Psychometry: The Divine Science.
It is presumed that every reader of these pages has some knowledge of this subject, either by reading the “Manual of Psychometry” or otherwise, and has at least read the “Introduction to the Journal of Man” on our cover pages.
It is not of the directly practical bearings of Psychometry that I would speak at present, but of its imperial rank among sciences, entitling it to the post of honor.
In all human affairs, that takes the highest rank which has the greatest controlling and guiding power. The king, the statesman, the hero, the saintly founder of a religion, the philosopher that guides the course of human thought, and the scientist who gives us a greater command of nature, are the men whom we honor as the ministers of destiny.
When we speak of science, we accord the highest rank to that which gives the greatest comprehension of the world as it is—of its past and of its future. Geology and astronomy are the sciences which reach out into the illimitable alike in the present and past. Biology will do the same for the world of life when biology is completed by a knowledge of the centre of all life, the brain. But in its present acephalous condition it is but a fragment of science—a headless corpse, unfit to rank among complete sciences. Theology claims the highest rank of all, but based as it has been on the conceptions current in the dark ages, it has become, in the light of modern science, a crumbling ruin. Does psychometry compare with astronomy and geology in its scientific rank, or does it compare with the acephalous biology, which occupies all medical colleges?
It compares with neither. Like astronomy, it borders on the limitless; like geology, it reaches into the vast, undefined past; and like biology, it comprehends all life science; but unlike each, it has no limitation to any sphere. It is equally at home with living forms and with dead matter—equally at home in the humbler spheres of human life and human infirmity, and in the higher spheres of the spirit world, which we call heaven. It grasps all of biology, all of history, all of geology and astronomy, and far more than telescopes have revealed. It has no parallel in any science, for sciences are limited and defined in their scope, while psychometry is unlimited, transcending far all that collegians have called science, and all that they have deemed the limits of human capacities, for in psychometry the divinity in man becomes apparent, and the intellectual mastery of all things lifts human life to a higher plane than it has ever known before.
Psychometry is therefore in its nature and scope not classifiable among the sciences, since it reaches out above and beyond all, in a higher and broader sphere, and hence may truly be called the Divine science, for it is the expression of the Divine element in man. Wherein is Divine above human knowledge? And wherein is human above animal knowledge and understanding? The superiority in each case consists in a deeper and more interior comprehension of that which is, which realizes in the present the potentiality of the future, enabling us to act for future results and accomplish whatever is possible to our powers. That forecast, that comprehension through the present of that which is to be, constitutes foresight,—the essential element of wisdom; and in its grander manifestations it appears as prophecy. Prophecy, then, is the noblest aspect of psychometry; and if this prophetic power can be cultivated to its maximum possibilities, there is no reason why it should not become the guiding power of each individual life, and the guiding power for the destiny of nations. Moreover, in its prophetic role its superiority of rank is manifest, since it is then the instructor of all hearers,—the revealer of that in which they readily confess their ignorance.
Hence it was that St. Paul especially recommended the cultivation of prophecy as the most sacred and Divine of all religious exercises, saying, in 1 Corinthians xiv. 21-25: “If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are unlearned or unbelievers, will they not say ye are mad? But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face, he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.” This is a description of a congregation in which all are developed up to a psychometric and spiritual condition in which the truths of religion and the ministry of angels may have full power.
Wherever the highest order of religious sentiment is in active operation, prophecy becomes one of its results. It was so in Jewish history, and has been so in many eventful periods since.
George Fox had the most exalted religious sentiment of his time, and he had an eminently prophetic mind. All nations have had prophetic minds and well-attested prophecies. Egypt and India, Greece, Rome, France, England, and America, have their recorded prophecies, and in the height of ancient civilization prophecy commanded sufficient respect to influence the course of public events. Cicero expressed the general intelligence of the ancients in recognizing prophecy as a power of the human soul.
Modern materialism has ignored all this, and one of the noblest works to-day for a man of genius whose mind is sufficiently vigorous to throw off the trammels of collegiate ignorance and fashionable conservatism, would be to produce a volume upon prophecy, in which its vast historic development should be sketched.
The limitations of the Journal of Man do not permit me to introduce this historic matter which would be sufficient to exclude everything else from its pages, and I would merely refer to an almost forgotten example of the intuitive and prescient faculty connected with the introduction of Universalism into this country.
A worthy and pious farmer on the seacoast of Delaware, named Potter, built a church at his own expense, but having an advanced idea of the Divine benevolence, he could never find any preacher whose doctrines suited him. Nevertheless he was profoundly convinced that such a preacher would be sent to realize his hopes, and was not discouraged by the disbelief of his neighbors. His anticipation was strangely fulfilled. Rev. John Murray, almost crazed by the death of his wife, sailed from England for America in 1770, intending to abandon the pulpit entirely. The vessel put in at Philadelphia instead of New York, and as the stage for New York had left, Mr. Murray concluded to remain on the vessel and go to New York that way. But on the voyage they got lost in the fog, and got into Cranberry Inlet in a dangerous position. They went ashore, being out of provisions, and found a country tavern. Mr. Murray strolled along the coast, intending to get fish for the crew, and fell into company with Farmer Potter, who had a supply, and who at once told him, to his astonishment, that he was glad to meet him, and had been looking for him a long time. Potter decided at once that this was the minister he had been looking for, and of whom he had often spoken when telling his neighbors, “God will send me a preacher of a very different stamp from those who have heretofore preached in my house; that God who has put it into my heart to build this house will send one who shall deliver to me His own truth, who shall speak of Jesus Christ and His salvation.” Potter briefly sketched his own life and said:
“The moment I beheld your vessel on shore, it seemed as if a voice had suddenly sounded in my ears: ‘There, Potter, in that vessel cast away on that shore is the preacher you have been so long expecting.’ I heard the voice and I believed the report; and when you came up to my door and asked for the fish, the same voice seemed to repeat, ‘Potter, this is the man, this is the person whom I have sent to preach in your house.’”
Murray says: “I was astonished, immeasurably astonished at Mr. Potter’s narrative, but yet I had not the smallest idea that it could ever be realized. I requested to know what he could discover in my appearance which could lead him to mistake me for a preacher.” “What,” said he, “could I discover when you were in the vessel that could induce this conclusion? No sir, it is not what I saw or see, but what I feel, which produces in my mind a full conviction.” “But, my dear sir, you are deceived, indeed you are deceived. I shall never preach in this place nor anywhere else.”
Potter maintained that he had preached and that he would preach in his church, and that the wind would not allow him to leave until he had. To shorten the story, Murray at last yielded and preached in that church, of which we have a picture in his biography. He had a great fear of giving out the doctrine of universal salvation, expecting universal denunciation of himself by the clergy and their followers, but he went on from this beginning and established Universalism in America.
In this instance it is evident that Potter was of a spiritual temperament, and was indebted to a spirit influence for his impressions and convictions. But whatever is possible to the disembodied spirit in the intellectual way is also possible to the embodied spirit which has not lost its material body, if the interior faculties are well developed and prophecy does not require supernal aid. In innumerable cases mesmeric subjects, in their somniloquent condition, have made most accurate predictions in reference to their own cases and others, which have been accurately verified. There is probably no good clairvoyant physician who has not often made successful predictions concerning patients.
In the daily practice of psychometry, Mrs. Buchanan, of whose powers the “Manual of Psychometry” gives a fair idea, is accustomed in speaking of the present to feel impressions of the past and the future. In reference to public men she has spoken in advance of their election or defeat, their policy and their death. She spoke prophetically of the election of Cleveland and the defeat of Blaine, of the deaths of Disraeli and Garibaldi, of the career of Gladstone and his becoming “the best friend of Ireland;” and when Ireland was believed to be on the brink of a bloody revolution or rebellion, she announced that no such outbreak would occur, but that at the end of two years Ireland would be pacified and quiet. At the end of two years this was verified, for the magistrates commented on the fact at that time that there were fewer crimes of violence before them than had been customary.
I have learned to rely on this prescience, and in reference to public men and public affairs, when they interested me, have satisfied my curiosity by the psychometric method.
For twelve months past the newspaper press and the statesmen of Europe and America have been continually agitated by apprehensions of a great European war, and have made numerous estimates of the power of belligerents and the result of the contest. France and Germany have been expected to engage in a fatal conflict, and even a noted public medium has fallen in with these ideas and predicted a coming war this year.
I have kept the record of public opinion, and from time to time have invoked the aid of psychometry, which has dissipated every fear and contradicted all the pessimistic notions of politicians and newspaper correspondents down to the present time.
On the 26th of January I recorded the psychometric impressions, again in February, and again on the 11th of March. The psychometer answers questions or discusses subjects by impression alone, not knowing what is under her hand, but expressing what arises in her mind. The first impression, January 26, was as follows:
“It looks misty, but the finale looks bright. The result of this, whatever it is, will be a grand success or achievement—good will result. There is a dissatisfaction or rivalry on a very large scale—very momentous—is it war? There is agitation and blustering.”
Q.—How will it be in the summer?
“There will not be war. There is a growing contention, like growling, angry dogs; they may keep up growling for a year, but it will be nothing; there will be good coming out of it—a better understanding; this experience will elevate the views of the people; they will see the folly, and not be so belligerent. There will be no war this summer.”
What was the drift of opinion, however, as shown by the press? The correspondent of the New York Sun said: “Everybody talks of war as a sure thing which must soon appear somewhere. The work of getting ready for the fray, of which I have often sent details, goes steadily on.” M. Thibaudin “hopes for peace, as do all other diplomats trained and admired for their ability to say what they don’t think; and finally he announces that France is ready to fight whenever the time comes.” January 29 he writes: “The Daily News war scare which shook us up early in the week seems not to have exhausted its disquieting influence yet.” “France and Germany are looked upon as certain to lead off the ball, and Germany, it is generally thought, will be found at the head of the set and take the initiative. Preparations for a big fight continue in every direction.” “Russia, if we can believe the tales from that unreliable country, is quietly making preparations on a tremendous scale to have her paw fall heavily on somebody.”
The French Revue des Deux Mondes said about this time that a war between France and Germany would almost inevitably lead to a general European war, on a scale such as the world has never before seen.
The Russian Viedomosti of February 5 said: “No compromise is possible between Russia and Austria concerning Eastern affairs, without detriment to Russia and the Eastern races. German intervention is useless, and will only create hostility between Russia and Germany.”
The Boston Herald correspondent of February 5, said of France and Germany: “Now both are counted as among the most civilized and most humanitarian on the face of the globe, and yet the certainty of war between the two hereditary enemies on either side of the Rhine is as certain as anything can be. When it comes, be it sooner or later, one of the two adversaries is inevitably condemned, if not to total annihilation, at least to such a crushing punishment that for many long years the defeated power will be little more than a geographical expression on modern maps.” His letter concluded with an elaborate statement of the military resources and condition of the two nations, which approximate an equality in the aggregate.
A Paris dispatch of the same date said that “Prince Bismarck has succeeded in establishing a coalition between Austria, England, and Italy against Russia. Germany will join the coalition if France supports Russia.”
The New York Sun of February 7, said: “We suppose there is no subject which just now is more earnestly discussed among intelligent Americans than the probable result of the war between France and Germany which is believed to be approaching. France ought by this time to have outstripped her enemy in point of military efficiency. She has laid out since 1871 nearly twice as much on her permanent armament, and she devotes nearly twice as much to the current military expenses of each year. She has maintained a larger peace establishment, and she should have it in her power to bring to the field a larger number of soldiers who have served under the colors.”
February 10 the Paris correspondent of the Berlin Post said that General Boulanger was growing in popularity, and “is regarded by the masses as the long-expected liberator. The whole country is anxious for revanche [revenge], and is arming silently, but with the evident belief that the hour is coming.” To add to the growing hostility, the Post quotes from the Paris Figaro an article imputing the grossest immorality to German women.
At the same date, the Buda Pesth Journal urged Austria to attack Russia before the latter has completed her preparations on the lower Danube. It said: “War is inevitable, and it is better to begin fighting before the Balkan states have been Russianized.”
Senor Castillo, the Spanish minister of the interior, said that Spain had taken steps to augment her defences and protect her colonies, in view of the possible European war.
February 12 a despatch to the London News from St. Petersburg said: “Ominous fears of a European war prevail here. It is announced that German colonists in the Caucasus have been notified to hold themselves in readiness to return to Germany and join the reserves.”
At the same date the North German Gazette said that since General Boulanger had assumed charge of the French war office not a day had passed without measures being taken to augment the offensive strength of the army, and there were constant movements of troops upon the frontiers.
February 19 the news was still more alarming at Berlin. Work was going on night and day on the fortifications at Verdun and Belfort. “All commerce has been suspended at Metz, excepting in food. The inhabitants are storing their houses from cellar to garret.” A Russian paper of that date said, “Existing circumstances admit of no delay.”
At Vienna, February 18, it was announced that “a semi-official letter from St. Petersburg represents that Russia is waiting for a Franco-German conflict, which she considers inevitable, to realize her own Balkan projects. Russia would consider it to be to her own interest not to allow Germany to be victorious.”
February 19 Senator Beck at Washington referred to an extract from a late speech of Count von Moltke before the German Reichstag, to show that war is inevitable.
February 27 the London despatch to the Boston Herald said: “Within the last forty-eight hours confidence in the maintenance of peace has visibly lessened.”
About the same time in Russian government circles the conviction was said to be gaining ground that a Franco-German war was inevitable, and that it would be for the interest of Russia to save France from disaster.
March 6 the North German Gazette said that the Alsace elections had strengthened the war party in France. War seems to have been the general anticipation of military men. General Wolseley (February 26) is reported to have said: “I feel sure that a vast, appalling war is certainly in the near future; but this, indeed, everybody may be said to know.”
But “everybody” is as liable to be mistaken on questions of futurity as on questions of philosophy and religion, on which the multitude called “everybody” has been largely mistaken ever since the earliest periods known to history. “Everybody” is generally pessimistic, apt to be superstitious, and never philosophic. A single good psychometric perception is worth much more than Mr. Everybody’s opinion, whether upon national policy, personal character, historical truth, or medical science.
The psychometric opinion is the opposite of that of General Wolseley and Senator Beck, for the psychometric soul is in the calm sphere of truth, in which the passions have no deceiving power. I have already published in the “Manual of Psychometry” the prediction of universal peace at the end of five years from the prophecy, and I now repeat the statement that great Franco-German war is but the fantasy of passion and fear. The last psychometric expression, March 11, confirms the uniform statements heretofore. Upon the question “What of the war in Europe?” this was the impression:
“This seems a question of occurrences. I seem to disagree with other people on this question. It does not seem to me that it will occur. If there are any prognostications, they are intensified. The result will not be what is predicted. There is something like a foreshadowing that might cause a prediction, but it will pass over. There is a good deal of agitation and concern, but nothing will occur this year as apprehended. I feel that it will all subside, and a picture of brightness and a clear sky appears. The fire will burn out; the boiling caldron which sends up steam will be quiet; a peaceful time is coming.”
When the Journal shall have a little more space, for it must be enlarged, and psychometry is a little better understood, I propose to establish a prophetic department, and speak to my readers of coming events.
(From the Pall Mall Gazette, London, Jan. 12.)