It will thus be seen that those who can form no higher conception of the uses of Spiritualism, “even if true,” than to detect crime or to name in advance the winner of the Derby, not only prove their own ignorance of the whole subject, but exhibit in a marked degree that partial mental paralysis, the result of a century of materialistic thought, which renders so many men unable seriously to conceive the possibility of a natural continuation of human life after the death of the body. It will be seen also that Spiritualism is no mere “physiological” curiosity, no mere indication of some hitherto unknown “law of nature”; but that it is a science of vast extent, having the widest, the most important, and the most practical issues, and as such should enlist the sympathies alike of moralists, philosophers and politicians, and of all who have at heart the improvement of society and the permanent elevation of human nature.
In concluding this necessarily imperfect though somewhat lengthy account of a subject about which so little is probably known to most of the readers of the Fortnightly Review, I would earnestly beg them not to satisfy themselves with a minute criticism of single facts, the evidence for which, in my brief survey, may be imperfect; but to weigh carefully the mass of evidence I have adduced, considering its wide range and various bearings. I would ask them to look rather at the results produced by the evidence than at the evidence itself as imperfectly stated by me; to consider the long roll of men of ability who, commencing the inquiry as skeptics, left it as believers, and to give these men credit for not having overlooked, during years of patient inquiry, difficulties which at once occur to themselves. I would ask them to ponder well on the fact, that no earnest inquirer has ever come to a conclusion adverse to the reality of the phenomena; and that no Spiritualist has ever yet given them up as false. I would ask them, finally, to dwell upon the long series of facts in human history that Spiritualism explains, and on the noble and satisfying theory of a future life that it unfolds. If they will do this, I feel confident that the result I have alone aimed at will be attained; which is, to remove the prejudices and misconceptions with which the whole subject has been surrounded, and to incite to unbiased and persevering examination of the facts. For the cardinal maxim of Spiritualism is, that every one must find out the truth for himself. It makes no claim to be received on hearsay evidence; but, on the other hand, it demands that it be not rejected without patient, honest and fearless inquiry.
Modern Spiritualism.
By EPES SARGENT.
PLANCHETTE: THE DESPAIR OF SCIENCE.
Being a Full Account of Modern Spiritualism.
Price, in Illuminated Paper Covers, $1; in Green Cloth, $1.25. Postage, 16c. A New Edition, just issued by Roberts Brothers, Boston.
This volume should be properly called “A History of Modern Spiritualism,” for it is a thorough and careful survey of the whole subject of well-attested phenomena believed to be spiritual.
Prof. WM. CROOKES, F. R. S., of London, the celebrated chemist, whose scientific verifications of the spiritual phenomena are now creating such a sensation, writes, under date of April 17, 1874,—