LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 00010071410 Book__>l?Lk_ / SUPERSTITION AND SCIENCE: v** AN ESSAY. BY THE REV. S. E. MAITLAKD, D.D. F.E.S. & F.SJL LONDON: RIVINGTONS, WATERLOO PLACE. 1855. LONDON : gilbert and rivtngton, printers st. John's square. CONTENTS. SECTION PAGE 1. Introduction ....... 1 2. Reichenbach's Ghost Stories .... 7 3. The Christian Observer on Clairvoyance . .18 4. Table-Turning and Science 25 5. The Zoist on Spirit- Rapping . . . .30 6. Mr. Townshend and Mr. Close on Table-Turning and Rapping ...... 43 7. Credulity .48 8. Faith and Sight 53 9. Professor Faraday's Lecture . . . .66 Note A, on Section 2 85 B, on Section 3 . . . • . .86 SUPERSTITION. § 1. INTRODUCTION. I do not propose to write a treatise on Super- stition, or even to review and compare the definitions and disputes to which the word has given rise. In the few remarks which I here offer respecting it, I take it as popularly used and understood — that is, so far as it is under- stood — and indeed how far that may be, I pretend not to decide. To say the truth, I have not found that much was to be gained by any enquiry that I could make. Even the most popular sources of information are suf- ficient to initiate us into a puzzle. If we look for the word in Johnson's Dictionary, we find no etymological information beyond, "super- Z INTRODUCTION. stition, Fr. ; superstitio, Lat." This does not help an enquirer much ; but perhaps, in the hope that modern light may do more for him, he turns to Professor Branded " Dictionary of Science, Literature, and Art, comprising the History, Description, and Scientific Principles of every branch of human knowledge." There he finds the derivation stated thus, " Lat. su- perstitio from super above, sto, / stand: the steps of this derivation are extremely obscure." One can easily imagine this ; but, if the steps were not altogether invisible, it is a matter of regret that they are not indicated. Instead of that, the derivation is followed by an article of some length, almost as obscure as one can suppose the steps of derivation to have been. It begins by telling us that, " This word, like many others, has, in common language, both a subjective and objective sense; that is, we speak of superstition as a habit in the mind ; and we also speak of a particular tenet, or a particular observance, as ' a superstition/ &c." I am not finding fault with this. I do not doubt that the writer was at a loss what to say ; and so far I can sympathize with him. Several years before the publication of Pro- fessor Branded work, I had been asked to INTRODUCTION. 3 write the article on " Superstition" for an ency- clopaedia. I did not undertake to do it; but the enquiry and reflection to which the pro- posal gave rise, while it convinced me that I was not qualified for the task, led me to be- lieve that nine-tenths of the readers for whom the article was to be prepared, derived no clear idea from the word, and did not precisely know what they meant when they called men or things " superstitious." I mean no offence to the reader by asking whether, when he calls his neighbour cc superstitious/ 5 he really means much more than this — that in something which has more or less direct or indirect reference to religion, that neighbour's belief is more com- prehensive^ or his practice more strict, than his own ? He may, if not correctly, at least pardonably, reply, that the man whom he accuses of super- stition is, so far as the excess extends, wrong. But this is not our question. We may all be allowed to think ourselves right, and to hold what we consider either as defect or excess in others, to be wrong. Atheists, if there are any, consider Deists as superstitious. Deists think the same of those who believe in divine Revelation, Among those who believe in such b 2 INTRODUCTION. Revelation some reject Miracles, and think those who believe in them superstitious. Some are willing to admit past Miracles, but ridicule the superstition of those who believe the pos- sibility of present or future Miracles. Many who profess to believe in Miracles more gene- rally, and to think that what has happened may happen again, consider it necessary to do so under perpetual and earnest protests against being supposed to credit superstitious non- sense about sorcery, and witchcraft, and ghosts. Many who acknowledge that there are good and evil spirits in existence, hold it to be weak and superstitious to suppose that their agency is in any way employed in the providential government of the world, and to speak of that agency as if it were as much a reality as the acting of men among themselves. No doubt some evil arises from the use of words which depend in so great a measure on the character, circumstances, and opinions of those who use them ; but it cannot be helped. Such words must be used ; and they are intel- ligible enough for common purposes, if w r e only know what sort of people we are talking with. If there is a report of a giant, we must learn whether it comes from Lilliput or Brob- INTRODUCTION. D dignag ; and if we are told that a man is worth a million, we must inquire whether he is French or English. As it regards superstition, I do not know that much positive or practical evil arises from the vagueness and uncertainty which characterize the word, and leave us in doubt respecting the real character and opinions of those to whom it is applied. Few persons, I suppose, are really much the worse in mind, body, or estate, for being thought superstitious by their neighbours. As to the matter of fact, every man (except those, if there be any such, who have renounced all belief in every thing) is placed somewhere in the scale of credulity; and is looked up at as too high, and down upon as too low, by those who are beneath or above him in faith, just as he is in the matter of learning and money. If we hear that a man is learned, we cannot deny it, for who has not learned something? but it makes a great dif- ference whether the testimony comes from his university or a village ale-house — if he is rich, whether his neighbours and competitors inhabit Finland or Grosvenor-square. And with regard to superstition, we may commonly judge as to the meaning of the word in any particular case, from the general style and 6 INTRODUCTION. character of him who uses it. If a philosopher is much excited, and sets up a shout over the solution of a difficulty, or the detection of a fraud, and glorifies it as a triumph over Super- stition, we may suspect — we must not set it down for certain, but we may, I say, suspect — that he is not only glad to get rid of some- thing which he did not wish to believe, but that he means indirectly to impugn something else w r hich he cannot contrive to disbelieve. The panic haste in w r hich a vulgar dread of being thought superstitious, or of being driven to believe something disagreeable, calls on science and philosophy to come to the rescue — the prostration in which frighted ignorance waits to receive the lesson which it is to turn into nonsense by parrot-repetition — the silent awe with which it listens to " profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called" — all this is miserably ridiculous. It is something which cannot be estimated, or even imagined, by those who, without taking the trouble to look into facts, and to use the common sense which God has given them, are content to sit down, calm and silent, under the shameful conviction that they are not scientific, and must not pretend to have an opinion, but reichenbach's ghost stories. 7 must just swallow whatever pretenders to philosophy may condescend to tell them. But let me give an example ; for without some- thing of the sort I shall not be believed or even understood. § 2. reichenbach's ghost stories. A few years ago the Baron von Reichenbach published an account of some researches which he had made with regard to Magnetism, Elec- tricity, Heat, Light, &c. Two English trans- lations were published in London; one by Professor Gregory of Edinburgh in 1850; the other by Dr. Ashburner of London in 1851. All that need be said of these Researches here is, that in the course of them, the Baron found that during the decomposition of animal matter, light was evolved, and might be seen by persons endowed with a peculiarity of vision which rendered them what he called " sensi- tives." At the close of a section on " Chemical Action" the Baron breaks forth; — " I now bring forward a useful application of the facts 8 REICHENBACirS GHOST STORIES. already ascertained, which is to me so much the more welcome, as it tears up one of the chief roots of superstition, that mortal enemy to the progress of human enlightenment and liberty x ," and, after this flourish of trumpets, he pro- ceeds ;- " A case which occurred in the garden of the blind Poet PfefFel, has been widely circulated by the press, and is well known. I shall here mention so much of it as is essential. Pfeffel had engaged a young protestant clergyman, of the name of Billing, as amanuensis. The blind poet, when he took a walk, held Billing's arm, and was led by him. One day, as they were walking in the garden, which was at some distance from the town, Pfeffel observed, that as often as they passed over a certain spot, Billing's arm trembled, and the young man became uneasy. He made enquiry as to the cause of this, and Billing at last unwillingly confessed, that as often as he passed over that spot, he was attacked by certain sensations, over which he had no control, and which he always experienced where human bodies lay buried. He added, that when he came to such places at night, he saw strange (Scotice, uncanny) things. PfefFel, with the view of curing the young man of his folly, as he supposed it to be, went that night with him to the garden. When they ap- proached the place in the dark, Billing perceived a feeble light, and when nearer, he saw the delicate appearance of a fiery ghost-like form hovering in the air over the spot. He described it as a female form, with one arm laid across the body, the other hanging down, hovering in an upright 1 Gregory's Trans., p. 123. reichenbach's ghost stories. 9 posture, but without movement, the feet only a few hands- breadths above the soil. PfefFel, as the young man would not follow him, went up alone to the spot, and struck at random all round with his stick. He also ran through the spectre, but it neither moved nor changed to Billing's eyes. It was as when we strike with a stick through a flame ; the form always appeared again in the same shape. Many ex- periments were tried during several months ; company was brought to the place, but no change occurred ; and the ghost- seer adhered to his earnest assertions ; and, in consequence of them, to the suspicion that some one lay buried there. At last Pfeffel had the place dug up. At a considerable depth, they came to a firm layer of white lime, about as long and as broad as a grave, tolerably thick ; and on breaking through this, the bones of a human being were discovered. It was thus ascertained that some one had been buried there, and covered with a thick layer of lime, as is usually done in times of pestilence, earthquakes, and similar calamities. The bones were taken out, the grave filled up, the lime mixed up with earth and scattered abroad, and the surface levelled. When Billing was now again brought to the place, the appearance was no longer visible, and the nocturnal ghost had vanished for ever V Surely no plain person who wished to judge of things by common sense, would consider such a story, though it might have been "widely circulated by the press," as worthy of much attention. A sincere and reverent, but not blindly acquiescent, student of phi- 2 Ibid., p. 124. 10 REICHENBACR^S GHOST STORIES. losophy might perhaps suggest that the Baron had been obliged to go to newspapers (if docu- ments half a century old should retain that name) for a ghost story on which to build the "useful application" of his scientific dis- coveries — that when he had got it, it was in reality a tale resting wholly on the evidence of one young man — a tale told by a young man who professed to see what nobody else could see, to a man who, he knew, could not see at all — that it had every appearance of trick, and that probably the young amanu- ensis should have been horsewhipped for stand- ing by to see his befooled and helpless charge blindly thrashing away at the ghost. All this, and more than this might have been said (how truly I do not take upon me to determine) as to the alleged facts, merely as facts; and it might have been added that, as to the science or philosophy, the story is as lame as it can be. The Baron tells us that when he found that the decomposition of animal matter was accompanied by light, he wished to make the experiment of bringing a highly sensitive person by night to a church- yard. He says ; — "I thought it possible that they might see, over graves reichenbach's ghost stories. 11 where mouldering bodies lay, something like that which Billing had seen. Mile. Reichel had the courage, unusual in her sex, to agree to my request. She allowed me, on two very dark nights, to take her from the castle of Reisenberg, where she was residing with my family, to the cemetery of the neighbouring village of Griinzing. The result justified my expectation in the fullest measure 3 ." Some modern philosophers might talk of * suggestion ; ? and say that of course the lady saw what she supposed she was to see. I con- fess that I have not so much faith in suggestion as they have, and as a matter of fact, no such explanation is needed. Indeed one can only explain the Baron's satisfaction, by supposing that he went with a predisposition to have his expectation justified, and under an immovable conviction that his sensitive would see * some- thing like that which Billing had seen;" for, even according to his own account, what she did see was very different. Billing, the Baron has told us, saw a female form with defined arms and feet, hovering in the air " a few hands- breadths above the soil." As to Mile. Reichel he goes on to say, " she saw very soon a light, and perceived on one of the grave mounds, along its whole extent, a delicate, fiery, as it 3 Ibid., p. 126. were, a breathing flame. The same thing was seen on another grave in a less degree. But she met with neither witches nor ghosts ; she described the flame as playing [Dr. Ashburner has f waving*] over the graves in the form of a luminous vapour, from one to two spans in height." Certainly this was remarkably different from Billing's female figure, which was, as we have seen, " without movement," and had " the feet" a few hand-breadths above the soil. The Baron however proceeds : — " Sometime afterwards I took her to two great cemeteries near Vienna, where several interments occur daily, and the grave mounds lie all about in thousands. Here she saw numerous graves, which exhibited the lights above described. Wherever she looked, she saw masses of fire lying about. But it was chiefly seen over all new graves ; while there was no appearance of it over very old ones. She described it less as a clear flame, than as a dense, vaporous mass of fire, holding a middle place between mist and flame. On many graves this light was about four feet high, so that, when she stood on the grave, it reached to her neck. When she thrust her hand into it, it was as if putting it into a dense fiery cloud. She betrayed not the slightest uneasiness, as she was from her childhood accustomed to such emanations, and had seen, in my experiments, similar lights, produced by natural means, and made to assume endless varieties of form 4 ." 4 Ibid., p. 126. reichenbach's ghost stories. 13 The Baron adds in a Postscript that he afterwards took five other sensitive persons in the dark to cemeteries. cc All of them," he says, u have confirmed literally the statements of Mile. Reichel, and have seen the lights over all new graves more or less distinctly 5 ." Considering that the light is supposed to be evolved in the decomposition of animal matter, it is natural that those who could see it at all, should see it (as the Baron expressly says they did) over new graves ; and it is to be observed, that Billing professed to see his apparition over a spot where, so far as appears, nothing was found beside bones covered with a " firm," and "tolerably thick" (ziemlich dick), layer of white lime. How long the bones had been there, and whether if they had been let alone they would have flamed up for ever, seems uncertain. But it is neither my business, nor my inten- tion, to discuss the philosophy, or the facts, of this tale, I refer to it only by way of illustra- tion. My object is to show how a thing of this sort — that is an alleged scientific discovery that looks as if it might be turned to some account against what they are pleased to call supersti- 5 Ibid., p. 127. 14 reichenbach's ghost stories. tion — is received and reported by some philo- sophers. It is ludicrous to see the Baron bringing up such a very lame story, when ac- cording to his own account he knew of " thou- sands" to choose from, and bringing it up too with such a preface. Beside that, however, after the long passage containing the account of Pfeffel and Billing which I have already quoted, he says, — u It is hardly necessary to point out to the reader what I think of this story, which caused much discussion in Germany, because it came to us on the authority of the most trust- worthy man alive, and received from Theologians and Psy- chologists a thousand frightful interpretations 6 ." One cannot but wish that the Baron had given us some, if it had been only a score or two, of the "frightful interpretations" invented by these ingenious and abominable theologians and psychologists, but of course that was not to be expected. After discussing the chemistry of the matter up to the stage of a fiery appear- ance, and professing to show how that may have been produced, he says, — " Ignorance, fear, and superstition, would now give to the luminous appearance the form of a human spectre, and supply 6 Ibid., p. 125. 15 it with head, arms, and feet; just as we can fancy, when we will, any cloud in the sky to represent a man or a demon." The obsequious reader is I presume expected to answer^ " Oh ! yes, of course, that is quite natural. We can fancy what we please ;" but, for my own part, I am not conscious of such powers of imagination ; and I suspect that very few persons are so unfortunate as to possess them — but the Baron proceeds : — "The desire to inflict a mortal wound on the monster, Superstition, which, from a similar origin, a few centuries ago, inflicted on European Society so vast an amount of misery ; and by whose influence, not hundreds, but thousands of innocent persons died in tortures on the rack and at the stake ; — this desire made me wish to make the experiment," &c.7 7 This is Dr. Gregory's translation. Any one who com- pares it with the original, will see that he has taken what seems to me an unwarrantable liberty with the text of his author. At the same time, I do not wonder that he was tempted to modify such exaggeration. Dr. Ashburner, more correctly says, " when in unhappy trials for witchcraft, not hundreds nor thousands but hundreds of thousands of innocent persons," &c, p. 176. This is certainly a more faithful ren- dering of " wo in unseligen Hexenprocessen nicht Hunderte, nicht Tausende, sondern Hunderttausende unschuldiger Menschen," &c, p. 124. But neither does justice to the Baron's fierce wrath against Superstition, by giving u inflict a mortal wound," or " deal a mortal blow," as the translation of " in's Gekrose zu treffen." 16 REICHENBACIl's GHOST STORIES. He then proceeds in the words which I have already quoted ; and after the " postscript," to which I have referred, he again bursts forth : — " Thousands of ghost stories will now receive a natural ex- planation, and will thus cease to be marvellous. We shall even see, that it was not so erroneous or absurd as has been supposed, when our old women asserted, as every one knows they did, that not every one was privileged to see the spirits of the departed wandering over their graves. In fact, it was at all times only the sensitive who could see the imponderable emanations from the chemical change going on in corpses, luminous in the dark. And thus I have, I trust, succeeded in tearing down one of the densest veils of darkened igno- rance and human error 8 ." I quote the version of Professor Gregory, who is content to fulfil his office of translator. Dr. Ashburner seems to sympathise more in- tensely with the Baron on the triumphant slaughter of his thousands. He tells us in a note, — " The glorious Reichenbach has in this treatise done good service against the vile demon of Superstition 9 ," &c. The philosophers seem to be actually sur- prised out of their philosophy. They break out as if some scientific Blue-skin had " set them at ease" — as if the thousand interpre- s P. 127. 9 P. 180. reichenbach's ghost stories. 17 tations of silly theologians as well as the thousand superstitions of their silly fol- lowers — " omnia noctium occursacula, omnia bustorum formidamina, omnia sepulcrorum terriculamenta " — were sunk, like Pharaoh and his host, in the Red Sea. When I heard the shout of triumph, I began to consider whether I had ever met with any ghost story, or knew of any superstition, which was in any way explained, or touched, by the Baron's discovery. Giving all possible credit to his old, lame, solitary, and suspicious story of Billing, and to the Baron's assurance that it received from theologians and psychologists a thousand frightful interpretations, I could not think of any other story which had even as much colour of connexion with his researches. I wished for information : and I thought that the most likely way of obtaining it was to apply to the useful and widely circulated periodical work entitled " Notes and Queries ;" and in a note which appeared in the number for July 5th, 1851, after stating the case, I said, — * I do not question the fact ; my Query is where to find the 'thousands of ghost stories' which are explained by it ; and, as I suspect that you have some correspondents capable C 18 THE CHRISTIAN OBSERVER of giving information on such subjects, I shall feel much obliged if they will tell me l ." Some further details on this point will be found in a note 2 : I here merely state that I have not been able to get a reference to one single story. I do not take upon me to say that there are not "thousands" in existence; though really if there are, I cannot view the explosion of them as a thing which, if it ac- tually happened, should set grown gentle- men of science a shouting like boys who have got a half-holiday. I only say that, having used what seems to me to be due diligence, I have not been able to find one such story. This point (which we may call the vanishing point of bouncing assertions) is, however, so important, that I must further illustrate it by another very similar case. § 3. The Christian Observer on clairvoyance. More than twenty years ago I had occasion to notice the course pursued by the Christian 1 Vol. iv. p. 5. 2 See Note A. ON CLAIRVOYANCE. 19 Observer, and the doctrine explicitly laid down in a pamphlet published by its Editor, as to what has been popularly called supernaturalism. That doctrine is plainly stated for all future times and things. Be those things, and the evidence of those things, what they may, " we must admit any solution rather than a mi- racle 3 ;" but what I have now to notice seems to go a step farther. The Christian Observer for February 1854 contained a Review relating to Mesmerism; iand as I was then preparing a second edition of a pamphlet which I had published on the subject some years previously, I read that Review. My principal object in publishing the pamphlet had been to call the attention of educated and thinking persons, who were not likely to read, or even to meet with, medical or scientific books, to the fact that witnesses — living, known, and respected witnesses, who might be applied to, and enquired of — wit- nesses holding such positions in society as those of Lord Ducie, the Hon. Miss Boyle, the Hon. Mr. Phipps, Lord Adare, Lord Frederick Fitzclarence, and respectable mem- 3 Eravin, Essay X. p. 246. c 2 20 THE CHRISTIAN OBSERVER bers of the bar, the medical, and clerical pro- fessions — were publicly, and in print, giving or sanctioning statements of a very singular na- ture, relating to matters of fact ; and to ask whether philosophy, or any thing better or worse, required us to suppose that they were, one and all, either dupes or impostors — whether we could suspect collusion, or imagine them to be deceived, or trying to deceive, in their accounts of facts said to have occurred under their own observation — facts, respecting which it is satisfactory to examine living wit- nesses, but which, as to their nature and kind, do not rest on, or require their evidence, valu- able as it may be ; having been attested by credible testimony before they were born. But the Christian Observer makes short work of it, and declares that clairvoyance is fraud and nothing better. This is a very summary way of settling the matter ; but with this, I think the Reviewer should, in prudence, have stopped. If asked how he knew that it was mere fraud, he might have looked mys- terious, and said that he had reasons which he did not chuse to divulge. But instead of this he committed himself to a " test ;" and, he tells us, that it is a the best test." Let us ON CLAIRVOYANCE. 21 look at it, bearing in mind that the enquiry is not whether clairvoyance is a reality, but whether the test proposed by the Reviewer is founded in truth. I bring forward the case simply with reference to the conduct of those w r ho wish to be taken for philosophers, and who come forth with great words and alleged facts which, when called on, they do not at- tempt to support. This "best test," which according to the Reviewer proves clairvoyance to be fraud and nothing better, is that the challenges given to clairvoyants to read the numbers of bank notes locked up in metal boxes have univers- ally failed. Whether this means^ that chal- lenges which have been made have failed, from not having been accepted by clairvoyants, or that the clairvoyants having accepted the chal- lenges failed in attempts at performance, I do not know. It is not very material; and the reader will have the means of judging for himself presently. Taking it either way, it was sufficient to excite curiosity ; and I wished to know more about the bank notes and metal boxes. I did not like to be ignorant of a matter that, from the off-hand way in which its universality was spoken of, might be pre- 22 THE CHRISTIAN OBSERVER sumed to be notorious, even among those who were but superficially acquainted with the sub- ject. I thought it possible that the Reviewer (not at all knowing who he might be) would, perhaps, if civilly asked, put me in the way of finding some authority for his statement. At the same time, I was not much surprised at not finding the note which I addressed to the Editor in any way acknowledged. Cir- cumstances occurring which led to my being occupied otherwise than with my pamphlet, the matter rested for some months ; but not hearing, or finding any thing to the purpose, still desiring information on the subject, and presuming that others might know as much as the Reviewer, and be more communicative, I took the same course as that which I had followed in the matter of Reichenbach, and enquired publicly through the medium of " Notes and Queries." In the number for July 1, 1854, the following Query was inserted ; — CLAIRVOYANCE. If room can be made for the following letter, addressed some months ago to the editor of the Christian Observer, it will explain itself ; and perhaps some correspondent will he able and disposed to give me, either directly cr through your pages, the information which it was intended to elicit : ON CLAIRVOYANCE. 23 Gloucester, Feb. 4, 1854. Sir, In a review relating to mesmerism, in this month's Chris- tian Observer, the writer says, with reference to what is called clairvoyance, — ** The best test of this fraud (for it is nothing better) is, that of the challenges which have been given to the whole class of clairvoyants, to read the numbers upon certain bank notes which have been locked up in metal boxes, on the con- dition of receiving these notes when so deciphered ; and which have universally failed." — P. 133. I am endeavouring to collect evidence on the subject ; and as his language seems to indicate an acquaintance with cases that have not come to my knowledge, I should feel much obliged if he would favour me with a list of the chal- lenges to which he refers. In asking this information respecting what the writer speaks of as a notorious matter, I trust I shall not be con- sidered as intruding myself on his confidence, or trying to penetrate his incognito. I have no wish to do either, but merely ask for references to published documents, or such a statement of names and dates as may enable me to find them. I am, &c, Considering the wide circulation of this pe- riodical work, I thought it likely that, either through its pages, or by direct communication (as I gave my name and address) I might 24 THE CHRISTIAN OBSERVER, &C. obtain some light on the subject ; but up to this moment, I have not in any way learned any thing of any bank note having ever been locked up in a metal box, or of any bank note in any box being offered to any alleged clair- voyant, or any body else, either in experiments on clairvoyance or for any other purpose. As far as I can learn the statement is entirely false 4 . How is one to deal with such philo- sophers ? It seems as if there were only two ways of treating the strange stories which they have made up their minds to disbelieve ; at least I know not how to suggest a third. The first of these is that of simple denial — merely to maintain that they are untrue — and this, either by coarse, reckless, unsupported charges of " fraud," like that of the Christian Observer ; or by suggesting some grounds for supposing that the parties concerned had no senses, or had not the proper use of them, or were, somehow or other, intellectually, morally, or physically, disqualified from giving evidence on plain matters of fact. The second is to explain them — and this is a course of more difficulty, requiring perhaps no 4 See Note B. TABLE-TURNING AND SCIENCE. 25 more knowledge, but a great deal more skill, and prudence, and plausibility. He who merely sticks to the assertion that a story is, and must be, false, and that all who believe it are fools, will be more likely to get fame and followers — at all events will risque less in the attempt — than if he undertook to explain, and reason, and commit himself to statements respecting facts or opinions. The Christian Observer furnishes a sufficient illustration of the first of these methods 5 let us take a specimen of the second. § 4. TABLE-TURNING AND SCIENCE. Soon after the phenomenon of Table-turning had been talked about in this country, it was currently reported that science had explained it — that though the unscientific might very pardonably be puzzled by phenomena to which they were unaccustomed, yet the learned knew all about it — it was electricity, or perhaps one should say galvanism, or perhaps od force, or perhaps all of them, or perhaps they were all the same — but that, at all events, the matter was to be held, deemed, and taken, as some- 26 TABLE-TURNING AND SCIENCE. thing which had been satisfactorily explained by scientific men, on scientific principles. Some not very scientific persons were sur- prised and suspicious ; but in a very little while they were comforted, and restored to their self-esteem, by a shot from Professor Faraday, which effectually silenced these elec- tric batteries. Those who had been suspicious made merry when he snubbed the pretenders. Every body felt — and, I am sure, no one with a stronger sense of personal respect than my- self—that if he did not find electricity in any place where he might think proper to look for it, it was because there was none there. That matter was settled. But when the Professor came to supply an explanation of his own he was less happy. It was a pretty little key, but it did not fit the lock. However ingenious his illustrative appa- ratus might be, the solution itself did not meet the facts of the case — or if, to avoid contro- versy, it be admitted that it met the facts which were known at the time when it was invented, subsequent facts soon altered the case so far as to render the explanation insuffi- cient and unsatisfactory. A curious illustra- tion of my meaning may be found in the pam- TABLE-TURNING AND SCIENCE. 27 phlets of Mr. Prichard, a Fellow of the College of Surgeons, and, I am informed, an eminent and respected practitioner in Leamington. This gentleman in the year 1853 published a pamphlet entitled, "A few sober words on Table-Talk, about Table Spirits/ 5 &c, in which, having previously asked ; — " Is then the epilepsy of the teething infant possession ? Is the epilepsy of gastric irritation possession ? Is the epi- lepsy from organic causes possession ? " he goes on to say "Having stated what Table-Moving is not, let us now enquire what it is, and this at once introduces the fourth and last question— e Is it the result of an influence proceeding from, and perfectly explicable by, the acknowledged laws of matter and physiological science ? ' I have no doubt that it is so. Professor Faraday has taken some ingenious trouble to demonstrate to the public this simple truth, but as in the time of Hudibras, so now 6 The pleasure is as great Of being cheated as to cheat.' And the public will not readily give up its plaything and its pastime." Before the end of the year, however, Mr. Prichard reissued this pamphlet, with a post- script; and while he very honestly, and can- didly, allowed all the contents of the first 28 TABLE-TURNING AND SCIENCE. edition to stand unaltered, he prefixed a u Pre- face to the Second Edition" beginning; — " I have thought it the more candid and proper course to republish the foregoing pamphlet, and to append to it the Experiments which have entirely put 'hors de combat' the agency of either voluntary or involuntary muscular motion, which I have therein endeavoured to substantiate as a cause for the effects produced." Undoubtedly this was the most candid and proper course. Mr. Prichard begins the post- script, which is dated November 2, 1853, by saying, " Since the publication of the foregoing pamphlet, facts have been placed before my eyes which have conclusively proved the fallacy of my solution of the vexed question to which my remarks have reference ;" and on the first page he adds, " I will now state why I became dissatisfied with my im- pression that automatic muscular power was the agent used in moving matter by contact with the finger ends. In a word, then, I witnessed several tables taken off their legs, and, by a kind of impulsive force overcoming the force of gravity, and mounting into space, the only agent used being the contact of the finger ends of six hands placed lightly on the table top, and not within three inches of the edge any where." Mr. Prichard begins his account of his ex- periments thus ; — TABLE-TURNING AND SCIENCE. 29 "Experiment 1. — In the presence of several scientific per- sons, the following experiments were tried: several tables were made to move, on a stone floor, with great force and rapidity, and, no less than ten or twelve times were seen to move upwards into space with the fingers placed as I have before stated/' Whether Mr. Prichard has found anybody willing to accept his solution of the mystery I do not know 5 ; but it must be remembered that he is not quoted by me as an authority for any opinion, but only as a credible witness of a matter of fact, — of what he calls "the one fact of the rising of the table into space by no other agency than the finger ends placed upon it." p. 18. This is a matter of fact respecting which any man of honesty and understanding would be capable of forming a judgment, and giving trustworthy evidence. It may be hard to believe that " several scientific men/' assem- bled for the purpose of enquiry, and experi- ment, and therefore on their guard against deception or mistake, should suppose that they 5 It lies, if I understand him, in "a new, and, hitherto un- recognized law, namely, the disturbance of the atoms of matter by the instantaneous transmission of a fluid so power- ful and so subtle as that of electricity into its spaces or pores, exerting an antagonistic force to that of gravity, will be found to be the vis movendi, not only in the instances before us, but in many acknowledged operations of nature." — p. 18. 30 THE ZOIST ON SPIRIT-RAPPING. actually saw several tables " move upwards into space" with no assignable reason for such a movement — that this illusion, if it was one, should have been repeated ten or twelve times — that tc on occasion of this last set of expe- riments, the table was frequently seen as it were to jump from the floor and to descend at about the distance of two feet" — but it is like- wise hard (I think I may say, as hard) to believe that they could concur in imagining such a thing if it did not take place, or to assign any sufficient reason for their telling such a lie. What are we to say in such cases ? I quote this one merely for illustration; to which purpose it seems to me to be peculiarly adapted ; and if it should be proved that Mr. Prichard and his friends were all under a delu- sion, or that no such persons ever existed, the only consequence will be that we must look elsewhere for illustration, and shall be at no loss to find it. § 5. The Zoist on spirit-rapping. Of all the scientific explanations which I have seen, that which the Zoist has given of spirit- THE ZOIST ON SPIRIT-RAPPING. 31 rapping is one of the most remarkable and in- structive. Of course it was to be expected that a work which had so openly declared against " the superstitious and therefore detestable, ideas of the existence of goblins, evil spirits, and the reality of the mythos of the devil 6 ," should be the first in the field, anxious, like "the glorious Reichenbach," to inflict a mortal wound on the " monster Superstition." The Editor appears to have been quite alive to the responsibility of his position. He can hardly find words to express his feelings. Shocked and disgusted he exclaims, "Any thing ap- proaching to this imposture in impious auda- city we have never witnessed;" and he adds, " We have felt it an imperative duty boldly to raise our voice in condemnation of this vile and unblushing imposture 7 ." I am not enquiring w r hether the rapping is, or is not an imposture. Let us suppose that it is one. Our question is, how does the Zoist meet, and explain, and expose it? As I had occasion to remark in the case of the Christian Observer, the philosopher has incautiously gone too far for his own credit. It might be 6 No. V., p. 43. 7 No. XLI. p. 96. 32 THE ZOIST ON SPIRIT-RAPPING. very safe to raise his voice in condemnation of the thing ; but it was unwise to set about ex- planation. It would have been more prudent to have "boldly/ 5 and (of course) anonymously, denounced every body that had anything to do with it, as knaves or fools ; to deny, and carp, and cavil, and insinuate, and ridicule. Surely Mesmerists have had some example and school- ing in such practices ; and if it has not taught them to be peaceable, it might have given them a lesson in the art of war. Of course they are very angry with people who talk about spirits at all ; but, on the other hand, some of those people are not quite simple enough to receive such explanations as the Zoist offers, and would be much more affected by great words about imposture, and psychology, and the dif- ferential calculus. For what is the crushing and exterminating solution actually given after this boasting and bragging ? I shall hardly be believed, I fear ; and I cannot add as the poet does, that there are no prcemia falsi to tempt me. My aim, and object, and earnest desire, is to do something (however little may be in my power) towards freeing men who are capable of forming an opinion on such matters of fact as are to be judged of by common THE ZOIST ON SPIRIT-RAPPING. 33 sense, from the tyranny of empirics and pre- tenders to philosophy and science ; and some readers may think, without any serious breach of charity or justice, that I am under a tempta- tion to represent these philosophers and pre- tenders, especially those who swagger and affect to lead, in a ridiculous point of view. I do not deny that I am, like all other persons, liable to such temptations ; but in the present case, if I had no scruple about falsehood, and did not know how easily it might be detected, my imagination would never have reached to the invention of such an explanation. Indeed the ingenious inventor seems to have thought that it would be above even the readers of the Zoist, if not embellished with cuts. He says ; — u As to the raps, they are successfully made with the foot against a leg of the table or the chair. Place the sole of one of your boots or shoes with one side bent downwards (one foot being crossed over the other, if you please), so that the upper edge shall touch the leg of the table or chair ; and then a very slight movement of it backwards or forwards will give you the precise rappist sound : and you may give any in- tensity you think proper. Striking the inner edges of the two soles together will also give a tapping sound." And that it may be quite clear, there is a picture, thus ; — D 34 THE ZOIST ON SPIRIT-RAPPING. iC Insist upon the medium standing upright or sitting with her feet* apart, and not under the table, nor touching any thing but the ground, her petticoats being raised enough to expose the whole foot, and you will have no rappings : pro- vided she have no confederate. " As to the movement of the table, the medium sits with her feet under it, and you see that her knees are far too low to touch it. But she afterwards quietly crosses her knees, and the upper thigh touches it ; and by a very slight turning movement, invisible to the rest who sit round the table, and not requiring effort enough to disturb a feature, the table is put in motion at pleasure. Insist upon the spirits moving the table while she is placed beyond the possibility of contact with it, and you will have no movement : unless she have a confederate."— No. XLL, April, 1853, p. 93. Then follows another cut, thus ;— THE ZOIST ON SPIRIT-RAPPING. 35 This is actually, and, as far as I understand, seriously, printed, in the Zoist, and illustrated with cuts, of which those here given are exact copies ; and let me ask the reader to consider how many acquaintances he has whom he could take in by this clever contrivance ? It would, of course, occur to him to pick out the stupidest of his friends; and it would be desirable to receive him in a dark room, were it not that in some unphilosophical minds such a course might raise suspicion of fraud. Perhaps it d 2 36 THE ZOIST ON SPIRIT-RAPPING. would not be safe to go farther, though quite necessary to go as far, as to place him with his back to the operator, charging him on no account to look behind him 7 . I know not what other precaution to suggest. Possibly the writer in the Zoist might contrive other methods of meeting the difficulties in which^ I venture to think, an operator on his plan would find himself involved, if he undertook to perform in public, or indeed before any but very select companies of such persons as the Zoist is obviously written for. 7 It might be not amiss to prepare him for the raps by recounting, from the Arabian Nights, how those two amiable princes, Bahman and Perviz, were successively transmogri- fied, for looking behind them to see what caused the strange noises which followed them as they went up the mountain to get the talking bird; while their more ingenious sister Princess Parizade escaped their fate by a wonderful con- trivance quite worthy of the Zoist's scientific engineer. To the kind dissuasion of the Dervise stationed at the foot of the hill to recommend adventurers not to go up it, and also to show them the way, "the Princess replied . . . . ( as in all enterprises and dangers one may use contrivance, I desire to know of you if I may make use of it in one of so great im- portance to me.' * And what" is it you would make use of?' said the Dervise. ( To stop my ears with cotton,' answered the Princess ? Madam,' replied the Dervise, ' of all the persons who have addressed themselves to me, to ask the way, I do not know that ever any one made use of the con- trivance you propose.' " — p. 382. THE ZOIST ON SPIRIT-RAPPING. 37 For the worst of all is, that the Zoist boot- and-shoe-rapping no more meets this case, than Professor Faraday's apparatus met the other. It is all very well to talk of " rapping," and €t tapping," and of meeting the exigency with such noises as men may make by crack- ing their joints, or "the displacement of the tendon of the peroneus longus muscle in the sheath in which it slides behind the external malleolus;" but if an audience know any thing more of the pretensions and practices of spirit-rappers than the Zoist has seen fit to tell, they will require phaenomena which the philosopher will find it difficult to furnish by kicking the shins of chairs and tables — without being suspected too — that is such a sad addition to his difficulty. Imagine, for instance, that some unscientific, matter-of-fact reader — not enlightened or for- tified by this merciless exposure of the Zoist — has taken up any book, or newspaper, contain- ing a popular account of the matter. Suppose it to be the one that comes first to my hand, " Spirit-rapping in England and America 8 ." He will find a Mr. Hammond's account of 8 Published by Clarke, Beeton, and Co., Fleet Street. 38 THE ZOIST ON SPIRIT-RAPPING. what is said to have taken place between two and three years before this ingenious expla- nation of the Zoist was published. With this story in his head (even supposing that it has not led him to read a score of others like it) he will hardly be satisfied with the boot-and-shoe performance, even supposing the philosopher to be shod with iron, as horses and some other animals are. Whether the story is true, and indeed whether there ever was "a clergy- man of the name of Hammond" at Rochester, in America, is of no importance to our en- quiry ; which is simply how far the Zoist ex- planation meets the alleged facts of a case which is only one of a multitude. The state- ment which we suppose the enquirer to have read, and to wish to have explained by philo- sophers, is that, one evening in the month of January 1850, Mr. Hammond was seated with a lady and her three daughters at "a large table," on which there was a lighted candle. " On taking our positions," he says, " the sounds were heard and continued to multiply and become more violent, until every part of the room trembled with their demonstrations." Perhaps the philosopher would have been puzzled to imitate this — but then follows a THE ZOIST ON SPIRIT-RAPPING. 39 statement that the table (so far as appeared automatically) withdrew, so as to be full six feet from Mr. Hammond, and "at least four from the nearest person to it." Awkwardly for the philosophic hypothesis, while the table was thus separated from the company, and quite out of the reach of shoes and boots, "the demonstrations grew louder and louder 9 ." Now there is the story — if, without enquiry, our philosophers like to say that it is all mere falsehood, let them. I have no interest in maintaining its truth — if they like to examine, and cross-examine, and sift, such facts in the most severe spirit of scrutiny, all honest men will thank them — but they should not insult us with such very childish explanations. The boot-and-shoe hypothesis will not do ; and we may safely say, that the Americans do not possess the f smartness ' for which they have credit, if tens of thousands of them have been taken in for years by such shallow devices. The book to which I have just referred is not a very recent publication. It is not however dated, and I do not know how long I have had it, but it says, "mediums are now very com- 9 P. 20. 40 THE ZOIST ON SPIRIT-RAPPING. mon. It is calculated that there are, at the present moment, something like thirty thou- sand of them practising in various parts of the United States 10 ." How far this is true, and what may be the number of unsuspecting per- sons practised on, I do not know; but the Zoist has provided for them, and for all per- sons in all times, the explanation which I have quoted. There, in its pages, stand the cuts. They cannot be unprinted, but must remain before the world, for the inspection and in- struction of men — graphic specimens of scien- tific simpletonism. Such things would be unworthy of notice if it were not for one consideration, on which I would add a few words. Knowing that I am liable to be misrepresented, I will repeat, that I am not writing with a view to maintain that clairvoyants see all, or any, of the things which they profess to see, or that any rapping or tapping, or table-turning or talking, is caused by one thing or another — by spirit or by matter. But I do most earnestly say that, whether with reference to this, or to any other subject, broad sweeping charges of fraud, cast 10 P. 15. THE ZOIST ON SPIRIT-RAPPING. 41 about at random, unsupported, and unauthen- ticated, are in a high degree injurious to the morals and the happiness of the human race. They go directly to destroy the faith of man- kind in God, and in one another; and they tend to promote in those who are simple enough to listen to them, a general, stupid, unreasoning scepticism. Explanatory philo- sophers, when they find their explanations laughed at, as less intelligible and credible than the mysteries which they are brought to explain, seem to think that they have no alternative but to fall back on wholesale, reck- less, denial. As they " must admit any solution rather than a miracle," so they must make any shift rather than confess ignorance ; and yet, (t Quis pudor illud 4 Nescio ' honoratum constant! promere voce Q,uom sit opus 1 " At the same time these modest philosophers expect us to believe whatever they tell us. They demand from us a credulity as stupid and unreasoning as their own. They really require a baser and more degrading abnegation of un- derstanding. Their explanations are, to say the least, as incredible and unintelligible as 42 THE ZOIST ON SPIRIT-RAPPING. the mysteries themselves. For my own part, I would rather believe all Reichenbach's " thou- sand" ghost stories, or the thousand and one Arabian Nights, speaking-bird, singing-tree and all, than pin my faith on the dicta of such philosophers. I verily believe that it would be a less evil to go back to the days and the creed of Goody Two-shoes — shoes never prostituted, I warrant me, to the profane practice of sham spirit-rapping, or the more silly and mis- chievous deception of pseudo-scientific ex- planation. What if her ignorant neighbours were afraid to cross the church-yard after dark, for fear of meeting a ghost in the form of a windmill, with a gun by his side instead of a sword, it w r as no such very great hardship, and probably only kept them from going where they had no business, and were seeking no good ; and, at all events, it was not so bad for them as it would have been to imbibe some doctrines of modern philosophy which are popular among their posterity of the present day, and which I do not wish to particularize. MR. TOWNSHEND AND MR. CLOSE, &C. 43 § 6. MR. TOWNSHEND AND MR. CLOSE, ON TABLE-TURNING AND RAPPING. Since the foregoing pages relating to the Zoist solution of the rapping mystery were written, another number of that work has furnished further explanation respecting table-turning. As I was already in possession of the first edition of the Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend's work, I did not feel it necessary to get the second; and therefore I know the additions made in it only by a quotation in the Zoist, part of which I extract : — "We extract the following from the new edition of Mr. Townshend's Mesmerism proved True: — * With regard to Table-turning, and Table- talking, the mus- cular hypothesis does not satisfy me a whit more than when I wrote my book. On the contrary, I have lately seen some curious cases of Table-motion, which confirm me in the idea that certain individuals under certain conditions dispense an imponderable force, by very strong volition, aild very slight contact, from the brain to the object which they touch. I have seen a table violently agitated, when only the tips of the fingers of one or two persons, in whom I have thorough trust, were laid upon it." * * * * * * u I have seen, in my own house, what is called ' Table-talk- ing ;' and I had every reason to believe the good faith of the 44 MR. TOWNSHEND AND MR. CLOSE, parties concerned in the experiment. The communication was kept up by the leg of the table, lifting up and rapping, as the alphabet was called over. The answers were curious, but entirely confirmed me in my belief that action (perhaps unconscious action) of the brain calls forth the answers that are (without a shadow of evidence) attributed to spiritual and external agency. The moving force belongs, I believe, to persons peculiarly endowed, who, from what I observed, are, during the operation, in a peculiar state of excitement, per- haps semi-mesmeric." — Zoist, Jan. 1855, pp. 417, 418. I do not wish to do injustice to Mr. Town- shend ; and, but for its length, I should be glad to give the whole of the Zoist's extract from his work, for the sake of facts which he states, and which, on his testimony, I fully believe. But in all the extract, long and curious as it is, I really do not see any thing in the way of explanation, except what I have here copied ; and the reader will judge how far that entitles the author to say, " Thus, I deny not the facts, I explain them." The explanation, as far as I see, is neither more nor less than this — that perhaps there may be certain individuals pe- culiarly endowed, who under certain condi- tions not defined or explained, and in a state of excitement not accounted for, have the power of dispensing an imponderable force not under- stood, by very strong volition and very slight ON TABLE-TURNING AND RAPPING. 45 contact. I think that this hardly authorizes Mr. TownshencPs assertion, " I explain them f — he adds, " and that in such a way as to steady the brain down to this world — a world that has quite enough marvels of its own to occupy us healthily." On the latter part of this sentence, I say nothing; for perhaps I do not understand it. Mr. Close, after having in the body of his pamphlet, "The Testers tested," proclaimed full toleration for believers of all sorts, except those who believe that there is any thing super- natural in the matter 1 , adds an Appendix, 1 " Mr. Dib'din's hard-headed friend remained, and I hope he still remains, a sceptic — and ' thinks it is electricity after all/ whether it be that or any other power I neither know nor care ; but so long as he resists all this strange, inconsistent and profane evidence, and believes it is neither supernatural nor satanic, I agree with him." — p. 20. In his earlier pamphlet, entitled " Table-turning not Diabolical," after de- fining a miracle to be "something which implies the inter- ruption of the known laws of the material world, their sus- pension, or disturbance ; some experiment in matter which, having been submitted to the severe test of our natural senses, is clearly supernatural," he adds, " Now no instance of this kind is recorded in the page of Scripture during the first 1600 years of the world's existence. From Adam to Noah we read of no miracle — not even of the interference of an angel." — p. 3. Again, he says on the next page, "Here then we have a brief and rapid sketch of the facts of Scrip- ture touching miraculous interferences. From Adam to 46 MR. TOWNSHEND AND MR. CLOSE, which seems to come to much the same as Mr. Townshend's " very strong volition/* with- out his "very slight contact." It is as fol- lows : — Since writing the above I have received from an intelli- gent correspondent the following remarkable account of a series of experiments made by him with a view if possible to ascertain whether the replies supposed to be received from some foreign and independent agency, were not the mere sug- gestions conscious or unconscious of some of the interrogators themselves. "On Saturday Evening, December 3d, I sat down with another gentleman at a small mahogany table having first written down four questions which I desired the gentleman first to answer in the affirmative, and then to * will' that the table should rap the same answers as he had given himself — which it did. I then desired him to ' will' that the table should answer the same four questions in the negative — which it did ! ! I then desired him to fix in his mind upon one of the letters of the alphabet (which was to remain unknown to me) and then to will, that when (whilst reading over the alphabet) I pronounced that particular letter the table should rap once — which it did. This experiment was tried three or four times and with the same effect. Noah, about 1600 years, none ! [sic] Neither angel, nor wonder, nor sign." — ib. p. 5. Those who have not entirely rationalized away the book of Genesis, and its account of the creation of Eve, the temptation by the Serpent, the Cherubim of Eden, Cain's discourse with Jehovah, and Enoch's transla- tion, will probably be surprised at this language, and the line of argument in which it occurs, and to which it is necessary. ON TABLE-TURNING AND RAPPING. 47 " Again — The particular letters fixed upon were written on slips of paper and placed on the table (the figures downwards) so as to remain unseen by me until the experiment ended. "I then desired him to fix in his own mind upon any number under ten, to write it down on paper as before, and then to will that upon my naming the number the table should rap the amount — which it did ! " This experiment was repeated four or five times. a The gentleman then willed that the table should rap, and continue to rap until he willed it to stop — which it did. a He then desired it to rise on two legs, and to remain in that position until he willed it to drop — which it did, &c. &c. K It thus appears evident that what we call will (whatever that may be) is the power by which the table is governed — » and that superhuman agency, properly so called, has nothing whatever to do with it." Such is the simple and straightforward account of my cor- respondent. And should his experiments be corroborated by further and more patient investigation, all the Diabolical agency which has been conjured up will vanish into thin air. Such testimony as to matter of fact, coming from such a quarter, is valuable. How far it is met by Professor Faraday's apparatus and reasoning, the reader who is acquainted with them will be able to judge. At any rate it is explained— it is what we call Will, whatever that may be. That is all. You understand ? 48 CREDULITY. § 7. CREDULITY. I have said that the mode in which con- troversy concerning such matters as those re- ferred to in this Essay, is carried on by some of the parties engaged in it, has a tendency to generate in their minds a stupid, unreasoning, and universal scepticism. It seems to me that such must be generally, and with relation to all subjects, the consequence of perpetual efforts to discover untruth, to resist conviction, to escape from belief, to discredit testimony, to disprove, to disbelieve. Such use of our fa- culties is not only injurious; it is vicious and unnatural. The Philosopher may call it an infirmity of human nature — for, although he may have risen above, or otherwise got rid of them himself, he is forced to admit that human nature has some very unphilosophical infirmi- ties — but it is a mere matter of fact that the belief of human testimony is as truly a part of man's nature, as his appetite for food, and his sustentation by it. To disbelieve is in some sense to do violence to his nature; and to resist a natural instinct or appetite. Not that he ought, in fact, to believe all that he is told, CREDULITY. 49 any more than he ought to eat all that he can lay his hands on, as in his earlier stages of existence he is very prone to do ; but, that the natural instinct is for sucking in and swal- lowing. Of course it is at first without dis- crimination, and liable to be injurious, or even destructive. But as he grows up he is taught by counsel, and experience, that some things are disagreeable, some unwholesome, some poi- sonous ; and he learns to distinguish, to take and leave. It is much the same with the credulous child, w 7 ho finds, as he grows up, that he must not believe all that every body says. He may learn this without knowing or reflecting that his Scylla has its Charybdis; and if he has more cleverness than good sense (especially if he happens to be thrown among pseudo- philosophers) it is very possible that the ex- perience and discoveries of his early life may turn him into a smart young man, who has found so much benefit, and got so much credit, by resisting this natural propensity to belief, that he may have come to consider it the finest thing in the world, and the surest mark of a " talented" man, to believe as little as possible. And yet, so tenacious is nature of her rights, E 50 CREDULITY. that after he has been buffeted about in the world for threescore years and ten — most of the time complaining that all men were liars, and protesting that he believed nothing but what he saw with his own eyes — you find the man (and if he looks into his own soul, con- siders his ways, and investigates his springs of action, he finds himself) acting mostly from hour to hour, and from year to year, on what people have told him — testimony which, from the nature of things, he cannot have inves- tigated — in short on what, if any motive prompted him to reject and contradict it, he would at once pronounce to be mere hear- say 2 . With a view to this, will the reader be so good as to turn back to p. 15, and observe how something (not the od force I conceive) has constrained the Baron von Reichenbach to do homage to truth, and the God of truth, and His immutable dispensation on this point, by acknowledging the powerful influence of human 2 A friend who saw this in manuscript, kindly pointed out to me a passage in Tocqueville's work, entitled "De la Democratic en Amerique." — " II n'y a pas de si grand philo- sophe dans le monde qui ne croie un million de choses sur la foi d'autrui, et qui ne suppose beaucoup plus de verites qu'il n'en etablit." Sec. Partie, cap. II. p. 11. CREDULITY. 51 testimony? The sheet anchor of his strange story about Pfeffel and Billing is, that it came forth on the authority of " the most trustworthy man alive/* All hangs on one man, but he is deemed trustworthy, and is trusted. The story was told on his authority, and that led to its wide circu- lation, and discussion, and made theologians and psychologists think it worth while to invent " a thousand frightful interpretations" of facts which they did not venture to deny, but which (according to the Baron^s account) they were too ignorant to explain. It was the story of one man that was thus immediately accepted and current; would it have been more ho- noured if drawn and indorsed by the ces triplex of Sheridan, Hook, and Tom Moore ? There is no helping it. If Samuel Johnson had made an affidavit, that twenty times, in twenty different years, he had seen his chair jump over his table, at his word of command, thousands from the day of the date of the said affidavit to the present, would have thought the matter worthy of discussion, even after philosophers had strictly forbidden any such goings on, under the penalty of their wrath and rebuke. There would have been a con- stant reclamation that Johnson was purblind, e 2 52 CREDULITY. and stupid, and went to church, and always believed every thing. Some very sharp people perhaps would be calling for proof of John- son's having ever existed — some would de- nounce the document as a forgery without looking at it — others would quietly state that the thing was impossible, and the story not to be listened to by persons of mental cultivation — others would satisfy select companies, and perhaps (if very stupid) themselves, by asking, te Why did not the table jump over the chair?" or " If the chair could jump over the table, why could it not crawl under it?" or "If Johnson's chair did it, why do not other chairs do it?" or " Why don't I see it if he did?" But notwithstanding all this — even while this funny philosophy was in some sort flou- rishing, and explanations of detective philo- sophers were civilly listened to by those who could keep their countenances, and wished that what they heard might be true — there would still be thousands and tens of thousands who would not know how to get over, or what to make of, such an affidavit from Samuel Johnson. FAITH AND SIGHT, 53 § 8. FAITH AND SIGHT. "Having never seen the magnetic pheno- mena, I have no right to pronounce judgment; but before I can believe these wonders, I must see them." So Dr. Elliotson wrote in the year 1828. Referring to it long afterwards he says that up to the year 1837 he had only " seen enough of mesmerism to assert it was true" so far as some of the less wonderful phenomena were concerned ; and he adds, " it was not till 1841, that I saw, or ventured to assert, the occurrence of vision with the eyes firmly closed : nor was it till the present year, 1844, that I witnessed, or ventured to assert, the fact of that highest degree of clairvoyance, in which" a person knows, as by vision, what is going on at a great distance, or can tell what has taken place or will take place in matters not relating to his own health or own affairs, but to various events in the lives of others 3 ." I cannot speak from experience respecting either of the three states ; but I should think that next to the ecstasy of nitrous oxide, or 3 Zoist, No. VIII., p. 477. 54 FAITH AND SIGHT. mesmeric trance, nothing could be so delightful as that state of self-sufficiency which in all things pins its own faith on its own sleeve, and is never disturbed but when perverse op- ponents cannot be brought to use the same pincushion. It may be a fault or a misfortune, but I must confess it as a fact, that I have no sympathy with such persons. I believe many things which people tell me, but of which I have seen nothing. I venture to assert some things which I have not witnessed; with as much confidence as if I had seen them. I do so, moreover, in many cases, with greater con- fidence than if I had only seen them myself. For instance, I believe Dr. Elliotson when, in the paper already quoted, he states that his patient "could predict numerous things re- lating to others;" because I have confidence in his integrity and capacity to judge. But why does he (somewhat in the manner of the Baron) go out of his way to assure his readers that " this patient is the perfection of integrity and every other moral excellence. Her word is a fact: and her truth is not less absolute than her freedom from vanity 4 ." What did this 4 Ibid., p. 478. FAITH AND SIGHT. 55 matter if seeing is believing ? Was it possible that, seeing for himself, he might have been deceived by a person of a different character ? Does he doubt that if the patient had been an impostor, she would have much more easily deceived me than himself? and does not he think me a wiser man for believing him, than he would if I told him that his testimony went for nothing, and that, of course, I should not believe until I had seen ? Very strange it is to see how faith claims its right and creeps in, and comes over, and controls, and directs sight. The real meaning of the language used by these philosophers in this matter is, not " see and believe," but " let me see, and I will tell you what to believe" — and 1 am not now find- ing fault with it. On the contrary I meet it, and humour it, and confide in it, as far as I possibly can. As I have already said, I believe Dr. Elliotson when he states that this lady pro- phesied, and I believe him also when he says that he found a family whom he visited engaged in table-turning, and adds : — " The father had been assisting, but now his place was vacant, and still it moved on. I sat down and joined in the experiment, and from time to time it moved as before. Every one placed merely the tips of the fingers upon the table, so very 56 FAITH AND SIGHT. slightly that often one or other really did not touch the table. I now and then tried the hands of one or other and found the contact so trifling that movement by pressure seemed im- possible. I can answer for myself. The family was that of Mr. C. R. Stanley, the eminent painter. The truthfulness of father and children and their desire to ascertain the real facts are perfect and unalloyed. They were all grave and serious in the matter. They felt assured all the time that they did not even unconsciously push the table, I watched them all anxiously and uninterruptedly, and they as anxiously watched themselves. From time to time I tried their hands during the whole of the long experiment, and I cannot discern how there was any possibility of the table being pushed. More- over, the table always slid away from their fingers and mine, so lightly did we all touch it. It moved faster than the fingers of any of us, and got in advance of us." — Zoist, No. XLIL, p. 195. As I have said, I fully credit all this, on the testimony of Dr. Elliotson ; and, as far as I know (for I am not used to hair-splitting in such matters), I am as much convinced of the facts which he states as if I had been present. I am inclined to ask, as he does, after having alluded to the hypothesis of unconscious mus- cular movement, and admitted that it may sometimes occur; — " But may not such movements frequently result from some other cause — from an occult energy 5 ? There are the facts re- 5 The reader will recollect that Dr. Elliotson is not, by the FAITH AND SIGHT. 57 corded by Mr. Townshend and Mr. Sandby. A very large number of persons who have moved tables, and of others who have witnessed the movements, ridicule to me the idea of this explanation. They know of the explanation before they make the experiment : and are most careful that the tips of the fingers shall touch the table in the lightest possible way, so that you may almost see between the fingers and the table."— Ibid., p. 193. This seems to me to be most reasonable. I believe because I know not how to resist the testimony of such, and so many, witnesses. " There are/ 5 as Dr. Elliotson says, w the facts recorded by Mr. Townshend and Mr. Sandby." Certainly there is, in the letters of these gen- tlemen, addressed to Dr. Elliotson and pub- lished in this same single number of the Zoist, quite enough to warrant this appeal to them. Mr. Sandby writes under the date of Paris, May 28, 1853—" All Paris is in excitement at the ' dancing of the tables 5 — as they call it. We have heard of nothing else since our arrival" . . . . " every acquaintance that I have met refers to it: men, women, and children begin at once to tell you what they have seen words which I have put in italics, professing to explain, though he inadvertently falls into the mysterious phraseology com- monly used for that purpose. 58 FAITH AND SIGHT. or done/' This multitudinous testimony, how- ever, did not satisfy, nor do I say that it should have satisfied, Mr. Sandby. " I determined/ 5 he says, " to judge for myself, and lose no time in bringing the alleged results to a test." The consequence was that he considered the fact as " undeniably established ;" and some of the remarks which he makes on the subject appear to me to be quite unanswerable. * It will be observed that there is no charge of imposture preferred against those who boast of their success in these ex- periments ; all that is said is, that they are self-deceived. Now let us admit that in very many instances this slight muscular pressure has set the table in motion ; I am speaking now of the incessant motions of the table ; but when the latter begins at length to move with such speed, that the experimenting circle can with difficulty keep up with it, the argument surely is at an end. It is idle to suppose that the scientific men, who have cautiously tested this alleged discovery should have been deceived at that stage of the experiment. Dr. Andree, of Bremen, says that on one occasion 'the table moved with such rapidity that they who formed the chain could scarcely follow the rotation.' Dr. Mayer, chief editor of La Presse Medicale, at Paris, mentions that, a chain having been formed with three of his friends, at the end of eight minutes the rotatory movement had acquired such speed that they could with difficulty keep up with it. Dr. Hermann Shauen- burg, Professor at Bonn, employs similar language in respect to a small mahogany chest of drawers. I have read similar statements in regard to some other experiments at Paris. FAITH AND SIGHT. 59 And a correspondent of the Manchester Guardian, who is well known to the editor, says, that c the motion increased in rapi- dity and we became both dizzy from moving round, and tired with the circular length of walk or rather run. I tried to stop the table by pressing very heavily, and succeeded,' &c. Now all these experiences are decisive as to the fact. It is impossible that all these grave narrators could have been mis- taken. They might not be conscious of giving a slight pres- sure at first, but when the rapidity of the table became such ^hat they could scarcely follow it, it is ludicrous to suppose that philosophic men who are purposely testing an alleged phenomenon with the wish of establishing what is the truth, should be self- deceived in a transaction of that nature." — Ibid., p. 181. I believe the same gentleman when, in the next number, and in pursuit of the same sub- ject, he relates what appears to me to be one of the clearest and most decisive experiments that I have heard of. It seems fully to justify the brief and plain head line of his page, and would by itself be enough to prove " Mr. Faraday wrong" He says ; — " I was in the company of several friends, when the conver- sation turned upon table-moving. Two or three sceptics ex- pressed their disbelief of some anecdotes which were related : when a clergyman present, the Rev. observed that he had himself been as decided a sceptic as any one, but that he had found that he possessed the power to a considerable degree. It was agreed that he should be tested under the surveillance 60 FAITH AND SIGHT. of his sceptical neighbours. He took a slim and very light hat (it is important to bear these points in mind), and placing the fingers of his two hands perpendicularly upon the flat and outer part of the brim, commenced the experiment. The hat moved distinctly and rapidly in about a minute. This, of course, was at once attributed to muscular power ; with whatever good faith the party might have acted, the cause was still the same. It was, therefore, proposed by one of our sceptics that some- thing heavy should be placed inside the hat, something that might act with a vis inertia and offer resistance to the muscles. This was agreed to ; and a piece of marble, weighing about two pounds, was deposited inside : in less than a minute, however, the hat moved most unequivocally. This fortunately was not deemed sufficient : something still heavier was required. An Indian pestle and mortar, with which the Hindoos pound their rice, and weighing upwards of seven pounds (I have had it weighed since), was selected by our sceptic and placed inside the hat. We all considered it was useless to make an experiment under such circumstances ; but again, and to our surprise, in the course of a minute the hat walked off in a marked manner. Unfortunately the experiments always produced such dis- tressing sensations upon my friend, the operator, that he was glad to withdraw his hands soon after the hat was in move- ment ; but still there was ample opportunity for distinctly watching the effect. The hat stood upon a table more than a foot from the operator ; his fingers were not laid horizontally upon the brim, or partly bent over it so as to obtain a pur- chase ; but he held them vertically downwards, touching the hat slightly with the tips, it might be almost said with the finger-nails. I stood next to him, and can guarantee the accuracy of my description : seven or eight other persons stood round the table watching the experiments, and were satisfied of the fact."— Zoist, No. XLIIL, p. 321. FAITH AND SIGHT. 61 I offer no apology either to the authors, or to my readers, for these extracts. I believe that the former wrote with a view to make known truth, and that the latter will find my quotations the most interesting and valuable part of my pamphlet. If it has any appear- ance of book-making, it must be allowed even by those who suspect me of that sin, that it is committed on a very small scale. I feel, how- ever, that without doing something of the kind I should not be understood by a great portion of those for whom especially I write — I mean those who have not taken the trouble to en- quire what evidence has been given respecting facts. And therefore, though I have already referred to Mr. Townshend's work, I will here add some farther testimony from a letter ad- dressed by that gentleman to Dr. Elliotson, and published by him in the same number of the Zoist as Mr. Sandby's letter just quoted. It is dated from Lausanne, and gives much the same account of the state of things there, as Mr. Sandby did of those at Paris. He says, " I found all the world here talking of table- moving, and much in advance of the London world in regard to experiences ;" and, having 62 FAITH AND SIGHT. related what he saw among some friends, he proceeds ; — " On arriving at home, I took a small, but, for its size, a heavy table, with an octagon top, one foot four inches across. It has three heavy claw legs, without castors, and the wood is very rough underneath. It moves with difficulty, and I can hardly push it round in an ordinary way. I placed it in a room without a carpet, and called in ray man Henry and one of the maids. I then, without saying what I wished to effect, made them place their hands lightly on the table ; I also placed mine, so as to touch little fingers all round. We all stood up, as in the former experiment. At first indeed I sat, but when the table began to move, in about four minutes," [hardly the time required by the fatigue parties who unconsciously push round the table by the mere weight of weariness] " I got up. My servants were astonished. The table went quickly round. They thought I was pushing it. No ! I was carried with it, and it always seemed to move more quickly than I, and I could hardly keep pace with it" " Madlle. de S shewed me a very large round table in her drawing room which by a sitting party with little fingers in contact (though this does not seem to be an essential) was made to move in forty minutes, so that a loose carpet, on which it stands, above a fixed carpet, was all rolled round the legs Madlle. de S to shew that nobody pushed the table, put draughtsmen all round it (in my presence), and then we laid our fingers on the draughts, and the table moved all the same ; whereas you know, had we pushed, the draughts would have moved. A sheet of paper laid on the table shews the same thing, for if one FAITH AND SIGHT. 63 pushed, the sheet would be crumpled." — Zoist, No. XLIL, pp. 186. 188. If it be superstitious and credulous to be- lieve such statements as these from such wit- nesses as I have quoted,, I cannot help it. I know not what else to do. I do not think that my belief would, or should, be much more or less than it is, if I had been present at the ex- periments which I have quoted or referred to as attested by the witnesses whom I have named. I am not so vain as to suppose that impostors who cheated them could not have cheated me, or that if they cheated themselves I should be secure from self-deception. In truth nothing surprises me more than the quiet, self-complacent way in which many good people, for w 7 hose judgment in such a case nobody would give sixpence, express a wish that they had been there — they would have seen through it. Fifty people in Dr. Gregory^ drawing room might easily be hoaxed and made fools of, but— only it is not right to talk of one's self. Are we not then, it may be asked, to use our senses and to trust them? Undoubtedly we are to use them ; and we cannot help trusting 64 FAITH AND SIGHT. them. But if we would use them rightly and beneficially, they must be employed in harmo- nious co-operation among themselves ; and we must also use, and respect, and trust other people's senses as well as our own. We must be thankful to hear as well as to see, and it w T ill be wise to enquire, and bear in mind how vast an influence mere hearsay has had and constantly exerts over our characters, actions, and circumstances. If indeed any man could confine his belief to w r hat he had seen he would have but a narrow and worthless creed on all subjects — useless, and probably mischievous, to himself and every body else. It is, however, certain that not only in the higher mysteries of religion, but in the forma- tion of opinion generally, " faith cometh by hearing." It is plainly the will of God that man should, by this method of testimony, ob- tain a great part of his faith — of that unmiti- gated faith which has the full acquiescence of all his intellectual faculties, so that he is no longer turning it over, and scrutinizing it, as a cashier does a bank note; but has locked it up in the safe, and carried it to the account of what he calls, not faith, but knowledge. This knowledge, I say,— this accepted and funded FAITH AND SIGHT. 65 faith, in a great measure, " cometh by hearing," and so it is that we have learned most of what we know. And this faith — I repeat that I am not speaking particularly of religious faith — which springs from testimony, and ripens into knowledge, is not only much greater in the extent and variety of its objects, but also in- comparably more intense and influential, than sight. All this is consistent with — in truth it leads to, and demands — the most strict and search- ing enquiry respecting facts. Let witnesses be examined and cross-examined with rigour ; but let it not be settled beforehand that if their testimony is not such as we would have it to be, we will denounce them, and all who listen to them, as knaves or fools. Thus far I had written, intending this little Essay as an Introduction to a rather larger work, which I hope to publish. I am induced however now to print it separately by circum- stances which I will mention 6 . 6 Perhaps some expressions, and extracts inserted when I resolved to print this Essay separately, and as it passed through the press, may seem to contradict this ; but it is substantially true. 66 professor faraday's lecture. § 9. professor faraday's lecture. The Managers of the Royal Institution thought it advisable that a course of "Lec- tures on Education" should be given in the interval between Easter and the termination of the session of 1854. After they had been delivered, " it appeared desirable to the Ma- nagers that the widest circulation should be given to these Lectures." They have, there- fore, not only been printed and published, but furnished gratuitously to all members of the Institution applying for them. The Second Lecture (that to which I would direct atten- tion) was delivered by Professor Faraday, on May 6th, 1854; but the title page bears the date of 1855 ; and I did not see the volume or even know of the Lectures until this year. The Lecture is entitled "Observations on Mental Education;" and it was, the title in- forms us, delivered before H. R. H. Prince Albert. Of course I do not dispute the right of the managers to appoint what lecturers and lec- tures they please, and to take such steps as they think proper for circulating those lectures after professor faraday's lecture. 67 they have been delivered. But when Prince Albert presides, and Professor Faraday lec- tures, there should be, and there is sure to be, such an audience, and such an impression, as makes it a matter of great importance that nothing erroneous should be delivered — or if human infirmity makes this impossible, that at least the discourse should, both by its general aim and tenor, and by its specific state- ments, conduce to the confirmation and illus- tration of truth. It is not then from feelings of disrespect to His Royal Highness who pre- sided, or to the Professor who lectured, or to the Managers who appointed, but because I feel that all are respected and entitled to re- spect, that I ask for attention to a few remarks on the lecture. The Professor having stated his intention of " bringing forward a few desultory observations respecting the exercise of the mental powers in a particular direction " goes on to say ; — "Before entering upon the subject, I must take one dis- tinction which, however it may appear to others, is to me of the utmost importance. High as man is placed above the creatures around him, there is a higher and far more exalted position within his view ; and the ways are infinite in which he occupies his thoughts about the fears, or hopes, or expecta- F 2 tions of a future life. I believe that the truth of that future cannot be brought to his knowledge by any exertion of his mental powers, however exalted they may be ; that it is made known to him by other teaching than his own, and is received through simple belief of the testimony given. Let no one suppose for a moment that the self-education I am about to commend in respect of the things of this life, extends to any considerations of the hope set before us, as if man by reason- ing could find out God. It would be improper here to enter upon this subject further than to claim an absolute distinction between religious and ordinary belief. I shall be reproached with the weakness of refusing to apply those mental operations which I think good in respect of high things to the very highest. I am content to bear the reproach. Yet, even in earthly matters, I believe that the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being under- stood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead ; and I have never seen any thing incompatible between those things of men which can be known by the spirit of man which is within him, and those higher things concern- ing his future which he cannot know by that spirit." — p. 40. I do not perhaps fully understand this pas- sage ; but one thing, and it is the most impor- tant, is perfectly clear — namely, that the Pro- fessor thinks fit " to claim an absolute distinc- tion between religious and ordinary belief." I wish that the distinction had been clearly stated, for I have no idea what distinction there is, and never imagined that there was any. As far as I see, belief may be raised professor faraday's lecture. 69 from different causes or sources, exercised in different ways, and exist with reference to dif- ferent objects and subjects, but surely whether its circumstances induce people to call it reli- gious or ordinary, it is nothing more or less than Belief as opposed to Unbelief. I pretend to no skill in arguments of this kind. I have been used to suppose that in all things I either believed or disbelieved (or more properly un- believed) and that if I did believe, I had only one sort of belief to believe with. I may be wrong, but from what I have seen elsewhere, I cannot help looking with jealousy on the intro- duction of such a distinction. After making the claim just noticed, the Pro- fessor proceeds to point out what appears to him " to be a great deficiency in the exercise of the mental powers in every direction," and adds, that " three words will express this great want, deficiency of judgment 7 " After some observations, and illustrations, relating to the error arising from this deficiency, the Professor states that " in matters connected with natural philosophy, we have wonderful aid in the pro- gress and assurance in the character, of our 7 P. 41. 70 professor faraday's lecture. final judgment, afforded us by the facts which supply our data, and the experience which multiplies their number and varies their testi- mony. A fundamental fact, like an elementary principle, never fails us, its evidence is always true our dependence should be on care- fully observed facts, and the laws of nature ; and I shall proceed to a further illustration of the mental deficiency I speak of, by a brief reference to one of these. The laws of nature, as we understand them, are the foundation of our knowledge in natural things .... these laws are numerous, and are more or less com- prehensive. They are also precise .... Pre- eminent among these laws,- because of its sim- plicity, its universality, and its undeviating truth, stands that enunciated by Newton (com- monly called the law of gravitation), that matter attracts matter with a force inversely as the square of the distance." p. 47 — 49. The shrewd reader will suspect that we are getting towards the subject of table-moving and the mysteries connected with it; and he is right enough, as he will presently see. The long and short of the lecture hitherto is, that iC society as a body" has manifested great want of judgment in believing their own eyes and professor faraday's lecture. 71 ears instead of quietly saying to all the trouble- some table-turners, and talkers, and tilters, and rappers, " Go about your business, Newton has laid down the law; man cannot, and God will not, break it." After a brief reference to the discoveries connected with the law of gra- vitation, and asking " what truth beneath that of revelation, can have an assurance stronger than this," the Professor exclaims i( Yet this law is often cast aside as of no value or authority, because of the unconscious ignorance amidst which we dwell. You hear at the present day, that some persons can place their fingers on a table, and then elevating their hands, the table will rise up and follow them." — p. 50. Some of my readers may perhaps say, that however correct this language may have been as addressed to the president and the audience assembled before the lecturer, it is not true as addressed to them — that they do not hear of such things — they are even more in the dark than "your neighbour, a well-meaning consci- entious person " w r hom the Professor snubs and sneers at, for he hears and believes. It is with a view to the more unenlightened of these classes — to those who know nothing because they have never thought it worth while to 72 professor faraday's lecture. enquire, but who would be the most competent to judge if they made themselves acquainted with the facts of the case instead of listening to the sore and silly explanations of baffled science, or rather nescience — that I make these remarks. You hear, continues the indignant Professor ; — " That the piece of furniture, though heavy, [one might excuse a light table, but in a heavy one such levity is pro- voking,] will ascend, and that their hands bear no weight, or are not drawn down to the wood ; you do not hear of this as a conjuring manoeuvre, to be shewn for your amusement, but are expected seriously to believe it ; and are told that it is an important fact, a great discovery amongst the truths of nature. Your neighbour, a well-meaning conscientious person, believes it ; and the assertion [what a compliment to my neighbour, and what a tribute to well-meaning, conscientious boobyism ; the scientific world may well be jealous of him] finds acceptance in every rank of society, and amongst classes which are esteemed to be educated. Now, what can this imply but that "society, speaking generally, is not only ignorant as it respects education of the judgment, but is also ignorant of its igno- rance." — Ibid. This is indeed a heavy charge against Society. So far from rising by Newton's discoveries, it has sunk far below his early ignorance. There was a time when he was at a loss to know why an apple fell; "society as a body" is such an ignoramus as not to know that an apple does professor faraday's lecture. 73 fall, or else it would have decided at once, peremptorily and for ever, that a table could not rise in the air any more than a needle could jump up to meet a magnet-— which some have thought possible — but the Professor knows best. It is however more important to say a few words in answer to the Professor's question, as to the acceptance of an assertion which he considers so absurd. What can it imply but the disgraceful and disgusting ignorance of Society ? I answer — not as a scientific demon- strator, but as " a well-meaning conscientious person" encouraged by hearing how kindly my " neighbour," of the same low caste, has been listened to — that it may imply, and does imply, something else — something very different — the something which leads me to think the subject worth discussion, and to publish these pages. It is my belief, religious and ordinary both, if there be two sorts, that when such a statement of fact finds acceptance in every rank of society, and amongst classes which are esteemed to be educated, there must be in it, or connected with it, some truth worthy of investigation. The fact is one w r hich impera- tively claims the attention of every reflecting 74 professor faraday's lecture. man. These mysteries, whether true or false, are a stumbling-block to science in its rail- road course. It is utterly at fault; and its misfortune is not merely that it has been un- able to explain, but that in rushing out "to inflict a mortal wound on the monster super- stition" it has exposed its weakness. It has let the unscientific world — my " neighbour" and the rest of esteemed-to-be-educated society — understand what sort of explanations it can give and take, upon occasion. It is od force — it is muscular action — it is an emanation from the brain — it is boots and shoes — it is the pero- neus longus — it is " will," whatever that may be. In fact, among all the explanations which I have met with, I can find but one which does not seem obviously absurd, or which I can without qualification adopt; but I am glad that, differing on so many other points, I can cordially agree with Dr. Elliotson, that these strange movements may "result from some other cause — from an occult energy 8 ." But, be this as it may, it is quite clear that an assertion which "finds acceptance in every rank of society, and among classes esteemed to 8 See before, p. 56. professor faraday's lecture. 75 be educated/' cannot be easily, and at once, got rid of. A man cannot step out, and put his foot upon it, as if it were a spider. Let the Professor's testimony be deeply considered by every thinking and religious man. If he will only keep his eyes and ears open, he will find it to be more true, and more important than he may at first imagine 9 . - But, strangely enough, after this admission the Professor suggests that he may be blamed for reviving an exploded folly — one which ought to be, if it actually is not, forgotten. " Per- haps" he says, " it may be said, the delusion of table-moving is past, and need not be re- 9 For instance — I wrote these lines yesterday ; and to-day I have received the Record for the day before that (Nov. 28) containing among its notices to Correspondents, one beginning thus — " A. S. C. is informed that we have no belief in clairvoy- ance, the facts asserted from time to time not, in our judg- ment, bearing a close investigation." Some persons might not have expected that any correspondent of that paper would be curious about such matters ; but still fewer would have had any suspicion that the Record had been engaged ever since it came into existence (of course only as a part of its many duties) in such close investigation of the numerous cases of clairvoyance that have been alleged, as to be able to form a j udgment respecting them. What information may it not have collected? Perhaps it could tell us all about the bank notes and metal boxes ; but really it never occurred to me to enquire in that quarter. 76 professor faraday's lecture. called before an audience like the present — even granting this" — but as I am not going to grant it, there is no reason for my extending the quotation. The delusion, if it is one, has not passed away. Proofs of this are plentiful and pregnant. I have now before me a news- paper containing a letter from Sir David Brew- ster to Benjamin Coleman, Esq., and dated so recently as Oct. 9th, 1855, in which he says ;— " At Mr. Cox's house, Mr. Hume, Mr. Cox, Lord Brougham, and myself, sat down to a small table, Mr. Hume having pre- viously requested us to examine if there was any machinery about his person, an examination, however, which we declined to make. When all our hands were upon the table noises were heard — rappings in abundance ; and finally, when we rose up the table actually rose, as appeared to me, from the ground. This result I do not pretend to explain." It seems that Sir David is more prudent than some other philosophers, and does not pretend to explain ; but what are we to think when we find him placing himself before the public as a person who really cannot tell whe- ther a table under his nose does, or does not, rise from the ground ? Is it on men so grossly and avowedly incompetent to judge of plain matter-of-fact submitted to their senses that professor faraday's lecture. 77 we are to pin our faith in matters of physical science? They will do the seeing, and we have only to believe. A sad look-out it is for me and my well-meaning conscientious neigh- bour ; for though we shall certainly rise a step or two in the scale of being from all these scien- tific explanations, and discussions, yet the things themselves touch us in a very tender point. We have to believe, and we do, as far as ever we can, believe the philosophers. No doubt we believe a great deal on their word, which we ought not to believe at all ; but we cannot help this. We prefer erring on that side, and are quite willing to strain a point as long as they put a good face upon it, and keep up our courage by assuring us that it is all right. At the same time this faith in philosophers — especially those dealing with physical science — rests on a belief (perhaps I should rather say a good-natured assumption) that they have some common sense, and, at least, an average power of observation. It is however more important, and more my present business, to follow the course of Professor Faraday's Lecture as far as that point to which I desire to call attention. I have no .wish to misrepresent him ; but, if I understand 78 professor faraday's lecture. the argument which follows a passage which I have already quoted \ the matter-of-fact question whether a table did, or did not, rise in the air should be absolutely settled by the matter-of-fact that Newton's law does, or does not, permit such a thing. Can the reader elicit any other meaning from what follows ; — " The parties who are thus persuaded, and those who are inclined to think and to hope that they are right, throw up Newton's law at once, and that in a case which of all others is fitted to be tested by it ; or if the law be erroneous, to test the law. I will not say they oppose the law, though I have heard the supposed fact quoted triumphantly against it ; but as far as my observation has gone, they will not apply it. The law affords the simplest means of testing the fact 2 ," &c. Now as I understand this (both from its own plain words, and from the sequel) the alleged fact is to be tested by the law ; and if it is against the law, or (I beg pardon, but I cannot help thinking of Sir David and the table) if it seems to be against the law, it is to be put down — so much the worse for the facts. But the still more important point, and that which seems to me most unintelligible, is that, after having stated that, " One exercise of the mind, which largely influences the power and 1 Seep. 72 before. 2 P. 57. professor faraday's lecture. 79 character of the judgment, is the habit of form- ing clear and precise ideas ;" — and having made one or two observations on that point, — the Professor lays down this rule ; — " Before we proceed to consider any question involving physical principles, we should set out with clear ideas of the naturally possible and impossible." — p. 65. and at the bottom of the same page the same statement (if indeed it ought not to be con- sidered as one more comprehensive) occurs; for after speaking of the necessary mental practice which he recommends, he says ; — " As a first step in such practice, clear ideas should be ob- tained of what is possible and what is impossible." There is much more in the Lecture on which I should be disposed to comment ; but lest I should be going on a mistaken view of the claim which the Professor makes for himself, and the first step which he prescribes for his pupil, I will at present only add two ques- tions which, I think, every Christian has a right to ask. (1.) Will the Professor define, or explain, the distinction between religious and ordinary belief? — and (2.) Will he teach us how to obtain clear ideas as to what is possible and what is im- possible ? In the mean time I must repeat my con- viction that no such distinction exists ; and certainly if it could be established in any case, that now before us is one to which it could not apply. The Professor says very truly, " You do not hear of this as a conjuring manoeuvre to be shewn for your amusement ; but are expected seriously to believe it ; and are told that it is an important fact, a great discovery among the truths of nature." We are indeed — all this and something more. We are not merely called on to receive it as a truth of nature. It is not content to be shut up in the cabinet of science, or only exhibited as a natural curiosity. It forces itself upon society as a manifestation of spiritual agency, as a revelation of unseen worlds, as a new reli- gion that is to take the place of effete super- stitions, remodel society, and regenerate man- kind. This is just where the shoe pinches. It must be met as a religious, or an irreligious thing. It thrusts its religion in our faces, and is shocked at the idea of a conjuring man- oeuvre. The Professor goes on to say, " Your professor faraday's lecture. 81 neighbour, a well-meaning and conscientious person, believes it." Very true : and another neighbour, quite as well meaning and con- scientious, tells me that The Wizard of the North does things of as strange appearance, and as hard to account for, as table-lifting and bell-ringing. It may be so ; but does he pre- tend to be inspired, and go into a trance, and utter " a miserable paraphrase on the Lord^s Prayer" as Mr. Hume did to Lord Brougham and Sir David Brewster? He does not tell us, as Mr. Hume does, that "the manifesta- tions, so often scoffed at by professing Chris- tians, have done for him" [that is for Mr. Rymer u one of the most distinguished Solicitors in London" of whom Mr. Hume is speaking] " as they have for upwards of twenty-five thousand infidels and atheists in America, what no power of the pulpit, or doctrine, or evangelical reli- gion could ever have effected." This may seem to be a great many ; but if the rappists of America do not grossly exag- gerate their number when they talk of millions, it is probably very small in proportion to that of professed Christians who have been led to reject Christianity and the Bible altogether. It is, indeed, not difficult to believe that some G persons of infidel opinions, or vicious habits, may have pursued their experiments until they frightened themselves. I have now before me a letter, dated as recently as Nov. 28, from which, without waiting for leave, I shall take the liberty to extract a few lines. The writer, speaking of a friend recently met with, says — " She has been a good deal abroad, and a long time in Paris. We were conversing about these spiritual communications ; and, she tells me, in France it is carried to a pitch far beyond what is known in England. The R. Catholics of course condemn it wholly ; but the scientific men, who are in a great majority of cases in- fidels, resort to it habitually, seeking out new discoveries in science, and carrying their search to great lengths after knowledge of all kinds. One thing she mentioned — that in three or four instances the effect has been to produce sudden and entire conversion ; such as we read of in the case of De Ranee and others ; and this from the revelations they have had .... By conversion I mean that total change which comprises renunciation of all former evil courses, and giving up themselves to prayer and mor- tification of the flesh, &c. &c I should say that these cases of conversion, the three or four she named, came under her own cog- nizance, and I believe her a person worthy of all credit, and mixing in a circle which would enable her to know." How many may be converted — and what they may be converted to — is more than I pretend to say. It seems, however, as if it must be to something raised on the ruins of all that we have been accustomed to consider as revealed religion. May we not learn some- thing from such a passage as the following which I extract from this present December's number of a penny periodical which boasts (how truly I know not) of the thousands which it circulates monthly among our manufacturing population. " The whole of what is termed the civilized world is awfully smitten with the pestilential breath of a most direful and malignant super- stition, respecting (among other things) the fulsome, freezing fabrication of the fall, eternal punishments, imputed righteousness, &c. &c. This virtue-blighting superstition is both slimy and leperous in its detestable nature. It is always mute and silent in the presence of social murder, commercial fraudulency, public robbery, and degrading serfdom ; but it is loud g 2 and clamorous in circulating the horrid viru- lent poison which has filled the beautiful earth with unmitigated bitterness, cruel antagonism, hate prolonging division, crime producing po- verty, disease, and premature death ; and con- stantly goes on in the name of religion, wither- ing all true honesty, independence of mind, and virtuous principles ; converting men into despicable hypocrites, and loathsome, passive slaves" — but enough of this " leperous" and " virulent" trash which is given as a spiritual communication from Robert Burns and Dugald Stewart, and subscribed w r ith their names. If the whole matter is a delusion, is it not the strangest and most fearful that has ever en- thralled mankind ? Whether it is true or false can w r e deal with it as a mere fact in Science w 7 holly separate from Religion ? Is it possible — but let us not be hasty — perhaps, if we wait a little, we may be saved the trouble of asking and answering a good many questions, by getting rules which may enable us to decide promptly and absolutely, w^hat is, and what is not, possible. NOTES. Note A, referred to page 18. The matter is unimportant in itself, but it is instructive as to the way in which such matters are dealt with. I received no answer for half a year. But in the number for Jan. 24, 1852, (Vol. V. p. 89,) a correspondent, who seemed rather surprised at my asking what stories Reichenbach thought he bad dis- proved, replied, " Certainly those by which it is said c the spirits of the departed wander over their graves ' (Ashburner's Reichenbach, p. 177). He shews that superstition to be popular in Germany." This is, at the best, a sad let down for the glorious Reichen- bach. His achievement, if we are to believe this, was the destruction of a local superstition, the very existence of which, as well as its popularity in Germany, we are to infer from his outcry of triumph. But of course it did not meet my enquiry, which was ichere to find the thousands of stories (I might have added the thousands of frightful interpretations) and I replied to that effect in the succeeding number (Jan. 31st, Vol. V., p. 115). A correspondent answered in the next number, (Feb. 7> ibid., p. 136) but still without meeting my question. In the next number, I wrote " I hope it will not be thought that I mean to vouch for the truth of the stories after which I am enquiring, if it should turn out that there really are any ; and also that I shall not be thought captious if I am not satisfied with the substitutes 86 NOTES. which are proposed. When your correspondent says that Reichenbach's ' system may be advantageously applied to the explanation of corpse- candles, illuminated churchyards, and other articles of Welsh and English superstition,' I can only say that, as far as I understand the superstitions referred to, nobody ever thought of connecting them with ghosts. There may be stories of c illuminated churchyards,' with ghosts in them, of which I have not heard ; but no ghosts are men- tioned by your correspondent. I am not laying undue stress on a word. If the word ghost means any thing, it means a spirit ; and I apprehend that the enlightened Baron will not thank any friend who would sink, or explain away, that mean- ing. So, I presume, his translator Dr. Ashburner understood him, when he triumphantly exclaimed, ' The glorious Reichen- bach has, in this treatise, done good service against the vile demon of superstition,' p. 180. These words would have been too grand for the celebration of such a petty triumph as snuff- ing out Welsh candles, and explaining one or two small super- stitions of the vulgar. I must therefore again, if you will allow me, ask whether any body knows of such stories as would really meet what appears to be the meaning of the author and translator." I am not aware that any thing more has appeared on the subject in Notes and Queries or elsewhere. Note B, referred to page 24. I believe that what I have said in the text is not only true, but perfectly sufficient — " as far as I can learn the statement is entirely false." At the same time I am desirous to say a few words about it for two reasons — first that I may not seem to ignore things which some people may consider as giving colour to the story, and secondly because I think some of the parti- culars are curious in themselves, and tend to illustrate our subject. The Zoist, No. XIII., contains (p. 140— -April 1846) a " Letter to Sir Philip Crampton, Bart., from Dr. Elliotson," NOTES. 87 which begins, " Sir, — You have published a letter, as all agree, in the Mail, and evidently with the object of injuring mesmerism. You offer a £100 note to any person who shall read the particulars of the note and three English words written upon a slip of paper on which it is folded ; there being also an endorsement on the envelope to this effect." Among the "Notices to Correspondents" in the same No. of the Zoist, is " Sir P. Crampton. His shewy offer runs thus. We copy it from the Examiner of January 17th. ' Bank, Henry Street, Dublin, Jan. 7, 1846. — In answer to the numerous enquiries which have been made respecting the lodgment of a hundred pound note in the Bank of Messrs. Ball and Co., to be paid to any person who shall, by the operation of mesmerism, describe the particulars of the note, I beg leave to say that such a lodgment has been made in this bank, and on the envelope in which it is contained is the following endorsement : — ; " This envelope contains a bank note for one hundred pounds, which will immediately become the property of the person who, without opening the envelope, shall describe, in the pre- sence of Philip Doyne, Esq., and Sir Philip Crampton, Bart., every particular of the said note, namely — the bank from which it was issued, the date, the number, and the signatures attached to it, and who shall read a sentence, consisting of a few English words, plainly written, and which is contained in the same envelope with the half-note." — (Signed) James Dudgeon.' " One cannot help observing that what is a note at the begin- ning of the statement has become a half-note before the close of it. One would think that Mr. Dudgeon (who seems to have been the manager of the bank) must have known. However, it mattered but little what it was ; for, as far as I can learn, it was not meddled with by any of the challenged tribe. The next thing which I find is, that, after an interval of between five and six years, in the Zoist (Jan. 1852, No. XXXVI., p. 370) the letter just quoted is referred to ; and Dr. Elliotson says that Sir P. C. tried to test clairvoyance 88 NOTES. " by enclosing, as he said, a bank note in an envelope, which bank note turned out, it is said, to be a blank cheque." In the next No. of the Zoist (April 1852, No. XXXVII., p. 35) the offer of Sir P. C. is again given ; as far as I see verbatim as above, and Dr. Elliotson says, " After all, it turns out that Sir Philip Crampton did not enclose a bank note but a blank cheque, and they say he thought it good fun to substi- tute the one for the other," He then gives an extract from a letter which he had received from Major Buckley, who was, it appears, acquainted with Mrs. Bell (widow of a General of the Madras Army) who knew Mr. Dudgeon (whom the Major calls the " Manager" of the Bank) and she wrote to him for infor- mation. "He says" (Major Buckley reports) "after stating that a bank note for £100 was announced to be within the envelope, that, the time having expired the envelope was opened, and, instead of a bank note, a blank cheque appeared, thereby proving, &c. &c." [sic.] After saying that nobody applied to see it, he goes on, " the newspaper accounts stated that a cheque, not a bank note, was taken from the envelope, payable to (Edipus, or bearer ; and that the English words with it were c To (Edipus alone.' " After this, Dr. Elliotson proceeds ; — "On Major Buckley's return to town in February, he found Mr. Doyne's" [qy Dudgeon's] "letter addressed to Mrs. General Bell, dated Nov. 20, 1847, Dublin." Some extracts are then given. The document is called a "bank note ;" and it is added "when the stipulated time, six months, arrived, the paper was opened, and in lieu of a bank note appeared a blank cheque." To this Dr. Elliotson appends a letter from Mr. S. D. Saun- ders, dated from " 1, Upper Portland Place, Clifton, Bristol, Dec. 19, 1851," in which he states that when he was resident in "Ivy Cottage, Syncombe, Bath," but he does not say exactly when, he had occasion to mesmerize a boy who worked for him in his garden, and who was clairvoyant — that he set him to look after this note — that the boy said and persisted that there was no note but only a cheque, and that he thinking this was mere nonsense, told the boy so and waked him. NOTES. 89 Altogether this story about Sir P. Crampton is so strange that it seems best to make no other remark upon it than that which my purpose in quoting it requires : — namely, that if there was a bank note (which seems very doubtful) it cer- tainly was not in a metal box, and what is more to the pur- pose, it does not appear that any mesmerist or clairvoyant ever came near it. The only other case that I heard of through these en- quiries, was one in which a clairvoyante pretended to know the contents of a gentleman's letter to the Editor of a News- paper before it was published. The gentleman, to test her powers as well as the honesty of her supporters, proposed to deposit £50 with the Editor for the benefit of a charity if the writing accompanying it was duly declared, and his offer was left open for ten days. The challenge was not however responded to. The case, however, is obviously irrelevant in our enquiry, for there was not in fact any bank note or metal box — no deposit, no attempt, and therefore no failure. Indeed it does not appear that the patient ever heard of the proposal ; and many reasons might dispose her medical attendant to decline a wager of fifty pounds by which he might lose and could not possibly gain any thing. LONDON : gilbert and rivington, printers, st. John's square. WORKS BY THE REV. S. R. MAITLAND, D.D. i. 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