her sides/" (Pr.XVIII,261-2) : " There is one string on which Nelly harps with such persistency that I grew to listen for the familiar twang at each sitting. Babies babies who died at, or before, or soon after birth, are a subject of irresistible attraction to Nelly " It may be that the explanation must be looked for in the particular circumstances of the life-history of the real Nelly. Mrs. Thompson's daughter Nelly died when only a few months old, and her own brief span of earth-life may perhaps account for her interest in ' the fate of the unbaptized.'. . . I think I am justified in saying that with Phinuit, too, infantum animae are a favorite topic, though, by the way, he and Nelly are far from representing them as flentes in limine primo. ... I suppose that nothing has been more abhorrent to the modern conscience than certain eschatological teachings about the fate of unbaptized children; and it is conceivable that the insistence both of Phi- nuit and of Nelly upon the presence of babies in the same spheres of existence which the adult dead inhabit should be traced to a common desire to protest against this damnable dogma." Sitting of December 1st, 1899. (Pr.XVIII,263.) " There was a break in the trance, and the second part of the sitting Nelly opened with these words : ' What was that dead baby associated with the hair-lady? It was not properly born.' Dr. van Eeden said : ' I don't know ' ; and for the mo- ment Nelly dropped the subject. But a few minutes later she reverted to it, saying to Dr. van Eeden : ' I wish you would think about the dead baby. The hair-lady has the entire man- agement of the dead baby.' " The ' hair-lady ' was not dead, and so could not have the management of a dead baby, even had there been a dead baby to manage, and, so far as Dr. van Eeden could discover, there was no dead baby which could be said to be associated with either the lady or her husband." aitting of January 5th, 1900. (Pr.XVIII,263-4.) " Nelly said to Miss Gordon : ' This all comes through a little girl who died long ago your sister. She is now grown up.' " Miss Gordon never had a baby sister, or a sister who died young. A brother died two hours after birth." 628 Piddington's Report on Mrs. Thompson [Bk. II, Pt. IV Sitting of January 25th, 1900. (Pr.XVIII,264-5.) " Nelly said : ' I couldn't find the lady (i.e., Miss Clegg) anywhere. I could only find a brother of this gentleman (i.e., Mr. Wilson) who died when he was quite a tiny microbe baby.' A brother of Mr. Wilson's had died within a few hours after its birth." Nelly on Physical Phenomena. (Pr.XVHI,265-6.) " Mrs. Piper has never, I believe, claimed to produce physical phenomena : and among a certain school of psychical researchers this failure to sound ' toute la lyre ' of mediumship has been counted unto her for righteousness. Having a sneaking affec- tion for physical phenomena, I am glad that Nelly has the cour- age of her opinions and boldly proclaims their feasibility, and further lays claim to having produced such things herself." Cf. quotation from Podmore, p. 603. Sitting of November 29th, 1899. (Pr.XVIII,266-7.) "Nelly: ' That gentleman [i.e., Dr. van Eeden] has been to a materializing seance.' Dr. van Eeden : ' When ? ' Nelly : ' A short time ago. There is a strong influence of somebody cheat- ing all the time: taking off clothes and so on: fraudulent throughout.' This statement was not applicable to Dr. van Eeden ; though it would have been to myself, the recorder. " I then asked Nelly to tell me what she thought about materi- alizations: were they occasionally genuine? In reply she gave this message from Mrs. Cartwright : ' Whenever a spirit materi- alizes it is quite a spontaneous thing.' " Nelly proceeded to explain this by saying ' It can't be done to order once a week ' ; and added, ' Mrs. Cartwright dictated that bit.' "Very soon after this Dr. van Eeden asks Nelly if she can appear to people in dreams, and gets the reply : ' I never tried except with Mother. I'm going to materialize one day for Father to show him the color of my hair: black curly hair, not light like Mother's. " ' Mr. Thurston's sister came and talked at Mother's house. She was materialized. (This was quoted as an instance of a non-fraudulent materialization.) "'Mrs. Corner once was properly materialized about three years ago at a lady's house.' " We shall meet Nelly again. CHAPTER XXXIX THE THOMPSON-PIPER JOSEPH MARBLE SERIES A SERIES with Mrs. Thompson and later with Mrs. Piper, by a lady whom Sir Oliver Lodge, who edits them, gives the pseudonym Mrs. Rupert Grove. Sir Oliver calls the sittings " interesting and distinctly evidential." He farther says (Pr. XXIII, 255-6) : " Mrs. Grove herself is an intelligent lady of middle age, open- minded as to the genuineness of psychical phenomena of all kinds, but in her own judgment tending towards skepticism, which it requires frequently renewed experience to counteract. Such renewal of experience, from time to time, she has had through her husband, who has been more or less familiar with such things for years. But his attitude to them is unimportant, since he does not enter into this series except by incidental mention. He knew Mr. Marble slightly, since he also had lived for some years in the same neighborhood; but he had at that time no knowledge of the great and affectionate intimacy be- tween Mr. Marble and his future wife. He is still living, and I think I am right in assuming that he knows about it now and has learnt not to resent it. Nevertheless the possibility that he might dislike it is another reason for anonymity." Statement by Mrs. Grove, Made 14th June, 1907, with Reference to Incidents before the Sittings. (Pr.XXIII,256.) " ' Mr. Joseph Marble and his sister, Mrs. Kate Sandford, were neighbours of each other and also neighbours and old friends of my mother, near Ashton ; and he had a small " works " not far from Stalybridge. Both were well-read, clear-headed, some- what skeptical There was a strong and very deep affection between us, unknown to anyone else. Some years after my mar- riage, when I had gained a little experience of psychical mat- ters through a few visits to a medium in 1896, I often spoke to them separately, but especially to him, on the subject, trying to make him realize and see things as I was beginning with a good deal of hesitation to see them ; but without success. He listened 629 630 Thompson-Piper Joseph Marble Series [Bk. II, Pi IV. as he would have listened to anything I told him, but more with amusement than acceptance. " ' Mrs. Sandford was equally incredulous, and said, rather distinctly, that she did not like such things. So I never really expected to get communications purporting to come from them. " ' Nevertheless, in two sittings with Mrs. Thompson, during the Spring of 1900, about three years after Mr. Marble's death . . . communications seemed to come from Mr. Marble His sister (a widow) was then alive.'" Notes of those sittings follow immediately. After them are given notes of some sittings with Mrs. Piper in 1906, after Mrs. Sandford's death. Mrs. Grove's First Sitting with Mrs. Thompson, in 1900. (Pr.XXIII,257f.) " (Control ' Nelly ' speaking.) There's Mr. Myers. Yes I'm very happy to get things for other people. (I gave the medium a Scotch plaid tie to hold which had belonged to my deceased friend Mr. Marble.) What makes me say Stalybridge ? ' Mrs. G. : ' Good.' N. : ' I dont know where it is, a horribly smoky place A stout good tempered influence with this, easy com- fortable jolly Its as if he wants to cough; can't breathe very well. Joseph Limestone. [The real name is Marble.] . . . You know, Alice [Mrs. Grove. H.H.], it seems as if he says he always doubted about people coming to talk when they were dead, but he knows now it is true. ... I can't understand the relationship, be- cause there is such a bond of love between you as doesn't exist between ordinary people. Beloved Alice, that's what he says he wants you to comfort someone that's left crying for him he wants you to tell them that it was a sort of shock he didn't seem to be ill long. [His illness did not last 3 days.] In spite of all he loves he doesn't want to come back. He's waiting for Alice. He says there is no separation of love in Heaven. Does he mind? But you did so straightforwardly tell him [i.e., Mr. Grove]. My poor little woman, how sorry I was for you. He says he told you not to wear a bonnet, he always liked to see you in a hat. [True.] You will let him kiss you now, you used to screw yourself up from him. He said he ought to have been more patient. He can see the truth of your heart now. . . . He said sometimes you were your own self and other times you weren't. But he says neither of you wronged anyone else. . . . He says you were nicest to him in the train it was the only time you were yourself He seemed to be doing something he ought not. It seems as though he doesn't like to tell me. Per- haps he can write it.' [All this is entirely intelligible and cor- rect. The hand of the medium now writes matter fairly appro- priate, with his real surname, Marble, written in full and cor- Ch. XXXIX] Thompson Veridicities and Intimacies 631 rectly.] . . . ' Why did I take it so hard ? The knowledge of all we were to each other ought to keep me till we meet and are united.' Mrs. G. : ' Then what about my Rupert ? ' [Her hus- band. H.H.] N. : ' Oh! there are no jealousies and no relation- ships, but souls united. He is sure Rupert won't be cross at souls united. He seems to say " Alice love me just this once," and seems to be trembling and trembling. It seems to commence by your going in the train Oh God but he does not believe in God does he? [In a Piper Sitting, six years later, he is rep- resented as saying, through Rector, ' I do believe in God now.'] . . . Do you know what a passionate love on one side and a sis- terly love on the other that's what it is. He hasn't any pa- tience with Platonic affection.' " Second Sitting of Mrs. Grove with Mrs. Thompson. (Pr.XXIII,261f.) " N. : '. . . Have you been painting a picture, Mrs. Grove ? be- cause he sees you with a pinafore on painting he used to watch you painting.' [True, and also true that I had been recently painting a picture.] Mrs. G. : ' Can you tell me what the pic- ture was ? ' [Really a portrait of him from a photograph.] N. (Long silence) : ' You seem to be copying off another All the Elliotts know him. He only loved one Elliott; [Elliott was my former name] but you mustn't be jealous he once loved an Alice Elliott You're not cross are you? He didn't marry her. [This was Mrs. Grove herself. H.H.] . . . You won't be cross will you, but you know his heart seems to go out to her more than to anyone else. [Nelly never seemed to know my former name, or to suspect that this really referred to me.] . . . He says he is not in the same house " Nelly " is in. When he is there, which he hopes to be soon, he can talk to her without getting in a muddle.' [This is probably intended to signify that he is not yet at the same stage of progression as the reporting control.] . . . (Writing r-ontinued.) ' My dear Alice tis not that I am unwilling, but I am now though not then convinced that we are both best to leave our loves. This life has brought me the joy and happiness I so often sought but sought in vain. I was so deuced selfish in my love but now I see it is better left alone and try my dear Alice to forget me as you used to pretend so well to do. ... I have suffered for the wrong I would have done to others but now it is best for me not to communicate in this or any other way. I lore you still but only by giving you this proof in our case is best left alone for one year. Remember in one year I will give you all the proof, nay more, but dearest dont ask me now. I never thought I should attempt in so rubbishy a manner to demonstrate the truth of your own strange belief, but I live I live, and that is sufficient for now, and more, much more, than anything I ever thought of. . . .' [The whole of the above is extremely appropriate.] 632 Thompson-Piper Joseph Marble Series [Bk. II, Pt. IV " Notes ly O.J.I. " All this J. M. business is extraordinarily good. It is really more life-like than the subsequent quieter Piper impersonation, some six or seven years later. At that time, however, the attempt to give evidence, here foreshadowed, is really made: and the Control shows some knowledge of what was said here, e.g., by writing that ' he does believe in God now.' (Of. ante.) " The substitution on one occasion of ' Mr. Limestone ' for Mr. Marble is characteristic of the ' Nelly ' control, and recalls the substitution of ' Happyfield ' for Merrifield, as reported in Vol. 17, p. 208 " After this the same Control sent occasional messages through other mediums, to whom Mrs. Grove occasionally went anony- mously, hoping to get some more evidence. These communica- tions are hardly worth reporting; but as no clue of any kind was given, they seemed beyond chance, since they clearly had reference to the same personality and incidents. But of course they were like most of this series well within the scope of telepathy. [Was the dramatic character? H.H.] . . . The few in- cidents outside the scope of telepathy . . . were obtained through Mrs. Piper from whose script on this subject I now extract portions In the interim, between 1900 and 1906, Mrs. Kate Sandf ord, sister of Mr. Joseph Marble, had died " The main difference between the communications received through Mrs. Thompson, as reported above, and the communi- cations which follow, obtained through Mrs. Piper, lies in the fact that one was conversational and therefore easy, whereas the other was hampered by the difficulty of deciphering a more or less illegible script For part of Mrs. Grove's time I was present and assisted with the reading, but the presence of an outside person is naturally perturbing, and hence the oppor- tunity for referring to intimate matters was not so complete as during the previous voice sittings with Mrs. Thompson alone. Another difference seems to be due to the fact that at the later date communication begins not directly with Mr. Marble himself but with his now deceased sister; and the presence of this addi- tional communicator exerted another restraining influence not only on the other side, so to speak, but even I thought on Mrs. Grove. " Anxiety to communicate in an evidential manner if possible, and genuine affection, were manifested now as strongly as be- fore; but the tone was somewhat more sedate, and more what may be called ' religious.' Probably most of this is due to the intervention of Rector, but it is represented as indicating some progress in the communicator himself " Let it be remembered then that the remaining communica- tions are obtained, not as heretofore through Mrs. Thompson by the voice, but through Mrs. Piper by writing." Ch. XXXIX] 'Sundry Veridicities 633 Sitting of Mrs. Grove with Mrs. Piper in November, 1906. (Pr.XXTTT,265f.) " [O. J. L.] ... I take the beginning, and then a bit out of the middle: the beginning of Mr. Marble's appearance, as a communicator through Mrs. Piper ... is very hazy and confused at first, but, as soon as it is properly established, this impersona- tion will be recognized as fairly consistent with the . . . repre- sentation through Mrs. Thompson . . . obtained six and a half years previously. The opening words of the following record purport to be from Mrs. Sandford: " ' I am well and happy in this life, so is my brother Martin who greets you with great love. [This name Martin [for Marble. H.H.] seems to be merely a muddle of Rector's.] Kate and Martin [?] are both here to greet you. He asks me to remind you of a ring which you had a long time ago.' Mrs. G. : ' I am glad to meet Kate again, but I do not know Martin.' K. : ' Speak to me. . . .' M. : ' Don't let me get confused that sign. No one could recall better than myself that ring (not read) but myself would remember that ring.' Mrs. G. : ' No.' M. : ' I am really near you now, and so glad to have found my way here Do you remember anything about Hall ? ' Mrs. G. : ' A hall we used to pass in walking, where the Jeffersons lived ? ' M. (Ex- citement in hand) : ' Not far from that hall.' Mrs. G. : ' Do you mean Casford Hall? Yes I do. I told Rector again and again. Halsford Hall. M. There is something on his mind R[ector explains. H.H.] which he is anxious to recall with the lady present.' M. : ' Dance.' Mrs. G. : ' Yes yes.' M. : ' Together at Hall, at Hall. Not so ? ' Mrs. G. : ' No, not there ' [but if he meant another hall it would be right]. . . . M. : * Do you remem- ber Singing?' [or possibly & portmanteau attempt at Sunday morning.] Mrs. G. : 'Singing? Yes, very badly.' M. : 'I re- member well. Sunday ming [clearly meant for either evening or morning.] Repeat. Not singing. I was going to progress and go on in this life. He thinks she does not hear him.' R[ector explains again. H.H.] ...Mrs. G. : 'I want you to say something that I may know it is you.' M. : ' Oh yes. Yes, you used to sing occasionally sing when I came to your house. You sang evening evening the last time I heard you.' O. J. L. (Again putting in his oar) : ' Very likely.' M. : ' Yes you did. I think, friend [all this seems to be through Rector. H.H.], you had better leave the lady to speak.' O. J. L. : ' Shall I go away ? ' R. : ' I think so, friend.' O. J. L. : ' May I bring a friend two days hence?' R. : 'You may bring him.' O. J. L. : ' Farewell then, Rector.' R. : ' God be with you.' " (Mrs. G. was now left alone with Lady Lodge and almost at once the conditions improved.) . . . M. : Me. Yes, I am he. I am Marbl I am so glad and so very happy to see you again. I never shall cease to love you, never, never, shall cease to love NEVER. I 634 Thompson-Piper Joseph Marble Series [Bk. II, Pt. IV. am now nearer you than ever before, and yet progressing all the time.' Mrs. G. : 'I must progress too.' M. : ' Yes, you must ; but you are growing better every year; yes, every year. Dear Kate [His sister. H.H.], she loves you too, and she longs to help you in that life. Ask her to do so.' Mrs. G. : ' How shall I get her to do this ? Do you mean pray ? ' M. : ' Yes, and she will always hear you. So shall I. I see and know when you think of me. Do you remember you said you could not in that life ? You do understand now so much better.' Mrs. G. : ' Yes, I do, but I did not under- stand then.' M. : 'It hurt me then, but I understand it all now. I never loved more. I see the ring I gave you. I do so well. I was attracted to it, and how could I help coming back to you? ... I longed to return, to return. Do you understand ? ' Mrs. G. : ' Yes, I do.' M. : ' I tried, Alice, to love many times a good many times, but could not, but I could not.' [This is in- telligible also, but the explanation would be long.] "Mrs. G.: 'Is Kate here?' K: 'Yes I am here dear. Joe feels so bad to think that he could not understand what you said better. He says he does understand you about the last dance at his house, and going home with you. I understand also all that. I never knew when I was in the body ' [This is true. She did not know of the terms of affection we were on. Nor indeed did anyone.] . . . Mrs. G. : ' Can you tell me whom you have met in your world ? ' [This question was intended to ex- tract a reference to her husband, who long pre-deceased her; but, instead, a curious introduction of a deceased friend, well known to both, occurs. O.J.L.] [Was it probably from the sitter's mind then ? H.H.] K. : ' Do you remember a friend of mine named Weston ? ' Mrs. G. : ' No I do not.' K. : ' Do you remember Bet Best Westn, Alice ? ' Mrs. G. : ' Yes quite well ; lots of them, the Wests.' K. : 'Do you? I have seen her and her father, also Best.' Mrs. G. : ' Is it a gentleman or a lady ? ' " K. : ' Don't you remember him ? A gentleman. He asked me the other day if I had really spoken to you. I told him I had tried to do so ; and he said, ask her if she remembers me at all.' Mrs. G. : 'Yes, well. Can he give his Christian name?' K. : ' He will. Jim.' Mrs. G. : ' I remember you well.' K. : ' Jim West.' [This was exactly the name he always went by: he died young. He was a very intimate friend.] " Extracts from Further Sittings of Mrs. Grove with Mrs. Piper. (Pr.XXIII,272f.) " After this Mrs. Grove had a sitting without my presence, and the following is a small part of the record. She kept a copy of all her own remarks, and I have read it. O.J.L " Mrs. G. : ' Ah, at last the right name. Why did you call yourself Kate before? ' K. : ' Because I did it for Rector's under- standing. I am with you dear Alice. I see and understand all your inquiry, so does Joe. . . . Alice he loves you dearly, etc.' Ch. XXXIX] Identification of Marble's Portrait 635 (Then he was represented as saying.) M. : l Have you any idea of my joy at meeting you? I feel it must mean much to me as life goes on My sister has been so patient and kind to me. She has helped me to find you dear, as she came to this life after I did. [Correct.] Pray for me always, etc ' " M. : ' Now dear I am not sure that I can give you further proofs of identity, because I am Marble 1 love you dearly. I always did, and my life would be a barren waste, he says a barrent waste, without your prayers and love.' Mrs. G. : 'A barren waste ? I thought you were happy.' M. : ' Oh yes, I am absolutely happy. I understand so much better now.' Mrs. G. : ' What should I pray for ? ' M. : ' For a re-union of our souls, for my peace, and for me to be able to reach you in this meager and simple way Do you love me, and do you understand how blind I was? Forgive me.' Mrs. G. : 'You mean your incre- dulity [Regarding God and the future life. H.H.] ; but you cannot make people believe.' M. : ' Yes, but I was so stupid, I would not believe dear. Now I understand I am sorry I did not.' Mrs. G. : 'Does it make any difference?' M. : 'Only I feel I hurt you dear.' Mrs. G. : ' Not much.' M. : ' But I did not have the opportunity, did I really dear ? ' Mrs. G. : ' No. It is time to close now.' R." If you remember Mrs. Piper's identification of the portrait of George Pelham, you will be doubly interested in the fol- lowing (Pr. XXIII, 276-8) : " [O. J. L.] Sitting lasted from 11.10 to 1.10. "After lunch I took eleven photographs of men, and asked Mrs. Piper if she had ever seen any of them. She looked over them, hesitating on the one representing Mr. Joseph Marble for some time, and then picked that out and said she had seen that man somewhere, but she could not remember where " Next day, in the evening, I tested Mrs. Piper again with another set of photographs of men, partly the same and partly different, but containing among others the critical one. This time, however, it was looked at without comment and without interest, and no remembrance of the appearance seemed to per- sist. She remembered the fact of having recognized one before ; but when asked to do it again, she picked out, after much hesita- tion, a different one as a possibility, and said that she thought it had been found in America, that the memory evaporated in time, and that it was strongest within an hour of the sitting. The test made the day before had been made about an hour and a half after the sitting. " And this is the record of the second of the two waking- stages, five months later: the 'Joe' here referred to is Mr. Marble, who had been represented as communicating during the Bitting : 636 Thompson-Piper Joseph Marble Series [Bk. II, Pt. IV. " Waking Stage of No. 14. " ' Help Joe make it completely clear. I do not know what I had to do with it Fine looking man, his name is Joe. Mr. Hodgson keeps pushing him in the front row. He was a large man and then all of a sudden he went out. He was a nice looking man. (A number of men's photographs were now placed in a row before her: she immediately pounced on one without the slightest hesitation.) That is the man I saw.' . . . [The selection was correct; the photograph was one ... of the late Mr. Joseph Marble.] "An Hour or so Later. " (I now again put the photographs in front of her. She looked at them as if for the first time, and said) 'I do not know the photographs.' (She then hesitated long over the right one, saying she had * seen him somewhere,' but finished up by saying) ' No, I do not know.' " With these recognitions of photographs, and Mrs. Piper's of G. P., compare Miss Eawson's vision on p. 646. CHAPTER XL THE THOMPSON-MYERS CONTROL WE now come to the manifestations from the alleged post- carnate Frederic Myers, who had died January 17, 1901. I can give but scant specimens. Myers was perhaps the leading English spirit in the S. P. R., and everybody interested in Psychical Research the skeptical as well as the credulous was looking with great interest for manifestations professing to come from that spirit in a postcarnate state. As usual, they are a terrible jumble. Myers was not a demonstrative person. He had not, like Hodgson, salient characteristics of manner or expression. In that respect the communicating personality resembles him. His absorbing interests were the S. P. R., poetry, and classical literature. In those respects, too, the personality resembles him. He was an intimate friend of Mrs. Verrall : so the resemblance presented through her is of little " evidential" value. The same is true of Mrs. Thompson, and, in a less degree, of Mrs. Piper. Probably the appearance of the Myers control has been by far the most instructive of all experiences regarding the influence of the medium upon the messages. Whatever the source of the manifestations, their characteristics depend largely on those of the medium. Mrs. Verrall is a classical scholar, and the alleged Myers communications through her abound in classical allusions, and occasionally are in one of the classical languages. Mrs. Holland is a highly educated lady apparently without any specialties, and she reports the everyday cultivated Myers. Through Mrs. Thompson he sometimes speaks direct, and sometimes is ostensibly reported by a bright child Nelly, and then shows little outside the range of such a child's comprehension. It is noteworthy, however, that Nelly often reports in a distinctly parrot-like way things which seem to be, and she sometimes says are, given to her by older (?) persons. Mrs. Piper's reports of 637 638 The Thompson-Myers Control [Bk. II, Ft. IV. Myers correspond to her education, and have few of the special qualities shown through Mrs. Verrall. All this corresponds with the guess I have reiterated that the flow of the cosmic soul through each of us, whether it comes as a fragment of inspiration of any kind, including dreams, or as a personality, is determined by the personality through which it flows. Therefore the different aspects of an alleged control presented through different mediums do not appear to me much of an argument against the genuine- ness of the control. Myers's first alleged appearance as a control is recorded in some extracts from the " Note-book of Miss Rawson's trance utterances, as recorded by the Experimenter in charge (who is anonymous but known to me) " [Sir Oliver Lodge who edits the report]. A little prefatory matter is desirable. Messages Obtained Through Miss Rawson. (Pr.XXIII,292f.) " [O. J. L.] Doubtless a great number of communications os- tensibly purporting to come from Mr. Myers have been received through many mediums For the most part I regard these as valueless, as not even plausibly lifelike But on the spirit- istic hypothesis it must be admitted as likely that Miss Rawson a lady well known to Mr. Myers, whose hand sometimes writes while she remains conscious would be one of the channels of communication employed by a posthumous Myers-like activ- ity "Dec. 22, 1900. Message from H. S.[idgwick? H.H.], with F. W. H. M. himself present, less than a month before bis death (unimportant). " Jan. 11, 1901. Message from H. S. ' Tell Myers to tell my wife not to put in the whole of the last chapters of the book she is finishing. She will know the passages she feels doubtful about. Tell him it is really I who am here.' " [O. J. L.] This was spoken with hesitation and stuttering just as in life; Mast' was a difficult word and repeated twice. [Cf. the stuttering communications through Mrs. Piper and Mrs. Thompson. H.H.] . . . [Myers was alive then ; he died on Jan. 17.] " Jan. 23, 1901. H. S. : ' I have not seen my dear friend Myers yet, but I am more thankful than I can say that he has come here. The circle above has been waiting for him, and will with great joy welcome him.' [O. J. L.] (What is the work of the circle above?) S. : 'It is to attest his work, to make a school above to correspond with the school on earth. His wonderful Ch. XL] Close Mannerisms. Gurney Control's Comments 639 power of organization will not be lost here. The world is not so ready as he thought. We shall work together again.' "Jan. 26, 1901. F. Myers (very faint voice) : 'I am at rest; my body is laid where I wished, and my soul is free. I told you if possible I should return. Little did we think when, not a month ago, I stood beside you, telling you that all my happiness was on the other side, that I should again stand beside you, having obtained that happiness. I thank you a thousand times for making [this] meeting . . . possible, for it confirmed what I had been told, which I was never quite certain of. ... Later I can do more. I am supremely happy.' " If I judged Myers rightly, that touch about his body is as evidential a thing as I know, though technically not eviden- tial at all. The whole passage is wonderfully like him. "Jan. 30, 1901. F. W. H. Myers: '...I shall return through Mrs. Thompson ' " The control said later that F. M. could not speak because he was not inside the medium ; he pushed her along " Feb. 9, 1901. F. W. H. M. : < Really, really this is delight- ful 1 never thought to meet you here. It was all true we had not deceived ourselves. Thank you for giving me the power to come. . . . They don't know how one consciousness can merge into another.' [We are fast finding out. H.H.] " Mar. 17, 1901. London. Edmund Gurney : ' It will be no advantage to my friend to be kept down for communication with the groups he prepared. What we want for him now is to rise, and to forget the earthly things. He can't help any more. His life was given to it, and that must be the help. He was allowed just to say that he continued but it will help nobody that he should be called back, and made to hover near the earth. In fact it will only make him earthbound. So tell all those who tried to persuade him to come, ... to receive the messages that will be sent now and again, but never permanently.' " Another control : ' The mistake Myers made was, he thought the finite could control the infinite; so he gathered groups and did his best to train them into working order, to carry out his design. This was not a good thing to do mapping out work to do under different conditions which he did not understand. . . . I have seen Myers, he is perfectly happy; he finds many of his theories difficult to work ' " March 19. 'Myers is here, but will not be able to speak himself. I shall speak for him. He is not so near, and not so real as he was. This means that he is soon leaving the earth plane and going to rise higher. He is being personated right and left. He is being used as a peg to hang innumerable hats and coats on. He came to thank you and to say that as you 640 The Thompson-Myers Control [Bk. II, Pt. IV prayed for others at a sitting when he was present, so he hopes you will pray for him now.' " Meanwhile on February 19th he had appeared at a sitting of Sir Oliver and Lady Lodge with Mrs. Thompson. But these appearances were not reported until 1909, in Pr. XXIII. Sir Oliver says (p. 200) : " ' Myers ' was represented as controlling and speaking for part of the time, but the sittings began with the ' Nelly ' con- trol, and when the Myers control is not manifestly intended to be speaking, the words may be taken as emanating either from Nelly or from one or other of Mrs. Thompson's ordinary con- trols Nelly began talking about Myers, about whose death she had been for some time incredulous. Indeed she had declared that she could not find him anywhere and did not believe that he had come over. . . . But now she was just beginning to admit the fact." First Sitting with Mrs. Thompson, February 19th, 1901. (Pr.XXIII,200f.) " Notes by O. J. L. and M. L. " [Nelly.] 6.30 P.M. ' I was allowed to go on his birthday to see him. They will have plenty of work to do, for he has promised to send messages to 74 people. All the people said he was dead, but I did not believe it ; and though I saw him, I thought he only came over for his birthday like in a vision. But I see him now. It is the truth, it is the truth (excitedly). Let us see if he can talk sense. He was talking on the platform with you. It was at a station by a race-course. [I had met him at Liver- pool; seen him off from the landing stage to America. But this is unimportant.] He will come when he is more wakened up before 9 o'clock. You be ready at 25 minutes to 9. He will be awake by then. He would rather think and realize for a little space by himself. He is sensible, for a spirit. Before you came, mother was praying. She said " Come and tell the truth for truth's sake." . . . (There was an incipient attempt at a Myers control. . . . Then another control said) [which reads like Nelly. H.H.] Do you know he feels like the note-taker, not like the spirit that has to speak.'. . . (A short interval of apparent dis- comfort, and then ' Myers ' purported to communicate) ' Lodge, it is not as easy as I thought in my impatience. Gurney says I am getting on first rate. But I am short of breath. Oh, Lodge, it is like looking at a misty picture. I can distinctly feel I ought to be taking a note of it. I do not feel as if I were speaking, but it is best to record it all. Tell them I am more stupid than some of those I had to deal with. Oh, Lodge, what is it when I see you ? . . . Sidgwick knows I am with him. Ch. XL] Nelly and Myers both Talk. Veridicities 641 He said that he saw me in the morning of Oh, dear, it always leaves off in the interesting places. I can hear myself using Rosa Thompson's voice. I want to convince Sidgwick. He says " Myers, now we are together, you convince me that I am sending my messages, and that she is not getting them from us some way." [Professor Sidgwick had also always been skep- tical. H.H.] He still wants me to show him It is funny to feel myself talking when it is not myself talking. It is not my whole self talking. When I am awake I know where I am ' O. J. L. : ' Do you want to say anything about the Society ? ' M.: 'What Society?' O. J. L.: 'You remember the S.P.R.' M. : ' Do not think that I have forgotten. But I have. I have forgotten just now. Let me think. You know, Lodge, when you have wanted a thing thirty or forty years, and at last got it, you do not think of much else beside. Let me think, and bit by bit give it you. I used to get better evidence when I let them say what they wanted to say. They [apparently referring to G. P., Sidgwick, etc. H.H.] tell me it was my best love that Society. They will help me 1 was confused when I came here . . . before I knew I was dead. I thought I had lost my way in a strange town, and I groped my way along the passage. And even when I saw people that I knew were dead, I thought they were only visions. I have not seen Tennyson yet by the way. I am going to be bold and prophesy already. I am going to see you in April. I am going to know who I am by then.' O. J. L. : ' And will you then read what you wrote in the envelope ? ' M. : ' What envelope I I shall be told. [See p. 667. H.H.] Ernest does not mind now. What do they mix me up with him for? (Jocularly.) Do they think I want to shine in his glory ? [This was evidently a reference to the ' Times ' obituary notice, which I had written, but to which someone in the ' Times ' office ap- pended a supplementary statement that F. W. H. M. had been a joint translator of Homer together with Walter Leaf and An- drew Lang ; whereas it is public and general knowledge that this was only true of his brother Ernest.] I wanted you to dp for me what I did for Sidgwick.' [i.e., write a notice in the Society's Proceedings.] O. J. L. : ' I am going to; and so are Richet and James.' M. : ' Ah, Richet : Yes, Richet knows me ; and James will do it well.'. . . [Nelly seems to control. H.H.] . . / He says " Brothers I have none excepting Lodge." He wants Lodge to be President if he dare spare the work; but he says "Do not rope yourself, but keep the group, keep the group together. It will soon take care of itself." ' O. J. L. : ' We are trying to get Rayleigh.' M. : ' That will be splendid, but that is too good to hope for. I think it will be you.' [Nelly seems, to resume con- trol. H.H.] ' Thank you for being helpful to him. You have helped him.' [And Myers to resume. H.H.] ' Man's sympathy is more helpful than anything else, and with sympathy every- thing slips into place. Among the things which are not evi- 642 The Thompson-Myers Control [Bk. II, Pt. IV. dential you get things which are. They must take it all. Those that seek only the evidential things will not get them.' [See my remarks on this, p. 377. H.H.] [N. ?] : ' There are so many he would like to help. He promised, and he will have to. When he comes in April he will remember a great deal more. He will remember what he wrote for you in the envelope.' " Anybody who thinks the fogginess and confusion with which the Myers communication starts, is a put-up job will waste time in reading farther. Anybody who thinks it looks like spiritism will perhaps find that impression deepened. " [O. J. L.] The impersonation at this sitting was really a remarkably vivid and lifelike one Indeed, it would be difficult for me to invent an experience or a communication more reason- able and natural under the supposed circumstances. . . . The necessity for still ' convincing Sidgwick ' struck us as amusingly characteristic; so did several other little traits, such as that Myers ' felt as if he ought to be taking notes ' a point on which F. W. H. M. was always specially insistent. And as to his tem- porary forgetfulness of the existence of the S.P.R., though it will probably be pounced upon as an absurdity by scoffers, and though it was of course quite unexpected, yet even that struck us at the time as humanly natural and interesting. And indeed so it does now. (Compare Rector's statement in Pr.XXIII,148 : ' Some things, when dissolution takes place, go so completely out of one's mind that it takes time to recall those incidents ' " This was in February, 1901. A further communication was promised for April, but no opportunity for another sitting came until May 8th, and then it came quite unexpectedly and without being arranged for." From 0. J. L.'s Note-look, 9 May, 1901. (Pr.XXIII,205f.) "After dinner Mrs. Thompson spontaneously asked Mrs. Lodge to take her up into my study, saying as she went upstairs that she felt only half conscious, and as if she were going off " The sitting was dim and unsatisfactory . . . and at the end Mrs. Thompson was much agitated; not exhausted, but weepy; saying how much she disliked the idea of coming back to con- sciousness and leaving the conditions in which she had just been. She said she had no recollection of what had been said. . . . She also told me, before the sitting began, that of late she had been quite unconscious of any communications, that is to say, she could not remember their contents, but that she was under the impression that during the last month or so she had had three or four trances when no one was there . . . and that once she found herself waking on the floor with a feeling of great satisfaction and contentment. " She further said that the sudden cutting off of all attempts Ch. XL] Nelly's " Umbrella." The Marshall Family 643 at communication had been a great blow to her and seemed to upset her physically to some extent. Also that she had been promised something for her birthday, April 22nd, evidently connecting it with me. ' Nelly ' had indeed promised me a sit- ting in April, [as recorded in last sitting] though not for any particular date. But it seems she had expected it on the 22nd. However I had no sitting in April nothing till this May 8th. "Additional Note written on 11 May, 1901. " The above was dictated before copying the notes, and gives my contemporary impression of the sitting; but on reading over the notes I find them better than I expected." Second Sitting with Mrs. Thompson, May 8th, 1901. (Pr.XXHI,206f.) " Notes by O. J. L. and M. L. " (Nelly speaking.) ' Professor Lodge, what is that umbrella they have put up and made it all dark ? . . . (Further indications followed that she had tried to communicate but found it dark.) [This evidently refers to the suspension of sittings; Mrs. Thompson, for some private reason, having declined to sit for the last few months, and only doing it now as a special favor, and because she felt internally urged to do so.] I have not seen Mr. Myers, not once; I have not seen him since they put that umbrella up.' " [O. J. L.] Nelly then appealed to me to ... receive her statements sympathetically and not with an undercurrent of sus- picion, explaining that such undercurrent befogged her. ... I asked her not to regard me as in any way hostile, and she said ' No, I do not feel like that to any of the Marshall family.' My grandmother and my wife's father were both Marshalls, though no relation whatever to each other, nor to Frederic Myers's relations of that name Then followed some convul- sive movements and a sort of internal colloquy of which only fragments were audible. They appeared however to indicate a confused conversation between Nelly and Mr. Myers, Nelly ask- ing him to come in, and Mr. Myers saying that he had been told not, that he had understood the communications were sus- pended for a time. But this was only an impression gathered from the confused mutterings. A further impression was that Mr. Myers mistrusted the presence of a third person and was being reassured by Nelly that it was only Mrs. Lodge. " N. : ' It's only Mrs. Lodge whom you love.' M. : ' No I don't love her.' N. : ' It's only Lodge's wife, who will help.' M. : ' More than I anticipated much more.' " With other barely intelligible fragments of internal colloquy." 644 The Thompson-Myers Control [Bk. II, Pt. IY Are the above conversations mere telepathy or the "cun- ning " of a secondary personality ? How like a dream it all ij ! " [O. J. L.] Ultimately the conversation with me began again but in a very halting and indistinct fashion, no marked per- sonality at all, somewhat as if Nelly were half giving messages and half personating Mr. Myers, and doing both badly and with difficulty. The following however are my notes of what was said : " N. : ' Mr. Myers is worrying about something connected with Mr. Sidgwick, something that was not understood or that was not put down. He [H. S.] had some Jews in College and he could not do it on a Saturday. . . .' M. : ' I thought I knew better than be such a miserable failure. I thought I would come and read it. [Apparently or possibly meaning the sealed letter.] [Cf. p. 667. H.H.] I wished you would all write to me. I was so far away. I pined to hear from you all. My philosophy did not help me much. I feel just as lonely. Lodge, it is just as they say, you grope in fog and darkness ' " [O. J. L.] Further indications that the conditions under which he was were not altogether to his liking, not at least when trying to communicate; and also further statements that he could not very clearly realize the conditions on that side when he was trying to communicate, and that now he was wishful to pass on and up and not stay to redeem his promises. [And yet to Miss Rawson he had pronounced himself " supremely happy." H.H.] " M. : ' What are you doing in this place ? [Apparently mean- ing strange and unfamiliar surroundings, the temporary house in Birmingham which I had taken, and which he had never seen.] ... I seemed to be taken from all my pain and suffering into light. I hardly like to tell you what I wanted to do, it seems so selfish now, but I wanted to go and talk to Tennyson, whom I idolized. But I was told that I must suffer for my promises [i.e., to communicate before leaving the earth neigh- borhood? H.H.], and then I could have what I wanted. I wish I had not been taken so far: it makes it difficult to communi- cate.' " [O. J. L.] Then referring, as I thought at the time, to Mrs. Thompson's trance which she had told me of, when she woke up and found herself on the floor " M.. : ' I did not throw her on the floor. It was Talbot Talbot Forbes. It was not I. I wanted her to know I was there, but Talbot only wanted her to tell his Mother. [These good people will appear in our treatment of Cross-Correspondences. H.H.] Why does she [meaning apparently the Medium] pray to me and beg me to come, when she knows I want to be cleansed from earth first ? . . . They keep on calling me. I am wanted every- where. . . . But I want to concentrate in a few places, or in one Ch. XL] Myers Talks to a Stick. Nelly and Van Eeden 645 place, and not to be split up. Do appeal to them not to break me up so, and leave me not clear in one spot. I am only one now, and the noise of you all calling makes me feel I cannot. Someone is calling me now. What did Miss Edmunds want with me? On Friday she called. [Were all those dramatic touches telepathy ? H.H.] . . . Tell Richet I shall meet him in Rome. I shall speak to him in Rome on the third day of the Congress. I heard them describing how I died, and I could not stop them. [Referring apparently to some unpublished Piper sittings in America.] . . . Moses Stainton Moses. They mixed the deaths up his death and my death. It applies to him and not to me. [Apparently referring to some unpublished and to me unknown account of the death-bed.] *. . . I have gone back from where I was that night. I could hear what she (the Medium) was saying, and keep a check on it, but now I cannot hear what is being said: I can only think the things, and false things may creep in without my knowing it. Have you ten days work in a week?. . .' [Nelly?] : ' Do you not think, Mrs. Lodge, he has ten days work a week? " [Then an abrupt change. H.H.] ' Professor Lodge, do you know I have seen such a funny thing. I have seen Mr. Myers talking as if to a stick right through Mother's body ; and while he was talking to it someone came up and touched it, and it all got confused, and he could not think why it went funny. [How like a dream ! H.H.] ... I wish Mother was not so wicked ; be- cause when Mr. Myers wants to go to sleep and be quiet, Mother will not let him. She will call him. . . . When he wants to go to sleep and be quiet she keeps him back. She must not do it. [Remember the prayer on p. 640? H.H.] [I promised to give her the message; which I did after the trance, and she then ad- mitted that she thought of him frequently and urgently, but that she would try to refrain.] Do you know last Monday when I went to Dr. van Eeden's house ; he called for me and we went. Mr. Myers came and told me he was calling. We both went, yes, on Monday. He has got an impression that Mr. Myers helped him to call me. Mr. Myers said " Let us go and see ' old Whiskers' in his little bed and laugh at him." He is much more lively when he is talking to me, and much more wakened up than when he is talking down that stick. [Cf. Proc. S.P.R. Vol. 18, p. 201.] But he does seem worried, he gets no rest. Someone has called him in a glass bottle yes, a crystal He thinks it will help a great deal if he can understand how the cheating things that are not cheats are done. It is not cheating, and yet it is not him doing it. ... There was no stick that went through anyone's body there. He says that others tell him it was just the same with them. Sometimes when he thought they * Probably this and Sir Oliver's remark a couple of lines earlier, refer to a Piper-Myers account of his death, which, I am told, was untrue. II. H. 646 The Thompson-Myers Control [Bk. II, Pt. IV were communicating they were not, and yet they knew about it. He says he is finding out how honest non-phenomena are to be accounted for. Apparently dishonest phenomena are phenomena of extreme [interest?] apart from the spirit which purports to be communicating.' [This last part was slowly recited by Nelly, like a lesson not understood by her.] " Perhaps several suspiciously precocious features in Miss Nelly's vocabulary and turns of expression, can properly be accounted for by following up this hint. Further Notes on the Thompson-Myers Sittings. (Pr.XXIH,214.) [L.] " The rather strikingly worded complaints and requests recorded above (Pr.XXIII,210), as received through Mrs. Thomp- son, ' They keep on calling me. I am wanted everywhere Do appeal to them not to break me up so How easy to promise and how difficult to fulfil. Make one appeal to them to let me be at rest for two or three weeks/ also correspond with something to the same effect independently received through Miss Rawson three months earlier ; and constitute what may be fairly consid- ered another cross-correspondence. This message, received on Feb. 7th, 1901, purported to come from Edmund Gurney, who was represented as speaking through Miss Rawson as follows (Pr.XXin,223) : " While waiting for a friend to come in to begin the sitting, Miss Rawson suggested that we should sit in the dark and she would perhaps see something. The lamp was turned down and she at once saw a bright mist in corner of room, out of which gradually emerged the face of a tall man with mustache, blue tie, black coat: he advanced towards her waving his hand and evidently most anxious to communicate. She repeated the alpha- bet and he waved his hand at the right letter. She spelt out Edmund Gurney. " The friend then came in and the sitting began. " E. G. at once controlled the medium. ' I have come to warn you for my friend to implore you not to let them call him. He gets no rest day or night. At every sitting " Call Myers ! Bring Myers," there's not a place in England where they don't ask for him; it disturbs him, it takes away his rest. For God's sake don't call him. It is all right for him to come of his own accord. . . . His heart is tender and when he hears them call, he tries to come. If they leave him to rest, in time he'll come back again more strong, but if they call and call it will take away the power and help and everything else.' " (Pr.XXIII,216) : " [L.] Those who interpret the parables in such a way as to imagine that dignified idleness is the occupa- tion of eternity . . . without any call for future work and self- sacrifice . . . will probably some day find themselves mistaken." CHAPTER XLI HETEROMATIC SCRIPT: MRS. HOLLAND WE will soon find Myers again in the heteromatic writing of " Mrs. Holland." This name is assumed for an English lady resident in India whose psychic interests are so dis- approved by her family that she does not wish her real name published. Pr. XXI, 166-391, contains an account by Miss Alice Johnson of her experiences. In 1893 Mrs. Holland began crystal-gazing and hetero- matic writing. Ten years later she read Myers' Human Personality, and her interest in her psychic experiences was greatly stimulated. She wrote to Miss Johnson (Pr. XXI, " September 14M, 1903. " [Ten] years ago I first tried automatic writing, having seen a reference to it in, I think, the Review of Reviews. My hand began to form words almost immediately, but only short sen- tences of an uninteresting kind, and the questions I asked were not answered. " The next time I tried (these attempts were always made when I was alone), verses were written, and since then, though I have often discontinued the practice for months and years, and tried to give it up altogether, any automatic writing that comes to me is nearly aways in verse, headed " ' Believe in what thou canst not see, Until the vision come to thee.' " The verses, though often childishly simple in wording and jingling in rhyme, are rarely trivial in subject. Their striking feature is the rapidity with which they come. I once wrote down fourteen poems in little over an hour, another time ten, and seven or eight are quite a common number to come at one time. When I write original verse I do so slowly and carefully, with frequent erasures: automatic verse is always as if swiftly dictated and there are never any erasures. I am always fully conscious, but my hand moves so rapidly that I seldom know what words it is forming. " ...... I copy one set of verses ---- 1 wrote it down as quickly 647 648 Heteromatic Script: Mrs. Holland [Bk. II, Pt IV as it was possible for my hand to move, and was surprised afterwards to find that it had a definite form of its own. It is exactly as it came to me, not ' polished ' or altered in the least. " ' I whom he loved, am a ghost, Wandering weary and lost. I dare not dawn on his sight, (Windblown weary and white) He would shudder in hopeless fright, He who loved me the best. I shun the paths he will go, Because I should frighten him so. (Weary and lacking rest). ' I whom he loved am a shade, Making mortals afraid, Yet all that was vile in me, The garb of mortality, My body that used to be, Is mouldering out of sight. I am but a waiting soul, Pain-purified, seeking its goal, Why should he dread the sight? " ' If I showed him my white bones Under the churchyard stones, Or the creatures that creep and rest On what was once my breast, He who loved me the best Would have good cause for fright. But my face is only pale, My form like a windblown veil, Why should he dread the sight? u f Should I beat on the window pane, He would think it the wind and rain, If he saw my pale face gleam He would deem it a stray moonbeam Or the waft of a passing dream. No thought for the lonely dead, Buried away out of sight. And I go from him veiling my head, Windblown weary and white.' (1896) " Automatic verses do not deal much with facts, but once when I was staying in Italy, in an old palazzo I had never before seen, the day after my arrival, and before I had been into the garden, the impulse to write came on me, and I yielded to it, without however ceasing to take part in the conversation of two Ch. XLI] Letters to New Acquaintances 649 friends who were with me. One of them, who knew about my automatic writing, asked me to read what had come to me. I did so: " ' Under the orange tree Who is it lies? Baby hair that is flaxen fair, Shines when the dew on the grass is wet, Under the iris and violet. 'Neath the orange tree Where the dead leaves be, Look at the dead child's eyes ! ' (1901) " ' This is very curious,' said my friend, ' there is a tradition that a child is buried in the garden here, but I know you have never heard it.' " These heteromatic poems appear to be but extreme illus- trations of the "inspiration" that poets have generally claimed for themselves. The author's modest deprecations seem to me unjust to her own. Mrs. Holland continues (Pr. XXI, 173f.) : "I have said that automatic verses do not deal much with facts, but once, when I was sensitive after illness, I experienced a new form of automatic writing, in the shape of letters which my hand insisted on writing to a newly-made acquaintance. "The first of these letters began with a pet name I did not know, and was signed with the full name of someone I had never heard of, and who I afterwards learnt had been dead some years. It was clearly impressed upon me for whom the letter was in- tended, but thinking it due to some unhealthy fancy of my own, I destroyed it. Having done so I was punished by an agonizing headache, and the letter was repeated, till in self-defense I sent it and the succeeding ones to their destination. " They generally came when I was trying to write ordinary letters ; I never ' sat for them ' or encouraged them in any way. I never read them over, feeling they were not meant for me, and the recipient, beyond telling me they referred to matters known only to this one person who was dead, and that the writ- ing of them, especially the signature, bore a marked resemblance to that person's writing, preferred not to discuss the subject. I have never seen the writing in question. " As I regained perfect health I tried to free myself from this influence, for it used to give me cruel headaches and was very exhausting If my hand was not actively employed at these times it would clench itself, and make the motion of writing in the air. " Since then I have felt on three other occasions that some 650 Eeteromatic Script: Mrs. Holland [Bk. II, Pt. IV unseen but very present personality was striving to transmit a message through me to a well-beloved. In every case the com- munication was utterly unsought by me, and came as a complete surprise to the recipient, who was always a recent acquaintance, never one of my friends. My attention was always enforced, as it were, by a severe pain in the head, which vanished when I had delivered the message " I have never been in surroundings that encouraged this in- terest, I have never been mesmerized, I have never attended a seance, for the idea of anything connected with paid medium- ship is peculiarly disagreeable to me. I only discovered by acci- dent, five years ago, that I have the clairvoyant faculty." Miss Johnson comments (Pr. XXI, 175-6) : " There is no means of ascertaining to what extent these early writings were veridical " But with only a decent confidence in the honesty of the people concerned, there is a very astounding degree of veridic- ity in the facts that the first letters referred to matters known only to this one person who was dead, and that the writing of them, especially the signature, bore a marked re- semblance to that person's writing. While (see below) we are not permitted to see anything evidential that may be contained in these communications to an absent " sitter " (if you will tolerate the hibernicism), they are, at least to non-technical me, among the most evidential things I have met. They are a hard blow to the telepathic hypothesis, and the more I have studied the records, the more the teloteropathic hypothesis has been losing strength with me. Miss Johnson continues : " From an evidential point of viey:, the interest and value of Mrs. Holland's script depends to a great extent, as will be seen under Cross Correspondence [Chapter XL VII. H.H.], on the in- dications of telepathy manifested at first quite unexpectedly between herself and Mrs. Verrall " Though many of the sensations and experiences connected with the script are probably subjective in origin, it may be that certain idiosyncrasies are correlated with veridical phenom- ena " From the psychical point of view, her first reading of Human Personality formed an epoch in Mrs. Holland's life, and thence- forth her automatic writing was colored largely by the influence of that book. She had not known Mr. Myers during his life- time, nor could she remember afterwards that she had even heard his name before she read the book. But her own ex- Ch. XLI] Scripts of Various Writers. Myers 651 periences and her own temperament had specially prepared her for the reception of it, and the personality of the author strongly appealed to her. " Under these circumstances it was not only natural but almost inevitable that a great part of her writing should now purport to be inspired by him, or to a less extent by the two friends to whom his book is dedicated, Mr. Gurney and Dr. Sidgwick. [It was not published until after the deaths of all three. H.H.] " In Mrs. Holland's script, claims of individuality are very much the rule, and each control has his own handwriting though it does not generally correspond with, the handwriting of the alleged controls before bodily death. In Stainton Moses' automatic script, it will be remem- bered, each control was declared to have had his own hand- writing in some cases beautiful, and in one case where the facts were known, uniform with the writing of the alleged control before death. But in the other cases there was not extant any writing made by the controls in their lifetime, supposing them ever to have lived. In Mrs. Piper's script, individualities are constantly as- serted, though the handwriting is generally a scrawl of letters half an inch high, unlike any normal handwriting. On September 16, 1903, nearly three years after Myers' death, and his first alleged appearance through Mrs. Thomp- son, was apparently the first appearance of a Myers control through Mrs. Holland. Mrs. Holland's manifestation was, says Miss Johnson (Pr. XXI, 177-8), " a curious example of the efforts that seem so often to be made by the subliminal self to keep the supraliminal in ignorance at least for the time being of the sense of what is being pro- duced." That depends upon how you look at it. Myers, as his con- trol intimates later, would have called it the effort of the control to speak, for evidential purposes, in cryptic ways that the heteromatist's individual subliminal never would have used. " It is written on two sides of a half-sheet of paper; the first side begins with the initial ' F.,' and the second ends with the initial ' M.' ; the whole passage is divided into four short sections, the first three ending respectively in ' 17/,' VI ' and '/Ol.' Jan- uary 17th, 1901, was the date of Mr. Myers' death, mentioned 652 Heteromatic Script: Mrs. Holland [Bk. II, Pt. IV in Human Personality; but the simple device of separating these initials and items from one another was completely effective in its apparent object. I read the passage a good many times before I saw what they meant and I found that the meaning had en- tirely escaped Mrs. Holland's notice." This refers to the script containing the notorious stanza (Pr. XXI, 192) which excited the derision of the Philistine world of both continents, and disturbed not a small portion of the enlightened world: " Friend while on earth with knowledge slight I had the living power to write Death tutored now in things of might I yearn to you and cannot write." 17 Why it excited so much adverse comment I cannot clearly make out: for what is the stanza but a demonstration of what it claims, "I ... cannot write," unless it be also a demonstration that the tired shade, or befogged subliminal, or impotent group of world-soul elements, or what you please, could not criticise either. But the more I read and ponder, the more puzzled I am over the general reluctance, in which I have my share, to let the " what you please " contain the essen- tial elements of intelligent individual personality. Of course we apply the term to a good many things, and let it connote a good many things. One thing, however, the most influ- ential recent writer, James, seems to regard as essential to, and to a great extent sufficient for, the notion of personality namely, the " stream of consciousness," and surely the poor ghost, or echo, or whatever it is, seems at least that. The main question is whether the "that" is not Mrs. Holland herself. I'm tempted to ask what difference it makes if it is, provided it is Myers too. I said "poor ghost" with reference to this single mani- festation. He, or whatever it is, often claims happiness and emancipation. Here is the rest of that script (Pr. XXI, 192-3), with the rest of the date alluded to by Miss Johnson, 17/1/01, be- tween the sections. The 17 is at the end of the section given above. Of course Mrs. Holland's " subliminal self " fixed the figures that way ! ( ?) What traditional faiths people will swal- Ch. XLI] Myers' Strangely Dated Script 653 low those opposing supernaturalism as easily as those pro- fessing it ! Isn't it about time to let brother Du Prel and his subliminal self go, along with alchemy and astrology ? "It may be that those who die suddenly suffer no prolonged obscuration of consciousness but for my own experience the un- consciousness was exceedingly prolonged. |1 " The reality is infinitely more wonderful than our most dar- ing conjectures. Indeed no conjecture can be sufficiently daring. |01 " But this is like the first stumbling attempts at expression in an unknown language imperfectly explained so far away so very far away and yet longing and understanding potentialities of nearness." M Now as to the above date. On the hypothesis of the strictly individual subliminal self as something in the agent or medium that enacts or apes reflections telepathically cast upon the soul as upon a mirror, by its own recollections or by other minds, why should said self not only make dramas for these reflected personalities to act in make a mental portrait ap- propriately talk and argue, rejoice and mourn, and get mad and break things; but also try to mystify and mislead the supraliminal consciousness whose annexed subliminal con- sciousness mirrors it? Doesn't it force the note harder to make a mere piecemeal reflection do all this, than to accept its being done by a real personality ? And does this probability not increase when that person- ality professes motives for hiding its utterances in enigmas, because so doing gives more evidence of purpose and ingenuity than straightforward utterance might? That probability is not conclusive : there is too much to be explained on the other side ; but is it not evidence of a purposeful personality rather than of a telepathic reflection ? The script I have just quoted, Miss Johnson does not give until fifteen pages later than her comment on it, and then after numerous extracts that appear chronologically later in the entire script, and that would have had light thrown upon them by this specimen had it been placed in its chrono- logical position. This seems bad editing, but it is not neces- sarily so, and I allude to it only for the sake of illustrating 654 Heteromatic Script: Mrs. Holland [Bk. II, Pi IV one of the difficulties which make handling this sort of matter a fearful task to the editor and even to the reader. This special difficulty arises from the complexity and incoher- ence of the matter, so that often the best way to handle it is to follow a topic right through, and then begin again with another topic and do the same. Yet the result is that the first topic reaches the chronological end before the second one reaches the chronological beginning. Miss Johnson continues (Pr. XXI, 178) from the point to where I transposed the piece with the Myers stanza : " Two days later came : ' 1873. 30 years ago. CmrdeAbig Youth.' I read the first five enigmatic letters as ' Comrade ' with two vowels left out ; the other four, ' A b i g,' seemed mean- ingless. Long afterwards in glancing through Human Person- ality (Vol. I., p. 7), I came on this sentence: ' In about 1873 . . . it became the conviction of a small group of Cambridge friends that the deep questions thus at issue must be fought out ' It was then clear that the nine mysterious letters were merely an anagram for ' Cambridge.' Mrs. Holland was quite unaware of their meaning till I pointed it out to her. " The same writing goes on : 'It has been a long work but the work is not nearly over yet It has barely begun Go on with it go on We were the torch bearers follow after us The flame burns more steadily now. E. G. 1888.' " The year 1888 was the date of Mr. Gurney's death, a fact also stated in Human Personality" Note that the control seems to use it rather as a birth-date into the alleged new life. Note also the strong resemblance between this Gurney and the Piper Gurney of the Lodge sit- tings ante. " [ J.] Here, and in other similar passages, the reference ia unmistakable, and there soon begins to be apparent a struggle between the supraliminal self of the writer and the supposed influences. The supraliminal self is obviously afraid of being led into attaching too much importance to the writing. It is aware that some of the names are derived from its reading, and both resents and resists their incursion into the script. It doubts the use of the attempts and is not very willing to persevere with them." Whereupon the script remonstrates and encourages (Pr. XXI, 179) : " (September 19th, 1903.) You should not be discouraged if what is written appears to you futile Most of it is not meant Ch. XLI] Controls' Advice to Mrs. Holland 655 for you You are the reporter the recorder and need not be the critic. . . . Don't be in too great a hurry. " (September 21st, 1903.) Do not feel that criticism need act in the least as a fetter don't let it hinder you at all. . . . Nothing is unimportant, however much it seems so " There is no effort unavailing " You fail yet save another's failing." Myers was a poet, remember. " (November 25th, 1903.) Do try to forget your abiding fear of being made a fool or a dupe. If we ever prompt you to fan- tastic follies you may leave us. But we only wish you to give us a few passive patient minutes each day. It's a form of restless van- ity to fear that your hand is imposing upon yourself, as it were. " [ J.] The ' Gurney control,' who expresses himself rather strongly and brusquely, writes : ' (November 14th, 1903.) I can't help feeling vexed or rather angry at the half-hearted way in which you go in for this you should either take it or leave it. If you don't care enough to try every day for a short time, better drop it altogether. It's like making appointments and not keep- ing them. You endanger your own powers of sensitiveness and annoy us bitterly G.' " [ J.] The ' Myers control/ on the other hand, makes his appeal to the sympathies of the automatist: ' (January 12th, 1904.) If it were possible for the soul to die back into earth life again I should die from sheer yearning to reach you to tell you that all that we imagined is not half wonderful enough for the truth If I could only reach you if I could only tell you I long for power and all that comes to me is an infinite yearning an infinite pain. Does any of this reach you reach any- one or am I only wailing as the wind wails wordless and un- heeded?" A very large part of the script is just reiteration of these themes. Many of the alleged Myers manifestations through Mrs. Holland are anxious and gloomy, and thus are the entire opposite of the manifestations of an enfranchised and beati- fied Myers that we saw through Miss Rawson, and shall later see through Mrs. Piper. It is impossible to see how a con- sciousness can be interested in anything subject to variations, without a feeling of regret when the variations are in the unfavorable direction, and of a regret intensifying with the variations. An unvarying happy Heaven would be an enor- mously self-centered and stupid one, though there's no ap- parent reason why, to be sufficiently interesting, it would need pains and sorrows as terrible as the worst we know here. In 656 Heteromatic Script: Mrs. Holland [Bk. II, Pt IV, fact many of the worst would disappear with death; and as to dishonor, one sometimes sees reason to question whether survival of death may not be granted only to the souls that somehow merit it that survival may be an achievement. Query : Would mere good nature and kindness and sympathy, and love of children, be enough for the achievement, in spite of one's sometimes appearing a fine old egotist and farceur? If not, please account for friend Phinuit. Somehow I think he and Falstaff must have made out the achievement. This tempts to another speculation that fits in with the oft-noted apparently fragmentary character of the alleged post-mortem personalities. Why should more of a person- ality survive than is fit to survive? That would probably leave a good many of us very fragmentary indeed, whether the standard of fitness be substantially the same as here, or a new one. This suggests a possible explanation for the otherwise unaccountable stupidity of the controls in some directions and their brightness in others. Hodgson recog- nizes all his friends, but cannot translate Veni, vidi, vici. Myers is about as apparently absurd. Perhaps they don't need language there if there really is a " there " but con- verse telepathically by thought alone, and only are able to use language exceptionally "with us? Yet it would be pleasant to have a memory of everything worth while here; and not doing so seems to make, on the whole, against spiritism. Stainton Moses forgets not merely a language, but the names Imperator and his gang told him they bore on earth, and gives Professor Newbold different ones. Did Moses forget the old ones, or lie about one set or both? There's no indi- cation of his ever having lied, in the flesh, except as his " possessions " are to be accounted for. Myers shows lack of memory of languages, but apparently only where his medium doesn't know them; but there's that envelope which he left with Sir Oliver Lodge for the express purpose of giving its contents, and he gave something else! (p. 667). It seems a hopeless muddle of contradictions. We can only work and wait. Miss Johnson says : "In these utterances, taken by themselves, there is clearly nothing to suggest more than a dramatization by her subliminal self of personalities that had attracted Mrs. Holland's interest Ch. XLI] What is a Personality? 657 through the normal means of reading a book. The question whether anything more than this is really represented in them will be considered later on. Meanwhile I am bound to emphasize the large part played by Mrs. Holland's normal knowledge in the construction of the various roles." " The construction of the various roles." What a dramatist Mrs. Holland must have been, not to speak of Mrs. Piper! I wonder if any one of the commentators on these ever tried to write a novel, not to speak of a play. I doubt if anybody who has would be quick to say that Mrs. Holland constructed the roles. But after all, what is a role a personality ? How many items enter into it? One? a flash of recognition on the street that revolutionizes and irradiates a young man's universe? Millions? those that become familiar in long intimacy? Must a personality be something that can be put on a scale, and will register pounds and ounces, or can it be met and enjoyed, or dreaded and suffered, in a dream? Is the clod who takes away your daily ashes a personality, while Malvolio and Kosalind are not? All that we know of a per- sonality is that it is a capacity to produce certain effects upon us, and if there is any effect that a personality can produce upon us waking that is not produced by the personalities of our dreams, I do not know what it is. The only distinction I know is that this personality we know when we are awake can make abiding changes in matter outside our brains, while the personalities we know when asleep apparently cannot; but they can produce changes in our brains in our convic- tions, habits, hopes, as enduring as any we know. Perhaps our habitual conceptions of personality may be so definite because they are so limited; perhaps we may be on the brink of wider conceptions which will materially affect our views of our cosmic relations. Possibly those conceptions will grow a little clearer even during our present investigations. The more I question regarding the probability of the sensi- tives dramatizing creating the "personalities" which pro- fess to speak through them, the more it seems to me that we are making out of our preconceptions the notion that they are not real personalities, and that if we could be the standard clear and unprejudiced " intelligences from another planet," we would simply take these manifestations for the personali- 658 Hetcromatic Script: Mrs. Holland [Bk. II, Pi IV ties they appear, be their degree of development or manifesta- tion what it may. Yet as Miss Johnson continues (p. 180) regarding them, she presents the extreme of the opposite view. Perhaps the wisest conclusion yet open to us is that sometimes they are real personalities and sometimes not. " They came into existence first shortly after she had read Human Personality, and it will be seen that passages from this book are clearly to be traced in the script; there is little or no- thing in the characterizations that could not be derived from it directly or by inference by an intelligent and sympathetic reader. There are, moreover, a certain number of features that an intimate friend of Mr. Myers' would see to be uncharacter- istic or positively incorrect. Further, the personalities become suddenly more vivid and realistic at a later date, after Mrs. Holland had seen the portraits of Mr. Myers, Mr. Gurney and Dr. Sidgwick in Mr. Myers' posthumous work, Fragments of Prose and Poetry, and glanced at parts of the book itself, as described below, Pr.XXI,p.245 ; and again after she had seen reviews of the Memoir of Dr. Sidgwick early in 1906." Very well so far as concerns the mere material for the characterizations, but what made the characterizations them- selves, and made them active, and endowed them with motive, will, repartee? Is it banal to suggest that they appear to have been made by the same agency that, independent of her will, made her poems? The influence of the books may have merely opened her mind to such impressions from the cosmic inflow, or the controls if you prefer. Of course, mere facts mentioned in Human Personality were presumably in Mrs. Holland's subliminal consciousness, and therefore are not necessarily to be referred to an outside control. But I have reached a vague impression that the divi- sion between the " subliminal " and " outside controls " may be one of those divisions that we are constantly making as crutches to our halting intellects, and to whose vague and pro- visional character I have so often called attention. Most of our classifications, from the more or less exact sciences with which we started together, to the misty impressions among which we are now groping, are of this nature. We are in a universe of vibrations, which the very ety- mology of the name universe expresses as one. We split off a set of vibrations, and call them matter; from that set we Ch. XLI] Restatement of the Cosmic Soul Hypothesis 659 split off minor sets, and call them resistance, light, heat, sound, and so on; these minor sets we farther split into ex- ternal vibrations and resulting nerve vibrations; and then we are at the end of that string. But parallel with the nerve end of it we find another, reaching we know not where. This we split into impressions, sensations, emotions, volitions. Im- pressions we split into those outside our consciousness, i.e., in other consciousnesses, and those inside our consciousness; but yet we have lately found them very interchangeable. The agencies moving those outside into the inside, we split up on the one hand into other people the agencies we know, and on the other hand, those we don't know, which we again split up into hypothetical divine inspirations, " controls," " spirits," and what-not ; and here we lose the second string. Now for my guess-work, and of course it will be full of paradoxes; with farther knowledge some of them may dis- appear ; but guess-work is our only way successful only once in many times of finding clues to farther knowledge. Well, as all the groups we have been splitting off are parts of one thing, I guess (or is it more than a guess?) that the sub- liminal and the controls are parts of one thing are in a sense the same thing. To give the first guess more definite shape, I go on to guess (or is it more than a guess?) that, as so many have guessed before me, the universe abounds in impressions, visions, ideas, God knows what. Sometimes they surge in upon a heteromatist. They stir the will or some sort of impulse to write, and the impressions tumble pell- mell upon the paper ; and when they come in a coherent mass with enough qualities like the mass we call a human mind, or the more special mass we call a special human mind, we call them, depending upon the size and quality of the mass, a human being, or a soul, or a phantasm, or a control, or any- thing else prompted by the circumstances. One mass of them shows itself as the heteromatist, another mass as the control, several masses as several controls Gurney, Myers, Imperator, perhaps each an echo of the heteromatist or of a previous heteromatist, pretty substantial, but not half as substantial or enduring as Ariel or Apollo or Colonel Newcome or Mr. Pickwick. And all four of them are more substantial than I am or you are, unless you happen to be who, in this genera- 660 Eeteromatic Script: Mrs. Holland [Bk. II, Pt. IV. tion Admiral Togo? A generation ago I should have said Spencer or Bismarck or Tennyson. All this provokes the fantastic speculation whether a genius cannot generate an actual psychic personality, as he can a physical one. But this harks back to the relatively primitive parthenogenesis. The suggested process, however, is presum- ably in its primitive stage, if indeed there is any basis at all for the seemingly extravagant notion. And yet things that may have seemed equally extravagant have been found to con- tain germs of truth; and a very similar fantasy is to-day an article of " faith " with the majority of Christians, including some of the best minds. Compare all this with my earlier suggestions regarding personality, and then come back with me to where there is a little less fog. Now that's my somewhat turgid and somewhat fantastic guess. Vague? Of course it is: we are dealing with vague things. Paradoxical? Of course it is: we are in the land of paradox. But to my poor thinking or guessing, it fits the facts as well as the other guesses and the other paradoxes, and I have the presumption farther to guess that the progress of knowledge is going to be in the direction of giving just that guess farther shape. The subliminal self, then, I have again, from a different standpoint, come around to guessing to be so much of the Cosmic Soul as any individual may at the time have suf- ficiently in hand to call his own soul or so much as he may have in hand even if he can't call his soul his own. And as to one's own soul (though this is an episode) : if there is any significance behind the universe, and reason for it any purpose, I keep on guessing, as I have in other connections, that such significance, reason, purpose, is in the arrangement that constantly produces individuals who gather in and unify portions of the Cosmic Soul, and get out of them experience and growth and discipline and morality and sympathy and altruism and love all making up happiness. Well, this, and more which will come later, is what has been growing more and more definite to me, as invisible vapor grows into a cloud, as I have been studying alone these strange tilings we are now studying together ; and I expect the cloud to grow more definite as we go on. To me it has seemed Ch. XLI] Impersonations Beyond Mortal Capacity 661 to reflect some light into our dark places, and I expect it to reflect more. I hope I need not apologize for this additional attempt to describe it, or for other attempts that I am apt to make as we go on. However much they may bore you, the impression will become none too definite if you think it worth while to go on at all. After writing the foregoing guess, on turning back to the Proceedings, I met one of those expressions with which the literature of the subject abounds, where a substitution of cosmic soul for subliminal self would, it seems to me, aid to an explanation. The passage in no way influenced my guess : for that was settled long ago. Miss Johnson says (Pr. XXI, 179): " Meanwhile the various ' controls,' aided and abetted by the subliminal self (of which they may, indeed, be fragmentary manifestations), appear to be exerting great pressure on their side by various arguments and artifices to encourage the writer and persuade her to go on." Would not " fragmentary manifestations " of that size and that nature seem to come more naturally from a cosmic soul than from a subliminal self, unless the latter is taken to be merely a name for an inflow of the former? The job of manufacturing and working them extempore, so to speak, which Miss Johnson attributes to Mrs. Holland, is, like Mrs. Piper's job, too big for any human capacity, and the inven- tion of a subliminal capacity doesn't fill the bill. So here from a different point and by a different road, we come to the same goal whither the strange phenomena, at least as seen through my eyes, are always sending us. Let us return to Mrs. Holland and the groups of im- pressions that fell upon her script. On the foregoing quota- tions from the Gurney and Myers controls, Miss Johnson comments (Pr. XXI, 180f.) : " As usual, varieties of hand-writing are associated with the different controls, though they are not always used consistently for the same one The ' Gurney control ' was a more bold and upright style Of this style Mrs. Holland wrote : ' When the writing changes from very sloping to upright, I always get the impression of a younger and more brusque personality. The initial " G." often comes then.' 662 Eeteromatic Script: Mrs. Holland [Bk. II, Pi IY " On November 18th, 1903, the ' Myers control ' begins in pencil, then writes : ' Take a pen/ and the writing goes on in ink, ' That's well a pen is best when I am here pencil for the upright vehement writing,' viz., that of the ' Gurney control ' ; and henceforth these two controls generally but not invariably use a pen or pencil respectively. " There is no resemblance between their writings and the actual hand-writings of Mr. Myers and Mr. Gurney, nor so far as I am aware is there any reason for associating ink specially with one and pencil with the other. It appears to be simply a sort of subliminal device for keeping the two personalities dis- tinct ; nevertheless they often tend to merge into one another, the suggestion being that two influences real or imaginary are present at once, or that one is being gradually displaced by the other." A very natural suggestion ! And why all this ingenuity to make the influences " imaginary," whatever that may mean in the connection, I cannot quite make out. I admire the in- genuity, but cannot help thinking that it forces the note, and also thinking that if Miss Johnson had not inherited Du Prel's "subliminal" via Myers, she would not have worked it out from the phenomena themselves. Do not all things " tend to merge into one another," espe- cially all minds, to a degree not dreamed of before we became familiar with, telepathy ? " A similar subliminal device is manifested on Jan. 6th, 1904 thus described by the script : ' Two influences that was why the pencil slipped from your fingers and flew across the room then Don't you notice a new feature to-day that every few minutes we make you take another pencil. It's easier for us, and it marks the change for you.' Mrs. Holland notes . . . ' At the end my hand felt shaken and pushed as it did when I first began to get these writings, scrawling wildly till it was stopped. The [word at the end of the script] " stop " was from without entirely. I was willing to let it scrawl on and over to the next page if the impulse continued.' " On May 23rd, 1907, Mrs. Holland writes of this occasion: * I still recall clearly the curious sensation that accompanied the word " stop." My hand seemed to be taken, the wrist turned towards the left and then drawn off the paper. It is the only time I have ever felt " uncanny " in connection with script. . . .' " When something definitely opposes a person, isn't it, I ask again, very apt to be time to let Du Prel and his subliminal go ? "Mrs. Holland says in her preliminary account already quoted that she used to have with the impulse to write or speak Uh. XLI] Dreamlike Experiences 663 a severe headache which vanished with the fulfilment and ces- sation of the impulse. In two of the cases described in the fuller account which I omit, she seems to have partially lost consciousness. Thus, in the first : ' I shut my eyes. It seemed to me that the pencil scribbled wildly, like a child pretending to write My right arm seemed the only part of my body that was not asleep, and I was only conscious of Mr. D. saying now and again, " Wait a minute," when he slipped fresh paper under my hand. Then the influence suddenly passed; I opened my eyes feeling refreshed and alert, my headache was absolutely gone.' Again, in the second case, when the impulse took the form of speech : ' Though I spoke English, I felt as if reading aloud from a language I could pronounce but not translate. It seemed to come from my lips only. I was perfectly conscious; I watched the effect of mingled moonlight and electric light on the deck before me My voice went on, but I did not grasp the sense of a single sentence.' In continuation of the same incident, next evening : ' I began to describe an elderly man, his character, manner and appearance, down to minute details, and this time I understood what I was saying, but the words came without being chosen.' " This emphasizes the resemblance of these experiences to dreams. It reminds me of some of my own dreams when I read printed slips that seem, independently of me, to grow as I read them. Messages from the Myers and Gurney controls similar to these which aroused the foregoing speculations, make a con- siderable part of Mrs. Holland's script. There is also con- siderable veridical telepsychosis and cross correspondence. Miss Johnson continues (Pr. XXI, 193) : " The next passage, written on the same day, begins with the date 1888 (the date of Mr. Gurney's death, also stated in Human Personality), and the initials F., E., and H. S. obviously in- tended to represent Mr. [F.] Myers, Mr. [E.] Gurney and Pro- fessor [H.] Sidgwick. " ' September 16th, 1903, 11 A. M. " [M.] 1888 F. E. H. S. [in monogram.] " ' Believe in what thou canst not see Until the vision come to thee What though the work may seem all wrought in vain What though the labor seems to bring no gain Take courage and be strong to work again There were three workers once upon the earth Three that have passed through Death's great second birth 664 Eeteromatic Script: Mrs. Holland [Bk. II, Pt. IV! Their work remains and some of lasting worth Long dead and lately dead shall be as one. 1888. 1888. [illegible] Forgotten?" The following from the Myers and Gurney controls give a good idea of the situation: (Pr.XXI,203-4) : " [M.] My dear [ J. : Here again no name is written, but a long irregular line is drawn.] Perhaps a letter to you will be easier than a sustained account I have so little strength as yet for this form of communication " I know it will soon be three years since I ' passed over passed on ' but I feel still in early stages of development as it were The obscuration of consciousness was prolonged in my case to an abnormal period Nearly the whole of the first year was hidden for me I was entranced as it were That accounts for some failures of compact does it not. It is all so far more difficult than one imagines Even granting the strength requi- site to reach the threshold one can but fall helplessly upon it spent and one's message stilled " (Pr.XXI,205-6) : " [G.] It's no good He needs such con- genial conditions or else he fails altogether For one reason he really belongs in spiritual development to a higher level a higher plane and if he were there you under present conditions would not be able to receive even the faintest impression from him Earth bound isn't quite the word I want but I do not know how else to convey to you the condition of those of us who are able to send messages Understand it's not bound by earth it's bound to earth by love memory powerful interests F[rederic Myers. H.H.]'s mind is prepared for the higher planes it is strong feeling great attachments that keep him on this level and that prevent him from sending the messages he is so anxious to send It was a tremendous effort to him to appear in your mind's eye the way that he did a fortnight ago and it has weakened the message ever since " [ J.] This passage shows that the man seen by Mrs. Holland in a mind's-eye vision on November 7th, as described in her script of that day, quoted above, was identified by her at the time as Mr. Myers. I have already explained that this was a mis- recognition. (See Pr.XXI,189.) " Later still, the Myers control writes: (Pr.XXI,213) : " [M.] (Wednesday, January 6th, 10.45 A.M.) I have thought of a simile which may help you to realize the bound to earth condition which persists with me. It is a matter very largely of voluntary choice I am as it were actuated by the missionary spirit and the great longing to speak to the Ch. XII] From Myers Control's Point of View 665 souls in prison still in the prison of the flesh leads me to ' absent me from felicity awhile.' " (Pr.XXI,218) : " [M.] The appearance of the simulacre [sic] does not necessarily imply that the spirit is consciously present. It may project the phantasm from a great distance. More usu- ally however it is present. On two occasions only I myself have been able to perceive the surroundings I so desired to see once [illegible] at a Meeting and you all appeared to me as flat card- board figures seen through a gray mist The next time was a few weeks ago at home An odd fantasy for Mrs. Holland to create for herself ! " I would try so hard on the anniversary [the third of his death. H.H.] that is only nine days away now if I could be sure that you really wished and desired my eidolon without any fear or reluctance Eidolon is a very natural word for a Grecian like Myers. I wonder if it was natural for Mrs. Holland ! " Any terror would distress me unspeakably. " In my present state thoughts pain me more than wounds or burns could do while I lived It is part of the stage through which I pass an evolutionary phase " (Pr.XXI,246-7) : " [M.] If one could only find a stupid sen- sitive but the very quickness of the impressionability that en- ables the brain to perceive an influence from afar renders it an ever present danger to the message that is trying to be impressed. Anxiety to help fear of unconscious cheating or of self-decep- tion all cramp the hand and impede the willingness to give time and a quiet mind to this " It becomes increasingly hard for me to realize the effect of Time and Space upon your conditions For me they have been annulled I am obliged to remember now to recall what potent factors they are upon the body " [G.] Names? Names and proofs are the very things we must withhold [stc] from you because your brain which you cannot or will not lull to a proper state of passivity will spin its own web round whatever is presented to you For truth's sake we must be veiled and ambiguous A gurnet among the sedge which grew in the mires [ J. : This somewhat crude punning on the names Gurney, Sidgwick, and Myers, was not noticed by Mrs. Holland till I showed it to her later.] " (Pr.XXI,230) : [November 26th, 1903.] [M.] " The nearest simile I can find to express the difficulties of sending a message is that I appear to be standing behind a sheet of frosted glass which blurs sight and deadens sounds dictating feebly to a reluctant and somewhat obtuse secretary. A feeling of terrible impotence burdens me I am so powerless to tell what means 6G6 Heteromatic Script: Mrs. Holland [Bk. II, Pt. IV. so much I cannot get into communication with those who would understand and believe me." There is much more of this sort of thing scattered all through. The following is a strange passage to assert, as some authorities would, to be manufactured by Mrs. Holland from shreds of forgotten knowledge: it looks so much more like what it purports to be a communication from the disem- bodied Myers. (Pr.XXI,210) : " [M.] Nothing was written by me yester- day The time when I may hope to write a continuous narra- tive or to send evidential messages by your hand seems as far away as ever. " Four years ago we were talking together one evening at my house Podmore was there I remember and Barrett I think Pid- dington and Lang but I am not sure It was about a letter that had lately been received by Hodgson and which [illegible scribbles] " [G.] It's no good He can't manage more than a few lines and your dislike to names makes it all the more difficult for him. You can't help it I know." Yet Miss Johnson says that she has reason to " believe that no such meeting took place at that date." The following telopsis through Myers (?) has an interest for us as introducing Mrs. Verrall, of whom we shall see considerable. (Pr.XXI,212) : " [M.] She is not very tall a slender figure often dressed in green the following dialogue took place: " K. H. : ' I wonder if you recall what I said I would do if I should return first ? ' Hyslop : ' I do not remember exactly.' R. H. : ' Remember that I told Myers that we would talk nigger- talk Myers talk nigger-talk ? ' Hyslop : ' No, you must have told that to someone else.' R. H. : ' Ah yes, James. I remember it was James, yes, Will James. He will understand.' " Mr. Hyslop immediately wrote to me I being in California inclosing the record and soliciting corroboration. I had to reply that the words awakened absolutely no echo in my mem- ory. Three months later ... it suddenly flashed across me that ... I had . . . said to Hodgson, more than once, that a little tact- ful steering on his part would probably change the sacerdotal verbiage of the Imperator group so completely that he would soon find them ' talking like nigger-minstrels.'. . . I regret to say, however, that the subsequent developments of the incident have deprived it in my eyes of all test value Mr. Piddington has found in the Piper records evidence that Hodgson had used the words ' nigger-talk ' in speaking to the Myers control, so that this expression must be considered as part of the stock of Mrs. Piper's trance-vocabulary." " Test value " apparently has a highly technical meaning with the psychical researchers so high, some plain people might think, as to deprive the term itself of all value. If a control uses an exceptional term once, it is legitimate to ex- perience a " thrill " to feel in the presence of the " old friend " represented by the control. But if the control hap- pens to have used the same term during life in Mrs. Piper's 702 'Piper-Hodgson 'Control in 'America [Bk. II, Pt. IV presence, it ceases to be his term, but becomes "a part of the stock of Mrs. Piper's trance vocabulary"! This too in face of the fact that, according to my best recollection, never again, so far as the records show, is the vocabulary tapped for that particular term. The technical objection may be sound presumably it is, from such a master as James, but I confess that, as evidence, it seems one of those trifles of which non curat lex. As to Mrs. Piper's " trance vocabulary," I wonder if James died believing she had one. I don't expect to. Barring cer- tain transient mannerisms such as we all have, I have not seen in the reports the slightest sign of a trance vocabulary. Her vocabularies are substantially the vocabularies of the controls, even sometimes to the extent of foreign languages, of which she knows none herself. In Pr. XXIII, 19-20, James says: " One of the weirdest feelings I have had, in dealing with the business lately, has been to find the wish so frequently surging up in me that he were alive beside me to give critical counsel as to how best to treat certain of the communications of his own professed spirit." Who that has lost a close friend has not felt this in some connection ? There may be those not absolutely devoid of reasoning capacity with whom the evocation of these cross-plays of emotion weighs more than all the " evidential " matter either way. ^ The Huldah Episode. (Pr.XXm,20f .) " During the voice-sitting of May 2nd, 1905 [obvious misprint for 1906: Hodgson was alive until near the close of 1905. H.H.], Mr. Piddington being present, the R. H. control said : ' Pid, I want very much to give you my private letters concerning a Miss a Miss in Chicago [pseudonym]. I do not wish anyone to read them ' " The name ' Densmore ' [pseudonym] was then written. . . . The name ' Huldah ' was then given as that by which the letters would be signed. On May 14th Piddington reported to the R. H. control that no such letters could be found, and asked . . . ' Can you tell me at what time this lady wrote letters to you ? Was it lately?' R. H.: 'No, several years previously. I should be Ch. XLIII] Huldah Densmore 703 much distressed if they fell into other hands. No one living except the lady and myself knows of the correspondence.' " Note this second allusion to himself as living, and as in the same sense as his surviving friend. " J. G. P. : ' If I cannot find those letters, should you feel any objection to my writing to the lady to ask if there has been such a correspondence ? ' R. H. : ' Yes, I would rather you would do so.' " Later (May 29th) Piddington reports unsuccessful search again, and Mr. Dorr, who also is present, asks whether ' Huldah ' is one of a family of Densmores known to him. ' Is she a sister of Mary, Jenny, and Ella [pseudonyms] ? ' R. H. : ' Ella is the one. Huldah we used to call her. [This was emphatically spoken. Then followed a statement (not caught in Mr. Dorr's notes) that the lady's full name was Ella Huldah Densmore.] . . . I hope I have destroyed them I may have done so and forgotten it. There was a time when I greatly cared for her, and I did not wish it known in the ears of others. I think she can corroborate this. I am getting hazy ["known in the ears" is a very evi- dential indication of it. H.H.]. I must leave.' " On June 5th . . . D. asked : ' Can you tell us anything more about Huldah Densmore ? You said the other day that she was the same person as Ella? Were you clear in saying that?' R. H. : ' Did I say that ? That was a mistake. She is a sister. Is one of the three sisters, but not Ella. [She was Ella.] I know what I am talking about. I saw Huldah in Chicago. I was very fond of her. I proposed marriage to her, but she re- fused me.' " In time the lady wrote Professor James: " ' Years ago Mr. H. asked me to marry him, and some letters were exchanged between us which he may have kept. I do not remember how I signed the letters to him. I have sometimes used my middle name, Hannah, instead of Ella.' [She knew of no ' Huldah ' in her family.] " " Hodgson did consult the Imperator group at the time of his disappointment, and the reasonable conclusion is that the revela- tion which so surprised Mr. Dorr and myself was thus a product of Mrs. Piper's trance-memory of previous conversations with the living Hodgson." In face of all the evidence in existence at this late day, that may still be a " reasonable conclusion," but I wonder if James himself would now call it " the reasonable conclusion." Why should, and how could, Mrs. Piper fake out her memories into this lifelike dramatic form ? That's a consideration whose 704 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV weight has heen unfelt by many whose interest was concen- trated in " tests." Yet it is perhaps the strongest test of all. And by the way, as I learn directly from several sitters, this Imperator group have stuck their noses into the love affairs of many of the habitual sitters who had love affairs during their time. As actual personalities or as Mrs. Piper echoing the sitter's desires, they have advised proposals and acceptances, happily sustained many failing hopes, and made many bad messes and disappointments, including Hodgson's; and yet despite that, he kept up his faith in them to the last. Though on January 27, 1906, the Hodgson control suddenly says to Professor Newbold (Pr. XXIII, 23-4) : "'Let me ask if you remember anything about a lady in [Chicago] to whom I referred.' W. K. N. : ' Oh Dick, I begin to remember. About eight or nine years ago, was it, Dick ? ' R. H. : ' Yes.' [Note by W. R. N. Such a lady was frequently mentioned at sittings, in 1895, and H. was told he would marry her. I was present when these statements were made, if my memory serves me.] . . . W. R. N. : ' Was it Jessie Densmore ? ' R. H. : ' Yes, Good.' [Mr. Dorr, who was present, here inter- jects:] 'Do you mean the name was Jessie Densmore, Hodg- son?' R. H. : 'No, no, no, no.' [Jessie was the first name of R. H.'s Australian cousin, ' Q.' W. J.] . . . W. R. N. : Dick, it comes back to me as a cloud.' R. H. : ' She was a Miss Dens- more ; I loved her dearly ' W. R. N. : ' I'm not sure you told me her name.' R. H. : ' Yes, I did.' W. R. N. : ' The name is the least likely thing for me to remember What is the married name of Miss Densmore ? ' R. H. : ' Heaven knows ! It has gone from me and I shall soon go myself.' " Again the impossibility of summoning up names when other things are clear. No man of my age needs to have it explained. Does his remark, " I shall soon go myself," refer to the frequent statement that spirits move on to higher planes, or that he was getting tired, or what? Whatever it is, it is a touch of nature due of course to some double back-action mechanism hypothetized by the psychologists in Mrs. Piper! James continues: " Dr. Newbold . . . has sent me a letter written to him by Hodgson in 1895, from which it would appear that the Piper controls had prophesied that both he and Newbold would ere long be made matrimonially happy, but that whereas the prophecy Ch. XLIII] Strong against Telepathy from Sitter 705 was being verified in N.'s case, it had been falsified in his own, he having that day received formal announcement of the mar- riage of Miss Densmore to another October 24th, 1906 1 ask : W. J. : ' Did you make anyone your confidant ? ' R. H. : ' No, though I may possibly have given a hint of it to New- bold ' W. J. : ' She denies any knowledge of the name Hul- dah.' R. H. : 'I used that name instead of the right Christian name [he here gives the latter correctly] to avoid compromising it was a very delicate matter, and caused me great disappoint- ment. Have you communicated it to her ? R. H.' W. J. : ' Yes, and she corroborates. . . .' [R. H. displays no further curiosity, a living person would probably have asked whether the lady had said nothing about him, etc.] R. H. : ' Do you remember a lady- doctor in New York ? a member of our Society 2 ' W. J. : ' No, but what about her ? ' R. H. : ' Her husband's name was Blair ... I think.' W. J. : ' Do you mean Mrs. Dr. Blair Thaw? ' ' Another of those queer lapses of memory absolutely incon- sistent with telepathy from the sitter, and absolutely con- sistent with the fazed condition of a "control." Hodgson knew the Thaws much better than James did. So, for that matter, did Mrs. Piper herself: she needn't have faked all this uncertainty. "R. H.: 'Oh yes. Ask Mrs. Thaw if I did not at a dinner party mention something about the lady. I may have done so.' " [Mrs. Thaw writes in comment upon this : ' Fifteen years ago, when R. H. was visiting us after his operation for appendi- citis he told me that he had just proposed to a young lady and been refused. He gave no name,' Mrs. Thaw is the only living person beside Newbold to whom I can certainly find that he ever spoke of this episode, and the clue to Mrs. Thaw comes from the control! W.J.] [Italics mine. H.H.] " Why does he not say from Mrs. Piper her trance memory or trance vocabulary or alternate personality or subliminal something or other? Simply because he cannot, I venture to think because the most natural and least strained thing to do is exactly what he has done. That does not prove it the correct thing, though. " W. J. : ' Do you remember the name of Huldah's present hus- band ? ' [To which R. H. replied by giving his country and title correctly, but fails to give his name.] " That fits too with what I have said three times in as many pages. James, who had been as intimate as anybody with Hodgson 706 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV and his circle, could not find a person, except a sister of the lady, who had ever suspected Hodgson's state of mind, but, James adds (Pr. XXIII, 25) : "If spirit- return were already made probable by other evi- dence, this might well be taken as a case of it too. But what I am sifting these records for is independent evidence of such re- turn; and so long as the record in this instance lends itself so plausibly to a naturalistic explanation, I think we must refuse to interpret it in the spiritistic way." But there's getting to be a portentous accumulation of these things to be interpreted in the less obvious way. Though there are, of course, big arguments against the obvious way. The Pecuniary Messages. (Pr. XXIII, 26f.) The American branch of the S. P. E. never paid its ex- penses, and twice, in time of trouble, Hodgson's salary was eked out by friends. One of these, at a sitting, the sur- viving (?) Hodgson reminded of a funny story the occasion had suggested; and the other, whose identity Hodgson had never known, he warmly thanked at the first sitting with him after Hodgson's death. Professor James says (Pr. XXIII, 27) : " I cannot well understand how Mrs. Piper should have got wind of any part of the financial situation, although her con- trols may have got wind of it in trance from those who were in the secret." It looks to me almost as if I must have overlooked some- thing. What does James mean by "her controls"? Is not one control as good as another, and the Hodgson control good enough? This is apparently the second time in this report where, so far as I can see, James uses " control " to disprove a control, a sort of thing, however, which nobody with his reserve of opinion could avoid without much borous circum- locution, and which illustrates the almost unescapable veri- similitude of these communications. James, in summing up the first part of his report, says (Pr. XXIII, 28-9) : " (1) The case is an exceptionally bad one for testing spirit- return, owing to the unusual scope it gives to naturalistic ex- planations. Ch. XLIII] Comments ly James 707 " (2) The phenomena it presents furnish no knock-down proof of the return of Hodgson's spirit. " (3) They are well compatible, however, with such return, provided we assume that the Piper-organism not only transmits with great difficulty the influences it receives from beyond the curtain, but mixes its own automatic tendencies most disturb- ingly therewith. [And what more natural than that " the Piper- organism" should do just those things? And its own limita- tions? Cf. my remarks in Chapter XXXVI on the Piper- George-Eliot and Piper-Scott, and on p. 637 on the Myers con- trol through various mediums. H.H.] Hodgson himself used to compare the conditions of spirit-communication to those of two distant persons on this earth who should carry on their social intercourse by employing each of them a dead-drunk messenger. " (4) Although this Hodgson case, taken by itself, yields thus only a negative, or at the best a baffling conclusion, we have no scientific right to take it by itself, as I have done. It belongs with the whole residual mass of Piper phenomena, and they be- long with the whole mass of cognate phenomena elsewhere found. False personation is a ubiquitous feature in this total mass. It certainly exists in the Piper case; and the great question there is as to its limits. ... I admire greatly Hodgson's own discussion of the Piper case [which I abstracted in Chapter XXXIV. H.H.], especially in sections 5 and 6, where, taking the whole mass of communication into careful account, he decides for this spiritist interpretation. I know of no more masterly handling anywhere of so unwieldy a mass of material; and in the light of his general conclusions there, I am quite ready to admit that my own denials in this present paper may be the result of the narrowness of my material, and that possibly R. H.'s spirit has been speaking all the time, only my ears have been deaf. It is true that I still believe the ' Imperator band ' to be fictitious entities, while Hodgson ended by accepting them as real ; but as to the general probability of there being real communicators somewhere in the mass I cannot be deaf to Hodgson's able dis- cussion, or fail to feel the authority which his enormous expe- rience gave to his opinion in this particular field. " (5) I therefore repeat that if ever our growing familiarity with these phenomena should tend more and more to corroborate the hypothesis that ' spirits ' play some part in their production, I shall be quite ready to undeafen my ears, and to revoke the negative conclusions of this limited report. The facts are evi- dently complicated in the extreme, and we have as yet hardly scratched the surface of them. But methodical exploration has at last seriously begun, and these earlier observations of ours will surely be interpreted one day in the light of future discov- eries which it may well take a century to make. I consequently disbelieve in being too ' rigorous ' with our criticism of anything 708 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Ft. IV now in hand, or in our squeezing so evidently vague a material too hard in our technical forceps, at the present stage." Troubles of the American Branch of the S. P. R. In the second part of the report, James describes some features of the chaos in which Hodgson's sudden death left the affairs and records of the Am. S. P. E., and the serious difficulties partly of personal temperament encountered in the labors of certain survivors who worked uncompensated purely in the interests of science. He says (Pr. XXIII, 31f.) : "The records of the Piper trance show that during all this period the ' controls ' had cognizance of the main factors of per- plexity. There were, however, so many sources of leakage at this epoch that no part of this cognizance can be counted as evidence of supernormal knowledge. . . . The result, however, was that those who held sittings at this time had a lively feeling that the control-personality they talked with, whether Rector or Hodgson, was an intelligence which understood the whole situation. It talked appropriately with Dorr about certain records not being made public; with Henry James, Jr., about the disposition of R. H.'s books and other property; with Piddington and Dorr about Hyslop's desires and how best to meet them ; with Hyslop about his responsibilities and about mediums in whom he and Hodgson had recently been interested; with Dorr, James, Pid- dington, and Mrs. Lyman about whom to induce to manage the sittings; with more than one of us about a certain person who was unduly interfering, etc., etc.; the total outcome being that each sitter felt that his or her problems were discriminatingly perceived by the mind that animated the sleeping medium's organism. " More than this most of us felt during the sittings that we were in some way, more or less remote, conversing with a real Rector or a real Hodgson. And this leads me to make a general remark about the difference between reading the record of a Piper sitting and playing an active part in the conversation recorded. " One who takes part in a good sitting has usually a far live- lier sense, both of the reality and of the importance of the com- munication, than one who merely reads the record." It has hardly been so with my little experience as sitter, and considerable as reader. A sitter is more distracted by the non-essential res gestce than a reader, especially as those non-essentials are generally eliminated by the editors. Ch. XUII] James on the Logic of Presumption 709 " Active relations with a thing are required to bring the reality of it home to us, and in a trance-talk the sitter actively co-oper- ates When I first undertook to collate this series of sittings and make the present report, I supposed that my verdict would be determined by pure logic. Certain minute incidents, I thought, ought to make for spirit-return or against it in a ' crucial ' way. But watching my mind work as it goes over the data, convinces me that exact logic plays only a preparatory part in shaping our conclusions here [or anywhere else in direct human interests. H.H.] ; and that the decisive vote, if there be one, has to be cast by what I may call one's general sense of dramatic probability, which sense ebbs and flows from one hypothesis to another it does so in the present writer at least in a rather illogical man- ner. If one sticks to the detail, one may draw an anti-spiritist conclusion; if one thinks more of what the whole mass may signify, one may well incline to spiritist interpretations " The common-sense rule of presumption in scientific logic is never to assume an unknown agent where there is a known one." Yes, provided the known one is up to the job. But, for one, the more I read of these manifestations, the less- the whole string of "fraud, subconscious personality, lucky acci- dent, and telepathy/' as James puts it (see below), seems ade- quate, except under the association of the subconscious self and telepathy with the cosmic soul. Under the ordinary meaning of the terms, the attempt to use these explanations is beginning to strike me as ludicrous, and his dwelling on them so much more than on the " dramatic probability," the inevitable effect of early preconceptions. But if the stock ex- planations are all inadequate, that does not prove the truth of spiritism. But James goes on (I hope he and you will pardon my interruptions) : " Our rule of presumption should lead us then to deny spirits and to explain the Piper phenomena by a mixture of fraud [He has contradicted the fraud possibility time and again? H.H.], subconscious personation, lucky accident, and telepathy, when- ever such an explanation remains possible. Taking these Hodg- son records in detail, and subjecting their incidents to a piece- meal criticism, such an explanation does seem practically possi- ble everywhere; so, as long as we confine ourselves to the mere logic of presumption, the conclusion against the spirits holds good." Logic has explained away Shakespere and Napoleon. It can very easily be overdone, and more than once in reading 710 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV. the Pr. S. P. E. I have thought it has been. James seems to agree : for he goes on to say : " But the logic of presumption, safe in the majority of cases, is bound to leave us in the lurch whenever a real exception con- fronts us; and there is always a bare possibility that any case before us may be such an exception. In the case at present be- fore us the exceptional possibility is that of ' spirits ' really hav- ing a finger in the pie. The records are fully compatible with this explanation, however explicable they may be without it. ... I myself can perfectly well imagine spirit-agency, and I find my mind vacillating about it curiously. When I take the phenom- ena piecemeal, the notion that Mrs. Piper's subliminal self should keep her sitters apart as expertly as it does, remembering its past dealings with each of them so well, not mixing their com- munications more, and all the while humbugging them so pro- fusely, is quite compatible with what we know of the dream-life of hypnotized subjects If we suppose Mrs. Piper's dream-life once for all to have had the notion suggested to it that it must personate spirits to sitters, the fair degree of virtuosity it shows need not, I think, surprise us. Nor need the exceptional memory shown surprise us, for memory seems extraordinarily strong in, the subconscious life." These statements stagger me : for, so far as I know, there never has been shown in any clear case of hypnotism a degree of those capacities at all comparable with Mrs. Piper's. If Mrs. Piper's is a " fair degree of virtuosity," I would like to be put on the track of a high degree : for, in a pretty wide reading, I have found no degree of it, or no allusion to a degree of it, to be compared with hers; and the nearest to such a degree has been that of other mediums. Yet my reading is nothing beside James's. But I cannot help be- lieving that this passage is heavily seasoned with his im- pulsive generosity to a side which he was gradually coming to oppose, and to which he still felt an habitual allegiance. He continues (Pr. XXIII, 35-7) : "When I connect the Piper case with all the other cases I know . . . and with the whole record of spirit-possession in human history, the notion that such an immense current of experience, complex in so many ways, should spell out absolutely nothing but the words ' intentional humbug ' appears very unlikely. The no- tion that so many men and women, in all other respects honest enough, should have this preposterous monkeying self annexed to their personality seems to me so weird that the spirit-theory immediately takes on a more probable appearance. . . . The more Ch. XLIII] Considerations Outside Logic 711 I realize the quantitative massiveness of the phenomenon and its complexity, the more incredible it seems to me that in a world all of whose vaster features we are in the habit of considering to be sincere at least, however brutal, this feature should be wholly constituted of insincerity. ... I am able, while still hold- ing to all the lower principles of interpretation, to imagine the process as more complex, and to share the feeling with which Hodgson came at last to regard it after his many years of familiarity, the feeling which Prof. Hyslop shares, and which most of those who have good sittings are promptly inspired with. I can imagine the spirit of R. H. talking to me through inconceivable barriers of obstruction, and forcing recalcitrant or only partly consilient processes in the Medium to express his thoughts, however dimly " Hodgson was distinguished during life by great animal spirits. He was fond of argument, chaff, and repartee, a good deal of a gesticulator, and a great laugher. . . . Chaff and slang from a spirit have an undignified sound for the reader, but to the interlocutors of the R. H. control they seem invariably to have been elements of verisimilitude. Thus T. P. writes, a propos of a bantering passage in the record of Jan. 16, 1906 : ' T. P. and R. H. were such good chums that he was saucy to her, and teas- ing her most of the time. R. H.'s tone towards T. P. in all his communications is absolutely characteristic, and as he was in life.' Similarly, Dr. Bayley appends this note to a number of ultra-vivacious remarks from R. H. : ' Such expressions and phrases were quaintly characteristic of R. H. in the body, and as they appear, often rapidly and spontaneously, they give the al- most irresistible impression that it is really the Hodgson per- sonality, presiding with its own characteristics.' " God save me from a heaven where there is no "chaff and slang"! I should fail to recognize some of my best friends among the loftiest souls who have escaped the flesh, Hodgson not the least. However intense the interest heretofore taken in a future world, I doubt if it has ever been thoroughly healthy, or ever will be before we get our conceptions of that world off stilts. James continues (Pr. XXIII, 37-8) : " This, however, did not exclude very serious talk with the same persons quite the reverse sometimes, as when one sitter of this class notes : ' Then came words of kindness which were too intimate and personal to be recorded, but which left me so deeply moved that shortly afterwards, at the sitting's close, I fainted dead away it had seemed as though he had in all reality been there and speaking to me.' " Hodgson quickly acquired a uniform mode of announcing 712 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV himself: 'Well, well, well! I am Hodgson. Delighted to see you. How is everything? First rate? I'm in the witness-box at last/ etc., with almost no variety. This habitual use of stock-remarks by Mrs. Piper may tempt one to be unjust to the total significance of her mediumship." To me the temptation is directly opposite : she never mixes up the " stock remarks " of her many controls, and any man (or spirit?) gets into a regular way of speech in regularly recurring circumstances. " [ J.] . . . The control G. P., at the outset of his appearance, gave supernormal information copiously, but within a few years he has degenerated into a shadow of his former self, dashing in and quickly out again, with an almost fixed form of greeting. Whatever he may have been at first, he seems to me at last to have ' passed on,' after leaving that amount of impression on the trance-organism's habits." This does not seem inconsistent with the genuineness of the controls. Assuming them to be what they purported, they had no new experiences to speak of in common with the sit- ters ; the circumstances of their " meeting " day by day were virtually identical ; even " the weather " was no longer a topic of common interest and varying detail. As the stock of common topics becomes exhausted, why shouldn't the variety of conversation diminish? In going over this with a person of somewhat similar experience, I elicited the remark : " Why, we've almost got down to a little litany." Moreover, all the controls speak (whatever their observa- tions may be worth) of their general tendency to get farther and farther away from earthly interests, and the medium's sensitiveness was decreasing with advancing years. CHAPTEE XLIV THE PIPER-HODGSON CONTROL IN AMERICA (Continued) The Oldfarm Series. (Pr.XXHI,38f.) JAMES next gets back to the records in the sittings relating to Oldfarm, Mr. George B. Dorr's place at Bar Harbor, Maine, where Hodgson had often been a summer guest. I was there many times, including a fortnight in 1894 with James, Hodgson, and Myers, and about everybody men- tioned as being there in the Hodgson sittings, and although I shall not quote much of the record, I add my testimony to its wonderful verisimilitude. But there is little that is "evidential" about it in the sense that most of the psychical researchers go in for evidence : it was nearly all in Mr. Dorr's mind. The same is true of about all the " evidential " manifestations of the Hodgson control (except Miss Bancroft's lights, cf. infra) : the ma- terial was nearly all in some incarnate mind, and careful and exact and unfoolable scientists want us to believe that each of those minds, as Mrs. Piper's mind, using that material, could draw Hodgson as well as Shakespere could have drawn him. Perhaps it is "unscientific" to make extracts from it, but why did those scientists go to the trouble of printing it all ? Their reasons must justify our going on with it. " Mrs. Piper at the time of these sittings had never been at Bar Harbor; and although she had had many interviews, as well with Mr. Dorr as with Mr. Dorr's mother before the latter'a death, it is unlikely that many of the small veridical details in what follows had been communicated to her at those interviews. At Mr. Dorr's sitting of June 5th, 1906, he asks the R. H. control for his reminiscences of Oldfarm : ' Do you remember your visits to us there ? ' " R. H. : ' Certainly I do. One night we stayed out too long and your mother got very nervous, do you remember? Minna 718 714 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV was there We stayed out much too long. I felt it was a great breach of etiquette but we couldn't help it ! I fear as guests we were bad [laughs]. [...One of the first things he would recall, associated as those evenings were with people whom he cared for. D.] And do you remember the discussion I had with Jack, when he got impatient ? You were much amused ! . . . And I remember your mother's calling me out one Sunday morning to see the servants go to church on a buckboard I can see the open fireplace in the living room. . . .' G. B. D. : ' Do you re- member where you used to sleep ? ' K. H. : ' Out in the little house just out across the yard, where we used to go and smoke.' [. . . We used to close the house itself early in the evening, and R. H. was very apt then to go up to the cottage with some other man or men and sit up and smoke and talk, often until quite late. D.] R. H. : ' I remember the bathing and the boats and a walk through the woods ' G. B. D. : ' Do you remember whether you used to bathe off the beach, or off the rocks ? ' R. H. : ' We used to bathe off the rocks; I'm sure of that. I can see the whole place.' [. . . My bath-house was not on the beach, but on a point running far out into the sea, very bold and rocky. . . . D.] R. H. : 'I can see the little piazza that opened out from your mother's room and the whole beautiful outlook from it, over the water.' [. . . The piazza . . . only familiar to my mother's more intimate friends, is not a thing which would occur naturally to anyone not familiar with our life down there. -D.] " Mr. Dorr then asks R. H. if he remembers a walk he once took with a young friend from New York, where R. H. out- walked the other man and was very triumphant about it after- ward, and whether he could recall the man's name. He also asks him if he remembers the name of the man who lived in the farm house, where R. H. used generally to sleep when staying at Old- farm. Both of these names would have been quite familiar to R. H. in life. R. H. cannot give them and makes no attempt to do so." Again the paradoxical memory that I trust I have ade- quately explained! If Mrs. Piper was merely echoing Mr. Dorr's mind, apparently she could have got the names more definitely than anything else. " R. H. : ' Names are the hardest things to remember ; it's ex- traordinary but it's true. The scenes of my whole life are laid open to me but names go from one's memory like a dream.' " I have experienced it daily in advancing years. Names go first. Why not in the transfer to the new life, assuming one to be? Ch. XLIV] The Owl's Head Series 715 On July 2, 1906, Mr. Dorr asked (Pr. XXIII, 43) : " ' Now, Hodgson, can't you tell me something about the lady you were interested in, whose letters you asked Piddington to find ? . . . Was she out of sympathy with your work ? ' K. H. : ' She wanted me to give it up it was a subject she did not care to have to do with.' [Correct as to the lady's animus. W.J.] " Later Hodgson says : " ' I remember one evening, and it impressed me so vividly because your mother did not like it, and I felt we had done wrong and hurt her M. and I were smoking together and we talked too late, and she felt it was time to retire . . .' [She used to smoke cigarettes occasionally, and was the only person of the feminine sex whom I now recall as having done so at our house Hodgson would have been most unlikely to speak of it ... certainly not to Mrs. Piper, either in trance or awake. D.] [But D. knew it, and Mrs. P. could hare got it from him telepathically. H.H.] " James thus concludes (Pr. XXIII, 47) : " It is hardly possible that all the veridical points should have been known to Mrs. Piper normally. . . . For the mass, it seema to me that either reading of Mr. Dorr's mind, or spirit-return, 13 the least improbable explanation." But why didn't she get names ? Foster got them from me very readily. This would seem to leave James arguing for " spirit-return." The Owl's Head Series. (Pr.XXni,47f.) " Owl's Head was the name of the summer place of Miss Ban- croft, overlooking Kockland Harbor, in Maine, where Mrs. Piper had never been Miss Bancroft had been a sitter of Mrs. Piper's and was a convert to spiritism, with some degree of ' psychic ' susceptibility herself. At her first sitting after Hodg- son's death, Feb. 19th, 1906, Mr. Dorr also being present, the following dialogue took place : " ' I am Hodgson ! Speak ! Well, well, well, I am delighted to see you. How are you ? ' Miss B. : ' I am all right. How are you I ' R. H. : ' First rate.' Miss B. : ' I can scarcely speak to you.' R. H. : ' But you must speak to me.' Miss B. : ' Will you give me some definite message? ' R. H. : ' Surely I will. I have called and called to you. Do you remember what I said to you about coming here if I got a chance ? ' Miss B. : ' Yes, I do.' R. H. : 'I wish you to pay attention to me. [The sitter and Mr. Dorr were together trying to decipher the script.] Do you remember how I used to talk about this subject, evenings? You 71G Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV. know what you said about my writing I think, I am getting on first-rate.' " [Everything accurate so far T Miss B. can herself write automatically, and since R. H.'s departure, has thought that he might have been influencing her subconsciousness in that and other ways. The words ' I have called/ etc., she interprets in this sense. Rector, however, already knew of her automatic writing. W.J.] " [J.] On the night of Hodgson's death, Miss B., whom I de- scribed above as having 'psychic' aptitudes, had received a strong impression of his presence." Let me again call attention to the fact that persons with "psychic aptitudes" always get most through the mediums. " Miss B. : ' Yesterday you said you had " called and called " me. When did you ever call me ? ' R. H. : ' Just after I passed out I returned to you and saw you resting . . . and came and called to you telling you I was leaving ' Miss B. : ' Did I not answer?' R. H.: 'Yes, after a while.' Miss B.: ' What did I do ? ' R. H. : * You arose and seemed nervous. I felt I was dis- turbing you. I then left.' Miss B. : f Do you not recall another time when I was sure you were there and I did something ? . . . What did I do at one o'clock, Christmas morning?' R. H. : 'I saw you, I heard you speak to me once, yes. I heard you speak to someone, and it looked like a lady. You took something in your hand, and I saw you and heard you talking.' Miss B. : ' Yes, that is true.' R. H. : ' I heard you say something about someone being ill, lying in the room.' [Nellie was ill in my room. M.B.] Miss B. : ' Yes that is true. I also said something else.' R. H. : ' You said it was myself.' Miss B. : ' Yes, I said that. Anything else ? ' R. H. : ' I remember seeing the light, and heard you talk- ing to a lady.' [Correct. M.B.] " [NOTE. A propos to Miss Bancroft's ' psychic ' susceptibil- ity, at a sitting on October 17th, 1906, which Mrs. M. had with Mrs. Piper, the following words were exchanged : " Mrs. M. : ' Any other messages, Dick ? ' R. H. : ' Not for him [the person last spoken of], but tell Margaret it was I who pro- duced that light she saw the other night.' " The sitter immediately wrote to Miss Margaret Bancroft . . . to ask (not telling her of the message) whether she had had any special experiences of late. Miss B. answered : ' I had a very curious experience on the morning of the 14th. At four o'clock I was awakened from a sound sleep, and could feel distinctly the presence of three people in the room. I sat up and was so atten- tive that I hardly breathed. About nine feet from the floor there appeared at intervals curious lights, much like search-lights, but softer, and there seemed to be a distinct outline of a figure. . . . Ch. XLIV] Mysterious Lights. Dr. Bayley 717 This lasted probably from fifteen to twenty minutes . . . when I went into a sound sleep.'] " It may be justifiable to introduce here a "light" experi- ence of my own. Late one night a few years since I was lying awake facing the fireplace containing only dead ashes, when I saw a distinct light like a live coal slowly move from the back toward the front. Fearing it might start a fire on the floor or rug, I got up to examine, and found nothing. Then I, perhaps superstitiously, felt moved to look about the house for fire. I found that the fire under the boiler in the cellar had gone out, and as the night was bitter cold, if I had not restored it, not only would we have had a freezing house in the morning, but our water-pipes, both supply and heating, and radiators, would have frozen, with great consequent damage and incon- venience for many days. About that time I had had other strange super-usual informations, and I could not then, and cannot now, avoid thinking that this may have been a friendly warning from some unknown intelligent source. It of course reminded me of Phinuit's assertion (which I have not tried to verify) that I am a medium. But to return to James's report (Pr. XXIII, 52f.) : " Dr. Bayley, to whom reference was made in connection with Owl's Head, at Miss Bancroft's first sitting, had two sittings in April, in which the hearty and jocose mannerisms of R. H. were vividly reproduced " R. H. : ' Have you seen Billy? ' [My friend Prof. Newbold. B.] Dr. B. : ' No, have you any word for him ? ' R. H. : ' Ask him if he remembers the day we went to the seashore and we sat on the beach, and I told him how I hoped to come over here any time, only I wanted to finish my work. And ask him if he re- members what I told him about my getting married.' Dr. B. : * I don't know anything about it. That's a good test.' [Proves to have been correct. W. J.] " " On June 20th, 1906, Miss Bancroft had her third sitting. Some days previous to this, Mrs. M., an old friend of Hodgson, had taken to her sitting a cross which remained among his effects, and asked the R. H. control for directions concerning its disposition. The control had ordered it to be sent to Miss Ban- croft; and when he appeared to Miss Bancroft at the sitting a few days later almost his first word was : " ' Get my cross ? ' Miss B. : ' Yes, thank you very much ' R. H. : 'A Mascot I send to you.' Miss B. : ' Yes, I know you sent it to me.' R. H. : ' I shall be with you when you are in the 718 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV cottage.' Miss B. : ' Do you know that I have bought the place ? ' K. H. : ' Of course I do. I understand pretty well what you are about ' Miss B. : ' I have seen you several times in dreams.' R. H. : ' Remember my knock ? ' Miss B. : ' When did you knock?' R. H. : 'You were sleeping.' Miss B. : 'I remember twice when I thought someone knocked my arm.' R. H. : ' But I woke you, I certainly did.' [Correct.] Miss B. : ' Can't you do me a favor by knocking now ? . . .' R. H. : ' Not while I keep on speaking. You wish me to knock your arm now, eh? I cannot do so and keep on speaking ' " And yet Mrs. Piper could at the same time write for one con- trol, and talk for another : see Hodgson's report. But as far as I know, there never have been any telekinetic phenomena through Mrs. Piper. Later, in the Piper-Junot sittings, we find the control frequently suggesting telekinetic things, but never performing them, apparently for lack of a telekinetic medium. The implication seems to be that the Hodgson control could perform them for Miss Bancroft because she was a telekinetic medium herself. There are cases where the "spirits" in alleged haunted houses say they can manifest only when persons of mediumistic capacity are present. " Miss Bancroft had two more sittings, on Dec. 2nd and 3rd, 1907. On Dec. 2nd Hodgson seemed to be cognizant of certain changes in the Owl's Head Place, that there was a new wall- paper of yellow color, a new bath-house, a new pier and platform, etc., none of which facts Mrs. Piper was in a way to have known. " He also showed veridical knowledge of a very private affair between two other people, that had come under Miss Bancroft's observation " Telepathy from sitter possible in both cases, and good enough for a great portion of this Hodgson matter for the least significant portion for nearly all but the life. " [ J.] Dr. Bayley himself wrote me after his sittings : ' They are pretty good, and have about convinced me (as evidence added to previous experience) that my much loved friend is still about.' " And Dr. Bayley had a scientific man's imperviousness to such a conviction! He adds: " I realize that the average reader of these records loses much in the way of little tricks of expression and personality, subtle- ties impossible to give an account of in language " Ch. XLIV] The Control's Memory Surpasses the Sitter's 719 Professor Newbold's Sittings. (Pr.XXTII,61-T8.) " The message given to Dr. Bayley for ' Billy ' (i.e., Prof. Win. R. Newbold) makes it natural to cite next the experience of this other intimate friend of R. H. Prof. Newbold had two written sittings, on June 27th and July 3rd, 1906, respectively " R. H. : ' Well, well, of all things ! Are you really here ! I am Hodgson.' W. R. N. : ' Hallo, Dick ! ' R. H. : ' Hello, Billy, God bless you.' W. R. N. : ' And you, too, though you do not need to have me say it.' [To me, the foregoing lines sometimes seem the most evidential thing I have met, but it could be telepathy all but the "life" in it. H.H.] R. H.: 'I wonder if you remember the last talk we had together ' W. R. N. : ' I do re- member it, Dick.' R. H. : ' I can recall very well all I said to you that glorious day when we were watching the waves.' [Our last talk was on a splendid afternoon of July, 1905, at Nantasket Beach. N.] W. R. N. : ' Yes, Dick, I remember it well.' R. H. : ' I told you of many, many predictions which had been made for me. I told you I hoped to realize them but I would not consent to give up my work.' W. R. N. : ' First rate, Dick, you told me just that.' R. H. : ' I would give up almost anything else but my work my work and my pipe.' W. R. N. : ' Dick, that sounds like you.' R. H. : ' Don't you remember ? ' W. R. N. : ' Do you remember something I told you on the boat going to Nantasket ? ' R. H. : ' Yes of course. Long ago you wrote me of your happiness and I wrote back and asked you if you were trying to make me discontented.' W. R. N. : ' I don't remember, but I have your letters and will look it up.' [This allusion to my ' happiness ' is very characteristic. He often spoke to me of it. N.] R. H. : ' Look over your letters and you will find my memory better than yours.' W. R. N. : 'Like as not! Like as not!'" One of the strongest evidences for the spiritistic hypothesis is the frequent occurrence of just this the control's memory better than the sitter's. I hope I don't remark on it often enough to bore you. " R. H. : ' I have hoped to boss things on this side.' [R. H. had often told me of his belief that if he could ' pass over ' and com- municate, many of the difficulties of the spiritualistic theory would disappear. I can mentally see him now shaking his pipe at me threateningly and saying : ' If I get over before you, Billy, I'll make things hot for you.' N.] W. R. N. : ' Yes, Dick, so you did.' R. H. : ' Therefore if I seem bossy pardon me - Bossy Pardon.' W. R. N. : ' Go ahead, Dick, be as bossy as you will. I have nothing to say to you until you get through.' R. H. : 'Good. That's what I wish. I remember telling you how you must not write more about your happiness.' W. R. N. : ' Did you tell me this on the trip or in the letter ? ' R. H. : ' In 720 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV. the letter.' W. K. N. :' First-rate ! I have piles of letters. I will go through them.' R. H. : 'If you do you will find it all. [I cannot find it in the letters. N.] Oh, I am so delighted to see you of all persons.' W. R. N. : ' Well, you were a dear friend of mine.' R. H. : 'I had the greatest affection for you.' W. R. N. : ' Do you remember what a friend you were to me, years ago ? ' R. H. : ' Yes, I do, and how I helped you through some difficulties? ' W. R. N. : ' I should say you did, Dick! ' R. H. : ' But I do not care to remind you of anything I did ! only as a test only as a test ' " Does all this read more like Mrs. Piper than Hodgson? We skip to p. 66 : " R. H. : ' I will give it all eventually eventually. Yes. I am in the witness-box.' W. R. N. : ' Poor Dick ! ' R. H. : ' Poor Dick! Not much! Poor Dick! Not much! Fire away! I recall your psychological teaching very clearly.' " [R. H. next goes ' out ' to rest, but returns after a brief in- terval of Rector.] ' Hello, Billy ! All right? All right now? You told me you were working on some interesting work ' " In Professor Newbold's sitting of July 23, the subject of work is resumed (Pr. XXIII, 72f.) : " R. H. : 'I told you I would not give up my work even for a wife.' [I don't recall this remark, but it sounds characteristic. N.] W. R. N. : ' Yes, Dick, you are very clear and easy to un- derstand.' R. H. : ' I am glad to hear it. I am trying my level best to give you facts.' W. R. N. : ' Very good.' R. H. : ' I said my pipe and my work would not be given up even for a wife. Oh how you have helped me, Billy. Yes, in clearing my mind wonderfully. [I omit here a few sentences from R. H. in which he credits me with a remark I have often made to him, seldom to others. Important veridically. N.] . . . You said you could not understand why so many mistakes were made, and I talked you blind, trying to explain my ideas of it.' W. R. N. : ' Dick, this sounds like your own self. Just the way you used to talk to me.' R. H. : 'Well if I am not Hodgson, he never lived.' W. R. N. : ' But you are so clear.' R. H. : ' Of course I am, I am drawing on all the forces possible for strength to tell you these things. You laughed about the ungrammatical expressions and said, why in the world do they use bad grammar? ' W. R. N. : ' Yes, Dick, I said that.' R. H. : ' I went into a long ex- planation and attributed it to the registering of the machine. You were rather amused but were inclined to leave it to my better understanding.' W. R. N. : ' You mean, I think, that you understood the subject better than I and I took your explana- tion ? . . . ' R. H. : ' I think I do. I find now difficulties such as a blind man would experience in trying to find his hat. And I Ch. XLIV] Crowds of Ante-Mortem Reminiscences 721 am not wholly conscious of nay own utterances because they come out automatically, impressed upon the machine ' " I wonder how often you can stand my calling attention to specially natural personal interplay in the conversation! I confess it is getting me to the point where the talk about Mrs. Piper's secondary personality " makes me very tired." "W. R. N.: 'Can you see me, Dick?' K. H.: 'Yes, but I feel your presence better. I impress my thoughts on the machine which registers them at random, and which are at times doubt- less difficult to understand. I understand so much better the modus operandi than I did when I was in your world. Do you remember you said you could faintly understand faintly under- stand the desire on the part of a friend after coming to this side to communicate with his friend on the earthly side. But why he would choose such methods were the most perplexing things to you.' W. R. N. : ' No, Dick, you are thinking of someone else. I never told you that.' R. H. : ' Yes you did in the case of the man I am talking of, who pretended to give manifestations, and you were right in your judgment.' W. R. N. : ' Yes ! I think I did say it in that case.' [When the ' choice of such methods ' was first mentioned, I supposed it referred to the notion that mediums ought to be persons of distinguished character or abili- ties. I therefore disavowed it, for I have never seen any reason for the assumption. When it was referred to the ' men who pre- tended to give manifestations,' I doubtfully acknowledged it, sup- posing it referred to the so-called 'physical phenomena,' espe- cially those of Stain ton Moses. The objections upon which I used to lay most stress in my talks with H. were (1) the aston- ishing ignorance often displayed with reference to subjects which the supposed communicators must have been acquainted with; (2) the whole Imperator group, its historical and philosophical teachings, its supposed identity with the similar group in the Stainton Moses case and its connection with the seed-pearls, perfumes and other physical phenomena which Moses professed to produce. To these objections H. could never give an answer. . . . N.] R. H. : ' While in other cases you were open and clear to my explanations and agreed with me, especially regarding G. P.' W. R. N. : ' Right ! First-rate ! That is all very char- acteristic.' R. H. : ' You were a good listener always, Billy, al- ways I remember when you were with me I got very much interested in some letters you wrote me after your return home your saying some things puzzled you very much.' [A first- rate veridical statement from R. H. has had to be omitted here. The matter referred to had, however, been mentioned at sittings in 1895. N.] W. R. N.: ' By jingo! that is true, Dick. It was ten years ago. . . . Do you remember telling me that day that when you got on the other side you would make it hot for me? ' 722 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV R. H. : ' I do indeed remember it well. I said I would shake you up shake you up.' W. R. N. : ' That is just the word you used Dick.' [I am not now sure the word was ' shake you up,' but it was some such colloquial expression. N.] R. H. : ' Yes, I did. Oh I said, won't I shake you up when I get over there if I go before you do ! And here I am, but I find my memory no worse than yours in spite of the fact that I have passed through the transition stage state. You would be a pretty poor philosopher if you were to forget your subject as you seem to forget some of those little memories which I recall, Billy. Let me ask if you remember anything about a lady in [Chicago] to whom I re- ferred.' W. R. N. : ' Oh Dick, I begin to remember. About eight or nine years ago was it, Dick ? ' [Here follows the ' Hul- dah' material already quoted in my Part I of this report. W.J.] " All through R. H. remembers everything but names better than the sitter. Mrs. P. could hardly have got it from the sitter's mind, though there is a great deal of talk about impres- sions latent in the sitter's mind in the Cosmic Mind, I ven- ture to guess, mainly Hodgson's portion of it this time. " R. H. : 'I heard you and William William discussing me, and I stood not one inch behind you.' W. R. N. : ' William who?' R. H.: 'James.' W. R. N.: 'What did William James Bay?' [I recall this talk with W. J. last week. N.] R. H.: ' He said he was baffled but he felt it was I talking at one mo- ment then at another he did not know what to think.' [Per- fectly true of my conversation with N. after his sitting with Mrs. P. a week previous. W.J.] W. R. N. : ' Did you hear any- thing else ? ' R. H. : ' Yes, he said I was very secretive and careful.' W. R. N. : ' Did you hear him say that? ' R. H. : ' He did. He said I was, I am afraid I am.' W. R. N. : ' I don't remember his saying so.' [I remember it. W.J.] R. H. : 'I tell you Billy he said so.' " Did Mrs. P. get a correct impression from J., who was absent, rather than the incorrect impression of N., who was present, or was Hodgson talking? " W. R. N. : ' Did he say anything else ? ' R. H. : He paid me a great compliment. [I recall this. N.] I fear I did not de- serve it. However, I am here to prove or disprove through life. Amen.' [The second or third allusion I note of a contemplation of possible death in the next world. Possibly a habit retained by those who have left this world, more probably, perhaps, the habit of the medium and the sitter. H.H.] " James remarks (Pr. XXIII, 78) : Ch. XLIV] Unanswerable Arguments Both Ways 723 " Some persons [those with a bit of mediumistic faculty, I think I have said before. H.H.] seem to make much better ' sit- ters ' than others, and Prof. Newbold is evidently one of the best. The two sittings of his from which I have quoted are more flow- ing and contain less waste matter, perhaps, than any others. . . . Not many items were certainly wrong . . . and the great majority were certainly right. If two of the omitted communications could have been printed, they would have greatly increased the veridical effect. Professor Newbold gives me his own resultant impression in the following words : ' The evidence for H.'s iden- tity, as for that of other communicators, seems to me very strong indeed. It is not absolutely conclusive ; but the only alternative theory, the telepathic, seems to me to explain the facts not as well as the spiritistic. I find it, however, absolutely impossible to accept the necessary corollaries of the spiritistic theory, espe- cially those connected with the Imperator group, and am there- fore compelled to suspend judgment.' " This Imperator group sticks in almost everybody's crop. Hodgson at last came to accept them. They were James's principal stumbling block to the last. Why can't they be put in the same category with the apparent rubbish, in dreams? Some dreams are important, despite the apparent rubbish in most. My concluding chapters treat these views in consid- erable detail, and with considerable evidence. As we have seen, the fundamental trouble with these gentry is that they give one set of names for themselves at one time, and another set at another, or rather that Stainton Moses, liv- ing, announces that they give themselves one set, and that then his alleged spirit, talking through Mrs. Piper to Professor Newbold (Chapter XXXV), says they gave another. It is not quite plain, however, why Professor Newbold and Pro- fessor James should dwell on this circumstance, as we have seen that they do, any more than upon the Wilde and Myers sealed envelopes: they all seem about equally unanswerable against spiritism that is, unanswerable with our present knowledge. Opposing them, however, is perhaps an equal array perhaps a greater array, of unanswerable facts on the other side unanswerable with our present knowledge. All that the inquirer can do is to determine on which side the preponderance lies. Assuming for the argument's sake that those communica- tions were genuine, they contain many frank confessions of 724 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pi IV, error from Moses, and among his errors was that of coloring these gentlemen too much with his own glasses. But admit- ting them not to be genuine, are they and other failures to count fatally against the successes? The argument reminds me of the alleged criminal who said : " Only two people swear they saw me do it, while I can bring a thousand who will swear they didn't." Weighing both sides may be all that the inquirer can ever do. As far back as records go, and in contemporary savagery of a grade that antedates records, man has been busy with this question, and it does not seem improbable that he always will be busy with it that the order of Nature is such that not only must he be interested in it as long as his curiosities and affections last, but that, as in the past, he will receive nothing more than constant stimulus to his hopes, never a demonstration fully satisfying the demands of his intellect. And perhaps it may be well if this shall be so. The sig- nificance and value of a life depend upon the ratio between capacity and opportunity; and if there be a future life vastly more important than the present one, a comprehension of it might easily reach a point where the tantalizing opportuni- ties of that life, visible but not available, would make this life appear so contemptible in comparison as to paralyze effort and even interest. But there's another trouble with Imperator and his group that may have had something to do with making them ob- stacles to the acceptance of the spiritistic theory by James and Newbold. It is their "queerness." Those who find it an obstacle, and still more those who don't, will not need any definition of it. When I found Hodgson (living) making the sign of the cross with them, and going through their ceremonies, I con- fess it gave me " that sinking feeling." But reflection shows me that this was a narrow view of the case as narrow as some other views from which some of us like to think ourselves emancipated. Imperator, Rector, and the rest of those amia- ble people taking things at their face value appear to be combinations of sundry early sacerdotal people seen, on their first appearance, through the glasses, so to speak, of a modern Ch. XLIV] Heavens Enough to Go Round 725 ritualist clergyman. I don't know or much care whether they are genuine or not, but what argument is it against their genuineness that they like to make the sign of the cross and use the slang of their trade, to rise superior to grammar, and say " friend " on every available occasion, and do other things according to their kind? Such people appear to have their place in the universe (here and beyond?) as well as the rest of us, and if good old Hodgson, who, after his reason was convinced, could sympathize with anybody or anything, fell into some of their ways, what argument is that against their ways being genuine ? Some of them may not be quite to our fancy, but a great many ways still less to our fancy have been very genuine indeed horribly genuine, sometimes. If anybody refuses to accept Imperator's heaven because he does not like it, and Fra Angelico's heaven because he does not like that, and Milton's or Dante's heaven because he does not like that, he need not for that reason say there's no heaven at all. There may be one that will suit him exactly. Why shouldn't there be enough kinds to go around ? I don't like Imperator's, but I've seen nothing in G. P.'s that wouldn't do well enough for me, or in George Eliot's, or in Hodgson's, unless Imperator has led him off too much which, despite the signs and ceremonies, seemed very far from the case before Hodgson left earth, or since, according to latest accounts, such as they are. But wherever the facts came from, the marvel is more in the dramatic rendering of them than in the knowledge of them. The investigators have been very slow to wake up to this. Pos- sibly I have been too fast, but it seems more important to me every day. /If James ran any one of his virtues into the ground, perhaps .t was his modesty concerning anything connected with him- self. Instance the following introduction and what it in- troduces: W. J' Sitting. (Pr.XXTn.80f .) u [ J.] The evidence is so much the same sort of thing through- out, and makes such insipid reading, that I hesitate to print more of it in full. But I know that many critics insist on having the largest possible amount of verbatim material on 726 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV which to base their conclusions, so I select as a specimen of the R. H. control's utterances when he was less ' strong,' one of two voice-sittings which I had with him myself (May 21st, 1906). The reader, I fear, will find it long and tedious, but he can skip. " (R. H. enters, saying:) 'Well, well, well, well! Well, well, well, that is here I am. Good morning, good morning, Alice.' Mrs. W. J. : ' Good morning, Mr. Hodgson.' R. H. : < I am right here. Well, well, well I I am delighted ! ' W. J. : ' Hurrah ! R. H. ! Give us your hand ! ' R. H. : ' Hurrah, Wil- liam ! God bless you. How are you V W. J. : ' First rate.' R. H. : ' Well, I am delighted to see you. Well, have you solved those problems yet ? ' W. J. : ' Which problems do you refer to ? ' R. H. : ' Did you get my messages ? ' W. J. : ' I got some mes- sages about your going to convert me.' R. H. : ' Did you hear about that argument that I had ? You asked me what I had been doing all those years, and what it amounted to ? ' [R. H. had already sent me, through other sitters, messages about my little f aith. W. J.] W. J. : ' Yes.' R. H. : ' Well, it has amounted to this, that I have learned by experience that there is more truth than error in what I have been studying.' W. J. : ' Good ! ' R. H. : ' I am so delighted to see you to-day that words fail me.' W. J. : ' Well, Hodgson, take your time and don't be nervous.' R. H. : ' No. Well, I think I could ask the same of you ! Well, now, tell me, I am very much interested in what is going on in the society, and Myers and I are also interested in the society over here. You understand that we have to have a medium on this side, while you have a medium on your side, and through the two we communicate with you.' W. J. : ' And your medium is who ? ' R. H. : ' We have a medium on this side. It is a lady. I don't think she is known to you.' W. J. : ' You don't mean Rector? ' R. H. : ' No, not at all. It is do you remember a medium whom we called Prudens ? ' W. J. : ' Yes.' [His not naming G. P. or Rector gives decided food for skepticism. H.H.] " R. H. : ' What I want to know first of all is about the society. I am sorry that it could not go on.' W. J. : * There was nobody to take your place. . . . Hyslop is going to, well, perhaps you can find out for yourself what he is going to do.' R. H. : 'I know what he is going to do, and we are all trying to help Hyslop, and trying to make him more conservative, and keener in understand- ing the necessity of being secretive.' W. J. : ' You must help all you can. He is splendid on the interpreting side, discussing the sittings, and so forth.' R. H. : ' I know he is, but what a time I had with him in writing that big report. It was awful, perfectly awful. I shall never forget it. [Hodgson had tried to get Hyslop's report in S.P.R. Proceedings, Vol. XVI, made shorter, a fact possibly known to the medium. W. J.] . . . William, can't you see, don't you understand, and don't you remember how I used to walk up and down before that open fireplace trying to Ch. XLIV] Remarkable Talks' with James 727 convince you of my experiments ? ' W. J. : ' Certainly, certainly.' R. H. : ' And you would stand with your hands in your trousers pockets. You got very impatient with me sometimes, and you would wonder if I was correct. I think you are very skeptical.' W. J. : ' Since you have been returning I am much more near to feeling as you felt than ever before.' R. H. : ' Good ! Well, that is capital.' W. J. : ' Your " personality " is beginning to make me feel as you felt.' R. H. : ' If you can give up to it, William, and feel the influence of it and the reality of it, it will take away the sting of death Now tell me a little bit more about the Society. That will help me keep my thoughts clear. I think, William are you standing?' W. J. : 'Yes, I am standing.' R. H. : Well, can't you sit? ' W. J. : ' Yes.' R. H. : ' Well, sit. Let's have a nice talk.' " There is little " evidential " about the last couple of lines in the scientific sense, but there are several kinds of sense. "R. H. : 'I want to ask you if you have met at all Miss Gaule?' W. J. : 'Maggie Gaule? I have not met her.' [A medium known to R. H. during life, probably also known by name to Mrs. P. W. J.] R. H. : ' I am very much disappointed in some respects. I have tried to reach her. [In 1908, Hyslop got messages from R. H. through Miss Gaule. W.J.] I have reached another light and I did succeed in getting a communica- tion through.' W. J. : ' What was your communication ? ' R. H. : ' I did not believe in her when I was in the body. I thought she was insincere, but I believe her now and know that she has genuine light, and I gave a message recently to a Mrs. M. in the body. I referred to my books and my papers and several other things. Her name is Soule.' [R. H. acted as Mrs. Soule's control, and something like incipient cross-corre- spondences were obtained. W.J.] . . . W. J. : ' Why can't you tell me more about the other life ? ' R. H. : ' That is a part of my work. I intend to give you a better idea of this life than has ever been given.' W. J. : 'I hope so.' R. H. : ' It is not a vague fantasy but a reality.' Mrs. J. : ' Hodgson, do you live as we do, as men do? ' R. H. : ' What does she say? ' W. J. : ' Do you live as men do ? ' Mrs. J. : ' Do you wear cloth- ing and live in houses ? ' R. H. : ' Oh, yes, houses, but not cloth- ing. No, that is absurd. [Query: the clothing? or the state- ment made about it ? W. J.] Just wait a moment. I am going to get out.' W. J. : ' You will come back again ? ' R. H. : ' Yes.' Rector : ' He has got to go out and get his breath.' " Perhaps it is a little too often that a question has to be asked twice, or the control has to "get out," or something else happens when anybody asks about the life on the other side, though G. P. did tell me that they are free from bodily 728 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV ills there, and many others say the same, and then turn around and enact what they suffered here. Is it all " for evidential purposes"? We skip half a dozen pages to Pr. XXIII, 94. " R. H. : ' Now I want, William, I want one thing. I want you to get hold of the spiritual side of this thing and not only the physical side. I want you to feel intuitively and instinc- tively the spiritual truth, and when you do that you will be happy, and you will find that I was not idling and was not spending my time on nonsense ; and as I thought over all, as it came to me after I entered this life, I thought " What folly ! If I could only get hold of him ! " W. J. : ' I wish that what you say could grow more continuous. That would convince me. You are very much like your old self, but you are curiously fragmen- tary.' R. H. : ' Yes, but you must not expect too much from me, that I could talk over the lines and talk as coherently as in the body. You must not expect too much, but take things little by little as they come and make the best of it, and then you must put the pieces together and make a whole out of it. Before I lose my breath [Again! H.H.], is there any other question you want to ask me? What do you think of that bust, William? I don't quite approve of it. I think it is all nonsense.' [On March 12th Mr. Dorr had told the R. H. control that Mr. Biela Pratt had begun to model a bust of him for the Tavern Club.] W. J. : ' I do not know anything about it. I have not seen it. But it is a natural thing for the Tavern Club to want of you, they were so fond of you, all of them.' R. H. : 'I want to know, William, what is that you are writing about me ? ' W. J. : ' I am not writing anything about you at present.' R. H. : ' Aren't you going to ? ' W. J. : ' Perhaps so.' R. H. : 'Can I help you out any ? ' W. J. : ' Yes, I want you to help me out very much. I am going to write about these communications of yours. I want to study them out very carefully, everything that you say to any sitter.' R. H. : ' Well, that is splendid. You could hot have said anything to please me more than that.' W. J. : ' I am glad you approve of my taking it in hand.' R. H. : ' Yes, I do. Of all persons you are the one.' W. J. : 'I'll try to glorify you as much as I can ! ' R. H. : ' Oh, I don't care about that. I would like to have the truth known, and I would like to have you work up these statements as proof that I am not annihilated. . . . You must remember I have not been over here an endless number of days? but I wish they would all try as hard as I have tried to give proof of their identity so soon after coming over.' W. J. : ' I wish you would more and more get Rector to let you take his place. You do all the talking and let Rector have a rest. And it would be much better, I think, for you to take control of the light, and for me particularly.' R. H. : ' Yes, that is a very good Ch. XLIV] Control's Failures Support Spiritism 729 suggestion, very good.' W. J. : 'Because I want to write this up, and the time taken by Rector is so much lost from you.' R. H. : ' But he repeats for me very cleverly, and he understands the management of the light. I want to speak with Alice a moment, and then I shall have to leave you, I suppose.' Mrs. J. : ' Mr. Hodgson, I am so glad to know that you can come at all.' R. H. : ' Well, you were always a great help to me, you always did see me, but poor William was blind. But we shall wholly straighten him out and put him on the right track. ... I am sorry to be off so soon, but I know there are difficulties in re- maining too long. They often told me too frequent communica- tion was not good for anyone. I understand what that means now better than ever. I am going to look up one or two cases and put you on the track of them, William, when I can com- municate here, at the same time repeat the messages elsewhere.' [An early looking forward to cross-correspondences, see Chapter XL VII. H.H.] W. J.: 'That is first rate.' R. H.: 'I think that is one of the best things I can do. Now I am going to skedaddle. Good-by, William. God bless you. Give my love to the boys.' " James remarks (Pr. XXIII, 97-8) : " The sitting, although quite compatible with the spiritual explanation, seems to me to have but little evidential force. [" Evidential force " is of course a matter of definition. H.H.] The same is true of the second sitting which I had a fortnight later. Much of it went over the same matters, with no better results. I vainly tried to make Hodgson remember a certain article he had written for Mind in 1885, and to give the name of Thomas Brown, whom he had praised there. Neither could he remember anything about the American Society for Psychical Research, as he found it on arriving in this country.. .. [He remembered enough about it as he left it and after he left it. Cf. ante. H.H.] He insisted much on my having said of a certain lady ' God bless the roof that covers her.' I trust I may have said this of many ladies, but R. H. could lead me to no identification." On the theory of telepathy from the sitter, Mrs. Piper could have had from James all that Hodgson lacked. That theory is failing all the time. The very incapacities of the control make for spiritism. James continues : " The only queer thing that happened at this sitting was the following incident. A lady had sent me a pair of gloves as an ' influence ' to elicit, if possible, a message from her husband, who had recently committed suicide. I put the gloves into Mrs. Piper's hand, naturally without a word of information about the 730 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV case, when 'Hodgson,' who had been speaking, said, witl. a rather startling change of his voice into a serious and confiden- tial tone, that he had just seen the father (known to us both in life) of a young man who a few years before had made away with himself. ' I never knew it till I came over here. I think they kept it very quiet, but it is true, and it hastened the father's coming.' " Two Sittings of Miss M. Bergman. (Pr.XXIII,99f.) " [I had become so discouraged by the great difficulty of reading the writing and the confusion in making things clear that I felt very indifferent and inert in mind. M.B.] R. H. : * Bosh.' Miss B. : ' What do you mean by that ? ' E. H. : ' You understand well.' Miss B.: 'Bosh?' R. H. : ' Yes, I say bosh. BOSH BOSH' Miss B. : ' What do you mean by that? ' E. H.: 'Oh I say it is all bosh/ Miss B,: 'What is bosh?' R. H. : ' Why the way you understand. It is simply awful.' Miss B. : ' That sounds like you, Dr. Hodgson.' R. H. : ' I could shake you.' Miss B. : ' How can I do better? ' R. H. : ' Put all your wits to it, you have plenty of them.' Miss B. : ' I will do my best. Go on.' R. H. : 'Do. Do you remember I used to chaff you.' Miss B. : ' Indeed I do.' R. H. : ' Well I am still chaffing you a bit just for recognition.' Miss B. : 'It helps.' R. H. : ' Amen. Now you are waking up a bit.' Miss B. : ' I am.' R. H. : ' Capital. So am I. Don't you remember I told you I would show you how to manage if I ever came over before you did.' Miss B. : ' Indeed I do.' R. H. : ' Well now I am trying to show you. I used to scold you right and left and I shall have to keep it up, I think, unless you do better.' Miss B. : ' I deserve it Have you a message for Theo [Miss Theodate Pope] ? ' R. H. : ' Yes indeed give her my love and tell her I am not going to forsake her. I do not think she has been keeping straight to the mark.' Miss B. : ' What do you mean by that ? ' R. H. : ' I think she has been getting a little mixed up in her thoughts and ideas of us over here. I am the same old sixpence and I wish she were the same. I want to see her very much.' [' Theo ' had had no sitting for a long time, her interest being lessened by the circumstance that records of several sittings had not been kept systematically, as before Dr. Hodgson's death. At this point the hand wrote comments relating to circumstances which had arisen in Theo's life since Dr. Hodgson's death. These comments were singularly appropriate. M.B.] " But Miss B. knew them. Though I confess that, as I read, Buch a fact makes less and less difference to me. " At the second sitting, when R. H. appeared, the voice began speaking very rapidly and heartily: " ' Well, well, well, this is Miss Bergman ; hullo ! I felt as Ch. XLIY] James's Evidential Incidents 731 though I could shake you yesterday.' Miss B. : 'Well, I was pretty stupid. I think we can do better to-day Did you leave other messages ? ' R. H. : '. . . Every message given at this light must be repeated through Mrs. Verrall before anyone opens any of my sealed messages. Mrs. Verrall is the clearest light except this which I have found. Moreover she has a beautiful character and is perfectly honest. That is saying a great deal. [The reader will notice that Mrs. Piper had been in England [where she often met Mrs. Verrall. H.H.] and returned, at the date of the sittings with Miss Bergman. W.J.] ... It is never the way to get the best results by peppering with questions. Intelligences come with minds filled and questions often put everything out of their thought Will thinks I ought to walk into the room bodily and shake hands with him. I heard him say " Hodgson isn't so much of a power on the other side." What does he think a man in the ethereal body is going to do with a man in the physical body?' [Seems to show some supernormal knowledge of the state of my mind. W. J.] Miss B. : 'To whom did you speak first from that world ? ' R. H. : ' Theodate, yes, Theodate, she was the one to whom I first spoke.' [Correct.] " From eleven incidents cited by James as of "evidential" value, I quote the following. I don't see anything of what he calls " evidential value " in it. According to the standards set up by him and some others, it could be accounted for by telepathy all but its most important features. (Pr.XXin,109) : "The following incident belongs to my wife's and Miss Putnam's sitting of June 12th, 1906 : Mrs. J. said : ' Do you remember what happened in our library one night when you were arguing with Margie [Mrs. J.'s sister] ? ' ' I had hardly said " remember," ' she notes, ' in asking this ques- tion, when the medium's arm was stretched out and the fist shaken threateningly,' then these words came: " R. H. : ' Yes, I did this in her face. I couldn't help it. She was so impossible to move. It was wrong of me, but I couldn't help it.' [I myself well remember this fist-shaking incident, and how we others laughed over it after Hodgson had taken his leave. What had made him so angry was my sister-in-law's de- fense of some slate-writing she had seen in California. W.J.] " (Pr.XXIII.llO) : " At a written sitting at which I was pres- ent (July 29th, 1907) the following came: " R. H. : ' You seem to think I have lost my equilibrium. Nothing of the sort.' W. J.: 'You've lost your handwriting, gone from bad to worse.' R. H. : 'I never had any to lose.' Mrs. M. : 'It was a perfectly beautiful handwriting' [ironical]. R. H. : ' Ahem! Ahem! William, do you remember my writing you a long letter once when you were ill? You had to get 732 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV Margaret [my daughter W.J.] to help you read it and you wrote me it was detestable writing and you hoped I would try and write plainer to a friend who was ill, next time. How I laughed over that, but I was really sorry to make you wade through it. Ask Margaret if she remembers it.' [Perfectly it was in London. M.M.J.] " No matter how much knowledge Mrs. Piper might get tel- epathically, this dramatic verisimilitude could not have been constructed on the spur of the moment by her or anybody else, even once, not to speak of myriads of times. She could have dreamed it, but I doubt if we do our own dreaming, for reasons given in Chapter LIV. I confess that, as I am now reading over this matter for the fourth or fifth time, accounting for it by anything Mrs. Piper can do, voluntarily or involuntarily, is beginning to seem to me to verge on the ridiculous. (Pr.XXIILlll) : "R. H.: 'Do you remember a story I told you about my old friend Sidgwick ? Don't you remember how I imitated him ? ' Miss P. : ' Yes, what word did you say about Sidgwick ? ' [I had not deciphered the word ' imitated.' T.P.] R. H. : ' If I believed in it they would say I was in the trick/ [Still not understanding, T. P. said :] Miss P. : ' What about Sidgwick? ' R. H. : ' I imitated him.' Miss P. : ' What did you do ? ' R. H. : ' I said s-s-s-should-be i-n th-e t-r-i-c-k.' Miss P. : ' I remember perfectly, that's fine.' R. H. : ' No one living could know it but yourself and Mary Bergman.' " [It was most interesting to see the hand write these words to imitate stuttering, and then for the first time it flashed over me what he had some time ago told Mary and me about Sidg- wick, imitating at the same time Sidgwick's stammer : ' H-Hodg- son, if you b-b-believe in it, you'll b-be said to be in the t-trick.' I cannot quote the exact words, but this is very nearly right. Sidgwick referred to Hodgson's belief that he was actually com- municating, through Mrs. Piper, with spirits. He meant that people not only would not believe what Hodgson gave as evidence, but would think he was in collusion with Mrs. Piper. T.P.] " (Pr.XXIII,112) : " On Jan. 30, 1906, Mrs. M. had a sitting. Mrs. M. said : " ' Do you remember our last talk together, at N., and how, in coming home we talked about the work?' (R. H.) : 'Yes, yes.' Mrs. M. : ' And I said if we had a hundred thousand dol- lars' R. H. : ' Buying Billy ! ! ' Mrs. M. : ' Yes, Dick, that was it "buying Billy.'" R. H.: 'Buying only Billy?' Mrs. M.: ' Oh no I wanted Schiller too. How well you remember ! ' " Mrs. M., before R. H.'s death, had had dreams of extending the American Branch's operations by getting an endowment, Ch. XLIV] Podmore 'Admits Super-usual Proofs 733 and possibly inducing Prof. Newbold (Billy) and Dr. Schiller to co-operate in work. She naturally regards this veridical recall, by the control, of a private conversation she had had with Hodg- son as very evidential of his survival." This buying Billy and Schiller brought Podmore squarely around, for the first time, I think, from his previous life-long fight against telepathy. He says (New. Spir., p. 222) : " It is impossible to doubt that we have here proof of a super- normal agency of some kind either telepathy by the trance in- telligence from the sitter or some kind of communication with the dead." Two pages farther on, however, appears the advocatus diaboli (New. Spir., p. 224) : " When asked to give the contents of any sealed letters written in his life-time for the express purpose of being read by him after death the two sentences were given : ' There is no death ' and ' out of life into life eternal ' (p. 102.) Whatever Hodgson may have written, it was surely not quite so commonplace as that." To my gullible apprehension, it seems eminently appro- priate. (Pr.XXni,113-4) : " Among my own friends in the Harvard faculty who had ' passed over ' the most intimate was F. J. Child. Hodgson during life had never met Professor Child. It looks to me like a supernormal reading of my own mental states (for I had often said that the best argument I knew for an immortal life was the existence of a man who deserved one as well as Child did) that a message to me about him should have been spon- taneously produced by the R. H. control. I had assuredly never mentioned C. to Mrs. Piper, had never before had a message from his spirit, and if I had expressed my feelings about him to the living R. H., that would make the matter only more evi- dential. The message through R. H. came to Miss Robbins, June 6th, 1906. " R. H. : ' There is a man named Child passed out suddenly, wants to send his love to William and his wife in the body.' Miss R. : ' Child's wife ? ' R. H. : ' Yes, in the body. He says . . . I hope L. will understand what I mean. I [i.e., R. H.] don't know who L. is.' [L. is the initial of the Christian name of Pro- fessor Child's widow W.J.] " Too dramatic for Mrs. P. or anybody else in the flesh. James says (Pr. XXIII, 115) : " These eleven incidents [only a few of which I have quoted. H.H.] sound more like deliberate truth-telling, whoever the 734 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV. truth-teller be, than like lucky flukes. On the whole they make on me the impression of being supernormal. I confess that I should at this moment much like to know (although I have no means of knowing) just how all the documents I am exhibiting in this report will strike readers who are either novices in the field, or who consider the subject in general to be pure ' rot ' or ' bosh.' " As an erstwhile " novice in the field/' I am willing, at the cost of some repetition, to record how they have struck me, whatever may be the chance of my quondam friend James' reading the record. For years after my sittings with Foster and Mrs. Piper, up to my studies expressly for this volume, I accounted for most of the cases by telepathy from the sitter, and for the rest by teloteropathy. But after reading the S. P. B. records over and over and over again, I find myself no longer able to do so. The eleven incidents dwelt on by James are among the best, but there are many others equally good, and perhaps a few better. The best I think is the growing up of the Junot boy in the last sittings I quote. The simpler points in all may have been only telepathic, but who or what is the unsurpassed dramatist who threw them into shape? My feeling has gradually grown into impatience with the old-fashioned stock explanations, or anything o!se short of suspended judgment, and I have more and more patience with those who go beyond that. James continues (Pr. XXIII, 115) : " It seems to me not impossible that a bosh-philosopher here or there may get a dramatic impression of there being something genuine behind it all. Most of those who remain faithful to the ' bosh '-interpretation would, however, find plenty of comfort if they had the entire mass of records given them to read. Not that I have left things out (I certainly have tried not to!) that would, if printed, discredit the detail of what I cite, but I have left out, by not citing the whole mass of records, so much mere mannerism, so much repetition, hesitation, irrelevance, unintelli- gibility, so much obvious groping and fishing and plausible cov- ering up of false tracks, so much false pretension to power, and real obedience to suggestion, that the stream of veridicality that runs throughout the whole gets lost as it were in a marsh of feebleness, and the total dramatic effect on the mind may be little more than the word ' Humbug.' The really significant items disappear in the total bulk. ' Passwords,' for example, and Ch. XLIV] James Admits Supernormal Knowledge 735 sealed messages are given in abundance, but can't be found. (I omit these here, as some of them may prove veridical later.) Preposterous Latin sentences are written, e.g., ' Nebus merica este fecrum ' or what reads like that (April 4th, 1906). Poetry gushes out, but how can one be sure that Mrs. Piper never knew it? The weak talk of the Imperator band about time is repro- duced, as where R. H. pretends that he no longer knows what ' seven minutes ' mean (May 14th, 1906). Names asked for can't be given, etc., etc. 1 All this mass of diluting material, which can't be reproduced in abridgment, has its inevitable dramatic effect; and if one tends to hate the whole phenomenon anyhow (as I confess that I myself sometimes do) one's judicial verdict inclines accordingly." " [NOTE. 1 For instance, on July 2nd, the sitter asks R. H. to name some of his cronies at the Tavern Club. Hodgson gives six names, only five of which belonged to the Tavern Club, and those five were known to the controls already. None of them, I believe, were those asked for, namely, ' names of the men he used to play pool with or go swimming with at Nantasket.' Yet, as the sitter (Mr. Dorr) writes, ' He failed to realize his failure.' " I wonder if James would have hated it less if he had thought, in the connection, of what a mass of "humbug" most of the dreams of a lifetime are, and yet of what impor- tance two or three may be! He continues: " Nevertheless, I have to confess also that the more familiar I have become with the records, the less relative significance for my mind has all this diluting material tended to assume. The active cause of the communications is on any hypothesis a will of some kind, be it the will of R. H.'s spirit, of lower supernatu- ral intelligences, or of Mrs. Piper's subliminal ... a will to say something which the machinery fails to bring through. Dra- matically, most of this ' bosh ' is more suggestive to me of dream- iness and mind-wandering than it is of humbug. Why should a ' will to deceive ' prefer to give incorrect names so often, if it can give the true ones to which the incorrect ones so frequently approximate as to suggest that they are meant? True names impress the sitters vastly more. Why should it so multiply false 'passwords' (' Zeivorn,' for example, above [Pr.XXIII,], p. 86) and stick to them ? It looks to me more like aiming at something definite, and failing of the goal. . . . That a ' will to personate ' is a factor in the Piper phenomenon, I fully believe, and I believe with unshakeable firmness that this will is able to draw on supernormal sources of information. It can ' tap,' pos- sibly the sitter's memories, possibly those of distant human be- ings, possibly some cosmic reservoir in which the memories of earth are stored, whether in the shape of ' spirits ' or not " 736 Piper-Hodgson Control in America [Bk. II, Pt. IV But whose will ? and what " reservoir " ? Isn't this a pretty good formula for a soul communicating? The sting of this bee is in the right place : telepathy from sitter, teloteropathy from remote incarnate intelligences, a dramatic secondary self, each fits some cases ; but the Cosmic Eeservoir seems to fit all. James continues (Pr. XXIII, 118) : " Primd facie, and as a matter of ' dramatic ' prob- ability, other intelligences than our own appear on an enor- mous scale in the historic mass of material which Myers first brought together under the title of Automatisms. The re- fusal of modern ' enlightenment ' to treat ' possession ' as a hypothesis to be spoken of as even possible, in spite of the mas- sive human tradition based on concrete experience in its favor, has always seemed to me a curious example of the power of fashion in things scientific " The plot of possibilities thus thickens ; and it thickens still more when we ask how a will which is dormant or relatively dormant during the intervals may become consciously reani- mated as a spirit-personality by the occurrence of the medium's trance." Why dormant ? Can it not be simply " otherwise en- CHAPTEE XLV THE HODGSON CONTROL IN ENGLAND /. The Holland-Hodgson Miss JOHNSON says (Pr. XXI, 303f.) : " In February, 1905 . . . Mrs. Holland found that the auto- matic writing was beginning to make her feel faint or sleepy. The condition was obviated at the time It now began to recur. [This sort of thing is noted in several places as preced- ing the advent of a new, and especially a strong control. H.H.] On Feb. 17th, 1906, she wrote to me : " ' The inclosed writing [that of Feb. 9th quoted below] dates from several days ago. I was able to try it early in the evening for once, and I was anxious to see if the almost stupor which writing has been causing lately was due to late hours and writing in bed. I found that even when I was not tired (and sat in a stiff chair well away from a table, with nothing to support arms or head), a few moments of writing made me feel at once very sleepy and exceedingly loquacious. I fancy that under favorable conditions my automatic writing would change (for a time at any rate) into trance or semi-trance conditions with spoken words instead of written ones. " ' Twice or thrice lately, just before falling asleep at night, I have heard fragments of talk which I know are not actual con- versation, and as I am in my usual excellent health, perfectly free from excitement or brain fag of any kind, I can only ascribe them [and she may well have included the tendency to trance with them. H.H.] to a possible new attempt at communication.' " It will be observed that this condition seems to coincide with the first definite attempt at a communication from a Hodgson control," i.e., through Mrs. Holland. The Piper communications began some six weeks earlier. Mrs. Holland learned of Hodgson's death on January 2, 1906. Her script on Fri- day, February 9, 1906, 9 p. M., is as follows (Pr. XXI, 304) : 737 738 The Hodgson Control in England [Bk. II, Pt. IV " Sjdibse Ipehtp o Only one letter further on 18 8 9 15 3 4 8 7 1 19 18 15 4 14 " They are not haphazard figures read them as letters . . . " K. 57. [a Christian name] Gray paper " The ( ?) straggler [ ?straggles] returns a printed address on the sheet of paper Three small lines of writing a wide margin left I cannot make it clear to you " Concentrate hard. 3 initials. " Nothing else upon the sheet " [NOTE. From ' a printed address ' to this point is no doubt an attempt to describe a supposed letter, the three lines being in the original long and wavy, obviously meant to represent three lines of writing in the letter. The description, however, is very vague, and has not been identified.] "It's a wide prospect from the windows " A gold watch chain with a horse-shoe shaped cigar cutter attached to it An old seal not his own initials A white handled knife inkstained " Nitrate of amyl probably too late even if it had been thought of " A corpse needs no shoes." Miss Johnson continues (Pr. XXI, 304-5) : " On Feb. 21st, 1906, when, as already stated, I saw Mrs. Hol- land, we discussed this script. I found that in spite of the rather obvious hints given in it, ' Only one letter further on y and ' Not haphazard figures read them as letters,' Mrs. Holland had not deciphered the initial conundrums. The first letters are formed from the name ' Richard Hodgson ' by substituting for each letter of the name the letter following it in the alphabet; the numbers represent the same name by substituting for each letter the number of its place in the alphabet. " I asked Mrs. Holland if she had ever played at conundrums of this kind. She told me that as a child in the nursery she had played at a ' secret language ' made by using either the letter before or the letter after the real one. But she had never prac- tised or thought of using numbers in this way. She noted after- wards : ' When my hand wrote them I thought they were an addi- Ch. XLV] The Holland-Hodgson 739 tion sum and hoped [my subliminal] would add it very correctly and quickly. [My supraliminal] is very poor at figures.' As to the rest of the script : Dr. Hodgson died suddenly of heart-disease while playing a game of handball at the Boat Club in Boston, on December 20th, 1905. There was no preliminary illness, as suggested in the script. . . . Mrs. Holland . . . asked me if he had died of heart-disease, as she said she knew nitrate of amyl was given for heart failure, and she suggested this as the interpreta- tion of the words ' Nitrate of amyl probably too late even if it had been thought of.' " The remaining script of this period, Miss Johnson gives as follows : Feb. 28, 1906. (Pr.XXI,305.) " Dickon of Norfolk [This ... is obviously meant for a sort of pun on the name Richard Hodgson. J] is that far enough away from the real name? I'll describe R. H. [initials written in monogram], " A short man but held himself well broad shoulders thick gray white hair thick gray brows very straight A florid face reddish brown (though it was pale enough at the end). Strong chin mobile mouth. " The young wife died so long ago that perhaps some people forget her. [Here follows the same Christian name as that written on Feb. 9th.] " (March 7th, 1906.) " Brittleworth Brickeldale. Britleton No not him and not James Brit Brittle Brick Brickleton Hugo H.M. Minster Berg. Hugo. " Was he not aware ? R. " Why are they so brutally dense. H. " I always had a quick temper." (May 16th, 1906.) " When the deep red blood of the maple leaf Burns on the bough again. " Spring on a Boston hillside. One clump of maples stands alone they are outlined against the sunset and the sunset is no redder than they. R. H." Miss Johnson gives the following elucidations (Pr. XXI, 306-10) : " Mr. Piddington was in Boston, U. S. A., during April and May, 1906, and I sent him a copy of the above pieces of script (except that of May 16th) On May 25th, 1906, he wrote: " ' To represent R. H. as communicating his name to a sensitive by means of numbers representing letters, and especially " s j d i b s e ," etc., is an extremely characteristic touch 740 The Hodgson Control in England [Bk. II, Pi IY " ' I reached R. H.'s old rooms. ... I noticed a dilapidated note- book On the front cover K. H. had written " The Eternal Life." Inside are two loose sheets on which R. H. had made rough notes for an article which he had apparently intended to write in answer to Prof. Miinsterberg's book, The Eternal Life. It is known that R. H. was much incensed by Miinsterberg's book " ' It is at least a curious coincidence that within 1^4 hours of receiving and reading Miss Johnson's copy of Mrs. [Hol- land's] script I should fortuitously come across a memorandum made by Hodgson which shows that he used K. followed by a numeral for some purpose or other " * [Script of Feb. 28th, 1906.] Description not either very good or very bad if applied to R. H. [Good enough, I think. H.H.] " ' [Script of March 7th, 1906.] In view of what has been said above about Prof. Hugo Miinsterberg, the obvious reference to him here is quite appropriate. " Why are they so brutally dense? H. I always had a quick temper." These phrases are very like the "R. H. control" sayings through Mrs. Piper. " ' J. G. PIDDINGTON.' "I sent a copy of these passages in the script later to Pro- fessor James's son, Mr. Henry James, Junr., who had been ap- pointed one of Dr. Hodgson's executors, and he wrote to me : " ' July 29th, 1906. " ' The lines [" a printed address on the sheet of paper, etc." script of Feb. 9th, 1906] suggest this to me, that Hodgson ia struggling to procure the return of letters or papers which he tries to describe. Mr. Piddington will tell you that the Piper control has abounded with this sort of request " ' I know of no place in Boston frequented by Hodgson where there was a wide prospect from the windows, unless possibly the Union Boat Club, where he died. Its windows overlook the Back Bay to some hills beyond " ' He wore a gold watch-chain on which I find that there is a gold cigar-cutter of the ordinary type not at all horse-shoe shaped. I found an old seal, the stone of which was broken, and which had a female figure cut on it. It was not worn at the time of his death " ' [In regard to the script of May 16th, 1906] the foliage of one of our American maples turns a very brilliant red in the autumn, and its minute flowers are a most brilliant red in the spring. The lines might be a quotation from some American poem, or something of Hodgson's own " ' I think that the phrases at the end of March 7th are rather like Hodgson, as Mr. Piddington says; but if one can refine on what is already so refined, they are more like Mrs. Piper's Hodg- son control.' " The description of Dr. Hodgson's personal appearance (given Ch. XLV] Controls Vary with Mediums 741 on Feb. 28th) seems to me characteristic ; but as his portrait hag been published more than once in illustrated magazines, it can- not be evidential. Mrs. Holland believes, however, that she has never seen a portrait of him, and that she had never heard of him till she read Human Personality. " On March 7th, the various attempts made at the name Hugo Miinsterberg are comparable with the feeling after the name Eusapia Palladino referred to above (Pr. XXI,274) ; but whereas in that case there is clearly an effort of memory to recall the name, in this the partial emergence is possibly a telepathic effort; for Mrs. Holland, as she told me later, had never heard of Prof. Miinsterberg " [J.] There is a certain interest in the resemblance between the kinds of remarks made by the Hodgson control through Mrs. Piper and through Mrs. Holland. Mrs. Piper was of course well acquainted with Dr. Hodgson in life, and it was therefore natu- ral that in her trance condition some of his characteristics should come out vividly and indeed in a somewhat accentuated form. But no report of the sittings with her since his death had been published, and there was, so far as I can see, no normal channel through which her trance conception of him could have filtered through to Mrs. Holland. " A similar resemblance was found . . . between the Gurney controls of Mrs. Forbes and of Mrs. Holland. Here again Mr. Gurney in his life-time was known to Mrs. Forbes but unknown to Mrs. Holland. She knew both Mr. Gurney and Dr. Hodgson by name through Human Personality, but there is nothing in that book to suggest in either case the particular characteristics exhibited by these controls in her script. " The Christian name following ' K. 57 ' in the script of Feb. 9th, 1906, and coming at the end of the extract from the script of Feb. 28th, is that of a lady referred to in Dr. Hodgson's report on his sittings with Mrs. Piper in Proceedings, Vol. VIII. Of this lady ' Phinuit ' remarked, ' The second part of her first name is sie.' Dr. Hodgson afterwards told him the full name, but this was not published, the lady being spoken of in the rest of the report as ' Q.' It was the full Christian name which was given by Mrs. Holland, who it is to be remembered had not seen the Proceedings at all. On Feb. 28th the script said, ' The young wife died so long ago that perhaps some people forget her.' ' Q.' died in 1879, but she was, I believe, never married. The name had also occurred in Mrs. Holland's script on Dec. 1st, 1905 (i.e., 19 days before Dr. Hodgson's death) ." This is the one name Hodgson would have been most apt to express. Even Podmore says (New. Spir., 217) : "It seems impossible that Mrs. Holland should have known of it by normal means." 742 The Hodgson Control in England [Bk. II, Pt. IY Is all this a telepathic tapping of Mrs. Piper's mind, or the mind of some other surviving friend of Hodgson, or the minds of several; or Hodgson's surviving mind trying to express itself, or all of them together the Cosmic Mind ? With great reluctance I leave this, to me at least, exceed- ingly interesting account of Mrs. Holland's experiences. We shall see a little more of them under our next topic of Cross- Correspondences, but I strongly recommend the interested reader to make farther acquaintance with them through Pr. Part LV (Vol. XXI). II. The Piper-Hodgson in England We now come to the alleged communications of Hodgson through Mrs. Piper in England. A note regarding them by Mrs. Henry Sidgwick and Mr. Piddington is printed in Pr. XXIII, and in the same volume he appears in a long report regarding several controls, from Sir Oliver Lodge, from which I make a few extracts. At the outset, I want to repeat in connection with these sittings a fact mentioned by Sir Oliver (p. 431), where the sittings were partly anticipated for reasons there given. It is that communicators (?) do better when the medium is among their most recent and most familiar surroundings. For many years before his death, Hodgson was practically an American, and it was not with surprise that I found Mrs. Sidgwick and Mr. Piddington saying (Pr. XXIII, 122f.) : " The Hodgson control appeared frequently at Mrs. Piper's English sittings, but was seldom the most prominent control. In explanation of this he stated that he was engaged in helping Myers and others to communicate, and thought it better to keep himself in the background. On the one hand his style and ex- pressions in communicating resembled those described by Profes- sor James, and were dramatically suitable to Hodgson. . . . On the other hand, the attempts made by Hodgson to recall trivial inci- dents were not convincing, and were, in fact, often wrong " We introduced . . . intimate English friends of Hodgson's . . . nothing that could be regarded as adequate evidence of recogni- tion was said, and there was a great deal of what looked like guessing and fishing, and much said that was inappropriate. A fourth friend of Hodgson's had five sittings under what might be supposed to be very favorable circumstances in the very rooms in which Hodgson had dined with him the last time that they Ch. XLV] Controls Strongest near Home 743 had met in England. Nevertheless there was no good evidence that there were any associations for Hodgson either with the friend or with the room " Contrast this with the control's relations to his American friends. All this seems to me to make strongly for the spiritistic hypothesis. Hodgson's English memories were all behind memories in America which were much more recent, vivid, intimate, emotional, and even affectionate. And yet the following manifestation of the Hodgson con- trol from Sir Oliver Lodge's report (which we will go farther into later), although it indirectly traverses the foregoing statements, is not half bad in itself. In the eighth sitting, says Sir Oliver (Pr. XXIII, 243) : " the following came from Hodgson. " ' I am Hodgson, but I cannot take Rector's place to-day. However I will make a poor attempt to speak through him.' O. J. L. : ' Very glad to see you.' R. H.: ' Here's ditto.' " In my perverted judgment, these two words are among the most evidential things on record so far as I know the record, but the medium may have heard Hodgson use them in life, and so from the scientific point of view they are not evidential at all. But I am not exclusively scientific. Yet they are evidential from my point of view only as parts of the whole mass of dramatic presentation, which to me is the one evidential feature of the whole business. Then the Hodg- son control says: "'Do I understand that Mrs. Piper is in England?'" He was communicating through her at the time! What are the implications ? That his not knowing her was a put-up job, or that the occasional alleged difficulties in recognizing and communicating are genuine? At the thirteenth sitting, on December 3, 1906, the follow- ing occurred (Pr. XXIII, 245f.) : "R. H.: 'Hello, Hello, Lodge. How are you on that side?' O. J. L. : ' Hullo, Hodgson, I want to ask you something.' R. H. : ' Fire away at me, I am in the witness box.' O. J. L. : ' Well, you told me to gire a message to " Billie Newbold." ' R. H. : ' Right.' O. J. L. : ' About the title of a Hindustani poem, but you did not tell me anything in Hindustani. That is, I ex- 744 The Hodgson Control in England [Bk. II, Pi IV pect, what he wanted.' R. H. : ' No, I beg your pardon ; he asked me to translate into English the name of a poem I wrote, now in his possession ' O. J. L. : ' Very well ; and is that all I am to say to him?' R. H. : 'Yes, about that. But you will please tell him that he is not to feel disturbed about that Me- dium's message : it is all rot. He will understand about it ; i.e., his going to the bottom with his wife; i.e., going to the bottom of the sea. U.D. [usual condensation, for U(nderstan)D, either a question or an affirmation. H.H.] . . . Myers has had very little opportunity or encouragement to prove his identity.' O. J. L.: ' Yes, that is fairly true so far.' R. H. : ' And now if the oppor- tunity can be given him, no one on our side is more desirous of proving his identity than Myers. U.D.' O. J. L. : ' Yes, I quite understand. . . .' R. H. : ' We cannot remain here ; our utterances are fragmentary but they are earnest and sincere. This must be the case however until the veil is lifted, with all made clear to you. Your mind cannot help us. If you think of a thing seri- ously it cannot convey anything to us. [Contradicts Foster, and p. 279. H.H.] We go, and may God be with and watch over you always.' "'4- Farewell R.'" This sign of the cross is part of the ceremonies instituted by the Imperator company after they took possession of Mrs. Piper. For the sake of comparing Sir Oliver Lodge's experience with the Hodgson control, with that of Mrs. Sidgwick and Mr. Piddington, I have quoted from advanced portions of Sir Oliver's report. I will now go to the beginning. After reading a large mass of records of sittings, and com- ments on them, I made a memorandum (which has since led to repetitions that I fear have bored you) that the experi- menters and commentators, in their eagerness for what they were pleased to term " evidential " matter, were not making enough of the powerful argument for spiritism presented by the dramatic character of the manifestations the natural- ness and distinct individuality of the "controls." Although this has been mentioned by virtually all the commentators, it was not made prominent before Hodgson in Pr. XIII, and James in Pr. XXIII, and was not brought to the forefront in the Society's Proceedings before Sir Oliver Lodge in the paper we are now considering. He first of anybody rises to the full measure of the occasion. At the outset he says (Pr. XXIII, 128) : Ch. XLV] Limits to Reasonable Preconception 745 " My object in drawing up the following Report is to give a general idea of the dramatic aspect of the Piper phenomena, and of the utterances of some of the ostensible controls. For thia purpose therefore I do not limit myself to the consideration of evidential matter, but regard the non-evidential and the tririal as sometimes equally instructive. I do not propose to argue as to the nature of these same controls, although that constitutes the main problem before us. The time hardly appears ripe for useful discussion of that kind, and I feel myself in agreement with Professor William James when he says " and then he quotes the passage from James quoted by me on p. 529, 1. 7 from bottom: "The facts are evidently," etc. (Cf. ante, pp. 709-10.) Sir Oliver farther says most wisely (Pr. XXIII, 129) : " The contention that a hostile or squeamish attitude should be taken by every unprejudiced investigator is quite absurd; it would only be appropriate to one who so despises and sneers at the whole subject as to refuse an opportunity of learning any- thing about it. Doubtless there are many such people in exist- ence, and with them I have no quarrel ; but they are not asked to read or review these and other such reports." As often intimated already, that attitude at a sitting tends to upset the medium and spoil the game a circumstance legitimately open to suspicion, but thought by many to be now demonstrated beyond it. Sir Oliver says that in the early days of his acquaintance with Mrs. Piper (Pr. XXIII, 131) : " The dramatic activity of the hand was very remarkable : it was full of intelligence, and could be described as more like an intelligent person than a hand. It sometimes turned itself to the sitter, when it wanted to be spoken to by him; but for the most part, when not writing, it turned itself away from the sitter, as if receiving communications from outside, which it then pro- ceeded to write down ; going back to space i.e., directing itself to a part of the room where nobody [incarnate. H.H.] was for further information and supplementary intelligence, as necessity arose " In the old days the control had styled itself ' Phinuit ' ; now Phinuit never appears, and the control calls itself Rector." Sir Oliver (Pr. XXIII, 134) corroborates Hodgson's re- marks at the end of his last report about the beneficial effect on Mrs. Piper and her phenomena produced by the regula- tions imposed by the Imperator regime. 746 The Hodgson Control in England [Bk. II, Ft IV, " If anything went wrong with the breathing, or if there was insufficient air in the room, or if the cushions slipped so as to make the attitude uncomfortable, the hand wrote ' something wrong with the machine,' or ' attend to the light/ or something of that sort " The following illustrates the care taken of the physical con- ditions and the way they are spoken of. It is an extract from a sitting held by Mr. Dorr at Boston in 1906. " (Hector interrupting a ' Hodgson ' communication) ' Friend, you will have to change the conditions a moment.' [At the be- ginning of the sitting only one of the two windows in the room was open a very little way. A few moments previous to this time H. J. Jr. noticing that the room was a little close had opened the other window, and G. B. D. had nearly closed it again.] G. B. D. : ' What is wrong with the conditions ? Do you want more air or less ? ' R. : * Well, there will have to be a change in the surroundings, there will have to be more strength, what is it, air, yes, air. And a good deal more just now. Hodg- son takes a good deal of strength when he comes, but he is all right, he understands the methods of operation very well. (The window was now opened wide.) That is better. Now the light begins to get clear. All right, friend.' " Sir Oliver also says (Pr. XXIII, 138-9) : " In the old days, undoubtedly, the appearance was sometimes as if the actual control was changed after the fashion of a multiple personality; whereas now I think it is nearly always Rector that writes, recording the messages given to him as nearly as he can, and usually reporting the first person, as Phinuit often did. I do not attempt to discriminate between what is given in this way and what is given directly, because it is practically impossible to do so with any certainty. ... If a special agency gets control and writes for a few minutes, it does not seem able to sustain the position long, but soon abandons it to the more accomplished and experienced personality, Rector. In the recent series there appeared very little evidence of direct control other than Rector. [Cf. G. P.'s assertion that they need a medium on that side as we do on this. H.H.] " We shall speak however of the ' Gurney control,' the ' Hodg- son control,' etc., without implying that these agents even as- suming their existence and activity are ever really in physical possession of the organism ; and, even when they are controlling as directly as possible, they may perhaps always be operating telepathically on it rather than telergically operating, that is to say, through some stratum of the mind, rather than directly on any part of the physical organism." Sir Oliver gives (Pr. XXIII, 160-1) "an extract from a Ch. XLV] R. H. Controls only through Rector 747 sitting with Mr. Dorr, who is speaking to the Hodgson con- trol." " G. B. D. : ' I wanted to ask whether you ever controlled the organism of the light yourself, or whether it is wholly done by Rector.' R. H. : ' It is wholly done by Rector and it will con- tinue to be. I shall take no part in that.' G. B. D. : ' Then/ it is he who is speaking ? ' R. H. : ' It is Rector who is speaking and he speaks for me. I have no desire to take Rector's place. I trust him implicitly and absolutely.' G. B. D. : ' And he con- stantly reports for everyone?' R. H. : 'Everyone. [He seems then to report as from dictation in the first person. H.H.] There is no question about that. In the first place he is more compe- tent to do it, he understands the conditions better than any in- dividual spirit; he is fully capable and is under the constant direction of Imperator. When I finished with the conditions in the earthly life I finished with my control over the light.' " That is: he finished with his influence with Mrs. Piper. Sir Oliver remarks: " So it would appear that the changes of control claim to be now usually dramatic rather than real." I am not professing to guide you through these intricacies to any definite and necessary conclusions, but merely to give you as good an outline of the intricacies as I can, with candid statements, for what they may be worth, of such suggestions often contradictory as the evidence brings to me. One such statement is that the intelligent and initiative action of Rec- tor, as intermediary and amanuensis, seems absolutely at vari- ance with my impression that he and his companions are mere figments of the dreams of Stainton Moses and Mrs. Piper, eked out perhaps with impressions from sitters. This harks back to the half-crazy question I have already raised : whether a genius can generate a working psychic personality. There may be something in it. While we wait to see, our only course seems to be to leave this part of the puzzle in suspense, and continue trying to correlate such other parts as seem to admit of correlation. We can hardly hope soon to reach any sys- tematic grouping that will include all the pieces. We will be fortunate when we reach a grouping so comprehensive as to encourage the expectation that farther knowledge will soon enable us to fit in the remaining pieces, until we have a con- gruous and significant whole. 748 The Hodgson Control in England [Bk. II, Pi IV From these accounts of the Hodgson control we pass, in defiance of chronology, to a series of sittings of which the earlier occurred just before his death, and were conducted by him ; and similar disregard of chronology will be necessary in presenting other series. It will be a less evil, however, than would have been the splitting of each of these series, and the fitting of their fragments into a jumble whose only unity would have been sequence in time. CHAPTER XLVI THE ISAAC THOMPSON SERIES IN 1906 WE now come again to the Thompson family, whom we met in Chapter XXX as having sittings in 1889. This family has no connection whatever with Mrs. Thompson the medium. Sir Oliver Lodge says (Pr. XXIII, 163) : " In 1906, when the recent series of sittings was held, one of the three daughters, who in 1889 were children, was married, and the son engaged ; . . . the grandmother, alive in 1889, was now dead ; and I regret to say that Isaac Thompson himself had sud- denly died of an apoplectic seizure in his own house on the 6th November, 1903. " The interest of the family at the present time therefore lay in receiving communications if possible from him." Some two years after his death, his son Edwin, happening to be in America, had a sitting on December 11, 1905, with Mrs. Piper, in which the father ostensibly appeared, and, Sir Oliver says, " seemed to wonder how his son had ' managed to find him* [in America]. It was, however, a bad sitting and evidentially blank." It does not seem so to my lay mind, in view of the first sentence quoted. Mr. Edwin Thompson's lay mind seems to have been affected in the same way: for Sir Oliver continues (Pr. XXIII, 163-4) : " Undoubtedly there ought to have been another sitting with- out delay, to clear up this unsatisfactory interview . . . though I believe that Mr. E. Thompson is on the whole more satisfied with it than these remarks of mine would suggest; but un- fortunately he had to return to England immediately, and at the next sitting he was not present. From some points of view however unfortunate it undoubtedly was this absence of any connecting link at ensuing sittings held by R. Hodgson or others in America may be held to strengthen the evidence, provided anything further was obtained as it was; since now the facts could hardly be supposed to be obtained from the sitter; Amer- ican strangers naturally knowing nothing about the family, and Dr. Hodgson being a complete stranger to them all, except E. T., whose slight acquaintance he had only just made." 749 750 The Isaac Thompson Series in 1906 [Bk. II, Pt. IY On December 12th, the day after Edwin Thompson's sit- ting, a sitter who did not know him received through Rector a message for him from George Pelham regarding E. T.'s father. The next day, at a Hodgson sitting with Mrs. Piper in America, occurred the following (Pr. XXIII, 164f.) : " [Rector] : ' Didst thou receive the message from George ? ' R. H. : ' Yes, last night, thank you.' [R.] : ' Have you the in- fluences of the young man's [Edwin Thompson's. H.H.] father? ' R. H. : (' No.') R. : 'It seems almost an injustice to us not to have met him once more, as it would be a great help to the com- municator himself and all on our side.' R. H. : ' I have explained all to him, and he will send me some articles of his father after he returns to England. He had no more time here, and is already on his way back: He had no opportunity before leaving home, to know what he ought to do.' R. : ' We U.D. and since the spirit is now waiting with our good and faithful co-worker George we shall after preliminary matters are cleared up listen to what he hath to say.' R. H. : 'I shall be glad.' R. : ' That young man [Edwin Thompson. H.H.] hath some significant light himself.' (Scrawls were now made, ending ' help me.') R. H. : ' Kindly tell me anything you wish.' " [Isaac Thompson begins. H.H.] ' I hold this bottle in my hand for identification Bottle ... in my hand.' R. H. : ' Yes ? ' T. : ' I had much to do with them when in your world.' R. H. : ' Who are you ? ' T. : ' I used to be address [sic] Dr. I got.' [He had medical ambitions, and was partner in Thomp- son & Capper [drug dealers. H.H.J. O.J.L.] " Isn't this immensely funny and immensely pathetic ? Draw the picture (there is no use in reading these things without imagination) the old man "with medical ambitions," slightly bent, venerable and benign, but curious and mistrust- ful of his reception; then give him his spectacles and his " bottle for identification." Nothing " evidential " about it ? As you please. As I please, until you put Mrs. Piper among the greatest of dramatists, that bottle belongs, with Hodg- son's " Here's ditto," among the most " evidential " things in the record evidential, that is, of something outside of Mrs. Piper and any other person whom we call living. But to return to the sitting (p. 165f.) : " (G. P. communicating.) ' He is trying very hard, let him dream it out H and he will be all right. If he says anything clearly, congratulate him help him by words of encouragement only, remember he has nothing or no one except yourself to attract him here.' R. H. : ' Yes. Is he the young man's father ? ' Ch. XL VI] Hodgson Living, with Thompsons 751 G. P. : ' he is surely. Agnes is his daughter.' R. H. : ' Yes ? ' G. P. : ' So he tells me.' R. H. : ' Shall I talk to him? ' G. P. : ' Just encourage him a little by telling him who you are etc. what your object is etc. It will help him greatly.' R. H. : 'I will explain in answer to your inquiry who I am, that I am an old friend of Professor Lodge.' T. : ' L o D G E.' R. H. : ' Yes.' T. : ' What my old neighbor in Liv. (Excitement in hand which cramps and twists about.) 'calm friend (Between sp[irits? H.H.]) Li ... (Excitement stops the writing again.) Drugs ... Do not go. Wait for me. LIVERSTOOL.' R. H. : ' Liver- pool, you mean.' T. : ' I say so. I say so I say so I say so I say so [sic.] . . .' R. H. : ' Yes I understand.' T. : ' I say so. Liverstool ' [Livestool ?] R. H. : ' Liver-pool. POOL. R ' [B= Rector.] T. : ' I live I live I had three daughters one son [true] (scrawls over sheet) ... I want to help them all all all. God help me to help them to understand that I am alive.' R. H. : 'Yes?' T. : 'I am confused [confussed] No doubt but I will be better soon it is so hard to understand. You look so heavy, a black cloud comes over you and I can scarcely see you. Do you know me ? ' R. H. : ' I do not know you personally, but I now know your son who came with me. Did you not see the lady in England with Professor Lodge through whom you are now com- municating ? I mean the light ? ' T. : ' Oh I cannot tell you yet wait until I find my way about.' R. H. : ' Don't . . .' T. : ' Tell me all about yourself first. I want to get acquainted with you.' R. H. : ' Yes I will. Kindly listen.' T. : ' I'll do my best, because I want to reach my family, very very much.' R. H. : ' I am interested in psychical work and sent Mrs. Piper many years ago to England, don't you remember seeing Mrs. Piper ? ' [At the sittings in 1889. H.H.] T. : ' Piper? ' R. H. : ' Yes, and the . . .' (Perturbation in hand.) T. : ' Oh yes I remember Piper. Was Mrs. Piper a Medium, an American lady ? ' R. H. : ' Yes.' T. : ' Oh yes Oh yes I do I do, but I'll find her out and come to you if it is a possible thing. What is your name ? ' R. H. : ' My name is Hodgson, Richard Hodgson.' T. : ' Can't you spell it for me?' R. H.: ' Hodgson.' T. :' Oh he is telling me thank you grettly.' " Sir Oliver explains this remarkable bit of drama all " put up," of course, and on the spur of the moment! (p. 171) : " Whereas the Thompson control had been trying to under- stand with difficulty what Dr. Hodgson was saying, he was now being told on his own side by G. P., whom he thanks all this by-play being, now as often, automatically recorded by the writ- ing hand." The record continues (p. 167f.) : " T. : ' Let me think. I am so anxious to TT.D. all about this then I can talk with you.' R. H. : ' Well, now, Mr ' T. : 752 The Isaac Thompson Series in 1906 [Bk. II, Pt. IV 'Where are we? I left my body some time ago. Where are you ? ' R. H. : ' This is America where I am now.' T. : ' Amer- ica?' [Note that the distance is no apparent obstacle to the control reaching the medium. H.H.] R. H. : ' Yes.' T. : ' Well well that is very interesting to me. You are in the body ? ' K. H.: 'Yes I am.' T.: 'Well, happy?' R. H.: 'Yes, both, thank you.' T. : ' Splendid I begin to U.D.' R. H. : ' Well now I will tell you more about myself and Lodge.' T. : ' My wife is better thank you I am watching over them, but my business will be better in time. I am trying to take care of it for the children. ... I had a business called . . . sounds like DRUGS. I am helping all I can [this was evidently Rector.] (Hand to Sp. 1.) he must rest -f- ' [meaning Imperator.] R. H. : ' I shall be so pleased for you to come again and send any messages you wish to your family.' ' he will return in a moment friend but I command him to go for a moment. -f- R. (Thump of hand.) Mrs. . . . kindly Your friend George is the very best helper we have.' R. H. : 'I am very grateful to him.' [Rector inquires. H.H.] 'Did his spirit seem any clearer? R.' R. H.: 'Yes I should judge that he will probably be a very clear communicator shortly.' R. : ' talk with him in general when he comes whether he gives you a chance or not. . . . chance or not ... he is very earnest but he does not U.D. yet our methods.' R. H. : ' No/ R. : ' I say I shall return and help you. was very glad I came.' R. H. : ' Thank you very much.' T. : * I could not U.D. while you [Rector?] were here but I could see him after you left. T ' R. H. : ' I understand.' " (During the waking stage Mrs. Piper said) '. . . Thompson [sic.] . . . with you all.' [This was the first time the name had been mentioned.] ' Before I let you go [apparently to Rector or George. H.H.] . . . you must take this over to Mr. Hodgson. Tell him . . .' R. H. : ' " Tell him " ? ' T. : ' Tell Mrs. Thompson I'm very glad to be here. It is better so. I am grateful for all God has done to help me. . . . the truth will find its way. Farewell, fare thee well . . . peace . . .' [Remember, the Thompsons were Quakers. H.H.] (Pause.) [Mrs. P.] : ' There was two gentle- men resembling each other. One was George, the other was an- other man looked something like him ' " [L.] The excitement which the hand displays, as here at the mention of Lodge and Liverpool, is characteristic. On such oc- casions it twists and squirms about and frequently breaks the point of the pencil by pressure against the paper. It is as if the nerves conveyed too strong a stimulus to the muscles, so that until the excitement abates no writing can go on The things said are all true and appropriate. . . . When it is remembered that the whole thing is being obtained through Mrs. Piper's body, the curiosity of the position is obvious " The way in which he receives the information that Hodgson is in America, where in 1884 Isaac Thompson [the control] Ch. XLVI] 'At a Piddington Sitting 753 had been with me [Sir Oliver. H.H.] alone for nine weeks, is also very natural; and his inquiry as to whether Hodgson is a living person or not is curious " Sir Oliver also gives the following (Pr. XXIII, 171f.) : " A record has been sent me by Mr. Piddington of an incident which was unexpectedly interpolated in a sitting of his during a risit to America in the spring of 1906 Mr. Piddington was ignorant of and not interested in the Thompson family. The following is the relevant extract: " Portion of a Sitting held ~by J. 0. P. with Mrs. Piper in Boston on 23 May, 1906. u [Rector] : '. . . We have a message to give you from a spirit whom we call Thompson. He wishes to send his love to his wife and children and says he is anxious to meet Teddy again.' [Not Mr. Roosevelt, but Mr. Thompson's son. H.H.] J. G. P. : ' Yes, I will give that message to Ted.' T. : [Perhaps through Rector. H.H.] ' Tell him not to feel anxious about the business as I am helping him constantly. (Hand seemed to listen and then wrote) I was sorry about Theo's headaches but I know [she] will be better now. ( J. G. P. read ' Ted's ' instead of ' Theo's.') Not Ted's. Listen. Theodore's. Theo.'s (read) Yes, correct. Oh my, I hardly realized I could speak so well.' J. G. P. : ' Was that the spirit Thompson who said that ? ' T. : ' It was I myself. I hare been waiting this opportunity a very long time.' " Despite what was said a little way back about Rector doing all the talking, some of the rest seem to get in very well. It's another of the puzzles about the Imperator gang. Sir Oliver next passes to the sittings in England, in No- vember, 1906, when Mrs. Piper was brought over by the S. P. R. He says (Pr. XXIII, 174) : " The getting into communication at a strange house in America was evidently difficult and tiresome as the first [omitted] sitting, held on 11 Dec. 1905, shows : but here in Isaac Thompson's own home, so to speak, and with his own family, recognition is easy enough, though even there, after the interval, not quite sudden. The change of locality seems a barely recognized incident, he continues at first to talk to his son much as he had tried to do before ; but the excitement, when at a certain stage in the sitting the widow let her presence be known and her voice heard, was very great and remarkable." Sitting No. 1, Liverpool, November 10, 1906. (Pr.XXIII,l75f.) "Present: Mrs. Isaac (Susan) Thompson, Edwin Thompson, and sister, with O. J. L. recording. 754 The Isaac Thompson Series in 1906 [Bk. II, Pt. IV " ' -f HAIL.' (Hand raised. Cross in air.) 0. J. L. : ' Hail, Imperator ! ' Sir Oliver seems to have caught it too ! " ' We return to earth once more this day with peace and love -f- R.' [The written signs of Imperator and Rector. H.H.] R. : ' A spirit is present whom we have seen before, he is implor- ing us to let him speak.' O. J. L.: 'Yes we wish to speak to him.' R. : ' We understand you very well, friend, and you are understanding me also.' [Then came the change of control, either real or simulated, and O. J. L. gives place to E. T. as sitter.] (Excitement in hand, many scrawls.) L T. : ' I am so very glad to return again. I have longed to speak once more.' E. T. : ' Have you ever communicated with me before through this medium ? ' I. T. : ' Are you by any possibility my son ? ' E. T. : ' Yes, have you spoken to me before ? ' I. T. : ' Oh yes, do you not remember how difficult it was for me to reach you under those new and strange conditions? [In America. H.H.] I am so delighted to see you again. I cannot think fast enough. God bless you my boy. I have been helping you and Theodo ' E. T. : 'Can you give your name?' 'What name? R.' [Rector writes. H.H.] E. T. : ' I do not know who it is yet.' ' Neither do I. R. Theoder. THE' E. T. : ' Oh, you mean Theodora.' I. T. : ' All the time I am helping her.' [Now Rector apparently re- ports what I. T. says. H.H.] E. T. : ' Do you remember speaking to me before ? ' I. T. : ' God bless you. Not long ago, but it was not here. ... I am your father, I am, and I sent several messages to you through a friend who came with you, and who is now on our side. [This of course refers to Dr. Hodgson.] Do you understand, my son?... How is' it you do not speak?' E. T. : ' Can you give any message that I can tell mother ? ' " [O. J. L.] The trance personalities appear to be ignorant of, or to be groping after, a number of things that Mrs. Piper knows quite well, and, on the other hand, to attain knowledge of which she is ... entirely ignorant " I. T. : ' Tell her I am sorry I did not understand about com- ing here. Had I, I should have arranged things differently for her. Take good care of her will you ? ' E. T. : ' She is here, would you like to speak with her ? ' L T. : ' Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes. Why did you not tell me before ? ' Mrs. T. : ' Do you see me ? ' I. T. : ' I hear her speak. (Excitement. Breaks pencil.) Isa ' Mrs. T. : Do you see me? ' I. T. : ' I do, I do, I do, I do. Isaac.' Mrs. T. : ' Can you call me by my name ? ' I. T. : ' S s s A. Let me free my mind and tell you how I feel. I am not dead now, but I am speaking with you. Isauc. [Sic. H.H.] I am he. Do you remember Issa. Issa. Susa. Susa.' Mrs. T. : ' Can you help me about Theodora?' [Their daughter was not well. H.H.] I. T. : ' Yes I can now, but I did not before. Dear, are Ch. XLVI] The Family Sitting 755 you tired ? Are you tired and discouraged at times ? ' Mrs. T. : ' Yes, Isaac, since you went.' I. T. : ' Better I came. Think it so. Can't you see me ? ' Mrs. T. : ' No, I cannot.' I. T. : ' Susar Susan Susu Susin ' (Excitement, scrawls.) Mrs. T. : ' Shall Theodora come in ? Would you like to see her ? ' I. T. : ' Yes, more than you think.' Mrs. T. : ' Here is Theodora.' I. T. : ' She is going to get well and get stronger and better than ever before in all her life. She has light, she has light, but do not use it. It isn't good for her.' Mrs. T. : ' You mean she could write automatically, but is not to try ! ' I. T. : ' Correct. Do not let her do so, I beg of you. Father. Papa. [Last two words as signatures. H.H.] I wish you to get all good out of that life : that let me desire for you. [ ?] Dear Theo, you have a claim to health it is your right.' T. T. : ' Can you tell me anything I should do to get strong?' I. T.: 'Yes, Til ask the Doctor, I'll call the Doctor. (Change of control.) Come here.' (Then the control calling itself ' Doctor ' [presumably not Phinuit, but one of the Imperator group. H.H.] entered into long medical details and precepts.) " [L.] Then the Isaac Thompson control returned and talked of business matters with his son, and was much interested to hear about the result of a lawsuit, begun before he died The anxiety to be told about it a matter which had weighed on his mind and caused him a good deal of worry just at the end of his life seemed quite genuine. " I. T. : ' Good for you. [ ?] I shall be happier to understand. I tried to tell that man who helped me reach you in America, and who is now with me.' [Hodgson had " passed over " about a year before. H.H.] E. T. : ' Who is that ? ' I. T. : His name is Hodgson.' E. T. : * Oh yes, Dr. Hodgson. I understand.' I. T. ; ' And he is helping me now. . . .' E. T. : ' Would you like to speak to Agnes ? ' L T. : ' I should, I should, I should.' [Agnes is the married daughter, living in another town. O.J.L.] E. T. : ' Shall she come to-morrow or next day ? ' I. T. : ' I do not under- stand. Ask Rector You are all talking at once, and I do not understand you.' [Is this telepathy? H.H.] O. J. L. : ' Shall we all go out of the room except one ? ' I. T. : ' No, stop talking. What is that fellow doing? (An organ-grinder was playing out- side in the street, and the sound coming in through the open window evidently introduced confusion. This must have been what was spoken of as ' all talking at once.') What are you do- ing? Stop it, stop it. Rector.' O. J. L. : ' We have sent out to stop it.' I. T. : ' What is he talking about ? ' O. J. L. : ' It was a man outside, we have sent out to stop the noise.' I. T. : ' Oh I understand ' E. T. : ' Has my father gone away now ? ' R. : 1 He is here, but he is getting weak.' I. T. : ' Good-by for the present, I will speak again. Good-by children, I will speak again. Darling S. Are you getting on well without me? I am looking after you, and when you think of me I am nearest 756 The Isaac Thompson Series in 1906 [Bk. II, Pt. IV. you. You are a part of me always. I am a part of you always, a part of you always. Nearest you dear.' " [L.] In continuation of what I have said above (Pr.XXIII, 177) about the normal knowledge of Mrs. Piper having little or no influence on the knowledge shown by the controls, the instance of the surprise and eagerness shown by the Isaac Thompson con- trol when told that Mrs. Isaac Thompson was present is a case in point. For of course Mrs. Piper had known perfectly well the people likely to be present at the sitting. . . . Although . . . we can- not claim anything as evidential when it comes out in the trance if it had ever been known to Mrs. Piper, I myself am unable to trace much, if any, connection between the trance knowledge and her normal knowledge. [Both seem mixed as in other dreams. H.H.] For instance, a sitter introduced by name is no more likely to have his name mentioned during a sitting than one who is introduced as an anonymous stranger " Sitting No. 2, Liverpool, November 11, 1906. (Pr.XXIH,184f.) " O. J. L. again present. " I. T. : ' May I speak to my wife alone ? ' (All go out but Mrs. T.) Mrs. T. : ' Do you see me Isaac ? ' I. T. : ' Yes I do see you dear, and I love you dearly. I see it clearly. I know you are, dear, and when you think of me I know it ' " She was called by the right abbreviation of her Christian name which he always used In a previous set the ' Uncle Edwin ' called her by another abbreviation which was the ap- propriate one also in his case. . . . He called Ted as usual, but . . . not ... by a childish nickname which was asked for and not given " While coming out of trance Mrs. Piper spoke : '. . . I saw you before. It is fearful. [This means that she dislikes chang- ing from her trance state and coming back to ordinary surround- ings.] They are going away. It's awful. Too bad. Snap. [This refers to a sensation which she calls a snap in the head, which nearly always precedes a return to consciousness. Some- times it heralds almost a sudden return ; and she is always more conscious after a snap than she was before; but often it takes two snaps to bring her completely to. What the snap is I do not know, but I expect it is something physiological. It is not audi- ble to others, though Mrs. Piper half seems to expect it to be so.] ... I saw a man in the light, which looked like Mr. Thompson. Kept waving his hand. The man with the cross was helping him out. [' The man with the cross ' is intended to signify Im- perator.] ... I came in on a cord, a silver cord. [In all sorts of trance dreams there are notions of the separated soul being con- nected with its body by a cord, apparently at the umbilicus. H.H.] Miss Thompson. [Recognizing her. H.H.] I thought you were small. Looking through opera glasses at wrong end. You grew larger. Did you hear my head snap ? It breaks. I Ch. XLVI] 'Seven Months Later 757 forgot where we were sitting. Why Mrs. Thompson, I didn't know you were there. My cold.' " Here is part of a letter from Edwin Thompson about sitting No. 3 (Pr. XXIII, 187) : " Mother asked if he recognized the room, and you will see the answer is correct (the hand looked round for some time) : and then when we said Good-by, he said he never did like Good- by; which is perfectly true, although at the time, when we said it, we did not think of it." Sitting No. 17, Liverpool July 3rd, 1907. (Pr.XXIII,191f.) [Over seven months after next previous Thompson sitting. H.H.] " I. T. : ' Good morning my boy, I am glad to see you again; did you and mother receive my message? you and mother.' E. T. : ' Yes, we did.' I. T. : ' I want to tell you that I have a new friend here whom I was very glad to meet. Chas. [Rector? H.H.] He says Chas. Chas Chare Charl' E. T.: ' We do understand, but can you spell that word correctly ? I'll ask your father. R.' [Thereby indicating that Rector is really conveying the messages. O.J.L.] I. T. : ' Yes. CHARES CHARES CHARLES [Charles E. Stevens, brother of Mrs. T., died on 22 May, 1907.] [Some six weeks before sitting. H.H.] sends love to M.' [Probably Mary his sister.] E. T.: 'Is that M.?' C. E. S.: 'Yes. I didn't realize I was com- ing over. [He died suddenly from apoplexy.] Oh dear. I am so glad to understand it now 1 want you to look up a picture I ordered before I left, and it never came.' E. T. : ' Can you tell us from whom you ordered it ? ' C. E. S. : ' That would be difficult to get through to thee [He was a Quaker. H.H.], but I ordered it from a friend of mine, who used to take my orders, and get them for me ' Mrs. T. : ' Yes, Charlie, the picture did come after you left, and Mary sent the bill of it to Mr. Alsop to pay.' [E. T. did not know anything about this.] C. E. S. : ' Oh I am so glad to understand.' Mrs. T. : '. . . Is there any other message thou would like to give about anything ? ' (Then again he refers to his sister.) '. . .She will come over to me some time but before she comes I want you all to look after her.' Mrs. T. : ' But you have no reason to think that she will join you shortly?' C. E. S. : 'I have reason for asking you to take good care of her. Ted, is this you?' E. T. : 'Yes, it is, Uncle Charlie.' C. E. S. : ' I am glad to see you.' " (Then he gives his nephew business advice and again refers to family matters, mentioning names quite familiarly and cor- rectly, though some of them were also mentioned by the sitters, in a fairly natural conversational way on both sides, . . . Then 4 Charles ' disappeared, and his brother-in-law, ' Isaac Thompson,' 758 The Isaac Thompson Series in 1906 [Bk. II, Pt. IV once more sent messages and advice about business showing rather detailed knowledge on some points. Then he addressed Mrs. Thompson again : ) ' Oh dear Sue, did you understand my message ? ' Mrs. T. : ' Do you mean the message that came through Sir Oliver?' I. T.: 'Yes I do.' Mrs. T. :' Yes I did get it. Did you see Charlie when he went over?' I. T. : 'Oh yes, I was by his side and helped him to find his way Theo- dora dear are you better. (Theodora had just come into the room.) I say you. R. Because I understand it better. Rector. He says Thee, but I say you. I understand it better. [The Thompsons, it will be remembered, were Quakers. H.H.] . . . Dearest, you feel troubled don't you? Well I do not wish you to.' Mrs. T. : ' I can't help it Isaac.' I. T. : ' But don't, if you only won't I know dear Sue everything is all right. (E. T. indicates that time is up.) Yes but let me say one word more; may I not ? ' E. T. : ' Yes, but we have only one more minute.' I. T. : ' Sue dear, feel that all is going to be right, and it will be, and we shall meet again.' [What follows shows that he means through the medium. H.H.] Mrs. T. : ' Yes, that is what I am looking forward to.' I. T. : 'I too, when it is right. I shall be so glad. That is what light is for. Good-by. Ted my boy I am not over- looking you at all, my love and all my help for you ; father.' " ' -f- we cease now, and may the blessings of God rest on you. " ' + Farewell (R.) ' 3 The Last of Phinuit And now we come to the very last of that "preposterous scoundrel/' "monumental liar," etc., etc., dear old Phinuit. We saw the fell designs upon him of the Imperator gang in Chapter XXXVI. Sir Oliver Lodge says of the llth sitting in this series, in 1907 (Pr. XXIII, 280-1) : u [O. J. L.] It was of some interest to me to see what the Controls of recent times had to say about the ancient Control calling itself Phinuit ; and accordingly I asked questions ... of which the record stands as follows: "O. J. L. : 'May I ask a question? Does "Phinuit" mean anything to you ? ' [Apparently Rector : see below. H.H.] ' You mean Dr. Phinuit. Oh yes, we see him occasionally, friend; he is in another sphere of this life, no longer earth-bound, and he is very well and very happy.' O. J. L. : ' He was a friend of mine.' [By this I meant that during the old Piper sittings I was on friendly and even affectionate terms with this curious and not universally appreciated impersonator.] R. : ' Could you by any possibility be the friend on earth whom he called " Cap- tain"?' O. J. L. : 'Yes indeed, that is me.' (Excitement in hand.) R. : 'Would you like to see and speak with him?' O. J. L. : 'I should if it did him no harm.' R. : ' Oh no harm in Ch. XLVI] The Last of Phinuit 759 the least; he is beyond harm, friend; he has so progressed. He will no doubt be glad to return. We will speak with him and report his doings. This also.' O. J. L. : ' Will you give him my love ? ' R. : ' I will give him your love certainly with great pleasure. He is a much better spirit than he was thought to have been. He fell in with the wrong element to begin with. UJX Wrong i.e., on the earthly side. I will see him and report at our next meeting. R.' " And at the next sitting at which I was present the following came: R. : 'We found Phinuit, and gave him your message. He sends his love in return and says if you would like to speak with him, really, he would endeavor to return to you through the light at our next meeting; and he says he remembers you and your companion with deepest affection and appreciation of his anxious efforts to tell of our world and its inhab- itants ' O. J. L.: 'Well, I do not know that it would be good for the machine to ask him to return; moreover I am not sure that we shall have another sitting here.' R. : ' You must speak to-j- [Imperator. H.H.] about his returning next time through the voice, which he would be glad to do himself. U.D. R.' O. J. L. : ' Please thank him, but I do not know that there is any object in getting him to speak.' R. : ' Oh yes. Well friend, we were about to say that he, Dr. Phinuit is not in the least anxious to return to earth again, as he had quite enough while he was there.' O. J. L. : ' Very well then, please remember me to him kindly.' R. : ' Yes, we certainly will do so.' " I don't know whether it was wise thus to discourage a tem- porary return of Phinuit. The fact is, I felt it to be rather too much of a responsibility to interfere with the conditions of con- trol; especially as the entry of Phinuit, in past times, had been usually accompanied with contortions and some slight apparent discomfort. The oncoming of the trance is now-a-days so placid that I thought it best to leave well alone; but I confess that it would have been interesting to see whether the Phinuit person- ality would have reappeared, with all its original peculiarities unchanged." These sittings have inspired Sir Oliver with some remarks on the apparently petty and decidedly secular interests mani- fested by the controls, which specially deserve quotation (Pr. XXIII, 196-8) : " Scattered through all the sittings are innumerable instances of this sort of curious memory of and interest in trifles . . . such references are the commonest of all Granted the most completely spiritistic hypothesis, it would appear that the state after death is not a sudden plunge into a stately, dignified, and specially religious atmosphere. The environment, like the char- acter, appears to be much more like what it is here than some 760 The Isaac Thompson Series in 1906 [Bk. II, Pt. IV folk imagine A few of the controls, when recently deceased (a pious old lady in particular is in my mind), have said that the surroundings were more ' secular ' than they expected ; they have indeed expressed themselves as if a little disappointed, though they nearly always say that the surroundings are better than they are here. Anyhow, there appears to be no violent or sudden change of nature; and so anyone who has cared for trinkets may perhaps after a fashion care for them still. " But there must be more than that even. Objects appear to serve as attractive influences, or nuclei, from which information may be clairvoyantly gained No one expects people to be wholly indifferent as to the posthumous disposal of their prop- erty Very well, on what scale shall we estimate property, and how shall we measure its value? It is conceivable that, seen from another side, little personal relics may awaken memories more poignant than those associated with barely recollected stocks and shares " However that may be, it is clear that the various Piper con- trols do not estimate the importance of property by any standard dependent on pounds sterling. As a variant on old lockets, old letters, and other rubbish, in which Phinuit seemed to take some interest, I once gave him a five-pound note. It was amusing to see how at first he tried to read it in his usual way by applying it to the top of the medium's head ; and then on realizing the sort of thing it was, how he crumpled it up and flung it into a corner with a grunt, holding out his hand for something of in- terest. Needless to say, I did not share in this estimate of value, and, after the sitting, was careful to rescue the despised piece of paper from its perilous position." Sir Oliver devotes a chapter in his report in Vol. XXIII to messages from the Myers control, with a little dash of Hodgson, received by him through Mrs. Piper. They corre- spond in general character with the Myers messages through other mediums, except in the point of scholarship heretofore noted regarding the Myers control; but they do not add enough to what we already have, and are to have, to justify giving them any of our limited space. He closes the report with his reasons for accepting the spiritistic hypothesis, mainly to the same effect as Hodgson's already given that no other hypothesis fits the facts, and that the spiritistic one does. CHAPTEE XLVII CROSS-CORRESPONDENCES AT the cost of considerable independence of chronology, we now approach the very instructive and tedious subject of Cross-Correspondences, which has lately attracted more atten- tion from the S. P. R. than any other topic. If Mrs. Verrall in London and Mrs. Holland in India both, at about the same time, write heteromatically about a subject that they both understand, that is probably coincidence ; but if both write about it when but one of them understands it, that is probably teloteropathy; and if both write about it when neither understands it, and each of their respective writings is apparently nonsense, but both make sense when put together, the only obvious hypothesis is that both were inspired by a third mind. The term Cross-Correspondence has been reserved for such a phenomenon, and there are so many of them, and of such quality, as apparently to eliminate much probability of their being mere coincidence or telo- teropathy between the writers. Yet, as with nearly everything else, it is hard to tell where one thing ends and the next begins what is teloteropathy between the heteromatists, and what the apparent interven- tion of the outside intelligence. In the border region was a feature of my Piper sitting (Chapter XXVIII). Out of a perfectly clear sky came to me in New York on April 28, 1894, the message from G. P., to look out for A, who was low in his mind, and that B. was trying to get a place for him. On May 29th, Hodgson writes me, showing that the same thing had come up through the heteromatic writing of A.'s wife at Granada in Cpain, and meant nothing to her or to A. "Dear Holt: " You may be interested in the inclosed. Keep private. [This injunction is of course outlawed by time, but I still conceal the names of the parties. H.H.] and please return. I am writing 761 762 'Cross-Correspondences [Bk. II, Ft. IV from my den, and haven't copy of your sitting at hand. But I remember that something was said at your sitting re B. and A." (Copy of Enclosure.) " Dear H.[odgson] : " GRANADA, May 6, 1894. " Those suggestions from Geo. that I write to B. prove inter- esting in the light of what I first learned here : that he had been lamenting my silence and had been urging me to a place at Yale where he is. I had no notion of this move on his part till four days ago when I received a letter telling me. Of course nothing came of it, but anything less known than that cannot be imagined. The message came once earlier thro' [his wife. H.H.], to whom George wrote it [heteromatically. H.H.]. George never heard of B. nor saw him, nor did we ever speak of B. to Geo. or Phinuit. I wrote about this to Professor Sidgwick (who had written me a letter, forwarded hither, apropos of a line I wrote to Journal abt. Bashworth's letter). Of course I don'i want mention made of the effort of B. to get me the Yale place. What Geo. said was to write to B. ; he is a good friend of yours [i.e., the writer, A. H.H.]. " All send kind messages. Yrs. ever, " A ." Being intensely busy, and not as much interested in the matter as later experiences have made me, I did not at the moment catch the full purport of Hodgson's letter, or write him till June 5th, and did not keep any copy that I can find of my letter. He wrote me on the 8th : " Dear Holt : " Thanks for yours of June 5th, with return of A.'s letter. I knew nothing whatever of the circumstances connected with B., neither, so far as I can tell by cross-questioning, did Mrs. Piper." And I, the present scribe, certainly did not. A. did not. B. alone did, with whatever persons he may have approached on the matter, and Mrs. Piper had presumably never seen one of the group. So where did Mrs. Piper and Mrs. A. get it? Either they got it teloteropathically from one of those persons, or George Pelham himself told me of it through her organism in New York, and four days later was working it into a cross-correspondence through Mrs. A. in Spain. At first blush the former seems easier; and I am not sure but that it does on reflection. So I wrote a year or more before I revised these proofs. I don't think so now my judgment is about balanced. Hodgson's letter continues: Ch. XLYII] From the 'Author's Experience 763 " I never knew of any B. connected with Yale. When B. was first mentioned at the sitting, I had a vague notion that some B. or other had gone to England or France as United States consul. I also knew the name of B. [a celebrated author. H.H.], and met her after she became Mrs. C. two or three years ago. " On questioning Mrs. Piper, which I did by referring to books first, I found that she remembered the name of B. i when I mentioned it, and connected it in some way with [a certain book. H.H.], which was widely circulated some years ago. This was the only B. that she seemed to know anything about " Yours sincerely, (Signed) " R. HODGSON." This was a very simple cross-correspondence, and has the strength proper to simplicity. There are many famous ones famous in a small circle, if that's not too Hibernian which are not so simple, which in fact are so complex as to make the analysis of them sometimes very tedious reading, and the conclusions occasionally a little far-fetched. But unquestionably they do contain stray indications of something for which there has not yet been found any other hypothesis so appropriate as that of an additional intelligence behind those of the heteromatists. Mr. Piddington says (Pr. XVIII, 294-6) : " Under the ' Peregrinations of Nelly,' reference has been made to two instances where Nelly has claimed to have influ- enced the phenomena of two other mediums: Mrs. Piper and 'Miss Rawson.' In one case the claim was not substantiated, in the other there was an undoubted correspondence. These in- cidents were treated as peregrinations because Nelly professed to have visited and directly controlled the mediums; but there are a few other instances of apparent concordance between the trance-utterances of Mrs. Thompson and those of Miss Rawson and the automatic writing of the lady whom I call Mrs. Scott, of which the primd facie explanation is either that Mrs. Thompson in trance becomes aware of the content of their automatic speech or script, or that one and the same control has conveyed similar communications through two different mediums. No ' psychical excursion ' on the part of Nelly seems involved. So far was I (except in one case) from suspecting that these correspondences had occurred, that it was more or less by accident that I dis- covered them in the summer and autumn of 1903. ... Miss Raw- son is not a professional medium, nor has she consented, like Mrs. Thompson, to submit her phenomena to any strict investi- gation. . . . The s6ances were held in the dark " Mrs. Scott is a member of the Society who has for some 764 'Cross-Correspondences [Bk. II, Pt IY years past done a good deal of automatic writing, and between her script and Mrs. Verrall's there hare been some interesting and fairly numerous correspondences " I give first some similar trance-utterances by Miss Eawson, who was then in the south of France, and Mrs. Thompson. "Miss RAWSON. " (1) Dec. 22, 1900. " A control speaking for and of H. Sidgwick: " ' He knows his wife is preparing memorials.' "Jan. 11, 1901. " (5". S. controlling directly.) " ' Tell my friend Myers to tell my wife not to put in the whole of the last chapters of the book she is finishing. She will know the passages she feels doubtful about. Tell him it is really I who am here.' " (2) Jan. 23, 1901. "H. 8. controlling directly: " ( I have not seen my dear friend Myers yet, but I am more thankful than I can say that he has come here. The circle above has been wait- ing for him, and will with great joy welcome him.' " (3) Jan. 26, 1901. "A Control speaking of F. W. H. Myers: " l He has sent a message to the other side (Mrs. T.) but came here himself ' [Before these words were spoken, a soi-disant Myers control had communicated.] "MRS. THOMPSON. " (1) Jan. 11, 1901. "Mr. D. control speaking of H. Sidgwick: " 'He says : "Eleanor might remember, because she." . . . He . . . Eleanor's writing his Life. He doesn't want her to make him " a glorious per- sonage." You're to give her that message. He said : " El- eanor has gone abroad to pre- pare my Life." ' "Before the Mr. D. control spoke, a control that pur- ported to be Henry Sidg- wick had appeared for the first time. " (2) Jan. 21, 1901. " H. S. controlling directly: "'He's (i.e., F. W. H. Myers) not with me. He's not within range at all.' " Written during seance: H. 8. script: "'I don't think Myers is here, or we should see him before the 8th, as E. G. told me [Mr. D.] was waiting for him ' " (3) Jan. 29, 1901. " Nelly: 'I haven't seen Mr. Myers. I haven't, really. Professor Sidgwick says he has seen him: but I haven't.' " H. S. script, written Jan. 30, 1901 : " ' Myers says cer- tainly go. Myers says better go, go out of town. Not now, not now, the day not here. "'H. S. [scrawl]. " < F. W. H. MYERS.' " Ch. XLVII] Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. Scott 765 Mr. Piddington devotes several pages to discussing this cross-correspondence, from which I have omitted several para- graphs. They are well worth the attention of the special student, but, like almost all that relates to cross-correspond- ence (as I shall farther illustrate later), would be too much of a tax on the patience of the general reader as they cer- tainly are on mine. Here is a simple one with a special point of interest at the end (Pr. XVIII, 302-4) : Sitting of January 8th, 1901. " Present : Mrs. Scott. " The following was spoken by Nelly after the removal of the screen which had previously concealed the sitter. " ' Geoffrey [Scott. H.H.] says he wrote through his mother's hand, and said he'd rather not come when you're here, Mr. Pid- dington. Mrs. Scott wouldn't tell you that ; she wouldn't like to. (To Mrs. Scott) Mr. Piddington will excuse you ' " Sitting of January llth, 1901. Sitters: Mr. and Mrs. Percival. " [Nelly. H.H.] : ' Mr. Gurney did write a long message. Mrs. Scott received a long message for you from Mr. Gurney ' " On January 12th, 1901, I sent a copy of these words to Mrs. Scott, and her reply, dated January 12th [1901], was as follows : " ' Some time ago I had a very urgent message from both Mr. Gurney and my son, telling me the latter could not " sit " [i.e., control at a sitting] with you ; but I felt it best to disregard it. I am glad I did, for it is interesting that it should have been verified in this way.' " Mrs. Scott wrote to me on July 17th, 1903, as follows : " ' On the day I received the message I went out hunt- ing, starting early, probably about 9 A.M., and returning about 3.45. l I changed my habit and came down rather tired to the drawing-room, where I sat down by the fire with a book to wait for tea. I had a strong impulse to write almost directly, and I took a scrap of paper and tried the experiment without leaving my chair. The result was the message I sent you.' " [NOTE. 1 1 venture to direct the attention of a certain Con- tinental school of psycho-physiologists to the fact that we pro- duce here in England a fox-hunting type of automatic writer. Fox-hunting must in future, I suppose, be added to their lengthy list of ' notes ' of degeneracy.] " Mrs. Verrall, in her account of her own script which we have followed in Pr. XX, introduces the subject of cross- correspondence at p. 205. She leaves her experiences largely 766" 'Cross-Correspondences [Bk. II, Pt. IV experimental with "Mrs. Holland" for separate treatment, and in the paper now under discussion confines herself to more spontaneous experiences with Mrs. Archdale, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Piper, and Mrs. Forbes. The evidence for cross-corre- spondence is good, but to anybody but the close student a closer one, I confess, than I am in this immediate connection the accounts are uninteresting and even tedious. I hope my selections and summaries will not put you to sleep propor- tionally as often as the originals did me, and if you are read- ing merely for general results, without contemplating close study, I advise you to skip what is left of the topic after your first nap. Among the most interesting samples are probably the fol- lowing. Mrs. Verrall says (Pr. XX, 222-4) : " On August 28th, 1901, the script began : ' Signa sigillo. Conifera arbos [arbor? H.H.] in horto iam insita omina sibimet ostendit.' [Sign with the seal. The fir tree that has already been planted in the garden gives its own portent.] The script was signed with a scrawl and three drawings representing a sword, a suspended bugle and a pair of scissors A suspended bugle surmounted by a crown is the badge of the regiment to which Talbot Forbes [a deceased son of Mrs. Forbes. H.H.] belonged. [Of this Mrs. Verrall knew nothing. H.H.] Mrs. Forbes has in her garden four or five small fir-trees grown from seed sent to her from abroad by her son; these are called by her Talbot's trees. This fact was entirely unknown to me. On August 28th Mrs. Forbes' script contained the statement, purporting to come from her son, that he was looking for a ' sensitive ' who wrote automatically, in order that he might obtain corroboration for her own writing, and it concluded with the remark that he must now leave her in order to join E. G. [Edmund Gurney ?] in con- trolling the sensitive. The hour of her writing on August 28th does not appear, but as she usually writes early in the day and as mine of the same date was at 10.30 P.M., it is probable that hers preceded mine " [NOTE. I knew nothing at the time when my script was produced of the surroundings or tastes of Mrs. Forbes. It was only in April, 1902, that I found her garden was full of associa- tions with her son.] " This approaches very near to a cross-correspondence. Mrs. Forbes' control wrote, April 10, 1903 (Pr. XX, 254) : " ' Will you be so good as to write to arrive to-morrow to tell Mrs. Verrall our letter must be read with one word corrected which means more. E. G. . . . A grower of flowers one year will Ch. XLVII] Mrs. Verrall and Mrs. Forles 767 be sower of seed Send this message. Edmund writes for H. to ask you to say it will be far less difficult to read the sense if the younger Verrall writes with Planchette Mrs. Verrall can be sure of this Sit on Sunday Mother, daughter yourself.' On April llth : ' Our word was not Verrall Helen Verrall she would see with would she sit.' " Mrs. Verrall wrote (Pr. XX, 254) : " I read the above script to my daughter, and she at once said that the message could be explained by a fact in her recent ex- perience. She had been staying from March 25th to April 2nd with a friend who is a professional gardener, and during her visit there was much discussion over a suggestion of her friend's new head man that certain plants should be grown from seed which hitherto had been raised from cuttings. The new man was particularly skilled in raising plants from seed. My daugh- ter, who is very familiar with the methods of her gardener friend, was much interested in the discussion; and she at once recognized a reference to this subject in the phrase ' a grower of flowers one year will be sower of seed.' " The above facts were entirely unknown to me, and Mrs. Forbes had no knowledge of my daughter's movements or that she had any horticultural friend." The following (Pr. XX, 260) had other matter with it which led Mrs. Verrall to say, with her extreme candor: " This is too vague to be useful." To me it seemed very different. " On August 18th, 1903, Mrs. Forbes had two messages for me at the beginning and end of the morning: 10 A.M., ' Great sym- pathy for our friends. . . . Death ' " A friend of mine, unknown to Mrs. Forbes, was very seri- ously ill at the time and died ten days later." Here is a plain cross-correspondence; the particulars are given in Pr. XX, 264-6, and summed up by Mrs. Verrall thus : " It will be seen that Mrs. Forbes' script of January 5th began a message of consolation to her, which was left incomplete; it suggested that I had some answer to send, and that unless I were communicated with something would be lost. Mrs. Forbes did not communicate with me at once, and on January 12th her script plainly told her to ask for a particular piece of my script. The piece of my script so asked for contained a remark about consolation for sorrow, unintelligible to me, but explained, as promised in my script, seven days after its reception." Here is some more: Miss Johnson says (Pr. XXI, 222) : 768 Cross-Correspondences [Bk. II, Pi IV " There is a certain resemblance between the descriptions of their own attitude given by the controls through both sensitives. The Verrall- Myers speaks (Dec. 29th, 1903) of the voice of one crying in the wilderness ; the Holland-Myers (Jan 5th, 1904) of words said, shouted, sung to the wind, and again (on Jan. 12th, 1904), of one wailing as the wind wails, wordless and unheeded. The Holland- Myers (Jan. 6th, 1904) refers to the missionary spirit longing to speak to the souls in prison ; the Verrall-Myers, in a very obscure passage (Feb. 2nd, 1904), to slaves in prison, and prodigies done by the pure presumably on their behalf. " Further, the Verrall-Myers remarks (Dec. 27, 1903) : ' Comes the message, but is not understanded of any ' ; and the Holland- Myers (on Jan. 25th, 1904) expresses his bitter disappointment that the message, on which apparently so much effort had been spent, had not made any real impression on his friends. " This is strikingly appropriate, since, as a matter of fact, it was not until October, 1905, that any correspondence was dis- covered between the two series of scripts, while the minor re- semblances were not observed till I was preparing this report for publication." Miss Johnson thus admirably expresses a fundamental dif- ficulty regarding all alleged communication from the dead, the first point of which I have already made (Pr. XXI, 376-7) : " Events in the present are either known to some living person, in which case we could not exclude his telepathic agency; or they are unknown to any living person, in which case it would be difficult or impossible to prove that they had occurred " Now, granted the possibility of communication, it may be supposed that within the last few years there have been trying to communicate with us a certain group of persons who are suffi- ciently well instructed to know all the objections that reasonable skeptics have urged against the previous evidence, and sufficiently intelligent to realize to the full all the force of these objections. It may be supposed that these persons have invented a new plan, the plan of cross-correspondences, to meet the skeptics' ob- jections. There is no doubt that the cross-correspondences are a characteristic element in the scripts that we have been collecting in the last few years, the scripts of Mrs. Verrall, Mrs. Forbes, Mrs. Holland, and, still more recently, Mrs. Piper. And the im- portant point is that the element is a new one. We have reason to believe, as I have shown above, that the idea of making a state- ment in one script complementary of a statement in another had not occurred to Mr. Myers in his life-time, for there is no refer- ence to it in any of his written utterances on the subject that I have been able to discover. Also, it seems to me almost certain Ch. XLVII] Argument by Miss Johnson 769 that if he had thought of it during his life-time, I should have heard of it while helping him in the publication of Human Per- sonality, or he would have mentioned it to some of his friends and colleagues in the S. P. R. Neither did those who have been inves- tigating automatic script since his death invent this plan, if plan it be. It was not the automatists that detected it, but a student of the scripts ; it has every appearance of being an element imported from outside; it suggests an independent invention, an active intelligence constantly at work in the present, not a mere echo all against wall often. N. B. J.] " R. H. ' Also ..." Roble wants to know if you remember the slide on the bull-pen." ' (Excitement.) B. ' Well I think I do and will I ever forget it. Ask him who got the worst of it, him or me.' R. H. ' " Also whether you have seen Sammy." ' B. 'Well yes I have and Sport also. [Sport was the name of our stable dog that died of old age some years ago. N. B. J.] Yes, I am glad to hear from you Oh so glad. Ask Roble if he remembers who cut the hole in the . . . the Barn Yard fence. [Not recalled. N. B. J.] and what it was done for.' R. H. ' I suppose that's one on Roble?' B. 'Well it is. I have two or three which I will just remind him of occasionally.' R. H. ' Yes. " Also do not forget to tell my mother [This being a message from Mr. Junot to Bennie's grandparents in his world. H.H.] that I received and understood her loving words, and tell my father that I thank him for the love he sent." ' B. ' He gave me Walter.' R. H. ' Your grandfather? ' B. ' Yes.' [Not correct. N. B. J.] R. H. ' " and that as I have grown older I have learned to understand him better." ' B. ' He will be so glad to know this I tell you, he often tells me of dad.' R. H. ' " and that I hope to meet him in your world and understand him better still." ' " 800 The Piper-Junot Sittings [Bk. II, Pt. IV Sittings generally abound in explanations of this sort be- tween parents and children. Genuine or not, some of it is very touching, and the weight of it is very distinctly on the side of " evidence." "B. 'Well you will dear this I know well. He often says your father is very dear to me and although he was left more or less to himself I will take him to my heart when he comes to us.' R. H. ' Good. " Give my love to all our friends who are with you, and do not forget to render to Imperator and Rector and George and all others who have aided you in communicating with us our heartfelt thanks and reverence for their great kindness " " ' Your " ten cent script " is now in your little cabinet in your room. Daddy will keep it in memory of you. Do not for- get us, Bennie, and let us hear from you whenever you can well do so. With great love, " Daddy." (Assents) [i.e., hand does. H.H.] " B. ' Do you wonder I am happy.' R. H. ' No, indeed.' ' Well I begin to ... (Hand talks with Spirit.) U. (Hand talks with Spirit.) He Rector says do it so. U. D.' [This is a good instance of "dramatization." Bennie has not acted as control before, and is therefore unfamiliar with this abbreviation. H. de Q. V.] " B. ' You may be glad to know I have seen a little young dog here who often comes up and smells about yourself . . . about you belonging to yourself.' R. H. ' What kind, Ben- nie ? ' B. ' A little yellow looking one and looks like a little bull dog. Do you remember him ? ' R. H. ' I do not '. . . [I was about to add ' remember a little bulldog.' I remember well a little yellow mongrel, very affectionate. R. H.] " B. ' You must be pretty bright I think. Did you ever teach school? ' R. H. Yes, I have taught . . .' B. * I thought so. Did you like Algebra.' R. H. < Yes, I did.' B. ' I am glad to know it. I didn't ' " R. H. ' And I say, Bennie, look up my cousin Fred. George Pelham will help you, and he will tell you of the larks we used to have together in Australia.' B. ' Well, that will be jolly, I will. I hope you will know me when I come again.' R. H. ' Yes.' B. ' They are awfully good to me here and I am happy as I can be.' (Waking Stage.) " That black and white dog was wagging his tail when I went in." Ch. XLIX] Reports from Hodgson's Cousin. Telesihesia 801 lOrn SITTING. (PR.XXTV,436.) April 3, 1900. Present: R. H. " B. ' I saw Mr. Hyde and I like him mighty well ... he is a very bright fellow and has been helping me in many ways.' (I here for the first time thought of my cousin Fred Hyde.) R. H. ' Oh, you mean my cousin Fred.' B. ' Yes he is your cousin Fred and the gentleman [George Pelham] who is speak- ing for me helped me to find him.' " 12TH SITTING. (PR.XXIV,438.) October 29, 1900. Present: R. H. " ' Just one word from me. I am Benny.' R. H. ' Yes.' B. ' Do you remember me ? ' R. H. ' Oh, Bennie, well, in- deed.' B. ' was I who cured Helen's throat and I knew it was only a cold.' " [Extract from letter of N. B. J., Nov. 14, 1900 : " Mrs. J. had in September been at the seaside where Helen had an ugly sore throat, which caused her mother much anxiety, but pres- ently ceased to be serious."] 13ra SITTING. (PR.XXIV,438-9.) October 31, 1900. Present: R. H. " B. ' I was somewhat glad when they changed Helen's teacher because she will gain by it.' R. H. ' " teacher " is that?' B. ' Teacher ... music. I am looking after her, and tell them all that I will soon see them here and meanwhile I send endless love.' R. H. ' I will.' [Extract from N. B. J.'s letter, Nov. 14, 1900. " In the last week of September, Mrs. Junot and Helen returned from the East and upon Helen's objecting to the taking of music lessons, she not being very well, it was agreed between them that for the present she should go to hear music instead of taking lessons."] 16TH SITTING. (PR.XXIV,441.) February 18, 1901. Present: Mr. and Mrs. J. and R. H. (Bennie communicating.) [Is the following telepathy, or a put up job, or something else? H.H.] " ' Here I am again and I thought I would ask you what you were trying to have done with the old gate this summer. Can you think what I mean ? ' N. B. J. ' No, I do not understand. Where was it? ' B. ' At the back of the barn.' N. B. J. 'I don't understand, Bennie.'. . . B. ' Now let me tell you what I do mean. I moan that where the Bull pen used to be. Do you know now, dad?' N. B. J. 'No, I don't understand.' B. ' Well, do follow me . . . the farm . . . but where we used to go out at the barn there has been a change made in the floor that is what I tried to think.'... Mrs. J. (to N. B. J.) ' He 802 The Piper-Junot Sittings [Bk. II, Pt IY means in the calf [ ?] where you built on that shed.' B. ' and I called it gate, and it is all open there now and something put in its place. Now I am trying to find out what you intend to call it.' Mrs. J. ' Bennie, do you mean the garden I had made at the back of the house near the barn ? ' B. ' No, I know that perfectly, but it is at the barn dear mother. There are two windows and I am doing my best to have you see what I mean dear. It is all so changed to me. Dad did you not take away part of the barn ? ' Mrs. J. ' Bennie, we have had a chicken house built where the corn crib used to be.' B. ' Yes of course, that is what I mean exactly but they, dad and Roble and another man took out the little door leading into the yard. Didn't you dad?' Mrs. J. (to N. B. J.) 'Yes, you did.' N. B. J. ' I don't remember, Bennie.' Mrs. J. ' Yes, Bennie, you are right.' B. ' What is the matter dad, are you forgetting ? ' Mrs. J. 'I think he is stupid, Bennie.' B. 'Well, he never used to be.' "B. 'Now there is one thing more dad. Who was it who put up the wall.' N. B. J. ' I don't understand, Bennie. Where do you mean ? ' B. ' I mean out back of the house this time. And what do you call it ... a ... word [ ?] is it.' N. B. J. * Fence. Do you mean fence?' B. 'Yes exactly and dear you will forget the names of things when you get here.' [As old people do ? H.H.] N. B. J. ' Yes, I understand that, Bennie.' B. ' I like it all though so much better than before and I only wanted to recall all I saw you do and the changes you have made that you might be sure I was with you. That is aU U. D.' " ' B. ' Did you hear me when I called you the other night ? ' Mrs. J. ' Bennie, I cannot always tell when you call me. I think I feel you near me. But you know I cannot hear you. What did you say to me ? ' B. ' I said write to Roble.' [Not long before this one evening his mother suddenly started up and proceeded to write to Roble. Her motions were so unusual in some way as to attract comment from others of the family. She said " I must write to Roble." N. B. J.] " 17-TH SITTING. (PR.XXTV,453f.) February 19, 1901. Present: Mrs. J. and R. H. " B. ' I am here, mother dear.' Mrs. J. ' Yes, Bennie, I'm glad to see you this morning.' B. ' Morning, it is always morning dear. [A queer topic for faking. More like the superi- ority to time indicated in dreams. H.H.] * I am glad to see you * The controls often protest against the use of words denoting periods of time, e. g. morning, week, etc., and sometimes appear unable to ap- prehend their meaning. At other times, however, they use these very words themselves, and their attitude does not seem to be based on any consistent principle. Ch. XLIX] Control Begins to Regulate Family 803 once more. But I was sad to hear what dad said, did he not feel well.' " " Mrs. J. ' Bennie, tell me about Helen. Do you not think her well ? ' B. ' Yes, very, but nervous, dear.' Mrs. J. ' How shall I take care of her ? ' B. ' Do not hurry her, mother dear, and let her sleep. She says she wants to sleep more.' [Helen had for months been inclined to sleep late in the mornings.] " This is one of the first requests for Bennie's advice. They increased until he became the family oracle on a variety of subjects. Soon medical advice began coming in, which he said he got from "the Doctor," to whom he alluded several times. Was it Phinuit? Or it may have been one of Imperator's " Doctors." " Mrs. J. ' Tell me now about yourself, what you do.' B. ' Do . . . well the things I care for most are those I left behind in the body, but I am contented here dear and I live with grandpa and grandma Junot. He sometimes says he was a little difficult for the boys U. D.' Mrs. J. ' Yes, Bennie.' B. ' To U. D. but he meant well and loves them all very much. I am learning all the time the conditions of this life, the reality and truth of our having to live in one life to be able to in this.' " An old, old speculation on which these new phenomena perhaps shed some light. " Mrs. J. ' Bennie, bring a message next time from grand- ma Junot to your father. Ask her why she never comes to us at these sittings.' B. ' But she has dear, only I fear I am a little greedy and take up all the light dear mother, but I do not mean to.' " B. ' Uncle Frank has just told . . . nudged me and said go tell your mother about Billie, Benny, and see what she will say to that.' (R.H. reads the whole sentence over in a natural manner as if speaking it himself and not merely slowly de- ciphering it.) B. ' Yes, this is exactly right, how did you do it? How did you happen to hear me so distinctly, I am de- lighted.' R. H. ' Well, Rector made the machine work, and although I could not read it at first, it was all well done by him.' " 18TH SITTING. (PR.XXIV,464f.) February 20, 1901. Present: Mrs. J. and R. H. " B. ' do you remember of my. . .speaking of George? ' Mrs. J. ' Yes, Bennie, yes.' B. ' He sends love also.' Mrs. J. ' Yes, Bennie, my cousin George you mean ? ' (Assent.) 804 The Piper-Junot Sittings [Bk. II, Pt. IV B. ' He told me not to forget it.' Mrs. J. ' Yes, Bennie, give him my lore.' B. ' He used to be so jolly.' Mrs. J. ' No, Bennie.' B. ' This is a joke dear mother because he was never known to smile . . . and we often remark ... we remark it here. And I speak it in particular that you may know just who I mean. [This cousin George had not long been deceased. He scarcely ever smiled and during his life this was a source of jokes in the family. N. B. J.] Grandma Junot is so glad to see you . . . She says tell Aunt Alice not to feel that God has been unjust to her, but to feel that it is better as it is.' [For reasons well understood in the family these words are very significant. It would be difficult for our mother to better identify herself in words. N. B. J.] " B. ' Another boy cousin of mine here. He came long ago.' Mrs. J. ' Yes, Bennie.' B. ' Grandma said refer to him too dear when you speak because his mother would be glad to know. Do not forget these things Benny boy.' [We under- stand perfectly who this cousin is and why our mother directed that word to be sent to his mother. N. B. J.] B. ' I was I thought as happy as I could be when I h . . . owned the body, but after I left it I found I did not know what happiness was .1 saw you almost as soon as I lost control of my body, and I was so happy, and I was told that I should see clearer and clearer [clear] as time passed and so I have, dear, and when I have seen you grieve I have said Oh well it is not for long, and it is only a condition of the body.' " 21sT SITTING. (PR.XXIV,475-.) January 15, 1902. Present: R. H. "B. 'Pretty well are you?' R. H. 'Yes, Bennie, thanks, except for a damaged knee.' B. ' Take a ride on horseback when it gets better it will do you good.' R. H. ' Thanks, I will.' B. ' I'll go along with you to see that all goes well.' He more and more announces himself as going with people to take care of them. 23o SITTING. (PR.XXIV,478.) February 10, 1902. Present : N. B. J., R. H., and later Roble J. Here follows a farther indication of how Bennie was becoming the family oracle. " ' I heard you and Roble talking about me. I heard you say he had better study a while longer. . .' [I feared that Roble had been a little too much inclined to athletics in college and I had been insisting upon more study. N. B. J.]. N. B. J. 'Yes, Ch. XLIX] Brother's Sitting 805 that's it. I told him to study more.' B. ' Yes, and he will now. I was especially attracted to that myself. I think he has been a little behind.' N. B. J. ' Yes.' B. But don't worry about him dad he'll get there sure. I am . . . not so far removed but what I can help him.' [This note of helping the family and everybody else increases to the end. It is generally character- istic of the controls. H.H.] B. ' And I saw the fall he got could you make it out.' N. B. J. ' On the ice you mean, on skates? ' B. ' Yes.' N. B. J. ' Yes, he's all right now.' B. 1 Good.'. . . N. B. J. ' Bennie, do you want Roble to come here and speak? ' B. ' More than I can tell you (N. B. J. calls Roble, who was waiting downstairs.) (Roble has entered . . .) (Excitement in hand.) Well well Roble I am glad to see you once more my brother. Did you think I was lost Roble ' R. ' No.' B. ' I heard something and told you steadily don't be lazy, R study on and I'll help you. got it. . . .' R. ' Yes, I heard it.' B. ' I hear you sounding where I am. I am right here beside you. Do you remember the joke I made about the Bull Pen?' R. 'The bull pen down at V ? ' B. * Yes.' R. ' I don't remember any joke. Remember the slide down there ? ' B. ' Yes slide and fall.' R. ' No, I mean the board slide.' B. ' Yes I am thinking of the same slide and the fall you got skating.' [Roble had lately received a bad stroke on the head while playing hockey on the ice. N. B. J.] N. B. J. < Lately.' R. ' I didn't fall, I got hurt.' B. ' Yes I know it well. Tell me are you better.' R. ' I tried my best to prevent it, Benny.' " * You almost take my breath away I am so glad to see you. I have an idea you feel strange, but you need not. Go on, TO > This all seems to me strangely vivid. The monosyllabic utterances of Roble show the awkwardness of a first sitting. There follow a lot of trifles whose very littleness would impress judicious seekers of the " evidential " in the old sense if later considerations have left any such seekers. " (G. P. communicating.) ' How are you old chap, glad to see you. What is it H. want my help.' R. H. ' Yes, George, I think we do.' G. P.' I am here on Deck. G.P.' B.' Keep my thoughts clear now. Do you remember Grandpa Junot ? ' " 24ra SITTING. (PR.XXIV,489f.) February 11, 1902. Present: N. B. J. and R. H. In this sitting begins the incident of Hugh Irving and John Welsh and the dog Rounder summarized in Miss Verrall's 806 The Piper-Junot Sittings [Bk. II, Pi IV introduction. There is no space for many details, though I shall quote a few later. For the present we go on to other matters. " B ' Does Roble U. D. me do you think.' N. B. J ' Only partly. He feels sure that you are speaking.' "B. 'Do you remember what mother said about my new picture. She said I looked as if I was going to speak. Don't you like it.' N. B. J. ' Yes, very much.' B. ' Are you tired dad dear.' N. B. J. ' Yes, Bennie, a little tired, too much work all the time.' B. ' Don't let it worry you, it will all be right soon. Father do you remember what a stern man grandpa was?' N. B. J. 'Which grandpa?' B. 'Your father.' N. B. J. ' Yes, he was stern.' B. ' He is as good to me as he can possibly be.' N. B. J. ' And I thank him for it.' B. ' Father he met me when I came and showed me the way. I did not know him hardly, but he soon made me know him and took me with him home where I am happy and if you could see us as we are you would not doubt the goodness of God father.' N. B. J. ' I do not doubt goodness of God, Bennie.' "N. B. J. 'Bennie, the Alice over there must be the little girl who didn't live in this life. Is that right ? ' B. ' She is, but she lives here and is with Uncle Frank.' N. B. J. ' Now I understand.' B. ' I am so glad he would not let me go till I repeated this for you.' [The Uncle Frank addresses Mr. Junot? H.H.] " ' N speak to me for God's sake and tell me if it is really you.' [What followed identified him He had been dead two years. We had had many long talks about a future life in the evening at his home. He had been much interested in Spiritualism. N. B. J.] " N. B. J. ' Yes, Frank, it is I.' F. ' I am delighted to see you I took Bennie's place for a moment, a good boy N ' N. B. J. ' Go on, Frank.' F. ' One of the best I ever knew. (The writing during communication from Frank larger and stronger.) tell Alice I am sure I can remember everything soon. N how is everything with you.' N. B. J. ' All well, Frank, all well, and Alice and the boy are well. I see them often.' F. ' Give them my love and tell them I would not have left them from choice, but it better so. Hear me? ' N. B. J. ' Yes, Frank/ F. ' Tell her I felt sorry about the insurance [Not understood. N. B. J.] " ' Are you still at it ... in harness . . . H . . .' N. B. J. 'Yes, Frank, I am working too hard still.' F. 'Don't pay give it up.' N. B. J. 'I understand.' F. 'You know what I mean, tried hard to speak before but could not seem to U. D. the whys and wherefores.' Ch. XLIX] Uncle Frank. The Lost Dog 807 " N. B. J. ' Do you remember our talks about another life ? ' F. ' Yes just what I am saying N . About this life and its possibilities.' N. B. J. ' Yes.' F. ' I found all better than I ever dreamed.' N. B. J. 'Who came to meet you, Frank ? ' F. ' Do you remember my boy.' N. B. J. ' Yes, indeed.' F. ' He is my (hand points to Spirit) right hand.' N. B. J. ' That's right.' F. ' And we are together God bless him. Tell Alice this. . .' N. B. J. ' I will.' F. ' N and till we meet again may God sustain you.' N. B. J. ' Good-bye, Frank. Good-bye.' F. ' Going . . . Farewell . . . don't forget your... F H Clarke [?]' [He usually signed his name " F. Clarke." N. B. J.] [" F. H." are the initials of his son, Bennie's cousin, Frank. H. de G. V.] " N. B. J. ' Frank, speak to us again hereafter when you can.' F. ' Most certainly I will. (Large and emphatic.) (Noticeable contrast between previous large and somewhat vehement writing and the quieter smaller writing on Bennie's return.) " B. ' Father you realize I know the desire on the part of Uncle F. to meet you again that is why I left so suddenly.' N. B. J. ' Yes, dear Bennie, I understand perfectly. Here is Hugh [old servant, see p. 786. H.H.] I called him to tell you himself about the dog.' N. B. J. ' Hugh, tell us where to find Rounder, we want Rounder.' H. ' Lost him.' N. B. J. ' Lost him? Did you lose him?' H. 'Yes. I lost him N and as a matter of fact I will see that he is returned to you.' N. B. J. ' All right.' H. ' As true as you live. Tell me how is everything with yourself?' N. B. J. ' We are all right. How are you?' H. 'Better, head clearer, breathe splendidly. Do you know how I suffered.' [Hugh died of an internal cancer, but, strange as it may seem, he never once complained of pain or of being sick during his last months with us. He drank very hard and we supposed that that was the trouble. So that what he says here is of great interest to us. Everything that he says is quite characteristic (for instance calling Bennie " Mr. Ben ") except reference to sitter as " N ." In life this was always " Mr. Junot." N. B. J.] The controls generally show a tendency to use Christian names. Cf., G. P. to me, as he never did in this life; Phinuit to the Lodges, etc. " N. B. J. ' No, you never said you were sick.' H. ' But I would not tell anybody if there was anything I hated it was to hear a man complaining about his heart all the time.' N. B. J. ' Hugh, I thought you were drunk all the time.' H. ' No, not drunk, but mighty near it, the worst of it was I suffered more than you know, but I've got straightened out here and 808 The Piper-Junot Sittings [Bk. II, Pt IV I want to do the best I can.' . . . N. B. J. ' That's right, Hugh. We were sorry we didn't take better care of you.' H. ' Now for everybody. I worked 1 worked faithfully when I could.' N. B. J. ' That's right. You did. (to R. H.) We had much regret about this man.' H. ' Forgive my failings as Mr. Ben has already. Some day you'll know me better.' N. B. J. ' Hugh, I don't think you had a fair show in this life.' H. ' Well, I guess you're about right my friend, but I have no fault to find now I'm glad I'm living that's all I've got to say, and I'll find Rounder and send him back to you.' N. B. J. ' Good, that's all right.' H. ' Think of me as I am and not as I was if you can.' N. B. J. ' That's right, we will.' H. ' Can I do anything for you.' N. B. J. ' Only help take care of Bennie.' H. ' Sure he's all right a right good lad. I often with him. I'll bid you good-bye now let me know if I can do anything for you H E.' (Hand makes gentle drawing motion as if pulling on some delicate threads.) " N. B. J. (to R. H.) ' Something wanted here.' " [Grandpa Junot speaks ? H.H.] ' Well. My son glad to see you. Do the best you can. Gone.' N. B. J. ' Who was it ? ' B. 'Dad were you here? Grandpa said I wonder if he is as self-willed as he used to be.' N. B. J. ' Which grandpa ? Which grandpa was it?' B.' Junot.' N. B. J. ' Yes.' B. ' Speak to him father.' (Hand points to Spirit.) N. B. J. ' Yes.' B. ' He is waiting.' N. B. J. ' Yes, father, I'm glad to meet you here, and I take it very kindly that you look after my boy so well.' [G. J.] ' Do you remember what you thought about my . . . perhaps you thought I did not help you . . . don't you think so . . .' [There were matters to be regretted in the treatment by the sitter's father of his children and here, as a number of times elsewhere, this is indicated by the father in his brief communications. N. B. J.] " N. B. J. ' I was young when you left this life.' G. J. 'Yes true but rather stubborn weren't you? ' N. B. J. 'Prob- ably.' G. J. ' Forgot it.' N. B. J. ' Do you know about my work in this life ? ' G. J. ' There is little I do not know and I am glad you have made your life so useful.' N. B. J. ' Thank you.' G. J. ' It is the best reward I can give you.' B. ' Gone father. Father dear they tell me I must soon stop talking.' R. H. 'Yes, time's practically up.' N. B. J. 'Yes, Bennie, and I shall not see you to-morrow. Mother will come alone. Don't forget daddie.' B. ' No not for a moment talk to me father when you go to the grave and I will U. D. you.' " Many intimations like this are given, that those who have "passed over"(?) can hear and even understand without the intervention of a "medium." Ch, XLIX] Hopes to Materialize Visibly 809 25TH SITTING. (Pr.XXIV,502.) February 12, 1902. Present: Mrs. Junot and R. H. " ' Do you remember C dear Mother ? ' Mrs. J. ' Yes, Bennie, we live in C . What will you say about it ? ' B. ' Are you going to leave it? ' [We had been talking a great deal about living in the country. N. B. J.] Mrs. J. ' We do talk jokingly of living in the country, but not at present.' B. ' How can you on account of Helen.' Mrs. J. ' Helen loves the country.' B. ' Yes I know but the school.' Mrs. J. ' We cannot until she is through school.' B. ' I thought so dear, don't leave her. I heard all this talk about going into the country dear but I could not make it clear to my mind. Got it.' " Bennie's gradual assumption of the care of the family is becoming plain. " B. ' Mother I am very happy over here. They are all very good to me and when we go to church we think of you. I often see you and Helen together at the place of Music.' Mrs. J. ' Sometimes, Bennie.' B. ' I love to watch you and hear you talk of things I used to do. Mother I think you feel my presence sometimes I try very hard to make you see me.' Mrs. J. ' Oh I do feel your presence, Bennie, but I wish that I might see you.' B. ' I wonder if you could. I'll try to stand before you very soon to see if you can see me.' (To R. H.) ' I am glad to see you my friend, are you quite well.' " Mrs. J. ' Bennie, can you tell me anything between your- self and Charlie, any incident that happened . . . tell me . . .' B. ' Did you say accident, dear.' Mrs. J. ' No, Bennie, incident.' B.' Incident, yes. I think so. [Is this faked? H.H.] Do you wish to help him to know where I am ? ' Mrs. J. ' Yes.' B. ' Well ask Charlie if he remembers the little song I copied out for him. Yes and the walk we took one evening in the or through the park when we whistled the tune to the song I copied out for him and the laugh we had over the discords.' " B. ' Do you remember Sam.' Mrs. J. ' Tell me about him ? ' B. ' He is with me a great deal did you know he came rather suddenly ' Mrs. J. ' Yes, Bennie, send a message to his mother.' B. ' He will do it.' (Hand points to Spirit.) Sam ' I ask you if you are Mrs. Junot to tell my mother I am well and happy and better off than I was in the body, tell her to keep the mo[ ?]mor[ ?] . . . can't hear it. ..Mansfield Photo- graphs because they are not good enough to let go. I hope I have made it clear do you remember Carl Boardman . . .' Mrs. J. 'Is this from Sam?' S. ' Yes. S. B.' Mrs. J. ' Yes. I will ask about him. Was Sam with him?' S. ' Yes.' Mrs. 810 The Piper-Junot Sittings [Bk. II, Pt IV. J. ' I will try to find out.' S. ' And Dan . . . gone.' [Sam died rather suddenly not long before this sitting. His mother upon reading this sitting said that about this time she and one of her sons had been looking over and discussing a great deal the various photographs of Sam to determine which were the best.] " B. ' And one thing more dear, is Helen better? ' Mrs. J. ' Yes, Bennie, she is much stronger, I think.' B. ' Didn't I tell you I would help he ... her.' Mrs. J. ' Yes, and you have kept your word.' B. ' I hope to always dear and send Rounder back.' Mrs. J. ' Yes, Bennie, if you can.' B. ' If he is in that world I can.'" 27TH SITTING. (PR.XXIV,515.) April 2, 1902. Present: R. H. (Waking Stage.) "'John Welsh has Rounder.' R. H. ' " John Welsh was round her? " ' ' John Welsh has Rounder. Tell this . . . tell . . . tell ... tell ... John Welsh has Rounder.' R. H '"John Welsh is round her ? " ' ' Has . . . has . . . It's I, Benny, don't you see me ? I, Benny. ' ' 31ST SITTING. (PR.XXIV,520-1.) November 12, 1902. Present: R. H. " B. ' I often wonder if spirits from our world will ever be able to speak without the light as we often try to do, but we are glad to welcome any of our friends here. I can tell you. Helen never seemed so well as she does now.' R. H. ' I'm very glad. ' ' " B. ' You have been so kind to me always I feel as though I had always known you.' R. H. ' I feel as if you were an old friend.' B. ' Well I think I am.' " 35TH SITTING. (PR.XXIV,524f.) February 23, 1903. Present: N. B. J. and R. H. (Parcel unwrapped and Bennie's articles placed on table.) " B. ' tell me Dad if you are not better now.' N. B. J. ' Yes, Bennie. I'm much better.' B. ' I know it dear. I have been with you all the time since I spoke to you here before.' N. B. J. ' Yes, dear boy. I understand.' B. ' I am very proud of Helen.' N. B. J. 'Yes, Bennie. So are Mama and Papa.' B. ' She will be a great comfort to you.' N. B. J. ' Yes.' B. ' I know it. do you hear me when I call you to sleep, dad?' N. B. J. 'No, Bennie, I do not hear, but some- times I think you are helping me.' B. ' I am glad you feel me because I am often there. I remember Charlie tell me is he going away dear.' N. B. J. ' Which Charlie do you mean ? ' B. ' I am thinking about . . . R O ble and Charlie dad.' [Roble and Charlie D , Bennie's best friend, were with us at Ch. XLIX] Accurate Memories and Telopsis 811 our hotel on the day prior to this sitting, Roble having met Charlie unexpectedly. N. B. J.] " B. ' I forgot my horses name , . . horse, almost.' N. B. J. 'What is it? What is the name ?' B.' What is it. Oh I never can U. D. it K. K.' N. B. J. ' That starts right.' (Rector to Bennie) ' Come on B. give it me.' B. ' K. . . .' (Rector to Bennie) ' yes certainly Louder dear.' B. ' L.' N. B. J. ' That's right.' B. ' O.' N. B. J. ' That's right.' B. 'N.' N. B. J. 'That's right.' B.