A NEW PALINGENESIS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1800, 19 January 1884, Page 1 (Supplement)

A NEW PALINGENESIS.

by ro:;i;kt duncw mhai,. Tin: stcry I am about to r-lato will seem absurd to most, fan ci fol to 'na iv, but suggestive, I hope, to a few. Absurd t.o lho--c whose ideas aro bounded by the iron pale of dogma and prejudice ; fanciful (o those who, though intellectually capable of giasping the philosophy pot forth, yot Ctin not bee beyond or behind the school they have bcea brought up in ; sng~esti/o tj the few wlio .sfiil retain indeprnJenjo of thought sufliuent to know tho t they as yet know nothing of the inner woikings of nature. I oifer no apology «;nd ask no ciedcncc for the facts narralpd. Tuy province i r ! simply to .state them, and leave the concha-ions to be diawn from theni to the public. About a year ago I chanced to drop in, one Sunday afternoon, at a ceitain public h»,ll, wheio a so-called fapiiitualistic meeting was in progress Though by no means a disciple of this cieed, philosophy, ■superstition, or whatever eKe It may hi styled, I have yet found Milftciont origimlity of idea iii lt-i suppoiteri to justify rae at least in giving the subject a fan 1 examination, po far as in me liey. It has plway^ .seemed to nic that, taken as an enihely, the punciplc which is aimed at in this — shall I call it philosophy ? —is a pine and elevating one; that, however its individual exponents may eir tliiough motrve-3 of gain or some passion equally ignoble, the main idea is not to be judged by tho conduct of a clasrt of its supposed adhcient?. There can be no question that the idea of a hereafter, conditioned in a reasonable mode, where there is room, oppoituni'y, and cncourpgaueni; for the development of the spiritual £>nd intellectual pouion of man's nature, i, a prepossessing and seductive one. If th^ conception is vain and baseless, there can bo no question that a largo proportion of intelligent, people, iv. this oomitiy rnoie especial^ , unLxtain it ; and I think it may be safely admitted that those who do not entertain it, unless they aie extremely ignorant or depraved, would bo glad if they could reasonably do so. To my poor appiehension, the hereafter of the spuitualists ha? more to recommned it -has more flesh and blood, 80^ to speak — more reasonableness, moie affinity with or Unary humanity, and is const) uclecl on a le«s fanciful pan, than the heaven of the theologian*. But lha proof I Ah, the proof— the pioof the existence of a hereafter at all, conditioned in any manner whatsoever, or conskuctod on any plan— has it been produced ?— is it forthcoming ? The dominant and, theoretically, the purest religion on eaith bases the dogma of immortality on fiith, and faith it defined as the "suhstancp of thing, not seen." On the other hand, the claims of the .^."ritualistic philosophy hav° ne\er been universally, or even widely, acknowledged ; its a->se<.tions aie open to refutation ; it? pi oof ■? are not such as would be admissible in a couit of law. The many myotenous phenomena which it professes to produce have been actually and perfectly produced by the ordinary ait of the conj m or, and ko long as there is a possibility of producing them by natural means, the unbiased Judgement will acccp,; tho readier explanation of their production. Tho phenomenon of materialization, more particularly, has never b^eii placed on an inefutable basis, nor subjected to the test of scientific investigation ; but Ivis, on the contraiy, been frequently cxposs I r.s the ciealure 01 palpable ivnd glaring fraud. While the true spiritualist deploies Ihh fact, and deprecated sentence being passed upon his philosophy because of it, the tiuo disciple of positive science demancb, as he has a right to do, indisputable proof of the alleged phenomenon. That such proof has not yet been forthcoming, and that the so called phenomenon of materialization -\\u\\ i-, to My, the appearance of a being -who liv^.l upon this eaith, at some period in the past, in a f>bu^lantial and recognizable form, without the possibility of deception or fraud in buch appearance — ha 3 never been attested by competent and unprejudiced witnesses, is a veiy strong argument that this phenomenon will not buar aeientific investigation, raid that conclusions diawn therefrom, as bearing upon the actuality of a future oxistence, however convincin ; they seem to the eye of fiith, are not admissible in the logic of exact aci°nco. It has, strangely enough, fallen to my lot to witness, i.^ example of this phenomenon worked out, jio>. only without tho aid of the ordinary paraphernalia. o£ mediums, cabinets, darkne&s, ami the other conditions of so called ppiriiual manifestation*, but in a purely material manner, and in stiict accordance with scientiic law. Nay, more tnan this, the lady who was the kubjeet of this rehabitation in her original human form, did not vanish, liko the " b.i-jjless fabric of a vision," after reineorporalion, but retains her .substantial form, and is at this moment in full possession of all the functions of life. Ye^; the vast problem is at last solved, the door of the mystery is unlocked, and all doubts as to the existence of intelligent spirit independent of corporeal framework is set at rest for ever. That others may airive at a similar conviction upon this all-important issue is my object in giving the following history to the world. Some months ago, I happened to be present ala spiritual istio meeting in a certain public hall of this city. The exercises began, as is customary, with au oration by a so-called inspirational speaker. Next,alady "medium," seated at a table covered with folded slips of paper, upon which names of deceased friends had been previously written by as many of the audience as chose to do so, delivered ■what purported to be communications from spirits answering to the written invocation. After this, a cabinet, such as is used by most materializing mediums, was wheeled upon the stage, at an opening in which appeared semblances of human hands and faces, the medium beir.j, to all appearance, securely bound within, and consequently supposed to be incapable of producing the phenomenon in question unassisted by external agency. All this I had witnessed many times before,

and had long since ccaseJ to wonder, not at the manifestations, but at their meaningless, puerility. Surely, 1 thought, the mehanical display of hands, and the discordant rafctlo of musical instruments is dcarcely a fitting occupation for a departed sphit, nor does it impress one strongly with the dignity of the fiitiuc life. While indulging in this train of reflection, a gentleman who sat next me made a remark singularly coincident with my engrossing idea : " Strange, is it not," said he, " that dupes and charlatans should bo suffered to tamper with the sublimest mystery in nature 1 It is this month ou s burlesque which brings the living reality into discredit." The remark was singular and suggestive. It seemed to imply more than it expressed. I recognized in the speaker a gentleman whom I had seen at these meetings on peveral previous occasions, and also a physician of good reputation and practice, one whom I knew well by sight though not from personal acquaintance. I felt cuiious to know to what extent Doctor S believed in spirit uaiism, if, in fact, he did so at all, and so too': occasion, when the meeting broke up, to impiovo tho opportunity ho had given in chopping the above remark by introducing nr> self. As it happened that our ways both led in tho same direction I walked up tho stc-eet with him. " What ia your opinion, doctor, of the phenomena we have just witnessed?" I asked, point blank. "I think they are clever tricks," replied the doctor. " I have seen Heller and other fhsl-rato conjurors produce results far more inexplicable." "Do you, then," I continued, "include all so en lied spiritual manifestation* in the same category." " By no moanp," he answered, with animation. There h no question in my mind that (lie manifestations afforded by certain media aie genuine. But they ere empirical. They bc<n the name relation to the true service of pphilualiTn as the nostruni3 of the quack doctor do to those of the regular practitioner. The qua"k may, and veiy frequently docs, achieve results in therapeutics, but he does not know ivlij he so achieves them. He does not giasp the inner meaning of what he does. Theiefore he is a quack. In like manner the medium hag no conception of the natuial law by which the manifestations of rapping, clairvoyance, and materialisation are brought about. Until these phenomena aie formulated and i educed to a scientific theorem, leasonable people — that is to say, people who hold faith and imagination subservient to reason — will have nothing to do with them. Science holds aloof fiom their consideration, as yet, for two reabons: firstly, because most men of science consider the < xamination of the subject trivial and beneath their dignity ; and, secondly, because those who are broadminded enough to give the .subject consideraat all, do not know wheie to begin. They are in the position of Aichimedea, who volunteered to move the sun if he weio given a lever and a fulcium. They aie even better off, for they have the lever of the physical sciences; all they want is the fukrum. They do nob ]-ao\v wheie to begin the attack. There seems to be no single foundation-stone of scientific fact wheicoii to build a logical scientific htmctiue." " Yet jon tell me that you, who arc well 1 nown a a a man of scientific methods of thought, attiibute these phenomena to a genuine scientific cause,"' I remarked. " Ceitainly, I do," acquiesced the doctor ; "ami what is more, I have no doubt that I have ai lived at a proper conception of that cause." "Aie you at liberty to explain its nature?" I asked. " I can give it you in one word," he replied; "electricity." " Paulon me," I said, "but this does not explain anything to me at all. It seems to mo that a vague generalism only leads us fjithcr fiom ihe concrete fact we wish to get at." " I am aware," he went on, smiling, " that tho phiase I employed is a generalization in which ignorance finds refuge, and by which quasi philosophers evade a subject they are unable to giapple with. I know that ' clectiicity' i 3 considered responsible for all natural phenomena which cannot bo explained on any known scientific hypothesis — eaithquakea, cyclones, tidal-wave 3, sun-spots, and what not. It would, therefore, be a very easy w<iy of getting over the difficulty in rogaid to the cause of spiritual manifestations to merely say that they had their origin in some form of clectiical action. But we must be more particular ; we must condition that action in such a manner as to reasonably account for tho phenomena." "And you say you have done this?" I observed, inquiringly. " I can at all cvent3 account for all socalled spiritual phenomena in a manner satisfactory to myself," replied he, " and I am considered somewhat fastidious, logically speaking, and difficult to please," he added, diyly. " B ut here are at my house. Won't you come in and rest, and perhaps I may be able to explain myself more minutely ?" We turned into the grounds and entered the house. As we entered the drawing-room a lady rose to meet us, whom the doctor introduced as his wife. She immediately after sank down upon the cushion whence she had risen to receive us. I could see at once that Mrj. S was in tho grasp of that most pitiless and hopeless of all maladies, consumption. I could see, too, that she retained traces of what had once been remarkable beuuty of a lcfined and intellectual order. As our conversation progressed it insensibly glided from a discussion of the meeting we had ju&t left to a consideration of the spiutual philosophy in general and the mystery of a futuie life. The lady spoke fieely and unreservedly upon this topic, speculating calmly upon her approaching dissolution, which the doctor acknowledged himself powerless to prevent. Florida, Italy, Madeira, all had been tried, but they had only served to retard, not avert, tho approach of the inexorable destroyer. Then, as frequently happans in such cases, Mrs. S had expressed a wish to pass away peacefully amid the bceues she loved ; and that this wish had been acceeded to by the doctor showed conclusively that he, too, considered the case beyond the reach of human aid. While noting the tender care and consideration with which I the doctor arranged the cushions, and peri formed those hundred little nameless offices which only affection dictates, for his invalid wife, I could not help wondering, as so many more have fruitlessly done, at the mysterious provision which does not permit U 3 to know whether the emotions and affections are merely the chance mechanism of a moment, or enduring and imperishable entities which have an infinitely more lasting existence than tho forms of matter with which they are now associated. lat length rose and took my leave, being accompanied to the door by Doctor 3 , who repeated hio promise to go more fully into the subject I had. come to investigate on sonic luture occasion." Months passed, (luring which I paid no further visits to spiritualistic meetings, nor was I again thrown in the way of Doctor S . In fact, our meeting had dropped entirely out of ray memory, when it was abruptly recalled, a few days ago, by the receipt of the following note : 863 E Street, January —th, 1883. Dr.Mi Sin, — You will doubtless lemember meeting mo and aceompanyiug mo to my houso ono Sunday in August last. I then promised to explain to you my views on the subject of sphitualisra. lam now ready to fulfill that promise. I

pjiticul.uly request lint jo.i will coino to my house this evening, as eaily as you can. You enn confer a lasting obligation on mo by doing so, as I have a mo^t impoi tnnt personal reason for (fashing your presence. To-morrow will be too late ; and if you cannot bo at my house this evening by bi\ o'clock, ploaso let me knovr upon receipt of this, by m <o songor. Yours truly, SrEnuiN S . Even had I been otherwise engaged, the earnestness of the doctor's letter would have induced me to forego the engagement ; but as I was not, I immediately dispatched a messenger saying that it would give me great pleasure to accept his invitation. Six o'clock accordingly found me at the entrance of the doctor's mansion. I rang the bell, and the door wa3 opened by himself. He was evidently expecting me. He shook me waimly hy the hand, and lad mo into the drawingro^ra, where a comfortable fire burned in the grate, and where I had, on my former visit, been introduced to his v/ifo. I remarked her absence, and immediately inquired after her health. "Mrs. S ," replied the doctor, giavely, in answer to my quciy, " is, I grieve to say, at the point of death. Ido not think she will last through tho night." I forbore to make any comment on this singular communication, though I could not help feeling inwardly surprised that the doctor should have chosen such a time as the present to explain his vie\v3 on the subject of sphitualism. Nor was the mystery lessened by the leflection that lie might possibly have only niado the promise a pretext for securing my presence to assist hi-n in watching over and soothing the final hours of his dying wife, for I neither belonged to the medical profession, nor was I an intimate friend of the family ; and the circuni3fcances of the case forbade the supposition that my attendance was required in any capacity of mere oidinary utility. The doctor seemed to divine what was passing in my mind. " I suppose," he said, " you are surprised at my sudden and urgent invitation of to-day, in connection with what I have just told you. The fact is, I want you as a witness," emphasizing the final word ; " and a witness in a double sense. I desire you to witness the proceedings which will take place to-night, both as a man and a crif ic. Your critical observation is for yourself, your porsonal for me. Things may take pkco to-night which may necessitate your appearing and giving evidence in a court of law. Without such evidence T should be running a risk. I have selected you for a number of reasons which I need not now mention. Arc you willing to oblige me, and at the same time inform yourself upon the piofoundest and most vitally important problem which can be presented to the human family — namely, the existence of individual intelligence after death ; or, to put it in ordinal v phraseology, tho immortiility of tho human soul ? " To say that I wad amazed at this sj)eech. of the doctor will scarcely express the condition of my feelings. Had lato watching exerted (as it will frequently do) an unsettling influence upon the brain, so as to induce a train of fantastic ideas upon the subject most near to it tit the moment ? Or was the doctor, after all, it ally and actually an enthusiast upon the subject of spiritualism ? A glance at iho grave, kindly face befoio mn, and the clear eye that looked p jnetiaoiujdy into miae, convinced me that the fiist of thc-.o theories, ad all events, was noL supported by appearances. As to the second, 1 had no means of determining at picscnt. " I am perfectly leacly," I said, " and shall be glad to witness whatever you desire, though I do not quite undeiotaad your allusion to a court of law. Of course I shall object to witnessing anything that might seem contrary to my notiona of what is right." " I pledge you my honor," returned tho doctor, earnestly, "that though what you may witness will be totally unprecedented both in operation and in result, I will do nothing but what is perfectly admissible for a man of science to do, and nothing unbecoming a gentleman." "Pardon my hesitation," I answered. "I shall be delighted to assist in any manner under these conditions." As I finished speaking, the doctor opened the door and led the way to another portion of the house. I noticed, a<-; we pissed along, that a peculiarly pungent odor of chemicals psnaded the air ; but I attributed this to the fact that the doctor probably compounded medicines in his own laboratory. We presently came to a door, which the doctor opened and motioned for me to follow. I found myself in a spacious and richly furnished chamber, evidently a lady's, and had no difficulty in recognising, in the wan and emaciated figure, reclining on a couch near the fire, the lady to whom I had been picvioasly introduced as the doctor's wife. She was stretched at full length, with her head thrown back upon the pillow and her eyes closed. To my surprise, she was elegantly dressed in white satin. "It is her bridal dress," explained the doctor, iv hushed tones, as we noiselessly appioached the couch ; "it was her paiticulav desire that the operation should take place under these conditions." The operation ! thought I. Ah ! that explained it all. It was a new operation which the doctor intended to perform — possibly a dangerous one ; and he desired my evidence in case it should not turn out as he expected. But why so if tiio operation wcie legitimate? It might be legitimate and yet new ; and his desire for secrecy might arise from a wish to conceal its modus operandi from his brother practitioners. This solution of the matter seemed satisfactory. While I had been thus meditating, the doctor had been bending over the lady, evidently feeling her pulse. He now rose to an erect attitude, and said : "It is time that we should commence our preparations. I must ask your assistance to place my wife in the position necessary for the operation. We must carry her over there." And as he spoke he moved toward an alcove concealed by heavy curtains. Drawing aside the drapery, a strange spectacle was revealed. At the left-hand side there was set upon tho floor a large oblong tank of glass, about seven feet long by three feet in width, and the same in depth. I had seen similar receptacles used as aquaria. Within this receptacle was placed a species of table, consisting of a long, narrow slab of plate-glass, set upon supports of the same material. A similar slab of plate-glass served as a lid to the tank, from the top of which projected a glass funnel connecting with a table of the same material which ran perpendicularly down to nearly the bottom of the tank, its end dipping into two or three inches of colorless liquid which already lay there. This tube and funnel were near the left hand end of the tank, while at the right hand end there was another apparatus as follows: Two glass tables, similar to the one I have just described, descended from the lid in the same, but not to the same depth. One ran down merely for a few inches into the body of the tank, and was there lengthened by a flexible india-rubber continuation ending in &u inverted glass cup ; while the other, with a similar termination, descended to within a foot and a half of the bottom. After emerging from the lid these tubes were bent at right angles, and extended to the side of another glass receptacle, nearly the counterpart of the "first in all particulars, except that its longest diameter ran vertically instead of horizontally; in other words, it stood on end, instead of lying 'flat on its longest side. From the ends p£ these I tables projected wires, one of them ending

lat ft poiut about midway from top to \ bottom of tho tauk, the other at a point some eighteen inches higher. These wires, I could now see, extended through the tables to the horizontal tank, their other ends projecting from the terminal glass cups. A few seconds sufficed to enable me to note these particulars, which, though inexplicable to me, were, at the same time, mechanically considered, very simple. The doctor, after drawing aside the curtain and critically examining the apparatus, requested mo to assist him in removing tho massive glass slab from tho top of the reservoir. This done, he returned tojjwhere' his wife was lying, kissed her, and placing hi 3 hand beneath her shoulders, asked me to take hold of her lower limbs, so that we could lift and carry her elsewhere. C-J-uided by him we noiselessly raided the insensible body from the couch, and cairied it toward the alcove. Still following his injunctions, we together lifted the inanimate form over the side of the tank, and laid it carefully upon the tabular glass slab that lay at the bottom, the doctor placing tho forehead directly under, and in contact with, the lower glass cup I have picviously referred to. I then assisted him to replace the massive 3lab, which served as a lid or cover, on the top of the tank. This done, the doctor regarded the tanks in rapt attention, while I stood silently by, waiting to see what would transpire. Presently an idea struck me with most forcible impression^ That lady was not dead. An operation wa;, about to be performed on her. These two faota I was aware of —l had them from the doctor. But there was another fact I was alto aware of, and that was that this living woman was now shut up in an air-tight ie:ervoir, and that, sooner or later, unless the air were lenewed, .she would infallibly be asphyxiated. I communicated my conclusion to the doctor. "You are perfectly right," he as-ented, giavcly. "A human being, or animal, in oidinaiy health, would speedily be rufi'oaated under such conditions. .But the lady before you is dying. Her respirations do not number three a minute. My knowledge of the case tells me that long before the store of air in that ressrvoii is exhausted, she will die of inanition." " Will die of inanition I " I repeated, aghast. " What can you meau ? What, then, is the nature of the operation you said you were going to perform to save the lady's life ? Why do you not proceed with it ?"' "I did not say I was going to perfoim an operation to save the lady's life," rojonicd the doctor, slowly, and with marked emphasis on the latter words. "Jn point of iacfc, the operation doss not begin until afLer her phybical death." "Then sir," said I, " I consider you have deceived me. You have taken advantage of my supposed iguorance, or my supposed indifference _upon such matters, to secure the assistance you could have obtained nowhere else for your unhallowed experiments. But you hnvc miscalculated your man, sir. I care not if you are a representative man in the medical piofession. I only know that you arc acting in a grossly iuhuaian manner. I only know that this lady is not yet dead, and that you arc waiting, by your own admission, for her death, in order to institute J know not what cold-blooded experiments upon her lHelp«s body. But I shall not aid or abet you in them ; nor shall I wLtnes3 them. On the contrary, I shall take immediate steps lo have these proceedings stopped and investigated," anrl I walked toward the door. "Stop! ' called the doctor. "Do not touch that door-knob or you are a dead man. I anticipated that something of this natuie might happen, and accordingly took the pre caution to connect the door-handle with a fully charged secondary battery when we entered. See 1 " and he held out an iron rod, insulated by a glass handle, clode to the door-knob. The quick flash that passed fiom one to the other convinced me that I was in apiison more seciuo than the Bastille, and guarded by an incorruptible and inexorable warder. "And now," said the doctor, "that you see the folly and fatality ot the couiso you were about to pursue, I hope you will not again inteirupt me in the progress of this operation. I daie not leave the neighborhood of my wife for an instant. I repeat the ar.&mancc which I gave you before, that nothing should be done derogatory to the character of a physician or a gentleman, and I beg you will believe it. None but the nar-row-minded and depraved can impugn my motives or misinterpret my acts. Believe me that all which I value most in life lies mute and inanimate within that crystal casket at tlud moment, and that whatever you may witness is done simply and only for the good of her." And he again took up hi 3 posiliou of watcher intently and earnestly before the re^eivoivs. My sciuples were not yet conquered, for the events and circumstances of the evening were not of the data to induce mental ease and confidence. I noticed, however, that the vvindovss of the apartment, were securely baired and bolted, and, for aught I knew, might bo protected by the same unseen and deadly agency as the door. I felt, therefore, that it was folly for me to attempt to communicate with the outside world as matters stood, and so resolved to muster up all my moral energies in opposition to whatever did not strike my innate conceptions as being right and proper in the actions of the doctor j himself. From being profoundly subjective, I instantly became keenly objective. I appreciated the extraordinary situation I wa3 in. In front of me, a woman dying ; wan, emaciated, inanimate; shut up in an air-tight, transparent saicophngus ; clad, as if in mockery, in her bridal dress. At my side a sedate, intellectual-looking man, well past the meridian of life, watching, quietly but earnestly : watching, watching — for what? Myself, creature o£ circumstances, inveigled, enwrapped into witnessing, I could not predict how much of the horrible or illegitimate, but utterly powerless to do more than protest. Concluded in our next.)