Edward T. Bennett

“ So long as one is bound to accept imposed conditions and merely witness what goes on, I have no confidence in my own penetration, and am perfectly sure that a conjurer could impose upon me, possibly even to the extent of making me think that he was not imposing on me; but when one has the control of the circumstances, can change them at will, and arrange one's own experiments, one gradually acquires a belief in the phenomena observed quite comparable to that induced by the repetition of ordinary physical experiments. ”

“ But as all the facts come singly, any one who dismisses them one by one, is destroying the conditions under which the conviction of new truth could arise in his mind." [69]
Mr. Myers, in summing up the evidence in the case of Mr. Stainton Moses, dwells on the importance of simple repetition. This, though practically effective, is scarcely a scientific consideration. A fact is none the less a fact on account of the rarity of its occurrence, any more than the existence of a rare animal or plant is rendered questionable by the fewness of the number of specimens which have been found. ”

“ D. D. Home, on the contrary, does not appear to have been a man who could have been termed a religious character, or spiritually-minded, nor did he give evidence of intellectual talent. But he had gained access to some of the highest society in Europe. And yet both men were "mediums" for these curious phenomena, to a wonderful extent, both as regards the amount and the variety of the manifestations. Although the two men were so different, there is a parallelism in the phenomena in so many respects, that a similar origin or source seems inevitably suggested. ”

“ If attempts are made to reproduce the phenomena of Spiritualism, under what appear to be precisely similar conditions, by means which have previously been successful, failure to obtain the wished-for results may very probably follow. It is no use to rebel and to feel inclined to abandon the pursuit as useless! That would be most unscientific! The inquirer finds himself in the presence of a subtle elusive influence, which he seems unable to control, and which refuses to submit to the laws which govern physical experiments. On the other hand, perseverance may be richly rewarded. ”

“ Guthrie had laboriously carried out a long series of experiments ... he set about endeavouring to convince such students of science as he could lay his hands upon in Liverpool; and with this object he appealed to me, among others, to come and witness, and within limits modify, the experiments in such a way as would satisfy me of their genuineness and perfect good faith. Yielding to his entreaty, I consented, and have been, I suppose, at some dozen sittings, at first simply looking on so as to grasp the phenomena, but afterwards taking charge of the experiments.... ”

“ A proof means destroying the isolation of an observed fact or experience by linking it on with all pre-existent knowledge; it means the bringing it into its place in the system of knowledge; and it affords the same sort of gratification as finding the right place for a queer-shaped piece in a puzzle-map. ”

“ And actual converse with many persons has led me to believe that in order to attract such help, even from scientific men, some general view of the moral upshot of all the phenomena is needed.... The time is ripe for a study of unseen things as strenuous and sincere as that which Science has made familiar for the problems of earth."
[138] Coming now to more definite considerations, Mr. Myers writes thus of Telepathy, lifting it on to an altogether higher plane: "In the infinite Universe man may now feel, for the first time, at home. The worst fear is over; the true security is won. ”

“ There were peculiarities special to each, but untouched movements of heavy articles, "levitations," lights, and sounds, were phenomena common to both. From whence does this "chain of mysteries" come? Is the source to be sought for in undiscovered powers and faculties of the men themselves, or in the action of other intelligences? That is a problem which must be left. It is outside the scope of this inquiry, which deals solely with the establishment of physical facts. ”

“ Do not let these puzzle-maps go out of fashion; they afford a most useful psychological illustration; the foundation of every organised system of truth is bound up with them.... It is because a number of phenomena, such as clairvoyance, physical movement without contact, and other apparent abnormalities and unusualnesses, cannot at present be linked on with the rest of knowledge in a coherent stream—it is for that reason that they are not, as yet, generally recognised as true; they stand at present outside the realms of science ”

“ Public opinion frequently takes up sensational occurrences in a most illogical and unscientific manner. But a permanent effect may thus be produced, which is extremely difficult to eradicate, even if shown to be unjustifiable. This episode with Mrs. Lyon has probably had more effect than any other circumstance in causing the feeling of aversion with which large numbers of people regard Home and all his doings. He is looked upon, and spoken of, as if he were an unprincipled adventurer, convicted of fraud, and of obtaining money under false pretences. ”

“ But where can any other field be found of equal interest? Difficulties and perplexities meet the explorer in abundance. But they exist in order to be overcome by the same steady persistence which has attained its reward in many another direction.
With regard to two other chapters I desire also to make a special remark—those on "Materialisations" and "Spirit Photography." Both are physical phenomena. But I desire to make it plain that no [123] claim is made of being able to present evidence with regard to either of these subjects which should satisfy the reasonable demands of science. ”

“ Myers has expressed himself so strongly in favour of the reality of the Home phenomena, and has said, in conjunction with Professor Barrett, that they found no allegations of fraud on which they were justified in laying much stress. Much more to the purpose is Mr. H. Arthur Smith's comment: "Whether this is to Home's discredit or not of course will be decided according to one's belief in Spiritualism and the reality of her husband's interference." ”

“ THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE DRAWINGS There is one, and perhaps only one phase of the great subject of Thought-Transference or Telepathy the manifestations of which can legitimately be included among physical phenomena. Involuntary drawing or scribbling is a phenomenon of very common occurrence. But when such an involuntary drawing turns out to be a more or less exact copy of a drawing which the involuntary draughtsman has never seen ”

“ Love is a kind of exalted but unspecialised Telepathy;—the simplest and most universal expression of that mutual gravitation or kinship of spirits which is the foundation of the telepathic law. This is the answer to the ancient fear; the fear lest man's fellowships be the outward, and his solitude the inward thing.... Such fears vanish when we learn that it is the soul in man which links him with other souls; the body which dissevers even while it seems to unite.... ”

“ We invite [139] workers from each department of science, from every school of thought. With equal confidence we appeal for co-operation to savant and to saint.
"To the savant we point out that we are not trying to pick holes in the order of Nature, but rather by the scrutiny of residual phenomena, to get nearer to the origin and operation of Nature's central mystery of Life. Men who realise that the ethereal environment was discovered yesterday, need not deem it impossible that a metethereal environment—yet another omnipresent system of cosmic law—should be discovered to-morrow. ”

“ Even as regards Thought-Transference, in which the number of careful experiments that have been made is far greater than in any other class of phenomena, it is still most important to multiply the quantity of the evidence. In most of the branches of the subject no expensive apparatus is required, and no special scientific or intellectual training. Accurate observation and careful recording, at the time, of all that [14] occurs, without prejudice, and without discouragement at apparent failure, are the chief requisites. ”

“ In this way I had every opportunity of examining and varying the minute conditions of the phenomena, so as to satisfy myself of their genuine and [99] objective character, in the same way as one is accustomed to satisfy oneself as to the truth and genuineness of any ordinary physical fact.
"I did not feel at liberty to modify the experiments very largely, in other words to try essentially new ones.... I only regarded it as my business to satisfy myself as to the genuineness and authenticity of the phenomena already described by Mr. Guthrie. ”

“ A mind unwilling to believe, or even undesirous to be instructed, our weightiest evidence must ever fail to impress. It will insist on taking that evidence in bits, and rejecting it item by item. The [127] man therefore who announces his intention of waiting until a single absolutely conclusive bit of evidence turns up, is really a man not open to conviction, and if he is a logician, he knows it. For modern logic has made it plain that single facts can never be 'proved,' except by their coherence in a system. ”

“ The worst fear was the fear of spiritual extinction or spiritual solitude. The true security is in the telepathic law. Let me draw out my meaning at somewhat greater length. As we have dwelt successively on various aspects of Telepathy we have gradually felt the conception enlarge and deepen under our study. It began as a quasi-mechanical transference of ideas and images from one to another brain." This is illustrated by the series of Thought-Transference Drawings; almost the only telepathic manifestation which strictly comes within the scope of our inquiry into physical phenomena. ”

“ In conclusion, your Committee express their unanimous opinion that the one important physical fact thus proved to exist, that motion may be produced in solid bodies without material contact, by some hitherto unrecognised force operating within an undefined distance from the human organism, and beyond the range of muscular action, should be subjected to further scientific examination, with a view to ascertaining its true source, nature, and power. ”

“ It is proposed to examine those phenomena of the former class, the reality of which may fairly be assumed to be [12] proved by scientific evidence. The scope of the work is thus reduced to reasonable proportions. There are several groups of phenomena which appear to violate, or at least to extend in a striking manner, laws recognised by Physical Science. The evidence to be relied on will be that of scientific men of high standing, and of other persons of unquestioned literary and social position. ”

“ To believe that prayer is heard is to believe in Telepathy—in the direct influence of mind on mind. To believe that prayer is answered is to believe that unembodied spirit does actually modify (even if not storm-cloud or plague-germ) at least the minds, and therefore the brains, of living men. ”

“ It is only the foot of a ladder, to use another simile, resting on the material earth, which we have been considering; at most the two or three lowest rungs. But to the eyes of some, even now and here, glimpses of angels ascending and descending are visible.
Five names stand out prominently before all others among the earlier investigators of the last thirty years—Sir William Crookes and Professor W. F. Barrett, who are still with us; and Professor Henry Sidgwick, Edmund Gurney, and F. W. H. Myers, who have gone. ”