SPIRITUALISM.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17401, 11 March 1922, Page 7

SPIRITUALISM.

AND ITS CRITICS. SIS A- CONAN DOYLE'S AJfGE®(ROIt OTTE OTOT OOBBSSyOKKFt I *') LONDON, January 20. In this week's "Saturday , Mr Filson Young, the editor of tba journal, waxes merry 8t the expense the Spiritualists. A little while ag he came across at impressive ljtW book by Sir A. C. Doyle, called Th Vital Message." He f» nt friends and, as he says, others to my own mother, who, 1 . ably nearing the crossing from «» _ life, would be interested and concerned in such a matter. . . • Mr Young liked the book, disposed to study the siibjeet and,, indeed, felt.it to be-a f dnty touo so. The end of it was that the ediw ( of the "Saturday Review" was mvitea to a seance. . , ... c . *-f.hur ! He went to lunch with Sir Axtuu and Lady Cotan Doyle at the venor Hotel, and was told that th stance had been arranged »] # bo J 08 in Highgate, where the me<hurn to be Mrs Johnson, who had powers quite out of . the ordinary i mediums of bringing P r ,S?f n 0 f spoke to the sitters. The result, ot that seance is no>w told entitled "Hymns and Humbug. JW mind on the subject was open and » pathetic," Mr Filson Young writes, "and it would not be too much to ; that I believed it possible that i"™ on the threshold of an exp<?rie»■ which might change my whole outlook on life," He adds that the dark and that fce sat next to the electrio light switeb. Tho people at the Beance sat in a circle twelve diameter, and in the f , circle the stance began, standing on its broader end, -was a z n trumpet about four "Through this we were told the spirit voim lould speak." The opened with the repetition of the Lord's Prayer, followed in turn by a hymn, a gramophone §eleption, and a musical-box. " . "In the intervals between the singing some of the ladies, to judge by their conversation, were in rather a nervous etate; one of them wed out Mid said something bad touched her, but her neighbour immediately apologised ' and, explained that she had moved her foot. One said she saw lights; but there was none. We were like a party of jfehers wmtmg for o bite. Personally I ww still eympathetio, perfectly, attentive, awaiting a sign; but conscious pf no religious mfluence, or of anything bu<j the fact that I was sitting on » rather uncomfortable chair \n„a dark room m the suburb of Highg&te, singing choruses with people whom I bad never met before, and awaiting » revelation, Presently, during the tune 0U the gTRUIo. phone, & man's voice traa .heard. 'Abl that must be David," said somebody, turn off the gromopneoo. Id that yon, DavidP' 'Aye,' replied the voice a Glasgow accent, and some. trivial conversation ensued between, this voice and the medium's, fragmentary and meagre on the part of the spirit, voluble on the part of the initiated, who joined with the medium in interrogating it. They spoke to the spirit m a patronising way, like people at 4 prayer meeting encouraging a pet convert* *' The voice came as though sounding* through the tube ot the trumpet, which seemed to be waving about in .ifche air, and the tapping of finger-nails on its metallic surface could be dis, tinctly. heard. These sounds were m different positions, now high, now low, but the impression I had was that they did hot move beyoitd a radius of about si? or eight feet. , . I was convinced that one of half a dozen very simple natural agencies was at work, and determined put »y conviction to the ' m !FftW ttwoyeV

At the request of the medium-WO** [ hymns were sung wad then a low v< >' c ? was heard in front of the lady seated nejit to Mr Young. "At once people said, "Someone is tryibg to speak to you; it is evidently »BW IM ~™' never been through before j the voices p.re very faint at first; we must masje P>w noise, So once more the gram<>' phone was wouod up nod fjaßguig voices of the company were ur.«3d »«to 'Jinglo Johnny,' Thfe time I did not 6)Ug, but listened attentively, puring the song n# ivoico of the trumpet came out of that black darkness: but M>con as it was over the faint voice w Iwrd again, apparently addressing ray neighbour/saying, 'ls that you, dvur?' an* similar phrases of recognition ing. The- lad? beside roe was obviously *mo*fd and entirely wedulow. Te£ haps iv .js my mother,' she, said. Ip that you; > darling P. Speak to me, mother- Oh do weak I. am n?> in the least afraid' The lond of wnfvereation exchanged waa generally very vague, consisting of wfsre*»* .to dear. I am quite happy'—at any rate quite unimportant remarks which imght lave beenmade by-apyhody-ace her,' said the medium. rerflAPa SwM touch you- It was ai tins moment that I began ries to the test. f touched lightly, tie lady <m by right, on the knco, aui on the arm and PO her dress, &pd tho e» feet was remarkable. .1° emotional voice/ U v over, go .told her mother that ehe rapid M l er touoh and her presence,, that she reco,, nised her, and that she fcegg.d speak to her more. I cunfes? t at, I was not a little shocked , and dul.not 'repeat the experiment. «ut the "co sounding still quite near, at a?ou_ level of one's knee, I put up. my Mid in the dark and gently grayed what -proved w be the the trumpet. The other_ end of .i pointing out towards the right hand ef tho circle, near where the medium sa. Itwas supported horizontally at its other end; W when I gasped it the other, end was immediately let> go, TO immense care, avoiding making a i noise or movement on -my cnair, ( * slowly raised the trumpet at aim 0 length, lifted it over the head lady, and gently laid it on the "°i?f behind Sir Arthur Doyle's chair. In doing this, I, being -halt turned m Ay. chair, inadvertently touched with my elbow the lady on my left who immediately said that the spirit had touched her. ■ . . "There were no more sp'rifc voices that afteinoon. The voice had immediately ceased on my seizing the trum- j "pet, and was heard no more that alter-j noon I confess that I shrank from having to . explain the presence of the trumpet behind Sir-Arthur's chair, and also felt sure they would say tlmt'ttie trumpet must be 'within the circle ot 'influence'» bo I took the opportunity, durine the last verse of the hymn, ac someJisk of discovery,.to twwt round* aaain. fish for it m fhe dark, lift, it ofertlfb he/ids of my ■ unsuspecting, neighbours, and deposit it witnin the circle—out of reach of the medium. When someone said had gone away, wo were told that that was unlikely* as the signal for. their dewas that they dropped trumpet with a hang on the ground: but I knew that that signal wtfuld no® be given; that they.comd not drop the trumpet because they could not rcadi it. At last they began to see tha- the spirits would not come back, and £ vaa requested to turn on the light,. There lay the trumpet where I mid put il. The medium said nothing. . "In his prefatory remarts before the seance, Sir Arthur said,- 'This is either the most solemn thing -in "the world, or the greatest blasphemy. Most of ' my readers wilj, I think, agree with Jlißh' 4 .;

• 'Ungentlemanly Behaviour." Before leaving the house at Highgate Mr FUson Young told the woma4 who sat next tp him that he could iiot go away without revealing to her that the person who' toiiched her was not her mother, but himself, and that the? voica 6be heard was not her mother'ii, but •Mrs Johnson's. I ' Four letters passed between Sir Arthur and Mr Filson Young. Letter No. 1 was from"Mr Young, who said that no manifestation of supernatural force occurred at the glance. Letter No. 2 was from Sir Arthur, who said he had held it over for 24 hours, lest he. should seem to write in anger, and telling Mr Young that "what he had done, at the seance must end their acquaintance. Letter No. 3 was Mr Young's retort, in which he said, "But for me, this poor woman would have gone home in the belief that her dead mother had touched and spoken to her; and that I regard as a rather sinister matter." The end of the corteapondense was letter No. 4, from Sir Arthur: "To publish proceedings which are fiha result of a private invitation to a private house is quite consistent with the rest j of your conduct. The only credulity shown by any of the company was oyr believing that you were a gentloman." In tho course of an interview, M.r Filson Young remarked: "Simply in his anger that I have not been deceived, like the others, Sir Arthur argu<i3 'Yon are not a gentleman.' I regiird his accusation •of ungentlemanly behaviour —because this very simple test took place at a private house, and I wont by his own invitation —as nonsense. Conan Doyle is out for propaganda, and I think it is only fair to say that if he had got it from me it would have had the fullest publicity. I thinlc many people feel it; is time some answer was given .to these continual assertions which the spiritualists make." I do not deny that phenomena occur which) I cannot explain. I refuse, becau to such phenomena do occur, vo regard 'that as a reason why the explanation given by spiritualists, or anyone else, should be accepted aa true." t Sir A. Ooastt Doyle and the Fairies. Lecturing before the Eclectic Club on his thirty years' experience; amongst spiritualists, Mr "W. Marriott-, the wellknown critic of spirit photography, (described fairy: photography as unquestionably a "fake." The whole' thing, he taid, was/ of course, too ridiculous. Every one Wjas internet- 0 ' 1 the survival after death, but it was a Question of proof. If one expressed to spiritualists a dpubt. of the genuineness of their phenomena, they turned and rent you fn pieces, fib far as proving life after death was concerned, we were in the position described in the words: ' Not one returned to tell us of th-3 i'°ad, which to discover we must travel. If there was anything, continued Mr Marriott, that could prove the reality of spirit return, those who believed in spiritualism had their case proved- That evidence hewas still seeking, The ghost appeared on the photographic plate, but it did not put its' picture there through the lens; There was a great difference between "I lielieve and "I know.". When spiritualists said they eould prove their case, all he wanted to know was whether their prpofa won](J stand a tost. At tho present moment he was unable to believe that thpy could, ; - Mr Marriott related a number of exposures of famous mediums, fcjid the way in which he had been ablo to roproduce their manifestations before witnesses by admittedly fraudulent: means. His triumph,' lie said, was complete, when lie produced & spirit photograph of a ring of -fairies dancing round the bead of Sir Arthur '.Conan Doylefairies which; were subsequently recog* niped by an outsider as exactly! similar to those in,, a night light advertisement. . j.- : A lady supporter of spiritualism and a member of the Psychical _,' Research insiianccd .cases of Scientists who discovered during the war that cleotroscopes; "fired" in .the presence .of -certain people and not in the presence of others, aid aai<l that *Mr Marriott failed to keOp himself abreast of modern science; Another spiritualist said she had no pse for mediums. E3very 7 one was his own medium, and that admitted of no trickery, Dr. Norman, in charge or the Camberwell Asylum, said he safr people every day frho declared that they had messages froin dead and distatjt friends who Tieardj voices, and so tin. He worked in ap asylum. The o)ily thing we could be| certain of about ourselves was that we[ were subject to illusions.