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THE 
 
 RATIONALE 
 
 OF 
 
 SPIRITUALISM 
 
 ^t» — S . Q 8S=4*-<»* 
 
 PRICE TWOPENCE. 
 
THE 
 
 RATIONALE 
 
 OF 
 
 SPIEITUALISM. 
 
 A PAPEE BEAD BEFOEE THE 
 
 CHICAGO PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, 
 
 FREDERICK F, COOK. 
 0^ ^ C^u^^i^^^^ c/]y ^ Cl u^Me^^ 
 
 LONDON: 
 E; W. ALLEN, 11, AYE MARIA LANE 
 
 1880. 
 
3r 
 
THE 
 
 RATIONALE OF SPIRITUALISM. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and G-entlemen : I am not 
 unmindful that the subject to which, with your kind in- 
 dulgence, I shall invite your attention this evening, is one 
 seldom discussed before the elect. In the world at large 
 it frequently forces attention, often with positive rudeness ; 
 but wherever opinion is organized, whether religiously, 
 socially or scientifically, it meets with little hospitality, 
 and, when tolerated, it is either with compassionate con- 
 descension or undisguised contempt. 
 
 I do not allude to this state of things to find fault. The 
 rather, so long as the field of human nature remains what 
 it now is — a mere playground for the passions — I would 
 not have it otherwise. I could conceive of nothing more 
 disastrous happening to the race at this time than a 
 universal acceptance of supersensual phenomena. Without 
 adequate preparation and discipline, the end would be a 
 return to superstition. 
 
 Only the most superficial treatment has hitherto been 
 accorded what is known under the name of Modern 
 Spiritualism. If its phenomena have an objective veracity, 
 their importance to mankind cannot be over-estimated ; 
 and it is from this point of view that the subject should 
 be studied. 
 
 The time having arrived in the order of human pro- 
 gression to widen the avenue of communication between 
 the two worlds, two methods were open to the spiritual 
 powers — to admit only the higher class of minds at first, 
 and let the truth in diluted and contractcl form work 
 
downward ; or, taking the opposite course, start the 
 movement at the very foundations of society, diversify it 
 to the utmost, employ chiefly blind forces, and hedge the 
 whole about with mystifying safeguards. The first course 
 represents the human method of teaching ; the last is the 
 mode adopted by the more enlightened spirit- world. The 
 difference is expressed by preaching and practising. In 
 this lies the solution to all the mystery. 
 
 It is charged against the movement that it is almost 
 wholly confined to the uncultured. While the ranks of 
 the believers contain many of the most enlightened minds 
 of the age, I am free to admit that its potency lies, as yet, 
 chiefly with a class untrammeled by precise definitions or 
 exact thought — that it is these who give it substance, 
 stamp it with their peculiarities, and represent it in the 
 eyes of the world. 
 
 One day mankind will rejoice that this is so — that in 
 the infancy of this dispensation the blunders of human 
 wisdom were kept out of its experience, and that the 
 guides were wholly spiritual. 
 
 We sometimes learn most of the true side of a question 
 by studying its false side. Let us suppose, therefore, that 
 the spirit-world had taken the human- wisdom course in 
 this instance, and confided its secrets first to the learned. 
 See a scientific world in the direst confusion, despairingly 
 searching for its most cherished and now exploded 
 premises ! Behold a religious world in the throes of soul- 
 agony, sitting haggard and distracted amid the debris of 
 its shattered creeds ! Keligious beliefs have their roots in 
 the heart, and when you tear them out by force you take 
 that which is almost dearer than life itself. The late 
 Walter Bagehot well remarked: "One of the greatest 
 pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea." No, a 
 wise dispensation would not thus inflict the race. It 
 would work precisely as it is working. It is stealing upon 
 the world like a thief in the night. The change comes, 
 but no man knows whereof. It operates as a gentle 
 amelioration ; its disintegrating force, though potent, is 
 scarcely perceptible ; fully one-fourth of the native- 
 
American element is even now converted ; another fourth 
 has become quite familiar with the idea, and is ready for 
 acceptance without a pang ; and with all this wonderful 
 work accomplished, within less time than is allotted to a 
 generation, the mischief done is a minimum. This shows 
 how completely the destructive forces of the movement 
 are hedo^ed about. 
 
 The. more study is given the method of the introduction 
 of Spiritualism, the more is the student impressed with 
 its wisdom. Scientific truths, having but a remote con- 
 nection with the feelings, come first to the learned ; but 
 religious truths, which may be said to be all feeling, can 
 only be planted where formulas and creeds have loss their 
 significance — where the spirit has wholly superseded the 
 letter. Spiritualism is therefore carefully veiled from 
 those who are either not ripe for a change, or, being 
 individually advanced, would through their influence too 
 violently disturb the religious and social equilibrium. 
 The first class includes all that is orthodox : the second 
 the leaders of science, with a few carefully selected 
 exceptions. Had this truth come first to the savants, 
 as a discovery, and subject to no conditions except 
 such as are commonly recognized with regard to scientific 
 experiments, directly it would have permeated the entire 
 social economy, producing untold misery. No doubt 
 there are thousands to whom the revelations, even in this 
 abrupt way, would have come as a boon ; but on the other 
 hand, there are millions in whose minds the unwelcome 
 truth thus ruthlessly forced would have called into action 
 all the baser passions in defence of their cherished dogmas. 
 What cry more pathetic than that of the old heathen, who, 
 bereft of his idol by the missionaries of a strange religion, 
 wailed out piteously : ^' You have robbed me of my god." 
 
 The religious chapters in the history of mankind are 
 written in blood. Changes involving not a tithe of the 
 revolution expressed by Spiritualism have convulsed the 
 civiUzed world. Society is wholl}^ an artificial structure. 
 It is furthermore all superstructure. Not a law, not a 
 custom is founded in abstract right or the facts and possi- 
 
bilities of human nature. Progress thus far has been all 
 patchwork, clumsily held together. As the fabric is now- 
 constituted no new idea can adjust itself to it without 
 complete readjustment. To admit a new article into any 
 creed, religious, social or scientific, necessitates a revision 
 or recoEstruction of the whole. When the least change 
 involves so much trouble, what would not a universal 
 revolution do ? This : it would shatter the entire social 
 structure to fragments. It would be a return to chaos. 
 
 The nineteenth century marks the most important epoch 
 in the history of the world. To it will be traced the 
 genesis of a new line of progression. The year 1848, a 
 time of political and social revolution, marks the transition 
 from the artificial to the natural order. It was the year 
 that heard the awakening raps at Hydesville. It was the 
 rap of the spirit Master Mason, laying the corner-stone 
 for a new social structure. Spiritualism puts human 
 nature for the first time on solid ground. It is as broad 
 as life itself. It is all-inclusive. All truths adjust them- 
 selves to it naturally. It is a universal solvent. 
 
 To the world at large Spiritualism is merely a super- 
 stition, having for its basis a latent credulity, forced to 
 activity by a system of clumsy deception, trickery and 
 fraud. Holding to this view, it is in a measure creditable 
 in the intelligent masses that they sternly set their faces 
 against what they believe to be but a form of Fetichism. 
 Civilization is a hard- won fight. On its altar countless 
 lives have been sacrificed. I am in fullest sympathy with 
 those who would guard this sacred flame from the stifling 
 influence of superstition. But in doing this we should be 
 careful lest we fall into error in the opposite direction, and 
 foster intellectual bigotry and intolerance. 
 
 Man is a creature of conformity. Spiritualism is re- 
 adjustment. These postulates give us a key. 
 
 In order to deal justly with Spiritualism, our first duty 
 is to study man, both in his mysterious individuality, and 
 as a complex whole. Who of us understands the opera- 
 tion of the human mind ? Is not man the proverbial 
 symbol of perversity ? Ask the reformer by what methods 
 
he circumvents this self-sufficient incarnation of conceit ! 
 Are not the wise often the most foohsh ; are not the foolish 
 wise ? The truly great die unhonored in their day, and 
 it is left for future generations to revere their memories. 
 These things have come to be the veriest truisms ; all of us 
 recognize them when we hear them ; but how many give 
 them practical application ? Whenever a science of the 
 human mind shall be revealed it will be discovered that in 
 essence all permanent progress is reaction. First concep- 
 tions are nearly always erroneous. In legislation this 
 truth has found expression in the aphorism that the wisest 
 laws are those which repeal others. 
 
 I have dwelt thus at some length on the human side, 
 because I deem its right understanding essential to a pro- 
 per consideration of the spiritual side of this problem. 
 We have not only perverseness but a diversified perver- 
 sity in human nature. To this Spiritualism is adjusting 
 itself with a view to readjustment of the entire social 
 fabric. Its object is revolution without the usual blood- 
 stained concomitants. 
 
 Let us now contemplate this movement with reference 
 to some of its general aspects. It is thirty years old ; it 
 counts its adherents by millions ; its literature is pub- 
 lished in nearly a score of languages. It has entered the 
 pulpit, the laboratory, the busy marts of trade — no place 
 is so remote that it does not make a stir in it — and it 
 differs from all other movements that have heretofore 
 left their impress on the race in this, that it is not trans- 
 planted, but is spontaneous and self-propagative. It 
 often comes an unbidden and a most unwelcome guest. 
 
 It is unique in other ways, but most in this, that its 
 best friend is its radical opposite, the materialist. This 
 point is well worthy the serious attention of thinkers — 
 the sort, I mean, who classify Spiritualism among the 
 delusions. Was ever delusion so rational that it could 
 recognize essential good in its antithesis ? If madness. 
 Spiritualism evinces wonderful method. Its ranks are 
 chiefly recruited from rationalists, secularists, materialists, 
 infidels. It is only now and then that a member of a 
 
 i 
 
8 
 
 t 
 
 church is converted, and when this happens, the victim 
 feels as much out of place as a fish out of water. Now, 
 this tendency of unheliei, to what most men as yet regard 
 an overhelief, is certainly a very curious phenomenon, and 
 if Spiritualism is really the delusion science would have 
 us believe, is it not time to stay the spirit of doubt, if the 
 ultimate threatens to be morbid and groveling super- 
 stition. 
 
 We have been contemplating the human mind and 
 certain general aspects of the movement. Now let us 
 turn our attention to another side of this enigma. What 
 does Spiritualism imply ? To what changes is it likely to 
 give birth ? 
 
 Spiritualism is Revolution, not simply Reform. Reform 
 works downward ; it is scientific in its spirit, and, though 
 not generally regarded so, is practically conservative. 
 Revolution works upward ; it reasons far less deeply than 
 it feels. In rare instances the revolutionist and reformer 
 are blended. The difficulties that attend a religious tran- 
 sition are enormous. Man is by nature lawless. Religion, 
 whether expressed by Fetichism or an ethical refinement, 
 aside from brute force and the love of kindred, is the sole 
 influence that can keep this lawlessness under control. 
 Now a readjustment is decided upon ! what an uprooting 
 must not take place I and while the transition is in 
 progress, what care must not be exercised ! Elements in 
 their revolutionary or readjusting stage are always ex- 
 tremely destructive. Conservatism is simply another word 
 for adjustment accomplished. In view of the trifling 
 mischief that is doing during this most wonderfal and 
 radical of all transitions, I would call conversions to 
 Spiritualism a process of spirit selection. It is so wisely 
 ordered that the light is vouchsafed only under carefully 
 guarded conditions. It seeks and blends only with such 
 elements as are in aflinity and individualized. Somewhat 
 of notoriety is bound to attach to all things that are in 
 their nature marvellous, but the aim is ever to minimize 
 the excitement, as essential to a rational propagation. And 
 this is the reason why spirits do not meet the demand t<^ 
 
prove themselves in such public exhibitions as the finding 
 of Charlie Ross and the like exploits. I allude to this not 
 because I have at any time deemed these challenges for 
 public tests worthy of notice, but solely for the reason 
 that they are the stock-in-trade arguments of the superfi- 
 cial, and as the world is composed mostly of this class, the 
 matter may be worth reverting to in this discussion. 
 
 The question is often asked, if Spiritualism is true, why 
 did it not come before ? It came before ; it always has 
 been, but in variously modified forms. However, the 
 question for all that is quite natural, and was asked nearly 
 two thousand years ago, with reference to Christianity, the 
 forerunner of Spiritualism, by one reputed to have been 
 the teacher of the noble emperor, Marcus Aurelius. The 
 question was propounded to one of the Fathers. In those 
 days it was Christianity that was a superstition in the eyes 
 of the learned, and it was with extreme condescension 
 that any of the heathen scholars deigned to enter into a 
 controversy with a Christian. And had The Atlantic 
 Monthly been published during the reign of the Antonines, 
 and a certain, as yet anonymous, author lived, the culture 
 of the period would no doubt have been favored with an 
 extremely well-written essay on " Some Dangerous Ten- 
 dencies in Roman Life." 
 
 It is difficult to resist the temptation to pursue this 
 thought ; to point out that Christianity, on which our 
 civilization up to the present is founded, came also as a 
 revolution ; was also marked with excrescences ; was the 
 one active force then in the universe, and, by a laborious 
 process, this thing that was decried as immoral established 
 a high moral standard among a people whose immoralities 
 had become worse than brutish ; subdued passions that 
 knew no law, either human or divine ; raised woman fi:*om 
 a position of servitude to almost equality with man, and 
 did a thousand other noble things for which it now-a-days 
 seldom receives credit. The culture of Rome saw only 
 superstition and a moral degeneration in the upstart 
 religion. The priest of the Sanhedrim could imagine no 
 good come out of Nazareth, and cannot yet. Let those 
 
10 
 
 who heap contumely on the one, and plead for the civiliza- 
 tion of the other, remember that nascent Christianity and 
 nascent Spiritualism are exact parallels, except in this, 
 that the former came in a time — and was thereby modified 
 — when it had to pay for its existence with blood. 
 
 The chief characteristic of Christianity was that it 
 operated on the conscience — almost discovered it, opened 
 it, developed it. But a conscience suddenly set in operation 
 is a terrible force, and coming as this did on the unpre- 
 pared masses, produced a condition of mind bordering on 
 frenzy. Hence we see the whole Christian population in 
 sackcloth and ashes. By tens of thousands they seek the 
 deserts, take refuge in gloomy caves, stand solitary and 
 motionless for years on the top of high pillars, lacerate 
 their flesh, and in a thousand other ways turn order into 
 bedlam. Still, if all this was necessary to develop the 
 conscience in the dominant race who will grudge the price ? 
 Now, let us observe how perfectly the Christian scheme 
 was adapted to meet this ' emergency — to cure what it had 
 made ilL It was absolutely essential that human nature 
 with a conscience suddenly quickened should be provided 
 with a refuge. The new religion stood ready with a pro- 
 tecting church, the cleansing blood of the Lamb and a 
 host of mediators. To the calm, individualized thinker 
 there is somewhat almost ludicrous in these agencies ; but 
 to men steeped in immorality, suddenly subjected to a 
 process of self-examination involving eternal salvation or 
 endless torment, there was a terrible reality in the state of 
 things that confronted them. The church has been blamed 
 for overdoing its work. I doubt if the charge be sustained 
 when the facts of history shall be more intelligently 
 interpreted. What ignorance and brutality require to 
 subdue them are the barbaric twins, force and fear, not 
 high ideals. The essential thing at first is subjection; for 
 the rest do the best you can. 
 
 I enter into the philosophy of this matter so fully for the 
 reason that I intend to draw from it an important con- 
 clusion — the necessity for a new religion. What is the 
 essential characteristic of Christianity ? Dependence. 
 
11 
 
 Now, let me ask if this quality is not in its nature 
 stunting ? And whether it does Dot follow that those who 
 possess the elements of growth, in order to grow, must 
 remove themselves from its influence ? As Christianity is 
 constituted, progress within its fold, beyond a well-defined 
 limit, is utterly impossible. To this limit it has brought 
 the world triumphantly. So long as men must be kept in 
 leading-strings, I have nothing better to recommend than 
 the Christian religion. But what for those who are grow- 
 ing into self-hood ? What, if Spiritualism be not true, 
 but bleak, dreary Materialism ? This is the logic of the 
 situation, and no candid, thinking mind will gainsay it. 
 
 The Orthodox Church is fully alive to the truth and 
 force of this conclusion. It is folly to deny the paradox — 
 dependence is its strength. What is known as liberal 
 Christianity is a beautiful tribute to man's heart, but no 
 credit to his head. It is an entrancing illusion — the 
 mystic vale through which men pass, almost without 
 halting — from the dark, iron-bound beliefs into the clear 
 light of Spiritualism, or the dreary wastes of Materialism. 
 Liberal Christianity is a name only — a hazy nothing — the 
 smoke from fast-dying religious fires. In Orthodoxy 
 there is yet somewhat of spasmodic force. Its lurid 
 flames ever and anon light up the religious horizon, 
 though with every efl'ort they sink lower and lower. But 
 the pale exhalation known as liberal Christianity is utterly 
 sparkless. It warms for a time with a borrowed heat, it 
 shines with a reflected light ; its aroma produces an 
 intellectual intoxication — for a time there is even a 
 semblance of enthusiasm. But alas ! Soon the heat dim- 
 inishes, the light grows dim, the aroma is dissipated, sober 
 second thought steps in, and the whole illusion is dis- 
 pelled. And what remains — a barren ideality — some 
 people call it " Culture " — food for shrivelled stomachs, 
 mayhap, but the soul-hungry, before whom such fare is 
 set, cry in anguish, " Give us to eat ; we are starving ; 
 our lot is despair." I could almost wish this were other- 
 wise. Had I found an inherent flame in either Universal- 
 ism or Unitarianism, I could well have rested by its 
 
12 
 
 fireside. I looked for it with passionate desire, only to be 
 sadly disappointed. Eeligious force and life is not ethical, 
 but eschatological. Morally, all the leading religions are 
 pretty much alike. Ethically, Marcus Aurelius and 
 Christ were brothers, but the kinship failed of religious 
 recognition, and the former, although the noblest of men, 
 persecuted the followers of the latter to the death. A sect 
 that could thrive on culture would fatten on east 
 wind. 
 
 In Swedenborgianism there was once an original spark, 
 but its over-zealous friends, troubled with a bad attack of 
 respectability for fear of being called Spiritualists, have 
 closed the door of inspiration, wrapped their somewhat 
 premature bantling in layers of cotton, and now sit gloomily 
 about a huge pile of literary dreariness and metaphysical 
 abstractions — the smallest, most stunted, most unsympa- 
 thetic pattern of a religion under the sun. It is the most 
 desperate attempt to prove that one swallow makes a 
 summer anywhere on record. It is a sort of a religious 
 "what is it ?" — too gloomy for a farce, and too comical to 
 be serious. 
 
 Finally, Altruism, the ultimate of an unchecked, un- 
 reasoning scepticism, is not only an illusion but a delusion. 
 It worships in a palace of ice, permeated by a chilling 
 "atmosphere called humanity. The effort to make believe 
 that there is warmth here is only less comical, because 
 sadder, than the conceit of the immortal Col. Sellers, in 
 Mark Twain's ''Gilded Age." Having placed a lighted 
 tallow- dip in a stove, this expert psychologist tries to im- 
 pose on his shivering guest the scientific theory that the 
 imagination is the greatest factor in the universe, and that, 
 if he can but bring himself to believe that the semblance 
 of fire in the radiator equals the reality, he will soon be 
 in the enjoyment of an exalted state of perspiration. 
 Soon Altruism will not use even this paltry candle to 
 delude itself with ; it will cease trying to delude itself 
 altogether ; its emblem will be a ghastly, grinning skeleton. 
 If now it indulges in a semblance of emotion, and holds 
 up to the world a religious caricature, it is because it feels 
 
10 
 O 
 
 it must make a showing for the sake of appearances- Some 
 of the worshippers at the shrine of humanity — devotees 
 like John Morley, Frederick Harrison, Leslie Stephen and 
 John Fiske — no doubt really feel a glow in their natures. 
 But the warmth is transmitted ; it has come along a line 
 of religious ancestors ; it is a remnant of heredity, stirred 
 into activity for a time by the friction of combat. Let 
 the conflict once cease ; let Altruism be the reigniDg 
 influence — as it soon would be but for incoming Spiritual- 
 ism — and a gloomy Pessimism would take the place of 
 present enthusiasm ; more and more would the motto be 
 "every man for himself," and by rapid stages the world 
 would revert to barbarism. I have an intense admiration 
 for the Altruan ideal — almost realized in such a character 
 as Marcus Aurelius. It is pure, unselfish, crystalline, but 
 it is only for angels. In another and better world I 
 believe we shall all fully realize it. But so long as the 
 selfish propensities are the most active in the race — and 
 our very existence on earth is based upon them — our ideals 
 and realizations must ever remain distinct and separate. 
 This is the dread law of matter. 
 
 I think I have now prepared the way to direct special 
 attention to the chief characteristic of the personnel of 
 Spiritualism — individuation. Individuation is essential to 
 admission ; and once admitted, it is above all the mental 
 quality that is more and more developed. Here then we 
 have perfect reciprocity — a tendancy on the part of thinkers 
 toward individuation, and departure from the established 
 religion, and a new religion that can only exist where in- 
 dividuation is measurably accomplished. 
 
 It is, indeed, a wise dispensation, and could have been 
 ordained only by the powers of whom Tennyson, with his 
 rare spiritual insight, affirms : 
 
 " Who know the Seasons, when to take 
 Occasion by the hand, and make 
 The bounds of Freedom wider yet." 
 
 Spiritualism came not before because it could not come — 
 must not come. Perhaps I can best illustrate the extremely 
 
14 
 
 subtle relations between the two orders of existence — the 
 mundane and the spiritual — by taking you along with me, 
 as, step by step in my experience, I proceeded to reason 
 upon them. 
 
 Like most men, when my attention was first called to 
 the subject under discussion, I regarded it as a sad farce, 
 compounded about equally of imposture and delusion. 
 But I soon found reasons to change my mind. Through 
 the enshrouding fog, the surrounding darkness, amid the 
 jargon of strange sounds, I now and then caught glimpses 
 of rare light. But all natural order seemed inverted. I 
 seldom received what I expected, and usually got what I 
 did not expect. Sometimes the brightest intelligences — or 
 who purported to be such by name — would spout the 
 veriest drivel, while the ignorant Indian control, laboring 
 painfully through a perplexity of ragged English, would 
 surprise me with the wisest counsels and choicest bits of 
 philosophy. 
 
 I had, indeed, fallen upon a will-o'-the-wisp. For 
 months, during a patient investigation, it was all hide-and- 
 seek. But the more I penetrated this world of contradic- 
 tions, the more I became convinced there was something 
 in it well worthy a thoughtful man's attention. I might 
 have said with Joe Gargery, " It's a' a muddle ; " or follow- 
 ing the fashion, laughed at the notion that spirits, our 
 dear, departed friends, should return only to play the part 
 of mountebanks. Either is a happy way of bridging the 
 difficulty, and saves considerable trouble. But I chose 
 rather to leave the a priori ground to the philosophers and 
 scientists, acknowledge that I knew nothing about how men 
 and women would act under a new order of existence, and 
 accept the teachings of experience. J have held to this 
 course during the past six years, and have reason to be well 
 satisfied with the results. 
 
 After studying the varying phenomena for awhile, and 
 as the perplexity only increased with each new experience, 
 I began to question my mode of procedure. From attempt- 
 ing to solve spiritual methods from the human standpoint, 
 I began to study human methods from the spiritual stand- 
 
15 
 
 point — that is to say, I studied the operation of the human 
 mind, both individualized and in the mass, from the high- 
 est altitude to which my finite discernment could carry 
 ne ; and although this light was necessarily very limited, 
 ^et soon the atmosphere cleared wonderfully, it was not 
 ^ong before, one by one, the fog- veils lifted — and what 
 Defore, to my mind, had been no better than the fribbling 
 Df fools, suddenly became instinct with the highest wisdom 
 — not that the words always took on new meanings, but 
 :hat I saw more clearly the motives that prompted them. 
 
 Let us, as circumstances will permit, put ourselves in 
 :he place of exalted intelligence in contact with man in his 
 present development. What do we find ? An unbroken 
 ine of failure ! I say it without fear of contradiction — 
 m unbroken line of failure. What success has been 
 ichieved, year by year, century by century, has come in 
 jpite of us ; has been the result rather of reaction than 
 iction. Of course, I refer to the mass of mankind — and 
 et it be remembered that Spiritualism deals with the mass 
 lirectly. In those branches of science where man comes 
 n contact solely with matter, he does passably well ; but 
 vhenever he deals with a problem in which mind is a 
 actor, he is hopelessly at sea, and it is only through an 
 indless, never-ceasing buffeting that he is measurably 
 breed into the right. It has been well said that progress 
 s martyrdom. It lies invariably in a direction opposite 
 he path along which the masses insist on plodding, and 
 ts pioneers are always crucified. 
 
 The perversity of the human mind can scarcely be over 
 jstimated. Few, indeed, have been able to deal with it 
 mderstandingly. It is far more than is flattering, like the 
 .rishman's pig. Pat was driving it to Limerick market, 
 vhen he met a friend. " Where are you driving the pig, 
 ?at?" was the greeting. "Whist, be aisy," rejoined the 
 istute Hibernian in great trepidation and under breath, 
 ' to Limerick, but the pig thinks I want to take him to 
 ripperary, and that's what makes him go along so foinly." 
 
 1 dwell upon this point thus persistently, because the 
 luman mind is the solvent of the whole problem, and I 
 
16 
 
 feel convinced that philosophers, statesmen, psychologists, 
 and all who make a study of the mental characteristics of 
 man, will, in ages to come, turn to this period as an inex- 
 haustible mine of psychological wealth. I am not of those 
 who believe that the manifestations of spiritual power now 
 so general will always abide with the race. They occur 
 only in transition periods. They come to inaugurate new 
 dispensations, and, having set the movement well agoing, 
 the power is wisely withdrawn ; because, it is doubtful if 
 human nature be strong enough to make them permanently 
 profitable. Hence I regard this as essentially a history 
 making epoch. It is a time when an intelligence superior 
 to the human or embodied mind is shaping events — and 
 how it deals with the perversity that at every turn opposes it, 
 will be a subject of research to the student for ages to come. 
 
 Let me pause here a moment to establish a base of 
 operations from which all may proceed together. To what 
 extent do sceptics and believers stand upon common pre- 
 mises with reference to this subject? It will be granted, 
 primarily, on all sides, that a movement, be it founded on 
 delusion or fact, known as Modern Spiritualism, and 
 counting its adherents by the millions in the most civilized 
 portions of the globe, has a vital existence. How rapidly 
 it is growing I dare not venture to assert, for fear of seeming 
 to strain a point, but this much I may say, that it is to-day 
 a more potent propaganda than all the sects and churches 
 of Christendom combined, I mean by this that it converts 
 more from an absolute non-belief. And what it gets, it 
 keeps. A pervert from Spiritualism is a curiosity. 
 
 For all practical purposes, a sufficient common base has 
 now been established, and we may proceed to an examin- 
 ation of the structure. Let us enquire first as to the method 
 of its growth. All other religious movements of which 
 the world has any account, started from a single centre, 
 were indentified with a single individual, and were subse- 
 quently propagated almost wholly through the zeal of mis- 
 sionaries. The single point where Spiritualism makes 
 contact with its religious predecessors, is in its missionary 
 force. But the Spiritualist missionary or lecturer — except 
 
17 
 
 he be a medium — is not a converter ; he is httle more 
 than a familiarizer ; he does not even estabhsh organized 
 foci. In all else, Spiritualism differs in method from all 
 other religions. It is, in the first place, universal. In no 
 proper sense can any place claim its birth. Its second 
 peculiar distinction is spontaneity ; but for all that, it is 
 forced — an exotic. Apparently we have here a contradic- 
 tion, but^ it is such only in terms. Spiritualism is spon- 
 taneous, because in most instances the phenomena on which 
 it rests its claims come unbidden. It is exotic, because 
 in the order of evolution, as we understand it, it is with- 
 out natural antecedents, and, if evolved at all, comes to us 
 from a set of conditions, which, except through a law of 
 reaction or contrariety, should produce precisely opposite 
 results — a destructive scepticism. 
 
 Having explained the mode, what are the results sought 
 to be accomplished ? Nothing short of revolution in every 
 department of thought ! It means all this or nothing ; it 
 is either an intelligent, most potent, and wise dispensation, 
 or the maddest freak that ever possessed the human mind. 
 I hold it to be the first, and upon those who shall choose 
 the last I will put this task : Explain to me the genesis 
 and evolution of the delusion I Where or in what are its 
 antecedents ? There is no efi'ect without an adequate cause; 
 now in what subjective potency lie these tremendous 
 results, regarded as delusion? I have been at some pains 
 to study this subject, but nowhere can I discover a parallel; 
 for be it remembered that Spiritualism flourishes best 
 where scepticism is most active. It works hand and hand 
 with the materialist. Literally it lives, grows, and thrives 
 upon what, according to all scientific prescriptions, should 
 kill it. 
 
 I wish I could treat this subject in detail, but time for- 
 bids more than a mere outline of suggestions. In truth the 
 theme is one pregnant with volumes. As I glance along 
 the vista of my experience I observe a broad, well-defined 
 line which divides Spiritualism into two distinct orders of 
 activity. On one hand it is exoteric and on the other 
 esoteric. It is one thing for the world and another for it- 
 
18 
 
 self. Along this dividing line come the multitude. It is 
 a curious medley of minds — all humanity thrown into a 
 lump. It is an eager throng ; it comes to be amused, to 
 be awed, for excitement, to jeer and scoff, to seek surcease 
 of sorrow, to drown despair. Now let me ask you in all 
 candor, what would you think of a dispensation that 
 would listen to the ignorant demands of this motley crew, 
 and fill them blind as they are, with yet more blinding 
 revolution. Surely, you could have but a poor opinion of 
 it. No, the spirit-world can give but sparingly, and yet 
 it must give in sufficient quantities to make headway — and 
 to balance these proportions, so as to minimize the mischief, 
 is a task calling for a wisdom that can be nowise lower 
 than that of angels. 
 
 The observant student, as he passes along with the 
 jostling crowd, will note great gaps marked "exposures." 
 The presumption is that these expose mediums ; but, in 
 fact, only human ignorance — they are safety-valves — sacri- 
 fices to the Moloch of prejudice — meat cast to ravenous 
 wolves. Somewhat in the line of " exposure " is always 
 kept on the stage. But, in the meantime, another work is 
 going forward — a process of spirit selection. There is an 
 esoteric Spiritualism into which there is no prying except 
 by consent of the spirit-world. The crowd that clamors 
 to be admitted is carefully scanned. Perhaps, not above 
 25 per cent, of those who investigate at any time, be their 
 motives never so good, are chosen. Sometimes it happens 
 that a person is refused at one stage and admitted at 
 another — the result depending on all the conditions, social, 
 religious, moral, intellectual or otherwise, that at the time, 
 or promise in the future to environ the investigator. 
 You have all probably heard that " conditions " are 
 necessary to manifestations. This word has been much 
 abused because, as related to Spiritualism, it is little 
 understood. The " conditions " to a successful seance are 
 the most subtle factors that can be imagined. They are 
 far less physical than mental, but they are both, and much 
 beside — they are also spiritual. 
 
 As well as I am able I will illustrate these subtleties. 
 
19 
 
 You will readily acknowledge that tlie success of any 
 movement depends in large measure on what may be 
 called its charter members. These orive it form in ac- 
 cordance with their mental bias. As the power to make 
 proselytes to Spiritualism is and must remain almost 
 wholly with the spirit-world, it follows as a necessary 
 corollary .that they will carefully guard and supervise the 
 admissions, in order to have at their disposal the best 
 material to serve their purpose. The elements that enter 
 into this calculation vary with the ends sought to be 
 accomplished, but a few general characteristics may be 
 noted. Individuation is the prime quality in all cases 
 where it is mtended that the person admitted shall be an 
 active force, for the subject is still very unpopular, and in 
 certain walks of life it requires no little courage to stand for 
 an unpalatable truth. This class constitute the missionary 
 element in the movement. Another that may be men- 
 tioned is almost the reverse of this. It is as phant as 
 possible, and, as an aggregate, is nearly a bhnd force. It 
 is, however, none the less valuable, since often 
 
 " They also serve 
 Who only stand and wait." 
 
 Between these two leading elements there are minor 
 ones made use of for special ends — to teach, mayhap, need- 
 ful lessons. It is for this that such men as Yanderbilt 
 are admitted. 
 
 Spiritualism is essentially a personal investigation. 
 Each communication is potent for discipline. There is 
 said to be danger to the race in the intercommunication of 
 the two worlds. So there is always danger to error when 
 brought in contact with penetrating truth. Just now 
 almost every act of the spirit- world is one for public lesson. 
 It is of less importance what effects result to the individual 
 receiving a message or other token of spirit presence or 
 power, than to the mass, and great results are accomplished 
 through reaction. A deal of ground must be broken 
 before spiritual truths can be sown in their integrity — 
 before the intercommunication can be conducted, so to 
 
20 
 
 speak, in an open-handed manner. Before the way could 
 be opened at all, it was essential that a spirit of toleration 
 should prevail. That, however, is the mere permission. 
 Thereafter all the human weaknesses have to be met, toned 
 down, conquered — and this is often done by exaggerating 
 them, relying upon the consequent reaction for the desired 
 result. Thus, one of the first lessons taught is the neces- 
 sity of self-reliance on the part of the investigator. How- 
 ever much the value of this precept may be acknowledged 
 in theory, it is continually violated in practice. Hence 
 the need for shining examples — hence those humiliating 
 exhibitions in the courts that have followed the demise of 
 such men as Com. Yanderbilt and Capt. Ward. 
 
 A great stumbling-block to the progress of spiritual 
 truths in their essence is man's cupidity. It is a pitiable 
 fact, but nearly the only thought that possesses most men 
 in connection with this force is how to turn it to worldly 
 advantage — how to make money out of it. The attempts 
 to divert it into personal channels have strewn its pathway 
 with human wrecks, and will continue to do so until the 
 lesson is learned that merely personal ends can under no 
 circumstances be gratified. The spirit-world makes little 
 account of preaching. This shows them to be wise, for 
 could people be taught ethical as we teach mathematical 
 truths, the world would have arrived at the millennial 
 period ages ago. Startling examples alone have any effect, 
 and this by producing a reaction. To what is the world 
 most indebted for its toleration? To anything that has 
 been said, written, or preached on the subject? Yerily, 
 very little. To examples of toleration ? Perhaps in small 
 measure among philosophers and thinkers, but surely they 
 have had little effect on the masses. What is it, then, 
 that is making the world tolerant ? It is the reaction from 
 the violent spirit of intolerance exhibited especially during 
 the reign of the inquisition. Anything short of such an 
 extreme Avould never have given the necessary rebound. 
 A philosopher may arrive at abstract notions of liberty, 
 but the masses require the lash and the rack — while some 
 races seem to have sunk to such a state of mental inertness 
 
21 
 
 that the law of reaction has ceased to operate. For such 
 there is but one future — extinction. 
 
 Some very severe things have been said about the per- 
 sonnel of Spiritualism. Judged by the prevailing standard 
 it does not, perhaps, present the highest moral develop- 
 ment — but I would not have you judge too much by appear- 
 ances. Remember that Spiritualism is not unlike an 
 active volcano. Its evil as well as its good qualities are 
 alike cast to the surface. Had it the discretion of older or- 
 ganizations — did it but make a study of hiding its defects 
 as do the hypocrites in the churches — it would no doubt 
 pass muster with the best. In the possession of genuine 
 qualities, those that spring from open natures and loving 
 hearts, it is rich indeed. And the new order of morality, 
 the new ethics, will give these a place of pre-eminence. 
 
 However, there are most potent reasons why the per- 
 sonnel of Spiritualism is and should be what it is. An 
 effort is making by a narrow minded element in the ranks 
 to make the movement ''respectable," but thus far they 
 have only succeeded in exhibiting their own intolerance. 
 I pray that it may be many a day before Spiritualism shall 
 be fit to go into what is known as " good society." My 
 reasons are many. In the first place we want, the world 
 wants, as was said the other day by the Presbyterian 
 Interior^ of this city — of all papers where I should least 
 expect to see such a declaration — a lower religion than has 
 hitherto prevailed. We want a religion that is not afraid 
 to go into the slums — that is devoid of all outward form, but 
 is rich, and strong, and self-reliant in each individual — a 
 religion that, as far as is compatible with the rights of and 
 obligations to others, will make the individual a law unto 
 himself Spiritualism is such a religion, and if, thereby, 
 some people get into the fold — i. e.^ become believers — that 
 are not over respectable, is it any matter for wonder, or 
 should it be deplored? Spiritualism, as I have before said, 
 is revolutionary in its present relations to society, and 
 requires revolutionary elements for its personnel, Respect- 
 ability, except it have a strong dash of philosophy in it, is 
 not revolutionary — is, the rather, eminently conservative. 
 
22 
 
 Now, to my way of looking at it, the longer you can keep 
 this mass from cooling into dead formality — premising, of 
 course, that in the meantime it be not violently destructive 
 — the better for the world. It is not a bloody revolution; 
 it has not and will not cost a single life — except it be too 
 seriously interfered with. But I anticipate no trouble — 
 the movement is provided with too many safety-valves. 
 At any time a single, well- advertised, so-called "exposure" 
 converts it from a formidable, bristling man-of-war, in the 
 eyes of the world, into the most harmless of hulks, fit to 
 receive, instead of hot-shot and shell, only the sneers and 
 and mocking jeers of its vaunting but hoodwinked adver- 
 saries. 
 
 There is a disease which I will call mental blindness. 
 The darkness is densest where .culture is highest. The 
 arrogant and self-sufficient always look up, never down. 
 They despise the things at their feet. But these things 
 grow and expand with uncommon vigor sometimes. 
 While this self-sufficiency snuifs the upper air, the thing 
 despised has coiled itself with desperate purpose around 
 its feet, and at the proper moment Sir Disdain rolls in the 
 mud. The blindness that is now upon the boasted intellect 
 of the world was never exceeded but once. The bhndness 
 then vras more complete because it had to be. Christianity 
 came when the word tolerance had little significance., 
 The culture of the period was seemingly not aware of its 
 existence until it announced its presence by overthrowing 
 nearly all existing institutions. On this point I desire to 
 quote a few words from the historian Lecky. In his ad- 
 mirable '' History of European Morals '^ he begins the 
 third chapter, " The conversion of Rome," as follows : 
 
 " There is no fact in the history of the human mind more remark- 
 able than the complete miconsciousness of the importance and the 
 destinies of Christianity, manifested by the pagan writers before the 
 accession of Constantino. So large an amount of attention has been 
 bestowed on the ten or twelve allusions to it they fm-nish, that we are 
 sometimes apt to forget how few and meagre those allusions are, and 
 how utterly impossible it is to construct from them, with any degree of 
 certainty, a history of the early church. Plutarch and the elder Pliny, 
 who probably surpass all other writers of their time in the range of 
 
23 
 
 tlieii- illustrations, and Seneca, who was certainly the most illustrious 
 morahst of his age, never even mention it. Epictetus and Marcus 
 Aiu-elius have each adveii:ed to it with a passing and contemptuous 
 censure. Tacitus describes the persecution by Nero, but treats the 
 suffering religion simply as an ' execrable superstition ; ' while Suetonius, 
 employing the same expression, reckons the persecution among the 
 
 acts of the tyrant that were either laudable or indifferent 
 
 That the greatest religious change in the histoiy of mankind should 
 have taken place under the eyes of a brilliant galaxy of philosophers 
 and historians who were profoundly conscious of the decomposition 
 aromid them ; that all these writers should have utterly failed to 
 predict the issue of the movement they were observing, and that, 
 dming the space of three centmies, they should ha.ve treated as simply 
 contemptible an agency which all men must now admit to have been, 
 for good or evil, the most powerful moral lever that has ever been 
 apiDlied to the affans of man, are facts well worthy of meditation in 
 every period of religious transition." 
 
 Somewhat more should be said reo;ardino: the mission of 
 Spiritualism. What does it seek to accomplish? One 
 object, of course is paramount — to establish our relations 
 to the future life on a basis of certitude — imply iug many 
 modifications in our habits and modes of thought. This 
 would seem enough, but there is more to do. The new 
 dispensation does not propose to take up the old, worn-out 
 social establishment^ and carry it on by endless patching. 
 No ; it means to start from new foundations. 
 
 It is a human misfortune that the moment an old friend 
 appears in a new guise he is disowned. Our ignorance 
 will allow us to recognise such forms only as are familiar. 
 To the ignorant all unfamiliar plants are weeds. The 
 possible is ever circumscribed by the known. Many 
 strange plants of rarest virtue are now springing up in 
 the Spiritualist garden. Ignorance cries "Weeds," "weeds," 
 and is eager to stamp them out ; but a higher power 
 guards these germs with vigilance, that the world may be 
 the better for their growing. 
 
 To the spirit-world mere form is nothing, the real 
 substance everything. When they speak of liberty, they 
 mean the subject in its fulness, not as applied to present 
 earth conditions, personal, political, religious, or moral. 
 Now and then a mind is born that has somewhat of this 
 power to rend the veil and see the order of the universe 
 
24 
 
 in its true relations. Such an one was Jolin Stuart Mill, 
 incomparably the greatest of modern thinkers. In the 
 domain of thought he was the completest man that has 
 ever lived. He was an antique, and yet thoroughly 
 modern. He was all of Socrates, and more than Aristotle. 
 He was an economist, logician, scientist, speculator, phil- 
 anthropist, reformer, revolutionist, moralist, philosopher, 
 prophet. He was always all of these combined. He 
 possessed the rare faculty of actualizing the ideal. He 
 understood human nature, could foretell how it would act 
 under given conditions, and hence what was yet remote in 
 time was to him present in mind. I dwell thus upon this 
 personal and seemingly irrelevant point, because, so far as 
 I have been able to study spiritual plans as now related to 
 earth, they conform more nearly to the Millian standard 
 than any I could name. Note, for example, the important 
 part that woman plays in the new movement. Three - 
 fourths of the mediums are women ; women figure as 
 officers of societies, on the rostrums, and as in the case of 
 Woodhull, they are pushed forward to a point where for 
 a time they attract the attention of the whole world. 
 Then they are as suddenly withdrawn. Has it not seemed 
 strange to you that this woman has been able to maintain 
 comparative silence for a period now covering several 
 years? The solution is that she is a mere instrument — 
 hundreds of other women were employed similarly during 
 the same period, though in a less degree ; it seemed for a 
 time as if this free-lovism they preached would deluge the 
 country. Suddenly, as if by magic, the influence was 
 withdrawn. It had served its purpose. What that pur- 
 pose may have been I will not now discuss, but that the 
 effect produced will ultimately result in amelioration, and 
 improve the condition of woman generally, I leave no room 
 to doubt. Marriage is sacred only when its natural laws 
 are sacredly observed. When the tie is abused it is no 
 better, no more sacred, than any other abuse. Somewhere 
 in human possibilities there is no doubt a natural basis 
 that will make marriage what it should be — not a sacra- 
 ment because the church has made it so — but a sacrament 
 
25 
 
 because consecrated by all tbe better qualities that as yet 
 lie dormant in average human nature. Through what 
 throes of pain the race must pass before it reaches this goal, 
 it is impossible to say — if nothing worse than to tolerate a 
 WoodhuU, it may well congratulate itself. 
 
 In another respect Mr. Mill may be regarded as the 
 archetype of Spiritualism, though he was far from being a 
 Spiritualist. He was a moderate socialist or communist, 
 not as these terms are at present interpreted, to mean 
 assassination, riot, spoliation, and political and social con- 
 vulsion, but in the sense that he recognized that good 
 might be accomplished through the modification of certain 
 deeply rooted customs which in the eyes of the world have 
 come to mean human nature, but in essence mean things 
 unnatural. It is to these that Spiritualism is addressing 
 itself-— almost blindly so far as its personnel is concerned. 
 It is intensely interesting to observe the activities of the 
 movement from a purely philosophical standpoint. But 
 any study will lead to little good, and much disturbance 
 of mind, unless to a searching analysis the observer joins 
 a far-reaching synthesis. 
 
 The most active element in the ranks just now is one of 
 destruction. It is revolution incarnate, but the revolt is 
 bloodless. By the score men and women go about the 
 country — often keen of argument, quick at repartee, some- 
 times more forcible than elegant, ever on the elert, intent 
 only on tearing down. These are the plague of the 
 preacher, the object of the scorn of the self-sufficient, the 
 terror of the timid. These are the pioneers. Their man- 
 
 JL 
 
 ner is often brusque to rudeness. When they mean a 
 spade they say a spade. Their office is to shock, to 
 unsettle, to wound. 
 
 Then there is another class composed of somewhat 
 milder-mannered men and women. When the pioneers 
 have given a community a sound shaking, these come 
 forward with the balm of Gilead, and pour the oil of 
 healing into the lacerated sensibilities. 
 
 Finally, there is a third class. These call themselves 
 Christian Spiritualists. Thus, it will be seen, Spiritualism 
 
26 
 
 is what St. Paul wanted Christianity to be, all things unto 
 all men. These forces are nicely balanced, and most wonder- 
 fully adapted to their work — but how ? Solely by spirit 
 selection. Remember that Spiritualism is wholly without 
 centralization or leadership. It is simply unorganized 
 individuation. Each one works by himself without the 
 least reference to what his neighbour is doing — but, 
 because of spirit supervision, the work is the most effective 
 ever accomplished under the sun. 
 
 In this connection I desire to call attention to something 
 that scarcely is yet, but soon will be. If Spiritualism has 
 been under a cloud because of its connection with free- 
 lovism, it is destined to pass under a still, darker cloud — 
 but one that has a golden lining. This cloud is called 
 socialism. As yet the points of contact are but few — the 
 occultation is not taking place under the observing eye of 
 the scientist, and the process is therefore attracting no 
 attention. But the world will not be kept loDg in ignor- 
 ance. Soon the cry, " Spiritualism is no better than 
 communism," will be joined to those other cries, '^ Spirit- 
 ualism is free-lovism," '' It is a fraud," " It is a delusion." 
 Well, Spiritualism can bear the last as it has all the rest. 
 But there will be no little squirming even among believers. 
 There is a class of Spiritualists who are, in truth, aliens to 
 the movement, and always in hot water. Like a great 
 many other half-individualized people, they are troubled 
 with an itching for so-called '' respectability." It is ever 
 their lamentation that Spiritualism has not yet made its 
 way into " good society." Such as these will cry aloud 
 against the fusion. They will give utterance to a vast 
 amount of cant about "defiling our beautiful philosophy," 
 "prostituting this God-given religion," and more of the 
 same sort of unmeaning stuff. But their cries will pass 
 upon the wind unheeded. The work will go on. It 
 must go on, for it is the sole instrumentality that can 
 save society. 
 
 I am aware that I am threading my way over extremely 
 dangerous ground here — that I shall receive thanks for 
 these predictions from no one — no, not even from the 
 
27 
 
 socialists, who, as a class, turn up their noses at the 
 " delusion " a trifle higher than anybody else (though 
 with some of the leaders it is different) ; but for all that 
 I shall follow a plain line of duty, and, by throwing such 
 light as I possess on the path may make it clear even for 
 others. 
 
 What is socialism in its latest development ? Is it not 
 an invulnerable monster ? It is cruel ; it is blooodthirsty. 
 For every head you chop off a thousand others will grow. 
 But last and worst, it is infidel — it is nihilism. Here we 
 have the most destructive of creeds — conduct that refuses 
 to be governed by the laws of man, and knows none other 
 — a thing that lives only for to-day, and bitterly flings in 
 your teeth that to-morrow may take care of itself. What- 
 ever of inanimate and death-like beauty an intellectual 
 Altruism may possess, when its pale moonshine has filtered 
 through to the lower strata, the result is dark and diaboli- 
 cal. I myself once sat in the grave-damp of Materialism, 
 and tried to make myself believe — and thought I succeeded 
 — that man is not inherently a savage, and that it was 
 something beside the religious sentiment that ennobled him. 
 To strengthen my position I drew for support upon such 
 shining examples as Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, 
 forgetting that with all their noble aspirations the world 
 went down lower and lower all around them. The noble 
 emperor was the sublimest of the stoics — but he was also 
 the last. The sect for once fairly realized its ideal, and 
 then went out. It was a dream — it is a dream still. 
 Non-religion left the world in such plight that it was not 
 until more than a thousand years afterward that the 
 Christian religion — acting somewhat in its purity — was 
 able to infuse the spirit of civilization into the mass. 
 Some will say that civilization has come in spite of religion. 
 Of such I would ask what was this " in spite " doing 
 before the Christian religion came? The "in spite" 
 means no religion — it is not even as good as an active 
 paganism. It was this " in spite " that witnessed the 
 downfall of Eome ; that made that downfall possible ; 
 that transformed it into a Bacchanalia and a Saturnalia. 
 
28 
 
 It ruled supreme in the transition period that marks the 
 decadence of paganism and the incoming of Christianity. 
 But another class will ask: If Christianity was so potent 
 to deal with barbaric and brutal forms eighteen hundred 
 years ago, why may it not perform the same office now ? It 
 could were it the same thing now it was then, and were 
 human savagery the same. Both have significantly 
 changed. Christianity is " respectable " now. It is — but 
 why waste time diagnosing the disease when \he death- 
 rattle is in the throat ? On the other hand the modern 
 malcontent is somewhat of a reasoning product. When he 
 is not burning or assassinating, he wants to argue with 
 you. In fact the fellow calls cold-bloodedly for the 
 proofs, and, in the modern acceptation of that term, 
 Christianity is sadly out of the article just now. 
 
 Under this state of things what should Spiritualism do? 
 It claims to have the proofs. Shall it make use of them ? 
 Shall it enter the very den and tame this unchained tiger? 
 Has it permission to do this ? Any way, permission or 
 no, it will do it. 
 
 Man is a curious paradox. For many years all sorts of 
 respectable people, both pious and infidel, pointed to the 
 Catholic Church as the mother of all evil, the scarlet 
 woman of Babylon, the nursery of ignorance. But of 
 late we hear another song. The church appears in a new 
 light to these folk. By many of its bitterest religious 
 opponents it is beginning to be regarded as a sort of social 
 savior, because it is able to hold in check a vast amount 
 of ignorance— ignorance that might otherwise become the 
 blind and destructive tool of socialism. But a short 
 sighted generation will accord Spiritualism no such praise. 
 It will see only the fusion, and condemn it. 
 
 And yet, how, otherwise, is this monster to be curbed — 
 how, if you do not go boldly up and bind him ? Will he 
 come to you ? Yes, by-and-bye, with fagot and sword ! 
 Two courses are open. Both should be utilized. One is 
 free discussion. That serves as a safety-valve. The 
 other is the bringing of the mass around to a new way of 
 looking at the world. To do this, a radical change must 
 
29 
 
 take place. Primarily this must involve aspirations con- 
 nected with another life ; also the belief that the thing^s 
 that are wrong here are righted there. It must be demon- 
 strated more clearly than ever before that there is j ustice 
 in the universe — that this justice is absolute and unvarying 
 — that the measure of all men, in the ultimate, is the 
 same. If such justice now exists on earth, it is most 
 successfully veiled, all finely-spun theories to the contrary 
 noth withstanding. Life here is not even-handed, and no 
 amount of sophistry can adjust the balance. 
 
 Socialism grows in the proportion that religion wanes. 
 Religion alone can recover the lost ground. Shall it be 
 allowed to do so peaceably ? For Spiritualism to enter 
 socialism, it is not necessary that present Spiritualists 
 should attach themselves to the socialistic body. As I 
 have before indicated. Spiritualism is spontaneous. It 
 will spring up unbidden in the very centre of the social- 
 istic camp. At present, a point of contact is the free 
 platform of Spiritualism. In many places Spiritualists 
 and free-thinkers have joined forces, occupy a hall in 
 common, and establish what is known as a free platform. 
 From this any one may have his say, and no one is 
 responsible but himself This afi^ords communists the 
 opportunity ever coveted by them. In this way a be- 
 ginning is making for one of the most remarkable struggles 
 in the social history of the world — a phenomenon well 
 worthy the attention of the student — but this biped whose 
 sight is altogether rearward — is just now wrestling with 
 protoplasm — the fully developed man, making history as 
 it was never made before, has no interest for him. The 
 mediumship that will develop within the ranks of social- 
 ism, for a time will no doubt represent the boldest kind of 
 agrarianism, since it needs must to ingratiate itself. But 
 by-and-bye, when the whole lump shall have been leavened, 
 will come the amelioration — not as a miracle, but as a 
 grovv^th, an evolution — and by gradual changes this pesti- 
 lential bayou will be turned into the common stream of 
 life once more. When this is done the great problem — I 
 will not call it conflict — that lies in the adjustment of 
 
30 
 
 capital and labor will be solved. Socialism will have 
 given up its destructiveness and capital its rapacity. 
 
 The acorn is the prophecy of the oak. Tendencies are 
 the cradle of mighty movements. That these truisms are 
 seldom more than words to man, is perhaps, fortunate. 
 The age that is would be blinded by the light that comes 
 to one that is to be. Could man foresee the end of a 
 beo'inning — without realizing the adaptation that waits 
 upon and accompanies progress — he would throttle every 
 new idea at its birth. Man fails of prevision because he 
 is a mental coward. The faculty is not cultivated by him 
 because it is Med with the shrieks and groans of his 
 follow- men. 
 
 The elements and tendencies of the two movements 
 are such that a meeting and partial merging of Spiritualism 
 and socialism is as much a necessity, under natural law, 
 as the attraction of bodies possessing chemical affinity. 
 The characteristic of the material of both is individuation. 
 They are also alike in this, that both are, so to speak, in 
 solution — both represent transitions — are, in fact, revolu- 
 tions. But here the similarity ceases. For the rest, all 
 their activities are antagonistic — one works downward 
 and the other altogether upward. One points toward the 
 brute, the other toward angels. The object of the one is 
 to destroy all religious beliefs, of the other to put religion 
 on a basis of fact, and merge all differences into a consis- 
 tent and harmonious whole. Both sides are intensely 
 active — possess, in fact, nearly all of the activities now 
 visible in the civilized world — and but for the mental 
 blindness that is abroad, this endeavor would be to 
 thinkers a most absorbing study of contemporary 
 
 sociology. 
 
 Spiritualism is re-writing the history of man— the 
 history of civilization. To the effects which are alone 
 apparent to man's dull apprehension, it is addirg the 
 legitimate causes. Under its magical touch the things 
 that are now most obscure will be brought into the 
 clearest light. It will even solve the riddle of the 
 Sphinx. 
 
31 
 
 In conclusion, let me say that none is responsible for the 
 views expressed in this thesis but myself. I have followed 
 an independent line of research, and the result is in part 
 before you. My knowledge of human nature, aud the 
 relation of the subj ect to current views on science, religion 
 and philosophy, do not warrant me in indulging the hope 
 that my argument will carry absolute conviction to any 
 mind. But this I may claim, without incurring the charge 
 of egotism, that I have established a plausible theory — 
 one that cannot be met and turned with a sneer — a theory 
 that answers, at all events, many of the a priori objections 
 leveled against the phenomena — and, if this be acknow- 
 ledged, my labors have not been altogether in vain. 
 That the a priori line of argument, or rather of objection, 
 has been allowed to have so much weight, in au age whose 
 boast is that it is pre-eminently inductive, is far from 
 creditable. The attitude of the scientific mind at the 
 present time toward this subject will one day be a preg- 
 nant lesson to the world. It is well that this rebuke is in 
 store, for science is assuming an air of arrogance next to 
 intolerable. In general, scientists are slow to admit this, 
 but the moment a controversy arises in their own ranks, 
 this manifestation of intolerance is keenly felt by the more 
 sensitive, and deeply deplored. The mailed hand of 
 authority holds despotic sway in the ranks of the elect ; 
 this galling yoke, self imposed, is casting a stifling atmos- 
 phere over the whole domain of thought ; a self-consti- 
 tuted hierarchy, in the form of a mutual admiration 
 society, brooks no opposition, and its ex-cathedra edicts 
 have all the dogmatic flavor of a bull from the infallible 
 occupant of the Vatican. This spirit is easily traced to 
 natural causes. Until the present century the whole 
 course of science was a defensive one. It was sadly put 
 upon, and, hence, determined, when once in the seat of 
 power, to make its position impregnable. So long as the 
 opposition was really formidable, such an attitude was not 
 altogether unbecoming ; but at this day, when it is sole 
 arbiter in the world of thought, it would lose little and 
 gain much by broadening its field of research, and, true 
 
32 
 
 to its motto, to investigate all things, and cast behind it 
 the a priori assumptions that are now placing it in an 
 attitude of glaring inconsistency. Because stoutly 
 opposed by the church, it goes to the irrational length of 
 insisting that there is an irrepressible conflict between 
 itself and religion — forgetting that the law of evolution, 
 if true regarding one class of facts, must be true with 
 regard to all, and, that religion, as the expression of a 
 dark age, must undergo modifications under clearer lights, 
 and remain none the less religion. From this spirit, 
 which is itself the result of reaction from church oppres- 
 sion, there must in turn come a reaction, and the equilib- 
 rium thus established will probably be as near the golden 
 mean as fallible human nature will permit. The day that 
 shall witness the fulfilment of this prediction, is not as 
 far distant as some may suppose. Soon the only combat- 
 ants in the field of thought will be science and Spiritualism. 
 The war for a time will be bitter, but not destructive. 
 By slow, but sure approaches, a perfect fusion will take 
 place, and then science will be religion, and religion — at 
 least, as to its main postulates — will be science. 
 
J 
 
University of 
 Connecticut 
 
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