MR McLEAH & THE SPIRITS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7055, 17 February 1910, Page 1

MR McLEAH & THE SPIRITS

DR TUDOR JONES REPLIES DANGERS OF QUACKERY. TTo the Editor "N.Z. Times.**) Sir, —It was with no surprise that I read in tho "Times” of Tuesday the correspondence of Air W. McLean, uud I reply only to satisfy your readers. I shall not condescend to take any notice of tho remarks of Mr McLean. Men in Mr McLean's state of mind, as far as 1 am concerned, arc loft to say what they like. Such men make pretensions to avenues of knowledge beyond the means of ordinary human beings. Me McLean's tactics arc not surprising to me, and they point to a material shrewdness which is worthy of his spiritistic confessions. Your readers have not boon made aware of the letters sent to America by Mr McLean and his friends. Why have these been kept back? And, further, why have the replies been kept back until now. They must have reached Wellington before Christmas time. Mr McLean's well-known shrewdness seems to account for this, but liis attempt to do me any injury ou the ovo of my departure is, fortunately, not within the province of a man. of his calibre.

Your readers will be able to judge for themselves as to Dr Hyslop’s meaning if they will read portions of his latest book, entitled •* Psychical Research and the Resurrection,” published in May, 1908. Lombroso was mentioned by Mr McLean in the Bailey seance. Lombroso's medium was Eusapia Palladino. Dr liystop shall be the judge on this. On page 70 of the book I have mentioned ho states that it is surprising to find a man like M. Flournoy unable to detect Palladino's "trickery.* > .These are Hyslop’s words: "This is.all the more amazing . after Dr Richard Hodgson’s exposure of that clever; fraud!” That is Dr Hyslop’s reply "to Lombroso’s medium! I wish the spirits would impart a little knowledge to these p"e» tenders. They are greatly in need of it locally. They use terms and names and have not the slightest conception of the meaning of the terms they are using.

/When wo pass from Lombroso to Dr Hyslop himself, you find here a man who is".investigating the abnormal phenomena of. th©/mind. 'And it is. impossible,'/for me,’ ! to ; distinguish between those .abnormal states of th© senses and .of the, mind from spiritism.. All the psychologists of the world tar© of ,opinion that the presence of hallucinations, illusions, and delusions is the beginning of tho road which leads to madness. Scores of instances are found in Dr Hyslop’s book showing the.frauds'that Jiave been •perpetrated. ‘ When the author comes to deal . with the question of spiritism 3vo wavers between two hypotheses—that of secondary' personality and- that portion of deceased personality influencing the life in some mysterious manner. He shows the enormous diffi--culties that are in the way of-accept-ing either theory but .is willing to give tTi© latter hypothesis a chance. The whole book is a pica for sanity and idealism. And to say ; that Prolessor, Hyslop .calls spirits at,:a . ! fflO* mentis; notice’arid/can * communicate with. them, as they do at the Century Hall is a monstrous assertion, due to tho ignorance of tho local upholders of this, cult concerning what great men have written and what they, are aiming at. Mr McLean and his friends need, in the first place, a course of lessons in elementary psychology. But that requires ,some mental effort, Whilst calling spirits from tho other world requires no study and no preparation. Dr Hyslop depicts in a vivid manner tho. ignorance and bad temper and fraud that have filled the history of spiritism. One of the greatest psychologists of the world —-Professor - Hugo Munsterberg, of Harvard—states that all'these spiritistic claims are fraudulent. Professor "William-James has lately written an article on fho subject, and has stated that twenty-five years’ investigation have left him' just where he started. And hero in Wellington the spirit ■world-can .be, revealed, and the spirits trotted out for a payment of/five shillings a seance. The best'antidote I have seen for a long time is. Dr Hyslop’s, book. Of course, he, continues to investigate these phenomena. But that is a very different thing from being the possessor of a key tho door to tho spirit world./ Certain-’ ly the Whither, ot a question which troubles us 'all, and we try to get a solution for it. But, as Hyslop states, it is, all only a tentative hypothesis. I shall say nothing further than I said in first letter concerning tho Rev. M. J. Savage. But, I ask again, is ho the only one, or even the most competent, : to know the cause of his own illness? \Mr MaLeaan will 1 have to write to some others - and have their opinion on tho matter, lam sorry to ■refer to this theme. But‘the -local spiritists .bring forward names of men- ■ whoso- writings most of them Cannot understand, and claim even men who ask for some' solution for the problem of life, after death to be on their side. This question is too serious and sacred •to be deputed to quacks who possess neither superiority of intellect nor ?of integrity to ordinary human •-beings' Let them turn to their dictionaries and see what “ Light ” issues from there, on tho meaning of the terms they are bandying about so ignorantly and so dogmatically to-day. This is my last word on the. subject.—l am, etc.. W. TUDOR JONES.