Fig. 3.—Psychograph in the handwriting of Dr. W. J. Crawford. (See p. [25].)
Fig. 4.—Specimen of Dr. W. J. Crawford’s writing during his lifetime.
Hope was greatly surprised at his own results, but he had the good fortune in early days to meet the late Archdeacon Colley, an enlightened member of the Anglican Church, who tested his powers, endorsed them and appreciated their value. It was he who gave Hope his first stand camera, the old-fashioned instrument to which he still clings, and which, with its battered box and broken leg, is familiar to many of us.
No one knows the story of these beginnings so well as Miss Scatcherd, who was the intimate friend of the Archdeacon and shared the evidence which had so impressed him. Miss Scatcherd has kindly consented to jot down her reminiscences of these early days, that I may include them in the later pages of this volume.
Suffice it if I say, at present, that Hope has been before the public for seventeen years, that during that time many special tests have been demanded of him and have been successfully met, that he has been closely observed by experts of all sorts—scientific men (including Sir William Crookes), journalists, professional photographers and others—that he has patiently submitted himself to all sorts of experiment, and that he has emerged from this most drastic ordeal with the complete support and approval of far the greater part of his clients. That he has been fiercely attacked goes without saying, for every medium has that experience, but each fresh allegation against him has ended in smoke, while his gifts have grown stronger with time, so that the percentage of blanks in his results is, I should say, lower than it used to be. No medium can ever honestly guarantee success, but it would probably be within the mark if one claimed that Hope attained it three times out of five, though the results vary much in visibility and value, being mere vague outlines in some cases, and in others so detailed in their perfection that the extra is clearer and more life-like than the sitter. These variations seem to depend upon the state of health of the medium, the qualities of the investigator, the atmospheric conditions and other obscure causes.
In person, Hope is a man who gives the impression of being between fifty and sixty years of age, with the manner and appearance of an intelligent working-man. His forehead is high and indicates a good, if untrained, brain beneath it. The general effect of his face is aquiline with large, well-opened, honest blue eyes, and a moustache which is shading from yellow to grey. His voice is pleasant, with a North Country accent which becomes very pronounced when he is excited. His hands with their worn nails and square-ended fingers are those of the worker, and the least adapted to sleight-of-hand tricks of any that I have seen.
Mrs. Buxton, who aids him, is a kindly, pleasant-faced woman on the sunny side of middle-age. Her mediumistic powers seem to be akin to those of Hope, and though the latter had all his earlier results independently, he is stronger when he combines his forces with Mrs. Buxton’s.
They both give an impression of honesty and frankness, which increases as one comes to know them more closely. I have never met two people who seemed to me from manner and appearance to be less likely to be in a conspiracy to deceive the public.